Chapter 6: Retaking Christophsis
Kathryn sat in the rear of a massive Rhino APC, along with Ahsoka, Obi-Wan, Rex, her fireteam of SPARTANs, and a few Marines of various species within the GC. The Jedi and Clones alike were amazed at the combat prowess of the average GC soldier, never mind their technology. When Alice had shared the fact that the GC regularly hollowed out planetoids to make shipyards with Anakin, he nearly dropped his jaw to the floor.
The Republic used the two days of downtime to truly experience the military might of the GC. The one expeditionary fleet that they had deployed to a completely different galaxy was able to punch through an entire planetary blockade with minimal damage suffered to a single ship. The Republic would have needed to sacrifice a fleet to accomplish what the GC did with just a few ships.
The continents of Christophsis were falling like dominos, the sheer number of clones coupled with the elite soldiers of the GC made them an almost unbeatable foe. The GC provided almost all of the air and vehicular support, while the Republic made up a vast majority of the ground forces. GC ODSTs had been dropped into almost every city on Christophsis with a single order, wreak havoc everywhere they went. There were reports coming in from Republic Scouts that entire sections of cities were being secured by metal men leading civilians in open revolt against the droids.
The sheer speed in which the GC accomplished their battlefield objectives was simply stunning. Entire tank battalions were crossing continents in a few days' time, flattening entire armies of Droids in their wake. The relatively short offensive on Christophsis, which was supposed to be an incredibly decisive and close battle, was quickly turning into a landslide victory for the Republic. The Separatists had a single city remaining on the entire planet, a rather small industrially-focused settlement in the middle of a large collection of grasslands. The area itself was beautiful, but Kathryn found the scene even more beautiful when you added in the silhouette of a GC Panther tank, or Hood tank, against the sunset.
The relatively quiet drive was interrupted by the rattling of a Hard Light machine gun, prompting the driver of the APC to shout over his shoulder. "This is where we stop, ladies! You're on foot from here!" At his words, the back panel of the vehicle opened up, allowing the occupants to pile out. The green countryside of Christophsis was scorched by near-constant strike craft strafing runs. There was a relatively small settlement a few hundred meters away from the vehicles, with an incredibly dense screen of AA fire flaring up from the streets. The MGs on the various transport vehicles were lighting up, targeting specific buildings. Thousands of GC Marines and tens of thousands of Clone Troopers moved across the field, their advance occasionally interrupted by a striking artillery round or mortar.
Alice gave the order for the SPARTANs to advance. Willow raised her Binary Rifle, firing the occasional bolt of Hard Light as she sprinted forward. The SPARTANs were able to cover the massive distance in a few moments, followed closely behind by the Jedi. Small squads of droids could be seen moving throughout the city, preparing final defensive measures. Alice sent out the order for the fireteam to split into two teams. Kathryn and Willow went one direction, while Alice and Willow took another. The Jedi stuck with their respective SPARTAN pairs, if they were present.
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Alice, Willow, and Kenobi advanced through the western portion of the settlement, cutting through any droids in their path with relative ease. As they advanced through the streets, the Marines finally catching up to them, the droid defenses progressively grew thicker. The SPARTANs were eventually forced to break off from the main GC/Republic forces and continued advancing towards the center of the city.
As Alice walked through a small street, her rifle kept at a low-ready, she heard the familiar noise of a lightsaber's thrumming. Upon realizing that it was steadily growing closer, and unmistakably destined for her, she ducked to the ground, just in time for a red blur to pass by her head. Once the blur passed back over, she righted herself, finding Kenobi and Willow to be pointing their weapons further down the street. She looked, noticing a tall, lanky woman with grey skin and no hair. She wore strange black and purple garb and carried a pair of curved red lightsabers. "Ventress." Kenobi stated as Alice raised her rifle.
"Kenobi…" Ventress said, strutting forward. "You've made some interesting friends. I'm not sure I approve."
"Well, my apologies, my sweet..." Kenobi said, sarcastically.
"Don't you have another galaxy to be forcing your dogma on?" Ventress asked, looking towards the ranking SPARTAN.
Alice's grip tensed on her rifle as her stance shifted completely. She went from a purely defensive stance to a very offensive stance. She jammed down on the trigger for her Light Rifle, sending a pair of Hard Light bolts in the direction of Ventress.
Ventress snarled and moved to block the shots, but was rather surprised to find these… golden blasters carried kinetic energy behind them. She was pushed back slightly by the force of the shots, but she quickly charged forward, moving to deflect the incoming shots rather than simply block them. She closed the distance between her and the SPARTAN in a flash, attempting to slash her across the chest with her sabers. The SPARTAN slid back, assisted by micro-thrusters in her armor, and threw her Light Rifle into Slipspace. She ignited a blade of hardened light on her wrist, pulling a Bolt Pistol out from the Void.
Ventress attempted to jump upwards and bring her sabers down on the SPARTAN, but found herself engaged by Kenobi and Willow. As she attempted to jump upwards, Kenobi charged in, rearing back an attack. Willow simply shoulder-checked Ventress, the massive suit of armor knocking her back a few feet.
Ventress reached out through the force, locking Willow and Alice in a choke. Both SPARTANs, in surprise, reached up to their necks and attempted to free their windpipe. Ventress made the fatal mistake of charging forward as the SPARTANs were otherwise preoccupied. Kenobi intercepted her mid-charge, forcing her to break her concentration on the choking SPARTANs. The two super-soldiers, having the pressure relieved from their throats, stumbled forward slightly, recovering almost instantly. Alice charged forward, forcing her Hard Light Blade against Ventress' lightsabers. The sheer strength of the SPARTAN brought a feeling of terror to Ventress, since it was quite obvious that these soldiers were not Force-sensitive.
Ventress attempted to rear back her second lightsaber to strike at Alice's side. As she brought the blade forward, Alice used her spare hand to fire a quick bolt of Hard Light into Ventress' wrist. Using the short pause in the attack, Alice kicked Ventress in the femur, ducking out of the way of the first lightsaber's downswing, and wrenched her second hand backwards, forcing the lightsaber from Ventress' hand.
Ventress, in blind rage, threw her hand out, sending out an incredibly powerful Force Push. The attack threw Alice and Willow back, but Kenobi was able to stand his ground thanks to his Force-sensitivity. Ventress let out a high-pitched, ear-piercing wail that she projected and enhanced through the Force, causing Kenobi's concentration to break. Ventress used the opening to propel herself away through the Force, disappearing into the rather dense downtown area of the city.
Alice slowly stood, shaking her head. "What the hell was that?" She asked.
"Asajj Ventress." Kenobi responded. "She's a Sith."
"Sith?" Alice asked.
"The opposite of the Jedi." Kenobi said, his demeanor oddly calm given the circumstances. "They harness their emotions in combat, use them to empower themselves. They prey on the weak."
"Well, I have her thing now." Alice said, holding up her captured lightsaber.
"Very impressive." Kenobi commented. "I see no reason why you couldn't keep it."
"Alright…" Alice said, pulling a small object out through Slipspace. She connected a small object to the base of the lightsaber, which lit up in gold for a moment. She lazily tossed the lightsaber with the object attached to it into Slipspace. "Let's keep moving, maybe we can finish that Sith off."
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Kathryn walked down a thin boulevard in a Christophsi city, Ahsoka and Jane alongside her. The defenses were much weaker on their side of the settlement, so the Marines and Clones had already caught up to them. The Marines had overtaken the SPARTANs and Padawan, moving to clear out the enemies ahead. Kathryn walked at a rather leisurely pace, her weapon at a low-ready.
"These droids are literally just walking scrap metal at this point." Jane commented, firing a quick bolt from her pistol into an ambushing B2 droid, splintering its front plating and sending it to the ground.
"To be fair…" Ahsoka began, throwing a Force Push towards an advancing B1 droid, knocking it over. "They're kinda threatening in large groups."
"Luckily, we have the Panther for that." Kathryn said, gesturing to the medium-weight tank behind them.
"Halt the advance!" The Battalion Commander shouted from the top of his command vehicle, which was a very menacing looking Hood VI tank. "The CIS just surrendered."
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Alice tossed an EMP grenade through a window, leaping in after the crackling of energy died down. The other pane of glass on the other side of the small room shattered as Willow crashed through, her Hard Light Scattergun primed. Sixteen B2 Battle Droids lay on the floor, sparking from any joints as they lay deactivated. A single Nemoidian stood, his hands in the air as the two SPARTANs walked over, their weapons trained on him. "I surrender!" He shouted.
Kenobi jumped through the window behind Alice, eyeing the destruction as he kept his hand over his Lightsaber. "Should you give the general shutdown order, any further bloodshed could be avoided." Kenobi calmly stated. "You've already lost, it's best for you to simply accept it."
"Fine…" The Nemoidian said, staring towards the two SPARTANs. "May I use the terminal to give the order?"
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Lasky stood at the helm of Infinity, smiling broadly as the bridge crew broke into cheers. Christophsis had been liberated, and the GC stood victorious. He accepted the holographic call from Mace Windu's Venator, which joined the orbital defense the previous day. "Admiral Lasky, I just received word that the CIS has formally surrendered to GC and Republic forces here on Christophsis."
"I just got word too." Lasky affirmed. "I'll have the fleet begin dispatching engineering crews to begin repairs of local infrastructure."
"You have logistics vessels in your fleet?" Windu asked. "I thought it was all scientific and escort vessels…"
"The GC First Fleet will be arriving in a few days." Lasky explained. "They'll be the first wave of reinforcements."
"How many will we have?" Windu asked.
"Around fifty vessels, one million Marines, and all of their equipment and vehicles." Lasky explained.
"That could easily turn the tide of a few battles." Windu commented.
"Indeed it could, hence why they sent it." Lasky deadpanned. "I'll start sending dropships to retrieve my men, and return to Coruscant until the fleet arrives."
"Understood. The Republic can hold Christophsis for now. Thank you, Admiral." Windu said, cutting the communication.
"Send out the Pelicans, bring 'em home!" Lasky ordered.
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Kathryn stepped off of the transport Pelican, back onto Infinity. Ahsoka, Anakin, Obi-Wan and Fireteam Omega. They were greeted by a man in a gray uniform, short black hair on his head, and a Bolt Pistol at his hip. He had a small smile on his lips as he stepped forward. "Excellent work, Omega. The four of you have yet to disappoint me."
"Thank you, sir!" Alice said, saluting.
"Who is that?" Ahsoka asked quietly.
"That's Lasky." Kathryn explained.
"I thought he was one of those giant Promethean things."
Lasky chuckled. "GC High Command decided that having an eight foot tall android represent Humanity to the Republic wasn't the brightest idea, so they cleared me to get a synthetic body. This is what I looked like before I got composed. So now… I look like I'm 1000 going on 34." Lasky shrugged. "But enough about that, congratulations… all of you."
"Thank you, sir." Alice said, again. "Do we have another mission lined up?"
"Not right now." Lasky explained. "HIGHCOM wants to wait until the Fleet arrives. But… there is one thing. You guys might hate me for this…"
"What is it?" Anakin asked. "Is something wrong?"
"No… It's just… Command wants a team of SPARTANs to attend the opening of the GC's Embassy on Coruscant. There's a small… gathering in the embassy itself."
"They want the SPARTANs there for security?" Ahsoka asked. "Coruscant is one of the safest worlds in the Republic."
"They want Omega there for PR reasons." At Lasky's words, all four SPARTANs let out an audible groan. "I know… I'm sorry, but it looks like you guys are playing with the politicians in a few days."
