Chapter 25: Battle of Dubrillion
The Eta-class shuttle exited out of hyperspace. Koffi Arana and Evan Asani made it to Dubrillion safely but that wouldn't save them from the grip of the Separatists. Dubrillion, like Destrillion, was in Separatist space. Dubrillion hosted beautiful oceans and healthy green continents. But the usual beauty of the planet had been marred by the pestilence of the Grand Army of the Republic. The Republic had recently conquered the Confederate-aligned world but the Separatist Alliance was already in the midst of retaking the planet.
"Where are the assault ships?" Asani asked. The occupants of the newly arrived Eta shuttle had not yet realized that the Separatists had begun liberating the planet.
"Sir, we're being jammed," Helmet added.
Koffi Arana looked out the viewport, there seemed to be something off in the distance. Then their initial questions were suddenly answered. A Recusant-class light destroyer was slowly moving to intercept the Republic shuttle.
"We've got trouble," Arana hit the accelerator.
"Uh, General…what are you doing? We're heading straight for them," Helmet was confused as to why Arana was not steering the shuttle away from the deadly Separatist destroyer.
The Eta shuttle burst toward the Recusant light destroyer at top speed. Turbolaser blasts lashed out at the outmatched shuttle, but Koffi was able to fly threw without so much as a scratch.
"General?" Helmet's heart pounded within his chest. He still did not understand what Arana was trying to accomplish.
"The closer we get to it, the harder we are to hit," Koffi explained to the trooper.
"We're heading straight towards the planet!" Helmet stated the obvious.
"Of course."
"General, it is my recommendation that we turn around and retreat to Republic space. It appears that the Confederacy has taken the planet. What will we do once we get down there?"
"Other than the fact that if we turn around now we'll be blasted into oblivion," Koffi casually carried on the conversation while piloting through the storm of lasers, "there are still Republic troops fighting on the planet below."
"Yes, I can feel them too," Evan added.
The shuttle dove in close to the Commerce Guild destroyer, nearly colliding with the command bridge. The Eta shuttle ran the along the length of the ship and was able to pass without being destroyed. The Recusant tried to turn around to follow but the shuttle was long gone.
The Eta shuttle sliced through the wispy clouds of the upper atmosphere. Helmet tried hailing any Republic troops below, but was unable to get an answer. In lieu of more traditional communication, the two Jedi called on the Force to guide them towards where their allies were.
As usual, the Force provided them with the answer, and the Eta-class shuttle was approaching a large collection of islands in the Dubrillion Ocean. It was immediately apparent that there was trouble. Great plumes of smoke rose up from both the islands and the ocean. Huge swarms of Republic gunship fighters and Confederate Vulture droids chased each other around the midday sky. A few collections of Republic and Separatist aquatic vessels were attacking each other on the surface of the water.
A pair of Vulture droids turned to address the incoming Eta shuttle. A trio of gunship fighters cut across their flight path, destroying one droid starfighter and forcing the other to break away from its current course.
"Unidentified shuttle, please respond," a clone voice finally came through.
"This is Jedi Master Koffi Arana of the Destrillion occupational force. We are transmitting access codes now." A short moment passed. Koffi had to avoid another pair of attacking Vulture droids.
"Access codes verified," the voice came back. "How can we assist you, General?"
"I need to speak with your commanding officer immediately."
"Yes sir-" the voice cut out. Helmet and the two Jedi looked out the viewport to see that a gunship fighter had been hit and was going down, likely the starfighter that was carrying the pilot they had been talking to.
"We are sending you landing coordinates," another voice came through the comm. "We advise extreme caution when you begin your landing sequence."
"Understood," Arana turned the shuttle toward their assigned parking spot.
A full squadron of Scarab starfighters joined in the dogfight. In the initial pass, they were able to blast three gunship fighters. Leading the Scarab squadron was a purple Ginivex-class starfighter. The Ginivex fighter broke away from the pack and headed towards the Eta-class shuttle.
A flurry of laser bolts slammed against the shuttle. Koffi tried evasive maneuvers while staying their projected course. The Ginivex fighter passed over the shuttle and somersaulted back around for another pass.
This time the Ginivex got right behind the Eta shuttle and blasted the shuttle's engines. Arana had no hope of outmaneuvering the starfighter in the clunky shuttle. They took multiple direct hits.
"We're going down, brace for impact," Koffi Arana warned the others as if they needed to be told.
The shuttle hit the ground hard, but Arana was able to angle their crash so that they weren't just a smoking crater.
"Hurry, we've got to get out of here," Koffi was already undoing his safety straps the second the shuttle came to a halt. Asani and Helmet had a hard time keeping up with the Jedi Master, but did as they were told without question or complaint.
Suddenly, the shuttle violently rocked. Having undone his safety straps, Helmet fell to the floor. The two Jedi maintained their balance. "What was that?" Helmet was confused, "didn't we crash already?"
"That fighter's still shooting at the shuttle?" Evan Asani answered with a question.
"Which is why we need to get out of here," Koffi Arana quickly cut a hole out of the shuttle with his lightsaber. The trio ran out onto the grassy plain. Asani also activated his lightsaber, anticipating that more lasers would soon be coming their way.
The Ginivex was turning around for another pass at the Jedi when a group of four gunship fighters came at the purple craft from the side, forcing it to pull away and engage in the starfighter battle once again.
Helmet tried contacting the Republic forces again but Koffi Arana urged him forward, they could not afford to stay in one place for long.
As Arana had feared, the Separatists were organized. They seemed to be as effective as they had been on Destrillion. A PAC soon intercepted them on the grassy plain and deployed its compliment of one hundred and twelve B1 battle droids.
"This isn't good," Evan Asani moved his lightsaber up to block a series of rifle blasts. The two Jedi and their clone companion were oblivious as to how much worse the situation was about to become.
The 8th Fleet exited out of hyperspace in front of Dubrillion. They were unusually fast in chasing the shuttle. OOM-9 had decided to leave behind the Saak'ak to pick up the rest of their forces on the surface of Destrillion and head after the shuttle immediately. The battle droid general did not want lose his prey.
Like the Eta shuttle before them, the 8th Fleet's collection of capital ships was met by a single Commerce Guild destroyer.
OOM-9 stood on the command bridge of the Magna Musai. The battle droid general was silent, awaiting the inevitable transmission from the allied Separatist ship.
A crude hologram of a familiar Separatist officer filled the viewscreen.
"Commander Vulpus. It is a privilege to see you again," OOM-9 wasn't sarcastic in the slightest. Vulpus was a model Confederate officer; he certainly put OOM-9's own organic officers to shame.
"I'm sorry but I do not have the time to exchange pleasantries, General. I'm in the middle of evicting the Republic from Dubrillion. My droids will provide you with locations where you can assist us," the transmission cut out. A crisp, clearer image of a command battle droid took Vulpus' place. Various sets of coordinates were uploaded to the CCCs of the 8th Fleet. It didn't seem like there would be much for OOM-9's army to do.
"Commander Vulpus is heading the liberation of Dubrillion," OOM-9 turned to the holographic image of OOM-8. "We must act quickly or there will be no clones left for us to kill."
OOM-9 was disappointed that he had not learned of Vulpus' strike to retake Dubrillion. OOM-9 was more than happy to assist the human commander; he just wanted to know what was going on. One arm of the Confederacy didn't seem to know what the other was doing.
OOM-9 attributed the Confederate military's inefficiency to the Supreme Commander of the Droid Armies, General Grievous. The cybernetic Kaleesh was more interested in fighting on the front lines rather than strategizing and leading. OOM-9 was also guilty of multi-tasking, but his connection to the network was much stronger than Grievous' and he could fight and lead effectively at the same time. OOM-9 pushed such depressing thoughts to the back of his mind, preferring to focus on the current fight at hand.
Drop ships, landing craft, core ships, and the 8th Fleets three Munificent-class star frigates descended down to the blue planet below. No opposition was forthcoming, a good sign that things were going well for the Confederacy but bad in the sense that OOM-9 and his troops might not get to fight.
It was a long and hard battle but Arana, Asani and Helmet fought their way to the Republic base.
"Where are your Jedi?" Arana asked the clone commander who greeted the tired trio.
"One's deceased, the other is under the ocean on a mission and is currently unavailable. You couldn't have come at a better time. We could certainly use some assistance." There was a large explosion in the background.
"Our arrival is less fortuitous than you think, Commander. We're all that's left of the Destrillion occupational forces."
"What?" the clone commander was taken off guard. "You're all that's left. We sent emergency transmissions to Destrillion asking for aid. We thought we were being jammed."
"There's no one there to answer." Another explosion, this one was even closer.
"This is bad," the clone commander fretted. "I'm not sure how much longer we can hold out without substantial reinforcements."
"We'll do everything we can to help you. But I suggest we retreat as soon as we are able."
"Yes," the commander agreed. "We would, though we have a slight problem. One of our Acclamator assault ships went down in the ocean. We have teams on a search and rescue mission. We can't leave without them."
"Agreed," Arana approved. "How can we help, Commander?"
"We have no aquatic vehicles to spare. But we do have a Delta-7 interceptor that no longer has a pilot."
"I'll take the fighter," Arana said.
"And we can always use another soldier and Jedi on the front line," the clone commander added.
"Just show us where to go," Asani gripped his deactivated lightsaber.
The Magna Musai's core sphere landed softly in the ocean. Various aquatic craft dove straight into the salty waters. Separatist sub-carriers, manta droid subfighters, S-LFRGs, and aqua droids sank into the depths of the sea. Trade Federation patrol boats and Ostracoda-class gunboats protected a large convoy of S-TRNs and OTTs.
The S-TRNs were slightly larger than the land-bound MTTs. The OTTs were basically just a larger version of the S-TRN and easily three times their size.
The 8th Fleet's three Banking Clan frigates were nearby. OOM-9 and Zako led a swarm of Vulture and Scarab starfighters that tagged alongside the star frigates.
Commander Zako flew a gray and blue Scarab starfighter. OOM-9 piloted an advanced E-STAP droid starbomber, as he usually did. The command battle droid received an incoming message from Vulpus.
"They're trying to recover survivors of an Acclamator assault ship that sank in the ocean," Vulpus explained. "I currently cannot expend any aquatic troops in stopping them."
"Upload the coordinates to me. I will send troops to take care of it," OOM-9 promised.
"There is another problem," Vulpus continued. "Your movements have been discovered. A pair of Acclamator assault ships have broken off and are heading to intercept your forces. I'm leading a force of starfighters to assist you but you still need to send your attack groups to your originally assigned coordinates."
"I understand, Commander. We'll be ready for them."
The surface aquatic vehicles kept with the Banking Clan frigates and starfighters as they neared the collection of islands the Republic occupied.
Deep underwater, Republic forces searched for the downed Acclamator ship. A Quarren Jedi was leading them. He could sense there were still people alive inside the sunken cruiser.
"There," the Jedi used the Force to guide to search teams to the drowning ship.
"Initializing rescue procedure," a clone stated.
"Sir!" another clone stammered.
"What is it?" the Jedi asked.
"Incoming torpedoes. Five hundred meters and closing."
"Launch defensive countermeasures."
"Yes sir."
There was a massive detonation as the two sets of projectiles collided with one another. A giant mass of bubbles prevented either side from seeing the other.
"We got them!" 3B3-888 pumped his fist in victory. 3B3-888, like EEK-176 and SSA-719, were riding mini-subs that had deployed from one of the sub-carriers. The B-series battle droids could function underwater just fine but were lousy swimmers, hence their reliance on mini-subs to travel underwater quickly.
"Don't get overconfident, we have to scan the area for survivors first," EEK-176 lectured the bombastic B1 battle droid.
There was movement within the bubbles created by the large blast. "Someone's coming! Fire!" SSA-719 exclaimed. The Jedi and his clones were able to elegantly avoid the incoming blaster fire the droids provided.
"A Quarren Jedi!" EEK-176 was easily able to pick out the Force user due to the glowing yellow lightsaber he wielded.
"The Republic has specialized clone troopers and accompanying Jedi for every occasion!" SSA-719 complained as he continued attacking. The two groups broke ranks and starting chasing each other around.
EEK-176 tried blasting a SCUBA clone, but the Republic trooper kept dodging out of the way. "They're so maneuverable!"
The aqua droids proved to be a better match against the clone SCUBA troopers. The mini-subs and manta droids attacked the Republic submarines when they weren't harassed by the aquatic clone infantry.
SSA-719 and two clones chased each other around in circles, but no one was able to land a blow on the other.
3B3-888 fired at the Jedi, who deflected the blaster bolts with ease. The B1 battle droid rolled his mini-sub out of the way as the Jedi then tried to slash at him when he passed by.
The S-LFRGs were able to destroy the Republic submarines. The clone SCUBA troopers tried to retaliate but found that their weapons weren't powerful enough to penetrate the Separatist ships' armor.
EEK-176 was able to pull away from the battle and observe the Acclamator assault ship. The capital ship lay precariously on the edge of cliff. EEK-176 quickly formulated a plan and uploaded it to the other droids.
Several of the manta droids broke away from the main fight as the command droid had ordered. "Ready, all torpedoes away!" EEK-176 ordered. The manta droids exhausted their explosives, the torpedoes slammed into the rock right below the Acclamator.
The rock began to crumble and then the Acclamator fell off the ledge to the depths of the ocean deep below. Loud creaks and cracks indicated that the spaceship was crushed under the enormous pressure further below.
Only the Quarren Jedi and a few clones remained. The Jedi was able to slice a passing manta droid in two. The aqua droids were able to finish off the clones, but not before they suffered great losses.
A pair of S-LFRGs fired at the Jedi, drawing his attention. As soon as SSA-719 had the chance, he blasted the Jedi in the back.
TH-1066 sat in the command chair of the Komusai. So far the mission had been uneventful, but that was about to change. Only the Komusai and Executioner were positioned near each other, TH-1066 had a surprise for the Republic.
"Sir, two Acclamator assault ships are closing in on our location," a pilot droid said from his station.
"Activate the shield generators, but don't fire until I give the order," the tactical droid instructed.
"Roger roger."
In the waters below the star frigates, flotillas of CIS aquatic vehicles rushed towards masses of Republic water frigates. At the same time, the squadrons of CIS starfighters collided with V-19 Torrent fighters in the sky above.
OOM-9 noticed a Delta-7 interceptor among all the Torrent fighters. He dove his bomber right at the Jedi starfighter, but it rolled out of the way of his laser fire.
Vulpus and his Scarab squadron finally joined in on the party. The Republic was heavily outnumbered, but they refused to go down easily.
The Acclamators were getting closer. "Fire," TH-1066 commanded.
"Roger roger."
"Commencing flank attack," Sledge informed TH-1066. The Enzack came in from the side, flanking the two Republic cruisers.
The two Acclamators ignored the star frigate coming from the side. The Republic cruisers kept plowing onward and looked like they were planning to blow right through the center of TH-1066's fleet, making Sledge's flank attack useless unless she planned on hitting her allies.
"All aquatic artillery, redirect your fire to the Acclamator ships!" Sledge ordered the aquatic ships below.
"New firing targets acknowledged." S-CRS and S-HCRS aquatic cruisers attacked the assigned Acclamator. Some CIS starfighters turned to attacking Republic aquatic frigates to pick up the slack from the CIS aquatic cruisers.
TH-1066 issued orders from the bridge, "all frigates, concentrate fire on that cruiser." The Munificent star frigates ignored the large battle on the water and opened fire on the Venator with their prow heavy turbolaser cannons.
The starfighters in the area kept at it, despite the dangerous lasers that were clogging the sky.
One of the Acclamators started to go down; when it hit the water it created an enormous tidal wave that the aquatic units from both factions had to ride.
The Delta-7 rode dangerous close to the wave, as if mocking OOM-9. The battle droid kept his E-STAP bomber close to the water as well.
Vulpus dove in to assist OOM-9 and soon Koffi Arana was being chased by two expert pilots. The Jedi flipped his ship and fled from the dogfighter, leading the advanced E-STAP and Ginivex fighter with him.
"Commander Zako, take charge of the air battle," OOM-9 said.
"Don't worry General. We can handle the clone pilots," Zako's Scarab shot down a Torrent fighter.
Arana's Delta-7, OOM-9's advanced E-STAP, and Vulpus' Ginivex continued straight towards the barren nothingness of the empty side of the ocean. The two CIS fighters occasionally fired at the Republic ship when they thought they had a shot, but the Jedi was able to avoid every blast.
Koffi Arana made a sharp turn and headed back toward the starfighter battle. OOM-9 and Vulpus followed suit and started to gain on the Jedi fighter.
Arana hit the decelerator and soon all three ships were flying next to each other. The three ships continuously rolling counterclockwise in a circle, steadily decreasing altitude until they were lapping at the ocean waves. The ships were dangerously close to each other, though in a smashing match the Delta-7 would lose to either the advanced E-STAP or the Ginivex.
The feat was most difficult for Vulpus, who had the longest fighter. But the human CIS officer was able to keep his ship from crashing into the ocean. He almost seemed to be showing off.
Arana was able to break the cycle of suspense when they plowed through the horde of dog-fighting starfighters. The three fighters broke off from their pseudo formation and couldn't find each other again.
The sole surviving Acclamator made it through the two Banking Clan frigates and was trying to turn around for another attack. The Komusai and Executioner were trying to do the same.
Sledge sent the Kuzack right through the middle opening of the other two Munificent star frigates. The same way the Acclamator had gone, though the gap was much narrower now that the Executioner and Komusai were trying to turn around.
"Captain Sledge, you must deviate from your present course," TH-1066 warned.
"I can fit through," Sledge sounded as if she was trying to convince herself. Warning sirens blared on all three Munificent-class frigates but Sledge was able to squeeze through and continue blasting at the Acclamator in the process.
The Acclamator soaked up a few more Prow turbolaser hits but went down before it could fully turn around and properly address the Kuzack. There was another devastating tidal wave the water vehicles had to ride.
The two Acclamators were swallowed up by the ocean. The sky was nearly free of V-19 Torrent fighters. That left the CIS with only the battered remnants of the Republic aquatic fleet to fire at. Koffi Arana turned his fighter around and headed back toward the Republic-held islands. Luckily he would not have to travel far but that meant the CIS group that had just bested him would also close in fast.
Trade Federation drop ships and landing craft tried to touch down on the Republic's main island. They had skipped over the smaller island entirely, planning to take them later. Numerous Republic anti-air tanks sent the air transports packing. "Pull the transports back, the anti-air fire is too heavy," Z23-Y75 ordered. The command droid was flying a shielded E-STAP himself.
LAAT gunships lifted off from the base and tried to give chase but the CIS fighters sent them howling back to their territory.
"Send in the aquatic transports, we'll have to try an amphibious assault," Z23-Y75 stated. S-TRNs and OTTs started their approach to the beach. The brown colored transports let loose NR-N99 tank droids, PACs, STAPs, speeder platforms, and ASTs.
On one of the gray and blue ASTs was KJZ-8267. He and his AST wing-mates sped forward at top speed, avoiding fire from EWHB-12 repeaters stationed on the beach. Though the faster repulsorcraft passed up the gun emplacements entirely the NR-N99 tank droids ran them over.
KJZ-8267 weaved in and out from the fire from the AT-TEs, occasionally taking pot shots at clone infantry. The pilot droid eventually found his target, a Republic anti-air tank. As he passed by KJZ-8267 slapped a TB-47 time bomb on the side of the tank. Four seconds later, the anti-air tank blew up. KJZ-8267 repeated the process two more times, after that point he ran out of time bombs.
Other AST groups had performed the same procedure and the Republic had run out of anti-air tanks within minutes. The NR-N99 tank droids played a crucial role in occupying most of the AT-TEs and were suffering heavy casualties.
The CIS air transports had turned back around and were landing heavy vehicles and infantry formations all over the island. Homing spider droids, dwarf spider droids, hailfire droids, AATs, GATs, and HAGs picked up where the NR-N99 tank droids had left off.
The sight Koffi Arana returned to was not a pleasant one. The Republic was being demolished. The clones were being assaulted from all fronts.
Z23-Y75 turned his bomber towards the newly arrived Delta-7 intercept and fired. The Jedi craft was able to evade but the command droid still followed.
OOM-9 and the other forces caught up to Arana and joined in on the attack on the Republic base.
Turbolaser fire from the Munificent frigates rained down on the deepest portions of the Republic base.
Scores of E-STAP bombers decimated the ranks of clone infantry as hordes of battle droids raced ahead trying to get a piece of the action.
OOM-9's advanced E-STAP dropped a plasma bomb right on top of a RTT, destroying the transport in a single blow. Zako followed up by blasting some nearby clone infantry.
Vulpus took to joining Z23-Y75 on firing at the Delta-7 interceptor, this time landing a critical strike on the sleek fighter.
Arana used the Force and blew off the cockpit. The Jedi then jumped down to the island below, using the Force to guide his fall. Koffi landed on top of an AT-TE but had to jump off of it was well as the walker was quickly cut apart by a trio of homing spider droids.
A 74-Z speeder bike pulled alongside Arana. Helmet was riding it. "General, it's time to go, again."
"So it is," the Jedi took a seat behind the clone.
"General Asani is preparing a shuttle for takeoff."
"Not our old one I hope."
"Of course not."
The fleeing speeder caught the attention of KJZ-8267 who followed as fast as his AST would allow. KJZ-8267's wingmen fired and missed, alerting Arana to their presence.
KJZ-8267 fired, but his shots were deflected by Arana's lightsaber. Helmet couldn't maneuver the bike much; the Jedi swinging a lightsaber right behind him threw off his concentration and the speeder's balance.
The 74-Z speeder bike was able to make it to the waiting Nu-class shuttle but the ASTs were still in pursuit. Helmet pulled alongside the shuttle and ran for the ramp. Arana stayed and blocked incoming blaster fire. The ASTs broke off early, not wanting to get within range of the Jedi's lightsaber or Force powers.
KJZ-8267's ASTs turned in a wide arc and started blasting the shuttle. If they could take out their escape vehicle, they could just wait it out for heavier firepower to finish the Jedi.
"Get us out of here," Koffi ran up the ramp when he realized the droids were no longer going to challenge him directly.
"We're going. We're going," Asani lifted to shuttle off the ground before the ramp was even retracted. Koffi took the controls, the lesser-experienced Jedi did not protest.
Koffi Arana felt no shame in running away. This had ceased being a battle; it was a massacre. Arana had no idea what the actual numbers were, but it looked as if the clones were outnumbered one thousand to one. Miraculously, their Nu shuttle escaped. They had to get out alive; someone had to warn the Republic of what had transpired.
Author's Note: The planet Dubrillion first appeared in the novel Star Wars: Vector Prime, though I am more familiar with it from the video game Star Wars: Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike.
Commander Vulpus is back, flying his purple Ginivex-class starfighter. The fact that he utilizes such a craft leads me to believe that Vulpus is a skilled fighter pilot.
The S-LFRG first appeared in the computer game Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds.