Chapter 5: Battle of Wor Tandell

The primary fighting on Kile II had lasted little more than twenty-four hours but it took the next week for the droid forces to root out and exterminate the clone trooper remnants that were left behind when the sole-surviving enemy Acclamator managed to escape. OOM-9 found fighting the clones to the bitter end was annoying since they proved to be so resourceful, even when faced with impossible odds and no hope of escape.

"Fighting these clones is far different than fighting the Naboo security forces," OOM-9 observed.

"Or the Gungans," 3B3-888 added as OOM-9 handed him the electrobinoculars to view the battle. "The technologically inferior pirates we've slaughtered over the years haven't been much of a challenge either, not like this so-called professional army the Republic's concocted."

A trio of OG-9 homing spider droids had encircled a squad of nine clone troopers. Despite being outgunned the soldiers continued to shoot at the large walkers with their DC-15A rifles. Once the spider droids cut their numbers down to three, the clones finally surrendered and B2 super battle droids moved in to take the prisoners away.

"Looks like EEK-176 will have more unfortunates to torture," 3B3-888 said. "He's spent a great deal of time in the torture chambers, hopefully he's become proficient enough that his data will be able to train soldiers everywhere on how to successfully interrogate clone troopers. He's had his fun and needs to return to his standard duties," OOM-9 said as he and Sergeant 3B3-888 turned and left for their waiting shuttle. A sharp wind briefly pushed against their backs.

While the two walked, OOM-9 activated his imagecaster and was greeted by a small, blue image of Commander Zako. "What is the progress of the recycling, Commander?"

"Eighty-two percent complete, General," the small hologram replied.

"Very good Commander, update me when the task is complete," OOM-9 shut the device off. The budget-minded Trade Federation was always recycling or re-using destroyed battle droids. Bringing back entire units to fully online status or, if they were too damaged, using the functional components as spare parts for other droids.

During the Battle of Grassy Plains, OOM-9 already had PK droids scavenging the battlefield collecting the pieces of fallen infantry even as enemy Gungans were still being rounded up. The positive practice was carried from the Trade Federation to the rest of the Separatist Alliance. The one requirement was that the CIS needed to win the battle in order to stick around to pick up the parts. That specific condition turned out to be a challenge as the Separatists' were losing battles right and left in the war. Nevertheless, the practice saved the Confederacy money, something that pleased the Separatist leaders that had risked their corporations' wealth on the venture of war.

Captain Disraeli stood before Admiral Wurtz. "What are we going to do about this Captain? I am not a happy man. How did you manage to lose five Acclamators' worth of clones anyway?"

"Most of my troops managed to escape, and the clones stationed aboard the Acclamator we had holding in planetary orbit never got the chance to fight. Those droids we fought were better organized than previous battle reports indicated."

"I doubt that the Confederacy has managed to improved their droids so well so quickly, it must be a fluke, or the work of a skilled military leader. Still, it does not change the fact that your mission was an embarrassing failure. Every battle we lose we embolden the Republic's enemies, and a loss of this caliber is sure to generate courage amongst the Confederacy's cowards."

OOM-9 had received EEK-176's report that a hidden Republic listening post was stationed on the planet Kalaan in the Kalaan system. Before they left for the target system, the 8th Fleet was reinforced with new capital ships freshly built in the Zalost system. Three Munificent-class star frigates, the Komusai, Kuzack, and Executioner, and two Recusant-class light destroyers, the Enzack and Wertizlan, were a welcome addition to OOM-9's under funded space fleet.

The ships were currently commanded by a tactical droid named TH-1066, who was now another one of OOM-9's subordinates. TH-1066 was white-colored with purple trim and had the impatient attitude typical of tactical droids. OOM-9 didn't care much for this model of supervision droid, believing their over eagerness to view other droids as expendable was a flaw. The tactical droids were new, and had already gained a reputation in the droid ranks as stern taskmasters. In OOM-9's opinion, the model of command battle droids to which he belonged were just as effective as the tactical droids, and were not the overly aggressive team killers that the newer tactical droid models were.

"I'm sure I don't need to remind you how expensive clones and their equipment are do I, Admiral?" Chancellor Palpatine asked the holographic image of Wurtz that jutted out from his cluttered office desk.

"No sir. Disciplinary action has been taken to ensure that this will not happen again."

"Troops and war materials are costly to the already overburdened taxpayer, and it is our duty to see that the citizens of the Republic do not have to surrender their life savings in order to adequately defend democracy."

"Yes Chancell—" Palpatine cut the transmission. At the current rate the Separatists were losing battles, the war would be over before the Jedi Order was sufficiently depleted. It was good to see some individuals taking the initiative on the other side of his game. Palpatine mentally scanned his memory banks, seeing if he could remember who had been put in charge of taking Kile II. His busy schedule kept him from knowing all the intimate details of the galaxy-wide conflict. He could always have Darth Tyranus look it up for him, but then he remembered. That old battle droid OOM-9, the one that was the de-facto leader of the droid army during the invasion of Naboo. He thought the droid had perished on that planet a decade ago. Palpatine considered the possibility of assigning OOM-9 to a greater role in the war.

Before the fleet was able to jump to Kalaan they received a message instructing them to claim the planet of Wor Tandell in the name of the Separatist Alliance. On board the bridge of the Magna Musai, OOM-9 studied the report on the planet. The GAR had been proactive and had already stationed a military supply base on the world. Local polls taken indicated that 42% of the population was sympathetic to the Separatist cause, 28% would be willing to join the Separatist Alliance, but only 12% would be willing to fight for the Confederacy. OOM-9 surmised the organics of Wor Tandell expected to be protected by the Confederacy's battle droid armies. He had no qualms about this, and wondered whether the locals would be more willing to serve in non-combat functions. "We may face a more difficult fight, the overall local population of Wor Tandell is not as friendly to our cause as those on Kile II. And the Republic already has a garrison there, ready and waiting for our arrival," OOM-9 informed his team.

"The clone troopers are not so tough, they're just cannon fodder encased in clunky, ineffective armor," Katen commented.

"Perhaps they just lack experience. During our few battles so far, each time the clone troopers seemed more of a challenge than the last, they are slowing learning how to fight," OOM-9 responded, his verbal explanation lacking intonation.

"We have over a decade head start on them in terms of experience," 3B3-888 commented.

"If the Battle of Geonosis was indeed their first combat mission, then that is true, but the entirety of the Droid Army has not accumulated experiences as vast as ours," OOM-9 said as he turned to looked at each one of his subordinates. "But the clone troopers are not our only concern, there is the issue of the Jedi."

"I killed one, he wasn't much of a challenge," Katen lighted up again, glad for the opportunity to mention her achievement.

"So have I, but we have not encountered them in large numbers yet," OOM-9 reminded Major Katen.

"There were only two Jedi on Naboo, and they proved to be a problem," SSA-719 said, remembering being cut down by the Jedi during his mission to escort Queen Amidala and her entourage to Camp Four. His humiliating defeat was over a decade ago, yet it was extensively burned into his mechanical memory. SSA-719 did not forget the first time he 'died.'

"With our new ships, we should have no problem dealing with anything the Republic can throw at us," EEK-176 entered the conversation.

"Yes, we will need another decisive victory if we plan to keep receiving new naval reinforcements."

The 8th Fleet exited hyperspace in front of Wor Tandell. The droid military was greeted only by aging satellites slowly orbiting the planet. OOM-9 and EEK-176 personally went down with the first wave of drop ships and landing craft. The transports entered the cloudy upper atmosphere and descended down to the lower atmosphere with no enemy interference. The Scarab escorts trailed across the vacant sky, searching for non-existent enemy targets. Katen, SSA-719, KJZ-8267, and 3B3-888 arrived with the second wave of C-9979 landing craft.

The freshly deployed ground troops started fanning out in all directions. They had landed in a jungle region of the planet. OOM-9 contacted Commander Zako, "We are experiencing no resistance, deploy the core ship to the assigned surface coordinates."

"Yes, General OOM-9," the commander replied in a monotone voice almost as robotic as OOM-9's. The Magna Musai's core sphere detached from the outer ring hull and descended towards the planet's surface.

Minutes later the large ball-shaped ship's numerous landing legs touched down on the ground. Ramps extended and the droid army started to litter the planet's floor. After several waves left the sphere, Commander Zako appeared from out the top hatch of one of the rear AATs. He looked around at his surroundings, not recognizing them from the map of the drop zone he had studied earlier. Instead of dense jungles he saw a sprawling, barren landscape. "These are the wrong coordinates, who put us down here?"

"The enemy may be jamming our sensors sir."

"May be?"

"We're not entirely certain."

"Alert our friends in orbit and find out precisely where we are."

"Roger roger."

"The Republic may have outfitted those old satellites with jamming devices," OOM-8 theorized.

"We should destroy them immediately," TH-1066 blandly stated.

"They may not be the cause, and they could be of use to us later."

"If they are the threat then the longer we wait, the worse off we'll be."

"Let's send inspection teams to check them out first," OOM-8 compromised. Escorted by hunter-seeker droids, Droch-class boarding craft left the hangers of the two control ships and headed toward the various satellites scattered about the planet.

The clone trooper Thor was careful with his footing as he treaded through the jungle foliage with the rest of his squad. He was the lucky one in that he got to carry the squad's only Merr-Sonn PLX rocket launcher, his favorite weapon. The GAR's secret spy satellite revealed the appearance of a Separatist fleet, carrying an army that far outnumbered the planetary garrison. The Republic was forced to outthink the droids if they were going to survive. The clone troopers wouldn't last long in a straight up fight so they planned to utilize hit-and-run attacks in the dense jungle.

The clones approached a droid deployment zone. A herd of brown-colored MTTs were leaving in the opposite direction, knocking over trees as they went. Clearing a path for the rest of the droid forces. The clones positioned themselves behind trees, waiting for Thor to kick off the battle. Thor crawled along the jungle floor until he was within close range of an armored assault tank.

OOM-9 was watching as his MTTs set out to crush a path through the tropical forest for his troops. From seemingly out of nowhere a blue missile whizzed through the thick jungle air and smashed into the rear panel on his tank. The cheap shot disabled his hovering tank and it dropped to the ground. The fireworks display was followed by a hailstorm of blue blaster bolts coming from the forest interior. OOM-9 grabbed his custom E-5 blaster and abandoned his now defunct vehicle. The three pilot droids that comprised OOM-9's tank crew followed their general, SE-14 pistols at the ready.

The clone troopers provided covering fire as Thor retreated to a safe distance. Half of the B1 battle droids they now fought were painted in a green-beige camouflage pattern to better help them blend into their surroundings. The other half of the droids that were just the standard beige made much clearer targets and were among the first to be gunned down.

The credible threat drew the attention of B2 super battle droids and dwarf spider droids. Thor saw a cluster of four B2s, fired another missile and destroyed the whole lot of them.

OOM-9 and his pilot droids came over to lend the other droids a hand. OOM-9 switched his blaster to the elite rifle function and the gun spurted out purple lasers in bursts of three shots. The three pilot droids, like the B1s, were wildly firing in the direction of the clones. OOM-9 ordered his troops, "don't fire at random, split up and attack at different angles." Following the advice, the battle droids started to do better. A tree that protected a clone from one angle left him vulnerable to another direction.

OOM-9 began receiving reports of clone attacks throughout the jungle. Small hit and run infantry squads that slinked away after attacking. OOM-9 was about to contact EEK-176 when a clone sprang out of a bush and shot at the command battle droid. OOM-9 switched his weapon to shotgun mode and blasted off the soldier's left leg.

Thor saw his squadmate in trouble and fired on OOM-9 with his backup pistol. His shots missed and he drew attention to himself. Two supers and a green camouflage battle droid started blasting in his direction, forcing him to pull back to a safer distance.

OOM-9 turned his attention back to the one-legged clone bleeding on the jungle floor. The clone heroically fought through the blinding pain to raise his gun at OOM-9 but the droid simply set his E-5 to flamethrower mode and set the clone ablaze. The trooper screeched in agony as he burned to death. The charred smoking corpse gave OOM-9 an idea.

Flame battle droids started to burn the jungle forest. If OOM-9 could control the fire, he could control where the clone squads could go, and force them into combat on his terms. The flame battle droids were based on the old B1 model and had orange markings designating their combat function. The droids' wrist flamethrowers were fueled by large tanks on the droids' back. The jungle burned, plumes of black smoke rose into the air as a harbinger of the impending doom of any GAR forces in the area.

EEK-176 personally accompanied the assassination squads. The droids, immune to the perils of the fire and smog were able to routinely root out and eliminate the clones. EEK-176 wielded a BAW E-5s sniper rifle. He was easily able to pick off the clones amongst the fire and foliage. Their bright white armor gave away their positions immediately. "What idiots," EEK-176 sniped another clone, depriving the soldier of his left arm, "if they're going to wear bright white in the jungle then they might as well wear big signs that say Shoot Me."

A battle droid squad discovered a dead Jedi. "No blaster marks? How did this Jedi die?"

"What difference does it make?" a B1 questioned his sergeant.

"The General would want to know how he died, so he can formulate how to most efficiently kill the them."

A MED-47 medical droid was brought to the site, examined the corpse and informed the others, "this human has died of smoke inhalation."

RKT-421's boarding ship clamped on to the satellite and the rocket battle droids began to take it apart. They discovered that this was the spy satellite that the Republic had been using.

RKT-421 opened up a comm channel back to Commander OOM-8. "Sir, we've found the Republic's spy satellite."

"Good, attempt to hack into it if you can."

OOM-8 turned to converse with the hologram of TH-1066. "We've found the spy satellite but we should still examine the rest just to be sure."

"If that satellite can be reprogrammed we could turn the tide of the battle below," TH-1066 commented.

"It's a good day for you to die!" Sergeant 3B3-888 enthusiastically declared as he shot a clone trooper. A dwarf spider droid kept another clone pinned behind a tree while a B1 tossed in a thermal detonator, comically propelling the trooper into the air. SSA-719 aimed his E-60R rocket launcher and blew up four clustered clones. One of the clones ended up in the tree branches, his limp limbs dangling.

"Wow, roger that!" one of the nearby battle droids observed SSA-719's handiwork.

"Awww, you didn't save any fun for me? Why do I even bother coming in with the ground troops if I don't get to fight," Katen whined as her squad approached the battle scene.

KJZ-8267 whizzed by in a STAP, "take cover, enemy walker incoming!"

Katen could feel the ground rumble as the GAR walker approached their position. The CIS infantry skittered to trees and brush as the large bipedal walker came into view. An all terrain experimental transport. The AT-XT was firing away with its double laser chin cannon at any infantry that caught its attention.

SSA-719 took cover behind a nearby tree. A pair of super battle droids were not so fortunate and were torn apart in a single blast. SSA-719 was lucky as the experimental armored assault walker drove right past him. He took aim and fired a missile right into the back of the walker's head. The impact did nothing to slow down the trial combat vehicle. A green camo battle droid walked right up to the all terrain transport and started shooting at the cockpit with his SE-14 blaster pistol.

Other droids joined in on the vain attempt to bring down the walker with their small anti-infantry firearms. The cautious clone pilot deemed the concentrated fire as a credible threat and activated the unit's experimental plasma shield generator.

The red blaster bolts continued towards the walker, only to harmlessly bounce off of the blue shield. Republic morale was rejuvenated and the clone troopers went on the attack. A herd of clones chased down a dwindling squad of battle droids. The droids purposefully ran past a pair of inconspicuously looking trees. When the clones passed between the two trees, the pair of flame battle droids hiding behind them unleashed a steady stream of fire and burnt the clones to a crisp.

The flaming clone troopers attracted the attention of the walker pilot. The AT-XT launched a volley of mortars, destroying the two flame droids and ending the suffering of the melting, half-alive clones. 3B3-888 tossed a thermal detonator in between the walker's feet but the explosion did no visible damage whatsoever. Four baron battle droids fired their missile launchers but were unable to bring down the mighty transport.

The walker became a rallying point for the GAR forces. KJZ-8267 swooped in on his STAP, firing at the clone infantry. The AT-XT tried to track him but he was moving too fast. With the walker temporarily distracted, the droid forces were able to rally and regain the advantage.

Six battle droids positioned themselves on top of a fallen tree and shot at the clone troopers below.

"What?" a clone managed to blurt out before he was shot in the head. The clones were split between firing on the ground level droids or the droids that took the higher ground. "This is-" another clone was killed.

Katen finished explaining her plan to two grapple droids. "Understand?"

"Roger roger," the two tall droids said in unison. The three waited until the AT-XT tried to shoot at KJZ-8267 again. "Okay, now!" Katen ordered. One of the grapple droids picked up the other one and threw it at the walker's cockpit. The droid landed on top of it's head and held on to one of the mortar cannons as the walker moved.

"What was that? Have the seppers resorted the throwing rocks?" the clone pilot wondered as he heard a loud thud against the walker. The grapple droid drove his clawed hand into the top of the viewport.

"What the—" The droid grabbed the driver by the throat, ripped him out of the walker and threw him to the ground below.

Commander Zako looked through his electrobinoculars to see a large GAR force approaching his position. Bringing up their rear were SPHATs. Their front vehicles were clone scout walkers and AT-TEs; short-legged, squat vehicles that allowed for the self-propelled artillery to easily fire over them. It had become apparent that the Republic had tricked the droid army into landing the core sphere here.

"Launch the core ship! Get it back into orbit! Prepare for a frontal attack!" Commander Zako barked orders at his droid subordinates. Zako hated being tricked, especially if large groups of his troops were at risk.

"Commander OOM-8, why have you summoned me?" Dr. Quartz demanded.

"We have found an enemy spy satellite but our troops are having a hard time hacking into it."

"You're crazy, I'm not going out there."

"No need for that, we just need you to talk them through the process."

"Very well, let's make this quick. Contrary to your beliefs, I do have better things to do than messing with uninspired Republic spy equipment."

A Separatist Mark IV recon droid flew through the jungle, uninterrupted by clones or the local wildlife. The small floating droid halted when it saw a large clearing where trees had been removed. Across the barren wasteland on the far side was what looked to be an enormous and well-defended Republic base. The recon droid transmitted the coordinates to its superiors and went to take a closer look.

Zako's army lined up in the standard open field battle formation, and the opposing clone army did the same. The GATs and IFT-Xs speed ahead of their respective groups to start the battle early. The core ship began to take off, to Zako, it seemed as if it would reach a safe distance away before the Republic artillery could reach firing range. The Republic's commander must have reached the same conclusion as gunships were sent after the core sphere. The few HAMLs on the ground fired their missiles at the aircraft and the core ship released a swarm of hunter-seekers to defend it from the LAATs. The defensive measures appeared unnecessary, as the rockets the gunships managed to plant on the large globe seemed to do no damage at all.

Thor finally managed to make contact with his fellow clone troopers. Alas, they seemed to be running away. "What's going on?" he asked as they ran by. His question was answered as he saw an AT-XT firing on its own infantry allies.

The grapple droid was doing his best to work the walker's controls, but he had no programming on how to operate the uncommon Republic vehicle. However, it did not take much skill to shoot at the white-armored soldiers that littered the area.

Thor hid behind a tree and waited patiently until the walker passed by him. He fired his rocket launcher and hit the walker's drive shaft, bringing the two-legged vehicle crashing to the ground. Thor turned to see B1s, B2s, and spider droids heading his way, so he decided to retreat with the rest of his brothers.

Commander Zako looked through his electrobinoculars and saw someone staring back at him on the other side. "Get me a sniper, now now now!"

"Reporting."

"Over there," Zako pointed, "kill that Jedi!"

The battle droid scanned the area, "which one is the Jedi?"

"The one with the electrobinoculars who doesn't look like a clone!"

The sniper found his target, "target acquired, target locked, firing."

The red beam shot across the battlefield towards the Jedi, who activated his lightsaber and deflected it back. Zako saw the shot coming and stepped to the side, the laser whizzed by him a second later. "Hey the Jedi deflected it back at me!" The droid sniper lined up for another shot. "Cease fire! Cease fire!" It was too late and the droid shot again. Zako hit the deck before the shot had time to bounce back around to him. The Jedi instead reflected the shot at the sniper, upon seeing the officer take cover so soon. The droid didn't move out of the way, was hit square in the chest and fell to pieces. "Well that's just great!"

Confused at his superior's statement, another battle droid turned and questioned Zako, "how is losing our sniper great sir?"

"I was being sarcastic!"

A STAP patrol found a hidden Republic base at the foot of a lake in the heart of the jungle. The reconnaissance squad was discovered before they could flee, alerting the GAR to their presence. Assuming there would be clone patrols scouring the jungle, Katen, SSA-719, KJZ-8267 and 3B3-888 utilized the river. OOM-9 had cleared them to break off from the jungle fighting to take out the base. Battle droids, super battle droids, and dwarf spider droids walked underwater while STAPS, PACs, and Trade Federation patrol boats strode above them. NR-N99 tank droids traversed right on top of the water. The river was too shallow to allow the CIS to bring in some of their heavier aquatic vehicles.

Trade Federation patrol boats were beige colored aquatic ships with a forward blaster cannon and a rear-facing blaster cannon. They were slightly larger than an AAT and hovered above the water in the same way that the armored assault tanks hovered above the ground. The fact that they hovered above the water meant they could traverse swallow rivers effectively.

Major Katen rode on the outer tread cover of one of the NR-N99 tank droids. The water that occasionally buffeted up at her was rather refreshing, though she was starting to get annoyed that her uniform was getting wet.

"Look over there!" Katen exclaimed as she saw two clones on the riverbank. The Advance Recon Force troopers mounted their 74-Z speeder bikes and took off into the forest of trees. "We'll get them," KJZ-8267 said as he and his wingmen left the convoy to give chase. KJZ-8267 was piloting a blue STAP with white triangular markings while his two wingmen were beige B1 battle droids riding the traditional brown STAPs.

"If they report our position this is going to become much more difficult," SSA-719 said as he watched his STAP-mounted comrades disappear into the trees.

The trio of single trooper aerial platforms was able to catch up to the clone bikers. Red laser bolts chased after the 74-Zs but missed their mark. The two ARF troopers split up. "You two get that one, I'll stay on this one," KJZ-8267 ordered his soldiers. His wingmen broke off to chase after one of the ARFs.

The two STAPs fired, missing the clone speeder. The ARF armed his only thermal detonator and tossed it at a tree he passed by. The explosion caused the tree to fall over the path of the pursuing droids. The first STAP managed to get through but the second was crushed by the falling piece of timber.

The clone pulled out his DC-17 hand blaster, looked back and shot at his remaining pursuer. The droid retaliated by firing the STAP's twin blaster cannon, but both parties missed their targets. The two continued the chase through the winding maze of trees. The clone accelerated up in an attempt to escape, but didn't risk going full speed in the dense woodland. The STAP increased his velocity accordingly. The ARF looked back again and shot with his pistol, this time hitting the droid clean off his military airhook. The clone turned his head to face forward again only to see the tree directly in his path. The ARF trooper was able to let out a short scream before he careened into the tree, lighting it up in a fiery explosion.

Klaxons blared. A Consular-class space cruiser had come up from the planet and was on a collision course with the Magna Musai. "Scramble the fighters! Shoot that cruiser down!" OOM-8 ordered. Three squads of Vulture droids left the hangar to engage the ship. The space cruiser loomed dangerously close to the Magna Musai's hull, using the tactic to avoid fire from the ship's powerful quad laser batteries. The Consular cruiser cleared the droid control ship, evaded an attack from a missile frigate, and escaped to hyperspace. The droid fighters didn't even get within firing rage of the red cruiser.

"The General isn't going to like this," TH-1066 said.

"No, I'm sure he'll find it quite amusing," OOM-8 replied with a sarcastic tone.

KJZ-8267 kept up with his clone target. No maneuvers the biker pulled were able to lose the droid, but KJZ-8267 was occupied enough with piloting that he didn't have the time to target and shoot down his quarry. Eventually the pilot droid caught up to his quarry and pulled right alongside the 74-Z speeder bike. The clone turned to look at his opponent, who was now keeping pace with him. "Piece of scrap."

"Oxygen sucker," KJZ-8267 countered with his own insult. The pilot droid kicked at the clone's head with his right foot. The hit registered and KJZ-8267 kicked again, only this time the clone caught his foot and wouldn't let go. The two riders both saw an upcoming tree in their path. The clone still wouldn't let and so KJZ-8267 pulled his STAP hard to the left.

"You little—" the ARF trooper was cut short as he slammed on the brakes and let go of the droid's foot in order to swerve around the tree.

OOM-9 received the Mark IV recon droid's coordinates of the Republic base and turned his army in that general direction. The intermittent fighting with the clones had grown sparse. OOM-9 saddled up on an advanced beetle trooper and lead the way to their new objective.

Author's Note: The planet Wor Tandell first appeared in the videogame Star Wars: Rebellion.

The Mark IV recon droid first appeared in the videogame Star Wars: Battlefront.