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Chapter 1: Last Stand
Mistral 17:45
Ruby sat on a small cliff above the village where she and her friends stayed. She laid her head back against a tree, watching the sunset in the distance. Its golden rays reflected off her silver eyes, with the dark and gloomy clouds above shifting color to match the sun.
Ever since the fall of Beacon Academy, everything had turned for the worse. Memories of the past six months since the attack on Vale were still fresh for her. All of Remnant was now covered in dark clouds because of the Grimm and Salem. The Kingdoms were now on the run from not just the Grimm, but the White Fang as well. They had become a proper military carrying out conquests against humanity, and successfully rallying Faunas to their cause. Of course, not everyone joined them, a vast majority of Faunas not wanting to take sides. But, rumors about the Fang's newfound strength, technological advancements, and heightened morale with Adam Taurus now at the helm, had swelled with recruits from all across Remnant.
Ruby's mind was going through all that had happened until she heard a feminine voice from behind call her name.
"Doing okay, Ruby?" she turned around to see a blonde.
"Oh, hey Yang." her half-sister sat next to her.
Yang had noticed something was off with her sister for the past week, and knew what it was. The past several months had been tough on them all. She lost an arm, two friends, one dead and the other taken to Atlas by her father, and her whole future of being in Beacon Academy. But thankfully, amidst the doom and gloom, Blake had managed to stay with both of them and the remainder of Team JNPR since Beacon fell, so there was something good out of this whole ordeal after all.
Wanting to reassure her sister, Yang placed her robotic arm on Ruby's shoulder. "I know how you feel about everything. And I miss Pyrrha and Weiss as much as you do. Actually... We all miss them."
"Y-Yeah…" Ruby became sad for a moment, thinking about how Pyrrha's life was taken from her, and Weiss being forced to stay in Atlas thanks to her father.
"But, no bad news has come out of Atlas just yet. Well, besides the whole political drama going on." Yang told her before she remembered a whole list of things going on with Atlas and the other kingdoms. "And the Grimm spreading further like wildfire and completely cutting off and isolating the major cities… And the Fang being in a state of war with humanity and conquering various places… And-"
"I get it." Ruby cut her off. "Remnant is not in a good state anymore. I wish it didn't come to this…"
Yang saw a tear start to form in Ruby's eye, and embraced her in a hug. "We're Huntresses, Ruby. We've been trained to help and save people from threats like these. And as long as there's one single Huntsman still standing against the darkness, well… Remnant hasn't lost hope yet."
Ruby let the tears fall from her eyes and hugged her sister. "T-Thank you, Yang."
She smiled and let go of Ruby, standing up. "Come on, dinner is almost ready."
"Okay." Ruby nodded at her sister and walked down the cliff.
The Silver-Eyed Warrior continued walking with her sister until she stopped in her tracks. She looked at the clouds above and they started to change their colors from a golden orange to a mixture of black, purple, and red. All colors associated with the Grimm wherever they went to cause chaos.
Ruby then saw the last spot of golden orange still shining bright amidst the darkness. She saw it stand strong against the dark clouds trying to consume it, unmoving. The huntress extended a hand outward at the bright color, and pretended that she could grab it.
If she thought what Yang said was true, this could hopefully be the future of Remnant…
Across the Galaxy in the Mid Rim, 20 BBY…
Hagelle Prime, or simply Hagelle, had been under assault by Separatist forces for over the past two weeks. What was once seen as a long-lost and forgotten backwater, had recently been discovered to be incredibly rich in resources, especially zersium, which was crucial in making durasteel. And although it was heavily defended by the Republic, the Separatists were keenly intent on taking the planet, and would attack with a lightning strike.
Republic forces proceeded to slug it out with the droid armies across the rocky terrain. And even though they fought their best, the stalemate broke and they were now on the run. Republic Command decided the battle was lost, and ordered a retreat of all forces. Not to mention, thanks to a squad of Commandos, they intercepted a Separatist transmission informing the Republic of a large Separatist fleet coming to wipe them out. They were now on a very strict time limit.
Over the past hour, what remained of the Republic's planetside forces had retreated to their last major base, Charlie Base, which was still standing. Everyone and everything from regular squads of clone troopers on foot, to heavy machinery like AT-AP's, were being evacuated. And just behind Charlie Base in the thick mountains was an entire Acclamator-class assault ship docked with its ramps and landing gear deployed.
Watching the columns of troopers and vehicles loading up into the cruiser, a Jedi Knight observed the men under his command from a railing. His name was Natzer Charliss, a young human male in his mid-twenties, sporting fairly-toned skin, dark brown hair brushed to his left, navy blue eyes, and a full beard. He stood next to his Clone Commander, who went by the name of Arch. The clone's Phase II armor sported cyan-colored markings, a helmet visor and communications antenna, along with an ammo pouch on his right breastplate below the pauldron across his neck, and finally a kama with hand blaster holsters.
"Are you alright, General?" the Commander asked the Jedi with his helmet underneath his arm.
He let out a small sigh. "I'm worried we'll be shot out of the sky altogether once we leave. And I feel like there's a lot I could've done to prevent a lot of the hardships that've happened to us recently. You know how much I care about all of your brothers, Arch, your lives are more important than my own."
Natzer then turned and faced him, taking a moment to compose himself. "I feel personally responsible for your safety and survival. And to be frank, I've failed in that regard recently. We've lost so many troopers on this planet, and there's more I should've done instead of just running to the frontlines with both sabers in hand before all of you and taking in blaster fire."
The Knight looked back at the troops boarding the ramp, seeing a squad of troopers carrying their brothers who were too injured to move on stretchers, sighing. "I'm not trying to doubt my own capabilities or put myself down, Arch, but there's so much hardship done to these troopers I could've prevented. I may not be the best General of the Grand Army of the Republic, or the most strategically-minded, but whenever I've been trying my best, something negative always happens to all of us"
Arch remained silent as he saw his General place a hand on the railing, still watching the injured clones.
"Permission to speak freely, sir?" he asked.
Natzer looked back at him. "Permission granted."
"Thank you, sir." Arch took in a momentary breath. "With all due respect, General, you've done more than you ever could over these past several days. In fact, I think you've gone above and beyond just to save one of my brothers' lives, everyone I've spoken to shares the same opinion. And yes, even if you're not the best when it comes to strategy, we are all incredibly grateful towards everything you've done so far as our leader."
The Jedi continued to let the clone speak freely. "Not to mention just yesterday you took on four dwarf spider droids head-on, and multiple other clankers just to save a single 'shiny'. Me and everyone else under blaster fire at the moment thought you had gone crazy. But, knowing that you'd risk your life where death is very likely, just to save a single soldier of the lowest rank, truly says a lot about who you really are as a leader."
Arch took a brief moment to shortly pause. "And if that's not bravery and compassion a General shows for his subordinates on the battlefield…"
He placed his free hand on the Jedi's shoulder in a reassuring manner. "Then I don't know if we'd still be here without you. Sir."
Natzer looked at the clone's hand on his shoulder, letting out a small chuckle. "Heh, I guess you're right, Arch. Thanks."
The clone let go of his shoulder. "No problem, sir. Just showing the appreciation me and my brothers have towards you."
"And also…" He gave a friendly light punch to Natzer's shoulder. "Please try not to be a sponge for blaster fire, that's supposed to be our job."
Natzer saw his Clone Commander give him a satiric grin, and laughed with him before their conversation was interrupted. An ARC Trooper walked through the door next to them, his helmet held underneath his arm. The ARC had his armor painted in the same cyan color as Arch did, with his own unique marking across it. And he went by the name of Vynch.
"Sorry to interrupt sirs, but General Pippar is ready for us." the ARC informed them both.
"Right, let's get to it then." Natzer nodded at Vynch.
"Self-confidence restored, sir?" Arch asked as Vynch put on his helmet and led the way.
"Yeah. Thanks again." the Knight thanked him.
"Like I said sir, it's no problem. Let's finish this fight." the Commander put on his helmet.
After a short minute-long walk, the two clones and Jedi found themselves in Charlie Base's command center. Several troopers were present either reporting to their stations, typing at terminals, and so on. The three made it to the holotable where they found another Jedi, and two non-clone naval officers both in holographic form. Natzer made eye contact with the Jedi in front of them, and she smiled at him.
"Good to see you three." she welcomed them.
Natzer did a slight bow with his head. "It's good to see you too, Master."
His Master was a female Zeltron and went by the name of Kaiaala Pippar. She was about the same height as her Apprentice and the clones around her inside the command center, also having light red skin with blue eyes and hair, usual for someone of her humanoid species. Master Pippar was not in charge of Natzer's clone unit, the 178th Legion, she volunteered to assist her student on this campaign, and became instrumental to helping the clones escape the droid forces to Charlie Base.
"Unfortunately, I have to announce that the Admiral has some grave news for us." she gestured over to Admiral Scoali Noscra, he was a tall human male with dark brown skin, with green eyes and jet black hair.
The Admiral was a veteran of the Republic Navy, coming from a long family of naval officers. He had previously fought small skirmishes against pirates and slavers in his home world's planetary defense forces in the Outer Rim. Sure, he did come from a long lineage of well-known naval personnel, but unlike most of those who did in the Galactic Republic's Navy, Noscra was actually good at his job, unlike someone such as the pitiful Kendal Ozzel who was an absolute disgrace to the military as a whole. He personally knew the man, and was disgusted by his manners and strategies, not to mention all of the men he had gotten killed to win some kind of vain and pointless glory, rather than winning the battle with the rest of the picture in mind.
"Thank you, Master Jedi." He nodded at her. "Sadly, those Separatist reinforcements we've caught wind of should be arriving at any moment. My fleet will not be able to hold them off. It is imperative that your evacuation is completed on the double before they have a chance to smash through us."
Natzer spoke up after the Admiral finished. "We'll do our best, Admiral."
The other non-clone officer to the Admiral's right was the Captain of the Acclamator evacuating all personnel, the Inspiration. He was a human male in his early forties with fair skin, brown eyes and hair, along with a small mustache. His name was Zan Hawkins, he was recently assigned to General Charliss' fleet, but by no means was he an inexperienced officer. He'd fought in the Navy since the outbreak of the Clone Wars, commanding the same Acclamator first assigned to him and stuck with it since.
Hawkins was considered a bit of a black sheep among the Republic's naval officers for sticking with an Acclamator as his personal flagship, viewing it as a better ship for the Republic to mass produce instead of the Venator-class Star Destroyer. For one, it had more anti-capital firepower than the Venator, excluding the usage of starfighters, with its quad turbolaser batteries alone rating at 200 gigatons per shot. Whoever was responsible at Rothana Heavy Engineering for designing those turbo lasers may have outdone themselves with that one...
The Acclamator also needed a crew of a meager 700 while the Venator on the other hand needed 7,400, reducing possible casualties in battle by almost ten and a half times. And among a whole list of other things the Acclamator was good at to make up for its downsides, such as switching out its storage and troop capacity of 16,000 or torpedo tubes for hangar bays, it had a Class 0.6 hyperdrive, making it one of the fastest ships in the whole galaxy.
The Captain proceeded to speak after the Jedi Knight finished. "The evacuation is going well, Admiral. All units we've managed to save have reported in, with a majority of them loading up onto the Inspiration. The only unit we haven't accounted for is a single squad of clone commandos."
Noscra raised an eyebrow at the Captain. "Zeta Squad?"
"Affirmative. The same commandos who intercepted the Separatist transmission of incoming reinforcements. Last we reported they-"
Hawkins cut himself off as one of the pairs of doors for the command center ahead of him opened. "Speaking of which…"
Everyone else around the holotable turned and saw four clone commandos approaching them, each one having their own unique and distinct colored patterns and attachments for their Katarn-class armor.
The first commando and squad leader was known as Scarecrow. Identifiable by his armor painted navy blue across several areas, Scarecrow was an incredibly gifted and capable soldier, impressing his Mandalorian training sergeant on Kamino. He was chosen as Zeta Squad's leader for his very strong and effective leadership abilities, being able to handle even the most brutal life-or-death situations under intense levels of stress, ones even a Jedi except for a Master possibly couldn't handle. But among a whole list of things he was capable of, Scarecrow deeply cared for the squadmates he trained with since birth, seeing them as his family.
Behind him on his right was the squad's sniper, known as 'Phantom'. He decorated his armor with matte black markings, matching his namesake. Phantom was an excellent and disciplined marksman, one who could hit a target from afar without needing to look down the sights of his DC-17m in its sniper configuration mode if he was required to.
Phantom had a by-the-books mindset when deployed on missions with his brothers; they were commandos, after all, and had to be the best soldiers of the Republic, especially him being the squad's designated sniper. But when not on missions together, he was a completely different person. He was the most sociable of his squad, even talking to a few of the 'Regs' from time to time, despite some animosity from them at first. And although he may seem to be very strict and dense upon inspection, once you get to know him, you'd always want a best friend like him to be on your team.
Next to Phantom was a commando with turquoise painted on multiple parts of his armor. His name was 'Thief', the squad's tech expert and slicer. He was called that for his ability to crack through even the toughest enemy or allied encryption methods, and they wouldn't even notice a breach in their cyber security by the commando. His brutal honesty when answering questions made him stick out the most from his squad. Sometimes he would accidentally insult his brothers, who didn't care, other commandos, Regs, and even non-clone officers and superiors from time to time. This wasn't done on purpose with any ill intent, of course, it was just the personality he grew up with from his training by the Cuy'val Dar on Kamino.
And during their training on Kamino, he was known for stealing, or to put it in his words: 'documenting', restricted and classified information he didn't have access to. While yes, it would have been seen as an offense and subject him to punishment by the Kaminoans, his squad's Mandalorian instructor made it a part of their training course, letting him off scot-free. And unknown to Thief and his squad, the restrictive information he acquired wasn't actually anything important, their instructor just made the data look like it.
The final commando in the back with red-orange markings was known as 'Firecracker', the team's demolitions expert. He was a natural when it came to anything that could make an explosion, and considered quite the blaster nut. If Firecracker was hypothetically in a knife fight, he'd bring an entire turbolaser just because he could.
He always brought more than enough firepower his team realistically needed when on missions. Sometimes he even made his own hand-made explosives, such as thermal imploders, and used them with great success. Was it unorthodox, even for a clone commando? A definite yes. But effective in combat and not a waste of Republic tax credits the Senate desperately needed? Also yes.
The commandos walked forward and approached the holotable with Scarecrow speaking up to his superiors.
"Sorry we're late everyone, sirs." He began. "We ran into multiple squads of commando droids on our way over here. Don't worry, they didn't get a single message back to their command, thanks to Thief here."
He pointed his thumb towards Thief, who nodded in response. "It was no problem really, jamming their communications isn't as hard as it seems for most people."
"Good job, that'll hopefully buy us some time then." Kaiaala said after Arch dealt with a transmission through his helmet's comms.
"I've just been informed that the droid army is now on the move. It's only a matter of time." he announced.
"Arch, you have the floor." Natzer told him.
"Yes, sir." he nodded his head and switched the holotable's projection from the space battle above to Charlie Base's first line of defense.
"When the Separatists start their attack, our first line of defense is to stall the droids for as long as they possibly can. Our entrenched troops will be supported by heavy vehicles and artillery, and any possible air support available besides Charlie Base's own. This should buy the evacuating troops more than enough time to board the Acclamator." Arch pointed to the various areas on the battlefield with two fingers before moving the map to the next line.
"This is our second line of defense in the forest." He continued. "Once we retreat from the first line, we'll trigger a series of mines once the droids are over high ground will give us the element of surprise and advantage with our snipers. The area is unsuitable for any heavy vehicles except for the main road where the droids will march down towards, so we'll rely on scout walkers and snipers for this. And once we've been pushed back, we have a set of charges ready to blow the gorge leading to Charlie Base, hopefully buying us enough time to set up our final defenses."
The Commander then switched to the last line of defense to Charlie Base's front entrance. "Our last stand will be here, and once we retreat inside the base, we'll force them to come inside. Once they're inside, we'll have already activated the self-destruct sequence, wiped out the memory banks, and fly our way out. From there, we'll be onboard the Acclamator in no time, or at least I hope so." Arch finished.
"Depending on the situation here in space, the battle may not be to our advantage if push comes to shove." The Admiral warned. "My ships are already badly damaged, and some of them will only need just one more turbolaser blast before they turn them to smithereens. I cannot guarantee we will hold out for long up here."
"We don't have much time before the Separatists arrive. And whatever the case may be, we have a job to do. And let's do it effectively." Hawkins declared with determination in his voice.
"Indeed, let's get to work." Kaiaala responded.
Admiral Noscra placed his hands behind his back. "Very well, General. I'll inform you once the Separatist fleet arrives. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a fleet to command."
"And I'll be working on getting the rest of our men aboard as quickly as I can. And good luck, everyone." Captain Hawkins' declared before his hologram disappeared with the Admiral's.
Natzer then turned to Arch and Vynch. "Get the men and defenses ready, I'll meet up with you shortly."
"Yes, sir!" Arch nodded and ran out the door with the ARC trooper behind him.
"So Generals, you got an assignment for us?" Scarecrow inquired.
The Knight looked at the commando. "Indeed."
He then switched the holotable's projection back to the first line of defense, and went to the Separatist column. "With how fast the Separatists have gained vast swathes of territory on this planet, we have to assume the droids are being commanded by a super tactical droid."
"If I may, sir?" Thief asked the Knight for permission to speak.
"Sure thing." he told the commando.
"You assume right. We've noticed from all our recent previous engagements, there has been a significantly increased number of super tactical droids on the field leading the Separatist offensive." Thief explained.
"Don't worry, General. We took care of them all, gave you and everyone else the time to escape from those clankers." Phantom stated.
"By 'we', you mean yourself alone." Firecracker corrected his brother's statement.
"Hey, at least I try to give some credit." Phantom shrugged his shoulders before Natzer spoke again.
"Well if you'd like to, you can go on a mission behind enemy lines and take out any droid commanders you may find on the field." Kaiaala suggested. "It'll disrupt their battle plans, and we can use any advantage to our means."
"We'll gladly do it, General. It's what we've been trained for." Scarecrow answered with confidence.
"Alright then, go do your worst." she nodded her head at him.
Scarecrow grabbed his DC-17m next to his backpack and signaled his squad to move out. After the commandos left, Natzer turned off the holotable and was about to leave, planning on joining Arch and Vynch at the frontlines. But he could feel through the Force that his Master knew what he previously felt from the conversation with Arch beforehand.
"Dealing with stress from the battle, my Apprentice?" she inquired.
He sighed. "Yes, Master. I felt like I could do more to prevent the needless deaths of the soldiers underneath my Command and-"
She gently put up a hand, signaling him to stop talking and placed it on his shoulder. "I already know, and you're not alone."
Master Pippar spoke with a reassuring voice to her former Padawan. Her voice could best be described as one of a caring mother figure. She had always been a soft-spoken and humble Jedi, showing her immense compassion towards others and valuing their lives above her own, a lesson she taught Natzer very well. The clones she fought alongside can attest to that, seeing her be so genuine when caring about other people's situations, no matter how big or small.
Natzer looked at his Master's eyes, reading the concerned look she had on her face before speaking. "Master, like I told Arch, I feel personally responsible for the safety and survival of these men. And there's so much that I could've done to stop a lot that's already happened."
"Remember what I told you about controlling factors that are not in your control, my Apprentice?" she asked him.
Natzer clearly remembered the day she told him all those years ago.
Seven Years Ago…
A younger version of Natzer around the age of eighteen sat on a rock in the middle of a large, grassy steppe. He and his Master were on an unnamed planet in the Outer Rim for an important lesson. Master Pippar was going to teach him that although he had the Force and could control the various things around him in the moment, he wasn't in control of everything going on around him, or in the galaxy for that matter. Even for someone not Force-sensitive, trying to be a control freak in life wouldn't get you far. And as a Jedi who would pass his trials in the near future, her student must know that once he would eventually become a powerful Jedi, he must not worry about the things he couldn't control, and let the Force guide him.
"Tell me, my Apprentice…" Kaiaala looked at the steppe terrain around them. "What do you see?"
Natzer looked around with his eyes, only moving his head around while the rest of his body stayed put. "I see the grass flowing with the wind."
"Good. I want you to hold that patch still with the Force." she instructed him.
He looked at Kaiaala for a second, then at the small patch of grass next to the base of the rock he sat on. Natzer lifted his right hand, and used the Force to hold the grass still. His mind was clear and focused in the moment, not troubled by anything else.
"Excellent. Now try holding this one." she pointed to another patch to his left.
He then followed her instructions and held the other patch with the Force.
"Good." She continued. "Now, try that third one."
Natzer looked ahead to the third patch of grass in front of him.
"But Master, I can't possibly do that." he calmly explained, letting go of both previous patches.
"Nothing is impossible with the Force, Natzer. Try to focus your mind on your surroundings." Kaiaala guided him.
He then looked forward into the distance and closed his eyes. Natzer breathed as a small gush of the wind blew against his hair, pushing it in the opposite direction. He ignored the mess his hair was in, and focused on concentrating with the Force. And using the knowledge of his surroundings, he held both his hands out and all the grass around both him and his Master was now as sturdy as a rock. The wind blew hard against the foliage but Natzer's use of the Force made the grass stand still in spite of it, unmoving.
"Well done, my Apprentice." Kaiaala congratulated her student.
Natzer opened his eyes and let go, looking towards his Master.
"But…" She briefly paused. "What did you notice?"
"Notice what, Master?" he was confused by what she meant.
"I mean what else did you notice while holding the grass still?" Kaiaala pondered. "Did you notice the wind still blowing? The sun still setting? Or the wild animals afar in the distance still trying to get to their homes?" she asked him multiple questions.
The Padawan looked at everything his Master mentioned with the questions, and gave her an answer. "Yes."
"Okay. And what could you do while focusing on the grass?" she inquired.
"Well, uhhh…" Natzer took a moment to think. "Nothing."
"Exactly." The Master approached her student. "Like with the wind flowing through the air, time moves on, and with it, the current events that are happening before our very eyes."
Natzer saw his Master stop in front of the rock he was on before teaching him an important lesson.
"While we are here on this planet, unspoken injustices all across the galaxy are happening on a daily basis. Conflict between different groups of people, stillborn and neonatal deaths, betrayal, deceiving others, adultery, rape, slavery, illegal substances infecting and poisoning the galaxy's youth, and so much more…" She let a moment pass for Natzer to absorb the information.
"These are all happening across the galaxy as we speak. And now, we as Jedi might have the idea that we have the power to stop X, Y or Z things happening around us. But the truth of the matter is, my Apprentice: There's unfortunately nothing we can do about it in our current predicament." Natzer looked down for a few moments with saddened eyes, he did want to help everyone in the galaxy from these horrible injustices, knowing the evil and sinister nature of each before looking back up at his Master.
"It is by the will of the Force that we as Jedi try to make the best of our current situation, and the Force shall guide us through our journey for the better." Kaiaala teached. "Don't feel bad at the things you can't control, such as death, Natzer. If in a war you were to protect a friendly soldier from blaster fire, and said soldier were to be blown up next to you, you might convince yourself that you could've prevented his or her death. But in the hypothetical scenario, you would have been busy with blocking blaster fire and didn't see the incoming enemy rocket."
She looked at her Apprentice in the eyes before delivering her final words. "If you try to control everything and everyone around you to prevent something bad from happening, all you're going to end up doing is getting yourself and those around you hurt or killed by being a control freak, and making the whole situation worse for everyone involved. Not to mention anything you could hypothetically try to prevent would only force its hand and still happen anyway. You may struggle with this in your life, like all of us do, but the Force shall be your guide during these struggles."
Kaiaala stopped, letting her knowledge seep its way into her student's memory. "Do you understand, Natzer?"
"Yes, Master." He understood, nodding his head in confirmation.
Kaialla smiled at her student. "Great. I'll let you have the time to think about all this. I'll be at the camp on watch."
Natzer saw his Master walk away from him, approaching the small campsite they made. He turned and looked back to the scenery in front of him, taking in a deep breath. Exhaling, he let his Master's words flow through his mind with the help of the Force, right as the wind blew his hair in the correct direction towards his left. A small smile then produced across his face while looking at the setting sun.
Present Day
"Don't be a control freak and try to make the best of the current situation?" Natzer answered his Master's question.
Kaiaala had a warm smile on her face. She was very proud of her only student, grateful for the Force helping her teach this little boy she molded into a man. He was brave, humble, compassionate, being honest with everyone, and always had a desire to help those in need. Now yes, everyone has their own flaws and struggles they had to deal with, but who doesn't? And whether it was a natural paternal instinct, or just the Force guiding her, Natzer was the closest thing she had to a son, and felt like a mother figure not just towards him, but to everyone around her.
"Yes, you remember correctly." she congratulated her student, taking her hand off his shoulder.
"I should get moving, Arch and the others are going to need my help." Natzer told his Master.
"Then go, I will help take care of the wounded here. May the Force be with you, my Apprentice." Kaiaala bowed her head with Natzer following suit, and left.
Natzer then ran out of the command center and headed straight towards the frontlines.
First Line of Defense
Commander Arch along with ARC trooper Vynch and several other clones got into position behind a small group of large rocks huddled together. The Commander knelt next to one of the rocks and pulled out his macrobinoculars, and peered through them. A massive army with what seemed to be around ten thousand B1 and B2 battle droids accompanied by AAT and R-N99 tanks, spider droids, and other various kinds of droids were present.
"That's a lot of clankers, Commander." Vynch commented next to him.
"Imagine my shock at that news." Arch sarcastically remarked at his brother.
The droid army ahead continued marching towards the clones, the infamous clanking sound from their metal footsteps getting louder and closer with second passing by. Behind Arch and his group of brothers, the rest of the clones behind them got into their defensive positions. Every trooper present took cover behind the large rocks scattered about and in the trenches they dug earlier, the latter having multiple emplacements for EWHB-12 stationary turrets. Further behind them were AT-TE and AT-AP walkers, with the latter being farther back, TX-130 Saber and RX-200 Falchion tanks, and AV-7 Anti-vehicle Artillery Cannons.
Across Republic lines at the Separatist command center, a super tactical droid was leading the assault. He had calculated the clones' every move so far, and he was 99% correct. They have indeed built defensive fortifications, and were accompanied by heavy vehicles in an attempt for a petty last stand. The odds were heavily in the tactical droid's favor, and he would wipe out the slave soldiers of the dogs that infested the Republic's government.
"Sir, our forces are within range." one of the B1's at a terminal to his right informed.
"Commence the attack. Full forward assault." His deep, monotone and robotic voice spoke, pointing at the clones in the distance. "Go! Go!"
Back at the Republic lines, the clones had their fingers on the triggers, and waited for the first blaster to be fired. The sounds of the droids' metal footsteps could be heard for miles, each step getting closer and closer. And then, a huge wave of blaster fire filled the air. Thousands of red laser bolts flew towards the clones, who properly responded by shooting back at them.
"We just need to hold them back as long as we can, boys!" Arch told everyone over the comms, pulling out his dual DC-17 hand blasters from their holsters on his kama.
"Let's do it!" Vynch yelled, firing his Z-6 rotary blaster cannon.
Behind the two clones and their brothers, a clone sergeant next to the Falchion tanks past the trenches looked at the sky with his macrobinoculars, and saw at least two dozen vulture droid starfighters and hyena bombers zooming towards him and his brothers.
"Enemy aircraft incoming! Blast them!" he pointed in their general direction.
The Falchion tanks raised their ion stun cannons and fired at the enemy aircraft, prioritizing the hyena bombers first. Several hyenas were hit and sent crashing towards the battle droids up in the front, with one ending up near Arch and Vynch's position. Any remaining hyenas descending towards the clones were shot out of the sky by squadrons of Republic Z-95's, who then engaged in the enemy vulture droids. The Z-95's were then followed up by ARC-170 starfighters and BTL-B Y-wing bombers, all three types of aircraft coming from Charlie Base.
Some of the vultures and hyenas that were destroyed made their collision courses towards the Republic's heavy vehicles and artillery. One of the hyenas crashed into an AT-TE and detonated its ordinance, creating a large explosion. But despite that, the walkers continued firing at the droid forces ahead, with one of the AT-AP's scoring a direct hit at two OG-9 homing spider droids.
Space of Hagelle Prime
"Sir, enemy reinforcements have arrived!" a clone officer onboard the bridge of Admiral Noscra's Venator informed him.
In front of the damaged Republic fleet of multiple Venators, Arquitens, and retrofitted Consulars, the Separatist fleet had just arrived out of hyperspace. Consisting four Munificent frigates, two Recusants light destroyers, two Providence dreadnoughts, and one Lucrehulk battleship, all accompanied by several support vessels such as DH-Omni's. The Separatists launched all of their fighters and opened fire on the damaged Republic fleet.
"Battle stations! Launch all fighters!" Noscra ordered the crew.
Meanwhile onboard the Separatist fleet's flagship, the Lucrehulk, a super tactical droid was overseeing the battle with his superior sitting next to him in the captain's chair. They oversaw the naval battle being easily turned into their favor, with three of the Republic's already damaged Arquitens light cruisers completely annihilated by a single squadron of hyena bombers. The battle would soon be over once the enemy's Venators were blown apart.
"What is the status of the ground assault?" the tactical droid's superior asked.
"Enemy resistance is crumbling, sir." The droid spoke to him. "The clones are making a desperate defense at their last remaining stronghold against our forces. They shall be dealt with soon."
"Excellent. Bring up the footage of the assault." he stood up, towering over the droid.
"Right away, sir." the super tactical droid walked away.
The leader of the Separatist forces walked to the hologram screen behind his chair as it turned on. It produced a live recording of the ground battle from a B1 battle droid's point of view. He saw the clones fall to blaster fire and explosions happening all around them. His thoughts were that this was too easy of a mission for Count Dooku to send him on, and then he saw someone.
He saw a Jedi Knight with a cyan double-bladed lightsaber, who jumped towards the B1 and sliced down at the droid. The camera then changed to another B1 who fired at the Jedi. He blocked every blaster bolt coming at him and reflected them back at the clankers. Then, the Jedi took his saber apart in two and started cutting down groups of droids with his two weapons.
Now this was interesting. A Jedi who used a split saber? That was a rare find during these times of the Clone Wars. And the cyan blades his weapons produced? Well, let's just say it intrigued the Separatist leader, to say the least.
Surface of Hagelle Prime
Natzer swung his right blade at a super battle droid, cutting it in half before it had the chance to fire at one of the clones next to him. The fight was not going well for the Republic. While their air forces were occupied duking it out between the droid starfighters, the clones on the ground were being pushed back and most of their heavy vehicles had been destroyed. But this was to be expected, it was part of the plan. They only needed to hold out as long as they could before retreating.
"Sir, we're being overwhelmed!" Arch said as he fought with his General.
Vynch right next to him stood back-to-back, giving the Commander and General a stream of covering fire. "We need to fall back!"
The Jedi quickly looked back at his men in the trenches. Most of the tanks and walkers behind them were destroyed, and all of their artillery was gone. And without any available air support, they would be destroyed in a matter of minutes. He knew they couldn't stand and fight here any longer.
"Arch! Tell the men to fall back to our secondary positions! I'll cover you!" Natzer instructed him, blocking three laser bolts coming at the Commander.
"Yes, sir!" Arch left with the ARC trooper following suit. "Everyone! Fall back now!"
All of the remaining clones in the trenches went over the top and ran to safety. Those who were manning the stationary turrets set them to auto-fire and joined the rest of their brothers. Any remaining walkers and tanks converged together and gave the retreating troopers and General covering fire. Natzer blocked every single laser bolt he could as he hopped over the trenches and destroyed vehicles. He then jumped over the walkers and tanks which were now abandoned by their pilots, blocking the way for the droids momentarily.
The Jedi continued running and blocking blaster fire until he was in the clear and joined up with the rest of his men. Their second line of defense was now ready, with clone snipers taking position on the elevated cliffs. Dozens of troopers had taken cover all across the rocky terrain, waiting to get the jump on the droid army once it arrived. Multiple AT-RT's were also in the back of the lines waiting, with ARF troopers piloting them.
Natzer eventually made it to one of the lower ledges where Arch, Vynch, and several other clones were, and looked at his Commander. "Are the mines ready?"
Arch nodded, pulling out the detonator. "Yes, sir. And now we wait."
It took a few minutes for the droids to march into the forest. The walkers and tanks that blocked their path were blown out of the way, and continued marching forwards. Their heavy footsteps could be heard in the forest, the birds in the trees flying away from the sound of them. Every single clone held their fire as the clankers were now within firing range, waiting to be given the signal.
"You might want to cover your ears for this, General." Arch warned Natzer as he saw the droids over the mines, and pressed the detonator's button.
Several mines then exploded along the main road. Dozens of B1's and multiple B2's were blown apart, their metallic bodies sent flying away. Three AAT's were also destroyed amidst the mines' detonation, crippling the droids of heavy firepower for the time being.
And up on the elevated ridge he and his men were at, Natzer held one of his dual blades up in the sky, signaling his men to attack. Hundreds of individual battle cries all at once filled the air with the clones jumping down from their positions, following their Jedi General. The clone snipers up on the higher ground took aim and fired at the droids below as AT-RT's ran forward from the back, giving covering fire for their brothers on the ground.
The surprise attack caught the droids completely off-guard, and what seemed to be a few hundred clone troopers felt like there were multiple thousands as they were cut down one by one.
Separatist Command Center
"The clones and Jedi have managed a surprise attack on us?" the super tactical droid asked the B1 next to him.
"Yes, sir. They used mines to blow up a bunch of our troops, and are using the high ground to their advantage." he answered.
Across from the command center and in the distance, Zeta Squad were in position behind a collection of boulders, laying down and keeping a low profile. They saw in front of them the Separatist command center, obviously, along with a few AAT's, dwarf spider droids, and around a dozen and half BX commando droids. The Commandos knew once their target was eliminated, they had to make a run for it. They've been in this situation numerous times before, both in training and out in the field, but that didn't mean there wouldn't be any danger.
Phantom looked through the scope of his DC-17m, configured into its sniper mode, and saw the super tactical droid in his sight. "Primary target has been spotted. 300 meters North."
"Once we reveal ourselves, every single one of those tinnies is going to fire in our direction, especially those tanks." Scarecrow inspected the droids' forces.
Firecracker, as always, had an idea involving explosives. "We could place a few traps while we make our getaway, sir. There'd be less commando droids on our tails to deal with."
Scarecrow turned his head towards his brother on the left. "Good idea, let's get to work then. Phantom, hold your fire until I give the order."
He saw Firecracker and Thief climb crawl backwards off the rock they were on, and proceeded to do the same. Sliding down the side and landing on the ground, he and his brothers grabbed what explosives they had on their personnel and started setting traps. They armed the explosives across their current location and along their escapeway through the rocks. The commandos would have a few surprises coming for those commando droids.
Once they were finished, Scarecrow gave the order. "Phantom, do it."
"With pleasure." The commando aimed the DC-17m's crosshair over the super tactical droid's head, his finger pressing against the rifle's trigger. "Say goodnight, fierfek."
The shot rang out across the terrain, a hole blown through the super tactical droid's head.
"We're under attack!" a B1 droid commander alerted before his head was shot off by the commando.
Phantom fired three more shots directed towards the commando droids, who started to run and fire at his position. He got up and slid down the rock where the rest of his brothers were waiting at the bottom, and made their escape together. The commando droids were getting near them, doing flips and jumping across several rocks. Firecracker pulled out a detonator and ignited the explosives where their sniping position was, wiping out a good chunk of the droids.
They were making their way back towards their gunship as more commando droids soon followed. The energy shields of the clones absorbed multiple laser bolts from the droids chasing them down. Weaving through the rocks and throwing more explosives at the droids chasing them, the clones made it to their gunship which gave them fire support. Climbing on board the gunship, they made it in the nick of time as multiple B1's and B2's arrived at their location.
"Good job, men. That should put a dent in their operations." Scarecrow complimented his team before Thief pointed out in the distance.
"Sir, look at that! A Separatist shuttle!" Thief pointed at a Sheathipede-class shuttle arriving with four vulture droids escorting it, and landing near the forest where the rest of the Regs and General were.
"Maybe we should call it in?" Phantom suggested.
Firecracker agreed with him. "Yeah, but why is there a shuttle all the way out here?"
"I don't know, but I'll inform the General." Scarecrow got on his comm and tried to get in contact with the Jedi. "General Charliss sir, there's a Separatist shuttle that has landed near your position!"
There was no response.
"General Charliss, come in!" Scarecrow tried again, still getting no response.
Secondary Line of Defenses
Natzer was in the heat of battle with Arch and Vynch by his side, unable to hear his comlink with all the noise going on around him. He used both his sabers to reflect any and all blaster fire he could while cutting down the occasional battle droid. Both the clone commander and ARC trooper stayed by his side, blasting away at the enemy. At one point, Vynch ran out of ammo for his Z-6, tossing it at a bunch of B1's before gunning them down with his dual DC-17's. The three fought side-by-side through the commotion with the rest of the 178th, and it was going well until more enemy reinforcements arrived.
"Let's go! Move it up!" Arch ordered his men, seeing a trooper with a Z-6 running and gunning past him.
"Flank out!" Vynch yelled before firing at a B2, destroying the droid before it killed one of his brothers.
The clone trooper with the Z-6 destroyed a group of B1's with his weapon, wiping them out before he heard something to his right. He saw a flash of blue and green as his body was cut apart into multiple pieces across. His body then kicked towards Natzer, Arch, and Vynch. The trooper's body had split itself apart with his head falling off. They all looked up to see who, or what, did it. And they saw that it was him.
"Greetings, Jedi!" the infamous General Grievous happily introduced himself.
Natzer saw the droid general with two lightsabers he stole from fallen Jedi stand before him and his men. He tensed up, tightening the grip on his sabers. The troopers around him, including Arch and Vynch, were shocked at the unexpected arrival of Grievous. Their trigger fingers started to shake, and their General could feel their fear through the Force.
"Arch. Vynch. Get the men out of here." Natzer told the two clones.
"But sir, you can't possibly-" Arch was cut off by his General.
"I'll deal with him. That's an order." the Jedi got a nod from the Commander, and turned his head to face Grievous.
The droid general let out an evil cackle. "Your lightsabers will make a fine addition to my collection, young Jedi!"
Grievous lunged himself at the Jedi, swinging his two blades down. Natzer blocked and ducked, rolling to the side and attempting to throw a counterstrike. Grievous moved back, missing both of the Jedi's blades and began to throw his own at Natzer's. The droid general threw his blades back and forth, the young Knight successfully blocking every strike so far. But it wasn't easy for him, Natzer was literally fighting for his life. He never thought he would ever duel the infamous general of the Confederacy, and here he was trying to survive like a cornered animal being hunted.
Natzer's lightsaber fighting style was a mixture between Forms III and V, although he favored the latter with the Shien variant of Form V, thanks to his training in the form of Jar'Kai from his Master. He would occasionally switch the grip of his lightsabers in order to throw Grievous off, and it worked the first time. But Grievous' cybernetics calculated that he would do it again, and was ready for it.
The Jedi switched from a reverse grip to a forward one with his left saber, and Grievous aimed at it. He swung down hard and knocked the lightsaber out of Natzer's hand. Now the Jedi was forced to rely on one blade. He readied himself into a Form III stance, ready to block the General's next strike.
Grievous launched a swift assault with both of his blades as the clones and droids around them continued shooting each other. The droid general swung hard at Natzer, using his strength to his advantage. Natzer successfully blocked the strikes from Grievous with his only blade remaining, but he was getting tired. Grievous' strength was too much for him to handle alone.
The two then locked blades with each other, blue, green, and cyan emitting off their faces. Grievous pushed down hard, attempting to break the Jedi's defense. The General's blades got closer and closer as Natzer started to lose his strength, the grip on his saber loosening. He saw a rock behind him, and planted a foot against it as support. But Grievous was overwhelming, he was too powerful for Natzer to handle. His arms were about to give themselves up, Grievous laughing as he was about to kill this helpless Jedi.
But before Grievous could have a chance to kill him, he heard a loud battle cry and was tackled to the ground by a clone commando. The lightsabers fell out of his hands as the General looked up to see a commando wearing blue markings across his armor. His attacker then punched him in the face with a retractable vibroblade from his wrist. Grievous cried out in pain as a chunk of his mask was sliced off, and was shot at all across his body by three other commandos. The blue commando then punched his chest with the vibroblade, giving him an excruciating pain as it almost hit his organs. He kicked the clone off his body, sending him flying towards his squad and knocking them all down.
Natzer, completely winded, watched Scarecrow save him from Grievous. He made a note to himself to thank the commando if he were to survive this encounter. The Jedi, using what strength he had, used the Force to push the General into the side of an elevated cliff next to to him, his body cracking the rocks upon impact. He then reached for his other blade with the Force and retracted it into his left hand, igniting it and and standing upward. The Jedi Knight barely had any time to take a breather as Grievous grabbed the other two lightsabers off his belt and ignited them, approaching him.
"You and your clones' story ends here, Jedi!" Grievous laughed at him, and stopped upon hearing the sound of two lightsabers igniting. "Huh?"
The General turned around to see Master Pippar with two cyan blades flying through the air. She swung down at him, their blades locking with each other. Grievous then shoved her backwards towards her student, and landed on her feet next to Natzer.
"Master!" he was relieved to see her.
Both Jedi saw Grievous picking up his other two sabers off the ground with his pair of free hands, and sinisterly laughed as he ignited them.
"So many lightsabers to add to my collection!" he announced in a gleeful manner before engaging them.
Across from the duel taking place, the commandos of Zeta Squad recovered themselves from their engagement with the droid general. They saw the three of them duking it out and wanted to help, but they saw incoming droid reinforcements in the form of HMP droid gunships. The droid aircraft decimating entire squads of Regs with their weapons and deploying more droids onto the field.
"Come on, let's get out of here!" Scarecrow ordered his men, quickly drawing one of his DC-17's out at two B1's and killed them.
"What about the Generals?" Firecracker asked concerningly, switching his DC-17m into its grenade launcher mode.
"They've got it handled! Now let's go!" Scarecrow ran towards the rest of the Regs retreating, firing his DC-17m in one hand and a DC-17 hand blaster in the other with the rest of his squad following suit.
Both Jedi tried retreating with the rest of their men, but Grievous didn't let up on them. He attacked swiftly like a wild animal, with Natzer barely being able to keep up with him. Kaiaala pushed the General backwards with the Force to give her and Natzer some breathing room. Grievous in response had all four of his lightsabers shoved into the ground to negate the effects of her attack, the plasma blades melting through the rocks and dirt with ease.
"Natzer!" the Knight heard his Master call his name.
He looked over and saw that she was pointing towards the elevated cliff right next to them, and saw that it was very unstable due to the battle going on.
"Right!" he retracted both his blades, putting them on his belt and reached out at the cliff with the Force.
Grievous got up with all four lightsabers ready for a new attack. He ran forward but stopped in his tracks with a loud noise coming from above. Looking up, he saw dozens of large boulders fall directly towards him as the Jedi used the Force to shatter the side of the cliff. He let out a scream as the boulders came crashing down around him.
Both Jedi took the chance to run as the droid general was buried by the large rocks, deflecting blaster fire with their blades. They saw Arch, Vynch, the commandos of Zeta Squad, and several other clones give them covering fire as around a thousand battle droids marched directly towards them. Once the Jedi reached the clones, they fell back together through the gorge leading to Charlie Base before Vynch blew it up, blocking the droids.
Upon reaching Charlie Base, the rest of the clone survivors were already fighting battle droids deployed ahead by droid gunships. They were all being slaughtered, the Separatists getting the jump on them. Both Jedi swung their blades, cutting the droids down as more and more of them came. Several droid gunships cut down multiple clone troopers as they deployed more B2's and commando droids in front of Charlie Base, overrunning the clones and Jedi.
"Everyone! Fall back now!" Natzer ordered all of the clones.
What remained of the defending troopers ran into Charlie Base as blaster fire flew right past them. The base's massive doors started to close as more and more droid gunships approached. Arch and Vynch entered along with the commandos of Zeta Squad, covering the escape of the Deluxe Models. And lastly, the two Jedi barely made it into Charlie Base before the doors slammed shut and locked themselves.
"Sir! Are you alright?" Arch asked Natzer, who looked exhausted.
"Y-Yeah…" He took a moment to catch his breath. "I'm okay."
Both of them and everyone else heard several loud bangs against Charlie Base's doors made out of durasteel.
"That's not going to keep them out for long." Phantom warned everyone.
"Come on, let's head to the command center!" Vynch announced to everyone, leading the way.
The two Jedi, along with all the remaining surviving clones made their way to the command center for Charlie Base. They saw the last of the wounded and rest of the base's remaining personnel escape to the gunships waiting for them. Only those who were working on wiping the data banks and initiating the self-destruct remained.
"Sir!" Arch approached Natzer. "The data banks are almost done with"
"Good, let's finish this up and get out of here." he told the Commander, who left to speak with Vynch.
The lone Jedi then walked past two clones prepping a GNK-series power droid carrying explosives ready for detonation, approaching the holotable where a clone technician was.
"How's the self-destruct?" He inquired. "The droids are right outside the doors."
"Not good, sir. We need more time. There's something wrong with the detonator we can't fix." he answered the Jedi.
"Here, let me look at that." Thief came over and offered his expertise, the technician handed the datapad to the commando who started to get to work.
Natzer then noticed something was wrong with his Master. She stood completely still, looking out back at the doors for Charlie Base. The Force told him that she was about to do something brash, and so he approached her.
"Master? What is it?" he asked.
Kaiaala turned around to meet her student. "My journey ends here, my Apprentice."
Natzer was confused by what she said. "What do you mean, Matser?"
"I mean to say that this is goodbye." She boldly stated. "Grievous is on the other side of those doors, I will face him alone."
He was shocked by her answer. "But Master, you possibly can't. I can help-"
"No." Kaiaala firmly told her student, cutting him off. "I'll stay to buy you and the others more time, if we can get the self-destruct operational, we can potentially kill Grievous here."
The doors to the base could be heard rattling with explosions.
"Master, I like your idea, but you sacrificing yourself will not make this any easier." Natzer objected.
Kaiaala got closer to her student, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Natzer… I have taught you everything I could, and I want to let you know that I'm so proud of you. You have grown to be such a wonderful young man and Jedi, possibly better than I could ever be."
The explosions outside got louder, so she decided to speed the conversation up. "Remember my teachings, they will help you and others along your journey. And remember: Always trust the Force."
Both of them looked back and could hear the doors to Charlie Base about to break. Kaiaala looked back at her student and did something that was not normal for a Jedi Master to do. She hugged her student in a warm embrace, like a mother saying goodbye to her son, and let out a tear from her eye.
Natzer didn't know how to respond, but the best he could do was pat his Master on the back before she separated herself from him and wiped the tear from her eye. "I have one final instruction for you, my Apprentice: Go!"
"Y-Yes, Master!" Natzer stuttered before nodding his head, and ran back into the command center.
Before the Knight closed the blast doors, he got one look at his Master again who smiled at him. She saw Natzer produce a small smile before the blast doors locked themselves. The Jedi Master walked over to the base's durasteel doors, and waited. Outside the explosions stopped, and time froze for her.
Suddenly, the durasteel doors were blown apart in front of her. Chunks of large debris flew past the Jedi Master, unflinching. She used the Force to guard herself, pushing pieces of metal away from her until they stopped. Glowing through the smoke, she saw the silhouette of General Grievous and his four lightsabers. The droid general emerged from the black cloud with commando droids, dozens of B1's and B2's, and a few droidekas while Charlie Base's alarms blared throughout the area.
"Where is your youngling, Jedi?" Grievous asked while insulting her student.
"My Apprentice, is already long gone with the rest of his men." Kaiaala corrected the monster in front of her before delivering an answer.
"Are all Jedi so cowardly?" he cynically queried.
"That is a very ironic choice of words coming from someone like you, General." she scolded him before igniting her dual cyan blades, attaching them together to form a double-bladed lightsaber.
"Ha! You think you can stand against me? Alone?" Grievous readied his four lightsabers as the droid army behind him held their position. "I AM THE LEADER OF THE MOST POWERFUL DROID ARMY THE GALAXY HAS EVER SEEN!"
Grievous let out a yell at the Jedi Master before he and Kaiaala ran at each other, beginning their duel.
Charlie Base Command Center
"General! The self-destruct is ready!" Thief announced.
"Do it!" Natzer told the commando, who activated the self-destruct sequence from the data pad.
"Let's get out of here!" Arch told everyone as he, Vynch, the four commandos, and Natzer all ran out of the command center together and down the hallway connected on the opposite side of the room.
Natzer proceeded to contact Captain Hawkins with his comlink. "Captain! This is General Charliss! General Grievous is here and Charlie Base has been set to self-destruct! Launch now!"
"Roger that, General! We're taking off!" the Captain answered.
The whole base rumbled heavily as the Acclamator began to take off. Outside of Charlie Base and in front of the duel taking place between Grievous and Kaiaala, the droids saw the cruiser take off from behind the mountain. They watched the Acclamator fly over them and tried firing their blasters at it, but had no effect as it flew up into the atmosphere.
Passing the various corridors of Charlie Base, the group of clones and Jedi were still making their way to the gunships. With haste, they tried making the clock as Thief read them how much time they had left thanks to him downloading the timer from that data pad. They had less than two minutes remaining, and they needed to move faster. They then met up with the last remaining clones on-site who followed them to the hangar, desperate to make it before the base blew up sky-high.
Finally, they made it to the hangar where three LAAT gunships were waiting for them, one of them being Zeta Squad's.
"Come on! Let's go!" Scarecrow yelled at everyone behind him, being the first one to enter the hangar.
They all made a run for the gunships. Arch, Vynch, and Natzer decided to follow Zeta Squad to their gunship, while the rest of the remaining troopers boarded the others. The doors to the gunships closed, and the pilots sped off out of the hangar bay, making their way towards the Acclamator, followed by multiple surviving squadrons of Z-95's, ARC-170's, and Y-wing's who covered the Inspiration's escape.
Back inside of Charlie Base, Grievous and Kaiaala were in the middle of an intense duel. Over the course of their fight, it seemed like an even match, but Grievous obviously had the upper hand against the Jedi Master. He kicked her backwards with his feet, and she split her weapon into two blades, ready to begin a counter attack. But the General was ready for it, and with a quick precision of hard strikes at her, Grievous slashed down and across her stomach before shoving two blades shoved through her torso.
The grip on her sabers was gone, letting go of her weapons as they hit the floor. Grievous pulled his blades out from her chest, her body falling to the floor. Kaiaala laid on her back against the hard metal floor. Her drying moments were hoping her Apprentice would heed to what she told him, and all of her lessons throughout the years, before saying goodbye. She then closed her eyes, and her vision went black.
LAAT Gunship
Natzer felt his Master's life extinguish through the Force. He had massive chills down his spine and across his whole body. Closing his eyes, he could imagine seeing Kaiaala's body before Grievous and the massive droid army.
"Sir? What's wrong?" Vynch asked the General, everyone else seeing the worried and fearful expression on his face.
Natzer opened his eyes and turned to look at the six clones in front of him, and gave an answer in a weak voice. "She's gone…"
Charlie Base
Grievous grabbed Kaiaala's weapons off the floor, standing triumphantly over the dead Jedi Master before a B1 commander approached him, constantly trying to get his attention.
"Sir! Sir! Sir!" the droid cried out for Grievous.
The General grabbed the commander by the throat, annoyed like he was with most B1's as the droid interrupted his moment of triumph. "WHAT?!"
"Sir! We checked the command center and found out that the base has been set to self-destruct!" the droid alarmed him.
Grievous' eyes widened upon hearing this, and before he could do anything, a massive explosion engulfed him, the commander, and the entirety of Charlie Base.
Acclamator-class assault ship Inspiration
Captain Hawkins and his crew made their ship blast off into space after seeing Charlie Base explode. They got the last three remaining gunships and the other starfighters onboard, all groups entering the side hangars that replaced the ship's torpedo tubes. The Captain then looked at the screens on the viewport projecting the battered Republic fleet still fighting the Separatist fleet. Only two Venators remained, one of which was Admiral Noscra's flagship. It looked like it was about to fall apart, but somehow it was still standing.
He then proceeded to get into contact with the Admiral at the holotable. "Admiral! We're ready to make the jump to hyperspace at the designated coordinates!"
"Wait, Captain!" Noscra warned him as his ship shook on the other side. "The Separatists have blocked all hyperspace routes from the planet! We're effectively cut off!"
The bridge's crew around the Captain had uneasy faces, thinking they were doomed, but Hawkins snapped into action. "No, sir! Not entirely! I suggest we make an emergency jump to random nearby coordinates!"
His suggestion left the Admiral with shock and fear on his face. "W-WHAT?! Are you insane, Captain?! You're most likely going to end up crashing into a star! Do you really want to doom every single person onboard that ship?!"
Hawkins kept calm in the situation, and pleaded to the Admiral. "Sir, this is the only option we have. We can either stay out here and be vaporized, or randomly jump to a nearby sector where we have a slim chance of survival."
Admiral Noscra, looking at the destroyed fleet around him, and seeing the other Venator being annihated in front of him, had to concede. "Alright Captain… Do it."
"Thank you, sir." Hawkins turned to the crew around him with the Admiral still on the line. "Set for an emergency jump! And give them to the Admiral once we-"
"Sir! The enemy fleet is approaching us!" a clone officer alerted him, pointing out at the viewport.
Noscra looked back at the viewport on his bridge and saw the Separatist fleet turn to face the Acclamator. He knew with all that firepower they wouldn't stand a chance. Something had to be done, and although he didn't like it, a Captain must always go down with his ship.
"Full power to the engines!" he yelled at the crew.
The Venator's engines roared as it began to turn around and speed towards the Acclamator. Hawkins approached the viewport of his ship and knew exactly what the Admiral was doing. He raced back towards the holotable and demanded an explanation from Noscra.
"Admiral! What are you doing?!" the Captain had a look of shock on his face.
Noscra just smiled at him. "Saving everyone onboard your ship."
The Separatist fleet began firing at the Acclamator as it prepared to make the jump to hyperspace, but the Admiral's Venator blocked their path of fire. Several dozens of explosions blew apart the Venator's hull, chunks of debris sent flying outwards. Noscra and his crew were sacrificing themselves.
"This is goodbye, my good friend." Noscra told the Captain before his communication was abruptly ended.
Out across from the Inspiration, the Venator's bridge was annihilated. Both towers were ripped apart by a massive explosion, leaving no survivors. Hawkins knew now as not the appropriate time for mourning the loss of his colleague. He had to get his ship out of this fight.
"Status on the jump to hyperspace?!" Hawkins asked, hurryingly as the Acclamator's shields began to take massive damage from all sides, and were about to drop with the fire of the entire Separatist fleet raining down on their single vessel.
"We're ready, sir!" one of the clone officers answered.
"Jump to hyperspace!" the Captain yelled.
A second later the Acclamator then jumped to hyperspace. But before the ship escaped the battle, the shields dropped and the enemy fleet scored three direct hits on its dorsal fin. They were trying to target the Inspiration's hyperdrive and prevent their escape.
The Battle of Hagelle Prime was now officially a defeat for the Republic with its forces in full retreat, but to where?...