March 29th
2583
1:18 am UNSC time
UNSC Paris-class light Frigate, 'Mother of Invention.'
Orbiting Chorus
Nobody's POV:
Colonel Reginald Quince is staring at a holographic projection of the battle field. Their MAC cannon barrage had severely weakened the invading Republic force, but didn't finish them off. Now he's suspicious on why the Republic isn't doing anything. "All right, men. Prepare for a 2nd barrage of fire. We shall use Fusion Rockets to…"
"Colonel, we don't have time for a missile barrage. Have a look." Agent Carolina said to the Colonel, looking at the screen. Half of the Blood Gulch Crew are still on-board the Mother of Invention while the other half are down on Chorus. The soldiers on the ship include the cyan agent, Franklin Delano Donut, Frank DuFresne "Doc" and Lopez. Quince looks at the screen, and realizes what the Republic was up to. The docking bays open on the ships and a swarm of Republic fighters start flying out.
"I see them, too. Lopez, send a message to the other ships to send all their Saber- and Broadsword- class fighter ships out as well. The Longswords are too bulky to survive, so they will remain on Chorus to give them air support in case the Republic manages to land on the planet." Quince orders.
"[Sure. Whatever.]" Lopez says, then starts broadcasting the message to the other ships.
"I say we use those missiles while our fighters keep them busy and at the same time, blow them into oblivion with our MAC cannons again! Hahaha!" Doc, now possessed by his alter ego O'Malley, shouts eagerly.
"No need for such a savage threesome. We should use our side turrets. If we do that hard and quick, we'll penetrate their ships." Donut suggests. Quince wasn't sure how to react to those innuendos, but is spared the question when a certain yellow-armored soldier walks up to them.
"Hi. Sorry, had to go to the bathroom after eating my chili. That stuff was hot. What's going on now?" Kaikaina Grif, aka Sister, asks as she walks to them.
"The Republic's sending out fighters. We need you to get ready for battle." Quince said, unknowing of Sister's…eccentric behavior.
"That sounds hot. Since I'm a pilot, I'm going to be flying with the big boys today. Maybe I can have some fun later." Sister says, then runs off to the ship's docking bays where the rest of the pilots are going.
"You do that." Carolina mumbles, then looks back at the screen. "No wonder Grif and Wash were so anxious to get the job over with. Wash had to knock her out just to shut her up about him being a cop."
Flashback
March 28th
1:10 pm UNSC time
Blood Gulch Outpost Alpha and Number 1
A single UNSC Pelican flies through the air as they make their way to their destination. Within minutes, they arrive at their destination, then touch down on the ground. The hatch opens up and 4 UNSC members step out: Carolina, Wash, Grif and Tucker. "So, you said your sister's here?" Carolina asks, looking around the boxed canyon. How they survived out here without completely losing their minds was truly beyond her.
"Oh my god! Grif, you have freedom and rights! You don't have to work with any evil cops!" A voice shouts. They all turn around and see the yellow-armored soldier running to them.
"…You're fucking kidding me." Wash says in a monotone, a little horrified. "This is your sister?"
"Yeah, just my damn luck. Sis, come with us. The UNSC needs your help now." Grif says sharply.
"No way. I'm not going with any cops. Why are you working with the grey cop, anyway? Unless…gasp…Grif, you're a cop too?" She asks, shock in her voice. Carolina is at a loss for words to describe the "soldier" before them.
"No. I'm not a cop, but some people want you to help them in an upcoming battle. I'm just their errand boy. Pulled me away from my damn apple pie and burritos." Grif says bitterly.
"Sounds hot, but I'm still not going with any…blah!" She shouts as Wash runs forward, slamming the butt of his battle rifle into her head. The impact knocks her out cold as she falls to the ground.
"Come on. Let's go." Wash says, picking up her body and they walk back to the ship.
"Damn it! I was hoping to talk to her and maybe ask her to come down on me. Bow chicka bow wow." Tucker mumbles, but follows anyway. A second later, he is slapped in the back of the head by Carolina.
"She probably wouldn't have understood you, anyway." Carolina answers, then asks Wash with amusement in her voice, "Why did she call you a cop?"
"A long story I'd rather not talk about ever." Wash answers as they all walk onto the Pelican, which takes off, leaving the Outposts for the simulated war behind.
March 29th
1:25 am UNSC time
Jedi Starfighter
Outside Chorus
Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker and his most trusted astromech droid, R2-D2, are leading an army of Galactic Republic fighters as they fly at the also still UNSC fleet. "Master. I don't get it. What are they waiting for?" Ahsoka asks over the comms to Anakin, confusion in her voice.
"I don't know. We might have caught them off-guard. All squads, follow me!" Anakin says. He only said that to be reassuring for his padawan, as deep down, he gets the feeling that they are also gearing up for an assault. Seconds later, R2 starts beeping frantically at Anakin, whose eyes widen slightly at the sight. The docking bays for the UNSC warships are also opening up, allowing strange Starfighters to pour out. "I see them, R2." With that, Anakin surges forward.
Once his Starfighter is in range, he fires at one of the ships, only for the deflector shield to reflect it. The UNSC ships start firing both rapid-fire turrets on the ships and missiles at the Republic fighters, each flying around in different directions. Anakin expertly dodges each missile and shot from the UNSC fighters, but has to admit they're better than he was expecting. Soon, he spots a Broadsword and closely follows it. Anakin gets ready for a second then unleashes a barrage of lazer fire. The shields kept it steady, but after 10 seconds of constant fire, the shields fall and the engines go critical. With that, the fighter explodes.
"All squads, keep constant fire on the ships and they will fall." Anakin announces over the comm systems in the fleet.
"Easier said than done, General. We've already lost 1, 2, 5 and 6 of my squad. Each of the other squads are starting to lose numbers as well. Karabast, those weapons are effective." A clone commander responds, then cuts the channel.
Anakin is stunned, and his mind starts racing to come up with an effective strategy that can turn the tide. R2 beeps at him again and he looks straight ahead. Another Broadsword is flying right at him, firing the machine guns. Anakin dodges those and when he gets close enough, flips upside down and hangs overhead so he can see the pilot of the ship flying under him.
To his surprise, he can see his reflection in the gold face mask of a woman wearing bright yellow armor and a black vizor. Anakin flips back over and is about to rejoin the fight when R2 beeps at him yet again. Anakin's eyes widen in surprise. "She's transmitting? Put it through, I want to hear what it's about." Anakin says to his trusted droid.
It beeps in response and a female voice that sounds crazy to Anakin pipes up. "Hey, hot stuff. Sweet flying. So, after all this is over, do you mind if I pull on your throttle?"
Anakin was stunned to hear that and had no clue as to what she is talking about. So, he took the sensible route and responds. "I don't know what you're talking about, but what I do know is that you will be space dust in minutes for defying the Senate! So my answer is no."
"Whoa! You're kind of scary and hot. I'm Kaikaina Grif, in case you change your mind. Man, this blows." She mumbles the last sentence then the transmission was cut off. Anakin shook his head. He still didn't really understand what she was talking about, but knew that she wasn't what he was expecting a UNSC pilot to be like. Shaking his head in astonishment, he looks at the magnetic field. Suddenly, he has an idea for how to change the battle. Anakin opens the comms to the Venator he came from.
"Master, I got an idea for how to route their fighters. I'll take all Republic ships we have and lead them to the asteroid field. Take the time and send all the gunships down planet-side and end this."
A brief pause over the system as Obi-Wan's projection mulls over the idea before he gives his answer. "Good idea, Anakin. I'll get the orders relayed." That particular communication line is closed.
Anakin then opens a communication line between all the squad leaders and his padawan. "All squads, follow me. They think they're winning, so we'll lead them away from the battlefield."
"Copy that, General. We'll relay the orders to our men." The transmissions cut off and Anakin starts flying into the field, already having a Saber class fighter firing at him.
"I hope you know what you're doing, Master." Ahsoksa adds before cutting off her transmission and flying at his side.
2:50 am UNSC time
Galactic Republic Venator-class Star Destroyer 'Warhead'
"General Kenobi, General Skywalker's plan is working." Yularen says to Kenobi as they watch from the docking bay the Republic fighters leading the UNSC ships away. While they have had losses, the Republic is definitely losing.
"Good. All the gunships are loaded. I give you space command, Admiral, while I go to the planet. May the Force be with us." With that, the Jedi gets on the nearest LAAT and closes the hatch. "Pilot, take off."
"Yes sir!" With that, the ship starts revving up its engines.
'Here we go.' Obi-Wan thinks as the ship takes off and flies into open space, many more LAATs closely following. All around them, new blasts go off and through the Force, he senses that many of the shots, which are coming from the main ships themselves, impact with the gunships. But nothing can be done about it right now. Obi-Wan then gets up and walks to the pilot area to get a better view.
Before them, the planet is getting larger and larger before the ship finally enters the atmosphere. They fly down to see a vast mountain range, with tall rocky cliffs. In the distance, they say a tall and highly advanced looking city. "Men, we have reached Chorus, setting down in…"
Just then, Obi-Wan felt a warning from the Force and his eyes widen. "Pilot, pull up!" But it's already too late. Over at a ship bay on one of the cliffs, 2 UNSC M80 Permanent Anti-Aircraft turrets go off and the advanced bullets puncture the LAAT, even with blast doors, with unnerving ease. Many clones shout after being shot and fall to the ground, dead. Some of the bullet rounds even puncture the cockpit, killing the pilot.
Regretting that he couldn't save him and what he does next, Obi-Wan pushes the pilot's corpse into the other seat and sits in the pilot's seat, steering the ship down lower to avoid the devastating turrets. But the steering had also been damaged in the barrage as the ship buckled under the weakened engines and the air resistance, so as the ship descended to the ground, it jerked to the left just enough for that side to start scrapping on the ground, followed by the entire ship falling on its side, flying forward as it does so before coming to a complete stop.
"Ugh. Not what I was expecting." A clone in the back complains. Obi-Wan sighed in relief, knowing that 3 clones had survived the impact.
"Men, welcome to Chorus. It appears we have a lot of work to do from here on." Obi-Wan said with an optimistic attitude, masking his growing dread of what's to come.
AN: So yeah, battle continued.
I don't know why, but Sister hitting on a Jedi just sounded awesome to me.
I will see you next time when the battle continues even more.