The Intergalactic War

By Chief Ratchet

(A.N: OK, here we go with the next chapter. I hope that this one is better than the last one. Also, this one will switch viewpoints quite frequently as I realised about three-quarters of the way into the last chapter that one battle per chapter isn't going to convey a sense of war. And this is probably just a little filler, just full of action, and little plot. Don't hurt me!)

Reviews:

Ranger24: Yeah, I know, after so long eh?

Tseh Toaster: Hmmm, internet does that to you, doesn't it? Thanks for the support, though I haven't finished a few of the scenes in the previous chapter yet though. Hope you'll enjoy the scenes in this chapter as much as the last one! And the cliffhangers, well, what can I say?

Kaiju-Lord: Thanks, I don't really know that much about the Star Wars, since the universe is enormous, but the Halo universe is a great deal easier to understand. As for the Jedi or Sith, well, the problem is that they would seem, overpowered, you know what I mean? I'll see what I can do, but at this point it's not applicable.

carlo707: Can't have droids without Clone Troopers, can we? Relics? That made me laugh in a good way, honestly. Perhaps they are relics, but still, they're not your normal relics.

Star wars 2136: Thanks for pointing that out. Who knows where it would have gone if you didn't point it out, eh? One of the problems with crossovers is that the technology used is vastly different, so I have to try to even some things out a bit. Don't expect it to be one-sided for much longer (hopefully). I've got surprise (not really a big one though) coming up that may change the direction of the war, permanently. But that's for later. Much later. The Flood? Well, wait and see. For Jedi, well, while they are iconic of the Star Wars universe, I never really planned to include them in this story. Reason being is that I think that war is more about the normal people on the frontline, not some supermen who leap into action and decimate entire battalions with ease (alright, I'm exaggerating but you get what I mean). But who knows? I might include them at a later stage. As for the SPARTAN Threes, well, you'll have to wait as well. So thanks for the review and the advice, and I'm used to people bitching about my work. So no problems. And I think you mean chapters, not reviews…

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars or anything related to it, it belongs to George Lucas. I do not own Halo or anything associated with it, it belongs to Bungie.

Chapter 12: Galaxy-Wide War

The plain sand of the Dune Sea was nothing remarkable. However, the dunes hid many dangers. One such danger was now since the CIS occupied the planet, they had built multiple fortifications across the vast expanse of sand. One such bunker, camouflaged to hide in the sands was proving problematic for the UCNC armoured division moving across the plains.

Across the open plain, twenty UCNC Scorpion Tanks rumbled across the dunes, throwing up huge clouds of dust and exhaust fumes. A large blast from a dug-in AAT tank narrowly missed the tanks, which quickly scattered, rumbling at the fast speed possible. One of the tanks stopped, and rotated the turret to face the bunker. The entire tank shook as a 120mm round left the main gun, and 120mm's of accelerated tungsten ripped through the bunker, and into the AAT. The AAT exploded when the round reached the ammunition stored inside, and the resulting explosion tore the bunker into pieces. Another laser blast roared out from another bunker, and tore into a Scorpion. The tank took the blast on its thick frontal armour, and survived long enough to send another round into a anti-tank emplacement that was being set up. A second laser blast caused the Scorpion to explode in a fireball that sent the turret flying off the chassis.

Behind the advancing Scorpions was the rest of the force. Twelve Wraith tanks were moving behind the Scorpions, hurling Plasma Mortars that reduced the ground to glittering glass and sending molten droid and tank parts flying everywhere. The more vulnerable Warthogs, Ghosts and Cougar APC's were behind the armour, protecting themselves and the infantry inside.

Master Sergeant Keith loved his job. He loved the feeling of the tank as it rumbled forward, he loved being surrounded by plates of armour, and most of all he loved the feeling of a 120mm round leaving the barrel as his gunner sent another round into the droids. He stopped the tank and the hull shook as another round left the main cannon, and heard the explosion as something was hit.

He brought up the display, a holographic representation of the area outside. The screen bathed his face in a pale blue light. "Albert?" he called out to the gunner, who sat inside the rather cramped turret.

"Sir?"

"New targets: enemy light armour, 10 o'clock, 367 metres, designated Tanks 1 and 2," he called out.

"Confirmed. Locking on…target locked, round loaded. Firing!" Another rumble shook the tank.

"Tank 1 destroyed," reported the gunner, even as the autoloader slammed another shell into the cannon. "Round loaded, locking on…target acquired! Firing!"

A second rumble rocked the Scorpion.

Keith checked the display. Both of the hovertanks were destroyed, each with a hole in its side, flames licking away at the remains. "Targets destroyed. Great job. Let's get going."

The Master Sergeant accelerated the tank again, and moved to join with the rest of the tanks, still advancing and destroying any kind of hostile armour they encountered. Behind them, another wave of Plasma Mortars flew over and into a small pack of GATs looking to engage the Scorpions at closer ranges.

The intense heat of the mortars melted anything that was in the blast radius, and the pack of GATs was no different. One unfortunate light tank received a direct blast, which not only launched the tank into the air a few metres, it slagged the entire top half of the tank into molten metal. The melted remains crashed into the ground soon after. One GAT got through, and fired a few bolts from the twin medium laser cannons mounted against the lead Scorpion. The bolts did nothing more than to leave a few small craters in the armour, which was nothing compared to the hole the Scorpion blew into the GAT seconds later.

Behind the mighty Scorpions and Wraiths rolled the light vehicle detachment. Warthogs armed with M41 LAAGs or Gauss Cannons, Ghosts and Spectres, and the latest addition to the UCNC armed forces, the Cougar IFV. Inside sat a squad of Marines, all wearing combat gear that was suited to the hot desert climate without losing any protection.

"Hey Sarge," asked a Marine. "What's the deal with this place anyways? It's all desert and sand, nothing really worth noting here."

"If you really want to know, we're gonna use this flat piece of land for an LZ for a fire support frigate!" yelled the sergeant over the rumble of the Cougar's engine, and the deafening blast of a tank cannon fired too close.

"A fire support frigate? Why do we need one of those babies here?" asked yet another Marine.

"You want to go into enemy territory without artillery support? Those tanks can't come with us into the city!"

Outside the Cougar, a squad of Battle Droids appeared over a dune of sand, every single droid holding a rocket launcher. They launched a simultaneous assault on the lead Scorpion, which exploded into a fireball. A second volley of rockets disabled a second Scorpion.

Curses ran rampant through the battlenet, and the group was cut down when one of the Cougar's turned its twin autocannons onto the group. The twin autocannons roared and sent hundreds of large calibre rounds into the droids, which splintered apart and collapsed under the barrage.

"Keep moving! Don't hang around the same spot for too long. Cougars, Ghosts and Warthogs, take up escort positions around and between the tanks! Keep any droids with rockets away!"

The orders blared out from the radio, coming from the Lieutenant in charge who was with in the lead Warthog, riding shotgun. The lighter vehicles roared into action, and soon were circling around the tanks, on look out of any sign of a droid wielding a rocket.

The planet Kalarba resembled Earth, in some ways, thought the Master Chief as he dove to the side to avoid the heavy bolts of an E-Web, which cut into and decimated a squad of Grunts behind him. One Grunt managed to throw a Plasma Grenade, which glowed with deadly beauty before adhering to the barrel of the cannon. The explosion hurled the gun emplacement, and the droid manning it off the edge it was mounted upon and into the water.

The Kalarba Archipelago was a rather small chain of rather small islands only a few hundred kilometres away from the capital of Kalarba. Thus, it made it a rather good refuelling point for fighters or short-ranged bombers. The Archipelago was made up of twelve islands, and a large CIS force consisting of numerous droids, light vehicles and some aircraft was engaged against the 22nd Combined Battalion, which was made up of a combination of Covenant and Marine soldiers, along with some Pelican and Phantom dropships and other assorted hardware.

The major feature of the Archipelago was the sixth island. Other than being directly in the middle, it had a small hill on it that allowed artillery pieces and even self-propelled artillery to fire almost anywhere on the Archipelago. As such, it was a constant see-sawing battle for the hill, as well as attempting to remove the other side from the islands altogether.

The UCNC controlled four islands, whilst the CIS controlled five. The other three were currently being fought for, with the CIS appearing to have the advantage on one, with another quickly being dominated by the UCNC. The sixth island, the one without a clear favourite, was a hot bed of activity. Bullets, plasma, blaster bolts, grenades and thermal detonators flew everywhere as the combatants fought tooth and nail in an effort to gain supremacy, of both the island and the hill that both sides so desperately wanted.

With the Master Chief battling on the fourth island, several teams of ODSTs were deployed to assist in the capture of the island. Once such team, Delta Team was locked in a fierce battle against a squad of Battle Droids, supported by a group of Super Battle Droids. The leader, a Sergeant with a red patch on his shoulder, threw a grenade into the midst of a small group of Battle Droids. The detonation shook the ground, and he popped up and fired two bursts into a Battle Droid still standing. He ducked back behind a large rock to avoid the faster more accurate shots of the Super Battle Droids.

At the same time, Corporal Conrad levelled a SPNKr Rocket Launcher at the group of Supers, who were busy pinning down another two ODST's with constant blaster fire, and fired once, then twice. Twin explosions twice the size of the grenade blast roared over the droids, consuming them in a fireball of heat and debris. When the Sergeant peeked over, two craters and a pair of Super Battle Droids missing their legs were all that remained of the group of Super Battle Droids. The two were promptly blasted by ten rifles.

"Come on!" he shouted at his squad. "Let's move it! Get to the hill, and secure it for the Rhinos!" The entire squad, ten Helljumpers in total scrambled away from their cover, and followed their Sergeant.

Sergeant Ryans held his Battle Rifle close to his chest as he puffed and ran to the hill, less than three hundred metres away, his squad of Helljumpers, all clad in black protective body armour and helmets following, clutching their weapons tight. All ran eagerly, none afraid.

When a bunch of Battle Droids appeared, to their left, they were caught by surprise. Sergeant Ryans barely noticed them, and only realised they were there when the bio-monitor for Private Barry and Reed flashed red. He skidded to a halt, and saw the injured privates on the ground, clutching their chests were the bolts had hit.

"Give it to them!" he roared, but could barely hear his own voice over the sound of seven assorted Battle Rifles and MA5C Assault Rifles pouring bullets into the droids. The metallic automatons were ripped apart.

Satisfied by the droid's destruction, he ran over to where the injured privates lay. The squad's resident medic, Private Carmen was already hovering over them, her MA5C slung over her shoulder, and the field medical kit out.

"How are they?" asked Ryans as he hurried over.

"Reed didn't make it. Barry's in a bad way. I really can't do much, except patch him up and get him to base. I can fix him up there, though."

Ryans nodded. "Alright, you do that. Get him to the base, then hitch a ride to the top of the hill. We'll have it secured by then. We'll have to get to Reed's body later. Grab his dog tags, and mark his body with a NAV point."

Private Carmen responded by lifting up Private Barry, and slung one of his arms over her shoulder. She trudged away, towards the evacuation point set up for wounded personnel. Sergeant Ryans jogged back to the place where the rest of the Helljumpers were taking cover.

"Helljumpers, let's move! Get to the hilltop, now!" he shouted.

The entire squad sprang up and ran for the hill. Ryans followed suit, running faster to take the lead. When they got to the hill, Ryans was surprised to see a pair of Elites, a Major and a Minor, already at the foot of the rise, taking cover from the blaster bolts that rained down from above. A wounded Marine lay near them, but was still firing his Battle Rifle one handed at the droids, picking off what he could see.

The squad of Helljumpers all ran towards the pinned Elites and Marine, firing at the droids above as they did so. One droid that appeared over the edge was struck with multiple rounds from a MA5C and toppled off. The droid let out a humorous cry as it did so. The Helljumpers attracted the droids attention, and taking advantage of the slackened fire, the Major Elite lobbed a Plasma Grenade up to the droid position, with the Minor following suit. Ryans stopped in front of the Major Elite.

"Sergeant Ryans, what's going on?" he asked the Elite, even as the rest of the Helljumpers took cover and fired back at the droids. A blaster bolt whizzed past the two leaders, and forced them to duck behind cover.

"I am 'Lingamee. We, that is three lances and fire teams assaulted the hill some units ago. Unfortunately, the metallic warriors had already set up emplacements on the hilltop. We were wiped out, and we are all that is left," explained the Elite. Ryans cursed. Twenty seven Marines, Elites and Grunts dead.

"Are there anymore survivors up there? Just in case," Ryans asked.

"No."

"Alright. I'm calling in an artillery strike on that hill." Ryans turned on his radio. "Firebase Zulu, come in. Come in Firebase Zulu."

He waited, and then repeated, until the radio blared a response.

"This is Firebase Zulu, at your service, Sergeant."

"Good to hear from you Zulu. I need an artillery strike at grid B-7!" he shouted.

"Roger that. Any friendlies in range?"

"None, apart from our squad and the remains of three fire teams."

"OK, Sergeant, we copy that. Enjoy the fireworks."

'Lingamee and Ryans heard the rumble as four 185mm artillery pieces were aimed and fired at the hill. "Artillery's coming in! Get back!" he shouted into the radio. There was confusion as his squad and the Minor Elite ran back from the base of the hill, with the wounded Marine carried by two of his Helljumpers to where their superiors were.

All heard the distinctive whistling of the shells as they flew to the hill. Four fireballs erupted from the hill, and sent columns of dirt and grass flying into the air, accompanied by scrap metal. There was another rumble as the guns were reloaded, and another volley was sent on its way. Four more explosions ripped into the hill, and into any survivors of the first barrage.

"Jones, check the hill for anything still moving," Ryans ordered. The Helljumper snapped off a salute, and then unslung the Sniper Rifle on his back, before sweeping the hill with its scope. "Nothing I can see Sarge," confirmed the Helljumper.

"Alright. Firebase Zulu, targets are destroyed. Cease fire." The pounding from the artillery halted, and silence ensued.

"Warriors, secure the hill and check for any survivors," ordered 'Lingamee.

The entire group moved cautiously, and once at the hill, placed a bullet or plasma round in every droid that was more than half intact. The entire hilltop was dotted with craters, and the ground was strewed with droid parts. Ryans was saddened to see that Marines, Elites and Grunts also dotted the hilltop. He only hoped that they were killed before the bombardment. He walked up to 'Lingamee, who was surveying the island.

"Any survivors?" asked 'Lingamee.

"None. Looks like we got 'em all."

"Not quite. See that?" the Elite pointed out something in the distance, and Ryans was forced to use the magnification system in his helmet to see what the Elite was pointing out. He didn't like what he saw.

A number of droids was gathering and from what he could see, there were Super Battle Droids thrown into the mix, and even a few Droidekas. Adding to the already overwhelming firepower they were facing was a pair of GAT light tanks. He cursed.

"Command, come in, this is Sergeant Ryans, ODST Delta Team. We have secured the hill, but we have a major problem on our hands. Command, do you read?"

The radio blared, and static overcame it before it cleared up. "This is Command. We read you. Excellent job, but you need to hold that position. I repeat, hold that hill Delta Team. We have Pelicans airlifting Rhinos into position, but they won't arrive at your position for another five minutes. Fire teams Charlie and Omega are en-route to your position . Hold that hill, Delta. Good luck, Command out." The radio blared and died.

"What did they say?" asked 'Lingamee.

"We have to hold this hill until the Pelicans arrive. We've got some fire teams coming over to help," informed Ryans.

"Then we shall do so. We have the high ground. Our greatest worry are the tanks, and those ball droids. The rest shall fall easily enough."

"I hope you're right. Alright, Helljumpers!" shouted Ryans. The squad leapt to attention immediately. "Command wants us to hold this hill until the Pelicans with the Rhinos arrive. I want an ammo check, now!"

The Helljumpers, and the Minor Elite all rummaged through the ammunition pockets in their armour.

"Not good Sarge," said one Private. "I'm down to four mags for the Battle Rifle, five SMG mags and two frags.

"Same here, except I have a few of those thermal detonators the droids sometimes carry around, and three M6G clips."

"Five clips for my MA5C, and three frags. Eight rounds for the Sniper Rifle."

"Four MA5C mags, and two reloads three reloads for the Jackhammer Sarge."

The reports went on. "My Plasma Rifle is almost depleted, and I have two Plasma Grenades. I do have a Needler, with almost five reloads for it," said the Minor Elite.

"'Lingamee?" prompted Ryans.

"I have only two more reloads for my Carbine. I do have an Energy Sword, though and it is at full capacity. Additionally, I have three Plasma Grenades."

The sergeant checked his own pouches. "Three mags for the Battle Rifle, and five for the SMG, and two frags. Alright, listen up everyone. SPARTANS have held off bigger assaults than this with less firepower. If they can do it, well, what makes you think you can't? I want everyone into the craters- they'll make nice foxholes for us to hide in. Conserve ammo, and fire only if you can disable the droid. Grenade tight groups, and so on. Move out!"

"Sir!" came a shout. Ryans looked down the hill and saw close to twenty Marines coming up, in addition to a Hunter pair. The Marines were heavily armed, with at least two Jackhammer launchers, and some pilfered droid weaponry.

"Fire teams Charlie and Omega, sir. Command said you could use some help," said the lead Marine, the Hunters stopping behind them.

"Great timing. Get into the craters, and blow away any droid who even looks this way."

The entire group spread out without hesitation and jumped into the foxholes, and braced themselves, while the Hunters moved to the front.

"Warriors! The time is near! Strike the enemy down without mercy!" Shouted 'Lingamee as the droids approached.

"Here it comes people. Don't shoot till you see the glow of their eyes!"

The Arbiter stood on the bridge of the Divine Blade silently, contemplating the stars.

His ship was over Coruscant, along with the battered remains of his and the Alliance fleet. The sheer number of CIS vessels had almost overwhelmed his fleet, as well as the Alliance fleet. Only the timely arrival of a battle group from the First Fleet had prevented the complete destruction of the two fleets.

The Arbiter watched as another fleet amassed. This time, the fleet was made up of UCNC ships. Apparently Lord Hood had received his message from the corvette he had sent back, and had sent another fleet.

Another two hundred vessels, mostly comprised of Covenant ships had arrived…along with twelve modified Phoenix-class colony vessels retrofitted to serve as enormous troop carriers.

The Arbiter was reading through the supply manifest, to get an idea of how many soldiers he had under his command. The number of soldiers he had was growing, but the Arbiter feared it wasn't enough. Droids still out-numbered them, and so did their fleets. If it had been up to him, he would have simply glassed all areas in which droids were confirmed to be in.

Unfortunately, some in the Alliance council didn't share the same beliefs he did. It was making life very difficult for the Arbiter. Politics and war never got along well with each other. Politics wasn't the Arbiter's strong point either. He preferred being in battle, on the bridge of a ship or on the ground, an Energy Sword in hand.

The Arbiter looked at the end of the manifest, and was surprised to find the section sealed off, and the words 'Top-Secret' printed on the front.

Opening it, the Arbiter was confronted with a series of DNA and retina checks and scans, until the document opened. He glanced through it, and was shocked by the implications. But one stood out more than the rest.

He had an entire company of SPARTAN-III's at his disposal.

Echo Company.

Naboo, though one of the planets of the Alliance, had few ships defending it, much like many other planets as more and more ships were pulled from defending planets to combat the massive fleets of the CIS.

Five ships, most of them Imperial Star Destroyers, though there was a carrier mixed in the lot orbited the planet, prepared to fight to the bitter end if needed.

Far away, a Covenant Assault Carrier exited Slipspace, followed by three CCS-class Battlecruisers and a carrier. They were the remains of the Brute fleet that had fled to this galaxy to avoid the fleets of the UCNC.

"Ship Master, what is our status?" asked the Prophet of Salvation as he moved closer towards the displays on his Hover Chair.

The Brute Ship Master bowed low. "We have sustained critical damage to our weapon systems. All we have left are the two Energy Projectors. Luckily, our complement of soldiers and vehicles are intact, and are eager to deploy."

"Burn the enemy fleet first, Ship Master. Then land our troops, and bring the weapon down," ordered the Prophet.

"As you wish, Holy One."

As the ships advanced closer, they held the advantage. Few Covenant ships held markings, as the UCNC ships were typically identified using a IFF tag. Since the remnants of the Brute fleet had fled and were gone, there really was no way for the Alliance to determine the allegiance of the Covenant ships.

Which gave the Brute ships the advantage, which they would have used- had they not immediately fired all weapons as soon as they reached maximum effective range.

"What the!" exclaimed the captain of the Star Destroyer that led the defence group. "They're firing on us!"

The faster and deadlier Energy Projectors struck first. The shielding of the lead Star Destroyer held out for a second, before it gave way to the beams. Multiple Energy Projectors punched through armour plating, and into the ship. Ammunition stored inside went off as the beams swept through, cutting into durasteel, flesh and amour.

The Star Destroyer detonated as the reactor went critical, and turned into a rolling thundercloud of debris and flames, which soon died down. The plasma waves flew into the cloud, and turned the cloud an angry red as the plasma melted through the debris, before dissipating. The formation of the small defence fleet meant that the majority of the Plasma Torpedos were wasted on the remains of the lead ship.

The initial surprise of being attacked by an supposed ally wearing off, the four remaining ships quickly rallied. The carrier fell back towards the centre of the diamond shaped formation, and began to release single ship fighters, bombers and interceptors. The four other Star Destroyers powered up their turbolaser batteries to full strength, and prepared proton torpedo tubes.

"Holy one, the filth are preparing to fight back," reported the Brute Shipmaster.

"Take no heed to what losses we might incur here, Shipmaster. They will ascend to the Great Journey, dying for the Covenant. We just need to establish a foothold, and prepare to unleash the great weapon."

"As you wish, Holy one. All ships, full speed ahead! Cleanse these heretics with the Forerunners flames!"

The three cruisers accelerated at the defence fleet, plasma lines glowing, and globules of red plasma starting to collect on their flanks.

"They're charging for us sir," reported the navigation officer aboard the Star Destroyer Allegiance, which was now the de-facto flagship of the defence battle group.

"If they want to do that, then let's not disappoint them. All turbolasers, maximum power! Fire at will ladies and gentlemen," ordered the captain.

Turbolaser batteries across all the ships began to discharge bright lances of energy, as pulse lasers, plasma torpedos and Energy Projectors from the Covenant fleet fired in return. Space was lit up in explosions as turbolasers were soaked up by shielding, breaking through and punching holes in alien armour.

Two of the cruisers exploded under the pressure of the barrage, but the stronger Assault Carrier and its lowlier cousin waded through. The Covenant barrage reached the Alliance battle group, and one Star Destroyer exploded into a fireball, whilst the carrier was crippled by a plasma torpedo which had damaged the engines.

Fighters wove patterns with each other, and bombers did their best to knock out enemy ships or vital sections. Squadrons of teardrop shaped Seraphs, piloted by Brutes did their best against TIE Fighters and Interceptors as well as A-Wings and X-Wings, but ultimately, the lack of Brute prowess in space made them little match for the Alliance fighters. Many of the single ship losses from the Alliance came from the point defence pulse laser turrets, which discharged bright blue lances of energy.

In the end, the only surviving vessel was the Assault Carrier, and even then, it was badly damaged. Fires sprouted from ruptured sections of the mighty warship's hull, and a majority of it's weapons were disabled. The ship rumbled through Naboo's atmosphere, the hull managing to hold itself together.

"Shipmaster, prepare our entire army. Land there, above this city, and take it by force!" ordered the Prophet of Salvation.

The Assault Carrier grounded to a halt above the capital of Theed. Civilians and defence force members watched in a mixture of horror and fascination as a ghostly purple beam descended from the Assault Carrier's belly. The first thing wave of Brutes descended, and automatically fired their Spikers at the gawking civilians and security troops gathered near the plaza which was chosen as the LZ.

Superheated metal spikes stabbed through people as they started to run. A Spike Grenade detonated, and the resulting metal spikes from it tore through more security troops as they rushed to hold back the Brute flood.

"Set up the barricades!" shouted the lieutenant in charge, firing a blaster with the others as they took cover around the plaza.

Brutes were streaming through now, even as bodies of them started to collect as massed laser fire came from the responding troops overcame even the Brute's thick hides, as they landed with little to no cover at all.

But that advantage didn't last.

A column of Jackals landed, their arm mounted shields raised, and formed an impromptu wall before the defenders. Blaster bolts were absorbed by the shields, and the Jackals started to advance slowly, firing bolts of green plasma from their Plasma Pistols. Behind them, more Brutes gathered, and began to set up stationary shield generators, and bringing down barricades and Shade plasma turrets.

The lieutenant cursed. They, being mainly security forces, carried little heavy firepower. Now it was working against them, as the numerical superiority of the Covenant and the savagery of the Brutes was bearing down on them.

"Get those Landspeeders here, now!" ordered the captain.

Landspeeders were the heaviest vehicle they could bring down on their attackers, at least until a reinforcement fleet arrived. That was, if they could hold out that long. He had heard that the nearby cities were sending more help over, and wished for their arrival.

The security guards were now facing a situation that was rapidly spiralling downwards. The Jackals, despite having a few of their numbers thinned, were still advancing.

"Concentrate your fire on a single one at a time!" ordered the officer in charge.

It proved effective, as the shields failed under the weight of such fire, and allowed more blaster bolts to pour through the openings. Numerous Jackals fell, and the emboldened guards stepped up, and pushed forward.

A pair of Banshees screamed over them, firing plasma bolts at the advancing guards.

"Take them down before they wipe us out!" ordered the lieutenant.

Massed blaster fire again filled the sky, and peppered the Banshees. One of the Banshees shuddered from multiple impacts that cratered its armour, and smoke belched out of it until it was swallowed by a fireball, the remains crashing to the ground. The other one swooped by, and fired the Fuel Rod Cannon. A bright, radioactive green light caught three of the guards, hurling their smoking bodies back to the ground.

More blaster fire came at it, though far more sporadically as the guards scattered to avoid another strafing run. The Banshee swooped down again, and fired its plasma cannons. Blue plasma sprayed across the guards, sometimes hitting them, but created small glassy craters in the ground a lot more.

A large blaster bolt flew at the Banshee, connected and destroyed it. The remains crashed to the ground before the shocked lieutenant even as four Gian landspeeders pulled up.

"You called?" asked the pilot of the lead landspeeder.

The lieutenant snapped out his shock. "Yeah. We gotta push these bastards back to wherever they came from. We'll need the heavy firepower."

"You've got it right here. Boys and girls, saddle up and move out! Provide our boys with some heavy firepower!"

The landspeeders roared off, and assumed positions across the plaza, even as they traded blaster bolts with plasma fire from the three Shade turrets that were set up. The Brutes fought hard to keep their position, even as more of them fell to the blasters of the guards and the heavy cannons of the landspeeders. They formed a circle with a three metre radius from the gravity lift, as the guards started to advance closer.

But they payed a high price for their gains. One guard was struck by three superheated spikes, which punctured his armour, and tore into internal organs. Another dropped to the ground, a smoking hole in his forehead, courtesy of Jackal snipers who had taken to the barricades. More guards were killed as high velocity grenades from Brute Shots detonated.

The only thing keeping the guards from outright losing was the arrival of more security detachments, arriving in Flash speeders, and bringing heavier firepower.

Brutes were killed when their barricades were destroyed under the force of multiple heavy lasers, then hit by many laser bolts. Also working in the favour of the RSF was the fact that Brutes worked better on the offensive, rather than defending.

"Looks like we got this one rather easily," remarked the lieutenant to the officer in charge of the recent arrival of more guards.

"Yeah, maybe they aren't so tough after all."

But even as the guards advanced, and as the Brutes fought back, Brute Choppers descended from the bowels of the Assault Carrier, and roared out of the barricade.

"What are those?" yelled one guard, seconds before the Brute Chopper slammed into him.

The guard's broken body flew into a wall, and collapsed, as the Choppers fired their 35mm Autocannons. Shells tore into the area surrounding the guards, hurling debris everywhere. One of the Gian speeders turned to fire at a Chopper that was headed straight for it.

The Brute piloting it paid no mind to the blaster bolts that whipped past it. He had a maniacal grin upon his face as he activated the Chopper's boost function. The Chopper accelerated to twice its speed, and rammed the Gian Speeder. The speeder was torn apart from the impact as the blades chewed up armour, components and flesh.

Screams echoed from the doomed speeders as the Brute Choppers systematically wiped out the Gian Speeders across the plaza, losing many of their own in the process.

The lieutenant in charge was about to order a retreat as he watched his forces become decimated by the rampaging Choppers, before one rammed him, cutting off any orders that he had in mind.

The guards still surviving formed tight clusters, and focused on the Choppers. Eventually, as more blaster fire filled the plaza, the last of the Choppers died down, their driver's slumped over the controls, smoking holes in their thick hides.

The surviving guards couldn't celebrate, as their latest challenge descended from the gravity lift.

The Brute Chieftain roared, raised his Gravity Hammer, jumped off the gravity lift, and charged at the guards.

A.N: I think that there would a nice place to stop, for now at least. Sorry for how long this took, I got bogged down over it doing other things, and then came Christmas and New year. Busy time for me, even with holidays, so I offer my sincere apologies.

The RSF are Naboo's security forces, just in case you didn't know. I hoped you enjoyed this chapter, and I shall hopefully get the next chapter up in two weeks time. And for anyone wondering, the clones will come in much later. Remember to review! Laters, people, and I wish you all good luck for 2008!