Chapter 20: Liberation of Geonosis

The failure to locate and eliminate Nem Bees didn't mean much. The Jedi Knight was easily defeated by OOM-9. It had taken some time just to find out who he was after the battle; the data file on him was small. There wouldn't be much to add.

With the combined experience of Admiral Trench and General OOM-9 a consensus was reached that Nem Bees was a poor fighter and an abysmal military commander.

While overseeing the search the Bees, OOM-9 received a transmission from Lott Dod ordering him to go to Cato Neimoidia. Being a loyal droid of the Confederacy, OOM-9 immediately did as he was told.

For the sake of speed, OOM-9 left his fleet behind and traveled to his destination by way of his advanced E-STAP starbomber. The fighter/bomber was equipped with a Class 1 hyperdrive rating, so it wouldn't take OOM-9 too long to get there.

As soon as OOM-9 arrived at Cato Neimoidia he was granted clearance to land. Cato Neimoidia was a wealthy Neimoidian purse world. The planet's cities were built on massive bridges spanning giant rock arches. Cato Neimoidia's civilian population consisted entirely of Neimoidians.

When OOM-9 got out of his E-STAP there was only a single PK worker droid there to greet him.

"Senator Dod is currently busy but will be with you momentarily General OOM-9. If you would follow me please."

The un-ceremonial greeting didn't bother OOM-9 in the slightest. OOM-9 followed the short droid into Lott Dod's palace. OOM-9 and the worker droid passed by several BD-3000 luxury droids, attendants for the palace's organic guests.

OOM-9 walked past a wall-mounted painting depicting a short, military Neimoidian riding a Kaadu. OOM-9 didn't know who the historic figure was, but was sure Karl Zako could have told him. But the commander wasn't present, so there was no point in wondering about it further.

OOM-9 was led to the palace's war room and was left there to wait. The room was protected by only a pair of security battle droids armed with E-5 blaster rifles. A handful of pilot droids were busy at various computer terminals. This was the first time OOM-9 had seen battle droids during this trip, which was disappointing. Cato Neimoidia should be brimming with battle droids ready to defend the planet at a moment's notice. But this was not the case.

OOM-9 waited for twenty minutes. Battle droids didn't get bored easily, but OOM-9 thought he would be useful elsewhere, instead of waiting around doing nothing.

Senator Lott Dod finally entered the room. He was dressed in his usual attire, the same outfit he wore a decade earlier, during the Battle of Naboo. Anytime OOM-9 saw the senator, he always seemed to be wearing the same clothes.

"Ah, General OOM-9. The star of the Trade Federation droid army."

"You are correct, Senator Dod."

"Those CIS emblems are very becoming," Dod motion at the symbols on OOM-9's shoulder plates.

"It was a subordinate's idea."

"An excellent idea. It gives you a proper visual distinction from other droids. And you should stand out, after all, you will become Supreme Commander of the Droid Armies one day."

"General Grievous currently holds that title."

"Grievous will not last forever. He will pass on eventually. He is not perfect like you." Nute Gunray was not the only Neimoidian who hated General Grievous. And it was not just Neimoidians, but most of the Confederacy's non-military government body despised the Kaleesh cyborg. His crass personality didn't mesh well when dealing with politicians, bureaucrats, and businessmen. Despite being unknown in Republic space, OOM-9 was popular among Separatists. He achieved results without the needless genocide of civilians that made the CIS look bad, and he was able to behave himself around politicians and other self-absorbed individuals.

"Thank you, Senator. You're too kind."

"Nonsense. I speak the truth. You are the Confederacy's best. That is why I have a special assignment for you."

Cane in hand, Archduke Poggle the Lesser entered the war room.

"General OOM-9, as you know, Geonosis was the first planet that the Republic invaded, and it is time to take it back."

"Had it been up to me, we would have taken it back as soon as it was invaded. I was sent to rebuild the droid factories on Eos instead."

"The time has come for my homeworld to be taken back," Poggle clicked in his native Geonosian language. "I've grown tired of traversing planets in exile."

OOM-9 was able to understand the Geonosian perfectly. OOM-9, like all CIS battle droids, understood a variety of languages. Mostly they understood CIS droid languages, but they also knew their masters' speech. The mostly unnecessary knowledge of multiple languages was partly responsible for the limited cognitive programming in some of the lower-quality B1s. Though the battle droids were only programmed to speak Basic, unless given upgrades. Speech upgrades for battle droids were rare. OOM-9 didn't even have them.

"You want me to lead the liberation of Geonosis."

"Yes. You will be in command. But I will accompany you with my own force," Poggle warbled.

"And Viceroy Gunray has sent a gift for you. The Lucrehulk battleship Saak'ak has been transferred to your command," Dod added. "It is waiting for you here. Take it with you when you go."

"I've noticed that security here is minimal. Be careful, the Republic has already attempted to invade Koru Neimoidia, it would be likely that they will eventually try for Cato Neimoidia," OOM-9 advised.

"The invasion of Koru Neimoidia was a mistake. They have no proof that we are tied to the Confederacy. We are safe," Lott Dod assured the OOM command battle droid. "I have the Republic fools convinced that Gunray is an extremist that no longer represents the Trade Federation."

"If they find out…"

"They will not."

OOM-9 didn't like it, but had no choice in the matter. Cato Neimoidia would have been a fortress world had it been up to him. OOM-9 couldn't understand how Dod was able to remain in the Republic Senate, but then the battle droid had never been programmed for subtlety. And he hadn't learned the art of subtleness from Zako, Katen, Quartz, or Sledge either.

"If there is nothing else, I would like to take my planet back now," Poggle said.

"Yes sir," OOM-9 nodded.

The trio parted ways. OOM-9 left the planet by the way of his advanced E-STAP, Poggle by solar sailer. OOM-9 landed in the hanger bay of Saak'ak, known as Profiteer in Basic. The old Lucrehulk battleship wasn't even painted in CIS Navy blue. OOM-9 had been on Saak'ak before; the ship had taken part in the blockade of Naboo a decade ago.

Poggle's solar sailer rendezvoused with a group of Geonosian corvettes and cruisers. The Geonosian ships and the Profiteer went back to Zeltros to pick up the 8th Fleet before heading on to Geonosis.

"But we have not yet found the Jedi," Z23-Y75 informed OOM-9 as he entered the Magna Musai's command bridge.

OOM-9 knew he couldn't fritter away the war searching for a single Jedi. "The Zeltron police forces will have to take up the search. We have more important matters to attend to."

"Roger roger," Z23-Y75 excused himself and went to a communications terminal to inform the Zeltrons of their responsibility.

OOM-9 turned to face the rest of his officers. "The Republic has a small garrison on Geonosis. Unfortunately, the Geonosians report that they are very skilled in combat due to the continuous experience of subduing the native population."

"Why have the Geonosians simply not overrun them through sheer numbers?" OOM-8 asked.

"The Republic occasionally sends temporary reinforcements in the event of a major insurrection. Though the reinforcements tend to be less effective than the permanent garrison. Poggle the Lesser believes that the Republic is using his planet as a training ground for green troops."

"Should we worry about reinforcements?" SSA-719 asked.

"Negative. They will lose the battle before they can call in help. Once the planet is taken, the Geonosians should be able to defend it on their own."

"What is the plan for dealing with the regular garrison?" EEK-176 asked.

"Due to low numbers, they patrol the planet in convoys that are directed by a massive main base. That will be our primary target. We will simultaneously attack the supply convoys to prevent them from assisting the base or regrouping. Poggle's troops in exile will assist us in this mission, as well as the natives still on the planet. You will all be given your assignments shortly."

When the 8th Fleet exited out of hyperspace in front of Geonosis, they were met by two Acclamator assault ships.

"The Geonosians said there'd be one Acclamator," OOM-8 stated.

"It might be bad luck," Commander Zako said over the comm. The Separatist officer was in a Scarab starfighter, ready to lead a starfighter attack group. "It could be a group of greenies here for training."

"That is the most probable explanation," OOM-8 agreed. "They couldn't have known we were coming."

The two Republic cruisers moved to attack the CIS fleet. The Geonosian ships under Poggle's command broke off and started heading down to various sections of the planet. Even without his help, OOM-9's 8th Fleet was going to have no trouble taking out a mere two Acclamator assault ships.

The two Acclamators unleashed their V-19 Torrent fighters. As was to be expected. The 8th Fleet answered the challenge the way it usually did, by sending a numerically superior force of Vulture droids and Scarab starfighters.

"Stay in attack formation," Zako told his fighters. "Make them pass between us."

OOM-8 studied the space battle. When the command droid was finally convinced the starfighters were properly preoccupied, he initiated the next phase of the battle. "Commander TH-1066, Captain Sledge. Move your ships into position."

"Acknowledged," both of the officers' holograms responded.

The Munificent-class star frigates Komusai and Kuzack zeroed in on the two Acclamator assault ships, attacking with their Prow heavy turbolasers.

"General OOM-9, you may begin landing your transports," OOM-8 told his successor.

"Roger that, Commander."

The MAFs, VACs, and Trade Federation drop ships slipped by as the Republic's starfighters and Acclamators were entertained. After the transports slipped by, several hundred E-STAP bombers followed.

OOM-8 noticed that there was one more ship in the area. A Pelta-class frigate. Instead of turning to attack with the Acclamators it fled down to the planet.

"We have an escort class retreating to the planet, General," OOM-8 said. "They're going to inform the clones on the surface of our arrival."

"We see it. But we can't reach it in time. It's going to get away." So OOM-9 was going to lose his element of surprise. Things changed in combat, and a good officer knew how to adapt. It was that, or be defeated.

OOM-9 knew how to adapt to changing battle conditions. "Commander OOM-8, send out a signal to all remaining battle droids on the planet. Let them know what's going on." The stealth option had been jettisoned out the airlock, so OOM-9 decided to get loud. What did it matter at this point if the Republic picked up their signals now?

"Yes sir," OOM-8 complied with the order.

The super battle droid 5TE received a signal from a functioning CCC. A new fleet of Separatist ships was now above Geonosis and was sending reinforcements down to the dusty red planet.

5TE had a squad of three B1 battle droids, a destroyer droid, and a dwarf spider droid. They had all been helping the Geonosians since the Battle of Geonosis. Mostly performing hit-and-run attacks against clone patrols. Now they were going to move in and assist the CIS reinforcements in permanently evicting the Republic from Geonosis.

The CIS transports faced no opposition in the upper atmosphere. The E-STAP bombers broke away from the main group to pursue the various Republic patrols roaming around the planet.

The primary unit of the air attack force protecting the drop ships was the mechanized assault flyer, or MAF. It was a piloted, multi-purpose gunship designed as the answer to the successful Republic LAAT series. A mechanized assault flyer required a minimum crew of three to operate effectively. The CIS gunship rivaled its Republic opponent in sheer number of weapons, boasting two laser cannons, two beam cannons, two missile launchers and a turret laser cannon stationed on the disc-like posterior of the ship. They easily made their way toward the main Republic base, which activated a bubble shield to protect itself from bombardment. That is when the clones finally decided to attack.

Several squadrons of gunship fighters came to intercept the approaching MAFs. On average, OOM-9 had seen that the Fett clones were piss-poor pilots. Combine the clones' inadequate flying skills with the sub-par gunship fighter, and OOM-9's droids came out on top every time. This was different.

The gunship fighters were fast, not that the ships were upgraded from other models, but the pilots were pushing them at full speed. The gunship fighters attacked in a swarm maneuver, a strategy more commonly seen employed by the droid starfighters.

The gunship fighters focused their fire solely on the MAFs, ignoring all other manner of CIS transports. They chose the MAFs because they were the only incoming transport the gunship fighters could quickly bring down. The MAFs were not defenseless, but the gunship fighters had the annoying tendency to roll out of the way of incoming blaster fire at the last second.

Streaks of white lacerated the red sky as several gunship fighters unleashed their missiles on the MAFs, destroying two of the CIS flyers with the massive volley.

EEK-176's MAF was shot down next. OOM-9 knew they couldn't stay in the air any longer. "All transports, begin landing cycle immediately."

All the Trade Federation drop ships and VACs touched down and deployed their vehicles while the mechanized assault flyers released their droid infantry. OOM-9 had ordered that his red B1s be the first on Geonosis, in order to better blend in with the planet's red battlefields. Dwarf spider droids and homing spider droids emerged from under the VACs as they lifted off. The large OG-9 spider walkers became the new targets of the gunship fighters' fury.

EEK-176 and his squad tried to exit their crashed gunship, but the rear hatch was stuck. EEK-176 kicked the door down and was met with explosions and blaster fire. The command droid and his squad left the wrecked vehicle and spread out in attack formation. They were doing quite well because EEK-176 had taken up dual-wielding ZGD gatling guns again.

A group of twelve TX-130 Saber-class fighter tanks left the Republic base and split into squads of three. The Republic fighter tanks also went after the homing spider droids. Using their numbers, agility, and missiles, they quickly helped the gunship fighters bring the homing spider droids down.

The Trade Federation drop ships let out armored assault tanks and ground armored tanks, which began to close in on the TX-130 fighter tanks. The Republic fighter tanks ignored the dwarf spider droids in favor of going after the greater threat presented by the GATs and AATs. The TX-130s employed the same method on the GATs as they had on the spider walkers, circle-strafe the enemy while pelting them with a large volume of missiles. The tactic worked and the GATs were quickly falling apart.

All the while the battle droid infantry released by the MAFs by gone unnoticed by the heavy Republic vehicles. However, there were a few squads of clone troopers to hold the droids up. Once the droid gunships were back in the air they were again the primary targets of the gunship fighters.

The Saber tanks were damaged by the dwarf spider droids they had ignored. The fighter tanks turned around and went back to the base for repairs. That left the AT-TEs as the droids' primary enemies. The slow walkers used the time provided by the Saber tanks to move into attack positions, and now had an excellent field of fire on the droid army.

Geonosian assistance came not from Poggle's troops, but from the natives that had been on the planet while it suffered under Republic rule. Geonosians on flitknot speeders drove in, the drivers wielding sonic blasters in one hand and drove with the other, as the speeder had no weapons of its own.

The flitknot speeders focused on harassing the clone infantry, but kept their speed high to avoid being hit by enemy fire, though this also decreased their own accuracy.

The Geonosian speeders were just the tip of the iceberg as Geonosian transports unleashed hordes of armed Geonosian workers. Though members of the worker caste, the Geonosians fought like warriors. They attracted a lot of fire from the clone troopers, putting the pressure off the strained battle droids.

OOM-9 was not going to let their efforts go to waste. "Go! Keep going! Get to their walkers!" An AT-TE mass-driver cannon shot close to where OOM-9 was, but did not hit him.

OOM-9 ran as fast as he could, firing his custom rifle as he went. Killing the clones protecting the AT-TE. They white-armored troops all fell against the droid general. OOM-9 was right at the walker, close enough that none of its turrets could target him. But none of his custom E-5's features had the power to pierce through the armored walker.

OOM-9 signaled to SSA-719, who had an E-60R rocket launcher. The security battle droid fired the launcher at the walker's cockpit, destroying it. The walker collapsed, but the mass-driver cannon on top was still operational and attacking. OOM-9 scaled up the walker and shot the gunner with his E-5's flechette shotgun option.

SSA-719 drew the attention of another walker. The security droid took cover behind a small cluster of rocks as the walker shot at him. "I need some assistance."

One of the last remaining GATs charged in at the AT-TE but was destroyed by the walker's mass-driver cannon. The walker's anti-infantry cannons were still trying to hit SSA-719. The droid pointed his rocket launcher over the rocks and blind fired. The shot hit, but didn't stop the walker. A red and brown AAT turned to square off against the AT-TE.

SSA-719 was saved by sheer luck. A pair of gunship fighters shot down a MAF that ended up crashing right into the attacking AT-TE, bringing it to a halt. The AAT that had turned to attack the walker instead settled for blasting at clone infantry with all the weapons at its disposal.

In the space battle above Geonosis, several V-19 Torrent fighters turned tail and fled down to the planet, leaving the two Acclamator assault ships to fend for themselves.

"Enemy fighter squadrons are falling back to the planet. Permission to pursue?" Commander Zako asked.

"Permission granted. We are sending in reinforcements to replace you," OOM-8 confirmed.

One of the Acclamators finally succumbed to the combined fire of the Separatist fleet, prompting the other to start moving.

"The other ship is moving into the asteroids. Should we pursue?" a pilot droid asked Captain Sledge.

"Negative. Let them go. I may be crazy but I'm not stupid." As if to validate Sledge, the Acclamator was smashed to pieces within seconds of entering into the ring of asteroids.

"Shall we send out the pod hunters?"

"No," Sledge shifted around in her command chair. "They are already doomed. No one is going for those escape pods in all that mess. No sense in risking our own troops."

KJZ-8267's E-STAP squadron reached their target destination, though there was no Republic convoy to be found.

"Error. No enemy forces detected," one of the pilot battle droids announced.

"Expand the search radius," KJZ-8267 ordered.

After a more thorough search, the E-STAP squadron still failed to find their targets.

KJZ-8267 reported the problem back to the 8th Fleet. "Unable to locate enemy convoy. Please advise."

OOM-8 had been getting a lot of these reports. The intelligence provided by the Geonosians was bad, real bad. No one was where they were supposed to be, making a swift victory difficult.

"KJZ-8267, you and your squadron are to report to OOM-9's coordinates. They need the assistance."

"Roger roger. We are on our way."

The battle droids were finally beating back the clone infantry, still stubbornly refusing to give much ground. EEK-176 was at the very front of the charge; cutting down the clones with his twin gatling guns. The 8th Fleet's four Hardcell interstellar transports landed around battlefield, surrounding the Republic base. Once the masses of battle droids began swarming out of the Techno Union ships, it was all over.

The Republic command ordered a full retreat and the remaining clones fell back to the safety of the shield. The slow AT-TEs were left in the lurch and were destroyed by a combination of dwarf spider droids, baron battle droids, thermal detonator battle droids, and plasma battle droids. With the battlefront finally cleared of hostiles, Trade Federation landing craft touched down and started unloading bio cannons and hailfire droids.

The Republic fighter tanks were repaired but stayed at the Republic base.

"They're hiding behind their shield," EEK-176 said.

"They're waiting for reinforcements to arrive," OOM-9 answered. "We can't count on the strike teams to eliminate all enemy convoys. We must attack quickly before they're reinforced with additional troops."

"Moving into attack formation. On your order, General."

"Charge!"

EEK-176 and SSA-719 led the masses of droid infantry that crossed through the bubble shield and made a run at the Republic base. Clones had set up on top of the wall and fired down at the approaching droids. There were a few EWHB-12 repeaters set up to fire on the droids as well.

Inside the walls of the base were AV-7 anti-vehicle cannons, which bombarded the droids. The battle droids had spaced themselves out enough that any one blast would only take out a single droid.

A few droidekas rolled in between the battle droids but were targeted by the clones before they could deploy into attack mode. Blue explosions rocked all around as the charging droids came closer to the walls.

SSA-719 fired his missile launcher and knocked a pair of clone snipers off the wall.

"Enemy movement at the wall," a B2 declared.

The clones had actually opened the gates and were rushing out to meet the droids.

The droids and clones fought each other on the even ground. The clones had made a mistake. The clones on the wall stood a better chance, but at the same elevation, EEK-176 blew them all away to bloody bits. The gatling guns were firing so rapidly he didn't have to bother to aim. The command droid just swept over the whole area in front of him. The clones knew when they were beaten.

"They're trying to shut the gates!" There was nothing the droids could do about it. A few clone troopers managed to get through the gate before it closed again. Most did not and they were gunned down.

Thermal detonator battle droids fired their mortars deep into the Republic base. This drew the ire of the clone artillery, though they had a hard time targeting the grenadier droids specifically.

"General, the clones and artillery are properly engaged," EEK-176 transmitted to OOM-9.

"Bring up the bio cannons!" The large artillery droids rolled through the shield and safely deployed. The bio cannons fired, first hitting the Republic artillery and then eliminating the shield generator.

The shield dissipated, and the hailfire droids rolled in and saturated the base with missiles. With the bio cannon/hailfire droid combination, the clone troops were badly shredded. Several sections of the wall were blown down and the battle droid infantry started pouring in, prompting the artillery to halt their attacks.

The clone artillery gunners drew their side arms and fired at the droids charging at them. One of them managed to hit SSA-719 in the shoulder. The security droid responded with a missile.

The IFT-X tanks that stayed at the base now bolted away, trying to run down droid infantry as they went. The Republic fighter tanks managed to scrap a few hailfire droids before being put down by AATs and dwarf spider droids.

Commander Zako flew over the N'rakti Lava Fields. "Why'd they lead us here?"

Zako soon found his answer. The Republic had planted an energy station in the middle of the N'rakti Lava Fields. Four anti-air missile turret towers protected the energy station. On the west side of the complex was a large landing pad where several gunship fighters were taking off to engage the approaching CIS fighters. The Torrent pilots had led the CIS flyers to an area where they could have additional help.

The CIS was not to be outdone, aided by a squadron of Geonosian fighters from the planet. The Geonosian fighters were terribly inaccurate but were extremely difficult for the clone pilots and anti-air turrets to hit.

Rather than take on the anti-air turrets directly, Zako and his fighters attacked the energy pipeline running over the lava field. The CIS fighters also shot at the exposed energy regulator on the south side of the complex.

The energy station lost control of the lava flow. Great plumes of lava rose up into the sky, lapping at the fighters buzzing around in the air. An alarm sounded on the Republic station, and workers ran for the only LAAT gunship. The station's crew was able to get aboard the gunship, but Geonosian fighters shot it down the moment it tried to take off.

A pillar of lava slammed into a gunship fighter that was chasing Zako's Scarab. The Geonosian fighters produced little glow or noise, and seemed to blend into the lava flows. The gunship fighters were easy to spot. Zako shot down a gunship fighter before barrel rolling out of the way of a plume of lava. The dogfight had turned to the Separatists' favor.

Poggle the Lesser's forces had spread all around the planet; so the Archduke's own personal attack group was relatively small. Poggle's transports touched down a long ways off from their intended destination, in order to make sure that the Republic didn't know where they were headed. The plan was to clandestinely reach their destination from the ground, but that idea was shattered when they came across a clone patrol of considerable strength.

The clone troopers were skilled, and had no trouble fending off Poggle's warriors. As the battle continued to deteriorate, the Geonosian leader came up with an idea. The battlefield was familiar to Poggle, who knew how to turn that to his advantage.

He allowed himself to be seen from the top of his armored assault tank.

"Captain, look! Isn't that the big bug?" a clone trooper pointed.

"I didn't know Poggle the Lesser was still on Geonosis. Men, advance on that tank! I want that bug on the top of the tank taken alive at all costs!"

Poggle had his AAT in reverse, continually drawing the clones in on his position. The slow retreat eventually dipped down a ravine, but neither the clones nor the tank had any trouble traversing it. The AAT stopped backing up once it was out of the ravine.

The clones spread out along the ravine, fearing an attack from the armored assault tank, but none came. Just as the clones were about to march on the tank again the ground began to shake.

"What's going on?" one of the clone troopers asked as if his brothers would know something he didn't.

A herd of merdeth came barreling down on the clone troopers. Merdeth were enormous, shelled insectoids that moved about by hundreds of tiny legs. Merdeth were natives to Geonosis that were prone to consume Geonosians, Ur-Greedles, or any organic material they encountered, this time it was Republic clone troopers.

Poggle had led the clone troopers into a known merdeth route. Despite the Republic troops' prolonged occupation of the planet, they still knew surprising little about the animals that lived there.

The clone troopers fired on the large insectoids and tossed their thermal detonators, but they had no effect on the merdeths' massive armored shells. A merdeth's mouth was surround by eight tentacles, which were used to consume their prey. The merdeths seized the clone troopers and devoured them. Poggle wasn't foolish enough to stick around to watch the show, his tank had turned and fled, surviving Geonosian warriors flying to keep up with their crafty leader.

Poggle's tactical droid, TX-21 and OOM-9's command droid, Z23-Y75 were tasked with taking back the Confederacy's old command spire. The Geonosians reported that while the Republic was using it, they were not defending it heavily. Since it was not properly protected, Z23-Y75 wondered why the Geonosians couldn't handle the situation themselves.

A cluster of five Geonosian transports put down TX-21 and his troops. The tactical droid's army consisted mostly of B2 super battle droids supported by baron super battle droids and mortar super battle droids. Baron super battle droids were often referred to as anti-air super battle droids. They lacked arms and had missiles launchers built into their shoulders.

Z23-Y75 brought B1 battle droids and droidekas by way of a single Neimoidian transport. The command droid's primary contributions were dwarf spider droids and homing spider droids brought in by a pair of VACs.

The CIS attack group landed north of the command spire, amidst the rusty wreckage of three Techno Union ships that had been destroyed during the first Battle of Geonosis. It was not a stealthy approach, and the Republic immediately knew of their arrival.

The super battle droids were on the march, and a squad of nine clone troopers appeared along one of the upper ridges of the spire. Armed with DC-15A blaster rifles, the clones accurately shot down the silver droid infantry over a long range.

The clones were good, very good. Z23-Y75 now understood why the Geonosians couldn't handle the situation on their own. Z23-Y75 was lucky he had chosen a particle beam E-5s sniper rifle as his weapon. He pulled up the weapon, aimed at the clone furthest to the right and fired. The purple laser beam caught the clone in the throat. Z23-Y75 aimed for the next two and fired in quick succession. No time for headshots, the droid went for a larger and easier target, the torso. And that's exactly where he hit.

The remaining clones' took no notice of their fallen comrades, instead concentrating on destroying as many super battle droids as they could.

A baron super droid fired his missiles, but only attracted the clones' attention and was destroyed. The droidekas had rolled up and deployed their shields, soaking up much of the blaster fire, giving the supers a break.

The diversion allowed a trio of mortar droids to move into position and bomb the remaining clones into oblivion.

It was not over yet. The hill on the north face of the spire was too steep to walk up, at least for anyone but the dwarf spider droids. The CIS droids would have to go around to the east or west in order to scale up the spire. Z23-Y75 took the east while TX-21 took the west. The two homing spider droids split up, one to each side. The dwarf spider droids started scaling up the north hill.

The Separatist droids had no clue of the trouble that awaited them. Two AT-TEs were trotting up from the south, one on each side of the spire. Each walker was escorted by a group of twenty clones armed with a variety of weapons.

"Hold your positions, let them come to us," TX-21 ordered his troops. The tactical droid's opposing AT-TE focused exclusively on the homing spider droid until it was no more. The baron and mortar droids then attacked it while the clones and B2s shot at each other.

The AT-TE was damaged, but took out all of TX-21's baron and mortar droids, leaving the standard super battle droids to fight both the clone infantry and the armored walker. The fight was going so badly that TX-21 had to directly participate, firing his E-5 blaster rifle.

On the east side Z23-Y75 was doing no better. The AT-TE facing him also destroyed his homing spider droid. It then turned its cannons on the destroyer droids. While their shields could absorb small arms fire all day, the droidekas were quickly taken out by the walker's intense firepower.

The one advantage Z23-Y75 had was the fact that his B1s were killing off the clone infantry rather quickly. The B1s' task was made easier by the fact that their commander was expertly sniping the clones.

Just when it seemed the AT-TE walkers were about to overtake the droids, the dwarf spider droids that had scaled the north side of the spire had move to the east and west and were in position to fire down on the Republic walkers.

The dwarf spider droids aimed for the mass-driver cannon's gunner first as it was the only weapon on the AT-TE that could swiftly swivel around and adequately target upwards at the spider droids.

Once the mass-driver gunners were taken care of the spider droids focusing on the rest of the walker. Rather than slowly turn to orient their anti-personnel laser cannons at the spiders on the spire, the AT-TEs chose to continue their attack on the droid infantry at ground level. The clone operators accepted their doomed fate and took out as many droids as they could before their walkers caved in to the blasts from the spiders.

The surviving B1s on the east and the B2s on the west scaled up the hills to meet up with the dwarf spider droids. Once they reached the spider droids, they all entered into the spire.

The war room itself had only six armed clone troopers. The others were unarmed clone officers and Kaminoan worker droids. The clone troopers were no match for the dwarf spider droids and the B1s and B2s had some fun shooting the hapless officers and worker droids.

"The war room is secured," TX-21 stated as he went over and examined the holomap of the area. It showed that there was a Republic forward command center directly south of the spire, just beyond the wreckage of another Techno Union ship.

"Take our remaining troops and form a defensive perimeter on the southern ridge of the spire. I expect the clones will try to retake our position. I will call in for reinforcements," TX-21 said.

"Roger roger," Z23-Y75 complied.

The reinforcements ended up being Zako's starfighter squadron, which quickly sprinkled the battlefront with laser fire. The main opposition was a pair of clone scout walkers, and they were taken care of after two passes. Commander Zako then had some fun blasting clone troopers while flying his Scarab. It was rather easy, considering their white armor made them stand out so much.

Z23-Y75 and his troops were then able to walk right up to the forward command center and take it.

Gizor Dellso had been paired with Major Katen, 3B3-888 and 8EX. Their troops consisted of Geonosian warriors, B1 and B2 battle droids, dwarf spider droids, NR-N99 tank droids, and chameleon droids.

A Geonosian sentry post had alerted them to an upcoming clone convoy. Unfortunately, it was arriving at a different time and angle than expected. Dellso ordered the attack group to fall back to the mountains.

"What'd he say?" Katen asked. She didn't know Geonosian.

"He said we're falling back to the mountains," 8EX explained.

"What? Why? We can take them."

"Just go with it, Major," 3B3-888 said.

"What if they don't follow us?"

"If he screws up I'm sure you'll take control," 3B3-888 started towards the mountains.

Katen and the droids did as they were told. The NR-N99 tank droids were sent away as they could not traverse the terrain. Katen quickly learned Dellso wasn't the coward he seemed. The Geonosian planned to move LR1K cannons onto a ridge and fire down upon the convoy when it passed. Dellso used Separatist probe droids to watch the progress of the convoy. All was going well, they were heading in the right direction without even being baited.

The convoy consisted of two Republic troop transports protected by three AT-RTs from the front and three AT-RTs at the rear. And of course there was the clone infantry walking alongside the transports. It was impossible to tell if there were more clones in the transports or if they were walking alongside them to stretch their legs.

When the Republic passed a certain point Dellso gave the signal to attack.

Despite the command being obvious, 3B3-888 translated it for Katen. "Attack!" Dellso attacked with a Geonosian version of a bulldog RLR.

The battle droids and spider droids fired down from their elevated positions. The chameleon droids revealed themselves to be on the rocky walls. SRT droids moved the LR1K sonic cannons onto position on the ridge. Geonosians manned the cannons and started attacking the troop transports first.

"Ambush!" a clone yelled.

Some of the unarmed Geonosian warriors swooped down at the clones and picked them up, carrying the screaming soldiers up to where the CIS forces were stationed. The clones were then dropped off and stabbed by awaiting Geonosian warriors wielding force pikes. The unarmed warriors would then go and repeat the process again. In the second raid one of the AT-RTs drivers was nabbed. "Watch those bugs!" Another clone tried to commandeer the empty walker but was shot by 8EX as he got in the seat.

3B3-888 was particularity destructive, wielding two E-8 heavy projectile launchers at the same time. Not bothering much to aim, the droid sergeant just peppered the entire area with his missiles. When he ran out of ammo, he handed the E-8s off to a waiting B1 and took up using a RD-4 radiation launcher. With the radiation launcher 3B3-888 was more careful with his aim.

5TE and his squad were approaching straight at the Republic convoy.

"Look over there!" 8EX noticed.

"They'll be shot to pieces!" Katen ran down the incline at the clones.

"What is she doing? She's gonna get herself killed," 3B3-888 kept shooting.

8EX ran on down after her.

Katen plowed right through three clone troopers but missed a fourth, who turned and caught her before she fell over. The trooper merely assumed since she was human that she was on his side.

"What a gentleman," Katen cooed before striking the clone with her electrostaff.

"She's a Sepper!" another clone turned and pointed his rifle at Katen. A split-second later the clone was tackled by 8EX. A clone started shooting into 8EX's side, but was blasted by a radioactive grenade from 3B3-888.

The rear AT-RTs had all been destroyed by the dwarf spider droids and only two in the front were being operated. The chameleon droids started descending from the walls down to help Katen and 8EX.

The two Republic troop transports finally broke apart under the sonic cannon fire, revealing that they had indeed been empty. The last two AT-RTs were blown to smithereens when targeted by the sonic turrets.

The clone troopers still fought on. 5TE's squad had been gunned down, despite Katen's efforts to save them. 5TE was still up and fighting and made it through until the end.

"You need to be more careful," Katen pointed her finger at 5TE when the fight was over.

A clone pilot exited from the wreckage of one of the RTTs and shot at Katen. 5TE saw it and shoved her out of the way, taking the hit himself. The super battle droid then blasted the clone pilot.

"Nice shot," Katen got to her feet.

"You need to be more careful," 5TE mimicked Katen.

"Oh ho. We have a funny guy, huh?"

OOM-9 and EEK-176 had captured the main Republic base, with the command systems intact. Now they could get accurate readings on where the Republic convoys were supposed to be. They learned that one was heading straight for them.

A group of nine IFT-X fighter tanks and three A5-RX battle tanks approached the droid army. The bio cannons and hailfire droids tried to roll out of the way as AATs and battle droids moved to face them. DSD-08 was right in the middle, the dwarf spider droid was surly doomed to be one of the tanks' first targets.

"Roger. Reinforcements have arrived!" SSA-719 exclaimed as KJZ-8267's bomber squadron swooped in and shelled the new enemy tanks. The E-STAPs spared no expense, using their powerful plasma bombs to disintegrate the land vehicles. DSD-08 beeped in joyous celebration, being miraculously saved at the last possible minute.

The space battle above Geonosis had ended. The last of the V-19 Torrent fighters had been destroyed and Separatist bridge crews were enjoying watching Republic escape pods being crushed in the planet's asteroid belt.

It only appeared that the 8th Fleet was lackadaisical. When in reality a mass migration was about to take place. All over the planet OOM-8 had received calls for reinforcements, the clones were putting up a tough fight.

The 8th Fleet responded to the pleas for assistance. An enormous wave of C-9979 landing craft left for the planet. The core ships of the Scrapyard, Magna Musai, Glaciarium, and Profiteer detached and descended down into the rusty red stratosphere.

OOM-8 went down with the Scrapyard's core ship, landing in the Ebon Sea. The Ebon Sea was a disgusting body of water that was smothered in scum and pollution, some of it runoff from Golbah's Pit. Acklays that had escaped from captivity lived on the land surrounding the sea while Geonosian hydras lived on the muddy sea bottom.

Geonosis was one of the last planets OOM-8 thought aqua droids would be deployed on. Only five percent of the red planet's surface was covered by water. The Republic took advantage of that five percent.

After reclaiming the command spire, TX-21 notified OOM-8 that the Republic had built an underwater command center in the Ebon Sea, believing the desert-savvy Geonosians would never be able to challenge them on an aquatic battlefield.

Upon landing in the water it was clear that the Geonosians had tried to strike at the underwater command center on their own. Wreckage of destroyed Geonosian aquatic vehicles littered the water's dirty surface.

Aqua droids were deployed directly from the core ship. From the core ship's sides, Trade Federation patrol boats and ostracoda ships were launched on top of the water. The Separatist boats were soon attacked by Republic aqua frigates.

While the surface ships fought with each other, OOM-8 took a mini-sub and followed the aqua droids down deep to the underwater base.

The droids did not have to dive far before they encountered clone scuba troopers. The aquatic fighters battled each other, creating quite a stir and stray blaster shots were absorbed into the murky water.

One of the stray shots must have hit something. Something angry. That something turned out to be a Geonosian hydra. Geonosian hydras were large, amphibious, carnivorous insectoids with three heads.

The green monster went for both the clones and droids, who ceased fighting with each other and focused on swimming away.

"Pull back. Don't provoke the creature," OOM-8 ordered. The aqua droids obeyed.

Some of the clones got it in their heads that shooting the hydra was a good idea. The three-headed monster swiftly ate them up and turned towards the others clones, which were swimming back to their base.

The clones had led the hydra right to the underwater base. The monster saw them go into the hanger, knew they were inside. The hydra tore at the Republic base. It was not built to withstand the attacks of such a large animal. The base ruptured and Republic personnel spilled out into the grubby water, now prey for the beast.

After watching the show, OOM-8 and his aqua droids returned to the core ship, the Geonosian hydra had done their job for them.

Archduke Poggle the Lesser had finally reached his destination, the Progate Temple. Karina the Great, Queen of Geonosis had a secret lair under the temple. She had been hiding there ever since the Republic took over and she was not happy about it.

"It took you long enough to free our people," Karina scolded Poggle in Basic. If she was speaking to him in Basic she must have been really angry.

"The war has been going badly, your highness."

"That is no excuse for abandoning us."

"I needed time to elicit the help of a capable army. The battle droid, General OOM-9, is responsible for the liberation of Geonosis."

"And this droid is going to guard our planet?"

"No, he will be needed elsewhere."

"Then let us hope we don't have to call on him a second time."

The E'Y-Akh Desert, a sandy area near the location of the main battlefields of the first Battle of Geonosis, ending up being the final theatre in which the last large group of clones tried to fend off the battle droid armies.

OOM-9 and many of his officers ended up converging here. The fight was quick, but very ugly. It was relatively quiet now, save for the engines of STAP patrols searching for clone survivors.

The desert was littered with the remains of AT-TEs and clone scout walkers and the tracks of NR-N99 tank droids. Clone corpses began to stink as they were baked in the hot sun.

Near the center, GATs, homing spider droids and dwarf spider droids lined up to be picked up by transports.

There was a small army of battle droids guarding a few clone prisoners. But peacefully securing the clones was not an option for the droid army, at least not when Major Katen was around.

"Tell me where the rest of your troops are," Katen demanded from a captured clone commander, poking his face with the end of her now-deactivated electrostaff.

"Go to hell, oh wait, we're on Geonosis, we're already in hell," the clone boldly challenged Major Katen.

"You will respect my authority!" Katen smacked the clone with her electrostaff.

"You Separatist bitch."

Commander Zako restrained Katen from striking the clone commander again. "I'd talk if I were you. You have no idea how scary she is when she's really bitchy."

"I'm not scared of her or you."

"Then perhaps you'll fear me," OOM-9 approached.

"Ha! As if I'd be scared of some random, nameless clanker!"

"You can't spell 'doom' without 'OOM'…9."

Commander Zako released Katen and started laughing.

Major Katen was less impressed. "General… that was just terrible. That joke should be a war crime."

"Your face should be a war crime, Major," OOM-9 pointed.

"That was mean," Katen was surprised at OOM-9's aggressive turn to humor, or what passed for humor in the CIS ranks. "What's wrong with my face?"

"For starters, it's constantly aging and decaying."

"Yeah, well all organics tend to do that. We can't all be immortal droids you know."

"I can't believe I was defeated by you idiots," the clone commander cut in.

"And what does that say about you?" OOM-9 countered.

"Shut it!" Katen kicked the clone in the head. "No one said you could talk."

"Major, a moment ago you were trying to get him to talk, unsuccessfully."

"But he called us idiots."

"And you're just looking for excuses to hit him." OOM-9 activated his ZK-II war-axe. "You tried hitting and it didn't work. So, let's try chopping."

The clone commander started to say something again but it was OOM-9 who kicked him this time. "Unless you're telling me the locations of the pitiful remains of your army, I don't want to hear it."

The Pelta frigate that had originally gone down to the planet to warn the Republic of the droid army's arrival was now heading back out into space to escape. It had attracted the attention of a Geonosian cruiser, which chased it back toward the 8th Fleet.

The tactical droid TH-1066 was currently in charge, and had no intention of letting the annoying frigate escape. He quickly oriented the entire fleet to the Pelta frigate.

"All ships, open fire!"

The fleeing Republic frigate lasted exactly twelve seconds before being completely obliterated. Finally, an outcome that didn't result in an enemy making a last ditch escape.