Hey everyone. Well, after a small bout of writers block, I finally have the rest of the battle. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy and please remember to review. Both praise and constructive criticism are welcomed. However, most importantly, sit back and enjoy. So, without further ado, I give you chapter 5 (Sacramento: main act).
The sniper was dressed in head to toe camo. Using the shadows for cover, he stared through the scope of his rifle. The cannons had all fell silent as the droids held out of range. This left the area with an offsetting silence. All of the civilians were either out of the city or hiding as they attempted to get out.
"All teams be advised. We're tracking … objects… orbit… impact… city," cracked a voice through his earpiece.
"This is sentry one. Come again?" asked sniper with a frown.
The only response was static as he tried two more times.
Well looks like we get to find out, he thought with worry as he shifted positions.
At that point several streaks of light caught his attention. Looking up, he watched as the four objects slammed into the ground. One of them landed with a loud crash into the intersection in front of him. Knowing that it could be trouble, the sniper slid his eye back down in line with the scope. Within seconds a red glow could be seen as object opened. Now he knew that it would be trouble. Fighting to see through the moving shadows of the isolated fires, he took aim. A black shadow dropped to the ground and was gone before he could shoot. The next one wasn't so lucky.
Firing a 50 cal. armor piercing bullet, his rifle could pierce a cinder block wall at almost a mile. To be fair, that was an almost impossible shot that only a select few had ever done. However, unfortunately for these droids, they weren't a mile away and they weren't thicker than a cinder block.
The rifle bucked as the shot rang out. In the first half of the second the droid was descending to the ground. In the second half of the second the back half of his head exploded as the bullet shot out the back and buried itself in the dirt.
Because he was chambering another round, he couldn't hit the third droid, but the fourth droid met a fate similar to that of the second droid as a bullet caught it in the head as it turned to run for cover. Between him and the droids was a block of burned out and half destroyed buildings.
Keeping his eyes on the buildings, watched as the shadows shifted. He knew roughly where they were at, but the lack of any light being used was making it hard to see them, and night vision was only helping a little, as the droids seemed to mesh with the darkness.
Suddenly one appeared at the window, setting up what appeared to be a rifle. Not waiting to see the end result, he planted the crosshairs right between the droid's eyes. However, before he heard a noise behind him. Jerking his head around, he found himself face to face with a solid black droid with white markings. Wide eyed, he let out a yell as several thousand volts of electricity suddenly coursed through his body killing him within a couple seconds.
Standing over the still twitching body, the Commando Droid commander gave the all clear signal. Turning around, he went back down the steps as the rest of the squad moved to form up. Once the nine droid squad was formed up, they moved out. Sticking to the shadows, the droids moved down the streets dealing with sentries as needed. Soon they found themselves staring at their targets. Standing in front of the now leveled airport, was a series of six cannons. Some of Republic design and some of Earth design. Standing around them were about two squads of men, with assault rifles held tightly. Motioning to the droids, he ordered them to spread out.
Silently, snipers took position as rocket launchers were also set up, and the other squads arrived. After about five minutes the first shot rang out, catching the guard in the chest. The ensuing fight was quick as the commando droids emerged from the shadows. The soldiers were quick to respond as red lasers mixed with lead and blue lasers. However, it was too little, too late. Within a couple minutes the final soldier crumpled to the ground with a hole in his chest. With everyone dead, the droids went to work blowing up the cannons.
With the cannons destroyed, the landing force began their attack. Despite harassment from more flights of A-10s and the occasional C-130 gunship, the droids forced their way down the interstate. Seeing the attempt to flank the city's remaining defenses, everything was shifted in that direction, and that was where the worst of the fighting took place.
Leaning out from the concrete barrier, John quickly began firing at the droids marching across the overpass. The place was a scene of controlled chaos as the clones and Rangers tried to keep the column of droids off the bridge. In the middle of the road, the four Abrams tanks had staggered their firing pattern so that as one was reloading, the other was firing. On top the 50 cal. Machine guns were firing almost non stop. Despite the solid wall of weapons fire, the droids kept coming.
As John squeezed off more rounds, a hand tapped, or rather, hit his shoulder. Turning his head, he saw a soldier pointing to the empty magazine in his hand. John didn't hear the words but knew the request. After ducking back behind the concrete, he produced a loaded magazine out of his belt.
"Last one!" John shouted as he passed the magazine.
There was a nod of understanding as the soldier jammed the magazine into his M4. Upon chambering a round, he dropped half way back down the embankment as he engaged some droids trying to harass the clones busy underneath. John leaned out of his cover and emptied his last magazine. His rifle gave the tell tale click of being empty. John's heart might have skipped a beat, but it was racing so fast that John highly doubted that it was possible. Swearing, he unclipped a frag grenade from his pocket and pitched it into the oncoming droids. The area was so loud that John saw the flying droid pieces and debris, more than he actually heard the explosion.
As he ducked back behind the barrier, he watched as a clone to his right got hit in the chest. The shot threw the trooper back. John watched as he landed on the concrete about twenty feet away. It was obvious by the clone's lack of movement that he was in bad shape. Taking a breath, he mentally rehearsed his plan. He knew the odds of the clone being alive were slim, but he didn't deserve to be left in the open either. Plus, if he was dead, John would have himself a weapon. If not, then he probably would be saving the clone's life.
Slinging his M4 over his shoulder, John crouched as he prepared himself to spring forward.
Don't think. Just do, he commanded himself as he took a deep breath.
Exhaling, he sprinted forward. He barely had time to notice the lasers coming within inches of him as he sprinted across the open concrete. Coming to the body, he leaned down as he snaked his arms under the man's arms before interlocking his fingers on his chest plate, just above the duel, black holes. With some effort, John lifted him up into what was almost a sitting position. Staying low, John took another quick breath. After that, he drug the clone back to his position. Finally, after what felt like forever, he had the man leaning against the barrier. Panting from the added effort, John peeled off the clone's helmet. Staring at him were a set of wide unblinking eyes. Shaking off the unnerving sight, John checked in vain for a pulse. Finding him to be dead, John quickly but gently closed the clone's eyes before laying him clear down behind the barrier.
It was at that moment that a nearby explosion caught his attention and gave him a new sense of urgency. Looking at to his right, he saw the flaming wreck that was one of the Abrams tanks. It had been hit square on by a Separatist tank as it rounded the top of the overpass. The Separatist tank quickly got a taste of karma as the one of the remaining tanks put a round straight into the driver's compartment. This destroyed it in a fiery explosion.
Scooping up the clone's blaster, he checked the charge and rejoined the battle. As he poured lasers down range, John had to admit that it was nice not having to worry about ammunition. However, that didn't help the fact that they were being overrun.
"I hope that bridge is almost ready, because we can't hold out much longer," John yelled through his radio.
"Working on it. Give us about a minute and we'll be ready," the clone replied through gritted teeth.
"This is Captain Rex. You have exactly a minute. Make it happen," Rex interjected over the comm.
"Yes sir," came a crisp response.
The next minute felt like forever as John continued to pour fire into the droid line.
"We've got it, Captain," reported the clone, "We're clearing out."
"Good. Get clear then blow it," Rex ordered over the comm.
After another minute one of the clones yelled into the comm, "Fire in the hole!"
On cue, a series of explosions ripped apart the bridge. They destroyed the supports, blew out large chunks of the opposite embankment, and ripped apart the roadway in a series of ear splitting explosions. John was forced to shield his eyes as the bridge collapsed on itself, taking multiple tanks and hundreds of droids with it. After several seconds everything settled as a thick cloud of dust hung in the air.
There was a moment of confusion as the droids tried to figure out and counter what the defenders had just done. Taking advantage of the confusion, the clones and Rangers attempted to regroup their forces. John very quickly got a head count of his men. In the four hours they had been in this spot, his company had been cut in half. Seeing this Rex had what was left of one of the clone platoons form up under his command. They had a similar issue, but were minus a commanding officer.
However, as the droids finally found a way to resume their attack, the order went out to pull back. The line had broken at Ahsoka's position further to the east and they were in danger of being out flanked and surrounded. The defenders fought hard, even as they pulled back. However, the damage was done. The droids had momentum and one other thing that the Clones and other soldiers lacked… numbers. Multiple times, they tried forming a new line, however, every time the droids punched through. It would take another forty-eight hours. However at 12:30 am on Christmas Eve, the last unit's retreated out of the city. This would give the Separatists their first major strategic victory in the war for Earth.
Within the next three days San Francisco and Los Angeles would both fall to the droids. To north, Vancouver fell soon after. This allowed the droids to begin their northern invasion along the west coast. Later in the week, Washington D.C., long since evacuated of all politicians and military commanders, would be reduced to ash by an orbital bombardment. In Europe, Paris and Madrid fell almost simultaneously within hours of Sacramento's fall. Kabul fell at the same time. However, the droids soon found themselves fighting a new kind of battle as resistance cell popped up within hours of its fall. In Russia, Moscow was able to hold out. After a week and a half, Grievous finally lost his patience and ordered the rest of his droids to help reinforce the droids advancing out of Paris. All and all, things were turning very ugly very fast.