A world under siege! The Separatists have launched a massive offensive against the planet Ryloth.

A blockade of deadly battleships has cut off any support for the dwindling Republic defenses.

Though they have fought valiantly with the help of Twi'lek freedom fighter Cham Syndulla,

hope is fading for Jedi Master Di and his men as the droid army closes in...

"Get down!"

The clone trooper Raid threw himself to the Rylothian dirt, arms over his helmeted head, in response to the shout an instant before the loud BOOM sounded from several feet away to the right, shaking him to the bone. Dust, small chunks of earth, and rocks showered him from above, impacting his armor with dull thuds. Raid tried to slow his breathing, feeling his heart pounding against his chest like the beat of a war drum.

"Alright troopers, let's move!" Raid was helped to his feet by a man in white armour, decorated in brown markings, with a familiar sounding voice. Heck, it should sound familiar. As clone troopers, Raid and his brothers were all very much similar in voice and appearance due to their DNA donor; the Mandalorian bounty hunter Jango Fett. Almost exactly the same. Almost.

"Yes Sergeant!" Raid responded, retrieving his DC-15S carbine from the ground. He followed the other four troopers into a large grove of trees, conscious of the sounds of battle not more than half a mile away. Explosions thundered, blaster shots fired, and occasionally a distant shout or cry was heard. The soldiers rushed into the grove, each one nestling down in some of the alien foliage. Raid pushed some tall, spiny plants aside and made himself a good spot.

"That one was close," Twitch said, obscured by the flora. "Those clankers are starting to scare me."

"Pfft, that was a lucky potshot," Slider retorted from a few feet to Raid's right. Always the confident one, Slider wasn't easily rattled. "They couldn't hit the broadside of a Venator if it was stranded in atmosphere."

"Lock it down, orders are coming in," the Sergeant interrupted, holding a hand up to his helmet. "Alright, we hold this position for now. Sepies are pushing the right flank inward, and the boys up there are beginning to fall back. Several other squads are setting up like us, forming the second line."

"What's the situation on the left?" Asked the fourth trooper.

"SUSFU," he replied. "Let's hope they can hold out. If so, we may yet survive long enough to get reinforcements."

"If Admiral Dao can survive the blockade," Slider commented, adjusting a pin on his DC-15A rifle. "If not, the whole Garrison is screwed." His fellow troopers squirmed at that happy thought.

"If not," the Sergeant echoed. "We will leave a mark so big even those kriffing Sepies will have to applaud."

"Oorah," Raid said quietly.

"Twitch, you got your mortar primed?"

Twitch sighed. "Can't see how come I gotta wield it, but yes sir."

"Good, good trooper." Their officer lifted his binoculars up to scan down range. "Now, we wait to see if we're needed."

Raid felt nervous just waiting for the droids to come get them, but he had no choice, lying on his stomach beneath probably the weirdest trees in the galaxy, practically baking in his armour beneath the Twi'lek sun. 'I wonder if Shock is having a better time.'

'I wonder if Raid is having a better time,' Shock thought, hands flying across the control panel. He felt the floor shake as the turret above his head fired off, sounding loudly. Shock, as a capable pilot, mechanic, and electrician, was making sure the All-Terrain Tactical-Enforcer, or AT-TE, walker didn't quit mid-battle; the battle which, though he could not see it, Shock could hear raging just outside of the craft. The only thing separating it from the endless waves of murderous B1s and B2s and AAT Tanks was a trench full of his comrades. Just behind the walker was the cliffside, covered in Twi'lek homes that were built mostly underground.

A trooper with the markings of a gunner dashed by, toolbox in hand, and opened a panel in the wall. "Hey Shock, how're the power levels on the big gun?"

"Hmph, fine for now. We're really stretching this thing's limit," Shock replied, eyeing various screens through the visor of his helmet. "We can't hold out under sustained fire for too long."

"Kriff, I don't think anything is meant to hold under what we're dealing with. I'll be a son of a Schutta if we survive past today."

"You've been talking with those Twi'leks too much," Shock scolded. "You're picking up their bad words. Anyway, none of us are sons of anything except cold hard test tubes."

"That's where you're wrong, my friend," the trooper replied, producing a wrench and pointing it at Shock. "We're sons of the Republic, and I think that's the proudest heritage we could ask for."

"... and you called it a Schutta?" Shock asked innocently. The other clone chuckled, muttering something inaudible through the helmet and their distance. Suddenly, alarms began going off. Shock's eyes were redirected towards the large blue monitor, showing two red triangles approaching. "Incoming! Two enemy tangos on a bombing approach!"

"Talon is gonna try to take 'em," the other trooper yelled. On cue, the main cannon began firing, shaking the craft. "Hold onto your bucket!" Outside, two large explosions rattled the walker, louder than any sounds of combat so far.

"Tangos down!" Shock read off the screen, feeling relieved.

"Talon knows-" The other trooper was cut off as the roof groaned and caved, bits off debris spilling inside. The walker pitched violently, and Shock lost his footing as the lights cut out.

"Here they come boys!" The Sergeant yelled, opening fire from his carbine. Raid took careful aim, sighting droids marching to their deadly beat directly at them, spanning left and right, coming through foliage and around trees.

"Oh yeah, tinnies! Suck lasers!" Slider laughed, bursts of blue bolts flying from the tip of his rifle in measured amounts. "I love our job!"

"That makes one of us!" Twitch called, firing a mortar shell that screamed through the sky, landing with a THUD BOOM down the field, leaving a smoking heap of droid limbs. All across the approach, Republic troopers and Twi'lek freedom fighters assaulted the enemy. Several groups of straggling retreaters passed by close, fleeing from the decimated first line of defense. Raid spotted several Twi'leks, the colorful people with their lekku, or head tails as they were called by outsiders, flapping like hair in the breeze, amongst the retreating defenders. Those people were very determined and adamant in the defense of their lives and liberty, which Raid admired a ton.

"Hey, Raid! Why don't you pick up your blaster and shoot something? I'm only seeing my bolts out there!" Slider taunted.

Raid smirked beneath his helmet, picking off a B2 Super Battle droid with a headshot. "Unlike you, I remember Captain Keeli telling us to conserve ammo and make our shots count. For me, it's one shot, one kill. For you..."

"It's more sixty-five shots, maybe one crippling if you're lucky," Twitch joked, reloading his mortar. Raid and the far trooper snorted out a laugh, and even the Sergeant chuckled, firing off rounds into the enemy ranks. Slider just grunted, becoming slightly more accurate with his volleys. Suddenly, the sound of a larger explosion filled the air, followed by rumbling and crashing. The ruction emanated from the direction of the left flank.

"What was that?" Raid asked, more than slightly concerned.

"Sounded like the cliffside," Twitch replied, sending another mortar shell up and away, this one landing out of view in the greenery. Smoky haze was drifting lazily around the field from all of the explosions. "I think something may have shot it."

"B2s! Onrushing our position!" Sergeant shouted to his troops, attacking the silver death machines that tramped in a tight formation towards them. "Focus up!" The squad directed their fire into the designated targets. Twitch had set down his mortar and grabbed his carbine, lying down flat on his stomach. Raid managed to drop two enemies when someone yelled.

"Rocket!"

Raid instantly rolled to the right just before an explosion threw him over, tumbling into the brush. He resisted the urge to stand up, seeing the hellish number of red bolts streaking through their position.

"Fall bac-argh!" The voice of the Sergeant cried out, and Raid turned in time to see him fall to the ground.

"Sarge is down, cover me!" Slider yelled, diving right next to the fallen officer. Raid took a knee and began firing into the mass of charging droids. Twitch was doing the same from behind a tree. Slider dragged the Sergeant just behind a different tree when yet another explosion rocked the area, spraying dirt and leaves in a cloud. Taking this as his chance to reposition, Raid chanced a dash just four yards back and behind a rock, lasers bolting overhead.

"How's Sarge?" Raid asked through comms, peeking out to take a shot.

"He's... he's gone," Slider said sadly. "We've gotta retreat to line three. It's just you, me, and Twitch now."

"A-alright," Twitch responded. "You lead, Corporal."

"Twitch, fall back several yards. We'll cover you. Set up and cover Raid's retreat afterwards, then me. We work like that, understood?"

"Solid copy! Falling back... now!" Twitch got up and ran back. Raid came out of cover and opened up, taking down a droid.

"Raid, go!"

Complying, Raid made a mad dash backwards, counting out five seconds before diving behind a tree. "In position!"

"Cover me!" Slider yelled, running towards them. Raid stood and opened up once more, lighting up several combatants. He almost stopped in horror when a red bolt struck Slider in the leg, knocking him to the ground.

"Slider!" Raid was about to charge out when a wave of enemy fire forced him back and down. "I'm suppressed! Slider, you okay?"

"Nrgh, can't... move!" the downed trooper groaned in pain. "You two... keep going. I'll keep 'em busy."

"No heroics, Slider," Raid protested. "Twitch, cover me and I'll-"

"No! I'm ordering you to move it! They're too close!" The sounds of Slider's rifle filled the air. "I'll buy time, now get your butts outta here!"

"I'm forced back!" Twitch yelled in obvious distress, retreating from a now mixed assortment of B1s and 2s. Raid poked out enough to get a shot and see Slider pumping droids with laser.

"Stay and you'll get yourself and Twitch killed. Save yourselves, and let me have this," Slider pleaded him.

Raid felt tears threaten. He'd lost too many friends already! But he couldn't get Twitch killed either. "F-fine. I-I'm sorry, brother."

"Don't be! See you on the flip side!"

Shock groaned, shifting his weight. He couldn't see anything in the darkness, but he could feel he was on top of the very dashboard he'd been working on. 'Great,' he thought bitterly. 'I'm a shiny who barely got his name and I'm about to die inside of a crushed soda can.' He jumped when a blue beam of light appeared above him, slowly cutting its way in a circle through the opposite wall. Abruptly, it disappeared, and so did the circle of armour it had sliced through. The helmeted head of another trooper poked in.

"Nice to see you're having a relaxing time, sleeping in the dark. Please don't mind the raging, desperate battle just outside your quarters."

Shock groaned. "Good to see you too, Awe. If you please, lower something down for me and-" Shock's words died in his mouth when he saw the trooper he had just been talking to, lying on his side, impaled by a long piece of metal. "We need a medic!"

His words were echoed above as Shock crawled over to his fallen brother. The trooper reached out a shaky hand. "Sh-Shock..."

"Sit tight, we're getting help," he tried to comfort the man, taking his hand, whose grip was firm. Shock was conscious of the bleeding around the wound but was helpless to stop it.

The other trooper coughed, shaking his head slightly. "There's... not enough time... nor enough medicine in the camp. We're out of supplies... anyway. It... was good... serving with you... brother... Sons... of the Republic..." His grip slackened, and Shock heard the breath leaving him. A moment of silence followed, interrupted only by the sounds of combat outside.

"Shock..." Awe said after a few seconds, lowering a rope down. "We need to go. The line is starting to soften, and General Di has just ordered our squad back."

"Y-yeah. I'm coming." Shock stood and grabbed the rope, getting hoisted up by his best friend into the Ryloth air, filled with smoke clouds and a whole ton of lasers.