Glad so many of you loved my introduction of the Bad Batch last chapter and including 99 as part of the group. I have been wanting to add those troopers in my story for sometime and was waiting for the right moment.
Now for those of you wondering who BATS is, he is the only battle droid that defected from the Separatists to the republic, albit it was due to a malfunction during the Battle of Horain caused by Obi-Wan. This was a request by The Raider who I asked to bring the Bad Batch into his Star Wars Rebels story.
Now, onto the reviews.
Mpowers045: I'd figure that since I kept 99 alive, I'd give him a better body suited for combat like Steven Rodgers got when he became Captain America. Hunchback isn't good for combat.
1049: I've been wanting to bring in the Bad Batch for sometime, since they are some of my favorite clones and remind me a lot of Blue Team from Halo. Glad you liked it.
Spartan-626: I'm pretty sure I told you I was going to bring in the Bad Batch when I first began my story, but I am glad I got you in terms of surprise. As for Ahsoka, I am considering twins but named after a certain couple from the old G1 Transformers. Shaak Ti will be included in this chapter and speaking of said rust colored droid, what do you think of having that droid use the weapon based off the old STG44? Kalani will defiantly be a major asset in ending the war, you just wait and see.
Cbryson207: Cassie and Rex's kid is named Sadie. It was the first name that came into my mind. Hope you don't mind.
Reviews aside, be prepared for quite a few surprises this chapter and the return of long thought to be destroyed droid. Disclaimers are the same as before, please enjoy.
Chapter 25: Forges and Secrets
Feburary 28th 2020, 19BBY
Unknown location
0845 hours
Normal point of view
The cold steel floor and the smell of her own vomit had started to become something she was getting used to. Kneeling on the ground in only her skives, her arms bound behind her by a pair of leather glove like objects connected to a leather harness strapped around her chest, leather straps securing her legs and ankles, Ahsoka heaved again sending more puke across the floor with small traces of blood.
"Damn it." She cursed once she stopped heaving. It had been well over two months since she was taken captive by Tarkin and she still didn't know why they went to all the trouble of capturing her. She didn't even know where she was.
The last thing she remember was searching the underground complex hidden beneath one of the old casinos on Canto Bight and then she woke up to find herself in some weird kind of straightjacket, gagged and completely unaware of her location.
To make things worse, she was carrying her and Roberts child, but that didn't seem to matter to Tarkin or Dark Star who were interogatting her, demanding the last part of the Nexus route. She refused and was subjugated to constant torture from both enemy leaders, Tarkin giving her the worst torture she had ever endured.
She panted and caught her breath before entering her cell was Tarkin with a sinister look on his face. She slowly backed away from the traitor in fear and put her back against the wall. "I'm going to enjoy this bitch." Tarkin snarled and the door to the cell closed.
In a few short moments, Ahsoka's screamed echoed all across the base but the droids paid no attention to it. Her torment had only just begun.
Wild Space
Teth System
Half way from the hidden location of Ahsoka's prison, Robert felt the pain in his chest once again. "LEAVE HER ALONE YOU BASTARD!" he shouted, holding his hand out in a desperate attempt to reach the girl he loved.
His eyes shot open and he stared at the ceiling. "It was only a dream." He said sadly, slamming his fist against his sheets as the tears began to fall from his eyes.
It had been several weeks since the Dragoons extracted Kalani and having that droid on their team proved to be a valuable asset. Kalani gave the Dragoons the exact location of the Twi'lek treasures that Tambor had stolen from Ryloth and had returned them to the people as he promise Cham.
The Dragoons also hit several supply bases belonging to the separatists, finding more stolen Republic military equipment at these bases and sending them out to the other legions and divisions of the Clone Army, reinforceing their firepower of the legions and turning the tide of the war.
But from these actions, came a new enemy tactic. One that was from World War 2 history.
Kamikaze's or Tokubetsu Kogekitai, a terrifying weapon organized by the separatists, turning their fighters into bombs. Living or droid, these fighters and bombers had already caused numerous casulities amongst the Republic navy and no matter what measures the Republic took, the enemy was able to break through these defenses.
Several Kamikaze's had attempted to sink the Dragoons fleet, but failed due to the tactics and knowledge of Japanese kamikaze's the Lone Wolf, his friends and family knew from documentaries. Even with this knowledge, the search for the Star Forge had become more challenging then ever.
Despite all the precautions and knowledge of the enemy's new tactic, Robert started to distance himself more and more from the Dragoons. Even the sight of Cassie holding her newborn baby couldn't even lift his spirts. He still felt like he failed Ahsoka from being captured and was starting to even take up drinking to ease his sorrow. Talking with Anakin or any other Jedi proved to not be any help either.
For all it seemed, nothing could help him but he couldn't be more wrong.
As Robert woke up from his nightmare, a single T-6 shuttle dropped out of hyperspace and waited for clearance to board the Retribution. Once it was granted clearance, its pilot Shaak Ti guided the ship in just in time before the Retribution made a jump to the next possible location of the Star Forge.
Exiting the shuttle, the Togruta council member was directed to Robert's quarters. Standing outside his door, Shaak Ti took a deep breath and entered only to find Robert wearing a white no-sleeve Punisher Hoodie and green gym pants. "I don't think the council got the message. The Dragoons can handle the search for the Star Forge, the rest of you can go searching the galaxy for Sidious, I've got my future wife to find." Robert said without so much as even turning around to face her.
"I didn't come here as a member of the Jedi Council; I came here to help you find Ahsoka." Shaak Ti admitted.
"Help? Funny, you didn't seem to provide much help when Ahsoka was accused of terrorism, you just threw her out like an unwanted puppy." Robert snapped.
"And I've come to see that. Masters Windu, Mundi and Tinn refused to except the fact they made a mistake, both in wanting her to give up her love for you and calling her ordeal 'her great trial'. I've come to rectify that mistake on my own." Shaak stated.
Robert finally turned around. "WHAT COULD YOU POSSIBLY DO TO HELP AHSOKA! YOU WEREN'T EVEN AT HER TRIAL IN PERSON! YOU WERE TOO BUSY TRAINING NEW CLONE TROOPERS FOR BATTLE AND NOW YOU WANT TO HELP!? WHAT IS IT THAT MADE YOU WANT TO FINALLY DECIDE TO HELP HER? WHAT IS IT THAT MADE YOU INTO A HEARTLESS BITCH AND REFUSED TO DO A DAMN THING?" Robert shouted.
"Its becaue Ahsoka is my daughter." Shaak Ti admitted.
Robert was taken aback by this revelation. "What do you mean she's your daughter? How could she be your daughter, she doesn't even look like you." He said, but not as angry as he was before.
So Shaak Ti explained. Turns out, around a year after Robert was born, Shaak Ti fell in love with Ranas's dad after his first wife died and the two were married shortly after. In just a few short weeks, Shaak Ti was pregnant with Ahsoka and requested a meditative retreat in order to hide her pregnancy from the rest of the council, mainly the ones who were so stuck on the code and couldn't see that it was for a time for a change.
After Ahsoka was born, Shaak knew that she couldn't raise her daughter and be a Jedi at the same time so she left them behind with Ahsoka not even knowning who her mother was. Years went by and when Ahsoka was brought to the temple by Plo Koon, she knew that Ahsoka had grown into a fine young Togruta and assisted in training her, believing her to be her successor of her people to the Jedi Council.
Despite this knowledge, Shaak Ti dared not approach Ahsoka for fear of her connection to Ahsoka being discovered and the two of them being expelled from the order. No one knew of her connection until she told Master Yoda just a few days ago, who understood why Shaak kept her secret all these years.
"Now you know why I was so understanding of your predicament when Ahsoka was taken to Scarif, but I didn't want to tell you, for I believed that you would tell the council." Shaak Ti said, hanging her head low in shame.
"I'm sorry. I understand why you kept it a secret, people stuck in the past can't see the future. That's certainly clear with Mace and several others. As for my earlier outburst, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to call you a heartless bitch." Robert apologized.
"I understand. I would have done the same thing if I were you. But those words still hurt." Shaak Ti admitted, finally lifting her head up and revealing the tears that were falling from her eyes. "Despite that, I will do all I can to save my daughter. Especially for my future son in law." She added.
Robert rubbed the back of his head and chuckled. "Too think you're actually Ahsoka's mother, well I feel sheepish." Robert joked.
Suddenly, the ship shock violently and Robert fell on top of Shaak Ti his hands pressed against her breasts. "What the hell was that?" Robert asked before he realized where his hands were. Quickly, he removed his hands just in time as Breach entered the room. "Captain, somethings wrong with the Hyperdrive, we're dropping out of hyperspace." The ARC Trooper stated urgently.
"WHAT!?" Robert asked and exited his room with Shaak Ti following him.
By the time the two of them reached the bridge, personal were scrambling to determine amount of damage done to the Retribution's systems. "Someone talk to me, what happened?" Robert asked once he entered the the bridge.
"Wish I could tell you Captain," Treadshot began walking towards Robert with Keeli and Ratchet behind him. "We're just as puzzled as you are." The Dragoons captain added as the ship dropped out of hyperspace, several parsecs away from any world republic or separatist.
"Middle of nowhere. Shit!" Robert cursed just as Barney entered the bridge.
"We found the problem. Buzz droids were smuggled aboard and killed a couple of technicians in the engine room, they sliced up the hyperdrive pretty good before we scrapped them." Barney stated.
"The bad news is the hyperdrive is damaged extensively. Its going to take time to repair, but the Buzz droids destroyed a lot of the tools we need to repair the system, not to mention they also did a number on the engines, long range communications systems, shields and navigations systems." Cassie added. After she gave birth, she was clear to return to active military duty and upon hearing that Robert and Ahsoka were to be married, began to look for a wedding dress for the Togruta teenager until she heard Ahsoka was captured.
"What about the back up hyperdrive? Can we still use that one?" Robert asked. A nearby technican shook his head telling him that the backup hyperdrive was damaged as well. "Great, we're dead in space. Anyone wanna take a gamble and think that the rest of the Dragoon fleet also suffered the same as the Retribution?" Robert asked sarcastically.
He didn't need to wait for an answer because he soon got his answer. Dropping out of hyperspace, the Guardian, Judgement, ARC-Angel, Defender II and Enterprise all confirmed his fears. "Captain, many of our systems have been damaged. We're dead in space and its all because of some Buzz Droids that someone smuggled onboard." Pryce said from the bridge of Judgement.
"Damn it. I feel like we're about to get attacked by kamikaze's any minute now." Robert cursed again.
"If you say that then it will happen, as you earthlings say 'don't jinx us.'" Tua added from the bridge of the Defender II.
Before Robert could respond, alarms blarred all across the fleet. "SIR! Massive contact directly in front of us, but there's nothing out there. Its possible we've encountered an enemy stealth fleet." A naval officer shouted.
"Prepare all weapons for combat. Fire only if you see the enemy." Halberton ordered, but the second he gave those orders, materializing in front of the damaged fleet was a massive space station the size a larger Dagger fighter mixed with a semi closed Citadel space station was the Star Forge. All across the the station, a large quantity of turbo laser turrets turned towards the ships and appeared they were about to fire.
"BRACE FOR IMPACT!" Robert shouted, expecting the guns to open fire. Much to his surprise, the ship did shutter, but not from enemy weapons fire. "REPORT!" Robert shouted.
"We're caught in a tractor beam. It's pulling all the ships towards the station." Blake shouted.
"Get all troopers to prepare to repel boarders." Robert shouted. Suddenly and unexpectedly a hologram of a strange looking droid appeared on the holo-table behind them. "Statement: Please do not be afraid master, I am only bringing your ships in for repair." The droid said.
"Joyed Statement: I have been waiting nearly four-thousand years for my new master and he has finally arrived. I will meet you in the repair bay." The droid added before vanishing from view. The others then turned to Robert whose jaw nearly dropped from what he heard.
"Hey, don't give me that look. I don't even know this droid." He said defensively to the rest of the Dragoons and Expendables. They belived him, but Robert was completely unsure if he belived himself about what he said.
By the time the Dragoon ships were docked in the repair bays, Robert was dressed in his armor and had his weapons ready for any difficult situation that may arise. The Retributions boarding ramp opened up and standing at the bottom was a rustic colored assassin droid with an old republic blaster rifle attached to its back.
Rolling up alongside the droid was a silver plated T3-series astromech droid with a blue central optic, waving its 'arm' as Robert walked off the Retribution, followed by his friends, family, squadmates and Shaak Ti.
"Statement: Welcome to the Star Forge master. I am HK-47, your families personal assassin droid and a veteran of the Jedi Civil War." The droid said. The astrodroid then beeped angrily at 47. "Annoyed statement: No, I didn't forget about you T3-M4, you're just not important as I am." 47 stated.
"Hey! No fighting you two, how many times do I have to tell you, no arguing. I swear, if I have to deactivate the two of you for another twenty-four hours, I'm going to leave you…" a new voice called out from behind a sky-blue Cutlass 9-Patrol Fighter. Appearing from behind the fighter, dressed in mechanic coveralls covered with coolant was a teenage Rutian Twi'lek with blue skin and brown eyes. "Off for a little longer than usual." The twi'lek finished, surprised by these people.
"Are you Mission Vao, former Taris street urchin and ally of redeemed Jedi Revan?" Robert asked surprised.
"Yes." The now identified Mission answered.
"How are you still alive? I thought Twi'leks lived about one-hundred fifty years and you still look like you're still a teenager." Robert asked confussed.
"You can thank Revan for that. After I helped destroy this place, he foresaw me playing a key role in a future event thousands of years after he died. So, he put me in a stasis pod and had HK and T3 look after me. He even faked our deaths in case the Sith were still around and looking for us." Mission explained. "And I'm seventeen." She added.
"Guess my ancestor had a vision, but unlike Krell decided to do something to prevent such a future rather than let it happen." Robert chuckled.
"Wait, you're Revan's desendant? Talk about a shock." Mission stated.
"Yeah, surprised me too. But what's the deal with the Star Forge? I thought it was destroyed years ago." Robert asked.
"Statement: I can explain that master. After master Revan faked our deaths, I remained online and began to collect the remains of the Star Forge, rebuilding it to its true glory. Due to the power source, it took longer than expected to rebuild. So, I had to find a new source of power." HK began.
"Additonaly statement: I traveled across many planets until I found the new power source. A prototype nuclear reactor, which I stole from the early Trade Federation. Since then, the station has repaired itself and once you came back to the galaxy reactivated and began to make the final touches to the repairs." The droid added.
"Wow, didn't see that coming." Robert stated.
"No kidding." Honoka added. She failed to notice Missions Lekku darken a bit. "To think a place like this was hidden from the galaxy for so long. Surprised Sidious didn't find this place already." She added.
"You can thank HK for that. He managed to build an experimental clocking device using Stygium crystals he found on Maramere. A large deposit of those crystals was found under the ocean and I had to go down numerous times to get those blasted crystals, even almost ended up as shark food a few times." Mission stated.
"At least a cutie like you didn't get eaten, otherwise we wouldn't have met." Honoka teased, again failing to notice Missions Lekku darken a bit again.
"Ok, so you guys have been fixing up this place why?" Robert asked.
"Answer: Master Revan knew the Sith would return and threaten the galaxy long after his time had passed, so as we stated earlier, we have been readying ourselves for the time to take the fight to those knock off assassin droids you have been fighting for all these years." HK-47 stated.
"I get that. But what exactly are you going to be building in this place? Doesn't seem like you have enough workers to run this place." Robert asked, still confused as to what the new purpose of the Star Forge was.
"Answer: Please forgive me master, but I have looked at the blueprints of the new ship you have been planning. I have infiltrated your living quarters on Coruscant in order to determine what your plans are." HK-47 answered.
He then pressed a button on his left arm and a hologram of said ship appeared in front of the group. "This is the ship you've came up with?" Shaak Ti asked in amazement. The ship was nineteen kilometers long, had thirteen massive engines, armed with over five-thousand turbo laser cannons, five-hundred-point defense laser cannons and two hundred fifty missile batteries. More than twice the firepower and twelve times the length of the new Imperator-class Star Destroyers being built by Kuat Drive Yards.
"That things a beast." Barney said in awe.
"It was ment to function like the USS Flagg from Gi Joe, but with more weapons than the aircraft carrier in order to protect itself from enemy attacks. It also carries more equipment, troops and vehicles than an Acclamator Assault ship." Robert explained.
"Looks like something on the lines of a military build up plan." Shaak Ti said nervously at the thought of such a beast of a ship being deployed to all active battlefronts.
"You misunderstand, its meant to be a one of a kind ship. Its not a symbol of conquest, but freedom. If it were built, it could transport more reinforcements to a battle ground with few escorts given its size and firepower. A ship like this could have made the difference at the Battle of Hypori." Robert stated assuring Ahsoka's mother.
"Agreement: Master is correct, a ship this size and armed would have made all the difference in the early days of the war. Unfortunately, the Chancellor would never agree to build such a ship and even if he did it would cause the Republic to accumulate more debt than it already has." The assassin droid stated.
"Come to think of it, don't you think it's a little odd that the Chancellor hasn't stripped the senators that are known supporters of the separatists of their positions?" Mission asked. "Think about it. Dodd, Same and Card among others are known supporters of the separatist alliance and haven't even been put under observation. Makes you wonder if the Chancellor wanted them to organize the power plant bombing." She added.
The Dragoons looked at her confused before she answered. "What? I keep updated with the Holonet and HK hacked your data files when he got the blueprints for your ship." She said defending herself.
"Normally, I would be very pissed off since someone broke into the Range. But I am going to let it slide, since the two of you have begun to probally build the ship." Robert replied with a smile under his helmet.
"Actually, we've already started building the ship over two months ago." Mission replied, rubbing the back of her head. "The ship should be ready in three months. But that's if we get more help building it. We don't have enough droids to help finish it." She added.
"Fuck!" Robert shouted and slammed his fist down on a nearby welding torch, crushing it.
"Annoyed Statement: Master! I needed that!" HK said.
"Great, what else could go wrong." Robert asked sarcastically.
He soon got the answer he didn't want, for no sooner had he asked the question Pryce contacted the group. "Captain, sensors are picking up a large enemy fleet is dropping out of hyperspace." The Lothal native said urgently.
"What are we looking at?" Robert asked.
"Fifteen Separatist frigates holding position just outside our turbo lasers." Pryce answered.
"This is Lietunant Veers, we are launching fighters to engage the enemy." Veers called from the the Enterprise.
"Negative Lietunant, let them get closer and then treat them to some turbo laser fire from the station." Robert countered. Veers acknowledged and withdrew his orders to launch the fighters. "Pryce, Tua, once the enemy gets in range, let em have it. Save the torpedo's for later." Robert added.
"Roger that." the two Lothal natives responded over the commlink.
Robert than stepped towards the viewport and looked as the enemy ships drew nearer and nearer to the Star Forge. "Somethings not right, Banking Clan frigates wouldn't be able to take on six capital ships and they haven't even launched their fighters." Robert said.
"I think I know why, mutilple contacts coming out of hyperspace, Trade Federation control ships and their launching boarding craft." Kasumi said urgently.
"How many?" Robert asked.
"Hundreds of them, four to five hundred. There being launched from the control ships and frigates." Kasumi answered.
"That explains it they were trying to get us to lower our guard, give their boarding craft a clean shot at the forge and deploy their droids." Robert realized. He then activated his commlink. "All Dragoons, get your gear and get your asses on the forge. We need to push the droids back before they can secure this place. If they get their hands on it, then the war will be much more difficult to end. LET'S PUSH THE BASTARDS BACK!" he said on all frequencies to every soldier.
He then turned to Mission and HK-47. "You ready for some action?" he asked.
"Excited answer: I thought you'd never ask master." The Assassin droid replied and prepared his blaster for battle.
"I need a weapon." Mission said. Honoka handed her the SIG 556ix she had. The weapon was equipped with a hybrid ACOG-Holographic sight, fifty-round magazine, M203 grenade launcher and muzzle break.
"Hope you can handle an assault rifle, you're about to get a crash course in the use of our weapons." The Japanese girl said, playfully just as the forge shook violently. Outside the station, the Dragoon ships left drydock, turned around as fast as they could and turned their weapons onto the incoming boarding craft. Turbo laser and point-defense weapons fire destroyed a few of the incoming craft, but they weren't able to stop all of them from latching onto the station and began deploying their droids. The battle for the Star Forge had begun.
Missions point of view
Never thought that after Revan ordered me into cryo-stasis that I would wake up in a galaxy once again caught in the quagmire of war. You'd think that people would have learned their lesson from the events of the past, but it appears no one did.
I didn't even expect to end up meeting Revan's desendant and was actually fighting alongside him let alone he was from another planet no one even heard about. Talk about a big surprise.
The biggest surprise for me was that Robert had built several sets of armor similar to his own armor for his friends and family along with several of his weapons. Guy's a really good with his hands when it comes to building things.
Then there's the Jedi that was with him. Shaak Ti, I belive that's her name. It came as a big surprise that she's the mother of the guys girlfriend, who the current Jedi order tossed away when she was accussed of a crime she didn't commit. Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty. I'm also kind of surprised the Jedi order of today still have their 'no attachment' rule.
Glad that wasn't the case for some Jedi, though it's a shame I couldn't have met Roberts mom she sounded like quite a woman. Speaking of women that girl, Honoka I think her name is was quite a beauty. I never told anyone before, but I have an interest in people of the same sex I am and I think I'm falling for the salmon haired girl from Earth.
I was so deep in thought that I failed to notice the others stopping dead in their tracks just a few feet from one of the large doors leading up to another set of dry docks where ships could either be fixed or constructed. "I want snipers in the rear with the gunners and grenadiers. Everyone else, deploy mobile cover. I want a field of fire on that bulkhead." Robert instructed.
His troopers followed his orders and deployed a series of barriers on the ground which connected to another forming a series of barriers in the formation of trench lines. "Soon as that door opens, LET EM HAVE IT!" he added, aiming his own rifle towards the door. His men, family and friends followed suit and trained their sights on the door.
I aimed my own weapon at the door, followed by HK-47 doing the same with his own blaster and waited. For a while it seemed like we were waiting for years, until sparks began to erupt from the door telling us that the droids were cutting through the door. All of us tighten our grips on our weapons and our fingers were poised on our triggers, waiting for the enemy to approach.
The doors were soon blown open but incredibly, no one lost their heads from the cut door section landing behind in the middle of a corridor. Enemy droids rushed through the open door and immediately opened fire. "LIGHT EM UP!" Robert shouted.
Immediately following those orders, everyone of us opened fired. Blaster bolts and bullets flew towards the droids and dozens of enemy battle droids were cut down by the sheer firepower of our forces. "Excited statement: Oh, how I've missed the joy of battle." HK said with delight.
I just rolled my eyes and fired my own rifle in short bursts. I will admit that when I was first given this weapon, I thought it would be useless against droids when compared to blasters, but to my surprise the gun worked well on them. Despite the recoil given off from the weapon and it being the first slug-thrower weapon I've ever used, the gun packed quite a bunch, taking down three droids with three bursts of weapon fire.
"GRENADES NOW!" Robert shouted. From behind, his troopers lobbed not only thermal detonators, but plasma, ecd and few other grenades that looked like they were small balls. It took a few seconds for all of the grenades to explode either destroying or deactivating the droids. "Kalani, I want you and Bats to come to our location and gather the deactivated droids. HK-47's going to need a work force and reprogrammed battle droids are just what we need." I heard Robert shout into his commlink.
I didn't here the answer he got for once he finished talking on his commlink he vaulted over the cover and sprayed the open door with a volley of gunfire, taking out any droids that were still functional and heading towards us. "PUSH FORWARDS!" he shouted.
Again, his troopers followed his orders and moved after him. I had to admit; these clones are quite the skilled soldiers. I followed after them, but looked back for a second at the troopers who weren't so lucky. I may have seen death before, but its still hard to get used to.
I followed after the others, stepping over the droids and quickly joined up with them as more and more battle droids appeared ahead of us, all trying to stop us from reaching our objective. What was our objective, I had no idea but if I had to guess it might be one of the turbo laser batteries that HK, T3 and I failed to activate.
Speaking personally, I was able to fix that battery but it kept malfunctioning saying that it had insignificant power and it could fire was low powered shots not capable of doing much damage. Hopefully, a couple of the troopers with us could fix up the turrets and get them ready for use.
The forge shuttered and shaked as either enemy weapon fire or more of the enemy boarding craft impacted the station. "Wish we knew what just hit us." I said to no one in particular. "Does it really matter? All we can do is hope these bastards didn't plant a bomb on one of their ships. Seems they want this station intact as much as possible." Honoka said when I caught up with her.
I just hoped she was wrong.
Roberts point of view
I still am finding it hard to believe that my ancestor ordered his two droids and one of his allies to ensure the Star Forge remained hidden until someone like me found it. The part with Dooku wanting to keep it a secret I can believe. He's changed.
But what I find hard to believe is that not all the turbo laser batteries were online and firing at the enemy ships. You'd think they would have been fixing up the weapon systems once they woke up from their long nap, but that wasn't the case. According to HK, about seventy-five percent of the batteries were operating at one hundred percent, but the remaining twenty-five percent on the north east portion of the forge were still out of action.
Must have been from when Revan and his allies stormed the place some three thousand odd years ago. Despite the whole place being used by a Sith Lord, I planned to make proper use of this station and construct the new ship I had designed, end the war and find my wife.
A pair of battle droids appeared ahead of me and rather then shotting them I slammed into them like a linebacker before curb stomping their heads in. Once taken care of I pressed forwards, clearing the path for my men as I went. 308 and 12 guage rounds clattered to floor as more and more droids poured out from the area ahead of us. A quick use of the force sent the droids flying back where they came from.
I sprinted forwards and found myself standing in one of the empty hangers, standing directly in front of me were three Trade Federation Dropships lifting off from the hanger having deployed their complement of droids, who spotted me and quickly opened fire.
I back-pedaled as fast as I could and hugged the wall outside the hanger as enemy fire poured on our position. I walked right into this blindly thinking only of trying to save the forge so I could find my girl as quickly as possible before our kid is born.
A couple of my men rushed forwards towards the attacking droids, only to be cut down by recently placed turret. They never stood a chance, the rest of my men waited for my orders. I turned around and noticed that the Bad Batch and Shaak Ti had disappeared. "WHERE'S THE BAD BATCH AND GENERAL TI!?" I shouted to the men.
"I don't know, Captain. We ain't seen em." Breach replied.
"Terrific. I need a runner… Breach, you just volunteered. Get your ass back to the ship and give me a sit-rep. Inform all the men the Bad Batch and General Ti have went on their own and get Barbatose ready for use. GO!" I instructed my 'brother'.
Breach nodded and double backed the way we came. I then noticed that the amount of fire being sent towards our current position was increasing. Fortunately, while I was giving Breach his orders Barney and my family had moved ahead, took cover behind an enemy fighter that had recently crashed in the hanger and were giving the droids one massive headache. But it wasn't enough.
Enemy fire continued to rain down on their direction and it looked like they were about to be over run. "We need to take out that turret! Get a grenade up there!" I shouted to a nearby trooper. "We're out!" the trooper responded.
"Damnit!" I cursed.
I then turned to two other troopers. "Saunders, Blackburn, get up here! Suppress that turret on my mark! Ready? Now!" I shouted to them. They nodded and moved out once I yelled. "SUPPRESSING FIRE!"
My family heard this and shifted their aim towards the turret as the two troopers moved towards their target. Blackburn had a rocket launcher on him and with its payload would be able to destroy the turret. Sadly, that was not to happen for the two were quickly killed by a droid's grenade.
"SOMEBODY GRAB THAT GODDAMN LAUNCHER! WE NEED TO GET TO THOSE TURRETS NOW!" I shouted, but none of the men moved. Couldn't say I blamed them, anyone going into this hell wouldn't come out alive if they weren't careful, only an idiot with a death wish would risk their neck out in this volume of fire. Forutantly, we had such an idiot. Frost, a trooper whose life was saved by Ray on Nod Kartha sprinted forwards with the rest of us providing covering fire, picked up the launcher and fired it directly at the gun destroying it. "Move up. MOVE IT! MOVE IT!" I shouted, still impressed by Frost's bravery.
The droids were quickly overrun by our numbers while we suffered a few casualties and injuries. Needless to say, any surviving droids were quickly blasted to scrap by my men. Our attention was soon turned to the doors to the turbo laser battery, which opened up. All of us prepared our weapons for a potential battle, but much to our relief instead of droids it was Shaak Ti and the Bad Batch. "Where the hell did you guys run off too?" I asked a little confused and annoyed.
"Sargeant Hunter had located a back way to the turrets and informed me while you were clearing a path towards the hanger. Rather than contact you over the commlink, they went on their own with me as their back up. Needless to say, the droids weren't expecting us and we took care of them." Shaak Ti explained.
"Like mother like daughter, I guess." I chuckled and turned to 99. "Next time you want to break formation, let me know. I'd hate to write you up for going AWOL." I added.
"Don't worry, we won't do it again unless we need to. Besides, Tech's got the batteries online." 99 stated. The batteries erupted to life and took out four incoming dropships which were no doubt looking to take the guns off line.
As the dropships exploded into flames, HK-47 spoke. "Sad statement: I wanted to do that." The assassin droid said like a child complaining. I just chuckled and watched as the incoming ships and boarding craft were turned into wrecks of space junk. For a moment, it seemed we were going to win this with out any further loss of life, but I was proven wrong.
Dropping out of hyperspace were several Imperator-class Star Destroyers. Following them was a ship that sent chills down my spine. A ship similar to the design of the Providence-class carriers, measuring at nearly five thousand meters in length and armed to the teeth with hundreds of weapons. On the rear of vessel were sixteen massive engines. "Dear God." I muttered as the ship soon opened fire with their forward mounted cannons.
"ALL PILOTS, EVADE LIKE HELL IF YOU WANT TO LIVE!" I shouted into my commlink warning my men of the impending barrage of weapons fire. My pilots did so, but many of them weren't so lucky and were reduced to scrap metal.
"I thought the Malevolence was destroyed three years ago." Shaak Ti said in complete shock.
"Looks they must have built another one." I answered and turned to Tech. "How much firepower would it take to sink that ship?" I asked the trooper.
"More than what we have here. Turbo lasers won't even dent that ship. The good news is it doesn't have the original Ion Cannon. If it did, we'd be dead." The trooper said.
"Something tells me that the tactic Anakin and Ahsoka used before is going to work this time." I muttered before my commlink beeped. "Barbatose is ready. Ok, I'm putting Shaak Ti in command of the troops on the station. I'll take Barbatose, board the enemy ship and blow it up from the inside. Schematics from the first one should be able to lead me right to the reactor. Looks we're about to get a real version of the Pillar of Autums destruction." I explained and was about to bolt to the hanger when HK stopped me.
"Question: Why don't we capture the ship and use it against the separatists? Seems like a perfectly good waste of a ship." The assassin droid asked.
I thought for a moment before turning back to the droid. "That ship might have a self-destruct mechanism on it. If it does, then a lot of people would be killed if its trigger remotely. It has to be destroyed." I replied.
"I have to agree with Robert, we can't let that ship survive. While it would be a great asset in our fight, we cannot risk using a booby-trapped ship, it must be destroyed." Master Ti said in agreement.
"That settles it." I added and darted to the hanger. By the time I reached the Barbatose was armed and ready for battle. I had a feeling it would be needed for space combat so I had the techs upgrade it further after the zombie mission.
The Barbatose still featured its standard armament, but could now be equipped with a M134 minigun in place of the standard mortar, much like the War Machine armor but could also detach from the shoulder and fired with the claw hand. A total of three modified ammo boxes were combined together and attached to the armors lower back, protected by a powerful heatshield since it was located near the armor's thrusters.
Barbatose was also given magnetic system the AT-TE's had, making it easier to traverse the outsides of ships such as Star Destroyers. It was time to put these upgrades to the test. Entering the armor and leaving my rifle and BFG behind, the systems came online and once it was fully powered up, I gunned my thrusters towards the enemy ship hellbent on taking that monster of a ship down.
Blasting through the blackness of space, I passed by the wreckage of friendly and hostile fighters alike. My thoughts went out to the brave pilots who wouldn't be returning back to the ship, to me they were more than just people, they were like family to me and I was more than willing to do anything for my family.
"Mind if we give you an escort?" a voice said over the commlink. Looking behind me, I saw that Red Squad along with Dreadwing and SkyQuake had formed up on my sides, their cannons blazing clearing a path for me directly towards the enemy ship. "You'd didn't think that we'd let the boss of the Dragoons get shot down by a bunch of machines, didn't you? You're going to be a father kid, and its our job to get you through this so you can save your girl." Maverick said over the channel.
Needless to say, I was proud to be their leader and tears were falling from my eyes under my helmet. "LET'S DANCE THE JITTERBUG BABY!" I shouted and rocketed towards the enemy ship, my brothers in arms following me.
Turbo laser and point defense system fire bracketed us, but Maverick and the others continued towards the ship. The closer we got, the more intense the fire became. "Break off and target the engines. I want that ship dead in space!" I ordered the pilots.
I heard them acknowledge my order and broke off to both sides while I stayed on course towards the ships front. Before I could even board the ship, I had to knock out as many of the turbo lasers as I could, the Forge couldn't take much more damage.
"Activate magnetics." I said landing on the ship and began to target the Turbo Laser cannons. Pulse laser rounds impacted one turret, destroying it and causing the other turrets to try and attack me. I activated my claw blade and sliced three turrets to pieces while firing my pulse laser at another turret taking out another one.
Gunning my thrusters' forwards with my blade pointed down, I sliced another four turrets in half knocking them out of the fight and lessening the cannon fire heading towards the forge. I climbed above the ship, aimed my pulse laser which I had increased to level three power and fired. Six round bursts from my cannon blew up more of the turbo laser cannons further decreasing the damage done to both the forge and my fleet which continued to rain hell on the droid forces.
"Captain, engines are destroyed and the ships hyperdrive is offline." Maverick said over the commlink as I finished off my tenth group of turrets. "Outstanding. All units, I'm entering the enemy ship now." I stated to the Dragoons on all channels. Breaking away from the turrets I headed for the hanger, blasting any fighters that got in my way.
The droids had already begun to close the hanger doors to prevent my entry, but I made it inside just in time. Skidding across the hanger floor, I aimed my pulse cannon at several SBD's and unleashed hell on them. Nothing was going to stop me from taking this monster down for good.
Normal point of view
Back aboard the Star Forge, the Dragoons continued to fight valiantly against the ever-increasing droid forces who had managed to get a few of their troop transports into a couple of hangers. As more and more droids continued to push the Dragoons back, the soldiers of the 639th fought back with more determination than ever seen in any clone unit.
Currently, the droids had pushed Alpha, Charlie, Echo and Gamma companies back the main hanger and despite the fact that during the retreat the clone's planet several tripwire traps along the way back, they were still outnumbered ten to one.
Popping out of cover, a clone downed four battle droids before he was killed by a super battle droid that managed to get past him. The super battle droid was about to score another kill when a large hole was blown right through the droid's torso.
Ducking back down behind cover and loading a fresh magazine into her TAC-50 rifle, Hitomi popped out from her position, targeted an incoming destroyer droid, slowed her breathing and fired. A single .50BMG round impacted the rolling droid just as it was about to activate its ray shield, taking it out. The the three destroyer droids were taken about by Crosshairs, Grace and Lee who then shifted their focus onto the units coming in from the door. Each of them downed a total of five droids before they ducked back behind cover as the enemy had shifted their sights onto them.
Below them, Hunter, Lincoln, Treadshot, Breach and Blake laid down some covering fire allowing the medics to pull the wounded troopers back to republic lines before the droids could execute them. The medics were able to bring back several of the wounded troopers, but the intense amout of weapons fire coming towards them prevented them from gathering the rest of the wounded men.
It was only with the assistance of Shaak Ti who pushed some dozen plus droids to the ground with the force before she began to deflect the weapon fire back at the droids were the medics able to get the rest of the wounded back safely.
"Thanks General." Ray said, patching up the soldiers as best he could.
Shaak Ti nodded before returning to the battle, joining Billy, Rally, Honoka, Caesar and a LSAT wielding Wrecker in their assault on the droids. 5.56mm, twelve-guage, 5.56mm caseless, 7.62x39mm and 9mm rounds downed droid after droid by the combined firepower of the five dragoon members who used the opportunity to push back a way, clearing a path for their allies.
Meanwhile, Cassie shifted her sights onto several incoming commando droids and fired the Morita. A long burst of .308 caliber rounds riddled the BX-series droids taking them down before nearly a dozen 20x28mm grenades rained towards the droids following them taking them out.
"HOW DO YOU LIKE ME NOW CLANKER!" Marie shouted reloading her XM29 with a new magazine for her grenade launcher part of the rifle. Gunner rolled his eyes under his helmet and fired several short bursts of rifle fire taking out several more battle droids before the rest were gunned down by the troopers of Domino squad, 99, Ryder and Jess.
The droids were starting to lose their momentum and began to fall back for what ever good it did them. They were almost to the door when Bats dropped down behind them, raised his blasters and fired. Due to the droids programming preventing them from attacking one another the droids were slaughtered by one of their own. Those that survived were quickly mopped up by HK-47, Tech and Kalani, all of whom quickly turned around and lobbed a few grenades towards the retreating droids, taking out even more hostile forces. The explosion was soon followed by a burst of fire from the assassin droids' new favorite weapon: the AK-47.
As for Barney and Mission, the two of them sprinted past Bats and the others, firing their SIG and P416 assault rifles emptying their current magazines before they fired a pair of 40mm grenade rounds towards the droids taking out more then a dozen battle droids in the process.
By the time the rest of the dragoons reached them, Robert contacted the Dragoons, informing them that we was on the enemy ship and heading for the reactor. "Stay safe kid." Barney said to his nephew on a personal comm channel before returning to battle.
Back aboard the enemy ship, droid crew members hurried to setup a defensive permitter around one of the massive ships rail jet stations. Due to the size of the ship, the Rail Jet system was ideal for transporting numerous amounts of cargo and troops through out the ship. If one had to ask the Lone Wolf his opinion on the system, he would tell you it's got nothing to both the Japanese Railway and Amtrak.
"Though I will admit, its impressive." Robert said to himself, aiming his pulse laser and downing his pursures, a formation of D-Wing battle droids. While similar to the standard B1 Battle droids, the D-Wings featured a set off fold-out wings which housed the droid's blasters. Despite the additional advantage, the droids were no match for the fire-power of the Barabatose.
Once the last D-Wing was downed, the hovertrain he was on came to a stop and the droids at the station opened fire. Red blaster bolts peppered the Barabatose, but no major damage was done to the battle armor. Activating his thrusters, Robert charged towards the enemy unsheathing his blade and with a mighty swing, sliced fifteen battle droids to pieces.
Retracting his blade, he proceeded towards the reactor.
Once he arrived, he activated the Barabatose's explosive dispersers and four dozen small explosive charges were attached to the reactor. "Target is ladened with charges. All units, I'm blowing this popsicle stand." He stated.
He returned to the rail jet station, placed his mini-gun in his claw hand activated his thrusters and rocketed back towards the hanger. He didn't get far before more D-Wing droids got behind him and opened fire. Turning around, Robert pulled the trigger of his Mini-gun, unleashing a burst of 7.62mm rounds on the droids, taking down the entire flight of flying droids before resuming his course towards the hanger.
When he reached the hanger, he found himself surrounded by over three hundred battle droids, their blasters armed and pointed directly towards him. Just before the droids were about to fire, Robert fired first using the rest of his remaining ammo for his mini-gun downing a quarter of the droids before he aimed his pulse laser at the hanger controls and fired.
The controls destroyed, the hanger opened up and he rocketed out of the ship back towards the Star Forge. Once he was clear of the enemy ship, he pressed the detonator and the charges inside the ship detonated. The enemy ship buckled before it snapped in half and its guns finally died.
"All units. Enemy fleet is destroyed. Gather the wounded and bring them to the medical bay. They've earned some rest. The rest of you, gather what droids remain intact and prepare them for reprogramming. We need a work force if we're going to complete the ship we need." Robert said over the commlink as he landed in the Star Forges main hanger.
Once inside, he exited the armor and found Shaak Ti waiting for him. "Your family and the men are handling the recovery of the droids. I thought we could talk about Ahsoka." The Togruta council member said.
"There's nothing to talk about. We'll get her back and then this war will be over. All I care about is getting her back before things go to hell for her." Robert said.
"When we save her, I want to tell her myself that I am her mother. I urge you to at least allow me that much." Shaak asked.
"I promise." Robert replied.
The two looked at each other. Now that her secret was out, Shaak Ti was now an ally of the Lone Wolf and his dislike of her ended. His mood changed quickly when Robert felt the same pain in his chest occur again. "Hang in there Ahsoka, I'm going to find you." He vowed, looking out towards the blackness of space as the Midgarda 10th fleet arrived.
Bet you guys never saw this coming did you. I will admit, the idea of Shaak Ti being Ahsoka's mother came from the Story Shaak Ti's Secret, by David. Davis. 5851, who gave me the ok to use this idea for my story.
As for the Star Forge, I have Spartan-626 to thank for the idea. Originally, I wasn't going to use the idea, but I'd figure why not. I also was only going to bring in only HK-47, but figured I'd bring in T3-M4 and Mission Vao for the heck of it. I like those characters; despite the fact I haven't played the Knights of the Old Republic games. I know, how can I use them if I haven't played the games.
It is also with great sadness that I regret to inform my readers that Peter Mayhew, the man who played Chewbacca passed away at the age of seventy-four. He will be missed and as a tribute to him, I will include Chewbacca in my next chapter.
Now then, my new Poll is still up and I wish for you to cast your votes on the aircraft you want the Lone Wolf to pilot once I reach the grand finale. Until next time, please read and review and I will see all soon.
Oh, before I forget. May the Forth Be with You and Happy Star Wars Day everyone.