Phantasy Star Horizon

by EvaShinobiKaiserKnight

The Clone Wars rage the Sith plots and the Jedi fight. But in the darkness a powerful force feeds off the chaos and conflict. In response the Light brings forth the Oracle that carries hope. Thus as the power of Dark Falz and the Falspawn spreads the Guardians of ARKS born of a blue planet fight to save their galaxy from the evil of the Dark Falz Collective & the Profound Darkness

11. Chapter 11 ARK's on Ryloth

Phantasy Star Horizon

ESKK: Well here we go a new chapter let's get started people. So read, like, and also review it.

(Start Republic Cruiser)

"I must confess these ARK's are resourceful." Mace said as he and Obi-Wan were walking by as despite few in numbers among this invasion the members of ARK's were proving to be a valuable asset to them.

"I concur though I hope they are up to the task to come." Obi-Wan said as he knew War was no laughing matter.

"They have to be if we wish to have the strength to combat the Falspawn and their Dark Falz masters." Mace said with the hope the ARK's members will agree to fully join the Republic once the Falspawn and Dark Falz are both dealt with.

"I do hope so Master Windu." Obi-Wan said as he in turn began to approach a group of ARK's operatives who will be serving under him. It seems they each came from a varying race from ARK's, a Human, a CAST, and a Newman.

The Newman was female as she had short azure blue hair and crimson red eyes, her ears were short yet pointed as common among her people, and finally her skin was peach pale. Her combat uniform was similar to a flowing dress but judging from her Rod weapon it was clear it was the common attire for her position as a Force. She had this air around her showing she was calm, reserved, and quiet at times. She hardly displayed any emotions suggesting she knew how to keep a level head but wasn't afraid to speak up if she felt it was needed. Obi-Wan knew she might become a favorite of his to work with but deceiving looks are common in the Galaxy.

Next came the human male he seemed to be in a combat outfit commonly found on the ARK's melee fighters other than the CAST. From his personality he tended to charge into battle acting as both shield and sword in the thick of it. It came as no surprise from Obi-Wan that this young man was a bit of a hot head at times. Thankfully after training Anakin he was well versed on handling hot heads in battle. His hair was emerald green and pulled to a flowing bun, with tan skin that showed a scar across his nose, and topaz colored eyes.

Finally was a female CAST and from her blazing red eyes, and black metallic hair she may looked adorable to some but something about her grin unsettled Obi-Wan. Her armor and body almost looked like a dress but despite this something about her was clearly not right and very disturbed. It was even more so judging by the way she was caressing her gun like it was her most precious of all her possessions here. And that smile she had truly put worry into Obi-Wan with how disturbing it looked.

Still despite this Obi-Wan noticed that they were at least one member short as he began to wonder where the fourth member of this group was. Normally from what he saw ARK's teams are normally in groups of four and with 12 to make up an entire mission team sometimes. As he began to look around for the missing ARK's member he soon got his answer when he sensed her through the Force. He saw how she approached from another area as she was a CAST herself with a helmet over her head and a cannon equipped to her person.

She had blue eyes and what appeared to be cyan colored hair under her helmet. Her armor plating was orange in color with parts between it looking like normal skin. CAST, from what Obi-Wan understood, were once sentient species whose bodies were too frail to properly utilize their Photonic potential. Normally the change is done with the participants consent and it was solely done to not waste a beings Photonic potential and/or ensure the consenting participants own quality of life.

Obi-Wan had some concerns about this but regardless let it be knowing that this was their way of life not his own. From the looks of it they were part of the same group so he figured they were all to be heading into battle with him. Though Obi-Wan was still concerned for then they start reclaiming the planet from Separatist control. Particularly his greatest concern came from the First CAST who had this mad look going on about her.

Once the Jedi arrived the four ARK's operatives stood in attention to the arriving Jedi. "ARK's here to provide you with some backup General." The male said as he looked to the Jedi Master. "The name's Oma, those are Luna, Linda, and… Elina." Oma said as he gestured to the Newman, the orange wearing CAST, and finally the CAST with the mad look about her.

"Good your aid will be greatly needed for what's to come as is your knowledge on the Falspawn." Obi-Wan said as he looked to the ARK's operatives knowing their Photonic abilities should keep the F-Factors from the Falspawn at bay.

"We're just waiting for the other squad who will be assisting General Windu with his mission." Luna said in a calm tone with a collective look in her face. Despite this Mace didn't hear about any of this but detected no lies from the ARK's operatives here. "Orders from the Council of Six themselves to promote peaceful relations between ARK's and the Republic." Luna added as she looked to the Jedi.

"Well then I'll happily accept the aid." Mace said just before sadistic laughter was heard and thus they all turned to Elina who had a big shit eating grin on her face here.

"Oh can't we just start shooting the enemies now? I wanna see battle Droids riving in pain after I start shoot, shoot shooting them." Elina said before laughing a bit further showing this girl was clearly a gun enthusiast here. What made it worse was how her own party members took a step back from her almost like they were scared of her going on a shooting craze right now.

Just then another group of ARK's operatives were seen approaching to which the Jedi took notice to. "I suppose that's them." Obi-Wan said as in turn they saw the arrival of two more Newman, both females, and two male humans.

"Hey is one of you General Windu?" The human male asked as he was dressed in red armor and had a Gunblade ready to use. His armor was oddly unique that his right arm had violet markings on it and there were straps hanging of either side of his hips. He had red spiked hair and blue eyes that showed a laid back persona to him.

The First Newman Girl was also dressed in red as she had a similar colored rod on her back with her outfit fitting that of a Force like herself. Her hair was blond and pulled into twin tails as it was also long and done up in a unique fashion. She spoke up as she elbowed her friend on this clearly wanting him to act a bit more professional.

"That would be me." Mace said as he looked to the group.

"Good we'll be under you command here General, so try not to leave us dead or get yourself killed." He said and thus the Newman girl glared at her friend.

"ZED!" She scolded as the human male now known as Zed shrugged not seeing a problem clearly the laid back one among the group.

"What, Xenia we're in a war gotta try to be a bit laid back before a battle." Zed said showing he was clearly trying to lighten the mood among the group. "So yeah anyway the name is Zed, that there is Xenia, and those two are Reina and." Zed began but was cut off by the male he was introducing.

"Zed would you shut up I can handle my own goddamn introductions." The second human male said as he then growled a bit clearly having a chip on his shoulder here. "Jeez you piss me off." He added before looking at Mace who gave the larger male a disagreeing look for his rudeness. "The name is Garran don't get in my way and we'll get along." Garran said as he then looked to the others with a glare before he headed to where Mace's Clones were no doubt located.

"My apologies about him he's not very good with people." Xenia said as she did a small bow of apology to the Jedi Master.

"Yeah that's an understatement." Zed said before Elina began to laugh a bit.

"I don't know he seems kind of fun." Elina added before sadistically giggling over this causing her own teammates to look at her with concern over her mental health.

"Well I'm ready to go whenever you all are." Zed said as he looked to the group to which Mace nodded to the ARK's Operatives.

"Good." Mace said and thus they all began to make their way to their rides down.

"Now the trick will be to get our men on the ground." Obi-Wan said knowing it was going to be a tough landing for all of them.

"If you take the City of Nabat first, we'll have our landing zone." Mace said as that was a reasonable enough idea for them.

"Well, it's time to meet the natives and see the damages." Obi-Wan said as he was going to get a firsthand look of how much the Falspawn corruption had affected the planet below.

(Meanwhile in a Separatist Encampment)

The Droid forces in the area were well underway as they had scouted the area. They had also already conquered the surrounding area judging by the Twi'lek's between the cannons. Nearby the Droid commander was seen as he was currently in communication with Tambor. "You must not let Republic and their ARK's allies to reach the surface." The Techno Union Foreman ordered as he looked upon the Droid still angry Tuuk failed to hold the blockade from their combined attacks.

Around the area Falspawn were seen most if not all of them were aquatic based creatures in design. Some were carnivorous fish creatures while others were carrying massive shields. There were even a few one eyed Falspawn that had cannons arms that doubled as weapons to bash their enemies with. As the Falspawn flew around the area they were kept at bay despite snarling at the Twi'Lek who took a step back from them in fear of the dark monsters.

"Our cannons are in the optimum position to prevent that, sir." The tactical Droid, TX-20, said gesturing to the cannons around its command center.

"What-" Tambor paused as he readjusted his vocal synthesizer before repeating his question again. "What if they focus the attack on your cannon?" He asked once he finished adjusting his voice.

TX-20 stood up and stated, watching as its soldiers kept the surviving Twi'lek citizens close by with the Falspawn circling around like sharks in the water. "I am utilizing the prisoners from this village as living shields. I calculate the Jedi and the ARK's Operatives will not risk the prisoners' safety with a direct assault. Their sense of morality will prevent them from taking the most prudent course of action for victory." The Droid said as he looked to the commanding officer.

"Good with their commanding Dark Falz here I would hate to have to tell him of your failure." Tambor said as he glared upon the Droid knowing how Elder can get when he is itching for a fight.

(Meanwhile back with the Republic)

As soon as they were past the atmosphere, the assault ships opened the hanger bay for the gunships and drop ships to fly towards the city. As they zoomed through the air, both ships activated holograms or communications to see or hear the leaders of their mission speak.

"We need to remember why we're here. We came to aid the Twi-leks, not destroy their home." Obi-wan addressed to the troops who all understood why they were here. ARK's however understood the importance of these orders the most as they would want the same for their own home if they made the same request for aid.

"Cody?" Obi-Wan said as he looked over to his Clone Commander to address the troops.

Cody nodded stepping forward as began to address the troops of the unit assigned to this mission. "That means we'll be taking it back the hard way. Minimal destruction with blasters and droid poppers only. No rockets or detonators." Cody explained to which Elina did not like that not handicap.

"Oh that's no fun." Elina moaned a bit as some of the troops unnerved by the CAST stepped away from her as did her teammates. Clearly this particular CAST disturbed everyone she was around in many different ways for her obsession with guns and blasters.

"I'll try to keep my use of explosives to the minimum." Linda said as the CAST switched out her cannon with a riffle for battle.

"Check your aim. Keep an eye out for the locals." Cody finished making a note to keep an eye on Elina just in case the CAST gets a kick out of Friendly fire. "Are we understood?" Cody asked as he looked to the troops here.

"Sir, yes, sir!" Ghost Company all called out showing they were willing and ready to do what they can to liberate this planet from the Separatists threat and the Falspawn.

"If we're here to free the tail-heads, the least they can do is get out of our way." A clone with a rough beard muttered to his bald friend after sighing.

"Hey now." Linda began as she got the Clones attention on her. "They're just scared right now because of the Separatists and Falspawn." The CAST girl said as she looked to the two Clones. "If it was your own home planet wouldn't you want the same thing?" Linda asked as she was clearly someone who had a certain kindness to and to her interactions.

"What would a droid know about home planets anyway?" The Clone muttered making Linda ease back as she looked away from the Clone in question. "Ever since ARK's arrive the CAST have been the target of many racial insults despite showing to have sentience unlike the Droid Army they faced.

"Hey!" Oma cut in as he glared at the Clone in question for his racist comment to his CAST friend. "At least she wasn't constructed solely for combat!" Oma almost yelled as he glared at the Clone.

The Clone glared at the two as Linda wasn't used to such racial discrimination against her. That was until the Clone was stopped by his friend knowing this was going to turn out bad for them. "Boil, don't. We need them to make sure the mission's successful." The Clone said as he didn't want them to be caught by their commanding officers. After all racism was a serious thing and the Republic and those who represent it need to be better than that.

"I don't need any droids' help. And neither does the Republic, Waxer." Boil said with a huff no doubt distrustful of droids who can use weapons. Oma looked ready to start something until Elina showed up behind the two.

"Is that so?" Elina asked as this caused both Waxer and Boil to yelp in shock at how Elina showed up with her serial killer smile. "Want to put that to the test, I'm sure friendly fire can be proven as accidents." Elina said and thus Linda knew she had to step in with this as did Oma.

"Elina don't its ok really." Linda said as she rather avoid any of their allies needlessly being hurt.

"Oh poo that's so boring." Elina said and in turn Waxer and Boil stepped away from the possibly insane CAST. They also made self-reminders to sleep with one eye open around her from now on.

Despite this Oma guided Linda back to Luna with Elina following after her two teammates. Waxer narrowed his eyes at his friend before putting on his helmet. "Perhaps you two should employ a more open mindset." Luna said as she walked up to the two clones.

"Oh and what would you know?" Boil asked as he looked at Luna.

"Well before I joined ARK's I was a school teacher." Luna confessed as she looked to the clones like she would two problematic students at school. "And I've faced my own fair share of racial or bigotry from some of my students." Luna said as she wasn't exactly lying to them. Back in her old world she was in fact a school teacher and she loved her students to death and wanted to see them succeed. "Wars and feuds all begin with a close minded view of one's world." Luna said as she then went to join with the other ARK's Operatives she had come with. But before either Waxer or Boil could respond to Luna's words the Newman was already rejoined with Oma and her teammates from ARK's.

(Meanwhile at the Separatist Outpost)

"Sir the enemy ships are in range." A Battle Droid informed his Tactical Droid Superior.

"Fire at, will." The Tactical Droid ordered and thus the Battle Droid obeyed its commander.

(Back with the Republic Gunships)

Just then ship began to shake as the air around the gunship began exploding due to action of enemy fire.

"We're taking on enemy fire!" The Clone Pilot called out as the fire from the ground continued to go off.

"Geez and here I thought we'd have an easy landing!" Oma called out as he held on to the hand bars above him.

"Oh their shooting at us, can I shoot back?" Elina asked as many of the troops began to grow worried about going down with her to fight Separatist droids and Falspawn monsters. They soon heard the sound of a louder explosion which probably meant that one of their cruisers was hit.

(Meanwhile in the Republic Cruiser)

"General, the enemy fire is penetrating our shields." A Bridge Op Clone reported as the ship shook from the impact of the enemy fire.

"Get me Kenobi!" Mace ordered as nearby ARK's Operatives ran about to keep things stable as possible. It was clear that they needed a new plan to deal with whatever is firing at their landing fleet.

(Meanwhile back on Obi-Wan's gunship)

Just then a hologram of Mace Windu appeared in the gunship as clearly he saw what was going on. "Master Windu, what's the situation?" Obi-wan asked as soon as they knew the connection was stable.

"The enemy guns are breaking through our shields. We can't risk landing the larger transports until you take out those guns." Mace Windu updated as he addressed the current situation.

"Pull back. We'll take care of it." Obi-Wan said after taking the information before Windu's image vanished from their sight.

Oma smirked and then looked to the Clones and three ARK's ops in the gunship. "Ok boys and girls who's up for a challenge?" Oma asked as he looked to the gathered troops. "We aren't going to be getting any help from the boys in white and our friends in ARK's so we're on our own until those guns are turned into scrap." Oma said as to which many Clones and the ARK's ops knew what this meant.

"Here we go again." Waxer said to his best friend and was ready to go with his helmet on.

Oma saw they were about to land before he looked over to Linda. "Lin we may need your expertise in demolition after all." Oma added showing he was the leader among them.

(Back at the enemy outpost)

"Commander the Republic transports have turned away but the Gunships are still heading toward us." The Battle Droid began as he looked to the Tactical Droid in charge.

"Just as I calculated." The Tactical Droid boasted knowing the Republic would do something along those lines.

(Back with the Republic soldiers)

They kept flying until they reached the drop point. From there all of the survivors of Obi-Wan's forces exited the gunships with 8 other ARK's operatives departing from the other gunships. Once their passengers had departed from the gunships the Republic troop transport vehicle began flying back to the cruisers above.

Once they were all on the ground they began to soldier sprint through the canopy of trees with Oma's team leading with Obi-Wan and his clone troopers.

(At the Separatist Outpost)

"Prepare for their ground assault." The Tactical Droid ordered as he looked his subordinate who then went to carry out the order he gave.

(Back with the ground troops)

Eventually they arrived at a broken wall that used to protect the citizens from the dangers of the local wild life of Ryloth. On the wall Battle Droids were seen no doubt acting as gate keepers for that wall. "I think I see movement in the trees." A battle droid said, moving one of the gun turrets to face where it saw movement.

In turn the Droids saw the movement of both Republic Clone Troopers and ARK's Operatives moving in on their position. "Fire, fire!" Another Droid ordered and in turn all the droids at the wall of the village began firing at the approaching enemies. In response many ARK's operatives and Troopers hid behind the trees for cover against the enemy fire. As this happened the ARK's Operatives all looked to each other before they got moving.

The ARK's Operatives got out of their hiding spots as they came out to cause the Separatist some major damage. Of course in response the Falspawn showed up as they went after the ARK's Operatives. Forcing them to fall back Oma hid behind a tree as Luna fired off her Techniques to better combat the Falspawn that came for them.

As the enemy fire continued the more melee oriented ARK's operatives hacked and slashed to deal with the incoming Falspawn. "That bunker is gonna be a problem, General." Cody said over the blaster fire while Oma agreed with him.

"The Falspawn aren't helping things either!" Oma called out and thus they heard laughter from a certain CAST. "Uh-oh." Oma said as he realized who was on the loose now. They all looked as they saw Elina with an insane grin as she fired her rifle off on the Falspawn as they came at her and the Droids who fired on her.

"Come on die! Die for me!" She called out as she was clearly enjoying her guns. "Shoot! Shoot! Shoot!" She laughed as with each killing shot she cried out Shoot in pure sadistic glee.

"I guess we can leave the Falspawn to you guys." Cody said as he saw Elina going to town on the Falspawn with her insane trigger happy laughter echoing from her Killing Pit.

Focusing on the Bunker Obi-Wan began to devise a plan. "Leave the bunker to me. Bring in your troopers on my signal!" Obi-Wan said before he looked over to Waxer and Boil. "You two wanted action come with me." Obi-Wan ordered and in turn the Jedi General and the troopers, Waxer, and Boil headed out to flank the Droids on the wall.

As they moved they made sure to avoid Elina as she was in one of her gun crazes while they continued to fight their foes. The other members of the ARK's team were providing Obi-Wan and the two Clones cover fire while trying to avoid Elina making them friendly fire casualties during the current battle. Once Obi-Wan and the two clones were close enough he began to deliver his next order for the current battle.

Nearby an older looking ARK's ops roared as he fired his rifle off on the Droids and Falspawn before a Newman came in with two wired blades upon the Falspawn. Following this duo up was a CAST with a Partisan similar to Oma hovering in to better fight off the Falspawn. Clearly they were trying to make quick work of the Falspawn and the droids so they may move on and deal with the cannons.

"Hey we need to get those turrets!" Oma called out as he pointed to the wall where the Turrets were.

"Kind of hard when we are getting fired upon." The older ARK's operative growled as he looked to the group.

"Well, Joe you got any ideas?" Oma asked until another ARK's operative a human female with twin daggers looked to the scene occurring before them.

"I got an idea!" She called out and thus she got moving. She ran to the side and after switching to a gunblade opened fire on the Droids drawing her attention.

"Way to go Yuri!" Oma called out as he saw what her plan was. "Gunners follow after her, Layla you know what to do!" Oma called out and thus everyone got moving on this. In response Linda, Joe, and Elina began to run to the side to draw the enemy fire torts them with Oma, a Partisan wielding bulky Cast, and the Human female with a Katana covering the shooters from any stray shots.

Once that was done Layla ran up to the wall and saw the Clones with Obi-Wan. Once she got close she used her wire blades to hoist herself upward and grabbed the Droid Popper to get it up there also. Once she was topside Layla threw down the Droid Popper and saw how it went off taking out many of the Droids with one burst.

The Falspawn responded and began to attack to which Layla began to fight them off with her wire blades swinging them with clear trained ease. As she continued fighting the Falspawn Oma saw this and knew she was going to need some help up there.

"Arno!" Oma called out to the bulky CAST who nodded to this group's current leader.

"Right!" Arno called out and began swinging his Partisan to build momentum. Once this was done Oma jumped onto the Partisan and allowed it to launch him skyward to the wall where Layla was fighting.

"Oma!" Obi-Wan called out as he saw what was going on and thus Oma caught another Droid Popper before throwing it to the wall where the Droids were. Once it landed the popper went off taking the droids out just before Oma landed on the spot. Once this was done he began to fight his way through the Droids that got in the Operatives way. In turn the two ARK's Operatives began to converge at the center of the wall fighting their way through Droids and Falspawn alike. The two continued this until they got to the center and were in turn met with their foes coming in from either side of the defensive wall.

Just then gunfire was heard and thus it was clear Elina was back in action. "Oh I just love shooting Falspawn and Droids." Elina said as she had a sadistic grin on her face now. "Seeing them writhing pain, Falspawn guts spilling out, and Battle Droid wires and coolant staining the ground it turns me on so much!" Elina called out and even licked her lips in anticipation to the slaughter she would be committing. "Come on now bleed for me! Die For me! Do all that while I shoot, shoot; shoot you all!" She laughed out as she continued shooting at all her foes.

Cody saw this and for a moment he actually felt bad for both the Clankers and Falspawn when facing Elina. Realizing they were still in a battle Cody proceeded to give orders. "Ghost Company let's move!" Cody and in turn Oma had similar ideas.

"ARK's let's move in!" The older Operative called out from the ground and thus they all began to move in on the wall to take it while firing upon the Droids and Falspawn protecting the wall.

(Back at the Separatist Outpost)

A battle Droid began to approach the Tactical Droid with an update on their defenses. "Sir, I've lost contact with our outer defenses." The battle Droid confirmed as he looked to the Tactical Droid in charge of this Droid Detachment.

The Tactical Droid quickly figured out what had happened and knew they needed to plan. But plans were useless without information and in turn had his next order to give. "The Republic Troops and ARK's Operatives have overrun the village perimeter." The Tactical Droid began before looking to the Battle Droid before him. "Find out how the Jedi and ARK's plan to attack." The Tactical Droid ordered and thus the Droid went to carry out the new orders.

(Back with ARK's and the Republic Troops)

Obi-Wan and his clone Battalion lead up by Cody was looking to the smoke plume in the distance. With him was Luna and Oma as they swathe event play out. "The wall is secure sir." Cody confirmed with a salute after he had gone over a check with the others. "Are we moving on to the guns?" Cody asked but before Oma could speak the older ARK's Operative, Joe, approached.

"That's reckless there's no telling how our enemies plan to ambush or outflank us." Joe said as Oma looked to him. "We got lucky we haven't lost anyone yet but still we can't be reckless." Joe said and thus Obi-Wan agreed with the grouchy old ARK's Operative.

"He's right, Oma can you and Cody gather the best men you have to scout ahead?" Obi-Wan asked as he looked to the Clone Trooper Commander and the Ark's Operative standing with him.

"Got it/Will do, sir." Oma and Cody both responded and went to carry the order out.

"Luna go find Penny and Tina those two are the best at information gathering." Oma said as he looked to Luna before his eyes went to Linda. "And bring Lina along also." Oma added knowing that Waxer's words hurt Linda still.

"Understood." Luna said as she then took her leave to gather the group for this scouting mission.

"Boil, Waxer, come with me." Cody ordered when he saw the two Clone Troopers in question.

"I guess we're the best." Boil said as he went with Cody while Luna gathered Penny and Tina from wherever they were hiding out at.

(Later in the Twi'lek Village)

Luna, Linda, Waxer, Boil, Cody, and a pair of Newman Twins with one unnamed clone were seen walking down the path while exploring the deserted village. The twin Newman girls were clearly Penny and Tina whom Luna was told to bring along on this task. The twins were known information brokers on the ARK's Ship and fashioned themselves as Reporters.

Though truth was they could easily become spies but preferred staying as Scouts and Information Brokers. "Buildings are just buildings. What really makes a city are the inhabitants that live in it." Cody said as Boil was worried.

"So where are they?" Boil asked with great concern for the people here.

"That's what I want to know." Luna asked as Tina looked around.

"I don't see anything around her suggesting a struggle and there aren't any bodies either." Tina said as she saw that other than a few broken doors the village was more or less unharmed by the Droids.

Just then both Cody and Luna acted as the Trooper held his fist up while Luna held her open palm up to stop their troops. The two then looked at each other and quickly remembered they were both leaders here. Watching this both Penny and Tina looked confused for a moment while Linda giggled at the two leader's embarrassment here.

"My apologies." Luna responded to which Cody let it be knowing how confusing two leaders of similar ranks tend to get who commands who mixed up many times over.

"We'll check out the courtyard. You two take the south sector." Cody said as he looked to Waxer and Boil for the later part. "Be back at Command at 0620." Cody ordered and thus Luna spoke up next.

"Yes, sir." Boil responded to which Luna then spoke her own orders.

"Penny Tina you two go with Cody, Linda you're with me." Luna said and thus the two groups split up. Waxer and Boil were accompanied by Linda and Luna while Cody and his unnamed clone was accompanied by the twins Penny and Tina to scout the areas.

(Later with Luna's team)

The four were scouting around for a bit as they looked around the deserted city. "I'm telling you, Boil, this is creepy." Waxer said as the CAST female, the Newman woman, and two Clones scouted the area.

"You think they killed all of them?" Boil asked with concern for the people who lived here.

"I don't think so." Linda said as she used her scanners for anything suggesting so. "If anything it seems they were driven from their homes." Linda said as she looked around.

"I have to agree and if not driven from their homes likely taken from their homes by force." Luna said as she knew that war was a messy place to be for anyone in it.

"I don't think they even had a..." Waxer began until they heard the sound of rock moving causing the group to hear it.

"Had a what?" Boil asked as he noted how Waxer paused.

"Choice." Waxer finished with a sigh as Linda had also detected the movement. When nothing came of it the group continued to scout the area for any surprises for them.

(Meanwhile with Cody and the twins)

Penny and Tina were on varying vantage points watching a battalion of Battle Droids march by. They saw the area where the cannons were while below them Cody and his Trooper watched things from ground level.

"Man that is a lot of Battle Droids down there." Penny said as she saw the Battle Droids marching by. "I wonder just what has them all so…" Penny began until Tina cut her off.

"Penny no." Tina scolded knowing how Penny can get whenever there is information that's just ripe for the picking.

"Oh come on Tina." Penny whined as all she had to do was get a Droids head and download its stored information for the information.

"Tina focus on this." Penny scolded as the twins were clearly like polar opposites in terms of personality between them.

"As much as your argument is interesting we still have a problem." The Clone Trooper with Cody cut in just before the twin ARK's Operatives jumped down to join them. He then gestured to the Droid army while Cody was looking at them through his binoculars trying to find a way to get passed them and take out those cannons.

"Yeah that's a lot of Battle Droids, Wooly." Tina said as she agreed with the Clone now identified as Wooly.

"Getting passed them is not going to be easy." Wooley said as he saw the Droids in their way.

"There's always a way, Wooley." Cody responded as he looked to Wooley before going back into the binoculars to try and find a way to the cannons passed the Battle Droids. "Wait, Twi'leks, they are holding all the survivors hostages," Cody said as to which the Twins were surprised and shocked by this information.

"But they're civilians!" Tina said shocked that the Separatist would do such a thing to innocent people.

"We have to report this to General Kenobi," Cody said and in turn the Two Clones and the pair of Twins were in agreement on this and got ready to head out with this information.

(Later with the Ground Troops)

A Separatist Probe was hovering about as it went to carry out its programmed mission. As it continued to travel it eventually came upon a build with an opening in its roof. It then switched a sort of crawl section to better conceal itself as it looked down to see what was happening inside.

Down below a Hologram of Mace Windu was seen as Penny and Tina were with Oma after informing them of what they found. "Found the guns. They're in the courtyard here and here, but there's a complication." Cody said as he had the holographic image of the village before them all. "They've taken the locals hostage and they're using them as shields." Cody said to which Oma didn't like that sound of this not one bit.

"Oh poo." Elina was heard as all eyes went to her. "Those Separatist robotic targets are ruining my fun." Elina said to which further reminded the group of just how trigger happy Elina was here.

"The Twi'lek prisoners will make this difficult but not impossible. I still have a good plan for taking out those guns." Obi-Wan said as he had to think it over.

"Getting the villagers out of harm's way is our first priority. I have faith in you, General Kenobi." Mace Windu said as he looked to his fellow Jedi General.

"This is turning into a load of problems for us." Joe growled as the older Operative was clearly not in agreement with what the Separatist were doing.

"Well we need to get the hostages out of there somehow." Arno said as he looked to the others.

"Well I'm open to suggestion." A Newman girl said with ivory black hair and a form fitting uniform as she sat on a ledge next to another CAST a male one with a sleek form unlike Arno's bulky form.

"Well this is a trick situation Reiko." The CAST said as he crossed his arms trying to think of a way to save the Twi'Lek's.

"Perhaps we Bouncers may have a solution to employ, Fuuto." The Newman girl, Reiko, offered as she looked to her partner.

"Well your name does do you guy's justice with your speed and all that." Came a human female as she held a Katana in her hand by the weapons scabbard. "What do you think Yuna?" The Human girl asked to the Deuman with her who was rubbing the chin of an avian creature with her.

"Perhaps it would be for the best, Klara." Yuna said as she then looked to Obi-Wan. "But I'm sure the General will have an idea." The azure blue haired Deuman said as she looked over to Obi-Wan hoping he had an idea to get those hostages out of there.

"Well General Kenobi what's your big plan to get the hostages out of there?" Klara asked as the Human Braver hoped Obi-Wan had a good idea.

"Worry not my friends." Obi-Wan began as he looked to the ARK's Operatives and Clones. "Loss of Civilian life is not on my agenda today." Obi-Wan said as he would do all he could to get the Twi'Lek's to safety.

(Back at the Separatist Camp)

The Tactical Droid saw all that the Probe Droid was seeing and thus knew who was leading the assault and with it how to counter. "So, it's General Kenobi who is leading this assault." The Tactical Droid said as he began to pull up information pertaining to Obi-Wan from its data banks. "He is known for his deceptive maneuvers." The Tactical Droid said and thus the Battle Droid with him understood.

"Roger, roger. Download his file." The Battle Droid said and thus began to get all data it could on the Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi.

(Back with the Scout Team)

With the clones Waxer and Boil scouting the area, still, Linda had similar maneuvers to the clones with Luna staying in the back. They had heard something a bit ago and had opted to investigate it in case it was a probe Droid. As they continued to move trying to box in whomever or whatever had been following the group.

They then rush the area of an alleyway as they found… a little Twi'lek girl. They had their guns trained on her before they saw what it was and lowered them. "Ah, it's just a little girl." Boil said as he saw the little girl.

"Well what are we gonna do with her?" Waxer asked with Boil said, "Whoa, whoa, whoa; whoa! Why do we have to do anything? We got a mission to finish."

"We should do something. I say we take her with us." Waxer said as he looked to, Boil.

"You can't be serious. She'll only slow us down." Boil argued and thus Luna sighed to this until she and Linda began to notice something nearby.

"Look, she's afraid of us." Waxer said until Linda spoke up.

"It not us, hide now!" Linda said and in turn she, Luna, and the Clone Troopers all hide behind any obstruction they could reach. As they hid they waited for the Probe Droid to fly by before they could leave their hiding spots.

"That was a recon unit." Boil said as he knew if that was here than in all likely hood more was sure to follow suit. "We'd better get moving." Boil said as he wanted to get his friend out of here.

"We can't leave her here." Waxer argued knowing the little girl won't survive if they leave her out here all alone.

"And we won't." Luna said as her Mag flew nearby and thus Luna kneeled down to the Twi'lek girl. "It's ok." Luna said as she looked to the little girl who was wide eyed to this. Their Mag's didn't only act as their method to use their Photon Blasts but also acted as two way translators. So to the little girl Luna was speaking perfect Twi'lek while for Luna the girl was spoking perfect basic. "I'm Luna, what's your name little one?" Luna asked as she looked to the little girl speaking to her like she would her old students back before she awoke on the Fleet in her Avatar body for Phantasy Star Online.

"Numa." The girl responded with some hesitation and thus Luna smiled to her.

"Numa… a pretty name for an adorable little girl." Luna said as she offered her hand for the little girl to take. Numa was about to take Luna's offered hand until she eased back when she saw Waxer and Boil. Seeing this Luna opted to help ease the tensions between both sides. "Waxer, Boil take off your helmets." Luna said and in turn Linda walked up next.

Seeing that Numa apparently thought them as Droids saw what Luna meant and proceeded to do as the woman asked. "Poor thing looks half starved." Linda said as she looked to Numa with great concern.

"Linda do you?" Luna began but Linda was way ahead of Luna on this one.

"Here eat up, ok." Linda offered as she took out some field rations for the little Twi'Lek girl. The little girl looked to the offering for a moment before giving it a sniff. Once she was sure it was probably safe she took the offering and began to eat the given food. Linda smiled and began to pat the Twi'lek on the head surprising her for a moment. But she let the CAST do it leaving the Clones surprised at how gentle Linda was being.

Once she was done eating the good Numa looked to the four standing before her. "Brother. Brother. Teacher. Sister." Numa said pointing to Waxer, Boil, Luna, and Linda in the order of each word spoken.

"No, I'm Waxer." Waxer said as he gestured to himself. "He's Boil." Waxer added after gesturing to his friend Boil.

Luna smiled and began to translate for her. "Those two are Waxer, and Boil but if you feel comfortable calling them that, then continue doing so." Luna said as the Clones were surprised by this. "In fact if you feel better calling us those names then I don't mind, but just remember my name. I'm Luna… and this is Linda." Luna introduced gesturing to herself and to Linda.

"How is she able to understand you two?" Boil asked as he put his helmet back on.

"Our Mags act as two way universal translators. It's what allows ARK's to communicate with alien life whom we happen across during our voyage to have peaceful relations with them." Linda explained as she stood up to look to the Clones.

"Numa it's very dangerous here." Luna said as she looked to Numa while standing up.

"She's right we need to go and hopefully get you to safety." Linda added as she then offered her hand to Numa. "If you come with us, we'll get you to safety and hopefully find your family." Linda said and for a moment Numa hesitated to take Linda's hand. After a moment Numa took the CAST's hand and in turn the duo began to head out with the rest of the group of scouts. "Stay close and don't stray from our sights." Linda said and thus they were off.

(Meanwhile back at the Outpost)

TX-20 entered the structure behind the square passing by a few other droids and some of the hostages and Falspawn. He arrived at a hall filled with cages and in turn began to walk up to the Battle Droid working there. "Sergeant, are the creatures ready?" The Tactical Droid asked as he looked upon his subordinate and the creatures in the cages.

"I starved them, like you ordered, sir." The Droid reported as it stood next to the cages of the snarling creatures. "Uh, are you sure they will not attack us?" The battle droid asked, worried about being made a meal for these things. After all it knew exactly how difficult it was to catch these dangerous native predators of Ryloth as well as to also keep them from eating each other.

To prove that they were starving for food, one of the insectoid predators of Ryloth, a Gutkurr, began to bite on the bars of its cell. "I will need to only test that verify my theory." The tactical droid stated as it pressed the release button on one of the cages.

"Uh sir what are you doing?" The battle droid asked as it eased back in concern only to pump into one of the Gutkurr. The Droid then realized what was about to happen and thus knew there was no stopping its fate. "Oh, no." The Battle Droid said before the Gutkurr chomped down and began mauling the Battle Droid. The Droids screaming as muffled as the beast tried to get some nourishment off its prey. "Ow! Not my motivator!" The Battle Droid cried out as the Gutkurr continued to maul the poor battle droid.

But it seems fate shined down upon this droid because when the creature realized it would not get any food off of this Battle Droid it proceeded to spit out its catch onto the floor. "Just as I calculated, the creatures require organic meat." TX-20 stated as it looked down upon its functioning subordinate.

"Well that's a relief." The battle droid said after it had been released from being mauled. Right now it was currently sitting in the saliva that covered its armor from the aforementioned incident.

"It will not be for the Clones or the ARK's." The Tactical Droid said to which he then turned to the creautres. "They will provide a most generous supply." The Tactical Droid said but the Battle Droid who was almost made a meal had one question to ask.

"What about their CAST?" The Battle Droid asked hearing about the sentient droids working for ARK's.

"We shall deal with them with the Falspawn's aid." The Tactical Droid said knowing with the Clones and ARK's organic operatives out of commission the CAST will be outnumbered and outgunned.

(Back with the Scout Team)

The group of four now five continued to walk down the path as Linda held onto Numa's hand with her left hand while her right hand held her gunblade ready. Waxer looked to Numa with concern as Linda seemed to be pointing random things out for her with Luna helping. Numa made a few laughs when it was clear Linda got something wrong but clearly to the adults Linda got it wrong on purpose to keep Numa distracted from the sight of destruction around her. "I wonder, what happened to her family?" Waxer asked as he looked over to his best friend for answers.

"They're probably dead. Hopefully, she'll survive this mess." Boil replied as he kept moving, his eyes looking forward. Though he was starting to have some doubts about Linda in this situation.

Waxer then looked back to the two and saw that Luna was sounding like she had actually dealt with children many times over. Clearly the Newman woman wasn't kidding when she said she used to be a teacher long ago. "So what happens to her? I mean, after we leave." Waxer asked unaware that Linda and Luna were listening in on the Clone Troopers conversation.

"I don't know." Boil stated, before seeing his friend glancing back at the Twi'lek girl with the Newman and CAST. "Ah, don't get any ideas. We're not taking her with us." Boil warned as he knew what Waxer was thinking.

"I already have a few ideas. I assume the Republic has funding's and the like for Orphans of war?" Luna asked as she walked over to the two troopers who were surprised by her question.

"About that." Waxer began feeling Luna was not going to like what he was about to tell her.

"Um guys." Linda was heard as it seems Numa was pulling Linda somewhere by the CAST's arm.

"Where is she going?" Boil asked as he saw how Numa was trying to drag the female CAST off. The problem was that it was in the direction the Probe Droid had gone off to. "Just let her go." Boil added but Linda refused him.

"No there's something there that she clearly needs." Linda said as she wasn't going to let this girl run off to die by the dangers.

"Let's go and see what she wants." Luna said knowing how children tend to be. By the looks of it the girl was possibly trying to go home. Or in this case whatever may remain of her home among ruins.

"I'm with them." Waxer said and thus Luna, Linda, and Waxer were off leaving Boil behind for a moment.

"Wait stop I'm trying to keep you all alive!" Boil called out but it was too late the three were gone. He then growled to himself before giving chase to them. "I'll be damned if I know why." Boil added and thus chased after his friend and the two ARK's Operatives.

Linda let Numa lead the way as they made their way through the ruined village. Luna had opted to stay close to the Clone Troopers as Linda was being guided through the ruins by Numa. AS they continued to run Waxer had a question about this. "Where's she going?" Waxer asked to which Luna had the answer to this.

"Home." Luna said her tone holding a hint of longing for her own home as well.

Over with Numa and Linda the CAST was able to keep up with her as Luma guided the CAST by her hand. Linda wondered what was so important that Numa had to come here for. Back in her own world Linda used to work in construction as did some of her friends who also remained here from their old lives. She was damn good at what she did to boot. After becoming ARK's she could build things and she can break them and with the construction of Central City ARK's was calling in any available builders to help get their new home built. It was hard to believe that Linda was once a construction worker which back home was commonly considered a man's job due to many stereotypes.

She saw all the damage this place had suffered due to the Falspawn and Separatist before she eventually stopped when Numa stopped. "Now Numa." Linda began as she kneeled down to Numa.

Not long after Waxer, Luna, and Boil caught up to the CAST as she was kneeling to Numa. "There you are." Waxer said as he looked to Linda.

"Good you managed to not lose her droid." Boil said causing Luna to give Boil a scolding look as Linda eased back a bit. "You know, I have binders if we need 'em." Boil pointed out, earning incredulous looks from both Waxer and Luna. "What?" Boil asked, not understanding why they were looking at him that way.

Looking around, the four remained silent until Waxer felt a small hand enclosed around his as he looked down to see the small twi'lek point to one of the empty houses. When she did so Linda and Waxer looked to each other for a moment as Numa had a grip on one hand from Waxer and Linda. They began to walk slowly towards the house with Boil and Luna covering the rear of this group.

"What are we doing here, anyway?" Boil asked as he was getting annoyed through all of this causing Luna to shush him in response to that comment.

The group of four entered the demolished house with a large hole in the ceiling and wall with Numa leading the way in. Waxer sets his blaster down and proceeded to take off his helmet. Boil sat on the rocks as they watched the girl standing in the middle of the destroyed building. Nearby Luna kept a close eye on Numa as the Newman looked around the home. Linda of course stayed close to Numa not wanting her to be alone here.

"I guess this was her home." Waxer surmised by how the girl led them to this building out of the others.

"Poor thing." Luna said as she rubbed her hand across the wall as she walked. "She lost everything her whole world gone in an instant." Luna said as she understood how the world can be cruel at times. Sometimes she had students from such tragedies. Orphans from other countries, orphans from murders, orphans from tragic accidents, and even orphans from natural causes. But it never made it any easier for the teacher Luna once was. Luna then looked down and saw a doll on the ground to which she picked it up and cleaned it of any dust on it. When she had picked it up the doll made a squeak suggesting it had a squeaker into the toys body.

Luna then walked over to Numa and saw how Linda stepped aside. Once she was close enough Numa saw the former school teacher and saw her offer Numa her doll. When Numa took the doll she began to cry and seeing her cry just broke Luna and Linda's heart seeing the child cry over her loss.

"Hey." Linda said as she kneeled down to Numa. "It'll be ok now. We're here to help you and your people." Linda said as she then pulled a rag from her person and offered it to Numa. "Here dry those tears you're a big girl and shouldn't be crying for long." Linda offered and in turn Numa ran up to the CAST and began hugging her like a lifeline.

Linda was surprised by this and began to pat the girl and rubbed her Lekku to help her calm down. Boil was surprised that Linda could be this comforting to a small child. Sure Droids are able to do this due to programming but the way Linda did it showed she was a natural here.

In response Boil began to walk up to the two as Waxer knew Numa was going through a great loss right now. "Don't cry, kid. We'll keep you safe. I… I promise." Boil said as he was trying to help comfort the girl who lost it all because of the Separatist and their Droid Army with the Falspawn helping them.

In turn Numa ran over to Boil and hugged him as Luna saw this expecting Boil to make some racial comment about Linda's CAST heritage. But instead Boil let it be knowing that Linda may be similar to the Droids but unlike the Separatist Droids the CAST had something the Droids didn't they had souls.

(Back with The Republic/ARK's Squads)

Back at their base camp the Troopers were doing final weapons check on their gear while others were on watch for any Separatist surprise attacks. Nearby Oma was with his group as he was doing a check on his gear making sure it was all accounted for as were the rest of the group. They had any medical gear accounted for and even did a check on their Mag's for their used of Photon Blasts.

Obi-Wan began to walk up to Cody as he was as ready as any of the men were to attack. "The men set, Cody?" Obi-Wan asked as he looked to Cody who was currently looking into his communicator and sensed something was wrong. "What is it?" Obi-Wan asked as he looked to the Clone Commander.

"Waxer and Boil are not responding." Cody told his general as he looked worried for those two missing troopers. "They never returned from scouting." Cody said to which Oma overheard this and approached the two.

"The same can be said for Luna and Linda." Oma said to which Tina and Penny showed up again.

"I haven't seen those two since we got back." Tina said as she looked to Oma.

"Same isn't Luna supposed to be on top of this sort of thing?" Penny asked to which Oma sighed and pushed those two back to continue their final gear check.

"Despite those two pests, they have a point, it's not like either Luna or Penny to go ghost on us." Oma said and Obi-Wan nodded to the ARK's Operative.

"The same can be said about Waxer and Boil." Obi-Wan said in full agreement with Oma. "They may have run into trouble." The Jedi Master theorized as he hoped he was wrong with that particular assumption.

Understanding the need Oma and Cody went to their communication technicians to get the word out to their missing allies. "Sergeant, use the high-powered transmitter, see if you can reach Waxer and Boil." Cody ordered a nearby Trooper who understood the order.

"Yes, sir!" The Sergeant saluted before going to carry out his order.

"Arno try to see if you can boost the signal to reach out to Luna and Linda." Oma ordered and Arno nodded to Oma.

"Got it boss man." Oma said as he then headed out to do the same thing Cody ordered his trooper to do.

"Let's get the rest of the men moving. The others will catch up." Obi-Wan said as he knew they couldn't afford to wait any longer.

(Back at the Separatist encampment)

Back in the town square, TX-20 got the video feed from the recon droid it had sent out to find out what the Jedi planned to do. "They are on the move." The droid commander stated before opening the communications line. "Sergeant, the attack is coming. Release the beasts. It is time to execute my plan." The Tactical Droid order before the droid sat and waited for its predictions to materialize as it calculated

"Roger, roger." The Battle Droid in the beast's pens responded and went to carry out the order. Hopefully this battle will allow them to salvage the CAST remains and reverse engineer them for the Droid Army.

(Over with the Scout Team)

While the Twi'lek girl continued to hug them, they heard the familiar beeping of their communicators going off signaling one thing.

"It's the commander." Boil said as he got up knowing they were in some deep trouble now. "We're way overdue, Waxer. We're going to end up polishing R2 units." Boil added to remind Waxer it would be his fault in the end for this.

Just as Boil was about to reply, Waxer stopped him. "Wait! How are we going to explain all this? About her?" Waxer asked as they needed a plan or some cover story all the while the girls watched the two argue.

"You're asking me?" Boil asked, a brow raised, pondering how ridiculous those questions sounded to the republic soldier.

While the two went to retrieve their gear, Waxer thought of something for their cover story. "Maybe if we hurry back, we can tell them we ran into a little trouble." Waxer offered as he began to spin their yarn.

"Oh, that's for sure." Boil said, dryly as he went to grab his gear.

"And our transmissions were jammed by the droids." Waxer added, while picking up his gear and putting it on as did Luna and Linda with their own weapons.

"It's worth a try." Boil added after slipping his helmet on seeing the lie might just get them out of the brewing trouble they would be in with the truth. "But mark my words, this will end badly." Boil said as Luna and Linda looked to each other.

"They do know getting a Civilian to safety would also get them out of trouble right?" Linda asked as she leaned over to Luna. "Especially if said Civilian is a child." The CAST added to which Luna shrugged a bit there.

"Probably." Luna responded as she already had their own story. As the group of four began to exit the girls home and make their way back to command they stopped. Luna and Boil were both on edge as the two felt something was off here.

Luna flexed her grip on her Rod with a Technique ready to use at a moment's notice to get them out of this oncoming situation. Just then Numa ran over and hid behind Waxer and Linda when she heard a familiar set of movement nearby. "Gutkurr! Gutkurr!" Numa cried out as this both worried and confused the group of four.

'Gutkurr?' The Two Clone Troopers and the Two ARK's Operatives all thought as they then heard hissing coming from the way they came from. The group all looked to the direction the snarling came from and saw two of the tall insectoid predators of Ryloth coming from the way they came. The Predators were all snarling in their direction hungry as they saw prey to satisfy their hunger before them.

"I think I know why the kid never came back here." Boil said, getting his blaster ready as Luna already had her Rod out. Linda grabbed her own Rifle and took aim at the large creature approaching them. In response to the danger Numa ran inside the house and hid behind a big rock hugging her doll to her.

The Gutkurrs hissed before they charged in at their newly identified prey ready for some delicious meat.

"You see what happens when we don't follow orders?" Boil scolded the group, over the blaster fire going off now, as he shot at the creatures. Groaning at seeing their weapons not doing much good on the Gutkurrs' shell the Clones began to fall back. In response Luna held her rod out at her foes before she released an ice based Technique that sent a blast of cold against the predators of Ryloth. One of them was frozen stiff while the other had parts of its body frozen as well. Clearly unused to the cold the creatures became even more enraged. But after seeing the Newman was the cause the predatory creatures opted to play this hunt smart now. "Everyone inside now!" Luna ordered and thus the Clones plus Linda all entered the house with Luna keeping the creatures at bay with her Photonic Attacks on the local predators.

Once they were all in, Luna included, they began to barricade the door as the closest Gutkurr charged in. The only thing it managed to do was hit its head with the now closed door. Once this was done Luna proceeded to use the same Ice skill to seal the door shut to keep the local creatures outside as much as they can.

"Great now we're stuck in here." Boil said realizing they had no other way out of this kill pit of a house.

"We bought ourselves some time." Luna said defending her action but now they needed a way out of this situation.

"But how do we get out?" Waxer asked as Linda looked around for an exit.

Using her sensors Linda was trying to locate a hidden path through the walls or floor. At least that was her plan until Numa ran over to the area nearby. Once she got there she moved a few things just as one of the Gutukurr began to enter through the hole in the wall. Seeing this Linda acted and fired her cannon at the predatory creature native to the planet. It was blasted out of the home before Linda ran over to Numa and saw her trying to hoist the floor open on her own merits.

"Let me." Linda said and in turn using her CAST bodies superior physical strength she lifted the floor open and looked to the others.

"Their breaking through!" Boil called out and in turn Linda knew it was time for them to make their escape.

"Get in!" Linda ordered and thus one by one they all entered the secret path. Linda held the door open and for added measure Luna fired a Technique at another Gutukurr that tried to attack.

"Come on!" Luna called out and thus Linda went in letting the stone go and sealing the hatch just as the creature crashed into it. It tried to find something to hook its claws and open the match bit this would not be the case. The group had managed to make their escape and thankfully live to fight another day.

(Back with the Republic/ARK's unit)

As Obi-wan, the ARK's Operatives, and the clones walk down the streets of the ruin village, they kept their eyes peeled and their weapons trained for any threat. But as they walked Oma began to noticed something amiss about all this. As he looked around he saw Arno was close by and opted to voice his concern to the larger CAST. "Does it seems weird we haven't seen any Falspawn yet?" Oma asked with obvious concern for a trap here.

"The last time we saw a Falspawn was back at that wall… so yet is does seem weird." Arno said as he walked with Oma. Just then snarling was heard as the unit all trained their weapons on where the noise had come from. Just then a stampeded of Gutukurr began to charge down the street in packs to hunt for some long awaited food.

"Oh shit." Joe cursed realizing they were in trouble now.

"We're under attack!" A Cloned cried out soon enough as the ARK's Operatives were soon firing their guns with the clones at the creatures. But as the blaster shot didn't do much against them those with heavier firepower switched over and saw that those weapons did some more damage to the pack of hungry Gutukurr. As the ARK's Ops held them off for a bit to get some clones to escape before running the other way with them as the clone sin the back with Obi-wan turn around and ran for it too.

(Back at the Separatist Camp)

The Tactical Droid was currently contacting Emir as he had the Techno Union leader on Hologram. "The Republic ground troops have been routed, Emir." The Tactical Droid reported just before an explosion went off in the distance getting the Separatists attention.

"What was that?" Emir asked with concern over that particular blast he had heard.

"I calculate the remaining Clones and ARK's Operatives attempting a desperate final offensive." The Tactical Droid reported as he looked to Emir answering his question. "Their chances of success against us are 742 to 1." The Tactical Droid reported sounding almost like it was boasting over its own oncoming victory.

"You had better be right." Emir warned as he did not intend to lose this planet to the Republic or to ARK's.

"I am a Droid. I am always right." The Droid responded and thus ended the communication and looked to the plume of smoke that rose from the distance.

(Back with the Republic/ARK's unit)

"My smaller toys can't hurt you all." Elina said as she fired her cannon off at the Gutukurr while sporting her sadistic grin to her wild foes. "But the big boys can do much more." She said before laughing and using her cannon to launch herself into the air. Once she was airborne she fired down on the monsters causing them harm while also keeping herself in the air for a bit longer before she landed nearby.

Arno and Fuuto came in next as Arno swung his Partisan at the creatures while Fuuto used his Jet Boots to kick at the creatures. It was clear that the creatures could not harm the CAST simply because they had machine bodies making it impossible for the native predators to get any nourishment from them. Thus it was clear that Elina, Fuuto, and Arno would take the front lines on this one to get the creatures away from their unit.

"We need to coral them!" Joe called out as he fired at the creatures to keep them back.

"How?!" The Clone asked whole trying to hold the creatures back.

Just then Reiko saw a path and in turn the gears in her head began to turn. "General Kenobi!" Reiko called out and thus Obi-Wan looked to her. "Over there!" Reiko called out and thus Obi-Wan saw what the Bouncer had in mind for this one.

"Excellent strategy, Reiko." Obi-Wan praised and got ready to carry out their plan of attack. In turn the Bouncer began to get to work with help Obi-Wan coral these creatures. Reiko began to get to work as she drew her Soaring Blades to better draw in the local predators.

"Fuuto!" Reiko called out and thus the two Bouncers began kicking energy ball and slashing energy blades at the creatures getting their attention. As they did so they bounced about the area drawing them closer to the alley way. Fuuto landed on the back of one causing it to roar and rear back only for the CAST to jump off again.

The Two Bouncers were jumping across the area causing the creatures to get angry at this current overly complex game of monkey in the middle. Once they were all gathered and the Troopers managed to get away Obi-Wan began to perform his part of the plan. The Newman and CAST were hanging on the wall when Obi-Wan began to reach out with the Force to the creatures. Once he did so Obi-Wan began to guide the local predators to the spot Reiko had pointed out.

Elina then took aim ready to fire only to be stopped by Oma. "Elina now." Oma scolded as he glared at Elina.

"Oh no fair." Elina pouted wanting to shoot the monsters that attacked them.

Eventually Obi-Wan managed to get the creatures to the area and thus they were all gathered in one spot. "As incredible as this is... we need to shoot the bridge!" Arno called out and in turn Klara, Elina, and Joe with the Clones began shooting the bridge with the three ARK's operatives using explosive rounds for that particular stone target.

Once this was done Obi-Wan dodged and avoided one of the creatures attacking him. He then proceeded to jump over them using the Force to enhance his physical traits. Once he regrouped with the unit he was passed back his Lightsaber by Cody.

"That was incredible." Klara said impressed with how the Jedi did that.

"So that's what the Force is, neat." Joe said as he rubbed his beard a bit after seeing that trick.

"The Force is a powerful alley my friends." Obi-Wan said to the ARK's operatives who noted that it was similar to Photons in certain ways.

Just then they heard movement and thus all were ready for a fight. They looked and saw a sewer lid moving suggesting someone was under it. When they were about to fire Joe and Klara lowered their weapons to this.

"Don't shoot." Obi-Wan ordered as the Cloned did as told.

"Elina no!" Arno called out stopped Elina from shooting who then pouted in response.

From the lid Waxer and Boil came out followed by Luna and Lina who all climbed out one by one. "Waxer, Boil, where have you two slackers been?" Cody asked until Linda spoke up.

"With all due respect Commander Cody the blame falls to me." Linda said as she approached the Clone Commander. "We got side tracked when we located a civilian child in the area." Linda said and as if on cue Numa came out from behind the female CAST.

"I can see that." Obi-Wan said not at all bothered by what the four did.

(Later at the Separatist Encampment)

"The Clones have defeated the creatures." The Battle Droid reported to the Tactical Droid who was looking over the provided data.

"Yes but their numbers are thin." The Tactical Droid said to which he had his orders to give. "Prepare for their final attack." He ordered and thus the Battle Droid went off to carry out the given order

(Back with the Republic/ARK's forces)

Obi-Wan walked over to Numa who he knew was lucky to have been found by this group. "Hello little one." Obi-Wan greeted and thus Numa shied away from Obi-Wan.

"It's ok, their friends." Luna said as she smiled down on Numa.

"She brought us here through the Tunnels." Waxer began getting everyone's attention as Numa stuck close to Linda. "Knows her way around them pretty good, sir." He said giving Linda and Luna an idea to which and thus Luna kneeled down to speak to Numa.

"Can you lead us to where they are keeping your people?" Luna asked as she looked to Numa while kneeling to be at eye level to the young Twi'Lek child.

"Yes I can I know how to get to them, come brothers sister." Numa responded as she took Waxer and Linda's hands to guide them.

"She can lead us through the tunnels." Obi-Wan said as he was lucky to be fluent in Twi'lek. "Cody we'll need a diversion." Obi-Wan ordered and thus they began moving to liberate the Twi'lek village.

(Later at the Separatist Camp)

Obi-wan departed with Luna, Oma, Linda, Waxer, and Boil as they followed the Twi'lek girl through the tunnel to get behind enemy lines. Meanwhile Cody, Arno, and the other ARK's Operatives and Clone Troopers made their way to the Square.

In then tunnels the group of six managed to enter a set of cages where they found a few battle droids that had apparently been left to clean the cages. One was doing the actual cleaning while a few others were seen keeping guard for any surprises from the Republic.

"Yup, this is about the worst job in the droid army." The droid that was scrubbing the floor said to its fellow battle droids, unaware of their being cut down. Soon it heard the sounds of the Jedi's lightsaber cutting through their bodies. There was also the sound of Techniques being sued as well as the slashes from the Photon based melee weapons of the ARK's Operatives. "What? What?" The Droid asked, seeing the glare of the Jedi and twi'lek girl in his arm with Luna, Linda, and Oma accompanying them. "And it just went into overtime." The Droid said before the Jedi Master used the force to keep the droid trapped in the cell. This caused it look down at the floor in defeat.

The girl pointed to the sunlight at the end of the tunnel and told the Jedi something that made him move the girl over to Waxer. "I'll take care of this. You keep her here."

He made his way over to the stairs, raising his head a little to get a full sweep of the area as he gestured for Waxer and Boil to follow. Waxer set the girl down and went on ahead; Boil followed behind just before Linda did as the CAST gave the girl the "Shhh" gesture, which she repeated and waited near the cages. Luna and Oma made sure to keep hidden as best they could while Linda made use of her CAST form to keep the Droids from suspecting her as an enemy for now.

Once they were out of the tunnel they made their way to varying statues and locations to obscure their presence. They in turn began to wait for Cody and the other ARK's operatives to make their move in this mission.

"There they are, let's go!" Cody said, after spotting them, and began the attack against the Separatist Droids.

"ARK's Ops let's move in!" Arno called out and thus they began their attack against the Separatists.

The droids began firing back at both the Troopers and ARK's as laser fire was heard and seen flying about. The battle between the two sides continued like this as both forces tried to overpower the other. But the Republic and ARK's combo forces were focused on avoiding any civilian casualties in this current battle.

While the battle drew the attention of the droids guarding the Twi'lek prisoners, Obi-wan activated his lightsaber and cut down two droids effortlessly, leaving the last one to be shot down by the two clones. Helping one of the citizens up, Obi-wan used his lightsaber to cut the shackles on their wrists, one by one, until they were all free. A few more showed up opting for Oma to roar out and slice it down with his twin glaive weapon. Following it up Luna came in using a Technique freezing the Droids Solid. After Luna was done Linda blasted it to scrap with her cannon weapon.

Back at the battle the Battle Droids and Falspawn were starting to move in on the Clones and ARK's as they all saw this. Despite having ARK's on their side the battle was not going Cody's way as the AATs fired their weapons at the clones.

"Pull back! Pull back!" Cody ordered as the enemy firepower intensified. A lone battle droid, farthest from the battle turned and saw their prisoners escaping.

"Commander, we have a problem. The Jedi is freeing the prisoners." The Droid said and in turn the Droid Commander began to turn his tank around.

"Whelp looks like there on to us." Arno called out as he sliced a Super Battle Droid in half. "We don't have a choice Elina." Arno began as he looked to the female CAST who was looking bored. Arno then stepped aside once he got Elina's attention and gestured to the Droids. "Go nuts." Arno called out and thus Elina smiled to this. This smile she had sent chills down everyone's spine as she took out her rifle and looked to the attacking Battle Droids and Falspawn.

"Bullet show Time." Elina said as she then activated her boosters and charged into the battle ready to go wild. Once she got close she began firing her cannon at the enemy causing wanton destruction as she approached them. Once she got close enough she switched to her rifle and began firing at the Falspawn and Droids as she got into the crowd of foes.

After that she took one of the Battle Droids rifles and proceeded to dual wield the rifles basically going to town on the enemy forces. Elina didn't end it there as she continued to do so until she found an insectoid Battle Droid and proceeded to pin it down. She pointed her rifle at its face and smiled sadistically at her captured foe.

With her weapon in full burst she fired it off causing the Falsapwn to suffer a horrible end to many who see it. "Die! Die! DIE!" Elina laughed as she continued to go to town on her foes.

The suffering of machine and monster didn't end there as a few more Droids got close to her and thus Elina switched to duel wielding two guns and began firing at the foes spinning around as she did so. Elina was a one CAST army as she continued to go to town on her many foes. Soon a larger Falspawn was upon her but instead the monster came face to barrel with Elina's cannon.

"Naughty-naughty you didn't wait your turn." Elina taunted before firing the cannon off blasting a hole through the Falspawn monster. Elina laughed all the way as she kept firing her cannon at her foes as they came at her intent on trying to take her down.

"Wow." Wooley said as he saw Elina's work. "Glad she's on our side." He said to which Reiko sighed and patted the Troopers shoulder.

"No be glad we're on HER side." Reiko corrected as she wondered just what got Elina's wires crossed to enjoy shooting things to this degree. This of course caused many of the Clones to shiver and gulp realizing that if they gave her a reason Elina will shoot them up and laugh about the act.

Back with Elina she continued to mow down the foes as she kept going at them like a madwoman which she was. "Shoot! Shoot! Shoot! Shoot!" She yelled while laughing as in her world the Droids and Falspawn were just walking targets for her to shoot up with increased vigor. "Bleed and Die! Bleed and Die!" She went off as she continued her assault. She then used her gunblade to shoot the arms off of one droid before she pointed her cannon at its crotch area and fired said weapon. Many men who saw this mainly the Clones and ARK's ops cringed at that sort of damage the CAST did.

Elina then got to that same Droid and stabbed her gunblade next to its neck and fired it killing it instantly. Once that was done Elina span around while firing her dual machine guns at the man foes around her. Elina continued her assault on her foes before she was met face to face with the Tactical Droid and grinned even wider.

"Die!" The Droid called out only for Elina to avoid the shot as it was clear the Droids saw her as the immediate threat. The gun crazy girl laughed as she saw the Tactical Droid trying to shoot her.

"Did you just try to shoot me with such a weak and tiny piece?" Elina tainted as she grinned sadistically over this current event. "What fun, I can't wait to see if you riving in pain!" Elina called out before she charged into the battle with an increased vigor.

(Back with Oma and Obi-Wan's teams)

Oma and Obi-Wan lead the Twi'lek to safety as they made a run for it. Inside the structure that led into the tunnels, Numa had waited, looking expectedly for someone until one of the Male Twi'leks saw the girl. "Numa! Thank goodness you're alive!" The Twi'lek called out as translated by the Mag's as he was overjoyed to see she was all right. Numa ran to her male relative, most likely her father, and they in turn embraced each other after their long separation.

Back outside Obi-Wan and Oma saw the area was clear and now it was time to act. "Luna, Linda time to move!" Oma called out and thus the CAST and Newman followed after Oma to take out those anti-air cannons.

With similar ideas Obi-Wan looked to the two Clones with him. "Waxer, Boil, come with me." Obi-Wan said and thus they were on the move.

"We're with you, sir." Boil said, following his general as they approached one of the cannons. Obi-wan made quick work with the droids as he removed the droid in the control seat. Once this was done Linda looked around and saw what she could use to make sure these cannons never work again.

Once Obi-Wan took the chair Waxer and Boil went to the ammo insert port and placed the shell in the cannon. "Ready, General." Waxer confirmed and thus Obi-Wan got to work.

"General aim for that pile of ammunition!" Linda called out as she pointed to the pile. Once the Jedi heard that, Obi-wan fired at the pile of unprotected ammunition, destroying the cannons and any nearby droids.

"Setting Alpha five or six?" The battledroid in the remaining cannon asked, trying to get the cannon back from the human's control, however it didn't have much luck. "Where's the override?" The Droid asked only to cry out when Luna fired off a thunder shot at its head destroying it instantly. Obi-wan, while being guided by the Force, aimed the cannon at one of the others ones. Once he had the shot he fired the commandeered cannon at the front leg of the fourth cannon. This in turn caused a chain reaction which made the fourth cannon fall forward and fired on the fifth, causing the ammunition pile next to it to explode from the impact igniting the dangerous shell.

"Look out!" Luna called out and thus activated a barrier to which she protected the group from the Tactical Droid as it escaped from Linda. Alas while it did protect them the group was knocked back by the tanks attack. As the group was pinned down Luna focused on getting the other healed up so they can get a fighting chance but they were pinned down.

Nearby the Twi'leks saw the entire battle with fear of being caught in the middle of it. The only one who was brave enough to go out was the young girl, Numa.

She hurried to the dazed Waxer and tried to help him up. Nearby Linda was getting back up lucky that her body was mostly metallic alloy that it protected her from the blunt of the cannons explosion. "Sister, Brother?" Numa asked as she looked to the two making Linda go wide eyed to this.

"No Numa its dangerous go!" Linda ordered not wanting Numa to get hurt or worse. But instead of following her instructions Numa ran over to Obi-Wan and Luna to make sure that the Jedi Master and the Newman Force were ok. "Numa!" Linda cried out knowing it was dangerous out here.

"You lose, General Kenobi." TX-20 stated as he prepared to fire the AAT at the trio. Luna of course hid Numa behind her to protect her with her own body if need be to give Numa a chance to survive the blast. The Tactical Droid just gave a monotone evil laugh as it prepared to finish the two at its mercy. But it seems that was what screwed the droid over as from nearby the Twi'leks came charging in angry. With the Falspawn dealt with it was more or less safe now but that would not spare the Droid of their wrath.

Their shouts and cries for freedom and fighting was heard by the Tactical droid who saw them charging at his AAT. TX-20 seemed to not be able to understand what was happening as it continued to repeat three words, trying to find logic in how its calculations could had been wrong. "Does not compute. Does not compute. Does not compute. Does not compute." The Droid repeated over and over again as its logic processor was being overloaded.

Even as they climbed up to force the droid out of the hover tank and onto the floor, it repeated those words while the mob continued to beat at it until they were able to tear it apart. Luna seeing this opted to shield Numa's eyes from the act of violence while even Elina opted to look away. Elina walked up and saw the violence and licked her lips in desire for it no doubt she was a very scary CAST from ARK's. During this the Republic Cruisers began to come in for a landing once more as now that those cannons were dealt with they could land safely.

(Later Republic Landing Zone)

The ARK's Operatives were helping unload any equipment that may have come from ARK's as Cody and Oma were seen with Mace Windu speaking with Obi-Wan. "Great Job getting rid of those cannons." Mace said as he was most impressed with Obi-Wan's work out there. "Now we have ma ore difficult objective." Mace added almost fearing what other surprised the Falspawn may have left them. "We must take the capital and free this world." Mace said and in turn they saw Luna and Linda seeing Numa off.

Waxer walked over to Numa and smiled at her from under his helmet. "See ya later, little one." Waxer said rubbing the girls head.

"We'll meet again so don't worry." Linda said smiling to Numa as the CAST was clearly motherly in this regard.

Just then Boil was heard as he cut in on the conversation. "Hey Numa!" Boil called out as he looked to Numa and the ARK's Operatives. "Stay out of trouble." Boil said and thus Numa responded by giving the tough Clone a hug causing the ARK's Operatives to smile to this.

Once she let go of them the group all began to head off while Numa was joined by her relatives. In turn she began calling out to them as she waved them off. "Hey Linda." Boil began calling Linda by name for the first time since this mission started. "What do those words mean?" Boil asked since he didn't have a two way translator like Linda did.

"The words they call you two means brother." Linda began as she gestured to the Troopers. "The Words she calls me means sister." Linda added before she gestured to Luna. "And the word she calls Luna means teacher." Linda said surprising the Clones before they in turn began to wave Numa goodbye as they had a planet to liberate right now. Luna of course knew this and it inspired her to keep fighting till this world was liberated for the children to grow up in freedom to a Galaxy where they would no longer have to suffer. As Luna smiled she was reminded of her students back in her old world and wondered if once the fighting was over she can once more become a teacher. It was food for the thought but Luna still was by heart a teacher. But one thing was for certain ARK's would do all they can to liberate this world from both the Falspawn and the Separatist Droid Army.

(TBC)

ESKK: well here we are another chapter finished. I hope you all enjoyed it and will join me for the next chapter after leaving a good enough number of reviews for me. So until then be sure to review this chapter and as I always say for you guys ja-ne.