A/N
I know, this took me far to long to write. Battle scenes really aren't my favourite thing to write, and this entire chapter is basically just that. There's a lot of POV switching, so I hope you don't mind. Anyway, without further delay, enjoy!
Losing Faith
Chapter 5
The situation was bad, and Ahsoka knew it. They were pinned down, 2 and a half kilometres from their objective, in the middle of a trap, and they had to push or nobody would make it out alive. "Right flank, taking heavy fire!" A voice sounded over the comm-link. "Left flank pinned down!" Another voice rang. Ahsoka swore internally. She then raised her comm-link.
"We need close air support, now!" She yelled over the comm-link.
"Copy that, stand by" a voice replied.
"This is assault group to base, we are pinned down." Ahsoka then said.
"We are under attack as well" master Luminara's voice sounded. "You have to disable that shield generator!"
"like I don't know that" Ahsoka thought. She didn't say it however. "Copy that" she simply stated.
She then heard the sound of Y-wing bombers behind her. "Prepare to push!" she yelled to the men around her. The clones around her half-crouched, still shielding themselves behind cover. The Y-wings released their bombs just as the AT-TE's got up from their crouching positions. Then the bombs went off, sending pieces of scrap everywhere. The armoured vehicles started moving again, and the clones ran from cover to cover, firing shots into the droid lines as they did. But resistance was heavy, and more clones were falling by the minute. Nonetheless, Ahsoka pushed on, because she knew that they could not afford to waste time. She sliced droid after droid, going for simple, efficient manoeuvres to conserve energy. Force knew she'd need it.
-0-0-0-0-
Barriss was in the medical area, treating the wounded clones that were coming in at a far more rapid pace than she would like. Her mind had long ago shut off, falling on routine instead. She constantly had to make decisions about which clones could get treated later, which clones needed treatment now and for which clones it was to late already. It was best not to think about it. But it gnawed on her psyche that there were so many clones that she couldn't save. She absolutely despised being a combat medic, saving people only to send them to their deaths. But it was her duty, and Barriss was nothing if not dutiful.
-0-0-0-0-
Anakin Skywalker was on the bridge of the Resolute, racking his brain for an escape plan. But he couldn't think of anything. He'd need reinforcements. So, he called the council. After about half a minute, master Windu and master Yoda appeared in the blue light of the holo-table. "Masters" Anakin greeted while bowing. "He then swiftly went back to business. "I'm afraid the separatists have caught us in a trap. The assault forces have not managed to disable the planetary shields, and are facing resistance. Currently, we are facing ten separatist battleships, and we are in need of urgent reinforcements!"
"Retreat from the system, Skywalker." Master Windu said. Master Kenobi's fleet will reinforce you, you will rendez-vous halfway."
Anakin was shocked. He flared up in anger. "The men fighting on that planet, including three Jedi, are counting on me to get them out of there, an you are asking me to retreat!? If I do that, thousands of men will die, and that is not something I am going to let happen! Tell master Kenobi to meet me here, or not at all. Skywalker out!" he then turned off the holo-table, and took a moment to compose himself. He'd need a clear head if he was to save his men, not to mention his padawan.
-0-0-0-0-
Progress was slow. Far to slow. And Ahsoka knew it. Her head was trying to come up with a feasible plan. And then she suddenly thought of it. She ducked behind cover, and brought up a holo-map of the city, which included the current position of all three columns, and the last reported position of enemy troops. She saw that she was about 1.5 kilometres out with her assault, the closest of all the formations. She then commed the commanders of the left and right flanks. "Change of plans, me and centre group are going to push for the shield generator, your troops will attempt to reinforce us and try to lure enemy troops away, got it?"
"Affermative, commander" the captains said. Ahsoka then jumped out of cover, and ignited her sabers, blocking and reflecting countless red blaster bolts.
-0-0-0-0-
They finally made it to the city centre. They just had to cross the square. By now, all three columns had met up, and Ahsoka was trying to piece together how many men they had lost. Thus far, approximately 20 percent of the men where unaccounted for, with about 10 percent wounded. Ahsoka knew she had to carry on, so she prepared the clones for a final push. 60 percent of the clones where called to guard outside, stationed in the buildings around the square. The rest of the clones accompanied Ahsoka inside the building.
Ahsoka used the force to open the doors, igniting her sabers in case they would be ambushed. About 20 droids. Ahsoka ran up to the first cluster of them, while clones started pouring in behind her. Not long later, all the droids where defeated. The clones quickly cleared out all the adjacent rooms, and met little resistance. Ahsoka consulted the holo-map of the building.
"The shield generator is three floors down" Ahsoka said. "Let's get to it, we don't have much time to spare!"
And so, the clones made their way down the stairs, clearing out the first 2 floors with ease. They then arrived at the third floor.
The third floor was a large, open room. The controls for the shield generator where located in the middle, around the shield generator. And at the far side of the room, a horrible sight could be seen. A group of around 20 civilians were on their knees, being held hostage by the droids. There were quite a lot of battle droids. A super tactical droid then walked toward the front.
"Surrender now or these people will be eliminated" the droid said in it's characteristic uncaring voice.
Ahsoka hesitated for a second before she ordered her troops to stand down. She also extinguished her sabers. Her mind was racing for a plan. Then she thought of something. "If I disable the tactical droid, the battle droids won't know what to do" she thought. She dropped her sabers, and then used the force to lift her main saber a few centimetres of the ground. Then, she sent the object flying into the droid, igniting the saber as she did. The tactical droid's head was impaled. Ahsoka then called her sabers to her hands and ignited them, sprinting forward to surprise the stunned droids. The clones behind her dived for their weapons and started shooting. Not a minute later, the droids where nothing but a pile of scrap. She and the clones then quickly removed the binders from the civilians, and told them to hide. Then, Ahsoka got a call on her comm-link.
"We are under attack!" one of the clones she had stationed outside said.
"We don't have time to do this properly, blow the place to hell!" Ahsoka said. The demolitions clones started planting explosives. Ahsoka then told the civilians to go down to the bunker and wait until the battle was over.
Ahsoka charged out of the building, lightsabers ignited, cutting down droid after droid. Behind her, the clones fired their blasters and threw granades. The droids turned around and began firing on the clones, who scrambled for cover. There where absolute hordes of droids, and they couldn't hope to hold out. Luckily, they didn't have to.
"We need to clear a corridor back to base!" Ahsoka said into her comm-link. "All walkers, focus fire on the centre of the droid formation!" explosions rained down on the droids, significantly thinning the lines. Machine guns also started firing, thinning the droids out even more. Ahsoka sensed her chance, and ordered the clones to attack. She cut her way through the droid lines, and the clones behind her moved from cover to cover, trying not to get shot. The clones were relatively successful, but the manoeuvre still was costly. They finally reached the large street they had come from, and the large walkers crouched down to provide cover. Ahsoka ordered a defensive line here to cover their retreat, and 100 men volunteered to buy them as much time as possible. Seeing no other choice, Ahsoka gave the order. She then took the detonator for the shield generator, and pressed it down. A massive explosion lit up the battlefield, and the building started to collapse. The massive energy stream that was coming out the top of the building slowly disappeared, and the entire planetary shield with it. The shockwave caught the droids off-guard, toppling down over one another. The collapsing building caused more damage to the droid formation. The clones took the opportunity to lay down streams of fire. Ahsoka then turned around and ordered the clones who were not guaranteeing their escape to follow her back to base camp.
-0-0-0-0-
The battle was going badly and Anakin knew it. The shields on all the ships were taking a beating, and it was practically a miracle that they were all holding. He then saw the planetary shields going down. The clones cheered when the report came in. "Prepare for extraction" Anakin told both the ship's crew and the troops on the planet. The fighters and the gunships that were sent with the initial attack where coming back to the Resolute, nearly out of fuel.
"Ahsoka, report in!" he said over the comm-link.
"I'm still here, master!" Ahsoka said. "We're facing heavy resistance!"
"Get you and your troops back to base camp if possible. We're starting the extraction process as we speak!"
"General!" one of the clones called out. " two enemy battleships are preparing for orbital bombardment!"
Anakin's eyes widened in shock. Then he gathered himself. "Warn general Unduli!" he said. "All ship, fire on the bombarding vessels!"
"Affermative, general!" the captains said.
"Ahsoka? They're about to bombard your position from orbit! We're sending in portable shield generators!"
"Alright, we'll hold out as long as possible!" Ahsoka responded.
The captain on the ship to the left of the Resolute contacted Anakin. "General Skywalker, we can never hope to destroy their ships soon enough" he said.
"I'm well aware of that, captain!" Anakin responded. "Any ideas?"
"I can attack now and force them to divert their attention. It might not stop them completely, but it'll give you a window to get shields down there"
Anakin thought for a few seconds. He hated to send his men in like that, with the objective to die. But there was no other realistic option. As the separatists began to fire on the planet, Anakin game the order. "Go ahead captain, may the force be with you."
"It was an honour to serve with you, general." The captain replied. "All non-essential personnel, abandon ship"
-0-0-0-0-
Ahsoka was not making much progress. The droids where swarming her position en masse, and clones where falling left and right. They had no air support, because all the fighters and bombers where needed in space to fend of the separatists there. It was a terrible situation all round.
"Ahsoka, report in!" Anakin said.
"I'm still here master," she replied, "but we're facing heavy resistance!"
"Get your troops back as soon as possible!" Anakin ordered her. "We're starting the extraction process as we speak!" then there was chatter on the comm, and Ahsoka closed the channel.
"Sir!" One of the clone captains said. "The droids appear to be retreating in all directions!"
"What?!" Ahsoka was definitely surprised. "This is a bad sign, they're up to something." She then made a decision. "Whatever they're planning, we have to take this opportunity. Order the troops to attack, but maintain formation!" she then ignited her sabers and charged at the droids. She cut down droid after droid with brutal efficiency. Up, down, left, right diagonal, as long as they turned into a pile of scrap. The clones behind her followed. Then her comm-link beeped.
"Ahsoka? They're about to bombard your position!"
Ahsoka's eyes widened in shock. They where still in the city, the amount of damage that would be done... She didn't have time to think about it. "Alright, we'll hold out as long as possible!" Ahsoka said. She then turned to her men. "Loose formation, we're about to be bombarded!"
-0-0-0-0-
Anakin watched as escape pods ejected from the ship to his left. The massive engines became alive, the blue glow of energy visible. The ship angled down, and moved forward. Green bolts streamed from the ship up to the separatist ships, who were still bombarding the planet. Anakin struggled to maintain composure at the thought of his men being blasted to pieces by those cannons, not to mention Ahsoka. He was worried for his padawan, but he told himself that he could only help her if he maintained a level head. It didn't work very well. He watched as the Republic ship ducked under the separatist bombarders, the shields taking a heavy beating. It still returned fire, defiant under the pounding. Anakin knew exactly what to do. "Get those mobile shield generators down there, now!" he ordered. "Send fighters and bombers to attack those 2 ships!" he knew they wouldn't be completely refuelled, but they didn't have to go far or long anyway. "Come on Obi-wan, we need you here!"
-0-0-0-0-
Ahsoka was close to panicking. Shells flew around her, and she was only alive because of the warnings from the force. She'd narrowly escaped death a few times, and was only lightly injured by shrapnel. Many of her men weren't so lucky. To many. Ahsoka's heart pained for the clones. Some of them she knew, most of them she didn't. She couldn't get the images of the dead clones out of her head. Her montreals were ringing from all the noise. She heard the screams of dying clones, not just through her hearing, but in her head as well. She drew on the force to stay alive. Each second seemed to take days, absolute agony filled her psyche. The only thing keeping her sane was the intense Jedi training that she'd undergone. She tried to draw on the force to calm her mind, but the suffering she felt was far to intense. She seemed trapped in an eternal nightmare.
Suddenly, the bombardment stopped. Ahsoka's mind was numb, she acted merely on her training. On procedure. Something she rarely did. She raised her comm-link. "Regroup, everyone, we have to get to base ASAP." The ringing in her montreals died down, and it was quiet. Eerily quiet. Captain Rex walked up to her. Ahsoka was glad he was alive. "Are you alright, commander?" "far from it" Ahsoka thought, but she didn't voice it. "Yeah, I'm alright" she said. "Physically, at least. We have to keep moving." Around her, a formation of clones had formed, awaiting her orders. "We have to keep moving" Ahsoka said. "Lets go!" and she started leading her men back to base.
Not long later, she heard the familiar sound of gunship engines. She looked up, and saw about 5 Republic gunships headed for them. They landed, and a few clones stepped out. 3 portable shield generators, commander" one of the clones said.
Ahsoka felt relieved. "Thank you" she said. "Can you take the wounded back to the Resolute?"
"Of course, commander"
Swiftly, the most heavily wounded clones where loaded aboard, getting immediate attention from the medics. The doors closed, and the gunships took off again. "Keep moving, we haven't got all day" Ahsoka said. Her mind functioned again, to some degree. She forced herself to keep her head here and now. She'd have time to process later.
-0-0-0-0-
Barriss felt sick to her core. She despised this war. She despised healing these clones, just to send them to die. She despised having to choose who to save and who to let die. The medical supplies were quickly dwindling, and she didn't have nearly enough beds. The beds where reserved for the most heavily wounded right now. The lowering of the planetary shields had allowed some med-evac, but it hardly was enough. And outside of the medical tents, battle was still raging. More often than not, she held medical supplies in one hand and her lightsaber in the other. Really, it was symbolic for what she, what the Jedi had become. Healing with one hand, destroying with the other. The incredible pain she felt in the force gnawed on her psyche. She'd long abandoned thinking for training and procedure, working like a droid keeping an endless checklist. If she allowed herself to think, darkness would swallow her whole.
-0-0-0-0-
"Captain! Shields at 20%" one of the clones yelled. Jarred, captain of the Retribution, knew he would soon meet his end. He'd done his job, and he bought the clones down on the planet valuable time.
"Are the portable shields set?" he asked through the comms.
"Yes sir!" a voice on the other end responded.
"Alright, thank you. I'm going to destroy those ships if it's the last thing I do!" he then turned of the comm, and switched to on-board communications. "Full power ahead, and abandon ship!" he said. He then took the controls of the ship, and angled it upwards, on ramming course with the left separatist ship. With any luck, he'd be able to ram it into the ship on the right to, and destroy them both. Resolve filled his mind. The panels on his computer indicated that all the escape pods had jettisoned. He would ram the separatists straight to hell.
-0-0-0-0-
"only a kilometre from base now" Ahsoka thought to herself. They where fighting on a large road that cut through a forest. The clones where ducking from cover to cover between the trees, while the walkers where walking on the road at a steady pace, using their large cannons to clear out groups of droids and other blockades. Red bolts were being shot at them from all around, and the blue bolts returned in the opposite direction. Ahsoka deflected bolt after bolt, letting her arms be guided by the force. This engagement had lasted for at least half an hour now, and they were making progress. Although not nearly fast enough. The shields had protected them from artillery fire as well as long range fire, but it had also prevented them from firing over long range, forcing them into close quarters. Luckily, there was plenty of cover.
"Sir, we're coming up on base camp!" one of the clones said. They're encircled!"
"We have to break through!" Ahsoka responded. She then commed the AT-TE's. "Split into 2 lines, make a corridor so we can fall back to base!"
Exiting the forest, Ahsoka charged across the field. The walkers came out of the coverage of the shield, firing into the line of droids. One of the walkers that were encircling the base, rose up to allow the clones to quickly pour walkers quickly closed the gap and crouched down, creating a corridor. The cannons fired round after round into the droid lines, trying and succeeding to hold them off. Clones took position alongside the walkers, helping secure the corridor. As more clones poured in, they either went to the medical station to receive treatment, or went to reinforce the perimeter, allowing the clones there a bit of breathing room. Suddenly, streaks of green bolts rained down from the sky as fighters passed over. Several Republic gunships landed, extracting many of the heavily wounded clones. The three shield generators were strategically positioned alongside the two already at the camp, covering the entire perimeter and overlapping heavily, while allowing the clones to engage the droids from a decent range. The battleground was flat and largely devoid of any cover, creating an ideal battlefield for the defending clones, who could seek shelter behind the walkers. However, they were vastly outnumbered. Ahsoka estimated that they could hold out for around 2 hours, with that time shrinking as more and more clones where sent back to the Resolute. She hoped it would be enough.
-0-0-0-0-
Anakin watched as the Republic ship rammed into the separatist, causing massive damage to both, and pushing the separatist ship into the one next to it. A giant explosion erupts, as the Republic self-destruct protocol is activated, further damaging the separatist ship. Another explosion, this time from the separatist, damages everything further. The two ships are firmly out of action, and the separatists have to break formation to avoid being damaged by the debris.
"Sir, extraction protocol is now initialized, waiting on your authorization!" one of the clones says.
"Go ahead, and prepare my fighter!" Anakin says. "And inform general Unduli." He smiles. He might just have a chance to save his men.
-0-0-0-0-
Ahsoka was tired. She'd been fighting for hours now, and between the nervousness and the physical strain, it was tiring her out. She'd been fighting for this camp for at least an hour now, and the battle wasn't going well. The med-bay was overflowing, and supplies where basically non-existent. She tried not to look at the many dead bodies that littered the battlefield, but she couldn't help it. Each and every body she saw left a mark on her psyche. Oftentimes missing limbs, or blown apart by shrapnel. The shields had held despite attempts by the separatists to bombard their position, wether that be from orbit, by artillery or by bombers. At least the evacuation was going decently well, but with each passing minute the droid's advance got closer to the perimeter.
The droids started to break through the perimeter. Ahsoka charged across the field, attempting to stop the gap before it could have any effect. She was decently effective, but it didn't take long before another gap showed up. "The droids are breaking through!" she yelled through her comm-link. "We can't hold out much longer!"
"Copy that" Anakin said. "Extraction teams, double time!"
Ahsoka looked across the field and saw master Luminara, as calm and collected as ever, blocking and deflecting bolts back at the droids. She didn't seem to need help, so Ahsoka looked around further. Another gap in the lines appeared, and Ahsoka immediately charged at the droids, raising her sabers to deflect incoming bolts.
But no matter how hard she tried, the perimeter was eventually overrun. "We cannot hold the perimeter anymore! Make for the medical station" she heard master Luminara order. Ahsoka disengaged and ran, still blocking the many red bolts coming her way. Clones fell all around her. She saw Barriss run out of one of the tents, lightsaber drawn. She saw a few lightly wounded men returning fire from inside the tents. Suddenly, streaks of green bolts rained down from behind her, on the droids. A swarm of gunships had arrived, ready to take the final men with them. Ahsoka ran through the medical tent, urging clones to follow her and support the ones who couldn't walk. A warning surged through the force, and Ahsoka jumped back over the clones, just in time to prevent the droids from harming them. Only once all the clones where safely aboard, did she jump into the gunship. She saw Barriss run toward her, and extended a hand, which Barriss gladly accepted. Then the doors closed and the gunships took off, having saved as many clones as they could.
A/N
And that's it for this chapter, with almost 4K words! I'm impressed with myself. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, tips, suggestions and reviews are always appreciated, make sure to follow the story if you want to be notified of the next chapter, and have a good day!
-ashnagog