Hey, everybody. Back with another chapter. This one will return to the Clone Wars show. Although it bears the name of just one episode, it will actually feature the events of both "Hostage Crisis" and some of "Hunt for Ziro", though hardly any of the latter. It'll also be a bit shorter chapter.
Let's get to it.
CT7567: A large number of the ships Terra will end up producing will be of a similar design to classic Star Destroyers. However, they will also play around with other designs.
RandomFanAuthor: Terran troops are just wearing normal Terran combat gear, mainly their uniforms and Kevlar.
Chapter 32- Hostage Crisis
(December 1, 1992 Earth Time)
As the sun rises over Coruscant, Colonel John White of the ASAT team looks out over the planet from his position in the Jedi Temple. He had relieved Colonel Mofaz as the ASAT commando assigned to the Temple just a week earlier. Already, he is finding Coruscant one of the most impressive places he's ever visited.
"Impressed, are you?"
White turns around, and spots Yoda approaching behind him.
"Yes, indeed, Master Yoda. It is quite different from anywhere on Terra. Especially Britain," White says.
"And yet, sometimes, in nature, peace we can find," Yoda says.
"Oh, I know that very well. The time I spend outdoors in my home in Scotland are some of my favorite times of year," White responds.
Yoda smiles a bit, then says, "How went your training today?"
"Very well. Master Windu is a strict and tough teacher when he wants to be, but his training sessions are very helpful," White says. He then removes his lightsaber from his belt and ignites the blue blade. "When I first took up this lightsaber, I felt a great burden being placed on my shoulders. The protection of the innocent from the threat of the Sith and others like them," he says. He twirls his lightsaber in hand before deactivating it and returning it to his belt. He then looks down at Yoda and says, "It is a great honor to train under you Jedi, and to be able to fight alongside you."
Yoda smiles. Despite the fact that none of the ASAT team would ever be allowed to actually join the Jedi Order even if they were Force-sensitive, all of them are good, honorable men to the very core, with several having already saved the lives of Jedi.
"A good man, you are, Colonel White," Yoda says.
White smiles in response. Yoda smiles again and then walks away.
White looks back out the window, then realizes he's due to meet with another ASAT member, Colonel Hall, at a diner not far from the Senate building for lunch.
White heads down to the hangar and hops into a speeder, heading out of the Jedi Temple and towards the diner.
As he is soaring between the buildings, suddenly, his commlink begins to beep. He lifts his arm up and says, "Colonel White."
"Colonel! This is Captain Jones! We have a situation in the Senate building! A bounty hunter apparently named Cad Bane and some other bounty hunters have taken control of the East Wing of the Senate building and taken a number of Senators hostage. We got lucky and got the transmission from a friendly troop in the building was killed, and before all power was cut off," Captain Jones, the commander of a troop from A Squadron of the 22nd SAS Regiment.
"I'm on my way," White responds. Immediately, he contacts Colonel Hall and says he's going to need a rain check, then immediately heads to meet up with the troop.
He lands his speeder at a building a short distance from the Senate building that has been allocated for use by Terran forces.
As soon as he gets out of his speeder, he finds Captain Jones waiting for him.
"What's the situation, Captain?" White demands.
"Still no word from the Senate building. We can expect at least half a dozen bounty hunters and assassin droids, maybe more. And both Cad Bane and the escaped Aurra Sing are among the bounty hunters," Captain Jones responds.
"Alright. Do we have any idea if we have any forces inside the building?" White asks.
"Negative, sir. We only had two Spanish troops and the Senate guards there, and it seems all of them were killed," Captain Jones says.
"Alright. We don't have a lot of time to spare. It's up to us to free the Senate. Gear up!" White orders.
White follows Jones into the building, and to a room where the other 15 men of the troop are already preparing for battle.
Given this will be a stealth incursion, the British commandos decide to use normal firearms instead of blasters. Each SAS commando will be armed with an LWRC M6 carbine fitted with a silencer, although two men will be carrying a L119A1 carbine fitted with a grenade launcher, just in case. In addition to their carbines, four men will also be carrying a MP5 submachine gun, while the rest will be carrying a pair of P226 pistols. Each man will also be carrying four grenades and two fighting knives. Several men will also be carrying special breaching materials for breaching doors.
It doesn't take the commandos too long to gear up for the assault. Within five minutes, the team is ready to depart.
"Alright, men. Let's go!" White says.
The SAS commandos board three different speeders. They all head for the Senate building, setting down at the very base of the building.
As they disembark, the SAS find that the doors are all bolted shut. Seeing that the door into the building is locked shut, White motions for someone to blow the door. A commando hurries forward and sets a charge against the door. A moment later, the charge detonates, blowing a hole in the door large enough for the men to climb through.
As the SAS make their way into the darkened Senate building, White is trying to get his commlink working. Doing a little fiddling with it, he decides to take a chance and says into it, "This is Colonel White of the Terran ASAT team. Chancellor Palpatine, if you can hear me, please respond."
A moment later, he hears, "Colonel! I'm glad to hear your voice! Where are you?"
"I'm on the bottom floor of the Senate building. I'm here with a team of 16 British SAS commandos, and we're here to stop these bounty hunters," White responds.
"Please hurry, Colonel. I am being forced by the bounty hunters to release Ziro the Hutt. I have already sent Senator Orn Free Taa to the prison to issue his release. If you can stop the bounty hunters before they are able to escape with Ziro, then we will be able to retain him in custody," Palpatine responds.
"Understood, Chancellor," White responds. He then cuts off the transmission and orders, "Move it, men!"
White leads the way, his carbine held tightly in his hands. The rest of the men follow, several walking backwards to keep their six clear.
The SAS head slowly up the stairs. As they make their way up a few floors, White says quietly, "Three of you, head to the main control room. You need to get the power back on. I want three more of you to head up to the Chancellor's office and ensure his safety. The rest of you with me."
Three SAS split off from the group and, using maps of the Senate building, head for the power control room. Three more head further up into the building to find the Chancellor's office. The other ten, including Captain Jones, follow White down the hallway, heading to find where the bounty hunters are keeping the Senators.
As the SAS round a corner, they spot an IG-86 model droid up ahead. With cool efficiency, one of the junior members of the troops takes the droid out with a single shot to the head from his carbine. Without even slowing down, the commandos walk right over the destroyed droid.
Meanwhile, the three commandos assigned to protect Chancellor Palpatine have reached his floor, after using extension guns to haul themselves up an elevator shaft. Rounding a corner, they see another IG-86 droid standing guard outside. Without hesitating, one of the men takes it out with a shot to the head.
The three SAS make their way to the door, and one fits a charge against the door. When the charge explodes, it blasts a hole in the door. The three men climb through the hole, and see Palpatine sitting at his desk.
"Oh, gentlemen. Thank goodness you're here. Help me. I'm trying to fix my communicator," Palpatine says. The SAS hurry to help Palpatine.
As this is happening, the other three SAS detached to find the power control room have finally found it. However, as they enter it, they quickly find it beyond their ability.
One of the commandos gets on their earpiece and says, "Colonel White, this tech is too advanced. It's gonna take us too long to get the power back online. We'll try, but don't expect us to have done it before this is over."
White curses as he hears this. "Try anyways. We'll figure this out," White says.
As White rounds a corner, he can hear something up ahead. White makes a motion to his men, who all hurry to blend in with their surroundings.
A moment later, Cad Bane and his bounty hunters walk out of the room, and hurry down the hall. White watches them go for a few moments, then says, "Six of you, after them. Wait for my command to attack. The rest of you with me."
Six SAS nod and get up, following the bounty hunters down the hallway, keeping them in sight and sticking to the shadows.
Meanwhile, White and the remaining SAS make their way into the room. To their surprise, all the Senators, as well as Anakin, are gathered in the center of the room, with laser beams surrounding them.
Padme spots them, and recognizes White. "Colonel White!" she says in delight.
"Hang on, Senators. We'll get you out of this," White says. He then turns to the four SAS behind him and says, "Come on! We gotta disarm these things!"
Moving extremely carefully, the SAS make their way to the four devices attached to surrounding pillars. Using their knowledge of how to disarm explosives, the men get to work.
A few tense minutes go by. Then, in a matter of seconds, all the lasers go down.
"Got it!" Captain Jones cries.
White smiles as he presses on his earpiece. "SAS operatives pursuing the bounty hunters! The Senators are free! You are clear to engage!" he says.
At that moment, outside, Cad Bane and his bounty hunters had successfully manipulated Chancellor Palpatine into letting them go. However, as they prepare to board their speeder, the door they came out of opens again, and the six SAS operatives race out.
"The Senators are free! The bounty hunters have no leverage!" one of the commandos shouts. Instantly, the clones begin to turn their weapons on the bounty hunters.
Cad Bane and the other bounty hunters open fire, causing the clones and SAS to scatter. They quickly return fire, but not before the bounty hunters are able to escape with Ziro.
The SAS are furious as they watch Ziro and the bounty hunters get away. One of the SAS gets on his earpiece and says, "Colonel White. We lost Ziro. The bounty hunters were quick on the draw and laid down fire to cover their escape."
"Understood. I'll contact our intelligence units and have them work with Republic intelligence," White responds.
(A day later)
White fires his assault blaster at a series of targets in a training room in the Terran building on Coruscant.
Suddenly, he hears footsteps behind him. He turns around and sees Captain Jones walking towards him.
"What is it, Captain?" he asks.
"Sir, we just received a message from General Kenobi. He and General Vos tracked Ziro's trail to a planet called Teth, but when they got there, they found Ziro had been killed by someone else. They also lost Cad Bane," Captain Jones says.
White sighs, then says, "Understood, Captain. Thank you." Captain Jones nods in response, then pivots on his heel and marches out.
White sighs again. He feels a little frustrated that Ziro got away in the first place, and they then were unable to catch him before he got killed. But, at the same time, he knows that sometimes, you don't get what you want, no matter how good you are.
And, I'll end there.
I know this was not my best chapter, but I didn't want too large of a time jump between chapters.
So, I'm only going to do a few more chapters covering Season 3 episodes. However, I'm going to be doing a lot of chapters on episodes of Season 4.
Next chapter will be up fairly soon. Until then, leave a review, and stay tuned!