Chapter 2: Battle for Ertegas

Ertegas, breadbasket planet, under siege from the Separatists seeking to cut off clone trooper rations.

Jedi from the Agricorps forced to hide.

Tanya, recently promoted to Jedi Knight, given command of ending the siege.

—-

Aboard the Venator Class Star Destroyer, Tranquility, Tanya was meeting with the commanding clone of her clone troop unit and the Admiral of the fleet heading through hyperspace to the Ertegas star system.

"What is the situation on arrival?" Tanya asked, in her light grey Jedi robes, her lightsaber sitting at her hip.

"The separatists have made landfall and have setup a planetary shield generator. We will need that taken down before we can take out the droid control ship," Admiral Lergen briefed, standing at attention in his immaculately pressed uniform.

"That's where we come in," Tanya said with a sigh.

"Indeed. The shield generator seems to be set to block large ships and turbo laser fire, but a single dropship would be able to get through with no problem."

"Do we at least have a local contact who can guide us?"

"No. We have lost all contact planet side. We believe the communication jammer is either built into the shield generator or is in the droid control ship."

Tanya gave another sigh before looking at her Commander Clone. "Begin preparations for a rough insertion. Plot out an evasive path as close to the generator as possible. And remember Mission One."

"Sir, what is Mission One?" The commander clone asked with a salute.

"Survive. I am not going to be held responsible for a bunch of clones dying under my watch. Do I make myself clear?"

"Sir, yes sir."

Tanya nodded as the clone turned to leave.

"Oh. And get me a blaster." Tanya added offhandedly as she turned back to the admiral.

Everyone turned towards Tanya and looked at her lightsaber hanging at her waist.

A technician at a sensor scanner decided to poke the elephant that had suddenly appeared in the room. "Uh, don't you already have a weapon?"

"Yeah, but how quickly can you cross a battlefield to hit someone with a stick?" Tanya asked. "And how much faster is a blaster bolt?"

Tanya let that thought sink in for a moment before turning back to the Admiral to continue the briefing and strategy session.

—-

Tanya sat with her squad as they entered the atmosphere, adjusting the comlink in her ear for comfort. "Alright men. It is traditional for the leader to give some inspiring words of wisdom before diving head first into battle."

Satisfied with the way the comlink sat, she stood up and was annoyed even the men sitting on the ground doing last minute checks on their rifles were apparently taller than her.

"I'm going to keep this short and sweet. Today, is a good day! For somebody else to die!"

With that the clones gave a round of chuckles as the tension was broken as the trajectory of the craft noticeably changed and the drop ship doors opened.

Tanya used the force to summon her blaster, practically a sniper rifle compared to her small size, and took up a position on the ground on the starboard side to begin shooting down droids from the air.

Her unit quickly began to follow her lead, shooting at the exposed droids through the low grain.

"Concentrate your fire. We aren't going for kills here. We need to clear the drop zone." Tanya ordered.

"Sir!" The troopers responded at once.

"Excellent. Keep it up men."

Everyone on the ship were very careful about not thinking how close the return fire was to hitting the dropship, killing them all.

The dropship dodged and weaved the blaster bolts coming from the small army of droids, gaining a few glancing blows, but one hit a trooper standing next to Tanya in the leg, knocking him down.

Tanya reacted instantly, rolling the troop over to look at the wound, a black gash along the side of his thigh piece.

"How do you feel soldier?" Tanya barked the question in an annoyed tone.

"Spooked, but unharmed. I can fight Sir."

"I'll be the judge of that." Tanya stuck her fingers into the gash and quickly pulled them back, shaking her hand as if she just got burned. "Seems the shot didn't make it through your armor. Alright Scorch, up you go. And remind me to get some of that armor after this mission is over."

"Sir, yes Sir!"

Tanya used the force to pick the newly dubbed Scorch up before went back to firing positions, Scorch a bit more behind cover than previously.

—-

While the landing seemed to take hours, it was only a couple of minutes later that the squad was on the ground and heading for the cover of the grain, staying low to the ground.

Slipping between the stalk that were just barely taller than the ten year old mission leader.

"Everyone safe?" Tanya asked, standing next to her commander clone. Getting a round of acknowledgements, Tanya gave a grim nod. "Good. Advance slowly. We need visuals on the area to plan our approach."

After several tense minutes of stealth, Tanya got a visual of the area around the slim tower of the shield generator up close. The field for a couple hundred meters around had been burned to the ground creating a flat kill zone patrolled by droids whose heads were swizzling in search of targets to gun down.

Tanya strapped her blaster across her back as she crouched and motioned for her commander clone trooper close. Drawing a rough map of the area she began to explain her plan.

"I only see one way we can get the bomb onto that generator. As the one most likely to survive acting as a distraction, I'll draw the fire and attention of the droids. You and troopers will go around to the other side before coming in, setting the bomb, getting back to cover, and begin giving me covering fire so I can get out of there."

"Sir, permission to speak," the clone requested after the plan was laid out.

"Permission granted."

"In order to better achieve mission one, only one of us needs to go in to set the bomb. The rest of the unit can take up positions here, here, and here to cover you and the bomb setter."

Tanya gave the modified plan a moment consideration before nodding. "Good work spotting a better way. Next time, though, you do not need to request permission to make suggestions for a better plan."

"Sir."

"You have thirty secs to get in position before I start my distraction."

"Sir." The trooper nodded before moving swiftly into the grain, instructing his troops as he went.

Tanya took the time to breathe and calm herself down, knowing it was risky, but that it was the best they had at the moment.

After her thirty seconds were up, she strode into the kill zone with more confidence than she felt. She saw a droid indicate something to her, but she wasn't sure if it said anything over the sound of her rapidly beating heart. Taking up and igniting her lightsaber, she felt a moment of comfort from the gentle purple glow of the blade before the force screamed danger and she parried a blaster bolt.

Striding further into the field she kept up parrying and deflecting of the bolts the droids fired upon her position. Staying defensive and keeping an eye on her surroundings, she saw more droids from around the field moving towards her, firing as they did. A few of the droids fell to reflected blaster fire, but Tanya was unable to reliably use the angles of fire to kill droids and she began to be pushed back.

Then the droidekas began to roll out of the field of grain where they had been hiding and deployed their personal shields and began firing heavy blaster fire on her position.

Her face contorted into a mask of rage as she closed her eyes. And she spoke.

"Oh, lord."

The gentle breeze around the field of battle suddenly stilled.

"Hear the cry of your faithless followers."

Her blade slowly began to thicken and change color from purple to a brilliant gold.

"For though we have sinned and forgotten thee, our hearts cry out for you."

Her eyes opened and were shining gold.

"So, my Lord, give this faithless one strength to vanquish these soulless foes."

With a swipe of her wrist, Tanya's blazing gold saber unleashed a beam that took out a group of the battle droids who seemed to explode at the lightest touch of the beam.

And Tanya began to sing.

"Mine eyes hath seen the glory of the coming of the Lord."

Tanya jumped and landed on top of a droideka shield before thrusting her sword down, the blade barely slowed by the shield.

"He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored."

Tanya backflipped as she began to fall, her blaster slipping around her body into the air. Tanya grabbed it as she rolled in the air and fired at the droids surrounding her.

"He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword."

Tanya let go of the blaster which stayed in the air where she let it go and gave a vertical slash that unleashed her blade's furious beam that destroyed three more droids.

"His truth is marching on."

The shield generator blew up and the tower began to fall.

"Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! His truth is marching on."

Tanya pulled one of the other droidekas off the ground and towards her, over her head. Two quick slashes removed its heavy blasters which stayed behind above Tanya's head.

"I have seen Him in the watch fires of a hundred circling camps."

Tanya gestured and all the fallen blasters rose in the air, aimed at the battle droids.

"They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps."

The droids stood no chance of avoiding all the blaster bolts Tanya fired into them before letting the blasters fall back to the ground.

"I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps."

All but Tanya's blaster, which she grabbed from the air before using the force to slam the last two droidekas into each other.

"His day is marching on."

Tanya turned towards the clone troopers who had come out of the grain and seemed to be confused about what to do now that the battle was so swiftly over and she gave them a grin that would dear itself into their minds for the rest of their days.

"Come men, we have a planet to save."

—-

Near a burning building of simple construction and a low roof a trio of Jedi robed figures were being lead in chains by a force of battle droids.

"Move," One of the droids ordered, pushing the shortest of three, a dark green skinned Rodian in dark brown robes who was barely a teen.

"We are," the tallest one said, glaring at the lifeless machine. "Where are you taking us?"

"You are prisoners of war. What happens to you is none of my concern," The droid told the pink skinned Twi'lek in very light, nearly white, robes.

The third Jedi stopped walking and turned towards the way they had come from. "I sense a presence?" The dark skinned older human male said in a confused tone. "Heavy in the dark side? But it feels bright and clean?"

"I said move," the droid said coming over to push the man back to marching.

"Uh, we got something incoming," another droid spoke up, looking in the same direction as the man with a pair of binoculars.

"Uh, looks like a Jedi and clones."

"Clones? Attack!" The apparent leader said, taking aim with his blaster.

The blasts made it about halfway to the figures before freezing in mid air. The short Jedi leading the clones seeming unbothered by the blaster fire coming towards her as she gently waved her hand and a second squad led by an identical twin appeared to come out of the field and took up firing position as did the men that followed her.

"I would advise you to release your prisoners," the closer one said.

"Kill the Jedi," the commanding droid ordered.

All the battle droids took aim at the five Jedi they saw at random when a golden saber came spinning out of the field from behind them, arching through the droids before coming to a pause in mid air as Tanya began to appear from thin air and her duplicates and the clones with the duplicates disappeared and revealed ground that has been blasted.

Tanya and her troops strode to the Jedi and freed them.

Staring into the only other female's eyes, Tanya's still lit with a golden glow, Tanya spoke, "A time to love. A time to hate. A time for peace. A time for war. It is for you to decide what to do."

The Pink Jedi gulped and nodded.

—-

On board the Tranquility, Tanya was rubbing her head while nursing a mug of caff, the Pink Jedi next to her, as they sat ready for the debriefing to begin. On Tanya's other side stood her clone commander, going by the name of Simon.

Admiral Lergen began the meeting with the holographic Mace Windu.

"We began the mission by sending in a small strike team headed up by Jedi Knight Degurechaff, after an hour of waiting, the shield around the planet went down and we engaged the control ship. The battle was longer than anticipated, but losses were minimal. After the control ship went down, we sent in clones to free any captives and check that all droids were destroyed."

"Hmm. Good. What about the ground battle, Knight Tanya?" Windu asked.

"Ugh," Tanya grunted in pain before beginning. "The landing was a bit rough, but we made landfall unharmed. To destroy the generator, I acted as a distraction. During the skirmish, I was beginning to get overwhelmed. I then tapped deeply into the force and my memory gets fuzzy from there."

"We will have to discuss this later," Windu said, showing no emotion.

"Yes Sir," Tanya obediently responded.

Windu's blue hologram turned to face the Twi'lek. "And you are?" He asked, not immediately recognizing her.

The agricorp Jedi stood up swiftly, ramrod straight, nerves clearly visible to all. "Jedi Agricorp member, Viktoriya Ivanovna, Master Windu, Sir."

"Viktoriya? You were the one that volunteered for the Agricorps instead of trying to become a Padawan a few years ago, correct."

"Uh, yes Master," Viktoriya agreed as she appeared to shrink in on herself.

"What are doing at this debriefing?"

"After Tanya saved me and a couple of other Agricorp members, I sorta went along with her and the clones to free other captured Jedi and just kinda kept following her and nobody stopped me. Should I leave?"

"You may leave," Mace allowed.

Viktoriya started to move, but stopped and looked at Tanya who was staring at the hologram. "Uh, before I go, what is going to happen with me now?"

"What would you like to happen?" Mace asked, scrutinizing the young Jedi.

"If it is ok, I would like to join the fight. To help my fellow Jedi."

"Hmm, you will have to be made a Padawan first. And I think it is about time that Knight Degurechaff took one on."

"I would need some time to get her up to speed," Tanya said, not agreeing, but not saying no.

"How long would you need?"

"A month should do to get her to a basic competency."

Mace nodded. "Admiral, I'll need you to take them to the training site of Tanya's choice. Expect to return after a month..."

"Actually," Tanya interrupted. "I believe the Admiral and his men would be a big help."

"Very well, Admiral, you and your men are to help with whatever Tanya's training involves."

"Yes Sir," The Admiral agreed in a very neutral tone.