-Chapter 47: Mid-Rim Machinations-

Location: Felucia and Takodana

"Expect the unexpected and question everything until proven otherwise."

Explosions. Blaster fire. Shouts and screaming. The tromping of boots through mud. Chaos, fire and death ran rampant as the flame of war was fanned on Felucia.

Legions of battle droids stormed the Republic lines on the jungle world that was crucial to both sides. The Clone Army fought back valiantly, doing their best to hold them off and maintain their hold on Felucia.

But it wouldn't be enough.

His heavy boot crashing into a trooper's chest with enough force to crush his ribcage, Wraith stormed the Republic ahead of the droids, bringing death wherever he went. His pistols blazing as he gunned down the white-armored soldiers in precise, methodical fashion, the Separatist super-soldier was here for one reason: to take back what belonged to them.

A blade shot out over his left fist and he carved a trooper in two before beheading another and bisecting a third. The loud CRACK of his slugthrowers drowned out the chaos of battle for a moment as another Clone's head was blown open with a shower of blood and brain matter. Diving ahead with a dropkick that pushed another Clone to the ground, Wraith was immediately surrounded by Clone troopers.

"Halt! You are surrounded!" The squad commander ordered. "Put up your hands and surrender!" He commanded Wraith.

"You're joking, right?" Wraith half-mockingly wondered as he triggered both blades and spun around, slicing clean through all of their necks. As his bloody blades retracted, the headless Clone bodies collapsing to the ground, Wraith drew his weapons and continue to attack the Clones. "General, I'm ready when you are." He spoke into his comms.

"Copy that, kid!" From above, Durge came flying in on his jet pack, crashing into the ground as his belt-fed, arm-mounted carbine powered up. Turning his aim on the Clones, Durge pounded their position with a relentless barrage of blasterfire, cutting them down in droves. Wraith quickly joined him, his disruptor rifle drawn. "You handlin' this alright?" Durge asked over his shoulder.

"Never better." Wraith answered. "This is our big push, the more power we put behind this assault the better." He then explained.

"You got it!" Durge replied with a nod. "All units, push forward!" He ordered the droids. Pressing his rifle into his shoulder, Wraith took aim and started disintegrating Clones with his shots. Those hit by his disruptor rounds turned to ash, screaming in agony as they died slow deaths. Approaching a Republic mobile command center, a Cerean Jedi with a green lightsaber joined the conflict, cutting through droids with ease as he rushed Durge. Seeing the Jedi coming, Durge retracted his ranged weapon and deployed a pair of red energy shields on his arms. He deflected each strike from the Jedi, raising his arms in time to parry his lightsaber. But this Jedi would not be stopped so easily and continued to force Durge back with pressured attacks. But as his focus was so intent on attacking Durge, he forgot about who was behind him. Raising his lightsaber above his head to strike again, the Jedi suddenly cried out as he was shot from behind, his body disintegrating into dust and his lightsaber falling to the ground. Wraith lowered his weapon and gestured Durge onward.

Today would be theirs


With the Republic forces retreating, Durge and Wraith stood tall as they lay claim to this part of Felucia.

"Another hard days work." Durge remarked as he breathed a satisfied sigh. "Too bad there wasn't a whole lot of blood, though. Shoulda used your blades more, kid."

"I use what is necesary as the situation presents itself." Wraith replied, his arms crossed as he surveyed the droid army.

"You oughta make blades a mainstay, though. I love seeing Clone blood fly." Durge commented.

"You and me both." Wraith agreed. A tactical droid suddenly walked up to them.

"General, Commander, you have an incoming message from Count Dooku." It informed them. Durge and Wraith shared a glance.

"Let's not keep the boss man waiting then." The Gen'Dai replied. The droid held up a holoprojector and an image of Dooku flickered to life.

"Durge, soldier, we understand that you've helped make some significant gains on Felucia." He greeted them.

"Considering the fact we had lost the planet, I'd say we're doing alright." Wraith replied.

"Indeed. With the foothold you've helped us earn, Wraith, I'm trusting Durge with finishing this engagement. I need you elsewhere." Dooku informed him. Wraith accepted the new assignment without hesitation.

"Where am I headed?" He asked.

"Takodana, a forested Mid-Rim world. Republic forces have arrived as part of an apparent campaign to retake worlds in the Mid-Rim." The Sith explained. Wraith saw the pattern right away.

"Just like Gan Moradir." Wraith surmised. "I'm on my way." He answered, turning to leave.

"There is more to this than a simple defensive ploy, soldier." Dooku stopped him, earning Wraith's attention once more. "We cannot afford to allow the Republic to take Takodana. Our hold on the Mid-Rim is already in a questionable state, we cannot afford to let the Republic win another world from us." He stated. Wraith gave a quick nod.

"Consider Takodana ours."


Later that day, on Takodana...

The verdant world of Takodana had proven to be something of a curious world as the war raged on. Famous for its green forests, crystal clear waters and massive ruins, the world had little strategic value save for when an army was on the move, trying to claim more territory.

At the moment, The CIS controlled the planet... but the Republic wanted it back.

Touching down as the sun slowly sank over the horizon, Wraith set his shuttle down behind Separatist lines where numerous tanks and STAPs surrounded a central mobile command unit. Departing his shuttle, his dark blue duster a sharp contrast to the green around him, Wraith approached a tactical droid sporting black and red markings who was waiting for him at the bottom of the landing ramp.

"Commander Wraith, we have been expecting you." It greeted with a bow.

"And now I have arrived." He replied. "You must be the N-Two droid I've been told to meet."

"I am. I have news for you that requires your immediate attention." The droid continued, holding up a holoprojector a displaying a large render of the field of battle, drawn up like a grid. Several locations were highlighted in red. "We have been losing contact with many of our units along our right flank. Our sensors cannot pinpoint a single problem and any scans of the area come back negative. It is advisable that you discover the reason for this and put a stop to it."

"Agreed." Wraith mused, studying the holomap. "Send me the coordinates. Have we identified which Clone Army is here?" He inquired as he made to leave.

"Our scouts have confirmed that they are of the five hundred and first legion." The droid responded.

"Skywalker." Wraith growled. Although happy to deal another blow to Skywalker's record, he was starting to hate how persistent the Jedi was. "Be careful around him. His penchant for winning via unorthodox strategies is matched only by his penchant to behave stupidly." He warned the droid as he moved towards the forest. "We may have been too late to save Gan Moradir, but we will not lose Takodana."

"I understand, sir." The droid confirmed.


As night fell across Takodana, a brilliant starlit canvas comprising the entire night sky, Wraith continued to trek through the forest. En route to the positions highlighted by the droid along their right flank, Wraith could hear the distant clamor of battle taking place many miles from his current position. Part of him preferred to be engaged in the fight, helping to strike crucial blows in the Republic's assault.

But he knew that the greater good had to come before his own preferences. And right now, that greater good was comprised of ensuring no more droids were lost.

The woods looked the same wherever he turned, his only way of figuring which way was correct were his HUD's guidance and navigational systems. If not for them, he would have a hard time telling one tree apart from another. Wraith realized it would be easy to get lost around here if one were disoriented, determining then and there that he needed to ensure his tech was always operational.

Vaulting over a fallen log, the super-soldier nearly tripped over the husk of an offline B1 droid. Crouching to examine his find, Wraith knelt and scanned the droid over, realizing there were no scorch marks or penetrative wounds of any kind. As a matter of fact, the entire chassis seemed to be completely intact, nothing was missing or had been torn off.

"It's like it just... shut down." He muttered, examining the droid's limp hand. As he looked up, his scanners quickly highlighted the bodies of other offline battle droids lying around the forest floor. He'd found the location, alright. The question now was, what caused this? "N-Two, do you read me?" Wraith asked into his comms. Instead of a voice, he got a burst of static and crackling interference. "N-Two, respond." He said again. Still no answer. Realizing his comms had been rendered ineffective, Wraith stood up and looked around, pondering what was causing this. "An EM-field..." He said aloud as the realization hit him. "Might be in its early stages. If it grows, they could wipe out our droids no problem." With this understanding, Wraith deduced that this was the cause behind these malfunctioning droids.

No wonder they were caught off guard... it really was like walking into a trap.

At first glance, it appeared like nothing but forest stretched on ahead of him. But he knew there was something out there, a generator or similar contraption, that caused this.

And it needed to be shut down.

Understanding the new danger of having his comms down, Wraith decided to press on and disable this field as soon as he could. He took off at a moderate jog, bounding through the woods at a determined pace. Though he could see nothing at the moment, Wraith soon realized he'd have to find this thing the old fashioned way as his long-range sensors and scanners were proving to be absolutely useless. The further away from the droids he got, the more flickering and bursts of static he saw flash across his HUD. No doubt other vital systems would malfunction the closer he got to the source, the electromagnetic readings radiating in waves from what he could see... when static wasn't in the way. Passing by tree after tree and leaping over the odd fallen log or rock outcrop, Wraith continued on with ease, despite the disruption to his tech.

But he was about to encounter some obstacles he would not be prepared for...

Still jogging across the grassy ground, Wraith's disrupted HUD normally would've indicated the presence of a small disk-like object on the ground in front of him. But because of the static, he entirely missed it. The split second he realized he'd stepped on something, a series of flat disks popped up from the ground all around him and released a cloud of golden dust. Wraith shielded himself, fearing some sort of explosion or corrosive and knowing the filters in his mask could block out any airborne toxins, Wraith waited for a reaction of some kind... but none came. Looking up after a few moments, Wraith watched the dust settle to the ground, seemingly having done nothing to hinder him. "What the hell...?" He muttered. Looking himself over, his basic vision could not find anything wrong with his duster or his armor. "Strange..." Deeming the encounter bizarre, and likely meant to confuse him, Wraith chose to continue on.

But a short while later, he encountered trouble of a very different kind.

Now sprinting through the jungle, Wraith passed by a pair of trees and into, what he failed to realize, was a specially designed grid. Moments after entering the open and empty area, a blast of powerful and continuous electricity rocked his body, throwing him to the ground. Wraith growled in pain as electricity ripped through him, sparks exploding from his cloaker and his shield generator as they shorted out, his HUD winked out completely as his helmet's systems were overloaded. More sparks erupted from the computation equipment in his gauntlets as the electronic and technical portions of their design were disrupted. Managing to look up from his hands and knees, Wraith suddenly spotted a small, spherical object stuck to a tree from which the purple bolts originated. "An... ion... mine...?" He rasped. Almost as soon as he recognized the device, the electricity ceased, leaving Wraith steaming and gasping for air. Slowly standing back up with a groan, Wraith bent over as he tried to process what had happened. He realized that this was no mere accident, nor was this a chance encounter.

Someone was anticipating him...


Elsewhere...

Standing within a Republic mobile command center, a series of individuals stood around a holographic render of the area, where a single red blip flashed repeatedly as it moved along the map.

"'E tripped the mine, 'e's gotta be close then." A short, burly man with a scar running through his eye stated before taking a drag from his cigarra. "Providin' 'e survived it, o' course."

"Indeed. That puts him in sector one." Commander Thrawn replied. The man nodded and turned to a nearby violet-skinned Twi'lek male who was bent over a small terminal.

"Jammah, that dampenin' field 'o yors workin'?" He asked in his heavily accented voice. The Twi'lek gave him a nod.

"Yes, Boss. All systems normal." He replied in his native tongue of Ryl. The man nodded in reply and turned back to Thrawn with a narrow gaze.

"Yor orders... Commandah?" He inquired.

"I would suggest you have your teams ready. The time to act is near." The Chiss calmly responded. The man gave a quick nod.

"Roight then." Clenching his cigarra between his teeth, he raised his wrist and opened a channel via his comms. "All teams report in."

"Team one, ready." A female voice called in.

"Team two, ready." A male voice echoed.

"Team three, ready." Another male voice reported.

"Bogey's been sighted, headin' inta sectah one." The man informed them.

"Copy that. Team one moving to intercept." The female responded in a very authoritative voice.

"Ya know what ta do, Theris." The man replied. He then changed channels as he contacted yet another operative. "Boomstick, 'e's in position. Rock his world..." He stated.


Author's Note: Stick around, the heat's turning up!