Glad you all enjoyed my last chapter. That's all I want from my readers. I know it's a little cliché having the lover of the hero being captured by the bad guys, but trust me the reason for her capture will make sense in time. I urge you all to please be patient.
Now onto the reviews:
1049: Tarkins days are definatley numbered. I think we can both agree that the new season 7 trailer looks amazing, I always thought that Ahsoka's sabers would be the same color as before instead of blue. Still looks cool but I am so looking forward to seeing the Bad Batch.
Spartan-626: Yes, Robert will be on the warpath to find Ahsoka, but he won't be as bloodthirsty as the first time. Tarkin is going to get his ass handed to him, but as for Robert killing him slowly and painfully, that would probally border on the line of the Punisher, but I can see what I can do.
Mpowers45: Hell has indeed broke loose. The enemy is in for a very dangerous surprise and a lot of enemies are going to get blasted.
Now that the reviews are answered, its time for the moment I have been waiting to write for a long time since I first started this series. Disclaimers are the same as before, please enjoy.
Chapter 24: The Bad Batch
Feburary 2nd 2020 19BBY
Outer Rim Territories
0900 hours
Normal point of view
The success of the mission on Canto Bight may had returned much of the stolen hardware to the Republic military, but the rest of the equipment was still unaccounted for and their location unknown. Jakub and Tekud were arrested for treason and sentenced to several years in prison.
The damage done to the coastal city was significant but wasn't difficult to repair considering the large sums of credits the city had amased over the years through dirty business dealings and illegal trading of weapons, people and drugs.
Republic forces suffered light casualties and all separatist forces were completely destroyed. Canto Bight police officers who knew about the illegal deal that weren't dead were arrestedas accomplices while the officers that knew nothing of the deal were put in charge of the police department until the damage could be repaired.
The military called it a success, but they failed to realize that with Ahsoka captured, the separatists now had the complete Nexus route. Such an advantage had allowed the separatists to attack many republic outposts on worlds closer to republic allied planets. Most of the targets put the enemy in range of planets like Kuat, Balmorra and Corellia but strangly no separatist fleets had launched a single attack on those planets.
Naturally, this raised a lot of concern so Republic fleets were dispatched all over key routes along the outer rim to prevent any attacks.
Such was the case for the Wolfs Dragoons.
All across the fleet, Dragoon forces managed their daily duties. Maintaining the fighters, mechs and weapons while reports were delivered to the Expendables and other nearby fleets in the sector. Despite the work, all of the men felt a sense of loss.
When they heard Ahsoka was captured and that the Captain had asked her to marry her, they willingly volunteered for long-range recon missions in the heart of enemy territory but were declined. Still, they all vowed to do whatever they could to bring back the Captains girl.
As for Robert, when he reported to the council that they knew Tarkin would be on Cantonica and didn't warn him and his friends he blamed them for Ahsoka's capture. Because of them, the separatists had the completed Nexus route and were no doubt planning an attack on one of the core worlds.
As expected, Mace and the other council members who called Ahsoka's previous ordeal her 'great trial' claimed that she knew the risks and that if they told Robert about Tarkin, then the Lone Wolf would break cover and kill Tarkin as pay back for all the men like Wing-Dagger that were killed by the traitor.
Robert called their words 'a load of bullshit' and nearly shattered the windows of the council chamber. Thankfully, Anakin was able to calm him down and suggested that Robert take the Dragoons on an extendend recon mission in the Lehon System, where the Star Forge was once located to investigate reports of separatist supply convoy's in the area.
All this occurred over a month ago and ever since than, Robert had secluded himself from the rest of the Dragoons, family and friends. He was in a deep state of depression. The only time he ever left his quarters was to eat and run a solo recon flight. Not even the knowledge that Cassie gave birth to her's and Rex's kid. A baby gril whom they named Sadie.
"Even after all I told them about what happened to me, they just don't understand what I've been through." He muttered, looking at the picture of him and Ahsoka that they took after their nice dinner that Kasumi and the others had planned for them, despite Dutch's death.
Rolling back over in his bed, Robert began to feel the anger inside him building but quickly countered it, remembering why he choose to fight in the Clone War in the first place. It was because of people like Hera, that he wanted to protect from the likes of Tambor and other separatist leaders.
The funny thing was that during one of his meditations, Dooku contacted him and promised that he didn't know where Ahsoka was but promised he would do all he could to find her before something terrible happened to her, especially since according to Rally Ahsoka was pregnant.
The fact that Ahsoka was carrying their child and in the hands of a traitor made him more worried than ever. All of this and the fact that Tarkin had her in his clutchs, made it clear that he was trying more and more to resit the temptation of returning to the person he was following Scarif.
"I vowed never to return to that cold person I was. I won't throw everything away because of some bastard like Tarkin and Sidious." He muttered and was about to go to sleep when a knock on his door caught his attention.
"Captain, we've reached the rendezvous point where we're supposed to meet that elite team General Skywalker told us about before we left Coruscant." Admiral Halberton said from behind the door.
"I'll meet them in the hanger." Robert said and quickly changed into his standard attire and joined the admiral.
"For what its worth sir, I'm also worried about Ahsoka. But you can't let your concern effect you like this. Its not good for your health. You've couldn't have known this would happen and you can't change the past. All you can do is ensure that she comes back safe and I give you my word the men are all behind you." The admiral stated.
"Thank you, Halberton." Robert said, but he was still unsure.
By the time they reached the hanger troopers and hanger personel in the center of the ship started to run for cover as a large black and red ship with wings similar to a Tri-Fighter and pointed nose came speeding much to fast. Reaching out with the force, Robert caught the ship and slowed it down to a halt, just inches from him and the Admiral.
"I felt like I saw the light at the end of the tunnel with what just happened. WHO THE HELL'S FLYING THIS SHIP!?" Robert stated before he noticed on the ships side was a nice, yet creepy nose art depicting Senator Amidala wearing her typical senator attire but with a slit blue skirt that revealed her slender legs, brown combat boots and holding a ELG-3A blaster pistol. "Nice nose art." He added with a snicker.
He soon had his answer as the boarding ramp of the ship lowered and its occupants exited the ship.
One of the occupants wore black colored clone armor with red markings on his helmet which had a different appearance than the usual helmet, cracked his knuckles. Following him was a man wearing white armor with red lining on it, but his helmet lacked the standard t-shaped visor. Instead, their helmet had a yellow visor and underneath the visor was a pair of googles.
Following them was another man wearing the same black armor as the first person, but had a red pauldron on his left shoulder. His helmet featured a pair of straight line for their eyes and a antennae/scanner on it. On his back was a sniper rifle.
The forth person was more muscular than the others and wore the same black armor as the first two, with traces of red on it and a skull on the right shoulder. His helmet, which was white with traces of gray had six holes on the mouth plate. On his right leg was a sheath for the guys large commando knife. The man removed his helmet revealing a brutish looking face with the left eye shut, like it was covered by an eye patch. "Calvary has arrived!" the man shouted.
And finally, following the large guy was a man wearing grey phase two clone armor but wearing the old phase one helmet which was also had the same paint scheme. In the center of the armor was the iconic white skull of the Punisher. The man removed his helmet and revealed his bald head and brown eyes.
"99?" Robert asked as the group walked towards the Dragoons captain.
"Been a while, hasn't it kid?" 99 asked as a very surprised Echo, Fives and Hevy arrived. "Looks like the three Domino boys are still alive and kicking." He added.
"So, these are the Domino's you always talk about sir?" the trooper with the unsual helmet pattern said, removing his helmet and revealing his black hair, brown eyes and half-tattooed face. A red headband with a small skull was wrapped around his head.
The others removed their helmets revealing their bald, gray and brown hair styles. "So, you guys are clones?" Hevy asked curiously.
"You know it. Names Hunter." The bandana clone said before introducing the others. "That's Wrecker. He's our heavy weapons expert."
"You guys ever fought a male Yalvik?" Wrecker asked. The three Domino Arc Troopers and Lone Wolf shock their heads. "You're lucky. Only way to kill 'em is with one of these." He added, pulling his knife out and holding it directly a few inches from the tip of Roberts nose.
"That's right, Wrecker here cut off the queen's stinger while she was still alive. That's while all those Yalvik males tried to eat us." Hunter stated.
"Technically they were trying to mate with us. And for your information, the stinger of a Yalvik queen is considered a delicacy on some planets." The google wearing clone stated.
"That's Tech. He can fill your head with useless intel for hours." Hunter said before turning to the trooper with the rifle. "Crosshairs on the other hand isn't much for conversation, but if you need to hit a target from ten clicks, he's your man." He added.
"As for me, I lead these guys. Our unit name is Clone Force 99, but we call ourselves the Bad Batch." 99 stated proudly.
"Bad Batch?" Robert asked confused.
"We were created with 'desirable' mutations which made us the way we are. Each of us has a unique set of skills and its thanks to Taun We that we were given our chance to fight." Hunter stated.
"So basically, you guys are like Captain America with your abilities? I dig it." Robert stated.
The Bad Batch turned to the Lone Wolf. "You're the leader of the Dragoons?" Wrecker asked. Robert nodded and then the big muscle clone just started to laugh. "You're just a kid. I've heard the Lone Wolf is strong enough to lift a tank on his own and has his own armor. You look like a lump of Jogan pudding." He added.
Much to his surprise, when Wrecker threw a punch Robert caught it! He then lifted Wrecker into the air and threw him into a nearby wall, upside down. "Ok, now I'm convinced." A dazed and surprised Wrecker said.
"If you think you've seen me now, just wait till you see me in action with my kind of firepower." Robert stated.
This caught Wreckers attention. "You had me at firepower. Let's see what kind of hardware you're packing." The strong trooper asked.
"Follow me." The Lone Wolf said and led the elite clones to the armory.
If they thought the Republic had some impressive weapons, the Bad Batch was quite surprised to see the vast arsenal the Dragoons had in terms of earth weapons. Everything from the basic Desert Eagle to the M134. Needless to say, they were all impressed especially Wrecker in terms of the machine guns, rocket and grenade launchers. "Ok. I've got to admit I'm impressed with this stuff." Wrecker stated.
"These are slug-throwers Wrecker. These weapons are ancient, no match for modern blasters." Crosshairs stated. "Though I will have to admit, from what I've heard they do pack a bunch." He added; his eyes fixated on the Barrett M107 CQ .50BMG sniper rifle on the table in front of him.
"Ancient or not. These weapons have seen action from the sands of Geonosis to the shadows of Umbara and they kick ass." Robert stated. He then noticed Hunter holding an M4. "Mind putting that down. That rifle belonged to my father." He said.
"Sorry about that. We may use blasters, but most of the time we're behind enemy lines so we have to improvise with our equipment." Hunter stated putting the rifle down. "Got to say, I'm impressed with the arsenal you have here. You've got enough firepower to arm a whole company. Not to mention the vehicles you have in the hanger are something else." He added.
"Just wait till you see em in action. I promise, you won't be disappointed." Robert said, catching Wrecker holding an LSAT. "Someone seems to have a thing for automatics. Don't worry, once we find the right one for you, I can make all the modifications you need Wrecker." He promised.
"Works for me, so long as I get to give it to the Clankers." Wrecker stated. He was about say something else when much to his surprise, entering the armory was B1 droid. "We got a stowaway!" Wrecker shouted and was about to lunge at the droid, only to find he couldn't move.
Robert was holding him back by the force. "Don't worry about Bats, he's on our side. Processor got hit by a deflected blast from Kenobi and it made him change sides. He's now apart of the Dragoons." Robert explained.
"Awww. I was hoping to punch that droid into the wall." Wrecker said disappointed.
"You'll have plenty of time for that later." Bats said and walked over to Robert. "Captain, we've been ordered back to Anaxes. Jan Donna has just contacted us that the newest Mech's are ready." The droid said.
"Thanks." Robert said to the droid and turned back to Clone Force 99. "You guys can test your skills with ballistic weapons on the gun course on Anaxess and if you thought the enemy had the advantage with the stolen walkers, then you haven't seen nothing yet." He added.
By the time they reached Anaxess, the base of the Wolfs Dragoons was bustling with activity. Workers were making the nessecary repairs/upgrades to the Mech's, Tanks, Humvee's, Copters and VTOL's, fighter squadrons were either returning from patrol or heading out for patrol, Troopers were doing maintance on their weapon or were just relaxing, since they had completed their duties.
"Pretty nice setup you got here Captain. I was wondering how well the Dragoons were when it came your base." Hunter said impressively. He then noticed Robert glaring at his head. "If your wondering about if we have inhibitor chips implanted in our heads, you don't need to worry. Taun We heard about the incident with Fives so Wrecker, Crosshairs, Tech and I had our chips removed. 99 didn't even have one." Hunter stated, easing the Wolf's uneasiness.
"Probally because they thought 99 wouldn't be going into combat." Wrecker joked.
"Very funny. Hunter take the others and get yourself to the gun course. I want to talk to 99, alone." Robert said. Hunter nodded and followed Fives to the gun course, leaving Robert with 99. "What happened to you 99? Last I saw you, you looked like the Hunchback of Notre Dame. Now, you look like you're Captain America." He asked.
"You can thank Taun We for that as well. She was able to get my body looking like this thanks to a procedure she was working on, thanks to her I'm ready for combat." 99 said. The former 'defective' clone then noticed that Robert was trying to hide his actual feelings.
"Sir, I know you're worried about the Commander. Frankly, a lot of us clones feel the same way. Especially since you helped defend Kamino, me and the others will do everything we can to help you get her back." 99 assured.
Robert looked to the trooper and smiled. "Thanks. It means a lot." He said, feeling eased knowing that the new guys were behind him all the way. He then followed 99 to the gun course.
Roberts point of view
This must be what Bric and El-Les fell like when they were observing new clones during their training. I was feeling pleased as I watched the Bad Batch demonstrate their skills. Hunter was skilled with pistols, just like Rex but seemed to prefer close combat, as shown by the Vibroblade he had stored in his gauntlet.
Tech was the learning type. From what I could tell, the guy had modified his visor to work like a computer display. Hence the terminal installed on the forearm part of his armor. Guy also had a thing for learning, but also had a lot non-useful triva which he called a hobby. Kind of like me with my models. Combat wise, Tech preferred twin pistols like Hunter but also opted for the DC15S carbine and carried four extra gas cartridges for heavy firefights.
Crosshairs reminded me a lot of Chris Kyle, one of the Navy's best snipers prior to his deat. Like Hunter said, the soldier could hit a target from ten clicks and could probally take out an entire platoon of droids single handedly. His main weapon of choice was the new 773 Firepuncher sniper rifle.
Unlike the standard version, Crosshairs rifle was equipped with a custom-made scope which increased his effective range exponentially by about five clicks. Made me wonder how well he could handle a .50BMG rifle.
99, he's the basic soldier. Skilled in all manner of weapons and tactics the guy was your basic grunt. Unlike other troopers, 99 had actual combat experience prior to the formation of the Bad Batch. He took part in a recon mission to Jedha with Ordo and several other Null class ARC Troopers. The mission proved to be a success and they learned that the separatists were up to something on Jedha.
Then there's Wrecker. Guy had the strength of the Hulk and he could rip a droid apart with his bare hands. He was loud, brash, had a short temple and while he didn't show it, had a fear of heights. His weapon of choice was a customized DC17 blaster rifle like Delta Squad, but also preferred weapons like the Z6 and RPS 6. Something tells me the trooper could handle something like the Browning .50 without the bipod.
Standing inside the gun course's observation room I watched the squad make short work of the training droids. Hunter, with a pistol in one hand and his knife in the other blasted a group of battle droids with presesion before thrusting his knife into the torso of another droid. I then watched the trooper holster his pistol and slashed another group of droids that managed to get the drop on him. For a second it seemed as if nothing happened, but the moment Hunter sheath his blade the droids fell apart like a lightsaber had slashed them.
Tech was pinned down several battle droids but everytime the trooper peaked out of cover, he never fired once. Instead, he pulled out a grenade from his belt, threw it and then just before the grenade hit the ground blasted the grenade, sending an emp shockwave through the droids taking them down with out risking himself to enemy fire.
99 used his training and downed droids after droid before advancing further and further up the course, taking cover any chance he could when the droids resumed their attack. Guy moved like he's one of those characters from a tactical third person shooter game. Then again, its important to use cover in a firefight especially when one's trying to take out a gun nest.
I watched as 99 lobbed a detonator into said nest which then exploded, turning the droids into pieces of scrap metal, lucky for the nest it was made of metal. Easier to maintain and fix then sandbags and wood. As for the droids, they were easy to fix and re-use for targets.
I then turned to Crosshairs, who had not moved a single inch from his current position and continued to fire upon the droids. Already he had amassed an impressive droid count of fifty droids! Most troopers are able only to take down one or two at the most before they are killed, unless your someone like Rex and other veterans of the war. But Crosshairs, he just kept firing bolt after bolt. Have to say I'm impressed, but then again this was only a course and in real battle its best to move to another position to avoid getting killed.
Wrecker on the other hand was having the time of his life, from what I could gather. Guy likes to charge into battle guns blazing and used his strength to his advantage, he really is a Hulk. He could grab a droid with one hand, swing it around like a lasso and fire his weapon with one hand. Or in most cases, charge with all the rage he has and use his fists to rip and tear droids apart likes he's the actual Doom Slayer. My kind of guy, except for his fear of heights.
From what 99 told me, they have seen plenty of action since they first started fighting three months ago and have amassed quite a droid count. Count is putting it mildy, they've destroyed over five-hundred droids and suffered no casualties. "I like these guys already." I said to myself as the squad finished the course.
I exited the observation room and walked over to the clones. "I'm impressed with your skills, but now its time to see how you handle something with a bit of recoil." I stated. I caught Wreckers smile but that smile soon quickly disappeared as Rex entered the gun course. "Sorry to bother you kid, but you've got new orders. Command wants you to take a platoon to Agamar. Droid activity in that sector has increased and it could mean that they found the commander." The 501st captain stated.
I saluted Rex who then left the course and turned back to the Bad Batch. "Looks like firearms training will have to wait. Time to get to work." I said.
Minutes later, the Havoc Marauder the personal ship of the Bad Batch was fueled and ready for us by the time I arrived. Along with the Bad Batch, accompanying us was Breach, Blake, Rex, Fives, Echo, Hevy, Jesse, Hardcase, Kix and my friends.
Once we took off, the Marauder entered hyperspace and we were heading back to war. I was really hoping we would find a clue to Ahsoka's location.
Normal point of view
A planet of oceans and forests, Agamar was a rare sight to see in the outer rim sector. Only if you hadn't been there before. Such is the case for people like Erik and Fenrir who have been all over the galaxy due to their past occupations.
Agamar has also been the sight of several battles prior to the arrival of The Lone Wolf, his friends and family. In each of those battles, the planet changed hands as quickly as the Nazi's retreat from France following D-Day. The only difference between the event of World War 2 was that the planet was now back in the hands of the separatists, who have yet to move any troops from the planet.
As the Marauder entered the Atmosphere, in the passenger section of the ship, Jeese got a nasty glare from Crosshairs who went on to say that they don't ever work with 'regs' or regular clones as Hunter stated. "Don't take it personal, it just means we don't always follow protocol." Hunter added having stopped the 501st Arc Trooper from starting a fight.
"Ok Rex," Robert said getting the attention of the others. "What's the mission?" he asked.
"Intelligance received a distress call from a separatist General who's saying he wants to defect and assist the Republic. But here's the catch, the General is a Super Tactical Droid by the name of Kalani, the same tactical droid who was on Onderon." Rex stated.
"You shitting me? We're extracting a Clanker General? I could deal with a senator, but a Droid those things are better off as scrap metal. Except for Bats, he's cool." Rally exclaimed, holstering her handguns.
"Trust me Miss Vincent, Kalani wants to defect and its no trick. He said he has valuable informations for the Republic, but he would only go with us if he was extracted by the Lone Wolf. Seems like the kid's got an admirer." Rex said half seriously and jokingly.
"Droids can be tricky." Jesse stated after wiping the visor on his helmet. "We can't be to sure that this isn't a trap. Dooku may have had a change of heart and is trying to kill Robert." He added.
"Dooku wouldn't…" Robert began but was interepted as the ship shuttered. "Tech, what's going on?" he asked.
"Turbelence. Seems like we're the middle of a large storm. I've homed in on the location of Kalani's location, but the winds are blowing at over two-hundred miles per-hour." The intel clone said. Lightning flashed outside the ship and one bolt of lightning hit the ship. "The left wing's stabilizer has been hit. I can't keep the ship airborne. We're going to have to land and wait out the storm." The trooper added.
Robert understood and gave the order for the ship to land in the nearest clearing. The landing proved to be quite bumpy and most of the equipment fell from the storage racks above them. The Ultimax 100 fell from the rafters but was quickly caught by Marie, but she failed to notice the MKL grenade launcher falling towards her. The launchers stock hit her on the side of the head, knocking her out since she neglected to put her armor on before reaching the landing zone.
By the time ship came to a stop, the wind had died down and all that was coming down was the rain. "Guess that counts as one bad landing. At least we can walk away from this one." Honoka said cheerfully.
"Forget about the landing, Marie's out cold." Robert reminded his friend motioning to the Swedish girl who had blood flowing from her head. Kix then scanned hurt Swedish girl with the scanner in his medkit.
"She's got a minor councussion so that's the good news. The bad news is that she twisted her ankle badly, she's not going to be able to fight. I can cut the pain, but she needs help." The medic stated. A final flash of lightning from off in the distance lit up the sky and revealed that they had landed in the remains of one of the past battle sites. Wrecks of gunships, tanks and walkers along with the bodies of wrecked droids and dead clones littered the area.
The hatch of the ship opened and the rest of the squad exited the ship. "Out of all the planets we've seen in the galaxy, this one has to be the most like jungles of the Pacific islands." Hitomi stated, swatting away several small insects that buzzed around her face. She then slapped the back of her head, causing a brief bit of pain. "Ouch! Damn Mosquitos." She exclaimed before putting her helmet back on.
"We all need help." Crosshairs stated looking in the direction west of the crash site. Approaching them was some two-hundred battle droids "That flash of lightning gave away our position." The sniper said turning to Hunter.
"Huh, I thought the smoke from the stabilizer gave away our position." Hunter stated.
"Everyone find cover. We'll hold this position and let them come to us." Rex ordered.
"I don't think so, Captain. That's not our style. We prefer going to them." Hunter countered before turning to the others. "Bad Batch, plan 82. Shockwave." He ordered.
Wrecker grabbed a fallen blast shield from a wrecked LAAT while the other clones readied their weapons and charged forwards. "Let's get to work." Hunter said as the squad got closer and closer to the approaching droids.
"Blast them!" the droid commander shouted. Moments later, all the droids opened fired at the approaching clones. The wave of enemy fire was relentless but the troopers continued forwards, firing their weapons and taking down a few droids.
"Are these guys for real?" a surprised Jesse asked. He couldn't see it, but underneath his helmet Robert smiled.
Once they were close enough, Wrecker slammed the blast shield down and Tech lowered his visor and began to make a calculation of the distance between them and the droids while Crosshairs and 99 laid down covering fire. Once he had the distance figured out, Tech called out "45, mark 151."
"45, mark 151." Hunter repeated and lobbed a droid popper towards the approaching droids. Just before it began to fall to the ground, Crosshairs fired his weapon and struck the grenade sending out a massive EMP blast over the droids shutting them down instantly.
"75, mark 357." Tech called out. Hunter repeated the coordinates again and lobbed another droid popper towards the enemy, this one caught by a battle droid before Crosshairs hit the popper sending out another EMP blast at the droids.
They were almost finished with the droids when a pair of spider droids soon joined the fight. "Fan out!" Hunter shouted and wrecker swung the makeshift shield around allowing his comrades to head for the droids while Wrecker charged forward with the shield still in his hands.
Hunter downed two droids with his pistol before he unsheathed his knife and sliced another droid before jumping on the dome head and drove his blade into one of the droid's optical sensors, shutting it down. Wrecker charged towards the last droid and rammed the blast door against the last spider, bending the barrel, causing the energy of the cannon to build up and back fire on the droid, destroying the final droid.
Two hundred droids attacked the platoon and none came back.
"That was some show you put on." Rex said walking over to the troopers with Robert following them. "Show's putting it mildly, that was badass. You guys were like Spartans." Robert added, removing his helmet and smiling.
"Just doing our job sirs." Hunter said before looking back to see Wrecker teasing Crosshairs with a blasted droid head.
"These won't be the last of them. We need to get the ship fixed before enemy reinforcements arrive." Robert added. He then turned back to Kix who was still tending to Maries injury. "Shame Barriss isn't here. She could…" he began before a large flatbed truck like repulsor lift vehicle arrived piloted by none other than Kalani. "Are you the Lone Wolf, Robert Lehner, son of Linda Shan, Count Dooku's third padawan?" Kalani asked.
"Yes." Robert answered calmly.
"I am greatful that you and your companions are alive. I calculated a fifty-eight percent chance that the ship would have been destroyed upon impact. I suggest that you get the ship on the craft as quickly as possible. Reinforcements are inbound and will be here in five minutes." The tactical droid said.
There was just enough power left in the Marauder to get the ship off the ground for a few minutes allowing it to land on the vehicle which was then secured by a stasis field and once everything was in order the vehicle quickly departed.
It took them all a few good minutes to arrive with Kalani at his hiding place, a downed DH-Omni Support Vessel guarded by several dozen jury-rigged AAT's, proton cannons and a battalion of droids. Once the flatbed entered the damaged hanger, its occupants exited the vessel just as droid engineers who began to work on the Marauder.
"It will take one hour to repair your ship, until then I'd advise you to not attack my droids." Kalani stated as he led the Lone Wolf and his allies to the bridge. Marie was starting to come around, but her leg was still busted so Kix stayed with her so he could treat her.
"I assume you have numerous questions as to why I need your assistance." Kalani stated.
"You got that right sparky. Why the hell do you need our help? You got a ship so you can leave anytime you want." Honoka asked.
"My ships engines were damaged in the crash and cannot be repaired. I have ordered my droids to recover any components from the battlefields that could be used to build a strong defensive permitter around the vessel." Kalani explained.
"So, then that means the droids that attacked us…" Kasumi began before Kalani interrupted her.
"No, my dear, the droids that attacked you were not mine. They belonged to Jana Star or as you know her as Dark Star. She has been ordered to terminate me." The tactical droid explained.
"And she's after you because you know some big bad separatist secret or battle plan that can't fall into the Republic's hand?" Robert asked jokingly which Kalani answered he did.
It turns out, during one of Dooku's 'personal matters' he had discovered a set of coordinates may lead to the supposedly destroyed Star Forge, a massive automated shipyard built by the Infinie Empire that Revan and his former friend Darth Malak found and used to build a massive army which he used to construct his Sith Empire, beginning the Jedi Civil War in the process.
After his memories were altered by old Jedi council when his former friend Malak tried to kill him, Revan defeated his old comrade and destroyed the shipyard, or so it seemed. Malak's attempts to harness the power of the force into the machine not only allowed the dead Sith Lord to regain his strength during his final battle with Revan, but allowed it to rebuild itself without any assistance from any outside force.
While pieces of it were found across the galaxy Dooku discovered that they were fakes, an effort by the station to through off anyone with evil intentions from using the machine. According to Kalani, Dooku feared that if the Forge got into the hands of his master then the war would escalate even futher leading to more death and suffering across the galaxy. So, he gave the coordinates of its possible location to Kalani who was then ordered to contact the Lone Wolf with this information.
Unfortunately, Dark Star caught onto this plan and sent a small fleet to intercept Kalani's own fleet. The tactical droid was able to destroy the fleet pursuing him, but his own fleet was destroyed and all that remained was the supply ship. "And that's all that happened since your mission to Canto Bight. And before you ask Captain Lehner, I do not know why the separatists were selling Republic military equipment." Kalani finished.
"I'm also assuming you don't know where Ahsoka is either?" Robert asked. Kalani nodded and Robert sighed.
"I can assure you that Count Dooku is also looking into your friend's abduction." Kalani stated. Just before Robert or anyone else could ask a question, one of Kalani's droids entered the command center. "General, we've lost contact with our scouts. But they managed to send us a message, a large force of enemy units are heading towards us. They outnumber us more ten to one." The droid explained.
"It appears that we may not make it out of here alive. Dark Star will have no doubt brought walkers with her and they have more than enough firepower to destroy us all." Kalani assed.
"Then why don't we hit them first." Robert said getting the attention of the others. "General, if you have any probe droids can you send them out to where your scouts were last located?" he asked. Understanding what the Earth-born Jedi was getting at, Kalani dispatched his four remaining probe droids to the location of fallen droid scouts.
It didn't take long for the probes to send back visual images of the approaching enemy units before they were destroyed. "I estimate we have only thirty minutes before the enemy reaches our position." Kalani said.
"Then why don't we delay them?" Robert suggested, zooming in on a series of slot canyons that led towards the battlefield where the rescue team crashed. "If we can either block or destroy the exit to the canyons, they won't be able to move their forces through. The canyons are to small for walkers to move through so they will have to go around, tanks and MTT's just might be able to squeeze through but if we can force them to go around the canyons it should buy us sometime to get the Marauder ready for take off." He stated.
"Your logic is correct. My droids have investigated the canyons and walkers cannot fit through them. Tanks and transports can move through along with infantry. The walkers won't be able to make it to us in time before the ship is ready for take off." Kalani said in agreement.
"I need all the explosives you have left on this ship. Its going to take a lot of firepower to block those canyons. We'll take care of it while Kalani prepares his forces for attack. All else fails, we'll have to hold them off with the firepower we have and try to send out a distress signal. Master Kota's fleet should be nearby so he may be able to help us." Robert stated.
"You had best hurry." Kalani said and changing the maps location to a nearby mountain. "My sensors have detected an immense pressure building up in the nearby volcano. It will erupt soon and when it does, nothing will survive the pyroclastic cloud or the lava from the mountain." The droid added.
The others nodded and Kalani gave them a pair of speeders to take to the canyon. By the time they reached the entrance to the canyon, Tech had detected that the volcano's pressure had almost reached critical levels and they were running out of time.
"See those rocks up there? Plant the charges there, once detonated they'll cause a rockslide and block the exit point." Robert pointed out to the others. They nodded and went to work at once. All except Wrecker.
"I get you're afraid of heights Wrecker, but right now we have a mission to complete." Robert said to the nearly big trooper. "I'm not scared of heights. Its just that, when I'm real high up, I got a problem with gravity." The trooper said sheepishly.
"I had a fear like yours one time, but I got over it by telling myself one thing. 'No pain, no gain.' You can do this Wrecker, I belive in you." Robert said. Under his helmet, Wrecker smiled and without a second thought, began to climb up the cliff to the objective.
Once they reached the top, they began to place the charges at the designated locations. Each of the charges had enough power to disable a tank or in this case cause a rockslide. The Bad Batch finished planting the charges when Crosshairs sniped a probe droid that managed to sneak up on them.
"Clankers are getting closer and closer to us." The Bad Batch sniper stated before he sniped another probe droid.
"Good thing we're all finished here. Let's get back to Kalani before…" Robert began but didn't finish his sentence as the ground began to shake. Once the shaking stopped, they repelled back down to ground level and were about to leave when 99 spotted three four platoons of droids attacking Rex and the others. "Looks like the regs are in a bit of trouble. Time to bail them out." Crosshairs said.
"What are your orders Captain. Pick' em off from where we are?" Hunter asked.
"Actually, I going to take a page from your book: Rush then head on." Robert replied, pulling back the slide of the Punisher, chambering a round.
"I like your style kid." Hunter answered and the six of them charged forwards. Once they were in range, a barrage of blaster bolts and bullets rained down on the droids from the rear. The droids turned around and turned their attention to the hostiles attacking them from behind.
"We've been outflanked!" one of the droids shouted before it was slammed by the Lone Wolf and then used as a living shield. Blaster fire subsided for a few seconds before Robert shoved the droid back to its comrade before said droid exploded, taking four other droids with them. "GEARS OF WAR BITCHES!" Robert shouted and fired round after round from his custom handgun.
Ten droids fell from a .500 Magnum rounds to the head in a span of seconds before another five were downed by headshots as well. Ejecting his spent clip, Robert loaded a fresh clip into the Punshier before he pistols whipped another droid to the ground and crushed its head.
"Targets eliminated." He stated.
"Those scouts ambushed us before we even spotted them. No doubt more are on the way." Rex said.
"Then its time we get the hell out of dodge before the clankers ambush us again." Rally added before she climbed into the speeder, fired it up and waited for the others to jump in. By the time they were heading back to Kalani's ship, a loud boom echoed across the area and they all looked up to see a large plum of smoke coming from the volcano. "Guess it erupted sooner than we thought." She added as the ash began to fall like snow.
Once they reached Kalani's ship, Robert handed Wrecker the detonator and the large trooper pressed the button, from a distance the explosions were heard from the ship. "We don't have a lot of time before the volcano starts spewing lava and lava bombs." Robert said to the droid general waiting for them.
"Unfortunatley, your ship is still undergoing repairs and the enemy is almost on us. It appears that they have managed to bypass your trap and are moving their troops around the canyon. Their walkers are still several miles away, but their tanks and infantry will be here in seconds. General Kota is unable to provide assistance, he's come under attack by separatist reinforcements." Kalani said.
"In that case, Crosshairs, Hitomi get up on the catwalk and in sniper position. Pick off any targets you can hit. Wrecker, Hevy, Honoka, Hardcase, setup a firing position on all sides of the hanger, catch em in the crossfire. Tech, Echo, Fives. Help the engineer droids get the ship ready for take off. Everyone else, take cover and open fire once the enemy is in range. Let's give these guys a one-way ticket to the smelters yard." Robert ordered.
"Roger." The others said and headed for their positions. "Hold on Wrecker. I've got something for you." Robert said, stopping Wrecker. "You're going to need something with a little more firepower. The GDLMMG machine gun fires .338 Norma Magnum rounds and they punch right through the armor plating of super battle droids easy." He added.
Under his helmet, Wrecker smiled with delight and took the weapon from the Lone Wolf along with the ammo. "I'm goint to top your kills with this gun. Just you wait captain." Wrecker stated and headed after the other machine gun wielders. Robert just smiled and turned to Kalani.
"Kalani, what are the odds that the lava will start heading towards us before the ship is repaired?" Robert asked the droid general as both forces prepared for battle.
"I calculate a thirty percent chance that the lava will not head towards us and a seventy percent chance it will head towards us." The droid replied.
"INCOMING!" Kasumi shouted as a pair of Hyena bombers dropped their payload on several of Kalani's troops that were still outside the hanger destroying them and taking out the proton cannons. Once the bombers pulled away, hostile battle droids appeared from the canyon and began to open fire.
"All units, prepare for battle!" Robert shouted, whipping out the BFG, charged the launcher up, targeted the retreating bombers and fired. The ball of plasma followed the bombers and impacted the lead bomber, destroying it and the others in the ensuring explosion.
"Target down." He stated, loading a new pack into the hybrid weapon and shifted it into blaster mode, attached it to his back, pulled out his Morita and hunkered down behind an empty blaster crate with Kalani beside him.
"Your ally, Tech says we have about five minutes before the lava starts exiting the volcano. They only need four to get the ship ready." The droid said.
"Four minutes against seemingly impossible odds, I'm liking these guys all ready." Robert stated as the hostile droids entered the hanger and opened fired.
Waves of battle droids of all types entered the hanger with the intent on stopping the traitor from leaving with the Republic forces, only to be wiped out by a combination of both Republic, Droid and Earth weapons fire. Still, the enemy was able to take out some of the opposition but the shear amout of fire power was something they never expected.
Pulling the trigger of her AS50, Hitomi downed a single battle droid with a precise headshot, targeted another battle droid and fired. A single .50BMG bullet exited the rifle, impacted the lead droid and hit the droid behind it taking out two droids at once. "Not bad." Crosshairs remarked as the German-Japanese girl reloaded her rifle, firing his own rifle and downed four droids in four seconds. "But its better to use something that doesn't need to be reloaded all time." he added.
"Reload or no reload, a sniper rifle is a sniper rifle." Hitomi replied and fired her rifle again.
Below them, spent .338, 5.56x45mm clattered to the ground as Wrecker and Honoka reloaded their machine guns while Hardcase and Hevy laided down suppressing fire with their Z6 Rotary cannons, mowing down fifteen battle droids before taking cover. Once he was in cover, Wrecker and Honoka resumed firing their machine guns at the enemy. An allied battle droid was taken down by hostile fire, prompting Wrecker to throw all his grenades at the droids, taking out five squads. "Nice throw." Honoka complimented the muscular trooper and resumed firing.
Breach, Blake, Rally, Kasumi, 99 and Hunter held their ground against a group of commando droids that managed to take out the droids they were working with. A burst of fire from Rallys CZ-805 Bren downed four commando droids and was followed by a single shot from her rifles underbarrel G1 launcher, taking out another three commando droids.
Taking cover to reload, Rally watched her girlfriend pot out of cover, spraying the enemy with fire from her AEK-971. Blaster fire from the troopers supporting her and Rally downed the droids that weren't downed by her weapon. A blast from Breach's DC-15 knocked the E5 out of the hands of one of the incoming Commando Droids, which then pulled out its Vibroblade sword and prepared to bring it down Kasumi. Thankfully, Hunter stabbed the droid in the head with his knife before lobbing one of his remaining grenades at the droids, taking out more enemy forces.
"Nice lob." Rally complimented to which Hunter smiled under his helmet and continued fighting.
Meanwhile, Rex, Robert and Kalani fired their own weapons at the enemy droids. "Looks like its just us now." Rex stated as the last of Kalani's droids was destroyed by the enemy units. Turning to his right, he gunned down four B2 droids with rapid bursts from his pistols before he nearly took a hit to the head.
"I really hate those guys." He stated, returning to cover and turning to Tech and the others. "HOW MUCH LONGER!?" Rex shouted to the three working on the ship.
"ONE MINUTE!" Echo shouted back as a blaster bolt flew past his head.
"Captain, we're almost ready to depart." Rex said to Robert who just handed Kalani the BFG. "You sure that's a good idea giving the General the launcher?" he then asked.
"Kalani can handle it as long as he doesn't use the launcher mode." Robert replied, firing his Morita downing ten standard battle droids and four Super Battle Droids with a forth of his magazine. "EVERYONE FALLBACK TO THE SHIP! SUPPRESSING FIRE!" he shouted and the group began to fall back to the ship.
Hitomi and Crosshairs entered the ship first, followed by 99, Breach, Hunter, Blake, Rally and Kasumi. Wrecker, Hevy, Hardcase and Honoka continued to lay down covering fire as Tech, Echo and Fives boarded the ship followed by Rex.
"GET YOUR ASSES ONBOARD! WE'VE GOT TO GO!" Robert shouted, firing his rifle and covering the others who slowly made their way onto the Marauder. Just as Robert was about to board the ship, the lava from the volocano melted the wall behind them and was getting closer and closer to the ship.
He got onboard just in time and the ship hovered in the air for a few seconds before turning around to the hanger entrance and rocketed out of the wrecked ship as the lava began to destroy the arriving walkers and tanks.
"Talk about cutting it close." Robert said as the Marauder exited the atmosphere and entered hyperspace. He then turned to Marie. "How you doing kid?" he asked.
"Legs still busted up, so I'm going to be out of action for a couple of days. Don't worry, I'll be back in the fight soon." The Swedish girl replied.
"Glad to here it." Robert said and turned to Kalani who handed him back the BFG. "Welcome to the Dragoons, General." He said to the Droid general, holding out his hand which Kalani took and shook the Lone Wolfs hand.
Robert then turned to the Bad Batch. "You guys kick ass. We're going to get along just fine." He stated.
"Glad we're part of the Dragoons. With us backing you up, we'll get your girl back I promise kid." Hunter stated.
As the Marauder exited hyperspace over Anxess Robert suddenly felt a light pain in his chest. He knew that this meant Ahsoka was being tortured and it was hurting both of them. "I'll find you Ahsoka, I promise." He said to himself as the Marauder touched down at the Dragoon HQ.
And there you have it, the Bad Batch has arrived, Cassie and Rex's kid has been born, Ahsoka is carrying her and Roberts child, Kalani is back and now a part of the Dragoons and it seems the Star Forge is still intact. Will it be found by the Dragoons before the separatists and does this mean a certain assassin droid from the days of Revan is still functional? Tune in next chapter to find out.
Would you like me to bring in Shaak Ti next chapter and reveal the secret she has been hiding all these years? Please leave your answers in a review and do not leave anything offensive to me. Also, a new poll is up, so please cast your vote to make the final battle more interesting.
Also, how many of you saw the new trailer for Clone Wars Season 7, looks awsome doesn't it?
Until then, see you next time.