Chapter 6

Cordatis watched over the grim horizon as the droid forces gathered themselves for the attack. He was almost relieved that the long wait had finally ended. Cordatis was also pleased that it was morning, for now he possessed the advantage of fighting in daylight, however on Boz Pity an average day lasted around fifty-five hours, which for Cordatis was a very long day.

Through his macro-binoculars Cordatis saw a tall, bulky figure at the front of the droid army blow into a large horn, signalling the droids to begin the march. The synchronised sounds of metal feet marching towards the city made Cordatis feel edgy. Never the less he stood his ground.

While he watched the droids gradually draw closer to the citadel, Cordatis reached for the comlink radio that he used to talk to his men, and raised it close to his mouth.

"Do not fire until I give the order," he said to the men at the barricades below the wall. "Then you are to hold them back and stand ground until further instructions."

The droids continued their approach, and as soon as they came into range Cordatis raised his right hand, ready to give the order to the men on the wall and to those handling the DF.9's.

"Hold," he said with a loud, strong voice. "Hold steady men," he repeated, sweat was beginning to trickle down his forehead and for a brief second that seemed like an eternity, everything was absolutely silent. The seconds passed, one by one.

"Fire!" Cordatis shouted out and he swung his arm down.

In that instant it was like the entire planet had erupted in a mass of fire, as red, green and blue laser bolts sliced through the air, striking clone, droid and Morgukai.

The DF.9's were proving effective in taking out medium sized groups of droids, and each shot would destroy at least ten of the compacted droid soldiers, however this was of little influence on the thousands of droids that would instantly replace the fallen.

The clones at the barricades were holding their positions well, but Cordatis knew that it was only a matter of time before they would have to retreat to the next checkpoint towards the citadel. His thoughts were met when an enemy ground armoured tank, or GAT, fired a powerful shot that obliterated one of the barricades. The tank was quickly destroyed by an anti-artillery unit, who fired a rocket into the right flank of the armoured vehicle. The tank exploded with such ferocity that it abolished all droid troops within a ten-metre radius. A cheer towards the clone that fired the rocket followed the explosion.

As Cordatis had anticipated, the enemy began to split its forces up and about a third of the mass started to head north, attempting to flank the citadel. Fortunately Cordatis was well prepared, and he had previously sent several clone squadrons and some Morgukai warriors to meet the droid forces to the northeast. The unsuspecting forces fell victim to the fire of the clones and the axe-head of the Morgukai, as well as the heavy artillery of the Defoliator. The Defoliator was a heavy anti-tank cannon, capable of destroying any armoured land vehicle in its way. After the first wave of droids littered the Northeast side of the wall, the second wave was quick to respond.

The surprise attack only worked on the first wave of enemy troops, and the second were much more cautious in their approach. Fortunately, the landscape to the North acted as a natural funnel. This prevented the droids from spreading out into a flanking position, and it also allowed the clones to fight with the higher ground of the cliffs and slopes that held the droids trapped. For now, Cordatis could assume that the North side would be safe.

On the east wall the clones had been driven back to their last checkpoint and every now and then a super battle droid would manage its way past the barricades. Super battle droids were heavily armoured and heavily equipped fighters that were much more sensible than a regular battle droid when it came to battle. Cordatis was surprised when he witnessed a group of battle droids leap onto the wall using some kind of built in jetpack. The group of droids faced Cordatis, and he ignited his green light sabre as the droids readied their blasters.

They fired upon him and he deflected their lasers, repelling the bolts back at the two leading droids, causing them to explode in a blast of sparks and smoke. Cordatis then dashed forward at the remaining droids with speed that could only be matched by a Jedi. He dodged an oncoming laser bolt and then swung his blade through the next droid, slicing it in half at the waist. In the same swift motion he drove his laser sword through the chest area of the final battle droid. It sparked and jittered and the light sabre triggered the battle droid's jetpack to explode with a brief cloud of fire and black smoke.

Cordatis looked down at the clones that were now fighting directly below the wall, if they could not regain any lost ground taken by the droids then they would be forced to pull back into the city. Cordatis had thought of sending out the Morgukai to charge through the enemy troops, their blades would easily cut down any object that was unfortunate enough to stand it its way. By using the Morgukai, Cordatis' men would be able to push forward to at least some of their previously lost barricades, but he assumed, at the cost of many Morgukai lives. Cordatis had decided to use this tactic only when it was absolutely necessary, but that time was now.

Cordatis yelled out for Kesh, and within minutes the large orange warrior stood before him. "Have your men charge into the droid forces outside the east gate," he ordered. "I need you to push the enemy back so that my clones can regain some ground."

To his surprise Kesh had no objection, and went straight away to rally his warriors. Within minutes the warriors had gathered into an impenetrable wall built of muscle and metal, ready to charge at the enemy, each warrior filled with battle lust. With the sound of Kesh's bellowing voice, the warriors began their stampede, crushing all that was in their path with violent ferocity.

As Cordatis watched these beasts cut and hack at the enemy with their large axes and long spears, he found that some were able to withstand multiple laser bolts, and their strong armour and thick skin defended them very well. To Cordatis' complete astonishment, the Morgukai managed to regain all of the ground that was lost to the clones, and there were only eleven casualties as opposed to the hundreds of destroyed battle droids that now littered the battlefield before them. Cordatis had gained a new sense of respect for the creatures that he had called 'beasts.' After once again giving Kesh his thanks, Cordatis immediately sent a fresh group of clones back out to the barricades where they continued to defend the city.

As the hours passed neither side faltered, and the droids remained persistent in completing their objective and taking the city.

From his vantage point on the wall, Cordatis began to notice several small transport vehicles spread out across the battlefield. He was puzzled because the vehicles seemed to be of no use to the droids, then he saw what they carried.

Out from one of the little vehicles climbed three humanoid figures, who instantly began to scale the high wall using magnetic traction gloves. Using his macro-binoculars, Cordatis observed one of the beings. It was a woman, her skin was pale-grey and she had long blue silky hair that was tied into a ponytail so that it bounced around her back as she climbed. The woman had a rather bulbous nose and she had two tentacle-like proboscises that curled out and extended from her cheeks. Cordatis felt a brief moment of fear as he realized that these creatures were Anzat assassins.

He had dealt with these terrible beings only once before, they were the ultimate predators, capable of using telepathic powers similar to the force to seduce their prey. The Anzat use their tentacles to feed off the brains of whatever species they choose, each time they feed they grow more powerful, making them near immortals. These creatures were also very good at disguising them selves as humans, so that they can sneak up on their prey in plain sight.

Cordatis raised his comlink to warn his men of the new threat, and as he did so, he witnessed one of the assassins leap onto one of his commanders, driving its tentacles into the commander's head through the gap under his helmet. Cordatis saw another assassin stalking someone else, the trooper became aware of the threat but instead of raising his weapon the clone just stood motionless, falling victim of the Anzat's mind trick, and allowing the predator to go in for the kill.

Cordatis drew his laser sword and rushed at the distracted Anzat as it fed, he was able to decapitate the creature with one swift stroke of his sword. The Anzat's head was lopped off its body and it fell to the ground, rolling back and forth by Cordatis' feet. When Cordatis looked at the fallen trooper, he found that it was another commander, and then the Anzat's intentions became clear to him. With no one to lead them, the clones were unable to function in a battle.

"They are killing off our commanders!" he shouted, "Stop the Anzat! Protect your commanders!"

Another assassin came before Cordatis on the wall, and it's mind tricks tried to over power him. There was a massive pressure in his head that made him feel like he was deep under water. Cordatis ignored the terrible urge to drop his weapons and instead raised his light sabre. When the Anzat saw that it's attack had failed it shot him a look of terror and then tried to flee, but Cordatis was much too fast and easily caught up with the creature, driving his laser sword through the centre of it's back. Cordatis' light sabre punctured the Anzat's lung and the wound caused a trickle of dark cold blood to flow from the creatures blue lips. Now that the clones were aware of the Anzat, they were able to defend their commanders from oncoming attacks until the attacks slowed, and eventually stopped.

…

The fifty-five hour day had almost come to an end and still the droids did not let up their attack. The barricades outside the citadel were completely gone and now the clones fought desperately from the top of the wall. If the attack did not end soon, Cordatis knew that the droids would breach the wall, and that he and his men would have to retreat into the inner city. The droids were too numerous for Cordatis to send out the Morgukai again, despite their effective tactics. It appeared that he was fast running out of options.

When it seemed that the status of the battle could not get worse, Cordatis spotted a very large laser cannon being slowly transported amongst the endless ranks of battle droids until it sat directly in front of the wall.

Kesh stood beside Cordatis as they tried to rally their men. "A weapon that size will destroy this wall for sure!" He shouted with a hint of concern in his deep voice.

With that in mind Cordatis shouted multiple orders to his men, "I want all fire focused on that weapon, Artillery, DF.9's, AAU's, use everything!"

The cannon below them was battered by laser fire, but no damage was done and still the weapon continued to function.

"The cannon has a force field, sir," one of the commanders reported, "it is completely protected, I'm sorry but there is nothing more we can do."

"Alright," Cordatis replied grimly, "fall back to the inner citadel!" He shouted. "Get off the wall!"

As he called out his orders, the cannon began to rumble, and then there was a thunderous clap as the high-powered laser fired the devastating blast that blew the eastern wall to pieces.