Longest chapter so far, besides the episodes for this chapter, I will also introduce the other clones in the squad Domino was folded into which is called Delta. The clones in this squad aren't OC's, they are actually the remaining clones that survived Teth. I found out about them while reading another clone wars story. But to make them different, they have different roles and personalities than the other story.
I own none of the content.
Enjoy!
Downfall/Duel of the Droids
A few weeks later, Tessa was busy guarding the Armory of the ship, along with someone else from her squad, which was Delta, whose name was Nax. So far, there hadn't been any battles lately, but from what she heard, the Republic lost a battle, and Skywalker's Fleet was sent to protect a planet that was in the direct path of General Grevious himself.
She had heard the Republic's hold on the Outer Rim would diminish if they lose the planet. She was hoping to see some action, nothing much had really happened. Well for her and the rest of Delta. There had been a couple of skirmishes, but nothing that required the entire 501st to be mobilized.
She had asked Captain Rex when she'll see some action. He told her it would come soon when the next time they would be needed for boots on the ground. That didn't help, but she had to take what she could get.
She had only talked to Commander Tano a couple of times, but not enough to actually hang out and talk. That was what she said, and Tessa was surprised her superior was actually interested in getting to know her.
The rest of her squad in Delta were pretty cool, and treated her with the same respect as her batchmates in Domino. And she had gotten to know all of them.
Zeer was the squad leader, he was kind, and strict, and he had told her that he personally told the others to treat her with respect. And if she had any trouble, she could come to him. To put it in his words "You're our only sister, so that means we gotta protect you. And the fact you're the youngest, that's an added bonus to protect our little sister." But he also said he wouldn't try to keep her from doing her own thing, and let her prove herself.
Attie was their heavy weapons and explosives expert. He was known to always use the Z-6, and people would've thought he would've been boisterous and loud, but he was surprisingly calm and reserved. Tessa felt that he and Hevy would've gotten along just fine, even though the utter mayhem they could've cause made her feel worried.
Coric was their Medic, he was strict when it came to the safety and well being of the men. He wasn't the kind to cut corners, which meant if he felt that you weren't fully healed, then he'll keep you strapped down to a bed if he had to. But he was laid back when he wasn't on duty, and was a good Sabaac player. Which was one of the few things that Tessa wasn't good at, and she was relieved that the same went for Cutup.
Del, was the mechanic/radioman. He helped with communications, and from what Tessa could see, was a great Sabaac player. He was also the silent type, who rarely did talk, but he always had everyone's back, and was loyal.
Nax was the one who she had gotten along with the most, due to being the sharpshooter the squad, until she had joined them. He was pretty energetic, and had a good sense of humor that Cutup took a liking too. And he was someone you can count on. Once he had found out she was a great shot, he had challenged her to a friendly shooting match. Which ended in her winning, and Nax jokingly saying they will have a rematch that would prove who was the better has shot in Beta.
Echo, Fives and Cutup had jokingly said in fake fear that theirs two of them now. That earned a laugh from the rest of the squad, including Nax. While Tessa rolled her eyes at how stupid her brothers can be sometimes. But she could never stop loving them, even though they could be idiots sometimes.
Tessa sighed for what felt like the 20th time, and Nax chuckled.
"The glory of all of this boring to you, sis?" He quipped.
"I still find this bogus how I found myself stuck here." She muttered.
Nax shrugged and said, "Well, I'm not the one who lost the Sabaac game."
Fives had somehow roped her into playing Sabaac with her him and the rest of the squad, along with Cutup. It was fun, they helped her and gave her pointers, and she had somehow made a bet with Attie where if she lost then she'll take his shift with guarding the Armory, and if he lost, he'll let her use his Z-6 for next target practice. She wasn't interested in using it, but she couldn't pass up a challenge. So they had a one-on-one and she lost after 10 plays. And here she was now.
She was originally going on patrol around the ship, but now Attie got that job.
"I suck at that game, still don't understand how you guys managed to rope me in."
Tessa could tell Nax was smirking under his helmet and said," Well, you have been complaining about not seeing any action lately. And after the boys begged and Zeer making it a 'mandatory team exercise' to help bring in squad unity, so you're pretty much stuck here."
"Shut up." She said and Nax laughed.
"All hands, prepare to go to your battle stations. I repeat, all personnel, this is not a drill. All pilots prepare your ships." Admiral Yularen's voice ranged through the Intercom, and then the General Quarters alarm started to go off.
"Uh, what should we do?" She asked, trying to stay calm.
"We stay put, unless we're told otherwise." Nax said and went closer to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry; everything's going to be fine." He said reassuringly.
Tessa nodded, trusting her older brother's words.
The battle lasted for around 30 minutes. From time to time, the ship would slightly shake from Separatists fire hitting the ship. The first 15 minutes, she and Nax were relieved, and they found themselves watching the battle from a window.
From what she heard, General Skywalker was leading the charge, while Commander Tano stayed on the bridge, but she didn't know where the Captain was. Also, she couldn't explain it, but she could see blue blaster bolts firing behind the Separatists ships.
From what she had heard from everyone else, and the few times she had talked to Rex and Ahsoka, was that General Skywalker was known to be unorthodox and thought up some interesting plans.
She and everyone else had cheered when the last Seppie ship was soon destroyed. But none of the pilots were returning yet. And the intercom went off to tell the Gunships to get the Walkers out of the Asteroid Field and to start a search party.
Tessa and everyone soon dispersed, but were slightly worried what was going on. Tessa had an hour break, she would've thought more of what was going on, but it didn't involve her. She was feeling hungry so she went to the mess.
It wasn't until a couple of days later, when she was patrolling the ship when she got a call on her comm.
"This is Huntress." She said.
"Huntress, this is Captain Rex, you're needed in the Hanger Bay. Right now." Rex said.
"Uh, yes sir, I'll be right there." Tessa said.
Tessa jogged and wondered what the Captain wanted. From what his voice suggested, it sounded important, and she wondered if the rest of her squad had been called as well.
When she had gotten to the Hanger Bay, she saw the Captain, the Commander and a couple of other troopers near a ship that looked like it would fall apart soon.
Tessa jogged up to the Captain, saluted, and said," Sir."
"At ease, we got an assignment, and you're going to be a part of it. You and the others will be briefed once we take off." Rex said.
Tessa interest sparked, finally doing something that wasn't boring, but then she realized what they were going to fly in.
"In that thing, Captain? It looks like it might fall apart at any second. Who's the idiot who owns that piece of junk?"
"That would be General Skywalker, Tess." Ahsoka said with amusement, as she walked down the ramp.
The Captain and the others coughed, which meant they were masking their laughs.
"Oh." She weakly said.
Ahsoka giggled and said," C'mon boys, she's prepped. Let's go."
Tessa and the others ran up the ramp of the 'Twilight', that's what Captain Rex said the name was. And after a minute, the ship took off, and went into Lightspeed.
Rex explained that for the past couple of days, General Skywalker had been looking for his Astromech droid after the battle. And after getting a replacement, he had went off to the last known location, and they soon received his locator beacon. So it was only a matter of time for him to get into trouble. The second or main objective was to find a Separatist Listening Post that the Military was looking for.
She looked down at the DC-15S she had to use for patrol, and wished she brought her Rifle. The jump they did was only going to take 5 minutes.
She was in the common room with the other Troopers, brothers she hadn't gotten the chance to meet yet. She had made it a promise to meet everyone on the ship, she had even met Admiral Yularen when he said his congratulations to her and Domino.
She took off her helmet, and looked at everyone else.
"So, we might be here for a while. The names Huntress, your only sister, what's yours?"
The rest of them took off their helmets. Obvious amusement and surprise.
"Baker."
"Denal."
"Grits."
"Post."
Denal chuckled and said," Y'know, I've been hearing about you. I just thought people were joking, but here I am, with my sister."
Tessa shrugged and said," I'm used to it. The attention of it all, still getting used it."
"Meh, don't worry about. For all we know, more of you will probably be made soon. Brothers and sisters fighting side-by-side." Baker hopefully said.
"Yeah, and if that doesn't happen. You got a literal Army of brothers to help and protect you." Grits said.
"Thanks, but not too much, I need to experience things on my own."
Post had a mischievous look and said," Oh really? Then should we give you the talk about you know what?"
Tessa raised a brow and said," What?"
Before Post could say anything, the intercom went off and Ahsoka said," Hold on boys, we are about to get out of Lightspeed. It could be rough, so hang on!"
"We'll finish this later." Post said with a smirk.
"Word of advice, just forget it." Denal said with a shake of his head.
All of them placed their helmets back on, and the familiar pull of getting out of Lightspeed was felt. The sound of lasers and explosions echoed from outside, and the back hatch soon opened. They all went to hanger, and saw General Skywalker's ship make a crash landing, and the hatch closed.
"Everyone buckle up! It's going to be a tight fit for a moment, and hang on for Lightspeed!" Ahsoka said.
"Now what does that mean?" Tessa asked.
"Possibly something dangerous." Baker said.
Tessa soon got her answer when the ship picked up speed, and then the ship started to rock and screech outside for a brief moment, which she ended up falling out her seat. And then the Twilight made the jump.
Tessa got up and sat back down in her seat, but she and the others stood back up to salute the General, but he looked to be pretty annoyed, so he didn't acknowledge them and walked to the cockpit.
"What's his problem?" Tessa asked, and others shrugged.
It had been a couple of hours since rescuing the General, and they finally found something that may have something to do with the droid. Tessa was standing in the cockpit with the General, Commander and Captain, watching as the lights of Lightspeed returning to normal space. The transmission they had found was last heard from a nearby moon.
Tessa wouldn't say it out loud, but she thought it was a waste of time looking for one measly droid. But she had found out they needed to find it or destroy it, due to it having sensitive information. So no matter what, the droid was important.
General Skywalker then called General Kenobi to let him know what was going on. He was originally going to send some Cruisers to take care of it, but considering Skywalker's droid was there, he allowed them to see what they could find, and destroy the listening post.
Everyone, minus the pilot, got ready in the small hanger, they were going to free fall to the Battle Sphere and use their jetpacks to cushion their fall, while the Jedi would use the Force.
"You ever jetpacked out of training?" She asked Denal.
"Yeah, on Christophsis, don't worry, you'll do fine." He reassured.
She nodded, and she had to stifle a laugh, when Ahsoka told Rex he was carrying General Skywalker's new droid R3-S6.
The Twilight was soon over the Battle Sphere, and the back hatch opened. The sound of the thunder coming from the clouds was heard, and the sky looked like it was approaching dawn. Everyone walked out a few feet and looked around.
"Follow me boys!" Ahsoka yelled excitedly, sprinted and jumped off the ship.
Tessa laughed and said with the enthusiasm," See you ad'ika's at the bottom!" And proceeded to jump as well.
The rest of them looked at each other, and soon followed suit.
If Tessa had her helmet off, she would've felt the wind through her hair. She basically whooped in excitement and joy. She couldn't wait to tell the others once they all got back. She looked up and noticed everyone else started to get closer. General Skywalker manage to pass her and free fell next to Ahsoka.
As soon as they were close enough, Tessa and the others activated their jetpacks and started to do a controlled descent. Both Jedi landed while she and the rest of her brothers followed suit.
"Next time! You're lugging this Astromech around!" Rex pointed at Baker.
She and the clones laughed, and she could tell Baker was glaring at them.
Anakin got to work on making an entrance, and they soon jumped down into a hallway. The all crept through it, and then saw two droids, and they didn't see them. Tessa walked up to one of them from behind, and snapped it's head off.
"What the!?" The other said, but Captain Rex shot it.
They all then jogged down the hallway, and then found a access point.
"Alright Stubby, get to work." Anakin told the droid.
R3 rolled over to it, and a map of the station came from his projector.
"We are here." Rex said, pointing at their signatures. "The reactors are 30 floors below us, there."
"Ahsoka, you take the squad, and blow up those reactors. Gravity will do the rest. We'll meet at the landing bay" He said as he took off his backpack and gave it to her.
"Where are you going?" She asked, even though she knew.
"I'm just going to have a little look around."
"I hope you find Artoo in one piece."
Anakin nodded and took off. Tessa, Ahsoka and the others went the other way.
"I still find it hard to grasp why he cares about this droid so much." Tessa said.
Ahsoka looked at her, but didn't look angry and said," He told me the story. He's known R2 since he was nine, and they've been through a lot together."
"Huh, I'm going to need to meet him, once we finish this."
"Yeah, he has quite the personality." Ahsoka said, as she looked back again for a quick moment, and then stopped.
"Where's Goldie?" Ahsoka asked. "Hang on I'll be right back." She said and ran back the way they came.
"So, how are you enjoying your first mission?" Rex asked Tessa.
"Pretty good, I got to skydive! Now that is something you'll never forget." She happily said, and the Captain and the others chuckled.
Ahsoka came back with Goldie, and they all ran to the Reactor Room. It didn't take them that long, and the only problem was that it was Ray Shielded.
After Ahsoka told Anakin, R3 got to work.
"Oh, this'll be good." Rex muttered.
Tessa would've asked him what he meant, but she started to hear footsteps. And the others heard it as well.
"Looks like we'll be having company. He better hurry up." She said.
"Do you think R3's going to open up that door, anytime soon?" Rex asked.
"He's working on it. Patience Captain." Ahsoka defended.
Tessa got to cover and said," Well, Commander, I don't think the droids will wait for us."
She took a silent breath, and she sorta missed when the others joked by saying she was in the zone.
Post snorted and said," Yeah, I agree with her."
"I can always hot-wire it, sir." Denal suggested.
"Hurry up, Goldie." Ahsoka worriedly said.
"I think we've run out of time." Rex said as the Droids came within firing range.
"Blast'em!" The lead droid said and they fired at them.
Tessa and the others fired back as well. For a brief moment, Tessa had a flashback from Rishi, but she shook it off, and blasted a droid. She soon heard a noise, and saw that the blast doors had been closed, and she groaned.
But she had saw something in the corner of her eye, and saw Super-Battle Droids coming up behind them.
"Ok, we are now surrounded on both sides." She said.
Ahsoka switched sides, and started to deflect the other blaster bolts coming from behind them.
'Ok, joints in the legs. That'll take'em out.' Tessa thought, but there was a lot of incoming fire that she had a problem aiming at that general point.
"Rex, droid poppers, now!" Ahsoka ordered.
Rex nodded and threw one at the Super-Battle Droids. The droids then tried to shoot it, but they were soon hit with the EMP, and were shut down.
"Hey, kid, give it a go." Rex said and tossed another at Tessa.
Tessa grinned under her helmet and said," Yes sir!"
She activated it, and threw it at a droid. it bounced off its head and onto the ground. It then picked it up, and the droids were then taken out.
"Nice throw." Grits praised, as he and the others got out of their cover.
"Thanks, it's all in the wrist."
Ahsoka rolled her eyes and said," Alright, let's see-"
"They sent a child to destroy my station?" A robotic voice said.
Tessa and the others turned around. Tessa held back a yelp when she saw the leader of the Droid Army, under Count Dooku. General Grevious was tall, and he activated a Lightsaber. She had heard about him on the Holo, but he was way scarier and intimidating in person.
"The Republic must be running out of Jedi." He said in mock amusement.
"You must be General Grievous." Ahsoka stated.
Grevious laughed, the kind of laugh that a villain would do, and then he coughed. Tessa would've been worried, but considering he was the enemy, she didn't care.
"He's just another Tinny, boys. Let's scrap him like the rest." Ahsoka confidently said and activated her Lightsaber.
Tessa would've said he wasn't just another one, and that she was being too confident, but now was not the time.
Ahsoka sprinted and swung her Saber, but Grevious blocked it. She then parried and tried again, but Grevious blocked that as well. He then hit her with his arm, and she was sent flying into a wall, and fell.
That left Tessa and the others. They all started to fire, but Grevious kept blocking them. One deflected shot hit Baker, and he went down. Grevious then jumped high, and Tessa was feeling increasingly worried, and everyone fired as he went into the air. He landed right in front of them, and Tessa ended up getting kicked hard into a wall, and passed out.
"Huntress? Wake up… sister, c'mon." A voice said.
Tessa groaned, and felt her head was pounding. She blinked a couple of times, and saw the concerned face of Captain Rex. Denal was helping Baker up, who was cradling his shoulder.
"Ugh… felt like a Rancor hit me." She mumbled.
Rex helped her up, and she got her helmet from him, and placed it on. She looked at Grit's and Post, but Rex shook his head, and she hung her head a bit.
"C'mon, Commander Tano told us to continue the mission. Your going to have help Baker." Rex said.
Tessa shook her head to get the last of the grogginess out, and helped Baker up.
"Are you going to be alright?" She asked.
Baker grimaced and said, "Well, I got shot, so I'll be fine, you?"
"I got beat up by a tin can, not the highlight of my day." Tessa mumbled and Baker chuckled.
It didn't take them that long to open the Reactors doors, and to arm the explosives. Once they finished that, they went to the landing bay where everyone else will meet them. They had encountered a small resistance, but they managed.
Tessa was the last out of the hallway that led to the hanger. The Twilight, General Skywalker, another clone who Tessa hadn't talked to yet, and both R6 and another Astromech, who she assumed was R2-D2, were there. But Ahsoka wasn't there yet.
"Huntress, take him to the ship, and get him checked out. We'll be back. Once we find Ahsoka." Anakin said.
"Yes, sir." She said.
Before the group could run off, the doors closed and locked.
Tessa frowned and saw R6 using the port, and the bay doors closed as well. She was starting to have a bad feeling.
"What is the matter with you? Are you trying to get us killed?" Anakin angrily asked.
Tessa heard something activating and three Vulture Droids landed on the platform. Tessa then moved Baker behind some crates.
"I have a bad feeling about this, sir." Rex said.
"Uh, sir, I think the droid works for the other side." Tessa said.
Anakin activated his Lightsaber and said," That double-crossing droid is a spy." He agreed.
To make matters worse, more Super's marched behind them, and aimed their weapons as them, and fired.
Anakin and the other ran while deflecting, or blasting the droids. Tessa got up, and was about to help Baker, when Anakin stopped her.
"I got him, you cover us." He said, and she nodded.
She handed Baker his blaster, as he was carried by Anakin, and Tessa ran while fire her blaster at the droids. They managed to get behind some crates, and Baker was placed next to her.
"Can you fight?" She asked.
"Might as well." He said, as he managed to prop himself up and fired.
Tessa fired back, regular droids she can handle. She didn't know about Vulture Droids, and wished to have a Rocket Launcher right now.
She aimed at the legs and fired a couple of rounds. The droid went down and she smirked in satisfaction, but they were running out of time and room.
"Captain, trigger the explosives." Anakin said.
"But, sir, we're still in the station." Rex objected.
"You just let me worry about the details."
'It was official, he's either smart or crazy.' Tessa thought.
"Sir yes sir." Rex said and pressed the button on the detonator.
Tessa felt the explosion, but it wasn't that hard, and she was glad the gravity wasn't disabled, or else things would've been more different. She saw a bright glow coming from a ventilation shaft, and Ahsoka kicked it open. She then jumped on a Vulture Droid, and the other fired at it, but she jumped onto that one, sliced it, and jumped off and landed near General Skywalker.
'Man, Jedi are pretty wizard.' Tessa thought, and ducked when a blaster bolt came close.
"General Skywalker, there are fuel cells over here." Rex said.
"Then get ready, Rex." Anakin said.
Rex looked at Tessa and said," It's all yours kid, blow'em up."
Tessa grinned at the challenge and said," You can count on me, sir."
Anakin lifted one with the Force and tossed it at the droids. Tessa aimed and fired. The fuel cell exploded and destroyed the remaining Vulture and Super's.
"Yes! I'm the man! Or girl." Tessa cheered.
Everyone chuckled at her remark, and the hanger bay doors opened.
"C'mon, let's get out of here." Skywalker ordered and everyone got onto the Twilight.
Tessa got Baker to the small Infirmary, and gave him a shot, just like Coric had taught her. She had gotten a little bit interested in Medic work, and asked him for some pointers, which he was more than happy to do it.
"That will hold you over until we get back to the Resolute." She said and was about to leave.
"Hey, Tess. You did good today." Baker said.
Tessa smiled and walked out. She sat down in the common room, and grimaced slightly. She had to guess she was feeling the after-effects of Grevious kicking her.
"You should probably get yourself checked out, once we get back to the ship." Rex said, as he walked in with his helmet off.
"I will sir, thanks."
Rex smirked and said," At least you got quite a story to tell your squad."
Tessa nodded and relaxed.
First official mission, and it was quite the experience.
I might do an in-between chapter and then go onto Jedi Crash.
Ad'ika- It has different meaning's but for this one it mean's 'Boys'.
Till next time and May The Force Be With You
