Well, dear readers, here we go, my first original arc for this series. I can only hope that you will find it satisfactory, and I encourage you to leave feedback, just remember to keep it civil and polite. You can't see me and I can't see you, but that's no excuse for rudeness and impropriety.
Today's recommendation is Lost in Adaptation, a Youtube series by The Dom, where he examines various types of adaptations, typically adaptations from books to film or television, and goes over what was left out, what was changed, what was done better or worse in the adaptation compared to the original, etc.
Walking a Tightrope Chapter 9 (V. 1.1)
Fear not the man who rejoices in his power, but instead fear he who tastes the urge to revel in strength, and yet denies it.
A world in peril!
As the battle rages for the Outer Rim continues to rage, supply lines become ever more important, as the Separatists and Republic vie for control of vital Mid Rim territories. If the Separatists manage to take these worlds, then not only will the Republic lose vital lanes to resupply their clone armies, but the Separatists will also be able to strike at the more densely populated worlds of the Inner Rim.
One of these vital Mid Rim worlds, the Zabrak homeworld of Iridonia, has recently fallen under Separatist attack. After receiving the desperate transmissions from Iridonia, the Republic has dispatched the 501st legion, and the 212th attack battalion to help retake the planet.
However, the Jedi generals normally assigned to these units, Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi, have been assigned on a mission to negotiate for a captured Count Dooku, and so command of these forces, along with Padawans Ahsoka Tano and Nitai Zeama, has been delegated to Masters Plo Koon and Mace Windu.
Most of Nitai's deployments over the weeks after Anakin had destroyed the Separatist listening outpost had been rather quiet. There had been a few skirmishes with small droid raiding parties, but it seemed that for the time being the two sides were content to test each other's fronts with probing attacks, looking for any potential weaknesses.
However, everything had changed with the apparent capture of Count Dooku by a group of Outer Rim pirates. Obi-Wan and Anakin had been tasked with capturing the count on one of the Separatist flagships, the two had failed, but the Count's ship had crashed on an isolated planet, and the two Jedi had pursued him, although he had once again managed to slip through their grasp, while the two generals also managed to trap themselves in a cave with a feral animal that Nitai would later learn was called a Gundark. They had only managed to escape death via either enraged Gundark or suffocation after accidentally uncovering a pocket of poisonous gas, by the timely arrival of Nitai, Ahsoka, and a detachment of clone troopers. The young Padawans had then silently agreed that they would be holding that little factoid over their masters' heads for quite a while.
Shortly after they had returned to their fleets, they received a message from the Chancellor and the Council informing them of Dooku's capture, and the offer that had been made for him to be ransomed back to the Republic, and Obi-Wan and Anakin had been selected to travel to the pirate's base in order to make sure that they actually had Dooku in custody.
At the moment Nitai was standing alongside Ahsoka, Captain Rex, and Commander Cody in one of the hangars, awaiting the Masters who would be temporarily overseeing, since even if Anakin and Obi-Wan managed to complete their mission in time, it was doubtful that they'd be able to join the assault.
"Commanders, the generals' starfighters are incoming, they will be landing in just a moment." A voice came through on their communicators.
"Copy that, bridge, we are awaiting in the hangar." Ahsoka said, and just as she finished speaking the protective roof to the hangars landing strip opened up, and a pair of starfighters entered after unlatching from their hyperspace rings.
As one of the Jedi Masters emerged a wide smile spread across Ahsoka's face. "Master Plo!" She said excitedly as she ran up to the Kel Dor.
"It is good to see you again, Little Soka." The Master Jedi said affectionately, though his mask may have obscured most of his features, it was clear by the tone of his voice that he was happy to see the young Togruta.
"Padawan Tano, Padawan Zeama." Another voice chimed in, and Ahsoka and Nitai turned to see Mace Windu emerge from his fighter. "Master Windu, an honor to have you fight alongside us." Nitai said as he bowed, he was a bit nervous at Master Windu's presence. He hadn't been the most vocal opponent when Nitai had asked to join the Order, but every time that the two were in the same room Nitai felt as if he was being picked apart by the older Jedi's gaze. He had eventually learned that Master Windu was very wary of any Jedi who might fall to the Dark Side, particularly since Vaapad, the form of lightsaber combat he had developed, involved treading dangerously close to the Dark Side, reflecting an opponent's aggression and rage back upon them by letting it flow through the user. If any Jedi knew the dangers of the Dark Side, it was Master Windu, which meant that of all the Jedi, aside from Master Yoda, he was probably the one who was most likely to unravel Nitai's deception, which was something that the young Padawan could not allow.
"So, Master Plo, what's the plan?" Ahsoka asked as the Jedi and Clone Commanders set off to the command center.
"Patience, young one, you will learn of the plan once we reach the command center, we will be leading the assault so it is important you know what we will be facing." Plo Koon chuckled slightly at the young Togruta's eagerness.
"But what we can say, is that it will be a tough fight, the Separatist forces took the planet by surprise and managed to take several key ports on the planet." Master Windu elaborated as they finally reached the command center and brought up a projection of Iridonia. Nitai had done some research on the planet in order to make his cover story more believable, and it was just as the books had described, continents covered in deep valleys, and numerous seas, many of which were composed of acid, rather than water.
"These are the areas that the Separatists have managed to seize." Master Plo said, as an explosion of red dots covered several of the valleys, indicating Separatist emplacements and troop concentrations, the densest cluster seemed to be around the largest valley, which ran almost directly from North to South near the equator.
"Of particular note is this valley, here." Master Windu said as he indicated the largest valley, and Nitai already started to get a tingling feeling on the back of his neck, if he had been inclined to gamble, he would bet that they were going to be assaulting there. "This valley contains a majority of the planet's spaceports and landing pads, due to the high winds that rage across the surface of the planet it is nearly impossible to land large amounts of troops directly on the surface. The Separatists are landing a majority of their forces here, and then deploying them across the rest of the planet, if we want to stem the tide of Separatist reinforcements, we're going to have to take that valley."
"That looks like a lot of entrenched clankers, sir, our gunships would be shot out of the sky before we even got halfway down into the valley." Captain Rex said as he rubbed his chin, staring at the hologram as if gazing at it even more intently would reveal some secret that it had yet to give up.
"Indeed, they have even set up shield generators in order to protect their positions from orbital bombardment. But thankfully, that is not our plan. Most of the landing pads in the trench are concentrated towards the Northern edge, and so that is where most of the defensive emplacements have been established, the Southern edge of the valley consists of forests and only has two installations with shield generators. Unfortunately, it is those installations that hold a majority of the droid anti-aircraft and anti-starship weaponry." Master Plo explained, and Commander Cody perked up, looking as if he had just realized something.
"So…if we take out those emplacements, we can clear out the Southern portion of the valley, and fight our way north to retake the spaceports." Ahsoka said as she drummed her fingers on the edge of projection table.
"Master Windu, you mentioned that it would be nearly impossible to land a large number of troops on the surface due to the wind. What about only a dropship or two?" Nitai asked.
"I'm glad to see you two are thinking a few steps ahead, your Masters have trained you well." Master Plo said, seeming quite pleased that the two young Padawans had worked out the plan for ourselves. "The droids know that it would be insanity to try and land a major force on the surface, but they have blinded themselves, all their sensors are focused on detecting threats directly approaching the valleys. We will be landing two squads outside of their detection zone, and move in on the bunkers. We have two goals, to disable the shield generators, and sabotage or destroy their anti-ship cannons. Then we'll be able to move our ships in and bombard the area, softening it up for the rest of our troops to land."
"Padawan Zeama will be joining me along with a team from the 212th to disable the bunker on the Eastern rim of the valley, while Master Plo will take you, Padawan Tano, along with a team from the 501st to disable the Western emplacement." Master Windu then turned to the two clone commanders. "It will be your job to select the men who will be assigned for this mission, it needs to be a small group, only four or five clones, maximum. We'll need to be stealthy for this mission, so we can't afford to take a larger group."
"Yes, sir." The two clones said in unison as the saluted. "We'll get on that immediately, we'll have the teams selected by the time we reach Iridonia." Commander Cody said as he and Rex turned and exited the command station.
"Well, Masters, it's good to know that we have a plan for the ground assault, but aren't we first going to have to break the Separatist blockade?" Nitai asked as he glanced between the two senior Jedi.
"Have faith, young Padawan, we wouldn't have begun planning the ground assault if we didn't have a plan for the Separatist fleet as well." Master Plo said as a few Separatist battleships appeared hovering around the projection of Iridonia. "Several of the Separatist warships have left orbit and exited the system, presumably they did not expect us to respond so quickly, and they thought they could gather more troops and return to have them aid in the ground assault before facing any Republic ships. With their forces currently depleted we'll be able to wipe out the blockade, and when the Separatists ships return, they will find our cruisers waiting for them." He said, and Nitai tried his best the wicked grin on his face at the thought of a group of Separatists ships dropping out of hyperspace into what they expected to be friendly territory, only to immediately come under fire. He still recalled his similar experience above Christophsis and it would be nice to turn the situation around on the droids, even if he likely wouldn't be there to witness it directly.
"Hit them when they don't expect it and let their reinforcements waltz right into a trap when they get back. I love it. Let's just hope that they don't end up bringing more ships back. It would be a bit of a shame if we go through all the trouble of blowing up those emplacements only to have our cruisers otherwise occupied and unable to take advantage of the opening." He said.
"All the more reason for us to take them out as quickly as possible. We'll be dropping out of hyperspace in about two hours. Once the Separatist fleet has been destroyed we'll meet in the hangar along with our infiltration teams, and make our way to the surface. I suggest you two take some time to prepare." Master Windu said, causing the two young Padawans to nod.
"We will be ready, Masters." Ahsoka said as she and Nitai turned and exited the command center.
"Soooo…" Nitai said once he was certain that the doors had shut behind them and the Masters could no longer hear them. "Thirty credits to the first one to finish their part of the mission?" He said with a wry grin.
"I'm disappointed in you Red. What would Master Obi-Wan say?" She said before a similar smirk spread across her face. "I'd tell you what Master Skywalker would say, that it's way too low, make it fifty and you've got a bet."
"You're on, Soka. I can already hear them clinking in my pocket." He said before the two split up, heading down separate hallways towards their quarters so that they could check over their sabers and equipment to prepare for their mission.
Nitai could feel their ship drop out of hyperspace and held his breath for a few moments as he felt the ship shudder slightly as a flurry of laser fire impacted against its shields. He exhaled and took a few more deep breaths to calm himself before strapping his lightsaber to his hip and making his way towards the hangar. He knew that if he ran he'd only make his heart beat faster, and increase the risk of him panicking.
When he reached the hangar most of the fighters had already been scrambled in order to deal with the droid fightercraft, he could see droid and clone fighters zip over the hangar doors, although it seemed that the clones were getting the better of their droid counterparts.
It seemed that Master Plo had already arrived and was conversing with Rex and Cody near a pair of dropships. "Master Plo, I'm ready for the mission." He said with a bow.
"It is good to see that you are so eager, young Padawan. I believe that Ahsoka is still preparing, and Master Windu is still up on the bridge, overseeing the battle, he will be down shortly after it concludes." Master Plo said as the ship shook slightly once more, causing Nitai to freeze slightly before relaxing once the trembling had ceased.
"Not used to space battles, sir?" Commander Cody asked, curious about the young Padawan's reaction.
"Yes." Nitai admitted after calming himself down once again. "I'm the first person to really leave my planet in centuries. I'd never even been to space before I left to join the Jedi, and that wasn't all that long ago. The idea of being in space, only a hull breach away from death, with people shooting at me…let's just say it'll take some getting used to." He said, and Cody patted the young Padawan on the shoulder.
"Don't worry kid, we're the flagship, so we're at the back of the formation, we'll be taking way less fire. Besides, those clankers are terrible shots, and we outnumber their ships, so there's no way they'll be able to put out enough fire to even put a dent in our shields." He said reassuringly. "Come on, let's get your mind off it, I'll introduce you to your squad." He said with a small smile as he led the red-skinned Padawan over to a collection of four clones, who were lazing about on a few crates near one of the gunships. He noticed that they had exchanged their typical white armor for sandy camouflage, a smart move, considering that their normal armor would have made them stick out like sore thumbs, he was also thankful that his armor was mostly covered by his robes, meaning that he wouldn't have to worry about it giving him away.
"Boys, I'd like you to meet Commander Zeama, he'll be joining us along with General Windu for this operation." Cody said as he nudged Nitai forward a few steps, the Padawan immediately drawing the attention of the quartet of clones.
"Commander." One of the clones said rising and snapping to attention. "I'm CT-26-1996. I'm the Corporal in charge of fire team Mynock." He said as he gave a quick, crisp salute. As expected, the Corporal was identical to his troops, although he had vertical, solid black tattoos emerging from under his eyes and travelling down his cheeks before cutting off at his jawline.
"Seems like a bit of a mouthful to have to call out in a fire fight. Anything else you'd like me to call you?" Nitai asked with a small grin and one of the other clones nudged the Corporal's side.
"Told you we wouldn't have to worry about him being all strict with us, he is General Kenobi's Padawan, after all." He muttered, and the Corporal shot the other clone a dirty look before turning his attention back to Nitai.
"The boys call me Hound, this joker over here is Burst." He said, and the clone in question gave a lazy salute. He had a typical buzzcut, but he had a long, horizontal scar across the bridge of his nose. "That's Fidget." Hound continued, pointing to another clone, this one was bald, unlike the rest of his squad mates, and appeared to be constantly disassembling and reassembling his blaster, even though Nitai could see no obvious flaw with the weapon, the clone seemed to never be fully satisfied with it. "And that's Hawk." He said, pointing to the final clone trooper, who nodded before he resumed polishing the scope of his sniper rifle. Hawk was also the first person that Nitai had seen who had both of his eyes replaced with cybernetic prosthetics, and yet he seemed to lack any obvious scarring that would have indicated any traumatic physical damage.
"…Took a flashbang to the face, no way to fix my old eyes so I got some shiny new ones, don't worry, work just as well, if not better than the originals." Hawk said with a grin before glancing over at Nitai, who's face darkened slightly with emabarssment as he realized that he had been staring. "Don't worry sir, you're not the first to ask, and you probably won't be the last."
Nitai spent most of the time idling chatting with the clones, learning about their various roles. Blast, as his name implied, was the demolitions and heavy weapons expert, Fidget was responsible for hacking and infiltration, while Hawk, predictably, was the team sniper. Apparently, their squad had been put together specifically to deal with missions that required a degree of stealth, and was meant to be highly flexible to meet the demands of whatever mission they were given.
Eventually Nitai's communicator beeped, and he held it up. "Master Windu, any report on the battle in space?" He asked, recognizing the frequency that was being used.
"We have destroyed or crippled the Separatist fleet, I'll be coming down to join you, are the troops prepared for the assault?" Master Windu's voice came through.
"Both teams seem ready and waiting, Master Windu." Nitai confirmed. "Understood, I'll be down shortly." Master Windu confirmed.
A few moments later the doors to the hangar hissed open and Ahsoka walked out alongside Master Windu. "So, Soka, I'll see you planetside when this is done. Hope you don't keep me waiting too long." He said jokingly as she walked by, heading towards Master Plo and his team of clones.
"You won't need to worry about that, Red. I'll even give you a bit of a head start, it would only make it fair." She retorted with a grin.
Any further joking between the two was cut off by Master Windu. "Padawan, Commander. I see no reason to keep the droids waiting, let's head out." He said, Nitai and Commander Cody nodded as they got into the dropships. The other clones put on their helmets and quickly followed, with Master Windu being the last to step into the gunship. Once Ahsoka, Master Plo, and their team had gotten into the other dropship the doors began to close. Nitai gave Ahsoka a quick wave, which she returned before his vision was cut off.
"I thought these things weren't fit for space travel." Fidget said as the blast shields closed, leaving the dropship lit only be a dull, red light.
"New model, these can withstand a vacuum. Makes landings a lot easier since the cruisers don't have to enter the atmosphere, also makes it easy to land boarding parties on Separatist ships." Hound responded.
Nitai felt a familiar lurching feeling as the gunship took off and launched itself out of the hangar and into space. It was a bit nerve-wracking for him to be unable to even see what was going on outside of the ship, but he calmed himself by remembering that the Separatist ships had all been destroyed, and that there was no way that the Separatist ground forces would be able to detect them, although a small part in the back of his mind stubbornly insisted on questioning if the knowledge of the Separatist's scanners was accurate, with only a single gunship, they'd be shot down almost immediately if they were detected.
The ride through space was rather smooth, as was expected of a vacuum, but as they entered the atmosphere he felt the dropships start to shudder slightly as it began to face atmospheric resistance and was buffeted by the harsh winds of Iridonia. But thankfully, their flight was not suddenly interrupted by the burst of anti-aircraft cannons, and while the winds were fierce, it was nothing that the pilot couldn't handle.
"We're approaching the landing zone, arriving in approximately a minute." The pilot's voice rang out over the speakers.
"Prepare yourselves, the wind is going to be harsh." Master Windu warned. "Here, sir, you'll probably want some of these." Hound said as he handed Nitai a set of goggles, which the young Padawan gladly accepted, with Master Windu pulling out his own pair and pulling them on. When they felt the shuttle finally touch down and the doors slid open, they were blasted by a fierce gust of wind. Nitai could feel his robes get blown back as he instinctively put his hands up to shield his eyes from the flying specks of dirt and sand. He, Master Windu, and the clones quickly got out of the gunship, with Blast grabbing and shouldering a backpack as he did so.
"Follow me, I can see some rocks up ahead that will provide shelter from the wind." Master Windu shouted over the howling wind as he gestured towards a cluster of rocks. Nitai and the clones fell in behind him, and slumped down behind the stones once they got close enough. Even though the wind was still blowing fiercely, the relative quiet that came from being shielded from it was almost deafening.
"Alright, here's the plan." Master Windu said as he brought up an imagecaster to display the layout of the valley. Just as Master Plo had claimed, Northern edge of the valley seemed much more developed, while the South was more forested. The surface around the valley was completely bare, aside from four large domes, one on each side of the valley on the Northern and Southern sides. "These are the shield generators, and the gun emplacements are located within them. Our objectives are to plant demolition charges on the ammunition stockpiles, the shield generator, and the guns themselves." He explained, and Burst gave an affirmative nod, hefting the backpack full of charges that he was carrying. "We'll be setting off the charges simultaneously so that we can maximize the damage and ensure the destruction of the emplacements. Then, our cruisers will be able to approach and bombard what remains, along with clearing out some space in the Southern edge of the valley for a staging ground. We won't need the entire team to take out the shield generator, so Cody and I will be busy taking that out. Padawan Zeama, I want you to go with Corporal Hound's squad to set charges on the guns and ammunition, we'll join you once we've planted our charges and then rappel down to ledges on the side of the valley. Once the clones have established the staging ground we'll join and plan the rest of the assault from there."
The clones nodded, but Nitai had some reservations. "Are you certain about this, Master? I've never commanded any men before." He said hesitantly.
"Why do you think I requested that I be assigned to replace Master Kenobi while he was busy with his mission?" This revelation was certainly news to Nitai, but Master Windu continued. "Being a Jedi is about more than just skills with a lightsaber, I wanted to see how you work when you have men under your command, who depend on your leadership. Corporal Hound is a good squad leader, so I'm certain he'll pick up any slack, but I hope that with what you've picked up from Master Kenobi, that won't be needed."
"I won't let you down, Master." Nitai said, his trepidation replaced with determination, if Master Windu wanted to test his mettle, then he would give it his all. "I won't let you or your men down either, Corporal." Nitai said with a confident smile as he turned his attention towards Hound. "I'm certain you won't, Commander." Hound responded.
"Now, let's get moving. The sooner we take those emplacements out, the sooner we can land our troops and start retaking the valley." Master Windu said, Nitai and the clones nodded before they made their way out into the fierce winds once again.
Their trek through the arid wastes over the surface of Iridonia took nearly an hour, and Nitai was very grateful that he had his goggles on the entire time, otherwise he would have been completely blinded. Unlike Tatooine, the surface of Iridonia was rocky and arid, rather than covered with sand, although it was still basically a desert by any definition. Eventually, a shimmering blue dome appeared in the distance and they all dropped to went prone before pulling out their macrobinoculars and peering through it. It seemed that the droids were confident that they wouldn't be facing any assaults from along the surface, and so they had no real outward defenses, instead they had placed almost all of their canons in deep pits so that they could be aimed towards the sky while still keeping a low profile, the pits seemed to be connected by a series of trenches, that all seemed to be radiating out from one large, central pit, which was also where the shield seemed to be projected from.
"Seems like most of their cannons are in the outer ring of trenches and dugouts." Hawk said, choosing to peer through the scope of his rifle rather than his binoculars. "High probability that ammunition is stored in the middle ring. The central dugout is probably reserved for the command center and shield generator." Fidget chimed in.
"Then we know where to go. You all know your jobs, try not to raise too much of a ruckus, if they realize that they're under attack, then this mission is going to get a lot harder." Master Windu said before he, Nitai, and the rest of the clones rose to a crouch and began to make their way towards the shield. Luckily the droids hadn't laid out proximity sensors, not anticipating an attack from the surface, and they managed to pass through the shield without any trouble.
"Split up and do your job, make sure to contact us if something goes wrong." Master Windu said, Nitai and Mynock team nodded as Master Windu and Commander Cody made their way along the surface, leaping over some of the trenches after checking to make sure they were empty. Nitai and his team crept towards the nearest large, circular dugout and he peered in. The dugout was approximately ten feet deep and thirty feet around, and was occupied by a pair of large J-1 proton canons. The walls of the dugout were lined with racks holding the ammunition for the cannons, and eight B1 battle droids were idling about.
"Hawk, Blast, I want you two to stay up here and provide fire support, Fidget, Hound, you come with me. Those shells look tough, but let's try not to test and see how tough they are, so watch your aim." Nitai said, the clones nodded in response and Hawk and Blast took up positions, laying prone to minimize their profile. "On go, 3, 2, 1, go." At his word the two clones let loose, Hawk's single shot nailing a droid right in its head, while Blast unleashed a flurry of fire that impacted against another droid's torso. Nitai, Hound, and Fidget leapt down into the dugout, Nitai igniting his lightsaber once he'd landed and slicing through a droid that was within arm's reach, while Fidget and Hound began to release controlled bursts from their rifles.
"Clones!" One of the droids yelped in surprise before being silenced by another volley of fire from Blast. "Someone sound the alarm!" Another one hollered before being sliced vertically in half by Nitai's saber. One of the droids ran towards a metal box embedded within the wall of the dugout, probably part of the alarm system, but it suddenly fell to the ground, its knees being taken out by a pair of accurate shots from Hawk, before it was put out of commission by a follow up shot to the head. The remaining droids were quickly dispatched by a quick burst of fire from Fidget and Hound. They all paused for a few moments, taking in the silence after the quick firefight before Nitai motioned for Hawk and Blast to join them in the dugout. "Alright, I want charges on those ammo racks and on the underside of these guns. I saw about three more emplacements while we were scouting this place out, once we're done with those we'll move inward and start setting charges in the ammo supply dugouts." The clones nodded before setting about their work, placing charges in discrete locations. While they were busy doing that, Nitai used the force to lift the droid remains and set them down on the surface, that way no patrols would immediately realize that they were being infiltrated if they came to check out this position, since all the evidence of the battle would be up on the surface, where they were less likely to look.
Once all of the charges had been set they regrouped in the middle of the dugout. "Alright, we'll make our way clockwise and set charges in the remaining emplacements, then we'll work inward and take out the ammo dumps. Hopefully Master Windu will have planted the charges on the shield generator by that point. I'll take point, Hound, you're behind me, then Blast, Fidget, Hawk, you'll take up the rear."
"Understood, Commander." Hound said, the rest of the clones nodding before they fell in behind him as they made their way through the trenches. The pattern mostly repeated itself with the remaining emplacements, it seemed that the droids hadn't seen it necessary to post any guards other than B1 droids, meaning that it was relatively easy to dispatch them and then plant charges while Nitai disposed of their remains.
"Padawan Zeama, come in." Nitai's communicator hissed and he held it up to his mouth. "Reporting in, Master Windu we've just planted our charges in the last of the gun emplacements, we'll be moving in to the Northern ammo storage, next." He reported.
"Good, Commander Cody and I have managed to plant our charges on the shield generator, and decided to provide some assistance with your part of the mission, we've already planted charges in the Southern ammo dump, plant the rest of your explosives and meet us at the Western emplacement, near the rim of the valley, we'll rappel down and set off the charges there."
"Roger that." Nitai said. He and the clones then made their way into the Northern ammo dump, a long, rectangular dugout that was lined with ammunition for the proton cannons. It was only guarded by a pair of B1 droids, who quickly were cut down by a pair of shots from Hound and Hawk.
However, as they were busy setting the charges Nitai's ears perked up, having picked up an unfamiliar sound. It almost sounded like something was…rolling? "Droidekas!" He shouted to the clones in alarm as a trio of the circular droids rolled into the supply dump and promptly unfolded, blue, spherical shields springing to life around them and absorbing or deflecting the hail of desperate laser fire that the clones unleashed. As they did, a siren began to blare and Nitai cursed as he began to deflect their shots, trying to deflect them towards the walls above the ammunition racks to avoid setting any of the shells off. "Padawan, what's going on?" He heard Master Windu's voice crackle through his communicator. "Three droidekas found us, must be a patrol linked directly to the security system." He explained. "Are your charges set?" Master Windu asked tensely. "Most of them." Nitai said as he used the force to push one of the droids back, sending it careening into the rock wall of the dugout, deactivating its shields and causing it to collapse as several laser shots impacted against its head, or at least what he figured to be its head.
"That'll have to be enough, get to the Western emplacement now, we'll meet you there." Master Windu's transmission then cut off.
"We've got to get out of here now!" Nitai shouted as he deflected another set of blaster fire. "A bit hard to do that with them blocking the way, sir!" Blast responded as another volley from his rifle impacted fruitlessly against one of the droideka's shields. They were all currently taking cover behind an empty rack that provided some degree of protection against the droideka's fire, and as Nitai watched the droidekas start to try to strafe to the side to attempt to flank them he watched them pass near a loaded ammunition rack. "Hold your fire!" He shouted, and the clones took a few seconds to oblige, seeming to believe that their commander didn't want to risk them hitting one of the shells in the rack behind the droidekas. The droidekas similarly seemed confused by the sudden lack of fire, but that confusion was very short lived. Nitai reached out and then suddenly pulled his hand back, using the Force to pull the ammunition rack forward and causing the massive shells to collapse on top of the droidekas. Their shields may have been able to shrug off any number of small arms fire, but they couldn't hope to withstand the weight of multiple massive proton cannon shells falling on them at once.
"Let's go!" He shouted as he and the clones began running through the trenches. As they turned to enter the trench that would take them towards the Western emplacement they suddenly found their path blocked, this time by a group of half a dozen B2 battle droids, led by a B1 which sported the yellow stripes of a commander. "Halt!" The B1 said as it raised its hand, however neither Nitai, nor the clones slowed down, and the commander soon found itself bisected at the waist, along with the B2 droid standing immediately behind it. Normally the droids might have had an advantage due to their tough armor, however in the confined space of the trench, the clones and Nitai had the advantage, since the droids weren't particularly capable hand to hand combatants. One droid attempted to level its wrist blaster at Hound, who just knocked it back by slamming it with the butt of his rifle before firing directly into its face, disabling it. Two droids quickly found themselves cut in half diagonally by Nitai, while the remaining two were slammed into the walls of the trench by Blast and Fidget, allowing Hawk to aim at both of them and dispatch them with quick, accurate shots to the head.
When they finally reached the Western embankment, they found Master Windu and Commander Cody already there, finishing off a small group of B1 droids. "It won't be long before the next group comes. Nitai, jump up to the surface and lead the clones to the edge, you can rappel down from there." As he spoke the clanking of metallic feet could be heard, a lot of droids.
"No." Nitai said, causing Windu to look at him with a look that was halfway between anger and confusion. "Master, you take the clones, I'll stay here and hold them off, I'll be right behind you." He said, and while Master Windu seemed like he was going to argue, he saw the fire in the young Padawans eyes, and he knew that he had no intention of dying today. "Alright, but make sure you follow quickly." He said as he and the leapt up to the surface, the clones attaching their ascension cables and beginning to scale the wall. Several B1 and B2 series entered the emplacement, led by another commander droid.
"Focus fire on the Jedi!" The droid said, pointing towards Nitai, and the droids began to fire at him. He quickly lost count of how many shots he deflected or avoided, weaving in and out behind the proton cannons just long enough for a brief reprieve, before darting out again to keep their attention.
"Sir, we're on the surface and heading for the rim of the valley now." Hounds voice came through on his communicator. "I'll be right behind you." Nitai said as he darted back behind one of the cannons. He could hear the droids start to approach between the two cannons, soon they'd be right on top of him. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before turning his lightsaber off. They'd shoot him if he tried to jump up to the surface, and he wouldn't be able to deflect their shots, which left him one option. He closed his eyes and turned his focus inwards, focusing upon his negative emotions, the droids would kill him, they would kill everyone he loved, a Sith Lord would dominate the galaxy and find his people and crush them before they ever had a chance of earning their redemption. His thoughts weren't entirely logical, but they didn't need to be, all they needed was to fuel his rage, he stepped out between the cannons, and before the droids could even aim at him, his eyes snapped open and he raised his hands, arcing bolts of lightning flew from his fingertips hopping from droid to droid and causing them to spasm as the lightning coursed through them, overloading and bursting circuits.
He had never felt such power, it was as if every nerve in his body was on fire, he didn't want to stop. He tried to fight the urge to continue, to revel in the power that he was wielding, but it was a tough fight. He could feel the seductive nature of the Dark Side pull at him, urging him to go further, why should he stop? He could be great, more powerful than any Jedi, he could lead his people to greatness, retake their rightful place in the galaxy…and that thought, which likely was supposed to further seduce him, was actually what broke him out of his trance, as the revulsion he felt for the actions of his ancestors, a revulsion that was in many ways a vital part of the fabric of Sith culture, kicked in. No, he would not, could not, allow himself to go down that same path.
He dropped his hands and ended his electrical onslaught, but it was too late, a final, stray arc of lightning jumped from one of the droids and impacted against one of the dormant shells, which began to glow. His eyes widened and he leapt up to the surface, slipping his lightsaber back into its holster on his hip, however as he ran towards the rim of the valley he felt his legs begin to weaken until eventually it felt as if the bones within them had completely disappeared. He had been warned about this before, there was always a toll for using a power so strongly associated with the Dark Side when he was not fully immersed in it, using the Force lightning had drained his energy even more than it would have for a true practitioner, since he was using a technique that was not compatible with his alignment. But he had not anticipated that the reaction would be so severe, the edges of his vision began to blur as he approached the edge. He heard an explosion behind him, but even that seemed muffled, as the explosion in the Western emplacement triggered every other charge that they had placed, he saw the shield begin to dissipate. And then the shockwave hit him.
Falling. He was falling towards a ledge about a quarter of the way down the cliff, the wind whipping through his hair and roaring in his ears. His vision began to darken, he tried to lift his hands towards it but his muscles refused to move, too fatigued by the usage of Force lightning. As his vision began to fade he saw small, sandy colored figures on the ledge, and one brown figure clad in Jedi robes. The last thing he saw before losing consciousness was Master Windu stretching both of his arms out towards him, and the last thing he felt was his descent rapidly beginning to slow.