Hey, everybody. Back with another chapter.
So, I've gotten several questions about this, so I'm going to answer everybody who has asked it. From now on, chapters are going to be longer. Several times longer. The reason being is that I'm going to try to fit each episode I do into one chapter. This could result in the longest chapters I've ever written for any story, but I think you'll hopefully like it.
Also, I will be naming the chapters covering Clone Wars episode after the episodes they cover.
Let's get to it.
Peter Hong Kong: We'll definitely see more Special Ops units before this story is done. Some Terran starships may be armed with railguns, but not for a long time. And yes, we may see some Terran special ops groups go toe to toe with Death Watch. And, unfortunately, there will be no Terran tanks on Geonosis. But, there may be another weapon that can take on the Super Tanks.
Chapter 23- Landing at Point Rain
Over Geonosis, the Resolute and her task force drop out of hyperspace. Up ahead of them, they can see the ships commanded by Master Ki Adi Mundi.
"There they are. Let's confer with Master Mundi and go over our strategy," Anakin says. He, Obi Wan, Ahsoka, and Colonel Hall make their way to where a briefing is ready to begin.
Entering the room, they gather around the holo-table, where holograms of Master Mundi, Master Yoda, Chancellor Palpatine, Master Luminara, and Master Windu are being projected.
"Hello, everyone," Anakin says.
"Ah, General Skywalker. So good to see you again," Chancellor Palpatine says. He then turns to look at Hall and says, "And who are you?"
"Colonel Tyler Hall, previously United States Army Delta Force, and now member of Terra's Anti-Sith Assault Team," Hall responds respectfully.
"Welcome, Colonel Hall. It is a pleasure to have you with us," Chancellor Palpatine says.
"Thank you, Excellency. The honor is mine," Hall says.
"Alright, let's commence with the briefing," Anakin says.
Obi Wan nods, then starts speaking. "Our ships are in position, and we are ready to begin our attacks against the Geonosians."
"What about Poggle? Any report on his location?" Mace asks.
"We believe he's holed up in the primary droid foundry, here," Obi Wan says, pointing to a map being projected from the holo table. "The factory is protected by a shield generator. Anakin, Ki Adi, Colonel Hall, and I will attempt a four pronged attack through their lines to a staging point just short of the shield. Once we have landed, we shall knock out the shield generator. That is our primary target."
"Isn't it risky committing three generals and one colonel to a single area of the attack? If something went wrong, both we and our new Terran allies could be dealt a serious blow," Palpatine says in concern.
"Have more faith in us, Chancellor. With Americans fighting with you now, this'll work," Hall says confidently.
"Agree with Colonel Hall, I do. This risk, worth it, it is. To ensure, that rise again, Geonosis does not, capture Poggle we must," Yoda responds.
"Of course. As always, I will leave the strategy to you, Master Jedi," Palpatine says.
"Thank you, Chancellor," Obi Wan says.
"May the Force be with us all," Mace says before the transmission cuts off, except for Master Mundi and Master Luminara. Almost immediately, Captain Rex, Commander Cody, and Lieutenant Colonel Alex Carter, commander of the 101st's 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, walk onto the bridge.
"Cody. These are the coordinates for the rendezvous," Obi Wan says as he zooms in to show the spot he's talking about.
"Yes, sir. When we hit the ground, we'll create a perimeter there. Getting past their defenses here will be the trick. General Mundi will comes across the defensive lines from the north. We'll make our attack on the defensive lines from the north east. General Skywalker will make his attack on the defensive lines from the south east. And Colonel Hall and his men will attack from the south. And we will meet at the rendezvous at 0700 exactly," Cody says, gesturing to the map as he's talking.
"If we meet with stiff resistance and are forced down away from the landing zone, hold out until we join our forces before attacking the shield generator," Master Mundi says.
"The front lines are heavily fortified. Look at that giant wall with all the gun emplacements. That won't be easy to get past," Ahsoka says.
"Don't worry. We're not going anywhere near that," Anakin says confidently.
"Come now. What happened to all the enthusiasm I saw earlier?" Obi Wan asks.
"Don't worry about us. You just make sure you get yourself to that landing zone in one piece," Anakin replies.
"Yes. I shall be waiting for you when you finally arrive," Obi Wan says.
"Nah, I think I'll be the one to get there first. And with the highest kill count," Hall says confidently.
"Oh, it's on Hall," Anakin says playfully.
"Gentlemen, if you're quite finished, we have a battle to begin here," Luminara cuts in.
"Quite right. Cody, prep the gunships. I'll meet you in the hangar," Obi Wan says.
"Yes, sir!" Cody says before following Obi Wan out.
"Carter. Get the boys and the choppers ready," Hall orders.
"Yes, sir!" Carter says before pivoting and walking out.
(1 hour later, the hangar)
Across the task force, the forces are finally beginning to get underway. Y-Wing bombers begin to take to the sky and head down to the surface to begin softening up the defenses.
In the hangar on one of the ships, Obi Wan and Cody are walking towards one of the LAATs.
"No, sir, I wasn't involved in the first assault on Geonosis," Cody says in the course of their discussion.
"Well, you didn't miss much. Last time, I was chained to a pole and attacked by several humongous monsters," Obi Wan says as he boards the gunship.
"That sounds…entertaining," Cody says.
"It was…for the Geonosians," Obi Wan replies before the doors close.
On another ship, Hall makes his way towards one of the CH-47 Chinook helicopters they brought with them. The 101st had dispatched a full battalion of 24 AH-64 Apache attack helicopters with them, as well as 20 UH-60 Black Hawks and 8 Chinooks. Eight more Chinooks had been drawn from another Army unit. The Black Hawks and Chinooks will be carrying the initial landing force of 1,000 troops.
"Alright, men. You have your orders, and you know the mission. Let's get this done," Hall says.
"Yes, sir!"the troops echo.
Moments later, the helicopters lift off and fly out of the ship. At the same time, the other ships begin releasing AATs and AT-TE carriers.
The Geonosians quickly begin their attacks, firing their weapons at the incoming LAATs and helicopters.
The LAATs press on in their normal attack. Hall has other ideas, and shouts to his pilot, "All choppers, hit the deck! Get as low as possible and try to get under their firing arc!"
"Yes, sir!" the pilot responds, and the Chinook, along with the other 35 helicopters descend to only about 40 feet, hurrying towards their drop zone at 170 mph
Two Geonosian starfighters swoop down on them. Their laser bolts hit one of the Black Hawks, exploding it. However, the escorting Apaches react quickly. Eight of them have been equipped with AIM-92 Stinger air to air missiles. Four of them fire a missile at the starfighters as they streak overhead. While the starfighters are fast, they're not fast enough to outrun the Mach 2.2 missiles. Both starfighters take two missile, the 6.6 pound warheads ripping chunks out of the starfighters, causing them to short circuit and crash.
The helicopters press on towards their landing zone. Heavy ground fire continues to come their way. While most of it flies over their heads, one bolt manages to claim another Black Hawk.
Several Apaches speed up and head right for the cannons firing at the helicopters. They launch several Hellfire missiles, destroying several of the cannons. Fire from their 30 mm cannons shred the others, clearing the path for the helicopters.
As the helicopters are making their way to their landing zone, Anakin's forces have launched, as have Master Mundi's. Fierce anti aircraft fire heads their way, destroying a number of LAATs, and downing both Anakin and Master Mundi's LAATs.
Obi Wan's unit, however, manages to make it through the fierce fire and begins to land at their designated landing zone. Two AT-TEs are deposited by their carriers as LAATs land and clones stream out of them.
"Here they come! Bugs incoming!" one of the clones yells as Geonosians begin firing at the clones.
Cody gets on his commlink and says, "General Kenobi, don't land. The zone is hot!"
"But there's nowhere else to go!" Obi Wan responds.
Suddenly, a few Geonosian starfighters swoop in and fire, hitting Obi Wans LAAT. Obi Wan calls out on the commlink, "We're hit! We're going down!"
On the bridge of the Resolute, Admiral Yularen and an American intelligence officer are monitoring the course of the invasion. "All three Generals are down. Shall I rustle up some MEDEVAC helicopters?" the American asks Yularen.
"No! They will press on. And fire is still to heavy. Keep those machines ready for when we truly need them," Yularen responds. The American sighs, but respectfully stays silent.
Down on the ground, Master Mundi's force is trying to recover. Almost all of the LAATs went down, but two AT-TEs managed to get on the ground, and many of the clones are still alive.
As one of the clones helps Master Mundi to his feet, Commander Jet walks up to his General.
"What are our losses, Commander?" Mundi asks.
"We got hit pretty hard. I think only Kenobi's forces made it through the flak to the landing zone, although Hall's forces are still en route to theirs, and they're mostly intact," Jet responds.
"What about Skywalker?" Mundi asks.
"Captain Rex says they're still in the middle of a firefight. Their tanks are gone, and they're trying to contact General Kenobi's forces for support. In the meantime, they'll press on to the rendezvous point," Jet responds.
"Very well. Load the injured onto the tanks. We'll make for that ridge. With any luck, we can meet up with Skywalker on his way to Kenobi's position," Mundi says.
As he's saying this, Hall's forces are still opn their way to their landing zone, but are getting close. Apaches have already reached the landing zone and are working to clear it of resistance, despite having lost two Apaches to ground fire.
Suddenly, the pilot of Hall's Chinook calls back, "Colonel! General Skywalker's forces report they are down well back from their landing zone and taking heavy fire."
Hall reacts quickly. "Dispatch six Apaches and three Black Hawks to help," he orders. The pilot relays the order, and two Black Hawks break away from the formation and join up with the six Apaches now on their way to Anakin's position.
"Alright, men. Gear up!" Hall orders as they approach the landing site. In all of the helicopters, the American troops arm their blasters and check their remaining gear.
The helicopters arrive at the landing site just in time to see an Apache blast a Geonosian position with a volley of rockets, killing the Geonosians.
"Pilot! Set down!" Hall orders.
The Chinook lowers to the ground, and it's back ramp opens up. Hall immediately pulls out his blaster pistol while igniting his lightsaber as he storms out of the helicopter, the rest of the men following behind him.
Across the landing site, other helicopters set down, and men begin streaming out of them. As each helicopter empties, it lifts back off and starts heading back towards the ships.
The American troops fire at anything still putting up any reistance. It's not long before enemy fire at the landing site is non-existent. The American force had taken surprisingly few losses, with just 3 Apaches, 2 Black Hawks, and 22 soldiers lost on the way in, and just 2 soldiers killed on the ground at the landing site.
Once it's clear that the landing zone is clear, Hall raises his lightsaber to draw the attention of his men and orders, "Forward!" His order is met with a cheer, and the American troops start running down the canyon ahead of them towards the rendezvous point.
Meanwhile, Anakin and Ahsoka' forces is still taking heavy fire from Geonosians holed up in cavities in the face of the cliffs on either side of them.
Anakin turns back to Rex and yells, "Rex! What's the word? Can Obi Wan send support or not?"
"I don't think so, sir," Rex responds as Anakin leaps down behind a sand dune, landing beside Rex, "Cody says General Kenobi never reached the landing site. They think his gunship got shot down."
"Great. The one time I actually ask Obi Wan for help, he's nowhere to be found," Anakin says as Ahsoka runs up.
Before she can ask anything, Rex continues, "But, I did get in touch with Hall's force. It seems like they're largely undamaged, and they may be able to send some help."
"Good. Let's hope they can," Anakin says.
"What is something happened to General Kenobi? He could be injured or…" Ahsoka asks worriedly.
"No time for that kind of talk. Rex, we need to mobilize. Now. Get the men together. We're gonna rush the guns," Anakin says.
"Yes, sir," Rex responds.
Anakin turns to Ahsoka. "Ahsoka, you're with me. We need to give Rex cover when we attack," Anakin says.
"Got it. Just give the word," Ahsoka says, still clearly bothered about Obi Wan.
"Hey, I'm worried about him too. But you have to keep your mind in the here and now, otherwise we'll never be able to help Obi Wan," Anakin says, trying to ease her mind.
A few moments later, Rex comes up with the rest of his men. "We're here, sir!" Rex says.
"Ready? Go!" Anakin says before leaping up from behind the sand dune and rushing down the canyon.
"Take 'em out. Take 'em all out!" Rex yells as he and the rest of the clones race down the canyon as well.
As they race down the canyon, they suddenly hear a new sound. Looking up, they have just enough time to see a Hellfire streak overhead and hit one of the Geonosian gun positions, destroying it and killing the Geonosians.
Then, the Apaches appear over the canyon, hovering in mid air and pivoting, firing their cannons or cokets at any gun emplacement in sight. The clones start cheering wildly as one gun emplacement after another starts exploding.
As the six Apaches are tearing apart the Geonosian gun emplacements, the two of the three Black Hawks appear, the third one having been shot down en route. The Black Hawks land just behind Anakin and the clones, and 22 American troops leap out of them before racing towards the clones.
"Americans!" one of the clones yells.
"Glad we could join the party!" one of the American troops yells back.
"Forward!" Anakin yells, and the clones and American charge behind him.
Meanwhile, at Obi Wan's landing zone, the remaining gunships and AT-TEs have formed a defensive circle, firing at the Geonosian positions all around them. As Cody watches, one of the other clones calls out, "This is bad. The bugs are splitting up!"
Two clones run up behind Cody. "Boil, reporting as ordered, sir!" one says loudly over the sound of combat.
"Waxer, reporting as ordered, sir!" the other says.
"We've got a downed gunship five clicks east. We believe it's General Kenobi's. I need you to get out there and check for survivors," Cody orders.
"Sir, yes, sir!" the clones respond before turning and running in the direction of the downed gunship.
It doesn't take them too long before they reach the gunship. Exchanging a bit of playful banter, they get the doors of the gunship open, revealing Obi Wan leaned up against the opposite door.
"Waxer, Boil am I glad to see you. Trapper and I are the only ones still alive," Obi Wan says.
"Good to see you, sir. Commander Cody's established the square just beyond this position. The bugs are on the move and trying the surround us as we speak, sir," Boil says as he and Waxer help the two survivors to their feet and start leading back to the rest of the clones.
As they get back to the circle, Cody rushes up and asks, "Are you injured, General?"
"No, nothing too serious. What's the situation here?" Obi Wan responds.
"Ah. We've got no air cover, two generals on the ground beyond our position, and a mess of bugs surrounding us. The enemy was more than prepared for our attack sir. They knew our every move. The only unit that hasn't yet sustained heavy casualties is Colonel Hall's," Cody reports.
"Well, I'm certain that he and General Skywalker and General Mundi will make it to our position. We just have to make sure we're still here when they arrive," Obi Wan says.
Meanwhile, in a canyon to the south, the 101st is engaged with Geonosian and droid holdouts. The American troops have taken shelter behind whatever they can. They've lost another Apache, and the others can't reach their current spot due to the narrowness of this part of the canyon.
"Colonel! We're pinned down! We've taken several casualties, and if we don't do something, we're gonna start taking a lot more!" a Sergeant says to Hall.
Hall sits there for a few moments, contemplating his next move. Then, he calls out, "Anderson! Myers! You're with me! The rest of you, hold them off!"
Hall then leaps out of cover, blocking a blaster bolt with his lightsaber, and races along the canyon wall, keeping behind cover whenever he can. The two soldiers he indicated follow him as closely as they can.
They make their way down the canyon until they reach where several AAT tanks are positioned, behind the gun emplacements in the canyon walls.
The three Americans hide behind a boulder. Hall looks at the two soldiers and says, "Alright. I'm gonna get on those tanks and cut off the hatches of two of them. You two get in their and use their main cannons to try and destroy the gun emplacements while I take out the other two."
"Copy that, Colonel," Myers responds.
Hall nods once, then leaps out from behind the boulder and sprints towards the AATs. He reaches one and bounds up onto the top. He cuts off the top hatch with his lightsaber and throws it away, cleaves the droid in the turret in half, then leaps off the tank and hurries to the next one, repeating the process.
As he leaps off the second tank, Anderson and Myers race out from their cover and head right for the AATs. Clambering up onto the top, they sit down in the turrets and start moving the cannons up. Once they are able to train the cannons high enough, they begin firing at the gun emplacements in the wall of the canyon, blowing them to pieces.
As they are doing this, Hall runs up behind a third AAT. He cuts open the back hatch with his lightsaber, tosses a grenade inside, then hurries away before it explodes and destroys the tank. He then repeats this on the last AAT.
As the last AAT explodes, and Anderson and Myers destroy the last few gun emplacements, the American troops begin to jump up and charge down the canyon. Some are shot down, but their charge quickly breaks the back of the Geonosian defenses.
Meanwhile, Anakin's force continues hurrying down the canyon. As they round a corner, they see massive wall, much like a dam, blocking the canyon, with gun emplacements and droids all over it.
"Well, this is another fine mess you've gotten us into," Ahsoka says to Anakin as they take cover.
"What? Hey, it's not my fault. You were supposed to study the holomaps," Anakin says indignantly.
"I did! Remember, when I reminded you about the giant wall, and you said, 'Don't worry, Snips. We won't be anywhere near that.'" Ahsoka says defensively.
"Just get ready to climb!" Anakin says before turning to a young American 2nd Lieutenant and asking, "Lieutenant, can you get your helicopters to take out that wall?"
"They can take out the droids on top of it, but not the wall. Even if they tried to destroy the guns in the wall, they'd probably be shot out of the sky," the Lieutenant says.
"Great!" Anakin mutters.
"But I think I know something that can," the Lieutenant says. He then gets on his commlink, straight back to the Resolute, and says into it, "Admiral Yularen, this is 2nd Lieutenant Shelton of the 101st Airborne. I'm with General Skywalker, and we're trapped by a massive fortress in a canyon. If you could please dispatch two A-10s, that would be lovely."
The Resolute, prior to leaving Earth, had been equipped with a dozen A-10 Warthogs from the 357th Fighter Squadron. They were stored in the main hangar, in hangar spaces usually used by Y-Wing bombers. The slot down the middle of the main hangar was believed to be just long enough for the A-10 to be able to take off using it. There had been other proposals in which the A-10 would be carried in the bottom bay and literally be dropped out of the ship and have to pick up flying speed, but given the features that had been added to the Resolute's main bay, the A-10s should be able to take off. Until now, the A-10s had been held in reserve in this battle.
"We will try, Lieutenant. Stand by," Admiral Yularen responds. He then turns to one of his clone commanders and orders, "Launch two A-10s immediately!"
Down in the hangar bay, the order is conveyed. The A-10 pilots are already in their cockpits. After receiving the word, they close their canopies and taxi out into the slotrunning down the hangar. Throttling up to full power, the first A-10 releases the brakes and makes its way down the slot. The pilot wrestles the plane into the air just shy of the end of the bay. Clones cheer as the A-10 clears the end of the bay, then as the second A-10 also takes off.
The two A-10s form up and dive towards where Anakin is located, evading Geonosian starfighters and anti-aircraft fire on the way.
Meanwhile, in the canyon, Anakin and Ahoska are beginning to climb up the canyon wall, not wanting to wait for the Warthogs when they might not be coming. As they make their way up the canyon wall, Ahsoka suddenly stops Anakin and says, "Master, what's that noise?"
Anakin stops and listens. Slowly, over the sound of laser fire, he can hear a shrieking whine growing louder and louder. He then smiles as he recognizes the sound. He gets on his commlink and says, "Rex, everyone needs to take cover now!"
"Copy, sir!" Rex says before ordering the clones and Americans to take cover.
As they do, the A-10s appear, streaking down towards the wall. The lead Warthog fires his 30mm cannon at the droids along the top of the wall, shredding most of them. On the ground, the Americans cheer as they that familiar buzzsaw sound of the A-10s cannon.
As the lead A-10 pulls out of its dive, the second one targets the wall. The pilot pulls the trigger and fires a volley of 4 AGM-65 Maverick missiles. The Mavericks take out several gun emplacements and blast chunks out of the wall.
The A-10s pull up and regroup. Then, they separate again to make their second attack.
The A-10s dive down and each drop a pair of Mk84 unguided 2,000 pound bombs. The four bombs hit the wall right around the spots hit and weakened by the Mavericks. Punching a short way through the wall, the four bombs explode almost simultaneously. Weakened by the missiles and bombs, the entire wall begins to crumble and fall.
Anakin smirks. "I love these airplanes," he says as the A-10s pull up and fly out of sight.
The A-10s turn towards Obi Wan's landing zone, having just received notice that Obi Wan was in some dire trouble. The Geonosians and droids are starting overwhelm Obi Wan's forces. As they make their way towards Obi-Wan's landing zone, three Geonosian starfighters swoop down towards them. The Warthogs break hard right, trying to evade the laser fire. Used to targeting much faster targets, the starfighters overshoot.
The A-10s throttle up and pursue the Geonosian fighters. Gaining lock, they each fire an AIM-9 Sidewinder, which track smoothly to their targets and blow them out of the sky. The third fighter turns around to re-engage, but the wingman of the two A-10s lines it up and fires his cannon, shredding the Geonosian fighter out of the sky.
The two A-20s form up and resume course. Less than a minute later, they spot Obi Wan's forces up ahead, surrounded by the enemy and taking a pounding.
The lead pilot, a Captain, says, "Alright, buddy. Let's get those bugs and droids off General Kenobi. We'll target the tanks first, then work on the softer targets. Hit the softer targets closest to our friendlies first, but keep it to your cannon until you get further away. We don't want any fratricide."
"Copy that," his wingman, a 1st Lieutenant, responds.
"And we're here to help," a voice calls over the radio as two more A-10s, scrambled on orders from Yularen, pull up beside them.
"Great. Let's hit 'em!" the lead pilot says, the four A-10s dive to the attack.
Down on the ground, Geonosians are circling the clones, coming closer and closer while firing at them. The clones are firing back with everything they've got, but the sheer number of enemies surrounding them is making it more difficult to fight back.
The clones begin to retreat back into the center of the circle. Obi Wan, still wounded, stands up and ignites his lightsaber, ready to fight to the end.
Then, one of the clones points skyward, "Reinforcements!" Everyone looks up and sees the A-10s diving towards them.
The A-10s fire a volley of Maverick missiles at the AAT tanks surrounding the clones, destroying most of them. Two then circle around and start strafing the remaining AATs with their cannons while the other two start strafing the Geonosians and droids surrounding the clones.
Clones cheer as they watch the Warthogs shred the droids and Geonosians with their cannons. Since some of them have seen just what the A-10 can do when fully loaded, they just stand back and watch the Warthogs tear through the Geonosian and droid forces like paper.
As the A-10s begin finishing up their attack and pulling up to altitude to look for more targets, blaster fire from the south begins to cut down the remaining forces that the A-10s didn't destroy. The clones look to the south and cheer as they see the men of the 101st Airborne marching towards them, with their accompanying Apaches flying towards, ready to engage any targets. At the same time, Anakin and Master Mundi emerge from a canyon behind them with their forces.
Within a matter of minutes, all of the enemy forces have been wiped out. Ahsoka, Anakin and Master Mundi hurry over to where Obi Wan is resting against some boxes.
"Are you okay, Master Kenobi?" Ahsoka asks worriedly.
"What happened to you?" Anakin asks a little teasingly.
"I might ask you the same question," Obi Wan responds in kind.
Hall walks up to the four Jedi. Obi Wan looks at him and says, "Thank you for your support, Colonel, and for that of your Warthogs."
"No problem, General," Hall says with a smile.
"How fared you?" Master Mundi asks.
"We lost four attack helicopters, 3 Black Hawks, and a total of 71 men. But the rest of us are still ready to go," Hall says.
"Good. Because we're not done yet," Obi Wan says.
A holo projector is quickly brought up, and a map of the factory and its surroundings is projected.
"Our combined forces should be enough to destroy the shield generator. Anakin, you'll need to take a small squad through the shield, as close as you can get to their gun emplacements. Once you get there, you will be able to jam their scanners, so they are unable to target the incoming tanks. Once the tanks knock out the shield, Master Mundi can bring the rest of the troops in with the gunships," Obi Wan says.
"Consider it done, Master," Anakin says confidently.
"And I have something that may help," Hall says as he points to the sky. Everyone looks where he's pointing and sees two Black Hawks, escorted by two Apaches, coming closer. The helicopters land a short distance away, their rotors kicking up a lot of dust, and 12 men climb out of them. The helicopters then pick up a number of the most critically injured and take off again.
The 12 men approach. Seeing their uniforms, the four Jedi and some of the clones recognize them as men of the Delta Force.
"Deltas. Excellent," Anakin says. He then gathers a few clones, including Rex, and they all start heading for their position. Hall goes with them.
The various forces move to set up positions around the shield. Once everyone is in position, Master Mundi says over his commlink, "Skywalker, start your attack."
Anakin ignites his lightsaber, as do Ahsoka and Hall, and they make their way towards the shield generator, with Rex, the three other clones, and the 12 Deltas following them. Geonosians quickly spot them and fly towards them to attack, but are quickly gunned down by the Deltas. One Geonosian gets close enough and tries to carry a Delta away, but the young Lieutenant breaks the Geonosian's arm, then manages to get the creature in a headlock and snap its neck.
Within moments, they've reached the shield generator. They take shelter behind whatever they can. While the Deltas cover their rear, keeping watch for any Geonosians, Anakin turns to Ahsoka and Hall and says, "Let's jam their scanners. Droid poppers ready." He, Ahsoka, and Hall then throw droid poppers towards the enemy positions. They go off, disabling the droids and the Geonosian scanners.
"It's working, but it won't last long," Hall says.
Anakin nods before getting on his commlink and saying, "Bring up the tanks."
Several AT-TEs march into view and begin firing towards the generator. After several volleys of shots from their main cannons, the shield generator explodes.
The shield begins to dissipate as gunships begin flying down, landing to deposit troops to reinforce Anakin. In seconds, the remaining Geonosians surrender.
More gunships began to come down, depositing fresh clones and troops from the 101st, while taking away the wounded for treatment.
Anakin and Hall help Obi Wan towards one of the gunships so he can be taken away to have his wounds treated. Master Mundi, also in need of treatment, is already on the gunship.
Ahsoka hurries over. "So, Master, what was your total?" she asks, eager to know who won their competition.
"Not now, Ahsoka," Anakin says, feeling a little bit run down.
"Come on. Are you afraid you lost this time?" Ahsoka says teasingly.
"Fine. 55, that's my count. And you?" Anakin responds.
Ahsoka smirks before saying, "Sixty. Looks like I won."
"Actually, I did. I had 62," Hall says with a bigger smirk.
Ahsoka pouts slightly, causing Anakin to chuckle. "Looks like the American beat you," he says.
"I'll never understand how you can simplify these battles into some kind of game," Obi Wan says before a clone helps him onto gunship.
"I know how I can. It helps take away the reality of war a bit. If you count your kills, it makes it seem more like a game than that you're killing people, or aliens in this case. And I speak from experience," Hall says.
Anakin and Ahsoka both glance at him, then nod, privately wondering just what Hall has been through as part of the Delta Force.
"I can accept that," Obi Wan says.
"Well, take care of yourselves. I expect to see both of you back here by the time I've destroyed the main factory," Anakin says.
"We shall do our best," Obi Wan says.
Master Mundi then looks at Anakin and says, "Sixty five, Skywalker."
"I'm sorry?" Anakin asks, confused.
"My total. 65. So what do I win?" Master Mundi asks expectantly.
Anakin looks surprised, glancing at Ahsoka, Obi Wan and Hall, who are all grinning. He then looks back at Master Mundi and says, "My everlasting respect, Master Mundi."
"Oh," Master Mundi responds, sounding disappointed.
"That is a gift Anakin rarely bestows, I assure you," Obi Wan says with an air of humor before the gunship takes off. Several more take off.
"Alright. Phase One is over," Hall says before turning his gaze to the man factory, knowing the hardest part may still be to come.
And, I'll end there. I hope you liked this chapter.
So, I decided to include A-10s because I wanted to be able to use them against the Super Tanks in the next chapter. I know you may be a little skeptical, but given the A-10s design, it can use a shorter runway, and I feel like the Republic would've made sure the A-10s would be able to take off. We'll eventually see A-10s equipped with engines that will enable them to operate in space and take off like starfighters, but not quite yet.
Next chapter will be up soon, hopefully. I start my next semester of college on Monday, and it's gonna be my busiest semester yet, so updates to all my stories may be less frequent, especially later in the semester. I'll still try to update as often as I can, though.
Until next time, leave a review, and stay tuned!