Chapter 26: Battle of Krona
Krona was a sad little planet in the Krona system. It possessed a single, pathetic little moon, Koro. The Krona system was the closest inhabited system to the Zalost system, so OOM-9 and his subordinates were quite familiar with the planet. Its population of four billion (mostly human) inhabitants was extraordinarily poor, or they used to be. A mining operation discovered stygium crystals completely by chance.
Stygium crystals could be used to cloak vehicles or other objects. To find a fresh source would greatly aide the Confederate war effort. However, the population of Krona had been loud and boisterous about the find, and Galactic Republic soon learned of it and invaded the suddenly strategically important planet.
The Krona system had never been a member of the Galactic Republic. It was far away and poor, and looked to be a burden rather than a source of tax revenue. Attacking a system that had never succeeded in the first place was disgustingly offensive, though the value of the stygium crystals allowed war-mongering Republic senators to throw all moral arguments about the questionable invasion out the airlock.
It was only through sheer luck that the 8th Fleet had been in the Zalost system for repairs and reinforcements when the invasion started. Thus, OOM-9's forces were able to answer the Krona system's call for help within hours.
"I don't get it," Commander Zako paced about the bridge of the Magna Musai. "I thought stygium crystals were only on Aeten II and Maramere."
"What's not to get, Commander?" General OOM-9 asked. "It is a simple concept to understand. A new supply has been discovered."
"I don't understand how they weren't discovered until now," Karl Zako continued to pace about. "The timing of this entire thing is very suspicious. Why is it the crystals were found once the war started, and not before? If we had access to them sooner we could have wiped the Republic out from the very beginning."
"There is no vast conspiracy, Commander. It is simply bad luck and timing."
"There seems to be a lot of bad luck going around these days."
OOM-9 understood Zako's anxiety. This was the closest the war had come to his home system.
Captain SSA-719 and Dr. Gatling Quartz heard the last of the conversation as they strode onto the bridge.
"Bad luck?" the Skakoan was perplexed. "This is a most fortuitous opportunity. The stygium crystals are precisely what I need to finish my ultimate project. And the upcoming battle can test out my latest weapon."
SSA-719 held up the lightsaber-length weapon for all to see. Though similar in length, it was nothing like a lightsaber.
"The RW-B power war-hammer," Dr. Quartz proudly stated. "It is based off the old power hammers originally used for mining. Turning one of the grips on the handle will charge the repulsor generator in the head of the hammer for a mighty blow, turning even the most physically weak wielder into a melee powerhouse. It is made of phrik so you can combat Jedi with it. An individual could even bash in enemy vehicles if one were so inclined. I am a genius."
OOM-9 let the Skakoan's pride slide. The battle droid general was well aware that the Skakoan scientist was getting help from his old contacts in the Techno Union to help him complete his projects. So long as the work was complete, OOM-9 didn't care if Dr. Gatling Quartz took all the credit or not.
"SSA-719, it is your turn to try one of Quartz's new weapons first."
"Yes, General," the security battle droid nodded.
"Have fun."
"Roger roger." The fact that KJZ-8267 hadn't yet gotten to try a new weapon first didn't bother OOM-9 or SSA-719. The pilot battle droid was content to let others try new things first in case they ended up not working as intended, or not working at all. An understandable stance, if somewhat overcautious, as Quartz's weapons had yet to fail OOM-9 and his subordinates.
The 8th Fleet exited out of hyperspace in front of Krona. There were three Republic Dreadnaughts off in the distance. Dreadnaught cruisers were old ships, but the 8th Fleet took them seriously nonetheless. Just because something was old didn't mean it wasn't deadly, something OOM-9 and his droid subordinates knew, considering how old they and their ships were.
Both sides were conservative in the battle. Once the Dreadnaughts entered formation, they made no move to advance. The 8th Fleet did the same. Neither side tried launching fighters or bombers of any kind. They only bombarded each other with turbolasers from a far distance.
After forty-five seconds of battle, the Dreadnaughts broke away and retreated. The Republic cruisers did not enter hyperspace; instead they fled to the opposite side of the planet.
"They retreated faster than anticipated," OOM-8 stated.
"Shall we pursue?" a hologram of TH-1066 asked.
"No. Our objective is the stygium crystals." OOM-9 clicked his metal fingers together in contemplation. "Set up a defensive blockade. The capture of the mining facility is our primary objective."
"Sir, we're receiving a transmission from Senator Zok Zuuk," a pilot droid interrupted.
"Put him though," General OOM-9 nodded. OOM-9 wirelessly input the order for the 8th Fleet to deploy their drop ships and landing craft down to the planet. The battle would have to start without OOM-9 directly participating for the time being.
An image of a Neimoidian filled the viewscreen. Zok Zuuk was a native of the planet Zakkudos of the Zalost system. It was clear from his wardrobe that the Neimoidian had not completely abandoned his heritage. Zuuk's clothes were a hybrid of Zalost and Neimoidia culture. He wore gray Neimoidian robes but also had a black tie around his neck, a practice associated with the humans of the Zalost system. The most noticeable feature was a tall, black top hat on his bald head. Top hats were common in the Zalost system, though Zuuk's was much taller than the standard ones worn by humans. His tall top hat closely resembled the elongated miters worn by high-ranking Neimoidians.
"Senator Zuuk, how can I assist you?"
"General OOM-9, it is a pleasure to see you. I only wish it were under better circumstances. The Zalost system stands ready to provide humanitarian aide to Krona once the Republic has been defeated. But your primary objective must be the recapture of the mines. Protect the mines, and I can assure you that you will receive the bulk of the crystals for your army."
"That is quite a bold promise, Senator."
"I did not obtain my position by being meek, General."
"Of course. You will be notified once the battle has been concluded."
"I will expect to hear news of your victory shortly." The image of the Neimoidian faded and was gone.
The Zalost system had originally joined the Galactic Republic through the Trade Federation. Before the war had broken out, Senator Lott Dod had represented the Zalost system, as well as the Trade Federation's other members, in the Galactic Senate. But the Zalost system had formally seceded at the start of the war, and Zok Zuuk had been elected to represent the Zalost system in the Separatist Senate since Lott Dod was still technically a member of the Galactic Republic. If anything, the change had been beneficial, as the Zalost system had gained a senator of their very own, rather than one that represented a large swath of territories. It also helped to have the senator being born and raised in the system.
It was night on the side of the planet where the battle droid army was landing. Republic troops made no move to attack the newly arrived droid army. In fact, they seemed to be missing. There was plenty of forest and foliage in the area for the clone troops to hide.
Senior Commander EEK-176 changed the droid army's dynamic. They were now slower to deploy ground troops and more cautious, using aircraft to scout ahead. The droid army knew where it was going, the mines. But they still didn't know where the GAR was.
The CCC informed OOM-9 and EEK-176 that an E-STAP bomber squadron had discovered the main Republic military base. Unfortunately, the bombers had been driven off by strong anti-air defenses. For once the Republic had been clever, they put their base close enough to easily send reinforcements to the mining facility, but not close enough where the droid army could be considered to be attacking a single entity.
"Shall we strike at the base first?" EEK-176 transmitted the question to OOM-9, who was still up with the 8th Fleet in orbit around the planet.
"Negative. Attack the mine first. We must prevent the Republic from getting any of the stygium crystals offworld."
"Roger roger."
The Republic ground forces were not shy about advertising their location when it came to defending the entrances to the mining complex. The three forward Separatist strike teams had landed at their assigned locations and were eliminating enemy ground forces.
Under the cover of night, dwarf spider droids methodically assassinated clone troopers rushing to man their EWHB-12 repeaters. The glowing red eyes of the spider droids made them appear as monsters in the dead of night.
AT-RTs' floodlights illuminated the otherwise dark battlefield. The recon walkers were challenged by armored scout tanks. Katen drove an AAT, bringing up the rear of the initial strike team. Still recovering from being shot on Destrillion, she had insisted that she fight after being left out of the excitement on Dubrillion. Out of a compromise with OOM-9, Katen was allowed to participate as long as she stayed within the confines of an armored vehicle. The destructive capabilities of a tank sated Ashley's thirst for violence. Katen's tank gunner blasted an AT-RT to smithereens.
The dwarf spider droids had effortlessly destroyed the repeaters and then turned to help the armored scout tanks finish off the rest of the AT-RTs. The skirmish would have been a flawless Separatist victory had the clone infantry not been able to retreat into the mines.
Once the battle went quiet Katen sent the signal for SSA-719 to lead his troops down toward the mining tunnels below. EEK-176 stayed and commanded the larger vehicles in case an attack came from the distant Republic military base.
SSA-719 activated the floodlight perched atop his head and his B1 droid troops did the same. The battle droids' optical sensors were so cheap they didn't even have a night vision mode, forcing the droids to rely on the large flashlights. Before they went underground SSA-719 noticed a figure run inside a parked mining vehicle. SSA-719 went over and knocked on the door of the treaded vehicle. Other battle droids took up positions around the vehicle.
"I don't think what you're looking for is here," a miner calmly responded from inside the vehicle.
"Open up and submit to inspect or face the consequences." SSA-719 was about to test the RW-B power war-hammer.
"All right, I don't want any trouble." The miner vacated the vehicle. The security droid would have to wait to test the power hammer.
"Why have you not evacuated?" SSA-719 asked as two B1 battle droids checked the miner for weapons. They couldn't be too careful; the human could be a Republic agent in disguise.
"The clone troopers won't let us leave. They need us to dig up the crystals for them," the bearded man answered. "We would have left, but we had no choice. We're just miners, we can't fight."
Without warning, a blue blaster bolt cooked the ground nearby. A clone scout walker was trampled out from where it was hiding in a large group of bushes. SSA-719 and his battle droids fled the immediate vicinity of the mining vehicle and then the captain ordered the annoying Republic walker destroyed. Katen's AAT complied with the request and obliterated the walker, resulting in an intense fireball that lit up the darkness of the night. With the clone scout walker destroyed, SSA-719's battalion orderly marched towards the entrance to the underground labyrinth. The miner had been forgotten. SSA-719 updated the situation to EEK-176. "The miners are operating under the supervision of the Republic. We must make sure to check our targets in battle." The battle droids then finally began their march into the main entrance of the mine.
KJZ-8267's armored scout tank group reached their destination, a small hidden entrance to the mining tunnels below. Only four clone troopers guarded the entrance and were quickly killed by the scout tanks.
"Their officers are fools if they think four clone troopers can accomplish anything," KJZ-8267 dismounted from his scout tank. The accompanying PACs deployed their B1 battle droids and KJZ-8267 led the horde into the tunnels. Countless floodlights illumined the tunnel ahead, revealing no further Republic resistance for the time being.
Z23-Y75 and 3B3-888's strike force attacked the last, but not so secret entrance to the mines. Mortars from thermal detonator battle droids felled the few clone personal walkers that were guarding the area.
"C'mon, show some enthusiasm in your work," 3B3-888 hovered above the droid troops in a red STAP. "Let them know you enjoy slaughtering them," the B1 raised a vindictive fist in the air, yet was able to maintain the STAP's balance perfectly.
Two clones ran for a pair of parked 74-Z speeder bikes but were shot by super battle droids before they could even start up the bikes.
Z23-Y75 was at the top of an AAT, showering explosive death at the clone troopers below with an E-8 heavy projectile launcher. He fired the weapon just behind a group of clones, the blast knocking them all forward. They white-armored soldiers were then shot by battle droids as they tried to get back up.
3B3-888 dismounted his STAP and slapped his floodlight onto his metal skull. The B1 sergeant led the troops down toward the third entrance to the mines while Commander Z23-Y75 and the some of the others stayed guard on the surface.
A blue blaster bolt whizzed by 3B3-888's thin neck just as he was walking into the mine. One of the advantages of being an old B1 battle droid was that they were incredibly difficult targets to hit due to their skinny bodies. The battle droid's floodlight shown bright on the white armor of a clone trooper. 3B3-888 did not miss his shot.
The three separate entrances all led to the same place, an underground administration and processing center that the minerals passed through before being shipped topside.
The three separate droids teams attacked from different entrances almost simultaneously. The clone troopers were severely outnumbered and didn't make use of their miner hostages.
"Forward! Keep them bottled up in the tunnels!" a clone commander roared.
The clones failed miserably in stopping the Separatist advance. The B1s were fast enough to get through the entrances and find cover. The dwarf spider droids that came up from behind the B1s couldn't be stopped at all.
KJZ-8267 vaulted over a cargo crate and landed next to SSA-719.
"There is a 92.8 percent probability that these crates are filled with stygium crystals," the pilot droid stated before opening up with his E-5 blaster rifle.
"The Republic may have not even gotten any of the crystals offworld yet."
"Man down!" a clone tried to pull his injured comrade to safety. SSA-719 saw his chance to attack. The security droid dashed from out of cover and sprinted towards the clone. The clone let go of his incapacitated teammate and tried to bring his blaster to bear on the battle droid. SSA-719 swung the hammer downward, hitting the clone in the arms. The clone's forearms bent backwards at the elbows. Bloody bones stuck out from the white armor. The clone cried out in pain while SSA-719 swung the hammer again, this time from the left, sending the clone trooper flying into a cluster of his white-armored associates.
The injured clone tried to move, to grab a fallen DC-15S blaster despite the fact that he no longer had the use of his hands. SSA-719 went over and brought the hammer down right on his head. There was nothing left but a red smear and a few bone and armor fragments when SSA-719 pulled the war-hammer away.
"That is that?"
"A hammer?" The clone troopers were dumbfounded as to the nature of the weapon SSA-719 was carrying. The clones had never seen a battle droid use such a weapon before.
With the clones' momentarily enamored with the war-hammer, 3B3-888 shot them full of holes with his E-5 blaster rifle. A separate squad of clones tried to kill the B1 sergeant, but 3B3-888 was able to toss a V-1 thermal detonator their way. The blast killed most of the clones and 3B3-888 shot the ones who tried to get back up.
Looking out of place in his crisp officer's uniform, Commander Zako confidently stroke out onto the underground battlefield. Flanked by the super battle droids 8EX and 5TE, the human seemed unconcerned about his own safety as blue and red blaster bolts continued to fly through the stale air.
A clone trooper managed to disable a group of B1s and B2s with an EMP grenade. More droids simply marched up to replace those that had been disabled.
The dwarf spider droid DSD-08 charged up his cannon for a powerful blast, and blew the clone commander to bloody smithereens.
KJZ-8267 and a B1 tried leaving cover, but the B1 battle droid was immediately shot, and the pilot droid sank back down behind some cargo crates.
"Where's the commander?" a clone was heard shouting.
"They've got too many spiders!"
"Fall back! Fall back!"
DSD-08 shot the clone captain trying to control the retreat.
"I see you have a knack for killing officers tonight," SSA-719 hefted the hammer over his shoulder. DSD-08 beeped in agreement.
"I love shooting, I love killing things," 3B3-888 stated in a mock musical tone, as if starting to sing a song.
"Squad leaders, keep moving to the lower levels. I want these mines secured as quickly as possible. No clone survivors," Commander Zako ordered. The human did an about-face to address the OX9 worker droid waiting patiently behind him. "Tell the workers to begin collecting the fallen battle droids first. We still need to verify the contents of the cargo crates." The OX9 warbled an acknowledgement of Zako's orders.
The miners were escorted to Zako by a few super battle droids. "Can we go home now?" one of them pleaded.
Below the processing level were several different tunnel paths and the droid troops split up their forces again. They divided their firepower for the sake of speed, intent on retaking the mines as quickly as possible.
SSA-719 and his squad immediately took off down one of the tunnels leading to the lower levels. The security droid captain found the hammer to be quite interesting and wanting to try it out on more clones as soon as possible.
Further use of the hammer was proving to be troublesome, as the clones kept running away further into the depths of the mine. The battle droids in SSA-719's squad equipped with blasters at least had a chance of hitting the retreating Republic troopers.
SSA-719 was starting to get frustrated though he didn't show it. Finally, a foolish clone stopped to fire on SSA-719 from a distance, the security battle droid threw the hammer. SSA-719 was able to put a spin on it, and the hammer cut through the air and caught the clone in the torso. SSA-719 retrieved the hammer and checked to see if the blow had killed the clone trooper. SSA-719 was no medical droid but he knew when an enemy was dead, and this clone certainly was. The B1s stopped and watched their captain.
"I didn't even throw it that hard. Their armor is as flimsy as their internal organs," SSA-719 twirled the hammer about.
DSD-08 and 3B3-888 marched through their own tunnel. DSD-08 went first, with 3B3-888 right behind. The spider droid was able to absorb anything the clones could hit him with and gave more than he got. Dwarf spider droids were also known as burrowing spider droids, for before the clone wars; they were often used by the Commerce Guild to infiltrate underground mines to track down mining clients that didn't pay their dues.
DSD-08 set a slow pace, giving the clones plenty of time to prepare. However, the cloned soldiers did not make good use of the extra time given to them and lacked any creativity in dealing with their opponents. The clone troopers were all slaughtered when the dwarf spider droid reached them.
KJZ-8267 and GD-79 had taken a third tunnel. KJZ-8267 and the other battle droids in his squad were having a tough time keeping at GD-79's pace. The grapple battle droid stormed through the tunnel. These were ideal conditions in which the large droid fought. The path ahead of them was increasingly narrow and cramped. The clones that opposed them had no cover or space to get out of the grapple droid's way. The clones couldn't even retreat; GD-79 was faster than they were.
KJZ-8267 was only able to hit a few fleeing clones before GD-79 was able to grab hold of them and crush their bodies to a bloody pulp.
GD-79's murderous rampage was only momentarily halted when he rounded a turn and was jumped by three clones at once. The Republic soldiers tried to bring the droid to the ground with their combined weight but GD-79 barely expended any effort at all throwing them all off. The grapple droid then grabbed two of them with his powerful hands and smashed their heads together.
The third had been knocked back toward KJZ-8267. The pilot droid knocked the clone back away but the white-armored trooper was able to catch his fall and came back at the pilot droid, confident he stood a better chance against the pilot droid than against the large grapple droid. KJZ-8267 proved the clone wrong with a punishing uppercut, before delivering a finishing blow to the neck once the clone was down.
Commander Zako stayed on the higher level. The human officer was tasked with overseeing the resurrection of the mining operation. OOM-9 wanted the crystals loaded up to the 8th Fleet as soon as possible.
Once the crates containing the crystals were inspected, they were carried by OX9 worker droids to the surface, where they were then loaded onto Class Type B escort shuttles and shipped up to the Scrapyard and Magna Musai.
The mission was not running as smoothly as the Separatists first thought. From one of the lower tunnels a squad of clone troopers made their way through to the processing level. The worker droids scattered as the clones fought with the battle droid guards.
Commander Zako had found the map of the mine and uploaded it to the control computer, which then sent the information to the battle droids. The new sounds of battle prompted Zako to look up from the terminal he was at. He did not like what he saw. The clone troopers were actually winning. "8EX, 5TE. Deal with those clones."
"Yes sir," 8EX responded.
The two B2s slowly marched into the firefight, not bothering to take cover. Their wrist blasters caught two clones, but the others changed positions or took cover behind the various crates laying about the area.
5TE fired a wrist rocket. A clone responded with a thermal detonator that burst open a crate and spilled its crystal contents.
"Watch it you idiots!" Zako looked up from the terminal at the fighting clones and droids. If anyone heard the commander over the sounds of the battle, no one had shown any signs of acknowledgement. Red and blue blaster bolts continued to fly past each other. 8EX and 5TE kept the droid defenders on a steady march that closed the gap with the clone troopers. There was finally a steady rhythm of clone death cries.
An OX9 worker droid walked up to the commander and beeped at him. The worker droids would not resume their task until the fight had concluded. "Alright, if you want something done right," he unhooked his E-5 blaster rifle, "you have to do it yourself."
As soon as Commander Zako was about to join the fight the clones had finally been wiped out. "Of course," the officer grumbled as he lowered his firearm.
An unarmed clone trooper ran from a lower tunnel and ended up right in front of Commander Zako. The clone had no gun, but threw an EMP grenade at the Separatist officer. The device went off, giving Zako a mild shock.
"Do I look like a droid to you?" Zako asked before he shot the clone in the chest with his E-5 blaster rifle. "Idiot."
"What was that guy's story?" 5TE asked. A solitary clone equipped with nothing more than an EMP grenade stumbling straight into a nest of Separatists was certainly an odd spectacle, though 5TE was unlikely to ever get an answer to his question.
The CCC had updated OOM-9 that the local military stationed on Krona was engaged with a large force of clone troopers and needed assistance. "Set new coordinates, we must assist them. EEK-176, you may begin your attack on the Republic base."
"Roger roger," EEK-176 had also been updated by the CCC as to why OOM-9's forces were deviating from the present course. Commander EEK-176 agreed that the locals shouldn't be left to their doom, not if OOM-9 could help prevent it. OOM-9 wanted more troops stationed at the mine, but Commander Zako assured the general that they were doing fine. And killing the clones around the planet now would prevent them from trying to get to the mine back later.
The three Republic Dreadnaughts that the 8th Fleet had chased away had finally returned, this time accompanied by a Venator star destroyer, two Acclamator assault ships, and four Arquitens-class light cruisers that had been on the other side of the planet.
"Ooooo, they want to fight for real this time," Sledge crossed one leg over the other as she sat in the Kuzack's command chair.
Commander OOM-8 had taken an advanced E-STAP droid starbomber and led the starfighter horde personally. "Captain Sledge, I trust you can handle overseeing the operation?"
"Of course, OOM-8. Have fun with your starfighter battle."
"I will," OOM-8 and his combination of Vulture droids and Scarabs faced down the opposing horde of V-19 Torrents and gunship fighters that were led by a single Delta-7 interceptor.
The two starfighter groups smashed into each other, leading to a mad scramble to try and avoid colliding with one another. A few seconds after the starfighters had abandoned their formations the deadly capital ships started to attack one another. The two fleets were on a collision course with each other like their fighters were before them.
Once again at the last moment, the two fleets started to break up to avoid ramming into one another. The quad lasers on the outer rings of the Lucrehulk ships were in an especially good position for hitting the enemy ships as they went past.
All the while the starfighters chased each other through the hailstorm of turbolaser fire. OOM-8 was able to shoot down two gunship fighters and one V-19 Torrent before he was able to pick out the Delta-7 interceptor and lock on. The command droid had assumed that a Jedi was a craft's controls. His assumption proved to be correct as the Delta-7 was able to expertly maneuver through OOM-8's laser fire while also evading attack from a Scarab coming in from another angle.
The Republic's lone Venator star destroyer had been cornered by the Scrapyard and Magna Musai. The three ships were in a race to see whose turbolasers would strip the other of their shields first. The 8th Fleet's ships won.
The Delta-7 interceptor took off for the Venator star destroyer. OOM-8 followed, not sure what the Jedi pilot was up to. The Jedi interceptor came up from behind the cruiser's massive engines and flew in-between the two twin bridges, OOM-8 kept his bomber close, releasing a Void-7 seismic charge as he flew his bomber through the bridges. A second later a blue shockwave erupted that sliced the two bridges clear off the Venator. The Venator spun out of control, smashing into one of the Acclamator assault ships, causing both to explode in a ball of fire. The Delta-7 flipped around and OOM-8 chased it back through the scattered fleets again. Whatever the Delta-7's original plan was, it seemed to have abandoned it.
The Republic fighters tried to shift the fight to the CIS capital ships. The Separatist Scarabs and Vultures followed. The plan had no real result as the weapons on the small fighters had no effects on the capital ships' powerful shields. Ultimately, the only thing the Republic had accomplished was allowing the CIS cruisers to better fire at the gunship fighters and V-19 Torrents with their anti-starfighter cannons.
Melissa Sledge had picked out a Republic Dreadnaught for infiltration and sent the 8th Fleet's Droch boarding ships and Sheathipede shuttles against it. That is where the Delta-7 led OOM-8.
The Jedi starfighter landed in the Dreadnaught's hangar bay, and OOM-8 followed it in. Marine battle droids from a Sheathipede shuttle were already fighting the ship's clone security. The command droid KLO-657 was personally leading the Confederate attack.
As if the Delta-7 were a spring-loaded trap, the Jedi catapulted out of the parked crafted the moment the pilot's hatch opened up. The Jedi hit the deck at a roll, slicing down a pair of marine droids from behind. KLO-657 turned to face the newcomer, a female Balosar with a blue lightsaber.
OOM-8 exited from his bomber, SE-14 pistol at the ready. The droid commander also had a set of four thermal detonators on him.
KLO-657 introduced the Balosar to the business end of his E-5 flamethrower. The flames lashed at the Jedi, eager to consume a new victim. The Balosar Jedi was able to flip out of the way and avoid becoming incinerated, though her outer cloak had caught fire. She discarded her flaming cloak and threw her lightsaber towards the command droid. KLO-657 hit the deck, the blue blade passing over him.
With the Jedi temporarily unarmed, OOM-8 fired several rounds of searing red death towards her. Somehow, the Jedi saw the sneak attack coming and did her best to avoid the blasts.
Just as her lightsaber had returned to her grip, OOM-8 managed to score a hit on the Jedi's wrist. She dropped her lightsaber out of pain and surprise.
KLO-657 was back on his feet and came charging in with his E-5 flamethrower again. The Jedi's reaction was slower this time, and KLO-657 was able to catch her in a full blast this time. Horrid screams of pain and anguish erupted in the hangar as the Jedi stumbled around and collapsed, reduced to a pile of burning skin and rags.
There were still the clones to deal with. OOM-8 tossed a thermal detonator, catching a pair of clones rushing towards him. "Pick up the pace. It'll take a full cycle to take the ship at the rate we're going. We're not even past the hangar yet."
It was not difficult to take the ship. The Droch boarding ships had deposited super battle droids and BX droid commandos everywhere. Dreadnaughts were old, and thus the CIS had access to the schematics of the cruiser. The battle droids knew precisely where to go in order to cripple and take over the capital ship.
There was an unpleasant development on the surface above the mining complex. "Commander, enemy convoy approaching from the east," a B2 informed Z23-Y75.
"The base is to the northwest. They spent this entire time going around for a sneak attack? Move all units to intercept. We cannot allow them to get near the mines." The dwarf spider droids and crab droids began their slow march towards the enemy, the other battle droid infantry following their lead.
A pair of TX-130 Saber-class fighter tanks were the first enemies encountered. The two tanks had the annoying habit of weaving back and forth, dodging blaster fire from the spider and crab droids.
One of the TX-130 tanks exploded from out of nowhere. A moment later, the second tank fired not at the battle droids but at Katen's AAT that had approached from the side.
With the fighter tank no longer paying attention to the spider droids, they were able to help the armored assault tank finish off the IFT-X with little problem.
But a bigger challenge came plodding ahead. An AT-TE flanked by two AT-OTs. Several squads of clone infantry started to spill from the trio of armored walkers. Katen had to pull her tank back, as it was a large and easy target for the AT-TE.
B1 battle droids, B2 super battle droids, crab droids, and dwarf spider droids engaged the clone troopers as thermal detonator battle droids bombarded the walkers.
Z23-Y75 fired an E-8 heavy projectile launcher at the clone troopers. He couldn't tell through the explosion how many clones he had killed, or if any had been killed at all. The command droid did attract the attention of a clone wielding a Z-6 rotary cannon. Z23-Y75 tried to get out of the way, but was still hit in the torso five times. The battle droid slumped against a nearby dwarf spider droid, who blasted the aggressive clone.
A B1 went over to assist his commander. "Sir, all you all right?"
"I'll be fine. Focus on those clones."
"Roger roger."
Z23-Y75 lowered his head and sat down on the ground, the spider droid he was leaning against had marched forward without him. Z23-Y75 felt a hand grab for him. The command battle droid was momentarily confused, he knew the battle droids wouldn't disobey his order to push forward, and there was no way it could be a clone trooper. Z23-Y75 looked up to see Ashley Katen. "You're supposed to stay in the tank."
"Sorry about that, but it looks like you could use some help," Katen got him to his feet and put his arm around her shoulder. "I seem to recall you saving my ass before," Katen referenced a battle during their time on Abridon. "I'm not going to abandon you. We need to get you some repairs, huh? I hope I look this good after being shot in the chest multiple times."
Commander EEK-176's attack on the Republic base was going well. But that was to be expected, as the senior commander did have most of the heavy vehicles. Bio cannons pounded the base mercilessly from afar while homing spider droids and tri-droids attacked up close. AMLs kept the base's LAAT/i gunships from dealing any serious damage to the droid army.
EEK-176 was riding on a NR-N99 tank droid that plowed through a gap in the base's wall that had been blown apart by the Separatist artillery. Platoon attack craft and more tank droids followed in after EEK-176.
The interior of the base of devoid of any heavy armor, as all Republic walkers had been sent through the gates to engage the Separatist spider walkers. That left only clone troopers and a few hastily deployed EWHB-12 repeaters to counter EEK-176 and his battle droid infantry.
The Republic was no match. Commander EEK-176 wielded the deadly combination of two ZGD gatling guns and the ZPR gatling gun. Even though it was night, the base was well lit, and EEK-176 could see his targets perfectly. Once again, EEK-176 was the grim reaper of the battlefield, clones dying by the dozens against his rapid-firing guns.
OOM-9 drove a beige ground armored tank alongside his forces. Their primary problem was the LAAT gunships that harassed them from the air. The few AMLs OOM-9's army had offered some protection, but the Republic gunships targeted them first, trying to get rid of the droids' anti-air defenses.
The A5-RX battle tanks on the ground were much easy for the AATs and GATs to handle. It wasn't until they destroyed the battle tanks that they found why the local troops were having so much trouble.
There were hundreds of clone troopers. They had rallied around an A-6 juggernaut. Human and battle droid bodies were strung about everywhere. The surviving human soldiers were being pushed into hiding among wreckage of AATs and HAGs.
"We need to destroy that large tank." OOM-9 saw how the clones kept close to the juggernaut, creating an impenetrable blob doom that pushed back at the Confederate forces wherever it went.
"Bring up the hailfire droids." As OOM-9 issued the new order a LAAT gunship hit his GAT, sending it twisting into a wipeout. After three spins, the armored tank hit the ground and stayed there. Parts of the GAT were missing, and OOM-9 simply walked out of the tank, not even needing to use the entry/exit hatch.
OOM-9 watched from afar as several groups of hailfire droids made suicide runs against the juggernaut and ultimately destroyed it. The clone infantry would still be a problem though. Armed with an E-6 blaster rifle, OOM-9 ran with his droid infantry towards the clones.
Seeing the battle turn so abruptly in their favor, the newly emboldened CIS soldiers also ran out to meet the clones headfirst.
TH-1066 pulled his custom painted AST alongside a human CIS officer he found hanging back from the big battle. The tactical droid had assumed the man to be in charge of the local troops. "What is the situation?"
"The clone army has seized our orbital cannon. We scrapped the primary power source and computers but they still continue to defend the cannon viciously."
TH-1066 relayed the information to OOM-9 through the network. "The Republic is holding the locals' anti-orbital cannon. I calculate the Republic is trying to resurrect the anti-orbital to use against the 8th Fleet."
"Take it back if you can, Commander. If you can't capture it in a timely manner, then destroy it. We can't have that cannon shooting at the fleet."
"Understood, General." TH-1066 started up his armored scout tank again and led a pack of STAPs and PACs toward the cannon.
A few personal walkers and clone troopers guarded the cannon. The clone's real protection of the cannon had been the distraction provided by the A-6 juggernaut, but now that it was gone, a serious assault by CIS forces were not going to be repelled.
The GAR defenders were cleared away and the PACs were deploying their battle droids when TH-1066 noticed a MUT coming up, with the officer he had spoken to approaching by way of a gray and blue flitknot speeder.
"We lost the cannon, we'll help take it back," the officer told the tactical droid.
"Of course," TH-1066 dismounted from his repulsor tank.
The majority of the local troops that exited from the MUT were CIS engineers. The typical human CIS engineer wore a dull gray uniform with black work gloves, boots, and utility belt. But the most noticeable feature of engineers was that they wore a black cap with a white CIS emblem embroidered on the front. The CIS engineers were armed with E-5 shotguns, RD-4 radiation launchers, SE-14 blaster pistols, or commando SE-14 pistols. They would compliment the B1 battle droids nicely in close quarters combat that was about to ensue.
The B1 battle droids entered the interior of the cannon first. There was an explosion and several of the front most droids had been blasted to smithereens. The clones had trapped the cannon's front doors with detpacks.
The next droids went through just fine and started attacking the clone defenders. TH-1066 came in behind several other squads, in case the clones had set more traps. Yet that didn't seem to be the case, and soon the tactical droid had fun blasting Republic soldiers with his bulldog RLR.
Once the clones had all been eliminated, the CIS engineers and battle droids took to attacking the panicking Kaminoan worker droids that zigzagged about.
"Sir," an engineer approached TH-1066. "Their worker droids were fixing the power core and trying to reboot the computer systems. They were nearly finished."
"Excellent," TH-1066 announced, his enthusiasm surprising the human. "Complete their repairs. Then we will fire on the Republic fleet in orbit."
"Yes sir," the engineer smiled, now understanding the tactical droid's plan.
"We're pinned down, we need reinforcements!" KJZ-8267 tried contacting his allies. The clones had drawn KJZ-8267 and GD-79's group into a large cavern where they were being fired upon from all sides. Fortunately, the carven was the location of a mining camp, and there were several places they could take cover. But they could not hold out indefinitely. The clones had even blocked the tunnel from where the droids had come from.
KJZ-8267 chucked a V-1 thermal detonator, blowing a clone sergeant into several pieces. Another clone picked up his dead comrade's DC-15S blaster and was now dual wielding two.
Even GD-79 had to take cover. For as durable as the grapple droid was, he could not take sustained fire from all the clone troopers at once. And all the clones fired on him whenever he showed himself. The clones were not stupid; they knew that if they gave the grapple droid any leniency, that they would be crushed if he could ever close in on them. Thus they kept GD-79 ducking for cover, but they had enough troops that they could suppress the other droids as well.
The fortunes of KJZ-8267's squad changed as clones from one of the entrances started dropping. They were being shot from behind. By the time the clone's tried to react it was too late, and one entrance opened up. Through it marched DSD-08, 3B3-888 and another squad of battle droids.
One of the clones' firing angles had been silenced and replaced with battle droids. Some of the clones had no choice but to turn their attention to the newcomers, taking pressure off of KJZ-8267's group.
That was when GD-79 made his move. He charged up and through a cluster of four clones, knocking them over. Rather than stop to kill them he ran for the next group, leaving his B1 allies to shoot the clones he left in his wake.
The battle had reversed. Now it was the clones scrambling for cover as the droid's outnumbered them. DSD-08 was a significant asset as his cannon was strong enough to blast away the machinery the clones tried to hide behind.
Not once did the clones try to run as they had so many times before during the operation. KJZ-8267 shot the last clone, the one dual wielding DC-15S blasters. "They appear desperate. We must be close to retaking the mines completely," the pilot droid theorized.
DSD-08 beeped in agreement.
"Roger roger," 3B3-888 added.
The two squads combined and pressed onward.
SSA-719's hammer sent another clone spiraling toward the ground, crumpled and broken. SSA-719 guessed that his squad had reached the bottom of the mine as they had reached the location of the mining laser, which was used to create new tunnels. The area was new enough that it wasn't on the schematics of the mine that was uploaded to the droids via the CCC.
Captain SSA-719's group had recently been following the path of a large service elevator. The elevator had been locked and they couldn't call it up to them earlier, so they slowly made their way down through the tunnel system. Now it was clear that the clones held control of the elevator and kept it locked down to prevent the droids from using it to traverse the mines more quickly.
The elevator was large enough to hold the mining laser, which had been rolled off as the laser was positioned on top of two treaded tracks.
The battle droids cleared the clones from the elevator and advanced on the clones as they fell back to the mining laser.
A clone lieutenant, easily identified by his blue markings, had taken control of the mining laser as was steadily repositioning it. The other clones tried to keep the droids' attention off their brother as he went about his plan.
"Look out!" A battle droid cried. The lieutenant had been found out. The droids scattered to prevent several of them being hit at once. But the clone lieutenant was not aiming at the droids. He aimed at the structural supports and the power core in the nearby mining camp on the other side of the cavern.
SSA-719 knew what was coming, what was about to happen. The security droid ran as fast as he could toward the mining laser, right past the clone defenders. But he was too slow and the clone fired the powerful beam. SSA-719 reached the clone and smashed his head in with the hammer before shutting off the laser. But it was too late. The supports had been destroyed and the power core had been obliterated. The lights from the various machines went dark.
"Retreat! Back up to the surface!" SSA-719 yelled. He knew there would be a chain reaction that would lead to a complete collapse of the mines. There is always a chain reaction, SSA-719 thought.
The security battle droid had been correct. Within seconds of his order to retreat, the mines started to quake and shake. The security droid uploaded the new state of affairs to the rest of the battle droids in the mines.
"To the elevator!" SSA-719 shouted. The battle droids quickly defeated the remaining clones, who were also trying to make their way to the elevator. SSA-719 hoped that the now-destroyed power core on their current level was not the elevator's only energy source.
SSA-719 undid the elevator lock and pressed up. The elevator began to climb, the droids' thankful that their luck had not run out.
"Should we really be using the elevator while the mine is collapsing?" a B1 questioned his captain.
"Ideally, no. But it's our only chance to make it up in time. We have no choice." Over the network, SSA-719 suggested KJZ-8267 and 3B3-888's squads head towards the elevator.
The other droids took SSA-719's advice and the security droid stopped the elevator when they reached the others, then started it back up to the surface again once they were onboard.
The service elevator finally came to a halt on the top processing level. Commander Zako was still overseeing the transfer of the supply of stygium crystals. "Commander, we need to evacuate," SSA-719 called out to the human.
"Right," Zako grinded his teeth. He did not want to abort the operation and lose the crystals, but he had no choice. "Everyone! Drop what you're doing and run for the surface! Now!" The battle droids and worker droids started running for the exit. SSA-719 and Zako came up last to make sure everyone got out.
They were cutting it close. The ground jarred at their feet as they ran for their lives. The dwarf spider droids were going at top speed in order not to slow the rest down. But they all managed to make it back up to the surface before the mines collapsed. On the surface, the only sign that anything had happened to the mine at all was the ground had depressed slightly. Other than that, there was nothing to indicate the horrible loss.
"Sir, the cannon is operation and ready to fire at your command," an engineer enthusiastically informed TH-1066.
"Target enemy cruisers in orbit and fire," TH-1066 gave the go-ahead.
A large, powerful, purple beam shot up into space.
The purple laser ended up striking the Dreadnaught that KLO-657 and OOM-8 had captured.
"What was that?" a droid marine asked as the Dreadnaught violent rocked to the side.
"Good question," OOM-8 said. The command droid turned to the CCCs for an answer. After a few seconds of sorting out what had happened the 8th Fleet's control computers figured out what was going on. The Separatists groundside had retaken and repaired the anti-orbital cannon and had begun firing on the Republic fleet.
The control computers sent down a cease-fire order to TH-1066. "Cease fire! Cease fire!" TH-1066 bellowed at the engineers at their computer stations. The CIS engineers were surprised and confused but followed their orders.
It was too late. The shot had severely damaged the Dreadnaught. There were multiple hull breaches. The engines and life support had gone offline. Whatever Republic personnel the droid invaders missed would die. All the droids had to do was head back towards their shuttles and be on their way. OOM-8 and KLO-657 had already taken what information they could salvage from the computers on the bridge, so there was no real reason they needed to stay on the ship.
The cannon would not get another shot at the Republic fleet, as the 8th Fleet was just finishing up the last Arquitens light cruiser and the cannon wasn't accurate enough to hit the few V-19 Torrent fighters that still buzzed around. The Vulture droids and Scarab starfighters would have no trouble finishing up that little problem.
After the battle of Krona had been completed, aid from the Zalost system started pouring in to help the local population recover from the invasion.
OOM-9 and his subordinates gathered in a conference room aboard the Scrapyard.
"I failed," SSA-719 was blunt. "I didn't stop the clones from activating the mining laser."
"No," Zako put a hand on the security droid's shoulder. "I was the ranking officer in charge at the mines. The failure is mine."
"What about me? I was there too," Katen added.
"You were on the surface, and you and Z23-Y75 were drawn away by that Republic attack," Zako told Katen as if she needed to be reminded.
"So? I'm at much at fault as any of you. If I hadn't gotten injured on Destrillion I could have been more help," Katen seemed to want to go down with the rest of them in their self-pity. "If anything, I'm more at fault because Z23-Y75 got hurt while I was with him."
There was the all too familiar sound of a Skakoan pressure suit. "What are you all whining about? Commander Z23-Y75 is good as new. And I received the report on the supply of crystals you were able to collect. It is more than enough for the ultimate project. Any other crystals we obtain once the mine is rebuilt will just be a bonus," Dr. Quartz started to laugh manically as everyone else looked on.
"The project is nearing completion then?" OOM-9 cut into the Skakoan's laughter.
"Yes. It will be finished very shortly."
"Good, then this war will be finished shortly."
"I hope it's not over too soon. I was just starting to have fun!" Katen beamed.
OOM-9 left the others to resurrect his conversation with Senator Zuuk.
"Victorious as always. General, you continue to make us all very proud," the Neimoidian's face contorted into an ugly smile.
"Not entirely. The clone army managed to collapse the mines. They will have to be rebuilt. We did manage to get some of the crystals loaded onto the 8th Fleet, and I will be taking all of them with me."
Zok Zuuk's revolting smile disappeared. "I see." The Neimoidian gave a short pause, as if unsure of what to say next. "I understand these things happen in a combat situation. We have the planet, we have the crystals. We just have to rebuild the mines. It is a simple task. The Republic has only delayed their inevitable doom."
"Indeed," OOM-9 agreed.
Author's Note: The miner's line, "I don't think what you're looking for is here," is a direct quote from the computer game Star Wars: Force Commander. On the Imperial campaign missions on the planet Ruul, there are neutral mining vehicles randomly roaming about the battlefield. If you click on the mining vehicle, the driver says the phrase, "I don't think what you're looking for is here."