Chapter Seven: The Second Battle of Kashyyyk (Part Two)
The team consisting of Cal, Fiver and the Offee Squad moved forward to help capture the rest of the refinery and to rescue the Wookie prisoners. The squad moved slowly to avoid any hidden surprises. As the squad moved through the refinery, they encountered a couple of ARF troopers fighting a Purge Trooper wield an electrostaff similar to the ones wielded by the Magna guards back in the Clone Wars. The Purge Trooper killed the two ARF troopers by taking one down with a hit to the helmet and another by stabbing him through the torso. With that fight done, the Purge Trooper turned to the squad. Cal ignited his lightsaber but Storm held out his hand to stop him.
"Allow me, Sir. This one is mine." Said Storm as he gave his carbine to one of his squad mates and unhooked his lightsaber. Storm ignited it and out came a gold coloured lightsaber much like the Temple Guards of the old Jedi Temple. The Purge Trooper looked at the clone with a slight shock but shook it off. Storm approached his opponent and then broke into a run. Just before reaching the black armoured trooper, he leapt and brought his lightsaber down onto him. The Purge Trooper blocked the blow but was not prepared for a Force push from Storm's stretched out right arm. The Imperial trooper flew back against the metal wall with Storm closing in to give him a slice across the chest and then a stab through the gut. The Purge Trooper groaned and looked up at Storm's Phase II helmet.
"You….are…just…a…clone….How….can…you…fight…like…one…of…them?" croaked out the Purge Trooper.
"Wouldn't you like to know, Imperial scum?" replied Storm in a snarky tone. He pulled his lightsaber out and let the Purge Trooper slide down the wall and die.
Storm then looked back at his squad, Cal and Fiver. Both Cal and Fiver were amazed at the skills of the leader of Offee Squad. He defeated a Purge Trooper with such ease. If Storm could do this, they wondered what the rest of the squad were capable of. They continued on and came across a company of ARF troopers overlooking the refinery. Storm then went up to Duke and asked, "So what's the situation?"
"Our scans has revealed the cells to be deep inside the refinery. Our objective is to head to the power plant powering the station to cut the power thus bringing down security. Yours is to head to the cells and free the Wookies. Commander Gree is circling from behind to perform a full encirclement of the refinery to ensure all Imperials remain in one place." Reported Duke.
"Alright. Let's move out now and we'll take this place within an hour." Said Storm as he then turned back to his squad, Cal and Fiver.
"Okay, we are going to rescue the Wookies. These boys will be heading to cut the essential power therefore, making our job easier to handle. So let's move out!" Briefed Storm as he prepared his DC-15A Carbine.
The Squad prepped their own gear with Fiver putting a fresh thermal clip to his Carbine. The squad moved to the nearest door where there was a squad of Stormtroopers guarding it. Storm counted the number of enemies and signalled to his squad that there were five.
"Okay, boys. Wait. Wait until the power goes down." Said Storm as he laid down.
After what seemed like an eternity, the power went down, making all the doors open. All Imperial personnel wondered what happened until clones of the 41st Elite Corps burst through, overwhelming the Stormtroopers with their blue blaster bolts. Cal along with Offee Squad moved to the detention centre where they encountered a K2 droid to which the squad then hooked their Carbines on their back and unhooked their lightsabers. The Squad surrounded the tall droid with Cal running forward and ignited his lightsaber to bring down a slash which was easily caught by the droid but with the droid's focus on Cal, two of the squad moved to slash the legs with another slashing the arm holding Cal. Cal dropped down and took a moment to breathe before using his lightsaber to behead the droid, finishing it off.
Cal and the others then set to work to free the Wookies who all growled in appreciation. Meanwhile, on the upper level, Gree and the 41st Elite Corps encircled the surviving Imperials. With no way out, they surrendered.
The clones moved to handcuff all the surviving enemy troops and cart them away to LAAT/Is. Cal and Fiver moved to speak with Gree who was talking with Storm.
"Sir, may we speak with Tarfful now?" Asked Cal as he approached the two men.
Gree looked at Cal and then at Storm, "Get your squad ready to move out to intercept the enemy."
Storm nodded as he went off to round up his squad. Fiver looked at Storm with a curious look, "Where is the Lieutenant going, Sir?"
"He has his orders. We are taking you two and your other companions to the base near the Great Tree." Gree said as he motioned the two to follow him to a nearby LAAT/i.
Cal and Fiver boarded the transport along with Gree and a squad from Green Company. The transport lifted up, on its way back to the secret home base by the Great Tree.
Kashyyyk Home Base, Home of the 41st Elite Corps
The LAAT/i flew through the air of the Wookie planet, uncontested. With the Space battle all but finished, many Venators went back to the hangars of the hidden base. As the transport approached, Gree tapped the side of his helmet.
"This is Commander Gree. Authorisation Luminara-16-2002. We have guests coming in." Said Gree.
"Authorisation received, Commander. Welcome back, Sir!" replied the Clone operator.
The forest floor began to shift, revealing a hangar door and a platform. The transport landed on it, causing the platform to start sinking and the doors to close. The platform lowered to a level, where a group of clones led by a clone officer with a green pauldron were waiting for them.
"Sir, welcome back! Chieftain Tarfful is currently in a meeting with Command." Reported the Clone Captain. Gree nodded and signalled for Cal and Fiver to follow him while the squad that was with them went elsewhere.
As they walked, the two outsiders felt completely in awe of the design of the base. They approached the lift, going down. What Cal saw completely changed his view of his allies. The base was all white and grey with green stripes along the walls to signify the colours of the 41st Elite Corp. The base had many areas such as flight training, recreation, mess halls, maintenance, training grounds, shooting range, cloning section and medical wing. The hangar area was massive compared with the rest of the areas. Holding the two Venator models as well as smaller vessels.
Gree turned around and grinned at Cal and Fiver's shocked expression. "If you think this one is huge, wait till you see Central Command's base. Right now, this base covers a quarter of the planet with plans to expand the base which will increase our ability to hit more Imperial bases. We aim to cover at least, the half the planet in 5 years' time if things go according to plan. For now though, I need to brief Command and to introduce you to the Generals." Explained Gree as they continued to go down in the lift.
The lift stopped and the group began walking through a corridor that had a few patrols of the Jedi Guards and the clones of the 41st, Kaminoans and groups of cadets walking around. One of the young cadets bumped into Cal.
"Sorry, Sir." Said the Cadet as he picked himself up.
"No, that's fine. What's your name?" Asked Cal as he kneeled to see if the cadet was alright.
The Cadet was about to reply but then, looked at Cal's waist to see his lightsaber hanging by his side. Immediately, he stood up straight. "Sorry, Sir! Didn't know you were a Jedi!"
"It's alright. And I'm not a Commander nor a General…either. Just a Jedi willing to help others." Said Cal as he patted his shoulders.
"My designation is CT-1996. I'm called Taka". Said the young Clone.
"Well, Taka, you'll be a great leader for sure! Take Sergeant Fiver here. He saved my life during Order 66 and I'll gladly have his back always." Said Cal with a smile as he patted the boy's shoulders.
"Come on, Kestis. Do you still want to see Tarfful or not?" said Gree as he pointed down the hallway.
Cal nodded and said, "Gotta go. I wish you luck in your training, Taka."
Taka stood at attention and replied, "Sir, Yes, Sir!"
Cal and Fiver continued their journey to the Command centre. When they reached the room, it was a circular room with a holo-table in the middle. There were several computers surrounding the table, all manned by Clones and others who were non-Clones. The Clones were technicians dressed in Old Republic uniform but blue in colour. There were many humans who were dressed in Old Republic garbs while others were dressed in a beige coloured uniform. At the table, there were many Clone officers as well as holographic figures of others with some having holographic Clone officer behind them. Gree looked at the two and held his hand up, in a signal that told them to wait.
Gree walked up to the table and reported, "Supreme Commander, we have successfully warded off the Imperials from Kashyyyk and now 75% of the planet is under our control with only one major Imperial base at the far end of the continent left. We will expand the base soon to hit that base but until then, we will begin probing attacks to see what defence they have. Admiral Quinn here can brief you on our Navy."
Admiral Lara Quinn walked up to the table and delivered her report, "Our vessels have suffered little damage thanks to our rogue Kuat engineers integrating a stronger shield core to our Venator-IIs and IIIs. However, we have suffered the loss of two of our Arquitens-class light cruisers and one is heavily damaged which would takes weeks for it to be fully functional. I'm pleased to say that our modified ARC-170s and BTL-B Y-Wings are holding up well. However, it would be prudent for Project 180 to be hastened by our friends in Incom and Sublight to replace the 170s. As for the Y-Wings, Koensayr has recently contacted my colleagues on improving our model with a faster engine drive. There are considerations to remove the Hyperdrive to make it faster. The Mark 3 project will be completed soon, according to them. This concludes my report, Sir."
"Excellent. The Jedi Council will be pleased to hear that. The 327th Star Corps is making a move to liberate Lothal and Ryloth. Our Intelligence Bureau headed by our friend, Yularen, are gathering all the intel we need to launch our two biggest offensive in this war thus far. I want the 42nd Elite Corp, the 7th Sky Corps and the 501st Legion to be on standby to assist them in this endeavour." Said Cody as he placed his hands on the table.
"Now, is there anything else that anyone would like to mention?" said Cody.
A man in Old Republic uniform and a rank insignia of Colonel stepped forth. He had a white mustache and hair. His name was Wullf Yularen. Yularen defected from the Imperial Security Bureau after seeing too much corruption in the Empire. He had brought so much intel in the workings of the ISB for the Grand Army of the New Republic, which won him back the respect of his former comrades in the Clone Wars. He was a heavily experienced officer who was one of the principal figures in the New Republic Intelligence Bureau.
"Yes, I would like to mention that there has been increased activities of the Inquisitorius. I would like to remind that all Jedi, be they Padawans or Masters, to exercise extra vigilance. We had several run ins with them including one killed by General Tano and more recently, an inquisitor was killed by General Secura and her men on Felucia. Now, I must stress…" said Yularen as he held his hands behind his back.
"Hold on…General Secura…you don't mean Jedi Master Aayla Secura?" asked Cal as he walked up to the table.
Cody and the other officers looked at Cal while Gree sighed. "What is it to you, young man?" Asked Cody in a hostile tone, looking a bit annoyed at the meeting being interrupted by an unknown person.
Gree looked at Cody a bit guilty and sighed, "Sir, this is Jedi Padawan Cal Kestis. Padawan to General Jaro Tapal of the 13th Battalion. He and Sergeant Fiver here are the only survivors."
Cody looked at Cal and said, "I have heard of your master's exploits. I'm sorry to hear of his loss though we did have our suspicions, but we couldn't investigate whether this was true or not."
Cal nodded and replied, "So are there any other Jedi left alive?"
Cody looked at Gree and then at Cal, "Why don't you speak to them yourself?"
Just as Cody said this, two holographic figures came forth at the table. One was a Kel-Dor and the other a Togruta. They were Plo Koon and Ahsoka Tano. Cal and Fiver both looked at the two figures in shock, unable to say anything. The thought of talking with Tarfful went out of their heads and filled with questions that needed answering.
That's what I call a cliff-hanger. I apologise for the late chapter! I have been dealing with a lot of postgraduate and family stuff. I don't know when the next chapter will be, but it will be sometime in November. I'm also currently planning out how to create my version of the Obi-Wan Kenobi Series of which, the first chapter is out by the way.
I would also, like to point out that with Andor, I will not be doing a whole retelling of the series but maybe do something with a couple or so of the episodes. I will have to wait until the whole season is out to see where I can put Andor in one of my stories. For now though, I will focus on finishing the Jedi Fallen Order arc as well as the Obi Wan Kenobi spin off series. After those, I will be focusing on the next big arc.
Please read and give constructive reviews. I'll see you all in the next chapter!
