Happy New Year everyone! Its now 2021 and even though the last year has been crappy, I hope this year will be better. Now, I'm sure this year will have its ups and downs like all the years before, but I think for me its going to be hard because it will be a year since my grandfather passed away. I really miss him. Like I said in one of the chapters I posted before Christmas, I cried a bit when I thought about him.
Anyways, last time the Breach occurred, The Council of Vale put Ironwood in charge of Security for the Vytal Festival, Robyn returned to Atlas after unintentionally damaging Rick's S35 in battle, Neo returned to Rick's side, Hevy is still alive and has been on Remnant for many years despite being in stasis while Kota and Proxy have arrived, also Cinder and Salem's plan may have hit an unexpected bump in the road, but does that mean their plan will be jeopardy or will they have a backup plan? You'll have to wait and see, but first its time for Galen to see what the Rebellion has been up too.
Onto reviews and PM's.
Darth Cody: I'll consider on evolving March's semblance. I still need to figure out the right time when Galen unlocks his semblance, which I will thank you for helping me out with that.
54godamora: For the moment, its only Hevy that is still alive. I'd always wished that Hevy didn't die on the Rishi moon, even if he died a hero. He's someone who deserves to be an ARC-Trooper, in my opinion anyway.
Jack Smith1: Off course the clones will play a part in bringing down the Empire. Why would I bring them in if I didn't plan on having them help in bringing down the government who used their sacrifices just to further Sidious's own personal gain. I agree, 2020 has been a really pain in the ass especially for my friend who lost his dad to cancer. As for the rebellion setting up a base on Remnant, you'll have to wait and see.
Ham1999: In regards to your idea of the BFG-10K, I think I'll make it like Stonehenge from Ace Combat as an anti-aircraft weapon, with a little bit of Doom technology in its design but as a prototype. Keep in mind, it will be a secret project being developed by the Kingdoms, so it may not be ready by the time of the planned imperial invasion and depending on what Watt's finds out, he may try to sabotage it. As for Flynn Taggert, I'm not entirely sure.
Spartan-626: First off, thanks for the help with the weapons and clothing for Galen's teammates, Ruby and her teammates. Second, thanks for the review. Like I have said, I think Hevy was always meant to be an Arc-Trooper and the whole 'surviving the explosion that would have been one's death' you'll probably see something like that in my future Halo/Star Wars story I plan on doing. Reminder, it involves Noble Six, a female Noble Six. As for what Kota will share with Galen and the surviving Jedi, you'll have to wait and see.
Mr. Shades42: I haven't really thought about the Experimental Jedi Armor.
Luffy L Deathstalker: Trust me brother, you have no idea how bad things are going to get in the future.
Galen Marek, the guest: I've already decided what Arthur is going to wear in these chapters. You stay safe as well.
Alright, lets get this started. Disclaimers are the same as before, please enjoy.
Chapter 25: The Rebellion
Surprised wasn't exactly the word that Galen would describe himself at seeing Kota again. When he arrived on Remnant, Galen had thought that everyone in the rebellion thought he was dead. The last thing he expected was that Kota and Proxy would have come looking for him, in his old ship no less. Kota explained that they had intercepted Imperial transmissions regarding a planet in the unknown regions that had many potential allies for the Empire, along with a new resource. Obviously, the Empire had made an agreement with the White Fang and whoever Roman was working with. That explained the number of imperial blasters and equipment being sent to the planet.
As for Kota, he was for the lack of better words shocked when the other Jedi explained that they were still alive because of the actions taken by Fordo and Fives, especially the knowledge of the inhibitor chips. To think that many of the Jedi he knew were killed by those they commanded because they were brainwashed by a chip no one knew anything about. Still his opinion of clones was starting to change, after witnessing their actions during the Breach, but he still had his doubts.
"Everyone will no doubt be surprised to know that you are still alive. More surprised then when they realize that there are several other surviving Jedi out in the galaxy. I'm not so certain about their opinion about the clones however, seeing as they helped bring about the rise of the Empire." Kota said after the explanation's were finished.
"What about Juno? Where is she?" Galen asked.
Kota sighed before he answered Galen's question. "I'm afraid that Captain Eclipse was killed a month ago." Kota said. "She led a raid on an imperial convoy in the outer rim. They were able to steal the supplies from the convoy, but they were ambushed by the convoy's escorts that arrived as they were leaving. Most of her squadron was killed and her fighters hyperdrive was damaged so she couldn't escape. I was told that she stayed behind to cover the retreat of her squadron. That was the last anyone heard of her before intelligence learned that she was executed as a traitor after she refused to give up the rebellion."
"Juno's… dead?" Galen said silently as Kota put a hand on Galen's shoulder.
"I'm sorry, boy. I know how close you two were." Kota said before he turned to Ozpin, who brought both Galen's team, Team RWBY, Jesden and Ironwood to the base. "I must say I am also surprised at the presence of the Droid army on this planet. Clearly there's a lot more to this then any of us know. Seems that the Grimm are not the only thing you have to worry about." He said to the headmasters of Beacon and Atlas.
"So, I take it that means you'll be sending the rebellion here?" Ironwood asked.
"Sadly, I cannot. Even if I reported that the Empire has taken an interested in your world, they wouldn't be able to send any support. We may have scored several victories against the Empire, but we still lack the resources and ships necessary to assist you, especially considering that our intelligence network has been trying to figure out what the Empire is planning." Kota explained.
"Well, what if we go with you, tell them what's been happening on Remnant from people who actually live on the planet?" Ruby suggested.
"That could work," Kota began. "But all of you are still young and shouldn't be exposed to war, yet I sense that all of you are determined to assist us in this war. I respect your courage so I will speak to senator Organa about your offer. I'll be back momentarily." He added and left the command room.
Ruby turned towards Galen and noticed that he was a little saddened. "You ok?" she asked.
"Not really. Juno's dead and I wasn't able to see her again. I honestly hoped I would see her again after I rescued Kota and the others from the Empire." Galen answered. "But I know one thing, she'll live on in my heart." He added.
"So long as you don't forget about her, she will." Ruby said in agreement just as Kota returned.
"It seems that Senator Organa had agreed to meet with you all, so you'll be accompanying me back to our base. I would suggest you be on your best behavior, since you will be meeting the rebel leaders. They have also asked to meet with Ahsoka as well. My guess it has something to do with her trial years ago." he explained.
"If I'm going, I'll be taking Rex and the Bad Batch with me, plus several ARC-Troopers. I believe that Rex and his brothers should at least be able to explain their side of the story to Senator Organa." Ahsoka added.
"Very well then. If that's what you wish then I won't stop you." Kota answered, just before Master Plo said he would be coming as well. The same thing applied for Ozpin and Ironwood, both of whom wanted to see what the Rebellion could do in regards to a certain enemy. Once the arrangements were made, the Rogue Shadow and Havoc Marauder left the planet and jumped to hyperspace, taking with them the very same Shark that Galen drove.
Their departure was sensed by Maul who was listening to Watt's who was none to pleased that the virus he had worked so hard to create was removed and destroyed before they could even use it for their plan. "The whole plan centered around being able to take control of that fool Ironwoods ships and men, making it look like Atlas attacked the Kingdom. Cinder's part of the plan is still salvageable, but as for the part with taking control of his men, I'm afraid there is nothing I can do about this, your grace." Watts said.
"Is that so? Then you had best convince me as too why I shouldn't have the Grimm tear you apart." Salem said, gesturing to the Grimm behind her. Arthur started to sweat bullets at the thought of being killed before Maul came to his defense, much to his surprise.
"I believe there may be another way to achieve our goal." He said, getting Salem's attention. "When my brother and I were roaming the galaxy, planning our revenge against a certain Jedi Knight, we heard rumors of a Separatist ship that was well armed and equipped with a deadly weapon. Ironwood believes his forces will be enough to protect his people from any and all threats, but this weapon is like nothing he had ever seen before."
"Go on." Salem said, intrigued by what Maul was getting at and ordering the Grimm behind her to leave.
"Doctor Watts, your skills are still of use to us. Being able to work on such a weapon would be something that would no doubt help you achieve your goal." Maul said, turning his head to the former doctor. "The only problem is that I do not have the plans for such ships, but I know where to find them. Our objective still remains to give young Cinder the power she desires, but we still have yet to determine the location of the power she desires. But as you say 'we'll cross that bridge when we come to it'. I know where the ships were built so I will leave and bring the plans back with me, we have all the droids and materials we need to build such vessels. I shouldn't take no more than a day. When I return, I have another plan I wish to discuss with you, my lady." He added.
"And what is this other plan?" Salem asked.
"Oh, it is a plan that I am sure you approve of." Maul said before he got up and headed towards where his old Scimitar courier ship was kept, which he was able to liberate from his old master after he escaped from Stygeon. Powering up his old ship for the first time in years, Maul soon made the jump to hyperspace and left Remnant behind.
Meanwhile, the Rogue Shadow and Havoc Marauder continued to travel through hyperspace. While Ruby and Galen's teammates were doing their own things, Ruby had asked Kota about the rebellion. Kota explained that originally, various rebel cells across the galaxy were waging their own war against the empire. Many of these groups started a year after the Empire rose to power, some of whom were supported by senators from inside the Imperial senate. Three of these resistance groups signed a treaty months ago, which almost saw the end of the rebellion before it even began. This was largely in part to Vader using Galen as a means to gather the Emperor's enemies in one place so they could eliminate them, under the guise of overthrowing the Emperor.
Ruby was surprised at the very least that Empire had unintentionally created the rebellion in order to destroy those who would directly challenge the Empire's might. Her disgust of the Empire was increased when Kota mentioned everything that the Empire had been doing since rising to power. Slavery, appointing Moffs and Grand Moffs to various sectors of the galaxy and killing entire populations as a way to send a message to those who would defy the empire. Hearing all of this made her determined to help bring the Empire down, seeing all this as an advanced step of being a Huntress.
It wasn't long before Proxy announced that they had arrived at Dantooine and when the two teams entered the cockpit, they saw a planet full of grasslands, lakes and rivers unlike anything that had ever seen. It came as a surprise to the Remnant natives that Dantooine was a farming world, but with large areas of land owned by small communities. As the ships flew over many farms and settlements, they were soon joined by several RZ-1 A-Wings and Cutlass-9 Patrol fighters that escorted them to the base.
Both ships and the fighters soon landed at the base and when Ruby, her friends, Ozpin and Ironwood exited the Rouge Shadow, they were greeted to a sight they never thought they would see. Various alien species were performing work on fighters and other vehicles. Some of them had tails on their heads and others appeared to have a fish like appearance. Some were hairy and very big, some had green, yellow, blue and purple skin while others looked to be human with horns on their heads along with humans. Others looked to be like Ahsoka. "So, these people aren't Faunus?" Blake asked.
"No. Everyone here has joined together because of what the Empire has done to their people and wishes to bring back the Republic." Kota answered.
As for the clones, many of the people glared at them. Not many were too keen on working with those who helped bring about the Empire. One of them however, a Twi'lek with teal skin and brown eyes wearing the same armor as members of Kota's militia, had their sights set on Waxer and Boil, pushed past those who were just standing and walked right up to the two troopers of the 212th. "Nerra?" she said.
"It can't be, Numa?" Waxer asked, looking directly into Numa's eyes and remembered the little girl he and Boil met on Ryloth all those years ago. "Look at you, once a little girl and now you've grown up." Waxer said with a chuckle.
"You remember me." Numa said and wrapped her arms around Waxer, much to the trooper's surprise and joy. "It's sure been a long time, but I want to say thank you for saving my life all those years ago." she said.
"And you've grown up too. Hey, Boil! Its Numa!" Waxer called out. Much like his brother, Boil was both surprised and happy to see Numa. The happiness ended as walking out of the building that one assumed to be the command center, was a man with black hair which showed signs of greying, brown eyes and tan skin wearing blue clothing. With him was a girl of seventeen years old with brown eyes, dark brown hair and tan skin, wearing formal like clothing. They were Senator Bail Organa and his daughter Leia Organa.
"Well, General Kota. It seems that you were right in assuming that Galen was alive and it seems that you also brought multiple clone troopers and others from the planet they were on." Bail said, surprisingly. He then spotted Plo and Ahsoka. "Master Plo, Padawan… I mean Ahsoka. First off, it's a pleasure to see that you are still alive. Ahsoka, I want to apologize for not being able to do more for you when you put on trial for a crime you didn't commit. If it's any consideration, I always knew you were innocent and had you said the word, I would have done anything and everything to help you through the last days of the Republic." He spoke. He then turned to the girl beside him. "This is my daughter Leia." He introduced.
"I've heard stories about you Ahsoka. It's an honor to meet you. I've read about your trial and I'm disgusted by how you were treated." Leia said. "In my opinion, you never should have been put on trial." She added.
"Thank you." Ahsoka answered. "Is Lux here?" Ahsoka asked.
"I'm sorry. But Senator Bonteri is actually inside the Imperial senate. He's one of our contacts inside the Empire who's been sending us information about Imperial targets across the Japrael sector. He's been doing everything he can to support us, but the Empire has begun to suspect him of supporting the Rebellion. There isn't much he can do until the suspicion is off him." Bail answered.
"Oh, I see." Ahsoka said sadly.
"He did tell me to give you a message. He said 'I'm sorry I couldn't help you when you needed help the most, but I always knew you were innocent'." Bail told the old Padawan.
"It seems that the Empire's enemies are hiding in plain sight." Ozpin said, walking towards the former senator of Alderaan. "I'm headmaster Ozpin of Beacon academy, from the Planet of Remnant. This is my fellow headmaster, Ironwood. He too is a head master, but for the Atlas Huntsmen Academy."
"A pleasure, please come this way. We can discuss things inside the command center." Bail said. He then noticed Rex. "Captain Rex, its good to see that you are still alive." He said to the clone captain.
"Thank you, senator." Rex said and followed the others after instructing his brothers not to get into any trouble, considering that many of the rebel soldiers were giving them nasty looks, no doubt because of their role they played in the rise of the Empire, even if they were practically brainwashed.
It wasn't long before both the headmasters, Kota, Galen, his team, Rex, Plo, Ahsoka, Ruby and her team reached the bases command center which was full of advanced technology that one from Remnant would say they saw in a science fiction movie. Terminal's were located all around the room while a large table of sorts sat in the middle of the room. "First off, allow me to say its good to see that you are still alive, Galen. Your family's crest has become our symbol since we all assumed you were dead." Bail said, taking a place on the other side of the table. "Secondly, you've caught us at a terrible time."
"I honestly don't care that you're using my family's crest for the rebellion. But what do you mean that we've caught you at a terrible time?" Galen answered and asked.
"Our spies have intercepted transmissions regarding an impending Imperial attack on one of the planets loyal to the Emperor. Our recent victories have resulted in many people flocking to the rebellion, further increasing our numbers, including several Imperial defectors who have provided us with useful intel." Bail continued.
"But our victories have earned us the Emperors attention. We've suffered losses because many of our captains and commanders have launched futile attacks on heavily fortified imperial targets. As a result, we've lost considerable manpower and ships. One of those captains, Sutherland has not only launched several of these attacks, but has also sent his forces in with inadequate equipment. As a result, he's the only one of his men who came back alive." A new voice echoed.
Turning around, everyone looked to see a human male with blonde hair and brown eyes wearing the standard orange jumpsuit of rebel pilots walked in, saluting Kota before his eyes fell towards Rex. "Captain Rex? You're alive?" the pilot asked in shock.
"Halberton? What are you doing here?" Rex asked, equally in shock.
"You know him?" Ruby asked.
"I do. Duane Halberton. I met him during the final days of the Clone Wars, on Coruscant shortly after the Separatists bombed the central power generator. He lived in the lower levels with his family and while they didn't have much, Halberton always wanted to be a ship captain. When I met him, his home was destroyed during several riots that broke out after the power was knocked out. His parents were killed and he would have been too had I not saved his life." Rex explained.
"And for that I will always be grateful for what you did for me Captain." Halberton said before he continued where Rex left off. "Several years after the Republic was transformed into the Empire, I joined the Imperial academy and rose through the ranks until I became captain of a Star Destroyer. For a while, I was willing to do whatever the empire asked of me, until they ordered me to attack unarmed transports carrying medical supplies to Kiros. The planet was suffering a shortage of medical supplies after a recent pirate attack and command ordered me to destroy the ships. I refused and ordered my ship to stand down, by my second in command ordered the ship to be destroyed and then had the nerve too even go as far as take the entire population of Kiros into slavery. I couldn't stand following such orders, so I left the Empire shortly afterwards but not after contacting the Lok Revenants who raided the slave transports when they entered the Karthakk system. It was then that I met with General Kota and joined the Rebellion."
"Well, at least you fight for what's right." Blake said. "But what does that have to do with what the Empire is planning?" she asked.
"Simple. The Lok Revenants have reported an increased imperial presence on Geonosis. The Geonosian's have been enslaved by the Empire for some time and recently, our spies have also confirmed that the Empire has been sending numerous ships to and from the planet at an alarming wake. They've also picked up chatter involving Delta Squad, Darman Skirata, Climber, Trace, Niner and Commander Cody are being kept in stasis on the very planet." Halberton answered.
"Cody's being held by the Empire!? We've got to get him back!" Rex shouted.
"And we will, but we also need to know what the Empire is up too on the planet. Unfortunately, we have no one to send at the moment. Many of our commando teams are either away on other missions or have been wiped out. Someone inside the Rebellion is selling us out." Bail answered.
"I'm sure that Teams GARM and RWBY would be more than up for this task. Not only them, but Captain Rex and his men will be with them." Ozpin suggested.
"You can't be serious!? They're just children, not soldiers. Captain Rex and his men…" Ironwood began to protest before Galen interrupted the general.
"We'd be more than happy to assist the rebellion. But I'm afraid we need gear and weapons. When the imperial scout fleet came to Remnant, it was revealed that the weapons native to Remnant are not effective against Stormtroopers." Galen said, noticing Ruby perking up at the moment he mentioned weapons.
"Go to the quartermaster. He'll provide you with everything you need for your mission." Kota instructed Galen. Galen nodded, but before he left, he gave Kota a datapad containing the information about Remnants military strength in terms of air power and armor. "I sense you do not approve of Ozpins decision." Kota said to Ironwood.
"They are children, General. They're not trained in the art of war, not like these men here." Ironwood replied.
"Maybe so, but I sensed much determination in all of them. They are more than willing to fight the Empire, even if they aren't trained soldiers. The case seems to be particularly true for young Ruby. She is more determined to protect the people and fight for what she believes in." Kota answered, looking through the data pad Galen had given him.
Speaking of Galen, he and the others had arrived at the armory where they were greeted by a member of Kota's militia, a human male in his mid-to late thirties with dark skin, black hair and brown eyes. One look at him and anyone could tell that this man was a seasoned combat veteran, possibly having served with Kota during the Clone War. The smell of dried tobacco filled their noses with an unpleasant smell as the man in question let out a puff of smoke, dropped his cigar and crushed it with his boot. "Welcome to my armory, ladies. I'm Sergeant Major Avery Johnson, of Corellia." The man introduced, not noticing that Ruby had rushed past him and entered her weapon nerd mode.
"So many weapons, coooool!" she squealed, eyeing a sniper rifle and practically drooled at the sight of it.
"Little lady, please get back here!" Johnson shouted to Ruby, who jumped in alarm and scurried back to where the others were. Weiss facepalmed herself in embarrassment, as did Yang and Blake. "I assume that she has an unhealthy interest in weapons?" Johnson asked.
"You have no idea." Weiss answered.
"Never met someone who had an interest in weapons like her." Johnson said with a chuckle. "Now listen up! I've been told by General Kota to outfit you all with the weapons and gear you'll need for your mission to bug central. Your weapons may be useful on your world against whatever ugly son of a hutt you fight, but against the Empire you need something that backs a bunch." He said in a drill sergeant like mode. "Now, before you get your weapons, you'll need proper combat gear!" he added.
He then turned to Weiss. "You, Ice Queen!" he said, getting an annoyed response from Weiss. "A dress isn't suited for battle unless you want to get killed. Go and change into something more appropriate for a soldier! The same goes for the rest of you." He shouted.
The Remnant natives nodded and hastily did as they were ordered. Everyone except for Arthur and Galen that is. "You son, you look like you are a Mandalorian with that armor. But your armor can only take you so far without the proper upgrades. We have several Mandalorian engineers in back, take your shiny armor and go get it upgraded." Johnson ordered. Arthur didn't complain and headed into the back.
As for Galen, Johnson looked to the young Jedi with a smile. "So, you're the one who killed a lot of my comrades on Nar Shadda huh?" he asked. "If you think for a second that I hate you for what you did, you're wrong. The General told us everything about the lies you were told and how you were used by that Hutt slime of man they call Vader. I would have done the same thing if I were in your position." He explained.
That made Galen feel a bit better, though he felt that a lot of those soldiers he killed could have helped the rebellion out. Before Galen could say anything, Rex rushed into the armory with a concerned look. "Wreckers gone and started a fight between some of the soldiers!" he said with concern.
Galen was quick to rush out and found that Rex wasn't kidding. Wrecker was indeed starting a fight between some of the rebel soldiers. The large trooper was being held back by Hardcase, Jesse and Kix while the rebel soldiers were just trying to coax Wrecker into fighting. "Why don't you say that again to my face!" Wrecker spat.
"Its just I said, you're nothing more than obedient pet. What? Did helping the Emperor take our basic liberties not enough for a muscle head like you? You're the reason the Empire came into power and the Jedi are dead!" the soldier shouted.
"Knock it off, private! They aren't to blame for the Empire's rise to power. They were being used just like the Jedi were." Another soldier, a Sergeant shouted.
"You said the same thing Sarge." The soldier stated.
"I was drunk. You know how I get when I have too much liquor." The Sergeant answered.
"Doesn't change the fact that these genetically made soldiers were bred only to follow orders like they are a bunch of droids! We don't need them, so take your ships, brothers and get the hell out of here! We can fight the Empire without your help, especially a muscle-bound idiot like you!" the soldier spat.
"I'll show you an idiot!" Wrecker shouted and pushed Jesse, Hardcase and Kix away before the charged at the soldier and stopped right in front of the soldier. "Go ahead, try and knock me down! I dare you!" Wrecker challenged. The rebel soldier just smirked and threw a punch at Wrecker who caught the punch before he tossed the soldier into a supply crate. "Anyone else want to have a go!?" Wrecker asked.
Most of the rebel soldiers backed away, but some tried to have a go at Wrecker, only to end up the same way as the soldier from before. Said soldier got back to his feet and wiped the blood that was dripping from his upper lip. "You clone's think you're so superior!? Well, you're nothing but a bunch of…" the soldier began before Rex, Kota and Galen arrived.
"That's enough, Private!" Kota shouted, getting everyone to stand down. "You're out line. I'll be the first to admit that the clones may have been responsible for the rise of the Empire, but they were used just as the Jedi were. These troopers never followed Order 66, considering that one trooper knew about the Inhibitor chips and removed them from as many of his brothers as possible. I may not have trusted clones before, but we need all the manpower we can get if we are to fight the empire." Kota declared. "All of you who challenge Wrecker are confined to your quarters until further notice." He added, as several troopers arrived and tended to the other soldiers who weren't hurt so badly before they were escorted to their quarters.
Kota then turned to Wrecker. "You could have killed them, but you held back. Why did you?" Kota asked.
"I could have easily killed them, but then again I'm not a bad guy. Besides, we fought against the Empire and after hearing everything that Numa told us about them, I'm glad I'm not a buckethead." Wrecker answered.
"Wrecker might be a big guy, but he's not the type to pick fights. Unless its with the clankers or battle droids." Hunter added. "Hell, he even helped a kid back on Remnant reunite with their family after the Breach, even cleared the rubble where several civies were trapped."
Kota smiled. Though he still needed time to trust the clones, he was starting to see that they would no doubt be a great asset to the Rebellion. "At least this didn't result in a firefight." Galen said with relief. "Seems that a lot of soldiers aren't very happy about working with Rex and his brothers. That could be a problem." He added.
"A problem that we will need to rectify." Kota agreed.
A couple of hours later and both the Rogue Shadow and Havoc Marauder were ready for departure. As the last of the supplies were loaded up, Ruby and the others walked out of the armory. Instead of their usual clothing, everyone of them were wearing clothing more suitable for the galaxy they were in, including their weapons.
Ruby wore a red colored military jacket with armor, a white muffler around her neck, black fingerless gloves and black combat boots along with her cape. Her weapons of choice were a modified DC-15A blaster rifle fitted with a sniper scope of a DC-15X and a single DL-44 blaster pistol.
Yang wore a long-sleeved yellow t-shirt, brown vest, black pants and brown boots and looked more like a smuggler than a huntress in training. Her weapons were the DP-23 pump-action shotgun and WESTAR M5 blaster rifle, both of which were used by the clone army.
Blake and Weiss wore the same type of light armor, but Blakes was black, purple and white while Weiss's was blue and white. Both of them had a Vibrosword and pair of blaster pistols, Weiss's being a pair of DC-17s and Blakes a pair of WESTAR-35s.
Rose kept her usual hat, but wore brown boots, brown gauntlets, a red scarf, brown shirt and brown pants. Her weapons were also a pair of WESTAR-35 blaster pistols, an E-17D sniper rifle and an A-280 blaster rifle, the latter of which were used by the Rebellion.
March on the other hand wore the same attire as Kota's militia but wore a streamlined helmet. Across his chest were two bandoliers of grenades for his V-6D mortar launcher, a weapon that was primarily used by Imperial officers. On his back was a DLT-19 heavy blaster rifle while on his hips were a Vibrosword and a single DL-44 pistol.
Arthur still wore his family's armor, but from a glance Galen could tell it was modified with an energy shield, an air filter, pressurized for usage in space, while his gauntlets blades and guns were swapped out with Vibrosword blades and blaster functions instead of the basic tech. He still had Excalibur but he now also carried a DC-15S blaster carbine.
"Alright, lets move out." Rex ordered as the two teams boarded the Rogue Shadow with Rex and his brothers from the 501st while Waxer and Boil boarded the Marauder. Both ships soon left the planet's atmosphere and once the coordinates were inputted into the navi-computer both ships made the jump to hyperspace.
Both ships dropped out of hyperspace an hour later and the natives of Remnant saw the planet Geonosis for the first time. "You know, except for the belts of space rocks, the planets surface looks like its Vacuo or even the deserts of Anima." Rose said.
"I'm not picking up any imperial ships in orbit." Jesse said over the commlink from the Marauder. "Either the intel the rebellion has is wrong, or the Empire is doing everything they can to keep prying eyes from learning what they're up to out here." he added.
"Then we need to get down there." Galen said. "Tech, scan the topography of the planet and find a place to land away from any imperial forces. We don't need to attract any unwanted attention. Jam their transmissions." He said into his own commlink.
"Copy that." Tech replied and did as he was ordered. Several minutes later, Tech found a place for the two ships to land; the Pentranaki area, where numerous Jedi lost their lives and where the war began. The landing zone was filled with large holes in the ground which Rex explained were where Trade Federation Core Ships withdrew from the planet, loaded with legions of battle droids constructed by the Geonosians who allied themselves with the Separatists. Some of the core ships were destroyed, covering the holes where they launched from along with multiple destroyed Walkers, tanks and Gunships.
Both ships soon touched down and everyone exited the ships, with Galen driving the Shark off the Rouge Shadow. "Place looks like a war zone." March said.
"That's because it was a warzone." Rex clarified.
"I've picked up the signals of Commander Cody and the commandos' pods. They're in the area, but I'm also picking up signals from two other locations. One's below us and the other is forty kilometers away from us." Tech reported.
"Hunter, take your team and see what's underground. Look for one of the core ship docks, there might be an entrance there. Rex, take your brothers, Yang, Ahsoka, Arthur and the others and check out the area, find your brothers and get them back in the fight. Ruby and I will check out the one farthest away." Galen instructed, powering up the Shark which Ruby jumped into the passenger seat. "Maintain communication silence unless absolutely necessary and March, don't go using the Mortar Launcher." He added, getting March to complain under his breath. "Proxy, take the ships and hide them somewhere. We don't want to get stuck on this planet if our ships are destroyed."
Once everyone was given their instructions, they headed towards their designated areas while Ruby and Galen headed towards the location that Tech said. "So, what do you think the Empire is doing here?" Ruby asked Galen.
"I don't know. But knowing the Empire, its probably something bad. Keep your eyes open for anything, they might not be expecting visitors but in the event, they are it's safe to assume that they have something waiting for uninvited guests." Galen answered, keeping his eyes glued to the holo-map equipped to the Shark, like all the other buggies.
As they kept driving, both Team leaders noticed the wreckage of several trader ships that were shot down. From a glance, Galen saw the blast marks on the hulls of the ships, indicating that they were shot down by imperial fighters or air-to-ground defense weapons. If there were survivors, they were most likely dead from the crash or gunned down by the Empire.
The two kept on driving for a little longer before they came to a stop in a broad valley where they both noticed a landing pad above them. "Got an ascension cable?" Galen asked Ruby. Ruby nodded and aimed her new rifle, which she dubbed Crescent Rose MK2 and fired her cable which latched onto the landing pad. Ruby quickly pulled herself up to the landing pad with Galen following suit with his own cable and reached the top. "Ok, keep yourself ready for anything. I've got the feeling we're not alone." Galen said to Ruby.
"Got it." Ruby answered and followed Galen into the hanger. The entire hanger was abandoned, but showed signs that someone had indeed been using the hanger for some unknown purpose. "Seems that this place was the sight of a battle of some kind. Think it was the Jedi?" Ruby asked.
"Has to be. From what Tech told me, this place used to be Dooku's hanger for his Solar Sailor, before that it was used for Geonosian Starfighters. I heard that Republic intelligence agents investigated this place to look for Dooku's whereabouts, but they came up with nothing." Galen explained.
"Seems that this Dooku character had all his bases covered." Ruby said. She scanned the hanger with her rifle, but didn't see anything out of the ordinary. That is until she saw something, a silhouette of a figure moving in the corner. "I've got something!" she shouted.
Galen turned and saw the silhouette and quickly pulled the figure towards him. The figure was Twi'lek, wearing dirt covered clothing and looked half-starved. "Please… help me…." The Twi'lek said weakly. Suddenly, a blaster bolt went right through the Twi'leks chest, killing them and coming towards the two team leaders were three squads of Desert Stormtroopers who were looking for the Twi'lek.
"Intruders! Blast them!" one of the Stormtroopers shouted, their commanding officer if Galen was right. Activating his lightsabers, Galen started to deflect blaster fire while Ruby used her new weapon and opened fire on the troopers. One trooper was nailed with a headshot from Ruby's rifle, another was taken out by a headshot. Galen threw his green saber at the troopers, slashing them across the torso before he picked up a large piece of debris with the force before he threw it towards several troopers, crushing them while Ruby took out her forth trooper of the day. "Focus fire on the Jedi!" the commanding officer shouted, firing their heavy blaster rifle at Galen who continued to deflect blaster fire, sending some of the shots back towards some of the other troopers, killing them.
Ruby kept firing her blaster rifle, taking out another trooper with her blaster rifle. Suddenly, she noticed a trooper preparing to throw a grenade at them and gunned them down. The trooper fell to the ground dead as the grenade rolled out of their dead hand and towards several allies before it exploded. "We need back up!" one trooper shouted before they were cut down by Galen.
The last of troopers backed away in fear as Galen walked closer to the trooper, blocking blaster bolts before their blaster was sliced in half and they lost their head. "Not exactly the way you expected your first fight against the Empire would go, right?" Galen asked Ruby.
"N…. No. Not really." Ruby stuttered. She never thought she would kill anything but the Grimm before meeting Galen. It was a bit difficult for her to grasp on how she had just killed another person, but that faded after she remembered what Kota had told her about what the Empire had done to the galaxy. "So, uh, what do you think that was all about?" she asked.
"Don't know." Galen said, walking over to the body of the Twi'lek and flipped them over before searching through their jacket until he found something. "Looks like this Twi'lek must have gotten their hands on a code cylinder. Something tells me that whatever's on this thing, the Empire doesn't want anyone getting their hands on it." He surmised, pocketing the code cylinder into his belt.
"I think I might have found something else." Ruby said, pulling a data-pad from one of the dead troopers' belts, which remined her a lot of her Scroll. "I can't read any of this." She said, trying to make heads or tails of what the data-pad said.
"Let's take it with us." Galen said, taking the data-pad from Ruby. Just then Galen's commlink beeped. "This is Galen, go ahead." He said into the commlink.
"Galen, its Rex! We're under heavy fire in the arena. Sniper spotted us and March went and used his mortar launcher. We need back up now!" Rex shouted urgently over the commlink.
"We're on our way!" Galen said, putting his commlink away and looked towards Ruby who heard everything. Both of them nodded and headed back to the landing pad before jumping off the platform. Ruby was able to use her semblance for a few seconds to land in a burst of rose petals while Galen used the force to stop his fall. Both of them quickly jumped into the seats of the Shark and were about to leave when blaster fire flew over their heads.
Turning to the source, both team leaders spotted a Viper Probe Droid nearby had arrived only to be destroyed by Ruby's rifle. Sadly, the probe droid had already alerted the Imperial forces to their presence and worse, the Bad Batch hadn't checked in yet. "Looks like this isn't going to be an easy assignment." Ruby said to herself.
"It never is." Galen admitted and gave the buggy some gas and shot off like a rocket towards the arena. Ruby strapped herself in and tried to contact her team, only to hear a noise she never heard before. Turning her head to the left, both she and Galen spotted six Imperial TX-130T fighter tanks. "Great, we got company." He said to himself.
"Can't we take them out!?" Ruby asked.
"Those tanks have shielding, so the machine guns won't do enough damage to the shields to knock them out. Not to mention they've got missile launchers!" Galen shouted. "They're also a bit faster than us, so we might be in a bit of trouble." He added.
"Great, just great!" Ruby said in annoyance as the fighter tanks got closer and closer to them. Once they were in range, the tanks started to open fire on the two of them.
(Wasteland Run starts)
"There shooting at us!" Ruby called out, readying her blaster for battle only to have Galen pull her back down.
"Blasters aren't going to do anything against those tanks! We've got no choice but to take them out!" Galen shouted. Once again, Rex called over the commlink that they were getting hammered by Imperial forces and they needed back up. "Galen to Rex, we've picked up some problems of our own. A couple of fighter tanks! We might be a little late to the party!" he shouted, pushing the Shark's engine to its limits and trying to keep the fighter tanks from getting too close.
"Understood. We'll hold out as long as we can! March, put that Mortar Launcher down and use that 'machine gun' of yours!" Rex shouted over the commlink.
"Sounds like March is being reckless again. That guy is going to get himself killed." Galen muttered to himself before he pressed a button and switched from the machine guns to the laser cannons. "Good thing I know how to drive stick."
Switching gears, he reduced his buggy's speed allowing him and Ruby to get behind the fighter tanks before opening up with the cannons. Blue laser bolts flew from the cannons towards the tanks, impacting their shields before a couple of rounds managed to destroy one of the tanks. "That's one tank down, five too go!" Ruby said.
The other tanks turned around and soon started to fire their own cannons at Galen and Ruby. Their shots did hit the Shark, but Galen's vehicle was equipped with shielding like the TX-130's used by the Republic. Even still, Galen knew the shields wouldn't last forever so he opened up with the cannons again, destroying a second tank. "Two tanks are history, four left!"
The third tank fired several missiles at Galen and Ruby, but Galen hit the boosters and drove their vehicle up a makeshift rock ramp before he threw a grenade, he picked up from earlier into the tank's turret, using the force to guide the grenade into the tank before it exploded in a fireball. "Three tanks cut, only three too go!"
Landing back on the ground jostled the two in their seats, but the laser cannons were overheated so Galen had no choice but to switch back to the machine guns. One tank rocketed past the two, the gunner fired the beam turret at them, but the shot missed. This allowed Galen to get behind the tank and fire the machine guns. Much to his surprise, the bullets ripped right through the tanks shielding and turned the tank and its crew into nothing but flaming remains. "That's the fourth tank, two bad boys left!"
The second tank was right in front of them and once again the gunner of the tank fired the beam turret. The Sharks shields dropped to about thirty percent after the turret stopped firing to recharge, giving Galen the chance to fire the machine guns yet again, destroying the fifth tank. "We've got the fifth tank, only one to go!"
The last tank was focused entirely on the wheeled vehicle and didn't notice a small rock bridge ahead of them started to collapse into the ravine below. By the time the tank crew did, they fell to their deaths. As for Galen and Ruby, they spotted another rock ramp and drove up it at full speed with the boosters at full power and jumped the gap, landing on the other side with a thump. Thankfully, both team leaders were fine. "Nice work, Galen!" Ruby cheered.
"Thanks. Hang on!" he said and gave the Shark some gas while continuing to head towards the area.
(End song)
Meanwhile, in the Pentrankai area Stormtroopers of various types including Jumptroopers, Scout Troopers, Sand Troopers and Shock Troopers fired their weapons from the arena stands. Blaster rifles, sniper rifles, rocket launchers and heavy repeating blaster fire kept Rex and the others pinned down behind a destroyed column. "Fives, Echo, Hevy, suppressing fire on the left flank! Take out those bucket heads with the rocket launchers! Rose and Arthur give them some support! Jesse, Kix, Hardcase, Waxer, Boil, double back through the entrance, get up in the stands and eliminate those launchers. Take Yang and the crazy rabbit with you and for all our sakes, keep him from using that Mortar launcher!" Rex ordered, firing his blaster pistols at the Stormtroopers in the arena itself, taking down a few of them while Ahsoka slashed several of them across the chest, killing them.
"Sir yes sir!" the troopers shouted as they and the students that were instructed to go with them followed after. Blake and Weiss used their Vibroblades and slashed a couple of Stormtroopers with their blades while firing one of their pistols at the other Stormtroopers.
Weiss sheathed her blade, drew her other pistol and fired at the airborne troopers, taking out several of them. Blake jumped upwards, landed on the back of one of the Jumptroopers and fired her pistols into the troopers JT-12 jetpack before jumping off, landing in the stands as the trooper she used as a taxi exploded in mid-air. "Where are Ruby and Galen!?" she asked out loud.
"Knowing them, they're probably engaging imperial forces because Ruby…" Weiss began before she ducked down to avoid getting her head shot off. "Probably wanted to get a weapon or two as a souvenir or something." She added.
"This is a war zone; souvenirs aren't a priority!" Rex shouted, throwing a grenade up into the stands which exploded, killing a few shock troopers that were trying to get the drop on Blake from above. "Ruby knows better than anyone to dawdle in an area teaming with hostiles!" he added, firing his pistols and downing another few trooper's.
A blaster bolt from above slammed into the helmet of a scout trooper, followed by several more. Five enemy snipers fell to the ground before another two joined their comrades. "Got you covered!" Ruby said over the commlink as Galen leapt from the arena box where the shots came from, his lightsabers ignited as several Riot stormtroopers rushed into the arena with their staffs crackling with energy.
"Ruby! Snipe those troopers with the staffs! I'll help Blake!" Galen shouted and rushed forwards, deflecting blaster fire with his sabers as Ruby did as he instructed. Once he got close, he leapt over the troopers who were soon sniped by Ruby before he landed behind several Stormtroopers and began hacking away at the imperial forces.
Limbs flew left and right as stormtroopers of various types rushed at Galen, trying to hit him with the butt of their weapons. All they got was a slash from a lightsaber and or blasted by the force as Galen continued to make quick work of the troopers. A grenade was thrown towards him, but Galen sent it back with a push from the force taking out the trooper who threw it. The troopers still in the stands quickly retreated back inside the arena, only to be gunned down by those inside the arena.
Leaping over the stands and landing in the arena, Galen watched as several Purge troopers entered from one of the entrances and fired their missile launchers. "Ahsoka!" he shouted to the Togruta Jedi who finished off a shock trooper before rushing over to Galen, both of them catching the missiles launched towards them and sending them back to the battle droids. Some of the droids were blown to bits while others were blasted by Rex, Ruby and the others. Those that weren't gunned down were electrocuted by a blast of Force Lightning from Galen.
"This is Jesse. We've found the Commander and the commandos, but we're pinned down by heavy weapons! We need backup!" Jesse called over the commlink urgently. Rex was then quick to order everyone else to support them, including Ruby who was rejoined by Galen who leapt back up to where she was sniping from and headed towards the area where Jesse was.
Speaking of said Arc Trooper, Jesse watched as Yang fired her shotgun at several troopers, killing them before she loaded a fresh pack into her weapon. March on the hand kept his finger on the trigger of his blaster, laughing and blasting away at the imperial forces. "Come and get it! I've got plenty for everyone!" March shouted as he moved slowly forwards and blasting anything in his path.
Unlike March, Hardcase moved from cover to cover firing his blaster as he did and downing a few troopers. He then began to lay down covering fire as the rest of them to move up further towards the room where Cody was being kept. However, they soon came face to face with a squad of imperials with heavy blasters and were once again pinned down. March managed to take down two of them before his weapons powerpack was depleted and he needed to change it. As he did, he took a blaster bolt to the shoulder and his aura flickered a bit.
"Aw man, seems that our aura isn't as effective off Remnant!" he complained before finally bringing his weapon back up. Before he could even fire, he saw that the enemy was starting to take fire from behind and sure enough Hevy, Fives, Echo, Galen, Rose, Arthur and Ruby arrived to back them up as did Rex and the others. "Time for my boom-boom gun!" he said with delight, preparing to use the Mortar Launcher. He didn't get the chance too as Galen leapt into the middle of the imperial soldiers, unleashing a powerful Force Repulse that disintegrated the remaining troopers. "Aw, no fair! I didn't get to use my boom-boom gun." March complained.
"This is war kid, it's not a game!" Hardcase said, grabbing March by the collar of his uniform. "Using explosive weapons in close-quarters is a good way to get yourself killed. At least you used your heavy blaster rifle, but you need to stay in cover when shooting otherwise you'll get killed." Hardcase chastised.
"Hey, I'm just looking for a thrill." March answered.
"Are you insane?" Hardcase shouted.
"Eh, just a little." March answered, getting the trooper to hold his hand to his helmet.
"Let's worry about battle tactics later." Rex interrupted. "We've still received no word from Hunter and his men. All we can do now is continue with the mission and hope we hear from them soon." He added, before he entered the room where several stasis pods were kept. Approaching one of the terminals hooked up to the pods, he typed a few commands on the terminal and one of the pods opened up and dropping out of the pod dressed in phase two clone armor with orange stripes was a clone with black hair and brown eyes like the other clones but with a scar above his left eye was the clone named Cody. "Easy there, Cody. You've been in stasis for a long time." Rex said.
"R-Rex?" Cody said groggily as his senses came back. "Is that you?"
"Yeah, its me brother. I'm still alive and so are lot of our brothers. Even Hevy." Rex said, helping Cody to his feet.
"Wait, Hevy is…" Cody began before he noticed said trooper. "Hevy? How are you still alive? I thought you died at Rishi?" he asked.
"It's a long story, Commander. But we can explain it all later, right now let's get the deluxe models out of statis." Hevy said as Rex used the terminal and opened up the other eight pods. The pods each contained a single clone wearing armor much different that the basic clone armor, but different secondary color patterns. Orange, green, maroon, yellow and black, black, blue, red and black adorned the grey and silver Katarn-class commando armor shined through the windows of the room as Delta Squad, the two members of Omega squad and Ion team finally awoke after many years in stasis.
Once everyone was back in the land of the living, Rex explained the situation and needless to say, Cody and the commandos were onboard with the mission and it was now Cody's turn to explain how he and the others ended up in those stasis pods. Turns out, Cody was informed by Fordo about the inhibitor chips but didn't believe the claims at first but after some time, Cody had his own brain scanned and found an inhibitor chip in his head and had it removed just in time. When Order 66 was issued, Cody tried to have his brother in the walker target one of the Core Ships on the upper levels of Utapau, but the gunner hadn't removed his chip and targeted Obi-Wan.
As a result, Cody was arrested on charges of treason and was placed into stasis. As for the commandos, Darmen and Niner were on Coruscant when the order came down and even after Niner ordered his brother to abandon him, Darman refused to leave him and they were captured and placed in stasis as well, after Niner's spine was healed. Delta Squad on the other hand, went back for Sev who they found badly wounded after he was ambushed by the Geonosian warriors that were sent to Kashyyyk with the separatist forces. This resulted in Delta Squad working with the Wookies in defending their people from the Trandoshans that hunted their kind for pelts, as payment for tending to Sev's wounds. It was only during the imperial invasion a year later, the same year that Galen's father was killed that Delta Squad was captured and put into stasis for transport to Kamino for 'reconditioning'.
Luckily for the commandos and Cody, their transport was attacked by pirates and crashed on planet where the Clone Wars began and slept for years until the Empire found their pods and were preparing to send them to Kamino. "I think you're going to need this, brother." Rex said, handing Cody his old Phase 1 which the marshal put on. "Now, lets go find Hunter and the others." Rex added.
Cody agreed, but before they left, Delta 40 'Fixer' had sliced into one of the terminals and found that there was something underneath the arena. At first, the commandos thought it was the droid factory they destroyed but something told Galen it was something else and it was something the Empire didn't want anyone finding.
Heading back to the hole where the Bad Batch repelled into, everyone rappelled down into the hole some of them being reminded of previous times where they rappelled down into the underground or when they found something underground. As the large group rappelled, each of the troopers turned on the lights on their helmets, illuminating their descent before they unhooked themselves from the lines. "Great, we're back underground. Anyone hoping we don't find zombies?" Scorch complained.
"Zombies?" Everyone asked.
"Don't ask." Cody answered. He then noticed a set of tracks that were leading towards the arena, more specifically the area underneath the arena. "I've got a lock on Hunter beacon, he's in that direction." He added, pointing in the direction of the arena.
"Alright, lets get moving. The sooner we can figure out what the Empire is up too, the sooner we can get off this hell of a planet." Sev stated, gruffly.
"Alright then, everyone stay on your guard and keep your eyes open for anything out of the ordinary. Place like this is perfect for the enemy to launch an ambush or two." Rex said, taking the lead with his brothers from the 501st along with Arthur, March, Rose and Galen. Cody, Waxer and Boil along with Yang, Weiss, Ahsoka and Blake were in the middle while the commando's guarded the rear. As for Ruby, she stood back for a few minutes before she spotted something on the ground buried in the sand.
Kneeling down, Ruby picked up the object and to her it looked like a flashlight with black ball on the bottom with several evenly spaced squares along with a golden knob. "What is this?" she said to herself before Yang called for her sister. Ruby attached the object she found to her belt and quickly dashed after the others, not noticing that something was watching them from behind.
The group continued further down the tunnel, keeping a close eye out for anything that was hostile or of imperial origin. During the time, Cody asked Waxer, Boil and Ahsoka if they knew where Obi-Wan was. "I wish I had better news for you Cody, but none of us know what happened to Master Kenobi. Whether he survived the fall on Utapau or not is up for debate, but if he's alive I'm sure he's fine." Ahsoka told the commander.
"What about General Skywalker? If I know him, he's probably fighting the Empire right now, helping the Rebellion and being as reckless as always." Cody asked. He then noticed Ahsoka's expression change to a sad one. "Wait, don't tell me that… he's dead?"
"I don't know. From what Rex told me, Anakin fought against Vader when the temple was attacked and that's the last anyone ever saw of him." Ahsoka answered, a tear flowing from her eye. "If Vader killed him, I will avenge his death." She vowed. Rex heard them from up from and felt like he was betraying her for not telling her the truth yet.
'How am I going to tell her that Skywalker and Vader are one in the same? I can't keep this hidden from her, she has a right to know.' The 501st captain thought to himself. Ever since he learned the truth about the General that he trusted, he was trying to figure out how he would tell Ahsoka, even if it meant breaking her heart.
His thoughts were broken when the group heard an explosion from up ahead and readied their weapons before calling out "Friendly!" twice as waking through the dirt cloud was the Bad Batch. "Sergeant, aren't you a sight for sore eyes." Cody said, lowering his weapon.
"You two commander. And it looks like you brought some of the deluxe models with you. Four deltas, two omega's and two ions. Heard a lot about you guys from some of the 'reg's we met when we weren't off on missions. You boys sure made a name for yourselves." Hunter said impressively.
"And we've heard a lot about you boys as well. Defective clones with genetic mutations that made you a cut above the rest of the boys." Darman said as he and the other commandos arrived. "Seems like you've been busy." He said, taking notice of the numerous Stormtroopers that laid on the ground dead.
"Sorry we couldn't contact you, but our transmissions were jammed by an enemy jamming device which was heavily guarded. We we're able to take it out, but we were then ambushed by a bunch of bucket heads who were alerted to our presence, so we had to deal with before we could contact you." Hunter explained.
"Does that mean we missed the party? Aw, I wanted to blast some more bucket heads." March groaned.
"Were you dropped on your head as a child or are you always this insane?" Climber asked the rabbit faunus who answered with a shrug of his shoulders. "That guy is going to get himself killed one of these days." The commando captain said to himself.
Everyone else agreed before Tech walked up. "We also found something you all are going to want to see." He said before he and his squad led the others to the end of the tunnel and stopped when they saw a massive imperial weapons factory hidden beneath the arena. "This is the reason the Empire is on Geonosis. There building weapons, what kind of weapon it is we don't know."
"What we do is that the Empire is using a lot manpower to build whatever weapon they are building, and their using slave labor." Crosshairs added. Taking a look for themselves, everyone looked down and saw that multiple people were indeed being used slave labor. Wookies, Quarren, Mon Cala, Twi'lek, Geonosian, human and amphibious humanoid creatures which Ahsoka identified as Gungans. "Looks like we found an illegal slave operation." The sniper said with disgust.
"This is just…" a shocked Weiss said in horror.
"Horrible?" Blake asked.
"Not the word I was looking for. I was going to say disgraceful." Weiss answered.
"Disgusting." Arthur added.
"Despicable." March added in a joking manner, only to get a glare from the others. "Ok, shutting up."
"Why would the Empire do this?" Yang asked.
"Its because the Empire actually allows it." Galen answered. "Despite the fact that it's been banned, it's still carried out. From what I saw back on the Wookie home world, they enslaved the Wookie's and use them as slave labor for their strength. Women and children are sent to planet Orvax IV to be processed. Most of the time these people are enslaved because they are enemies of the empire and this is the way for them to 'pay for their crimes' from what I've been told." He explained. "Many of these slaves are exploited for their strength, mining skills, cloning skills and military operations. If it's a Twi'lek, they're sold for their beauty." He added.
"Then lets free them." Ruby suggested getting ready to jump off the cliff only to be stopped by Galen. "What?" she asked.
"We still don't know what the Empire is doing on Geonosis. We need to figure out what this factory is producing and where its heading too. Freeing those people is another priority, but we need to be careful about this." Galen explained.
"Whatever we plan on doing, we'll need to do it fast. If the Empire hasn't already figured out that someone's here now, then they aren't moving a lot of transports to the surface for pick up now." Crosshairs said, eyeing the said transports that were heading to the surface.
"We can worry about the transports later. Our top priority is to get those people out and figure out what the Empire is up too." Cody said before he turned to the others. "Crosshair, Sev, Ruby, Miss Rose take up sniper position on the cliff overlooking the where the prisoners are being held. Wrecker, Scorch, Darman, March, place demo charges on the comm tower and wait for our signal to detonate the charges. Yang, Blake, Wiess, Arthur, Waxer, Boil and I will move in to free the prisoners and get them to the landing pad for extraction. The distraction will then allow Rex, Galen, Ahsoka, Boss, Fixer, Hunter, Tech, Fives, Echo, Hevy, Niner, Hardcase, Jesse and Kix will get into the factory and download everything from its mainframe before the demo team will move in and place charges on the factory's reactor. If all goes well, we'll be in and out before the Empire knows what hit them. Who knows, maybe we might even get a few new recruits for the rebellion." The commander added a little hesitant about putting March with the demo team, but knew he didn't have a choice.
"Yes sir!" Everyone said and moved to said positions, with Wrecker confiscating March's mortar launcher so they weren't detected yet.
Everyone soon managed to reach their positions without any complications and while the sniper team readied themselves for battle, Wrecker, Darman and Scorch silently dispatched the troopers guarding the comms tower, snapping their necks while March waited out of sight. "Demo team in position and placing the charges now." Scorch announced over the commlink before he and the others, except March began to set the charges.
"Sniper team in position." Sev announced.
"Liberation team ready." Cody called out as he and his team took positions behind several rocks near where the slaves were being kept.
"Assault team, in position and waiting for orders." Rex said, poking his head out from behind a rock and looking at where Tech and Hunter were, having disabled the alarm. "On your orders, Cody."
"Sniper team, let them know we're here. Wake them up." Cody ordered. Everyone waited until they heard the sound of weapons fire. "Green light, go, go!" Cody shouted over the commlink.
"Copy that." Rex replied as Tech finished opening the door to the factory and the assault team moved into the factory, catching the imperial troopers by surprise. "Jam their transmissions and detonate those charges!" he shouted.
Wrecker heard this and was about to blow the charges when March snatched the detonator from his hands and blew up the comms tower. "KA-BOOM!" March said, laughing as the tower fell sideways and crushed a few unfortunate troopers who were nearby. "I love blowing things up!" he said with psychotic grin, getting a nervous look from the other demo troopers.
"Wrecker here… uh, comms tower has been destroyed, we're moving to support the commander now." Wreck said over the commlink, a bit disappointed that he didn't blow up the tower himself. Cody responded with giving Wrecker the go ahead to join up with his team and the others headed over towards the holding area only after March swiped his mortar launcher from Wrecker and headed for the battle.
(Panaka and the Queen's Protectors starts)
Having caught the Empire off guard, Cody was quick to down to the officer carrying the keycard for the holding cells and with a bit of covering fire from both the snipers and the others, he opened the cells holding the prisoners many of whom grabbed the blasters from the fallen imperial troopers and joined the fight. Wookie's roared and charged at the imperial troopers who screamed in fear as they were thrown into other troopers while Twi'leks, Quarran and Mon-Cala fired back at their captors while the Geonosians headed into the tunnels they knew so well.
"Somebody should check on those uh… Gungans. They don't look so good." Yang said, firing her blaster rifle and taking out several imperial troopers while Weiss and Blake cut down several other troopers with their swords. Arthur, Waxer and Boil gunned down several other troopers before throwing a few grenades towards the imperial troopers.
Above them on the cliff, Rose scored headshot after headshot on the snipers that were on the roof of the factory and taking pot shots at their allies below. Ruby and Crosshair focuses on the troopers below the factory while Sev assisted Rose in going after the snipers on the roof. "Eat plasma you bucket heads!" Sev said in a gruff voice, blowing the helmet off one enemy sniper before he took down another with a shot to the chest. "I love my job."
"Maybe you could give me some pointers on sniping after this is over." Ruby asked, impressed with Sev's skills. Sev chuckled and told Ruby that she didn't need any pointers that she was in a league of her own, which made Ruby happy. Her happiness was short-lived when a sniper round hit the ground right near her position. Taking aim with her custom rifle, she fired a single shot and downed the sniper with a headshot.
Back below them, Wrecker, Darman, Scorch and March began to hit the enemy from behind with blaster and grenade fire, catching the stormtroopers off guard and allowing the others to clear a path towards the landing pad. "Come on! Get to the landing pad!" Arthur shouted, swinging his hybrid sword/blaster at a few troopers, killing them.
Meanwhile, the assault team was getting nearer and nearer to the mainframe but were now pinned down by auto-turrets and E-Webs. Both Galen and Ahsoka were up front, deflecting the fire from the turrets while the others moved up and as far as they could before they were pinned down again by enemy weapons fire. "We've got to get to the mainframe before they delete everything!" Rex shouted, firing his pistols as Hevy and Hardcase threw a couple of grenades towards the enemy, killing the stormtroopers.
"I'll clear us a path!" Galen shouted, charging towards the enemy soldiers and once again hacking away at the imperial troopers as the other troopers covered him. His blue and green blades carved a deadly path towards the mainframe allowing the others to move up behind him. Ripping an auto-turret from the ceiling, Galen threw the turret towards several Shock Troopers that readying their rocket launchers, killing them as the turret exploded after a surge of force lighting turned into a makeshift grenade.
"Damn, that guys good!" Hevy said impressively before he tossed a grenade of his own towards more troopers as they moved up towards the mainframe. The troopers and Galen reached the door only to find that it was sealed shut and slicing into the terminal wasn't an option with enemy attacking them from behind now. With no other choice, Ahsoka sliced through the door before Fixer and Boss each threw a flashbang through the cut door, blinding the imperials inside the room before they were gunned down.
"Tech, Fixer! Start downloading everything from the mainframe and do it quick! They've already started deleting the data!" Hunter shouted, firing back at the incoming stormtroopers that were trying to stop them. Blaster fire was exchanged by both sides as the two troopers started to slice into the mainframe. As they did, a voice over the loud speakers told them that the factories self-destruct sequence had been activated and would detonate in five minutes.
It took them only about thirty seconds to slice into the mainframe and download every piece of data that wasn't deleted. "We got it! Lets get the hell out of here!" Rex shouted before he contacted the others over the commlink about the self-destruct sequence.
Once again, Galen took point and started to carve a path through the imperial forces as everyone headed back to where they had repelled down from, only this time they had the empire on their tail. Blaster fire continued to streak towards the large group as Rex, Cody and their brothers along with Team GARM and Ahsoka headed up first, expect for Galen who voluntarily stayed with the others to cover their retreat.
The commando's and the Bad Batch were the next to get to the surface before it was Team RWBY's turn. Yang, Blake and Weiss managed to get back to the surface but a lucky shot from a Stormtrooper destroyed Ruby's cable and the red head landed on the ground hard on her butt. Galen saw this and moved back to assist her before he threw her on his back and threw a grappling line up to the top and began to climb while the others provided covering fire.
Both leaders made it out just in time as the factory detonated and the ground below them shook violently. "That was too close." Galen said, panting and falling to the ground exhausted.
(End song)
"At least we got the data." Ruby said.
"Yeah, but I have a feeling what we found might not be something we were expecting." Rex said, taking note at to how far the Empire was going to keep whatever they were doing on Geonosis a secret. Something didn't sit right with him and he had a gut feeling it wasn't going to be pretty.
No one knew that Maul had returned to Remnant, bringing his gift to Salem. "Now, we must prepare for the next part of the plan." Maul said to the Grimm woman who smiled.
And done! I took a lot of time on this chapter and let me tell you all, this was a bit of a challenge for me to write. As you have noticed, I not only made it so that Lux is supporting the Rebellion, but brought in several characters with the names of several Gundam characters, such as Halberton and Sutherland. Cody and several Clone Commandos have returned. Juno has also been killed in action and while many of you will no doubt hate me for killing her, keep in mind that this is war and you never know who is going to die next. Also, Numa has reunited with Waxer and Boil, but Maul has given something to Salem. What did he give her and what is his plan?
Now onto the outfits given to the members of Team RWBY and GARM.
Ruby's outfit is what Asuda Shino 'Sinon' from Sword Art Online wears when she is playing Gun Gale Online or GGO.
Yang's outfit is the female version of what Han Solo wears.
Blake and Weiss's armor is that worn by Eleena Daru.
Rose's attire is the female version of the clothing worn by Dyne the GGO player from Sword Art Online who wields the SIG-550 assault rifle.
March's attire is that of Kota's militia, but the helmet is basically the Nervegear without all the hardware needed for it to play games.
As for Arthur, his armor had been modified with Star Wars tech, such as shielding and filters for dealing with other environments such as space. Thanks goes to Spartan-626 for the armor and weapons each of them is now using. You've been a big help.
Now, I'm not sure when I'll post my next chapter. I'm starting to feel a bit down because its not long before it's the day my Grandfather passed away, but I'll try to upload a new chapter as soon as possible. Until then, please read and review and once again Happy 2021!