OOM-9's Revenge

by ZakoBattledroid

After the Battle of Naboo, OOM-9 is reactivated and serves the Separatist Droid Army during the Clone Wars. Story contains many obscure canon characters and OCs. Rated M for battle droids who excel at combat, maladjusted human CIS officers and a Skakoan scientist that would be charged with war crimes if the Republic ever caught him.

39. Reflex Action

Chapter 39: Reflex Action

Major Ashley Katen slowly woke from her restful slumber. She was in her regular old bed in her private quarters… but something was different. She couldn't remember the last time she had such a good sleep. Then Katen realized that there was a warm body in bed with her. Katen turned to see a woman with unnaturally red hair. It was Veronica Vex. One of Katen's first thoughts was to grab the nearest blunt object and bash Vex in the face, but she ultimately decided against doing that.

Ashley Katen slowly sat up, trying not to disturb her. She carefully pulled away the bed covers. Vex wore nothing more than a pair a skimpy panties and a black undershirt that was very tight. Katen felt a modicum of pride seeing her bust size was noticeably larger than Vex's.

Vex's slender body was certainly attractive by most human standards, except for the horrendous scars everywhere. Several stitches were still embedded in her skin. She even had a pair of scars across her face. She hadn't had those the last time Katen had seen her. Whoever had sewn her up was an unethical butcher. Her skin was ghastly pale, as if she was sick.

Seeing a human who was more socially maladjusted than she was certainly gave Katen a new perspective. She had been screwing up in battle a lot lately (and she wasn't the only one either). She was wondering if she really belonged in the droid army anymore. Even if she wished to change her situation, she couldn't, it was all she knew. No one was going to swoop in and save her from her fate. Ashley Katen felt like all she could do was wait for the war to kill her.

She was still pissed though. Major Ashley Katen had become very accustomed to a certain routine and Vex had disrupted that routine. She did not like the idea that anyone could just waltz into her private quarters and get easy access to her. The droids should have been looking out for her. They should have had her back. Instead they had left her to the mercy of this social outcast.

"What are you doing in my bed?" Katen demanded.

Vex's eyes slowly cracked open. "Sleeping."

"I can see that. Why are you in my bed?"

"Because cuddling with SSA-719 on the recharge racks isn't nearly as comfortable as I thought."

"Indeed. So you decided to take my bed?"

"To be honest, I expected to find you and Zako sharing a bed. What the hell is wrong with you two anyway?"

"You think I'd fuck that jerkass?"

"That's no fun."

"I suppose it isn't. But you'll find sharing a bed with me is no fun either. I'm not into women." While it was true Katen had no interest in women, she also found most men to be stupid and annoying. Droids were so much easier to get along with, especially battle droids.

"Ever tried?"

"Bite me."

"Okay."

"Piss off!" Katen shoved Vex away as the other woman tried to nip at her neck.

"Awww, c'mon. You might like it."

Katen studied Vex's scarred body for a moment. A realization dawned upon her. Something was very wrong about this whole situation. Veronica Vex certainly seemed loose and easy, but this was a bit much. Katen thought Vex to be rather touchy-feely the last time they had met. Though the last time she was all friendly with SSA-719, not her.

"Why don't you go bother the enlisted troops? I'm sure you could find a few women better looking than I, and younger too. Or men, or droids. Or all of the above, I don't know what you like. Whatever it is you're interested in." Katen pulled herself out of bed.

"You're more fun."

"You don't know that."

"Oh, yes I do."

"You only hang around me because you cling to the hope that I'll accept you."

"And why is that?" Vex raised an eyebrow while her mouth curled into a crooked smile.

"You're a cyborg," Katen blandly stated. "An implant cyborg." Vex's stellar track record made perfect sense now. Vex was an iconic war hero to the people of the Confederacy. No normal human could have accomplished what the media reported.

"So, you finally figured it out. Took you long enough."

"I haven't know you for that long, Vex."

"What gave it away?"

"The scars of course. Your near in-human abilities. Somebody built you up, made you better. That's why you make the news with your acts of heroism against the clones and the Jedi."

"Yes, I do have a bit of an unfair advantage. But I'm still mostly human." Vex clasped her hands together near her crotch, her arms forming a V-shape that pressed her breasts together.

"You didn't have those scars on your face the last time I saw you."

"Those are new. Not all of these are from my cybernetic impacts, some are just regular war wounds."

"Right. Well, I have nothing against cyborgs, but I don't care for women. So you're out of luck."

"Give me a break! I just need some release from all this pent up frustration!"

"And what's got you frustrated?"

"Oh… I don't know… perhaps the fact that I'm a fucking freak that can't get laid!"

"Not my problem. Like I said, go try the enlisted troops."

"Not many people like cyborgs. Even in the fucking Confederacy."

"Blame Grievous for that. He does give you guys a bad reputation."

"Oh, I do."

Katen went about preparing for her shower. Vex was becoming tiresome very quickly and Katen opted to just ignore her. Veronica Vex didn't like being ignored.

Vex sprung from the bed and got in Katen's face. "What are you afraid of? Afraid I might do something you might enjoy?"

"Look," Katen hissed between grinding teeth, "I don't know why the fuck you're here but I've got work to do. So I'm going to take my shower and get ready to go. You follow me into the fresher and I'll shoot you."

"Fine," Vex huffed. The red-haired woman gave up and sat cross-legged on Katen's bed.

Katen was about to shut to door to her private fresher but stopped. "Hey…"

"What?" Vex snapped.

"You like men?"

"Yes."

"Then why the hell didn't you go bother Zako?"

"I hear he's a cyborg now. When I first learned you two weren't sharing a bed I figured he went full cyborg and lost his joystick."

Katen let out a tired laugh. "You don't know what kind of cyborg he is, do you?"

"No."

"After I finish up I'll show you." Katen couldn't help but grin. This was going to be fun.

Katen shut the door and switched the shower on. She undressed. Her body was free of scars. All injuries she had incurred through the war were mercifully minor and everything had always healed perfectly. Others she could think of had not been so lucky.

Ashley Katen was a beautiful woman, and that was not just her own projected self-confidence. She was beautiful by human standards. Ample breasts, toned stomach, her short hair wasn't always considered attractive by men but there were plenty who liked the look. Yet despite all of that none of the human troops in OOM-9's military forces ever tried to hit on her. She found it somewhat frustrating. She knew she had a reputation of being a hard ass and a bad ass. Taking on Jedi tended to inspire awe in the troops but it also made her somewhat unapproachable when it came to dating. And the fact that many thought she and Zako were secretly an item didn't help matters either. In all honesty Katen wasn't looking for a husband or a boyfriend, most people were stupid and she had a low tolerance for putting up with stupidity on a regular basis. Still, it would be nice to be desired… by someone other than Veronica Vex.

A sigh of frustration escaped her lips even though the downpour of hot water against her bare skin felt marvelous. Katen didn't like women… but she couldn't lie to herself that she liked waking up next to a warm body.

---

Katen showered quicker than normal, wanting to close the window of opportunity for Vex to barge in. Luckily she didn't. At least she still has some boundaries, Katen thought to herself.

When Katen finished Vex took her turn in the shower. While the cyborg was in the fresher, Ashley learned that Veronica had dumped all her clothing and equipment in her room. Apparently Vex thought she would be staying for a while.

When they were both all set to go they walked to mess hall. Separatist ships were known for being pristine and clean, and their mess halls were no different. The floor and walls were so spotless one might have thought the Confederates had scrubbed the room spotless and sealed it away so that no one could ever soil it with accidental food spills. Sledge and Zako were easy enough to spot; they were sitting alone at the officer's table. Despite how few people were in the mess hall at the moment, Sledge and Zako still insisted on segregating themselves from the few enlisted humans, Neimoidians, Geonosians, Koorivar, and Gossam in the large eating area. The mess hall was one of the few places on a Separatist ship where one wouldn't find droids (another place that always lacked droids was the fresher).

Katen had seen much of Zako lately. OOM-9 had kept the two of them separated since their worse than usual quarreling after the battle on Aargonar. They hadn't seen each other much lately and their anger towards each other had largely died down.

Katen and Vex got their food and sat down at the officer's table.

"Major Katen, Lieutenant Vex," Zako blandly acknowledged the two women before taking a gulp of blue milk.

Veronica Vex held her hand over her mouth, suddenly looking like she was trying to stop herself from puking. But it was not vomit she was trying to contain and she couldn't hold it in. She erupted into cantankerous laughter. "Bwhahaha!" Some of the soldiers at the other tables turned to look to see what was so funny. "When I heard you turned cyborg I pictured you as some heavily modified monstrosity capable of decimating entire clone companies on your own. You… you're… you… just have that eye. How lame can you get? Can you even do anything?"

"He can project holographic images with it," Katen sniggered. This was going as well as she could have hoped.

"It does more than that," Zako protested. "It's connected to my brain and I have an uplink to the SDN."

"So you're just a bio-linked cyborg? Pathetic. You should have gotten more work done."

"I didn't need any more work done." Zako was starting to get annoyed by Vex's continuous laughter. "What are you even doing here? You get transferred to us?"

"My unit is currently stationed on Ahlenn. My boss heard I got along with General OOM-9 so they sent me over to you guys for a bit."

"Oh. Your commanding officer trying to get a break from you, eh?"

"I can be a bit much to handle at times." Vex gave Zako a sultry look.

"I'm sure."

"Oh, and I'm a Captain now, not a Lieutenant."

"My apologies."

"Hey, Melissa."

"What, Ashley?"

"What are you doing here anyway? Shouldn't you be on the Karajor?"

"I was bored so I came over here to see you guys. You should come on over to the flagship more often."

"We just bounce around from ship to ship. It doesn't really matter where we go. But if you really want to kill the boredom you could always join us groundside."

"No thanks. I've noticed you guys keep almost dying lately. I want no part of that."

"Because space battles are so much safer." Zako rolled his cybernetic eye while his natural one didn't move.

"They are if you're sitting on the command bridge. So, what's with the face?" Sledge turned to conversation over to focus on Vex.

"What about it?"

"How'd you get the scars?"

"Not being a coward."

Sledge scrunched up her face in disgust. She didn't know why everyone was ganging up on her. And to think she had gone out of her way to interact with these people.

"The scars aren't the interesting part," Vex started to talk, "it's something else. Katen found out earlier."

"What is so interesting?" Zako asked.

"Just tell them," Katen huffed.

"I'm a cyborg."

"What? No way." Sledge wasn't buying it. A couple of scars didn't mean much and someone like Veronica Vex seemed like the kind of person to go full cyborg.

"I am. I'll prove it!"

"How?" Sledge asked.

"Uhhh…" Vex couldn't think of something on the spot. Most people were quick to accept that she was a cyborg given what the media had reported she had accomplished. Apparently that wasn't enough to convince the likes of Captain Sledge and Commander Zako.

"Arm-wrestle Zako. If you win, it proves your enhanced abilities," Katen offered.

"If she wins all it would prove is that Zako is a weakling," Sledge wasn't buying it.

"Hey. I'm not gonna lose to a scrawny little stick."

"You'd lose to a battle droid," Katen made a point to state that fact.

"Of course I would. They're stronger than me… than any human."

"And if she wins that only proves how droid-like she is." Katen let that sink in a moment.

"Fine." Zako offered his hand and Vex took it.

"On your mark, get set, go!" Sledge started them off.

Zako grunted as Vex didn't budge. She pulled down his hand to the table with ease.

"What?" Zako couldn't believe he lost so quickly.

"Ha ha! Loser!" Katen couldn't help but laugh at the poor man.

"See? I am a cyborg. An implant cyborg to be precise. Not some pathetic bio-linked loser."

"Fine, you're a cyborg. Who cares?" Zako fell into silence and focused on eating his food, his mood soured from being beaten so easily.

"I wonder why Dr. Quartz is so bloodthirsty?" Katen changed the subject.

"Why don't you ask him?" Vex offered.

The door to the mess hall slid open and a B2 super battle droid walked through. The droid usually wouldn't have warranted a second glance on a Separatist ship, but he was in the mess hall and a few of the soldiers turned to see what the super battle droid was up to.

The tall droid walked over to the officers' table.

"8EX!" Sledge beamed.

"It is good to see you, Captain Sledge. Commander Zako, Major Katen, you are required in the hangar bay."

"We know," Katen said, "we're not running late. You didn't have to come all the way here to tell us that."

"No. I came to see the Captain."

Sledge got up and went over to give the droid a hug. The B2 lifted her off the ground in a bone-crushing hug before setting her back down.

"I didn't realize I wasn't the only one into droids," Vex snickered.

"It's not like that and you know it."

"You really should join us on ground missions more often, Captain," 8EX said, "you are a random variable in combat that keeps battle interesting."

"That's just a polite way of saying you like rescuing me," Sledge said.

"You're putting words in my vocabulator."

"Maybe. And maybe you should come and over and guard the bridge of the Karajor more often."

"That would be boring. I prefer frontline combat."

"Of course you do." Sledge rolled her eyes. "What super battle droid doesn't?"

8EX could not comprehend Sledge's apprehension when it came to personal combat. She was extremely successful when she did engage the enemy personally and she certainly wasn't one to shy away from questionable tactics when she was commanding capital ships. But the B2 battle droid knew these were questions for another time. They had a mission to attend to.

Their meal had been more or less finished and the group went down to the transports parked in the hangar bay. Most of the troops had been loaded and only 5TE and a few scattered B1 battle droids waited to greet 8EX and the officers as they approached. Commander Zako left the rest of the group and went over to where KJZ-8267 and the starfighters were.

Katen, 5TE, 8EX, and Vex were assigned to ground teams and boarded their respective transports. Captain Vex boarded a Trade Federation dropship while Katen and the two super battle droids got aboard a XT Beetle transport. Katen turned to 8EX and 5TE once they were in their ship and away from Veronica Vex. "Why didn't someone warn me Vex was here?"

"We didn't think it mattered," 5TE answered.

"Did something happen?" 8EX asked.

"No. Nothing."

8EX was quite confused. "She's not telling us something," 8EX wirelessly communicated to 5TE in order to keep Katen out of the conversation. "Major Katen shouldn't require an advance warning of Vex's arrival."

"Let it go," 5TE silently answered the other B2 battle droid. "If the Major had something to say she would say it. You know her."

The starfighters left the hangar first. Commander Zako led Slicer Squadron: a group of brown-colored Stag Beetle fighters. Lieutenant KJZ-8267 was in charge of Claw Squadron: a cluster of blue and gray Stag Beetle fighters.

The Stag Beetle fighters were basically stripped-down versions of the Vulture droid fighters. They were an even older design than the Vultures but still serviceable. Most Stag Beetle fighters had been kept in reserve protecting worlds such as Eos or Zakkudos but the 8th Fleet had become much larger recently and the old fighters were sent to fill in some of the starfighter ranks. They had the same sensor eyes on a head just like the Vulture droids, but that's where the visual similarities ended. Instead of having four wings like the Vulture droids, the Stag Beetles had two wings jutting out in front of their head. The wings looked like a pair of jaws, hence the droid fighters being called Stag Beetle fighters. They only two laser cannons located on the inner side of each jaw wing.

Soon the transports followed the fighters out of the capital ships and towards the planet. The black XT Beetle transport was the first to be caressed by the cold, uncaring void of space. The Trade Federation dropship was next, followed by a pair of Neimoidian transports. It was not a clear shot; they would have to pass close by the remains of destroyed Venator star destroyers and Acclamator assault ships. They could go around and give the dead Republic cruisers a wide berth but there was simply no reason to waste time. The large Republic ships were all dead, the capital ships of the 8th Fleet had already seen to that.

"Keep your scanners running," KJZ-8267 instructed both squadrons. The pilot battle droid had chosen to drive a Mankvim-814 light interceptor for the mission. KJZ-8267 usually drove E-STAP starbombers, given his great flying skills. Even in a bomber he could match any clone pilot in a dogfight and could even challenge Jedi pilots. KJZ-8267 piloting an interceptor designed for shooting down other starfighters was just a little overkill.

"What's the point?" Zako came in over the comm. The human CIS officer was piloting a Scarab-class starfighter in the old Trade Federation colors. "There's nothing out here."

"Our whole purpose is to guard these transports. Do your job, Commander." KJZ-8267 didn't like having to tell Zako the obvious. The cyborg seemed to be losing his edge.

"You'd think since it's us OOM-8 would have allowed a few more squadrons to tag along, or at least sent some of the newer fighters," Katen complained via the XT Beetle transport's comm.

"Major, you're already being given preferential treatment considering the fact that I'm here."

"That makes me feel oh so much better, KJZ-8267."

"Glad to hear it."

"I'm picking up readings of enemy fighters." Zako sounded surprised.

"Look out. They're coming out of the wrecks." Swarms of gunship fighters and V-19 Torrent fighters vacated the dead Republic cruisers like flies from a corpse. KJZ-8267 angled his Techno Union interceptor towards the enemy and his squadron of Stag Beetles broke formation.

"What were they doing hiding in the wrecks?" Zako asked. "All they're doing is running out of air."

"They know they don't have the firepower to take on our capital ships. They were waiting for a convoy of transports to attack. Destroy them all. Keep them away from the dropships."

"Easy enough, they're only coming after us."

The Confederate transports kept on their projected course while the starfighters tried to shoot each other down. The Stag Beetles from both squadrons fought with unfettered aggression, shooting down their enemies with speed and precision. It was as if the droids had something to prove. They wanted to be deadly; they wanted to be valued. They did not want their model to go extinct. Such was the fear of many military droids. The fear that one day they would be considered obsolete and thrown away as scrap metal. The droid fighters had no fear of being thrown away by General OOM-9 and those that served him. OOM-9 was a droid and he would not treat other battle droids in such a way, all CIS droids knew this. Still, the Stag Beetles wanted as many kills and as few losses as possible so that their model looked good in overall combat statistics the SDN compiled. Hopefully the whole of the Confederacy would see their value and they wouldn't be regulated to OOM-9's protective bubble of understanding and brotherhood.

"I'm in trouble." The way the dogfight was currently going; it looked as if humans were the ones becoming obsolete.

"Hang on, Commander." KJZ-8267 turned his interceptor and fired an arc of red lasers at Zako's pursuer. The fragile gunship fighter exploded immediately.

"I think they chipped my paint job."

"Pay attention, Commander. These are just clone pilots. You should not be having this much trouble."

"It's not my fault. I have the slowest starfighter out here. That makes me a big fat target to those clone knuckleheads." Zako's Scarab was slower than the Stag Beetles and KJZ-8267's Techno Union interceptor but the pilot droid hardly considered that a valid excuse for his performance, especially considering Scarabs were vastly superior to the Republic's gunship fighters.

"I can't believe there are so many of them still alive. We really messed up." Commander Zako jerked his starfighter hard to port and vaporized a V-19 Torrent into metallic glitter.

"These clones aren't kidding around." Another gunship fighter tried to pick up the trail of the lone Scarab.

"The clones are getting smarter. They would have never pulled a trap like this at the start of the war." KJZ-8267 pulled up behind the fighter pursuing Zako and shot it to pieces.

"Nice shooting. You deserve a medal!"

"Yes. They should start minting the Save Commander Zako from Imminent Doom Award."

"Hey. I don't need saving that much."

"Yeah, you do. I've saved you twice already in this fight alone."

One of the Stag Beetles from Slicer Squadron purposefully ran right into a gunship fighter, shearing the Republic aircraft in half. The Stag Beetle fighters had strong armor, which lead to a habit of purposefully ramming into other fighters and slicing them into pieces with their 'jaws.' The Stag Beetles were uncommon enough that the average clone pilot did not expect them to do this.

Either the remaining clone pilots didn't see the successful dive-bomb or didn't know what to do about it, because three more Stag Beetles were able to get away with the same trick. There were fewer and fewer Republic ships fighting.

"Any left?" Major Katen asked.

"All enemies have been eliminated." KJZ-8267 and his squadron started to get back into formation. They flew in clusters of three.

"Hopefully, we'll be all clear to the drop zone." None of the transports had even so much as a scratch on them. In fact, the only thing that had a scratch on it was Zako's poor Scarab starfighter.

"I doubt it." The clones were poor pilots (at least in comparison to droids) but KJZ-8267 knew they were persistent. The droid pilot would find it surprising if they didn't run into more resistance later on.

---

When the dropships and two fighter squadrons dropped into the planet's atmosphere it became clear that there would be more fighting before they reached their destination.

"Looks like we have two squadrons of gunship fighters coming our way." KJZ-8267 had already rolled his fighter out of formation and was firing on the fast-approaching ships.

"We're not that great a threat. Why do they keep coming after us? Surely the Republic realizes there are greater threats than us at the moment."

"They weren't expecting us," KJZ-8267 said.

"What makes you say that?" Zako asked.

"I've spotted a LAAT cruiser. Based on its current flight path it looks like it's heading for Obsidian Base."

"Just great…" Zako's voice came in over heavy static. KJZ-8267 saw this as a great opportunity more than anything else. Out of sheer luck they had the chance to stop a dangerous Republic weapon before it could be deployed against their main military base. KJZ-8267 updated the network about the enemy cruiser's location. The base needed to be alerted in the event that KJZ-8267 and his fighters couldn't shoot the cruiser down in time.

The pilot droid turned his interceptor and shot down a pair of Republic starfighters before heading towards the large LAAT cruiser. Based off its appearance, it was clear the massive ship was closely related to the regular LAAT line of gunships. The LAAT cruiser was a massive ship, though it was armed with only a single weapon. The artillery cannon was the only weapon the cruiser had, but it was devastatingly powerful. The weapon took up so much energy to fire the ship couldn't support any other weapon systems.

"Don't see too many of those." Zako swung his fighter around out of the dogfight and was finally was to get a clear view of the hulking air cruiser.

"They were used in the greatest numbers by General Echuu Shen-Jon during the decimator campaign." KJZ-8267 wirelessly pulled up the file the CIS had on the ships from the Separatist Droid Network.

"I wonder why the Republic doesn't use them more often?"

"That is officially unknown. But I could venture an educated guess. Most likely they're too expensive to manufacture in great numbers." KJZ-8267 made a quick strafe against the cruiser but his laser cannons couldn't get past the ship's strong shield. "They are simply big, slow targets just waiting to be shot down."

"That would explain why they have two squadrons of fighters protecting it."

KJZ-8267 snapped back around and went back to the gunship fighters. Some of them had become bold enough to attack the CIS transports and the pilot droid couldn't have that.

There were medium-strength winds battering the hulls of the fighters. The atmospheric conditions provided no additional challenge for KJZ-8267, Zako or the Stag Beetle fighters. It wasn't as simple as zooming around in the vacuum of space but they could certainly take into account some wind. The Republic flyers were likewise unaffected by the atmospheric conditions.

Still, the Stag Beetles were able to get away with purposefully ramming into their opponents and the sky was nearly empty of the gunship fighters within moments. This left a lot of the CIS starfighters to swarm the hapless LAAT cruiser. The large ship eventually changed course to fire upon its attackers but the Stag Beetles were too fast and avoided the artillery cannon easily.

When it was clear that the large aircraft had lost its shields, one of the Stag Beetles had charged the air cruiser and clipped one of its engines with its sharp wing. Gray smoke billowed from the LAAT as it slowly lost altitude and eventually crashed onto the ground in a violent fireball.

"Resume projected course," KJZ-8267 ordered.

---

Obsidian Base was quiet. One could say too quiet. It had been spared from the horrors of the incoming LAAT cruiser, but that didn't mean there weren't other things heading its way.

Heavy walls bolstered by shields protected the entire base. Large gates were the only way for troops and ground vehicles to pass through. Right behind the walls were several Trade Federation light and medium turrets and anti-air missile turrets. A shield generator in the hub of the complex provided protection from any orbital strikes, not that is was necessary anymore, as most of the Republic fleet around Ahlenn had long been obliterated.

General OOM-9 was currently nested in the command center, studying the readouts on his army and navy. He had recently received an enormous increase in capital ships and new troops. He had received two Separatist supply ships, the Reinforcement Bonus and Ghost Economics to keep his ever-growing military troops adequately equipped. For Lucrehulk battleships, the ranks of the 8th Fleet now included: the Blue Garage, Dormant Scorpion, Karlsruhe, Work Wheel, Hexus, Hollow Shell, and the Vicegrip. Banking Clan frigates included: the Zankess, Zoklett, Rusty Dagger, Fallen Hammer, Grim Cleaver, Battle Bug, Crossbones, Grandzam, Dark Scythe, and Trylobyte. The list of new ships finished with a collection of Commerce Guild destroyers: Zekans, Zaxon, Zanna, Zakudrone, Sleek Serpent, Silver Thrust, Intrepid, Razor Spiral, Collision Course, Berserker, Conqueror, and Requiem.

There were so many new ships that the numbers of the 8th Fleet had more than doubled. OOM-9 had enough firepower now that he could turn any planet in the galaxy into an uninhabitable sphere of desolation and death if he wanted to. OOM-9 didn't operate that way though. He would use precision orbital bombardment if he had to but he preferred to take planets with ground campaigns. There was no use in completely destroying a planet's ecosystem and atmosphere, not when future Confederate settlers could live on the planet.

If the 8th Fleet's numbers could be doubled one more time OOM-9 felt confident enough to be able to break through the massive Republic defense fleet guarding Kamino. But OOM-9 knew he would not be receiving another large influx of capital ships for quite some time. Taking Kamino from the Republic would have to wait for another day. And there was no telling how many other clone factories the Republic had anyway. It didn't seem likely the war could be won in one fell swoop.

OOM-9's sudden increase in capital ships was not due to his increasing favor with Count Dooku or other Separatist leaders. All of the ships had come from the Zalost system. He was only getting them now because their construction was finally complete. Time was the only real factor. Money didn't matter to OOM-9 and he wasn't lacking in resources. It would simply take more time and he would have more ships. This was becoming a war of attrition and the Republic would eventually lose. Math didn't lie; the Republic didn't have the numbers to sustain a prolonged confrontation… not without producing clones at a faster rate or conscripting civilians into the military en masse. Even if they did neither option was going to stop OOM-9.

Organic CIS troops were flocking to OOM-9 like flies to a bug zapper. Unfortunately so many unknown variables were dangerous and many of OOM-9's veteran troops were still being repaired. Even worse was the fact that he had so many of his elite HouseKarls and special ops battle droids still undergoing repairs. OOM-9 was fortunate he had plenty of other specialty units to take their place for the time being. He had grapple battle droids, flame battle droids, plasma battle droids, marine battle droids and the human CIS shock troopers. They did well enough but OOM-9 didn't like fighting when his army wasn't at full strength. It couldn't be helped. The Republic and the Jedi weren't going to wait on him while his droids were fixed up.

Another problem was the fact that Baroness Zincer and Senator Zuuk were busy playing political games. The two leaders from the Zalost system were promising droids and vehicles to certain military, political and business leaders. OOM-9 figured they were acquiring allies in case of a power vacuum in the Confederacy. The droid general was sure they weren't moving towards an active coup, it was becoming increasingly likely the Republic would strike a series of brutal blows soon. The clone armies had been scoring a lot more victories lately and fewer and fewer Jedi were being reported killed in action. It had seemed that all the Jedi that had been slow to adapt to war had mostly been killed off and only those that were dangerous remained.

Overall Zincer and Zuuk's political games meant OOM-9 was receiving older models of fighters to fill the hangars of his new capital ships since many of the newer fighters were being promised to others. Despite their age, the Stag Beetle fighters had performed well against the newer starfighters of the Republic. It was stark proof that a well-designed ship could stand the test of time. The Stag Beetle droid fighters, Scarab starfighters, Vulture droid fighters, and the E-STAP starbomber series were all much older than the Republic's V-19 Torrent fighters and gunship fighters but the CIS ships were outperforming them in every battle.

"The Republic will be here in five minutes." Dr. Destroyer snapped OOM-9 back to the task at hand. Even if the Force-sensitive didn't directly engage in combat or use his Battle Interference technique, he could still track the moments of the clone armies, which was becoming invaluable. OOM-9 was careful though; he didn't want to end up needing to rely on Destroyer's abilities to win his battles. Though with the size of his military force, there was no way he could possibly lose. Nothing short of the destruction of the planet could cause OOM-9 to lose at this point. That the clones were on the march to Obsidian Base was viewed as a sign of desperation.

"You coming?"

"I shall remain here. For the time being, at least." The Ithorian started to play with a datapad.

"Have it your way." OOM-9 left the command center. He wasn't going to miss the fight.

3B3-888 caught OOM-9 as he left the building.

"I assume the Doctor will not be joining us in battle?"

"You are correct, Sergeant." The pair walked and talked.

"I don't understand. The Doctor wasn't afraid of fighting back on Zalost Prime."

"I think the recent appearance of Mace Windu has made the Doctor paranoid."

"He needs to get over it. It would be just our luck to have acquired a cowardly Force-sensitive."

Despite the hustle and bustle of the surrounding soldiers OOM-9 and 3B3-888 maintained a leisurely stride. They had plenty of time to reach their destination before the Republic arrived.

"I do not believe the Doctor is a coward, Sergeant. Even if he were, we lose nothing. We have more than enough troops at the moment to deal with the clone army. Any services he provides are nothing more than a bonus. I do not need Dr. Destroyer to win our battles for us."

"Indeed, General."

The pair arrived at the base's fortress. The large, cylindrical building was of Trade Federation design. They boarded a turbolift and rode it to the upper floors.

"At any rate, I'm more concerned about Commander Zako at the moment. His drop in focus and common sense is alarming."

"Especially now that he's connected to the network," 3B3-888 added. "I would have thought his performance would have improved."

"In some aspects, it has. Perhaps his confrontation with General Grievous will be a onetime issue."

"Provided we don't meet Grievous again anytime soon."

"I would hope he wouldn't try that again even if we do see Grievous again soon."

"Are you considering demoting him?" 3B3-888 asked. The B1 battle droid had no desire to see the commander drop down in rank and asked only out of curiosity.

"No. I doubt it will ever reach that point. I think demotion would be counterproductive. His morale and self-worth would falter and he would get worse."

"Right. So what do we do?"

"I'm not sure we can do anything to help him. All we can do is watch over him during missions and make sure he doesn't get himself killed."

"Maybe we could ask Katen?"

"And how would she help the situation?"

"I don't know. That's why we'd ask."

The two droids approached a flak cannon. Normally they were found on Providence carrier/destroyers and Munificent frigates but OOM-9 had them installed as base defenses as well. When the general expressed interested in using the massive turret, the pilot battle droid gunner acquiesced the seat.

"3B3-888, would you kindly act as my spotter?"

"Of course, General." The B1 battle droid grabbed a pair of electrobinoculars and looked out the window. The clone army had arrived right on schedule and in force. At this range the clones looked like an army of frosted ants to OOM-9.

It only took a moment of waiting before the Republic army was in firing range. OOM-9 targeted heavy armored vehicles like AT-TEs and RTTs first. He would have liked to use the cannon on the clone infantry. It would be hilarious to see pieces of clones fly all over the place but that would be serious overkill and the cannon was needed more to hit the vehicles. A fun opportunity was missed, but such were the demands of battle.

The base only housed two bio cannons, but the large artillery units were more than adequate to tear at the attacking army. The bio cannons combined with the flak cannons from the fortress and the clones were taking heavy losses before they even reached the droid army.

Clone troopers usually fell apart when hit with heavy artillery fire. But these clones kept their ranks and continued their charge anyway. Their discipline and resolve was almost droid-like. The clones were definitely improving.

A small army of droids was stationed outside the walls of Obsidian Base. Captain SSA-719 had ordered them there. The security battle droid always did believe the best defense was a good offense. He was of course, in the ranks of the droid defenders.

SSA-719 aimed his E-5 blaster rifle at the clone trooper and gently depressed the trigger. The charging trooper yelped and fell backwards with a smoking hole in his chest armor. The security battle droid's accuracy had been perfect. Back in the old days of the Trade Federation, organic TDF officers prized security battle droids due to the fact that they had a higher accuracy rating than the multi-purpose B1 battle droids. But SSA-719 was far beyond any normal security battle droid, the upgrades he received over a decade ago saw to that. But more than anything it was the experience he had gathered in the past decade that made him so deadly. His experience in the war was even more valuable. SSA-719's combat programming had become secondary. It was more of a fallback than anything now.

The CIS homing spider droids cut into the vehicles the artillery missed. Their opponents weren't much, mostly just the swifter IFT-X fighter tanks and AT-RTs. The few LAATs in the air were easily shot down by the base's array of anti-air missile turrets.

SSA-719 and his squad were fighting an equal number of clones when a single AT-RT rushed up towards them. Spewing high-speed needles of blazing blue, the green walker blew apart two super battle droids and three security battle droids near SSA-719. The droid captain knew he was next on the chopping block. Despite his slender frame and speed SSA-719 was well aware of his limited mobility. What was considered 'limited mobility' was subject to interpretation depending on the situation. B1 series droids were fast and hard to hit but that wasn't enough here. SSA-719 blasted away the rest of the clones and snapped the deadly end of his E-5 over to the walker's exposed driver.

The AT-RT driver and the security battle droid met each other's eyes for just a split second, but neither ended up firing. The small walker exploded in a furious rage of red and yellow. Green and gray metal melted and was thrown in every direction. Through the network SSA-719 learned that is was General OOM-9 that had saved him with one of the fortress' flak cannons from the time-consuming process of having to be repaired later. SSA-719 was impressed (but not surprised): it was a rather difficult shot to make on a small target over such a distance.

SSA-719 was ready to fight the next group of clones when he witnessed one of the clones suddenly turn towards another clone and shoot him in cold blood. The act had gone unnoticed by the other clones; they were far too busy fighting the droids. SSA-719 had noticed the deliberate friendly fire, and seconds later he was witnessing it yet again.

Over and over and over again clones started to turn on one another. The clone forces took notice of what was going on now. They couldn't call a time out and arrest the traitors, so they resorted to shooting them on the spot. Even that was difficult with the droid army still shooting at them.

The clones couldn't handle both the droids and the traitors and the already unfair battle was an all-out slaughter. Things had changed so drastically the clone army had no chance of escape.

The ever-familiar death cry of the Jango clones rang out on the battlefield. It was music to the droids' audio receptors.

An order came in from the central control computers of the Scrapyard and Magna Musai, an order that confused SSA-719 and the other droids. The battle droids followed the order anyway… and stopped attacking the enemy.

Even as the droids stopped firing, so to did the clones. It was quite a bewildering sight to behold. Two factions that utterly despised one another just stopped fighting. A casual observer would have thought the war had suddenly come to an end with some diplomatic solution reached and a call to end all hostilities had gone out to all the planets in the galaxy. But that was not the case. The battle droids were merely following the orders handed down from the control computers (even though all the battle droids had independent brains now, they still obeyed the orders handed down from the powerful computers). The clones were following orders against their will. They had a new master now.

What was left of the clone survivors dropped their weapons and started walking towards Obsidian Base single file. The droid army let them pass. The clones reached the gates and they opened to let them through. Waiting for the clones on the other side was Dr. Destroyer. The Ithorian had a use for these clones.

A squad of super battle droids followed the clones, just in case the Ithorian lost control of them for any reason. The clones ended up in the command center; working at various computer terminals the CIS staff had acquiesced to them.

Dr. Destroyer turned to see OOM-9 and 3B3-888 arrive at the command center. The droid general already knew to expect the clones in the command center, Destroyer had asked him for permission and it was OOM-9 that relayed the cease-fire order through the command computers to the rest of the droid army.

The Force-sensitive hadn't told OOM-9 the full extent of his plan but the command droid already had a few good guesses (and a few ideas of his own).

"I presume you are commanding these clones to provide us with their army's movements?"

"Yes. But more than that. You're thinking too small, General."

"You're thinking to use them to manipulate the enemy's movements."

"Ah, yes. Very good. There are few droids as creative as you, General OOM-9."

"Get to know my troops a little better and you will find I am not the only intelligent one here."

"Of course."

OOM-9 walked over to one the clones seated in front of a computer and looked over his shoulder. "How long will your mastery of them last?"

"I'm not certain. Depends on how many of them I keep control of. But their minds are weak, and all the same. We could always lock them up if we need them for an extended period of time."

"I was thinking of using these clones to feed the Republic false information. Forcing one's will over another is difficult, or so I have heard from combat reports of Jedi trying to use Confederate organics to their advantage. Can you make these clones sound natural over a communication channel?"

"Yes. I wouldn't be able to make them sound natural all day but I think I can get away with a lot."

"Good. You will have these clones feed us all the information they can on their troop locations, then you will order them to send transmissions to their armies alerting them that the enemy is using BX droid commandos with stolen clone uniforms. We will fool the enemy into destroying themselves."

"Brilliant. You fight dirty, General. I like that."

"Thank you, Doctor."

Dr. Destroyer did as OOM-9 instructed. The whole CIS network was privy to the clone army's troop locations on Ahlenn now. Once that was done, Destroyer forced the clones to send transmissions to the clone army about droid commandos using stolen clone uniforms. After a few lies the CIS had gotten entire clone regiments to attack and destroy each other.

It worked perfectly. The clones out on the field believed they were fighting droid commandos in stolen armor. For the first few hours hundreds of clones killed their brothers. All over the planet the Grand Army of the Republic was its own worst enemy. Eventually the smarter clones that emerged victorious checked the bodies of their fallen enemies, only to learn that they had made a mistake and had been killing their own this whole time.

---

The Republic communications network on Ahlenn was a mess. Clones coming in over the comm channels were bordering on hysteria, desperately trying to alert command they had been killing their own.

Sorting through all the information at the Republic's main base was a nightmare. The clone in charge, Commander Veek, couldn't even find out who first relayed the alert that droids were using stolen clone uniforms. Someone had screwed up badly, and they were going to regret their mistake. The worst part was they weren't sure if there were commando droids running around in clone armor or not. A panic festered among the non-clone personnel at the main base and all clones ended up having to take off their helmets to prove they were the genuine item. That certainly brought efficiency to a halt and Commander Veek's general did not tolerate inefficiency…

"Commander! Have you discovered the clone responsible for this error?" A tall Besalisk beamed.

"Not yet, General Krell."

"And why haven't you?"

"Everyone's worried every clone on this base is secretly a droid. It isn't helping that we have to take off our helmets for every non-clone that walks by."

"What isn't helping is the inaccurate information your field troops are spewing all over the comm. I can't devise a proper strategy when I can't get reliable information. It's bad enough these battle droids we've been fighting have defeated us at every turn. I do not need clone incompetence added into the mix."

"Understood… sir."

"We need to get some thinking men in here." Pong Krell was disgusted by the lack of any real results from his clone commander. "Where's Doctor Vellenjer?"

"Right here, General." The Verpine scientist had walked in the room just as Krell was wondering where he was. Verpine were bipedal insect-like aliens with green skin. As such, Dr. Vellenjer tended to stand out in a crowd of Republic personnel. Technically a hermaphrodite, Vellenjer preferred to be addressed as a male, though with a sex-neutral title like 'doctor,' the issue didn't come up all that much.

"What have you got for me, Doctor?"

"I have developed a device that can cause a volcano to erupt." The alien's red eyes seemed to grow bright with malicious intent as he spoke.

"Does it work or are you wasting my time?"

"It hasn't been field tested but I stake my entire profession reputation that it will function as intended."

"Will it work on a long-dormant volcano?"

"It will."

"Excellent. We will use it to start the volcano over at the coordinates G-8. Hopefully the droid army will divide its forces in an effort to save the village based at the bottom of the volcano."

"But sir! They're civilians!" Veek turned to stare at the Jedi. Krell was known for using brute force tactics against the Confederacy, but this seemed to be going too far, even for him.

"They're not Republic citizens. And we won't be directly attacking them. They will have a chance to outrun the volcano if they have a shred of intelligence." Krell thought to himself that the villagers couldn't have been that smart to begin with if they built their settlement at the base of a volcano, even if it was dormant. Still, it wasn't his problem and the whole thing could end up helping the Republic in the battle to keep the planet.

"Droids don't usually care what happens to civilians, General," Commander Veek pointed out.

"I didn't expect you to catch onto the subtleties of our enemies' actions. This army fights differently than most. I believe they will try to save the civilians."

"If you say so, General." Veek wasn't going to press the issue. Krell seemed to be in a bad enough mood as it was.

"As for the real attack on the droid army, I will lead our forces myself. There can be no room for failure this time or we won't be able to hold the planet."

"Yes sir."

---

"General, we're picking up volcanic activity at Mount Moaz."

"That volcano is reported to be dormant. It was not predicted to erupt again for centuries. Something is going on." OOM-9 was sure the Republic had something to do with the volcano.

"I sense a powerful Jedi nearby," Dr. Destroyer said, "the Jedi is slowly closing in on Obsidian Base. And a large clone army is approaching as well."

"Will you need to hide yourself?" OOM-9 asked.

"I believe that is the best course of action at the moment."

"If this Jedi is powerful then we could use your help. Can this Jedi kill you?"

"No. But I cannot guarantee I can kill him. Not without the strong possibility that he could escape and warn the Order."

"General Jakoby has seen what you can do. What does it matter if another Jedi finds you out?"

"He is but one insignificant Jedi among many. If a Jedi with more prestige were to become familiar with my abilities, the Council would be more willing to recognize me as a threat to their power. In any case, I will not be able to hide for much longer, whether I like it or not."

"Indeed. We can take care of this Jedi ourselves anyway. But we cannot ignore the village at the base of Mount Moaz. SSA-719."

"General?"

"Tell Commander Z23-Y75 to take an aquatic transport and pick up the villagers. Have KJZ-8267 and Zako's squadrons fly escort."

"Roger roger."

---

Dr. Destroyer was able to provide the exact coordinates of the clone army. OOM-9 and his droids were able to hit the clones from multiple sides. Guided by the network, the separate droid attack groups were able to hit the enemy at precisely the correct time. The organic CIS troops merely had to follow the example of the droids.

Despite the CIS having the advantage of superior numbers and coordination, the clone army continued to press on as if they had rabid nexus nipping at their heels. The clones fought fiercely, similarly to how the clones attacking Zalost Prime and Aargonar had fought.

OOM-9 had chosen to pilot a STAP this time around. He had his fun with the stationary flak cannon but now he chose something built for speed (even if it left him vulnerable to enemy weapons fire). OOM-9 and the other STAP-bound droids took to quickly strafing over the enemy lines, dodging enemy blaster fire as well as artillery bombardment from their own bio cannons. It was simple to avoid friendly fire incidents; the bio cannons uploaded their targeting data through the network, allowing the STAPs knowledge of where and when not to be. A few of the clone troopers picked up on this pattern and were able to avoid the artillery blasts, but the various Republic walkers were too slow to get out of the way.

Night had begun to fall as the opposing armies fought each other. There was more than enough to see by the flames of exploding tanks and walkers and the brilliant glow of artillery fire from both sides. Even without the artificial assistance, the darkness wouldn't deter the clones or the droids. The clone troopers and battle droids had fought and destroyed each other in all manner of environments and conditions, a little lack of sunlight wouldn't slow anyone down.

OOM-9 sped past a peculiar sight… one he had never seen before. It was a Jedi, a Jedi in and of itself was nothing new to the battle droid, it was his choice of weapons. He wielded two double-bladed lightsabers, one green and the other blue. Double-bladed lightsabers were extremely rare. The Sith Lord Darth Maul had used one a decade ago back on Naboo. But OOM-9 had never seen a single individual wield two of them at the same time. It did help the Jedi that he was a four-armed Besalisk. The central control computers went through known combat data and found a match. This was none other than the Jedi Master Pong Krell. General Krell was known for his relentlessness on the battlefield, employing tactics seen used more by Separatist officers and tactical droids than Jedi Generals. Krell was a dangerous enemy. It was no wonder it was taking so long to claim Ahlenn when the CIS had such blatantly superior numbers.

OOM-9 swung his STAP around until he was hovering over his own troops.

"Kill the Jedi." It was not a verbal order OOM-9 needed to give. The droids could receive their orders wirelessly and all of his troops would have attacked the Jedi anyway. OOM-9 had given the verbal command simply because he found it enjoyable to do so.

For the longest time, the Jedi Order had been left without a real challenge. For so long they had claimed to be keepers of the peace but all they were really doing was using their powers to bully others weaker than they were. They Jedi had grown complacent and lazy. That was made perfectly clear at the start of the war. In the early months they were easy to fight. Without the Sith to threaten them and with lightsabers being able to cut apart most melee weapons, most of the Jedi were actually unskilled in their own lightsaber combat techniques. They had become so used to just blocking blaster bolts. Major Katen had taken so many clones by surprise with her electrostaff made of phirk. Even with their Force powers Katen could still beat them. So could OOM-9 and the other droids. Even Zako could hold his own against a Jedi, if only for a limited time. The Jedi were arrogant, slow and unpracticed in fighting a galaxy-spanning, full-scale war. Despite their ability to divinate the future through the Force, the Jedi still could not counter OOM-9's plans. OOM-9 often wondered if the Jedi really could see into the future or if they had lost the ability. If the Jedi could see the future, the Republic should have been much better at countering the movements of the droid armies. Perhaps the Jedi could see the future but were too incompetent to properly exploit their advantage. Yes, the Jedi were incompetent… and weak. But that was the key; they were weak. That the Jedi were weak wasn't exactly the case anymore.

The weaklings were dying off and only the skilled Jedi remained: Mace Windu, Bultar Swan, Koffi Arana, and now Pong Krell. There was a long list of powerful Jedi OOM-9 hadn't even encountered. Killing Jedi wasn't quite as easy as it had once been.

Pong Krell's whirling double-bladed lightsabers cut though both droids and organic soldiers as he wickedly danced his way around the battlefield. The sounds the large lightsabers made were unlike what the CIS troops were used to hearing. Krell was a powerhouse: he cut up B1s, B2s, droidekas, crab droids, dwarf spider droids, octuptarra droids, humans, Gossam, Koorivar, and Neimoidians as if they existed on the battlefield solely for him to kill. Regular troops weren't going to stop his Jedi, and OOM-9 didn't have his elites repaired yet.

General OOM-9 swung his STAP around and fired its laser cannons at the Jedi. Krell deflected the lasers and OOM-9's STAP was taken down with its own attack. OOM-9 crashed into the ground and skid a few meters. Krell hadn't even looked his way when he had taken him out.

OOM-9 looked in the Jedi's direction as he got to his feet. Krell was still cutting through his troops but the droid general noticed something. Pong Krell's fighting style was much flashier and visually impressive than Mace Windu's but it was ultimately slower and less effective. Windu was calm and detached when he fought. Krell seemed closer to a Sith warrior by comparison. Ultimately no matter how it looked, the slaughter needed to be stopped.

The AAT tanks and other CIS vehicles were too busy with dealing with the Republic walkers. The Jedi was able to avoid the attacks of the few tanks that did try to blast him into dust. OOM-9 knew precisely how to end this. There was no more time for playing around. He ordered in flame battle droids to kill Krell. Lightsabers couldn't block fire, and then Krell would be little more than a large target.

OOM-9 pulled the E-5 off his back and switched to the flamethrower function as well. He might as well try and kill the Jedi himself. With a Jedi as dangerous as Krell he didn't want to risk the chance the flame battle droids might fail. The old saying: if you want something done right you have to do it yourself.

Krell merely used the Force to knock the flame droids away when they came to attack him.

Great, that's all we need. A Jedi equipped with common sense, OOM-9 thought as he charged the Besalisk, flames unleashed from his gun. Pong Krell knocked OOM-9 away with the Force just as he had done with the other droids. With nothing but dirt underneath his feet there was no way OOM-9 could magnetize to the ground to counter the attack.

Using the Force, Krell ripped off the top cannon from a dead AT-TE and used it to impale an armored assault tank. The tank rocked and sputtered before giving up and coming to a rest on the ground. It wasn't much of a victory, there were still plenty of tanks left and the dead tank's four operators left their vehicle and attacked with pistols.

Captain SSA-719 was surprised, but not by the clones emulating droid strategies to great effect or the Jedi spinning around two double-sabers. It was that somehow, in the midst of all the chaos and confusion of battle, Captain Veronica Vex still managed to find him. It didn't even seem that she was actively looked to fight by the security droid's side either, the two just wound up together during the course of the battle. It was not a surprise to SSA-719 that she was in the general area and a participant of the battle; he knew her battle group was one of many companies sent over to help OOM-9's main army. It just felt so random that they would wind up within touching distance of each other.

Vex was clad in the same multi-colored armor she always wore. SSA-719 didn't understand the reasoning behind it. Katen and Sledge wore the same model of combat suit when they went into battle, but theirs were more uniformly colored. The way Vex brandished around her rainbow armor only seemed to call attention to herself. Or perhaps that was the point. Maybe she thought it better she soak up enemy fire, she already a cyborg after all. She could be trying to spare other humans the pain of the cybernetic surgery if they lost important body parts. Though SSA-719 really didn't know how many organic troops Vex worked with on a regular basis. If she was assigned more to droid-heavy units it would have made more sense for the droids to draw the laser fire, they were easier to fix than cyborgs were.

Since SSA-719 and Vex were both armed with E-5 blaster rifles, they made it a little game to see who could kill the most clones with the same weapon. So far Vex was losing with eight kills while SSA-719 barely held the lead with nine.

"Okay, Red. I know we said E-5s only but it'll take more than that to kill that Jedi over there. Anything goes and the Jedi is worth quadruple points."

"This isn't a game, Vex."

"It can be. You gotta live a little. We gotta fight the Jedi anyway so we might as well have fun while we're doing it. Come on!" The cyborg took off after the Jedi.

There was one thing that bothered SSA-719 (other than the fact that Vex still insisted on calling him 'Red'). Vex had reached the rank of captain, the same rank SSA-719 held. When it came right down to it, he couldn't really give her orders anymore, though back when she was a lieutenant she probably might have disobeyed orders anyway. She seemed to be one of those kinds of humans. Hopefully Vex wasn't about to do anything overtly stupid, no matter how annoying she could be SSA-719 didn't want her to die.

Vex activated her ZK-II war-axe. The red-bladed edge stood out more when most of them tended to be violet in color. And… she's about to do something stupid, SSA-719 thought. Instead of following after the cyborg SSA-719 turned and ran for the nearest MUT. All SSA-719 was armed with was his E-5 blaster and he held no delusions that he would be so lucky to kill Krell with the weapon. He would need something else.

SSA-719 managed to make it to the MUT without being shot by any clones, though he had a couple of close calls. With all the CIS troops moving forward, SSA-719 thought it strange that some clones managed to take the time to bother shooting at the one droid moving away from them. The MUT opened up and the security droid entered. The large hover transport was largely empty. The troops it carried were already on the battlefield. But there were a few other things the MUT still held. There was a pair of OX9 worker droids and weapons. The two worker droids knew what SSA-719 had come for, he had signaled to have the weapon ready upon his arrival. They handed him a RW-B power war-hammer. It was a crass, brutish weapon and that suited SSA-719 just fine.

The security battle droid left the safety of the MUT and ran towards Krell and Vex. The two were locked in combat. Vex's axe (and her arms) didn't have the same reach as Krell did. Still, she was able to put up a good fight. Considering how skillfully Krell trashed anyone in his way, it was amazing Vex hadn't been killed. Watching those two was like watching a tornado fight a hurricane. Their moves were fast; Vex was moving especially quickly. She only had one weapon to counter Krell's two. Soon SSA-719 would be doing more than watching; he was nearly upon them.

But SSA-719 was too slow. Right as the security droid was nearly there… Krell managed to finally catch Vex. The Besalisk's blue double-saber cut off Vex's right arm a little above the elbow.

Vex fell to the ground, writhing in pain. Though a cyborg it was clear she could still feel her body. Before Krell could deliver the killing blow SSA-719 blocked his double-saber's deathblow with his war-hammer.

The power from the hammer knocked the large Besalisk back. Krell was surprised. Security droids did not wield such weaponry. SSA-719 charged the Jedi, but Krell would not be stopped by a mere security droid. The metal hammer hit the Jedi's green double-saber while the blue one came around and cut SSA-719 in half.

SSA-719 hadn't been a challenge at all. All he did was prevent Vex's death. Krell was no longer interested in the one-armed cyborg wallowing on the ground anymore. The Jedi was now focused on deflecting the blaster shots from two super battle droids and one LR-57 combat droid.

3B3-888 finished killing a clone before turning his attention to General Krell. The B1 battle droid had nothing more than his regular E-5 blaster rifle but he would try to kill the Jedi anyway (besides, SSA-719 had gone to get a better weapon and it didn't make a difference). If the specialists couldn't kill him then they'd have to rely on numbers (not that they hadn't already tried that earlier and it proved to be ineffective).

More and more soldiers started firing on the Jedi, backing away as they did so. No one wanted to get close to his double-sabers. General OOM-9 was back on his feet again and fired a few bulldog rockets in Krell's direction. They missed the Jedi of course, but the telltale cries of the common clone death screams revealed the droid general's real targets.

Pong Krell gave out a booming laugh, as if he were as amused at the sounds of clones dying as the battle droids were. A whirlwind of shattered metal sprinkled across the ground as a nearby AT-TE exploded.

"Give up, General Krell," OOM-9 offered.

Krell laughed. "I will not surrender to a bunch of brainless battle droids."

"You may want to rethink your decision."

Krell stopped for a moment. The Jedi had finally taken notice that the two armies were no longer shooting at each other anymore. The Republic's armored walkers were in ruins. The clone troopers were all dead. General Pong Krell was the last man standing on behalf of the Republic.

"You're impossibly outnumbered. You cannot win."

"You may have beaten my clones…" Krell let an evil smirk slip. "But you stand no chance of killing me."

All the CIS troops fired. OOM-9 had given Krell a chance to surrender and he had thrown it away. The battle droid general would waste no more time with talk. This opponent was too dangerous to be allowed to escape.

The Besalisk Jedi couldn't help but cackle as his lightsabers swung a protective shield around him. But his spinning saber shield wouldn't save him from mortars or rockets or heavy tank fire. All of these heavy weapons were targeting the Jedi. Krell moved out of the way just in time. He knocked over an entire squad of humans with the Force and bolted away from the area, heading towards a nearby forest.

The entire CIS army followed, but Krell made it past the first line of trees. It wasn't going to be easy to find him now… unless the droids burned the forest down.

---

Mount Moaz was spewing ash and volcanic rocks into the air as lava dripped down its side. The CIS starfighters in the sky had to dodge the falling rocks as they came down. The flyers could have easily gotten away, but they were waiting for the single ocean troop transport to finish loading up the last of the civilians.

Lieutenant KJZ-8267 found the situation to be an enjoyable exercise. It wasn't often they had the opportunity to avoid rocks spewing from the top of a volcano. The pilot droid was having fun; this was a nice change from dogfighting with Republic ships.

Commander Zako was not having as much fun. "Why are we holding position over the village? The Republic isn't here, the OTT doesn't need to be looked after."

"What's wrong, Commander? Afraid of a few rocks?" KJZ-8267 pulled his interceptor over towards Zako's Scarab.

"No. It's just we really don't need to be here. The evacuation is going fine. And the Republic won't attack. They have bigger problems right now than trying to harass a rescue operation."

"You know the Republic is full of sore losers. You never know when they might try something spiteful."

"Yeah yeah."

Z23-Y75 came in over the comm: "All villagers have been successfully loaded onto the ship. We are now leaving the area."

"Roger that."

"About time," Zako said, "that lava is getting close to you guys."

The OTT turned around and started cruising along the river from whence it came. It looked like everything was going to be okay… at least it seemed that way until KJZ-8267 picked up a new group of signals on his scanner.

"Look sharp. We have enemy fighters coming our way!"

"What the hell are they doing here? Are they stupid? Why go after us?"

"Yes, clones are stupid. Does this surprise you, Commander?"

"A little."

Z23-Y75 came in. "The river is too shallow for the OTT to submerge. We will need protection until we reach the ocean."

"That's what we're here for." The fighters started to tear at each other.

It didn't make sense that the Republic would waste fighters attacking a CIS operation meant to save civilian lives. The ultimate truth was that neither General Krell nor Commander Veek had ordered the morally questionable attack. The Verpine scientist Dr. Vellenjer had ordered the attack. Vellenjer had a weak moral compass and thought it advantageous to send fighters to attack the transport. Vellenjer was hardly a military strategist; his hope was that the aggressive attack would buy himself extra time to evacuate the planet. The CIS couldn't come after him if they were busy protecting their own; that was Vellenjer's reasoning.

"Where's our cover?" Z23-Y75 demanded. KJZ-8267 had to chase off a pair of gunship fighters that were shooting at the OTT.

One of the Stag Beetle fighters reported in an incoming squadron of Republic gunship bombers.

KJZ-8267 had a plan. "I want everyone to focus on the fighters. Leave the bombers alone, they're still in formation and we don't want to spook them. Zako, I want you to come in behind them and shoot them down."

"I have the slowest fighter in both squadrons. You're really going to have me do this?"

"Just do it."

"Right." Zako swung wide out of the battle and crept up behind the gunship bombers. The Republic flyers were sticking in two separate groups of five bombers each.

The Scarab burst forward and managed to send two of the bombers spiraling down to the ground before the other three broke away.

"It didn't work. I couldn't get them all."

"You're doing fine."

Zako chased after the second cluster of bombers and managed to shoot three down. That left a total of five bombers, but they were nearly upon the OTT now.

The five bombers had lined up single file as they closed in on the aquatic transport. KJZ-8267 cut across and hit them with lasers from the side, destroying two of the bombers. A Stag Beetle fighter smashed right into a third, cutting the ship apart without getting itself destroyed. Two left.

"That bombers are nearly on us," Z23-Y75 warned.

Zako poured on the lasers and shot down one more. The final bomber let loose its payload of proton bombs, hitting the target perfectly.

"Shit!" Zako managed to finally shoot down the last bomber when it turned to try and make a second run. "How you doing down there, Z23-Y75?"

"Our armor held out. We're fine but we can't take another hit like that again."

Just then a lone gunship fighter dove down and hit the OTT with a pair of concussion missiles. KJZ-8267 chased after the fighter and blasted it.

"We have a hole in the hull. Even if we reach the deep water we won't be able to submerge. Not without drowning the civilians onboard."

"That's just great," Zako whined. That was always the way. He had stopped the bombers only for a lone fighter to make the whole thing a huge problem.

"We'll just have to get rid of all the fighters instead," KJZ-8267 said. It was easier said than done. There were still plenty of gunship fighters in the air and some still occasionally took shots at the transport.

"We're about a minute out from the ocean," Z23-Y75 said.

"Not that that matters anymore," Zako grumbled over the comm.

There were fewer and fewer gunship fighters, but the clone pilots refused to give up. The Stag Beetle fighters also refused to let them sink the ocean troop transport.

When the transport did make it out to the ocean, the gunship fighters broke off and retreated. KJZ-8267 figured the clone pilots weren't aware that the ship wasn't going to submerge and cease to be a target. It worked out just fine for the droids; the rescue mission had been successful.

---

OOM-9 had driven Pong Krell into the city of Caniz. That much was clear when a CIS patrol called in his location before being wiped out.

Major Katen had an entire company of soldiers under her command and they were rushing towards the location. The civilians in the city were quick to give them room. No one wanted to get between them and the Jedi. Katen would have thought the civilians would have been hiding in their homes or in emergency shelters but no, the idiots had to go out and see the forest burning in the distance.

Katen's company was quick to reach the reported location. It was obvious they had reached it from the saber-sliced battle droids that littered the ground and the civilians gawking about the area. They were in some sort of open-air marketplace.

"Where is the Jedi that did this?" Katen demanded of the crowd. The crowd went silent as they stared at the cluster of droid and human CIS troops. Katen's eyes shifted as she scanned the crowd. They were mostly just humans; a Besalisk of Krell's stature would have been easy to pick out.

"Where did the Jedi go?" Katen raised her voice. "We're looking for a Besalisk. We know he was here. Tell us which way he went. You gain nothing by protecting the Jedi. They are your enemy." Ahlenn was a contested planet: some of its people supported the Confederacy; others supported the Republic. Katen had no way of knowing which side the people before her stood on the issue.

No one spoke up or came forward. Ashley Katen was starting to feel edgy; she drew her SE-14 commando pistol from its holster. She had this horrible feeling in her gut. It felt as if someone had forcibly implanted her with some sort of horrible alien that would devour her inner reserves of courage before bursting out of her chest. She had already been informed that Krell had cut off one of Vex's arms. Even though Katen had her electrostaff with her she had no desire to fight this particular Jedi up close… or at all. She remembered how Mace Windu had effortlessly tossed her about as if she were just a leaf in a storm. 3B3-888 and some of the other battle droids had saved her life by providing themselves as a distraction so she could escape. But those were some very experienced droids and right now Katen had way too many raw human recruits in her battle group. She knew she couldn't rely on them if it came to a serious fight with Krell. A Jedi of his caliber was too much for them to handle… too much for her to handle.

Katen wished OOM-9 or EEK-176 would hurry up and get over here. She did not want it to fall on her to challenge Krell. Hell, they had Dr. Destroyer on the payroll now. That lazy Force-sensitive Ithorian should have been here. What good was finally having your own Force-user if he didn't go into battle to counter the enemy Jedi?

Katen could feel herself starting to sweat in her combat suit. The way she was feeling, Katen would have even settled for having Commander Zako around right now to take charge. This whole thing was terrible. All these miserable civilians not wanting to provide her with any sort of help. Were they scared of the Jedi or trying to help the Jedi? Katen didn't know. But they sure as shit weren't helping her.

Ashley Katen was on pins and needles. She'd rather just fight the Jedi and get it over with.

There was a noise… Katen didn't fully register what it was. Ashley Katen acted entirely on reflex, as she often did when fighting Jedi. You had to act on reflex. You think too much and the Jedi will read your mind and read your moves. You had to move… had to act to stay alive. That is what Ashley Katen did.

The moment the noise hit her ears; Katen's pistol tracked the movement and fired. Krell had been hiding in the crowd… he had tried to make a break for it.

No… it wasn't Krell. Katen broke out of her panicked reflex action and saw that she had shot a little human girl. A scared little girl that had gotten separated from her parents and called out for her mother.

Katen couldn't see well but she looked like she was no older than five or six years. How could she mistake a small child for a hulking Jedi with four arms and a pair of double-sabers?

The crowd gasped in horror though only a few people dared move towards the little girl. Anyone close to the Separatist soldiers took a few cowardly steps back.

"It… it was an accident."

"What is wrong with you?" Someone in the crowd yelled.

"Damn Confederates are worse than the Jedi!" Someone else yelled.

"What the hell was that?" This time the angry voice came from behind Katen. She turned around to see one of the human CIS troops. She didn't recognize him, must have been one of the newer soldiers. He was pissed.

"As you were, Soldier!" Katen barked. She couldn't let the situation get any worse than it was. She couldn't lose control of her own troops.

"Why'd you shoot the kid? I didn't sign up for this shit!"

"I said, as you were!"

"I didn't sign on to shoot children! I—" The human soldier was suddenly knocked to the ground. He had been struck over the head.

Katen saw that Commander EEK-176 had finally shown up. The brown and white command battle droid was equipped with his gatling gun trio. He looked like he could take on Krell all by himself.

EEK-176 had hit the soldier hard… perhaps too hard. It had sounded like the human's helmet and skull could have both been cracked by the hit.

"8EX, 5TE, arrest Private Sablan for insubordination!" EEK-176 ordered.

The two super battle droids came forward and picked up the unconscious human by the arms and started to drag him away to the nearest transport.

"Insubordination will not be tolerated!" EEK-176 boomed at the human troops. "There was an accident but that is no excuse to deviate from your current task!" The command droid turned to the civilians. "You are ordered to disperse at once! Anyone who does not comply will be arrested immediately!"

A light wave of relief washed over Katen. EEK-176 was here now and taking control of the situation. She didn't have to be in charge anymore. EEK-176's drastic actions, forceful yelling and intimidating appearance (due to his trio of gatling guns) had gotten the civilians to start moving and silenced the murmurs of descent in the human CIS soldiers.

One of the vender stalls exploded in a tornado of blue and green.

Pong Krell is here! Katen almost didn't believe it. The Jedi had chosen now to make a break for it.

Civilians ran and dove for the ground as the CIS troops opened fire on the Jedi. It was the perfect disaster. There were too many people in the way; the organic CIS troops were scared shitless and fired on the Jedi. Innocent people started getting caught in the crossfire. It didn't help when EEK-176 opened fire with all three of his gatling guns. Katen fired with her pistol, but she didn't make a move to grab the electrostaff on her back.

Over the roar of all the blaster fire Krell's booming laugh could be heard. The Jedi very clearly thought the situation to be humorous. The CIS may have been assured dominance of Ahlenn but this… this accidental massacre sure felt like a victory for the Republic.

To make matters worse, Krell got away. Katen didn't make much of an effort to keep up with the Jedi. Despite EEK-176 and several droids chasing him, General Pong Krell still managed to slip into the depths of the city.

---

Overall Commander Zako had thought it had been a pretty good day. He knew he was nothing more than a military officer, a soldier. He would never rule the Galaxy with an iron fist, nor would he be its savior. He just did what he could and it never amounted to much in the grand scheme of the universe. Though today he did feel a bit like a hero, saving a boatload of civilians from Republic fighters made him feel pretty good about himself. Usually things weren't so cut and dry in the war but this certainly was. It felt good to play the hero.

The battle for Ahlenn hadn't gone perfectly though, Zako had heard that Vex had lost her arm to General Krell, but that problem could be fixed up by the medical droids as far as Zako understood. It shouldn't be that big of a deal; she was already an implant cyborg after all.

Zako had started working on fixing up the droid he found lying around Raxus Prime. It was a rather unusual droid. It seemed to be nothing more than some ancient obsolete protocol or labor droid yet something in the back of the cyborg's mind told him the droid was more than it appeared.

KJZ-8267 was helping him out, though the pilot droid wasn't nearly as interested in the old droid as the cyborg was. The old droid was cleaned up quite a bit, revealing that its armor was indeed black and it was not just dirty.

"Hey, Katen!" Zako waved when he saw Ashley, 8EX and 5TE walk by. She didn't respond or even acknowledge his greeting. 5TE continued to follow Katen while 8EX broke away from the trio to approach Zako and KJZ-8267.

"What's her problem?" Zako asked the B2 battle droid. Zako hadn't heard much of what Katen had been up to other than losing track of where General Krell had run off.

"The Major has had a rough day."

"Apparently. What happened?"

Zako had stopped paying attention to what he was doing to the ancient droid's innards. He must have hit something he wasn't supposed to because blue sparks flew up from the droid's chest.

"Pay attention, Commander…" KJZ-8267 trailed off when he saw the ancient droid move… on its own.

The old droid sprang upright and grabbed the commander by the throat.

"Warning: Try and mess with my circuitry again and you will find yourself missing a limb."

---

Author's Note: The Stag Beetle fighters appeared in Galactic Battlegrounds, though in the game they are known only as droid starfighters. I chose to call them Stag Beetles due to their appearance as well as the CIS occasional habit of using bug themes in naming their aircraft (Scarab starfighters or XT Beetle transports).

The LAAT cruiser appeared in Galactic Battlegrounds: Clone Campaigns, where it was the Republic's air cruiser unit. In the game it is known as the Republic Starship yet for this story I choose to call it the LAAT cruiser just to give it a more specific name.

Veek's name is one letter away from being meek, which would explain why he takes orders from Pong Krell so well.