Galactic Republic HoloNet Bulletin: Fourth Sector Fleet Admiral Quarsh Panaka has officially engaged the Separatist Fleet orbiting Umbara, Supreme Chancellor Organa refuses to comment on the current status of the military engagement
Within the spiral glass hallways overlooking the massive clone trooper training complex of Tipoca City, Qu Rahn, accompanied by 302nd Captain Sparks and Padawan Ahsoka Tano were patrolling the area to mark defensible positions and areas that can be turned into safety bunkers for the young cadets. Qu Rahn had identified the central Tipoca City hanger bay as the most likely point of entry for a Separatist assault and had already despatched ARC Commander Havoc of the Rancor Battalion to begin coordinating a barricade within the hanger with a platoon's worth of clone troopers on guard. Meanwhile ARC Commander Colt was redirected to the Barracks with his own Company; the Jedi Knight speculated that would be the Separatist's chief target.
Ahsoka meanwhile was attempting to mentally prepare herself for battle, she had already committed the layout of Tipoca City to memory; a skill she had learned thanks to her friend Barriss Offee. However, the Togruta Jedi Padawan was vexed by her master's decision to relegate her to the ground defence when the majority of the battle will be decided in space combat. It had to be because of the Battle of Ryloth and how her mismanagement of Blue Squadron caused the starfighter unit to sustain heavy losses. Anakin never said it, but Ahsoka believed he was purposefully holding her back from naval battles because of it. The remainder of Blue Squadron had even been transferred out of the Open Circle Fleet to Jedi General Kit Fisto's Fleet, removing the one fighter squad Ahsoka had been in command of. While she knew her master was not punishing her by doing this, Ahsoka knew that she greatly let Anakin down, and he was definitely not about to compromise another naval battle by having her present. She did not blame him for making the choice, but the Padawan just wanted a chance to prove herself.
"You think yourself a hinderance?" Qu Rahn asked without any prompting.
"I- I'm sorry, Master Rahn?" Ahsoka asked with visible confusion.
"I do not mean to pry, but I sense conflict in you, you want to be useful to your master, show him that you are capable of fighting alongside him?" Qu Rahn had managed to nail every single one of Ahsoka's private grievances. Ahsoka was honestly a bit frightened at how easily the Jedi Knight managed to brush through the shroud of her mind and conclusively determine what ailed her.
"I know Master Skywalker is a much better pilot than I am, but I know the only reason that I'm not up there with him, is because he doesn't trust me anymore" explained Ahsoka.
"Well, I admit I have not known your master for very long, but I was under the impression that he greatly trusts your abilities, he said as much on the Resolute. He is merely a man that wants to keep his pupil safe from danger" Qu Rahn reassured Ahsoka.
"But how can I be his pupil if I'm not with him to learn?" Ahsoka added.
"Well perhaps you should take this as an opportunity to learn, hm?" said the older Jedi Knight with a coy smile on his face "if you feel the need to be a greater asset, then why don't you accompany Captain Sparks to the Cadet Barracks? The younglings will need to be secured if Tipoca City is attacked directly, and I suspect you might be able to tutor them, teach them how things work in the Republic Army if, in the end your master stops the enemy fleet from landing."
"You want me to teach the Clone Cadets?" asked Ahsoka.
"Why not? The Jedi philosophy encourages us to teach others" Qu Rahn reminded Ahsoka "Captain Sparks, you wouldn't mind the extra assistance from Commander Tano?"
The bright yellow-accented Clone Captain nodded at his Jedi General and turned to Ahsoka "the more the merrier, Commander Tano," he confirmed.
"Then it is settled" stated Qu Rahn as he clapped his hands together.
"Alright, lead on Sparks," said Ahsoka.
"Right away, Commander," acknowledged Captain Sparks and the two left Qu Rahn, heading in the direction of the Cadet Barracks.
Qu Rahn couldn't help but smile, Ahsoka reminded the Socorran Jedi Knight of his own Padawan career after leaving the Almas Academy. Like Ahsoka, Qu Rahn was very self-conscious about his place in the Jedi Order and felt on numerous occasions that he had let his masters down. However, in his day, there was no Separatist Crisis, nor a Clone Wars, so Rahn could not fathom how much greater Ahsoka's anxieties were compared to his own. The worst he ever had to deal with was the Yinchorii Crisis, not an intergalactic civil war. He hoped he was able to provide a fleeting moment of reassurance by having Ahsoka tend to the Clone Cadets instead of focusing on her past failings.
Qu Rahn's thoughts were rattled by the defining wails of city-wide alarms, nearby clone troopers immediately began scrambling to their assigned defence positions; the Separatist fleet had arrived. Qu Rahn immediately began running for the hanger bay while using his wrist-mounted comm unit to contact ARC Commander Havoc.
"Commander Havoc, ready the hanger bay garrison for battle" commanded Qu Rahn.
"Sir, yes sir" replied Havoc over the comm unit "improv barricade is ready, and sharpshooters are standing by now."
Suddenly a massive impact shook the entire cloning facility, Qu Rahn thought the Separatist Fleet must have been shelling the city, but there was no explosion to be heard of. However, this was soon changed by the sound of grinding metal as what appeared to be fifty-metre-long drills began digging through the outer ceiling of Tipoca City.
"Commander, report, what's going on?" demanded Qu Rahn.
"Sir, Trident-class troop transports just emerged from the ocean, it's digging through the hanger bay blast door now!" yelled Havoc.
"I'm on my way!" Qu Rahn exclaimed, and he began running faster, using the force to amplify the propulsion of his legs to sprint several metres per step. He arrived at the hanger bay in no less than two minutes, just in time to see the drill of a Tridant-class transport successfully penetrate the protective blast door.
"General Rahn!" the blue-striped Commander Havoc addressed Qu Rahn "we are ready to fire on your command."
"Wait for the droids to deploy, then have the sharpshooters fire a barrage" Qu Rahn directed.
The sharpshooters raised their rifles from behind their barricades and aimed them at the now stagnate drill. In an eerily synchronized act, all the clones raised the iron-sights of their rifles at the exact same time as one another as the drill began to part down the middle and open up. Within the open drill, a rack of grey super battle droids extended outwards.
"OPEN FIRE!" yelled Havoc, and as commanded, the clone troopers of the Rancor Battalion let loose a torrent of blaster fire at the heavily armoured battle droids as they detached from the rack. Some fell to the ground already deactivated by the clone trooper barrage, others however immediately returned fire as they touched the floor. Two of the droids were equipped with wrist-rockets and quickly calibrated their ordinance weapons to blast through one of the barricades.
"WATCH OUT FOR THO-" immediately a squad of clones were blasted away by a rocket.
The Battle for Kamino was now in full effect, and the Separatist's plan to bypass the fleet was a resounding success. Now Tipoca City was under siege and the entire production of the Grand Army of the Republic was at risk, with the entire course of the Clone Wars prepared to be flipped if the Separatist Alliance wins.
With the naval battle in the orbit of Umbara now in full swing, the hanger bay of the Negotiator was now cluttered with the controlled chaos of 212th clone troopers from Ghost Company loading equipment onto gunships. Troopers were being issued night vision-capable macrobinocular attachments onto their helmets so that they can see once they reach the eternal darkness of Umbara's surface. Massive spotlights were also being retrofitted onto the gunships so that the landing party will actually be able to see the landing zone. This made each gunship a bright target for any anti-air artillery the Umbara militia have on standby, but it was either be a clear target or a blind target.
In the centre of all this movement, Obi-Wan and Marshal Commander Cody were examining a holographic layout of the valley that has been chosen as Ghost Company's landing zone. Beside them was the holographical visage of the Iktotchi Jedi General Saesee Tiin who was assisting in coordinating an attack on the southern hemisphere of Umbara. There were also holographic forms of Boltrunian Jedi General Maw and his Clone Commander Jet who were tasked with leading an assault against the Umbaran capital from the western front while Obi-Wan and Ghost Company attacked from the northern front. All three Jedi Generals needed to memorise each detail of the initial landing siege, even the parts their military units aren't involved in. Perfect coordination was required in case plans went awry.
"As our gunships strafe through the valley, AT-RT walkers will be dropped and rush the AA gun placements so that Ghost Company can begin deploying its infantry and push the Umbaran militia into a tactical retreat" explained Commander Cody.
"And as your Company pushes the enemy back, my armour division will unload their tanks and keep the enemy locked in a stalemate" continued the General Maw "a glorious battle awaits us planet-side, the Umbarans will find themselves quickly outmatched against my juggernaut turbo tanks!" declared Maw with a toothy grin.
Obi-Wan did not agree with Maw's overenthusiasm, the Boltrunian Jedi enjoyed the heat of battle a bit too much for his own good. But Obi-Wan knew the muscular Jedi Knight was another product of the teachings of Jedi Master An'ya Kuro; also known by the Jedi High Council as the 'Dark Woman'. She specialised in selecting Jedi Padawans that harboured great darkness within them and training them to use that darkness as a tool for good. Obi-Wan would not have been the first to point out the dangerous paradox of the Dark Woman's philosophy, but it was her teachings that created such legendary Jedi Masters as Ki-Adi Mundi and A'Sharad Hett, so there was method to her madness.
"For all our sakes, I hope your right, General Maw," said Obi-Wan, "but we should not underestimate the enemy, they have the home advantage after all, and there is still the matter of General Grievous."
"Indeed, Master Kenobi," Maw replied with an accepting nod "that mechanical aberration must face justice for the murders of our Jedi brothers and sisters."
Obi-Wan and Cody were still awaiting the arrival of a special 'military advisor' that Admiral Panaka had promised would join them on their mission. The advisor apparently already had the battle plans committed to memory, so decided not to arrive at the final strategy meeting before Ghost Company departed from the Negotiator. Obi-Wan had almost given up hope that the advisor would show up at all until through the crowd of clone troopers, a soldier wearing a highly modified set of red-striped Alpha-class ARC Trooper armour parted through the Ghost Company members with a WESTAR-M5 rifle slung over his shoulder. Obi-Wan immediately recognised the ARC Trooper as an old ally of his that he had not seen since a prison escape on the planet Rattatak. This was Captain Alpha-17, one of the first clone troopers under Obi-Wan's command and the one responsible for training over a hundred clone commanders and captains within the Grand Army of the Republic.
As soon as he came into sight, Commander Cody and the hologram of Commander Jet immediately straightened their backs, standing at attention and saluting his arrival. Obi-Wan didn't need the perceptive powers of the force to know that both Cody and Jet were clearly once Alpha-17's trainees; though he did wonder if this prompt display was out of respect or fear of their former instructor.
"General Kenobi, thanks for waiting for me," said Alpha-17 holding his hand out to shake his former Jedi Commander.
"It is good to see you again Alpha," Obi-Wan shook Alpha-17's hand firmly "I'm glad to see Ventress did not leave you permanently out of commission."
"No sir, it'll take more than a bald witch to keep an Alpha-class off his feet" declared Alpha-17.
Between meeting Quarsh Panaka again and now Alpha-17, this was certainly a campaign for reunions.
Across the hanger bay, three clones sat on a small pile of munitions boxes, checking their rifles were clean and fully loaded before heading out. One of these clones was Clone Lieutenant Waxer, Commander Cody's second-in-command for the coming assault. Another was his clone friend Sergeant Boil, who, unlike Waxer, was wearing Advanced Recon Force armour, as he was meant to be leading the AT-RT rush attack. The third was Corporal Wooley, who had his helmet off, exposing his bizarre mohawk, a very unorthodox haircut choice for a clone trooper, something Wooley took as a form of distinguishment. All three of the clone troopers were passively spectating Obi-Wan and Cody talking with the recently arrived Alpha-class ARC Trooper.
"Didn't know we were getting special forces" commented Boil.
"I think that's the point, mate," replied Waxer with a light chuckle.
"He's got crimson captain stripes on him, I guess he's meant to be Company leader" assumed Boil.
"I've seen the Commander address a superior officer before, but I don't think I've seen him so formal," noticed Wooley "I don't know who the ARC is, but he's got to be a big deal."
"He is, you weren't around for some of the earlier campaigns, but that's A-17 over there," said Waxer. "He was personally trained by Jango Fett himself, if you ever saw him in combat, you could tell, doesn't fight like a clone trooper at all, more Mando than clone."
"Kriff, so now we're taking orders from a Death Watch wannabe?" complained Boil "like are we gonna forget that Jango turned on the Republic at the drop of a credit coin?"
"Yeah, and our brothers have been slaughtered by Mandalorian mercs countless times over, one even tried making a clone-killing bioweapon on Qiilura" added Corporal Wooley.
"See? Wooley gets it!" said Boil, who was now standing due to the rising irritancy he was feeling.
"Listen, General Kenobi and Commander Cody vouch for him, so let's just give the ARC the benefit of the doubt," declared Waxer "and I think we owe the General our trust, especially after he got as through."
Before Boil could respond, another ARF clone trooper approached the three clones. The clone was one of the AT-RT drivers under Boil's command; his name was 'Trapper'.
"Sergeant, the walkers have been loaded onto the gunships, and we're awaiting your briefing," said the clone trooper.
"Alright, thanks Trapper, I'll be there shortly" replied Boil before turning back to Waxer "I trust General Kenobi, but the ARC still needs to earn it" he declared before walking off to meet up with the other AT-RT drivers.
Within a few short minutes, everyone was loaded up, a company of two-hundred soldiers divided into just under a dozen LAAT gunships. Each gunship had an AT-RT walker folded into a back compartment with an ARF clone trooper to complement it, ready to jump in as soon as Ghost Company reaches Umbara's lithosphere. Obi-Wan and Alpha-17 shared one gunship with several other 212th troopers while Marshal Commander Cody was grouped with Waxer, Boil and Wooley. Within Alpha-17's helmet intercom, he heard an all-clear sign from the hanger bay deck officer as the massive vertical hanger bay door that ran across the deck of the Venator began to open up.
"Alpha to Odd Ball, is our escort ready?" Alpha-17 asked Flight Commander Odd Ball through his helmet intercom.
A brief static turned into a voice "affirmative, Captain, Cee-Cee Ten-Twenty and I are ready to escort the LP to the LZ."
"Copy that," said Alpha-17 before turning to Obi-Wan "ready to depart at your command, General."
"Begin ground deployment" ordered Obi-Wan to the gunship pilot.
"Yes sir," said the pilot, and all the gunships started their launching sequences, exiting the Negotiator's hanger bay and commencing their descent into Umbara's stratosphere.
Odd Ball and his wingman began leading the gunships down, staying adjacent to the landing party so they can veer off and engage attacking enemy fighters. As expected, the purple fog of Umbara was impenetrable to the naked eye and scanners alike, so the gunships activated their massive spotlights to give them a semblance of sight as they rapidly descend. But as soon as the two-metre-wide pair of spotlights lit up on each gunship, anti-air cannons from the surface began launching a storm of bright blue electromagnetic plasma bolts. From the vertical window slits on the blast doors of Kenobi's gunship, the Jedi General already witnessed two gunships shot down by the anti-air cannons; the electromagnetic discharge causing all circuitry on the vessels to deactivate. Odd Ball and his wingman began veering rapidly in an attempt to draw off some of the flak, but they were smaller targets to the Umbaran cannons when compared to the landing transports.
"General Kenobi, the zone's too hot to land!" the clone pilot said.
"What's our altitude?" asked Obi-Wan.
"We're leveling at about 3,340 metres, sir" responded the pilot "we're still off the ETD by five minutes."
"It'll have to do," Kenobi turned to Alpha-17 "Captain, tell Cody to deploy the scout walkers!"
Alpha-17 pressed his gloved hand against his helmet communicator and immediately began signalling the 212th Marshal Commander "Cody! Get the walkers on the ground!"
Within Commander Cody's gunship, the passenger crew were struggling to remain standing as their gunship violently shakes while the pilot does his best to maneuverer away from the barrage of plasma blasts.
"I copy!" yelled Cody through his helmet comms before switching frequencies to the commanding sergeant on each gunship "all gunships, begin deploying AT-RT's at once!"
Cody received several 'copies' from his commanding sergeants as the gunships began to slow down and open up a massive hatch in the back of the vessels. Wind burst through the interior of Cody's gunship as he looked over to Boil.
"That means you too" he ordered.
"Understood, Commander" stated Boil, he began shimmying through the compact crowd of troopers to get to the back of the gunship and prep his walker. Waxer shimmied along with him and clenched his hand, it was a tradition they did before heading into battle.
"Good luck, Boil," said Waxer.
"See you planetside, Waxer, I'll make sure to leave some Seppies for you to blast!" declared Boil before mounting his walker and slowly began piloting it out the back of the gunship.
Sergeant Boil's AT-RT leaned off the edge of the gunship before jumping into the abyss below. The drop was a lot higher than what was planned, Boil had to squeeze his arms and legs tightly around his vehicle. The plummet soon concluded with a teeth-rattling splashdown onto the moist soil of Umbara's surface. Boil adjusted his ARF helmet's visor to its night mode setting to try and get a sense of his surroundings. After having his head on a swivel for a solid thirty minutes, he identified the anti-air gun placements about five klicks from his LZ. The guns were atop a slight ridge that led into a florescent forest, which was likely meant to act as a fallback point for the Umbaran militia.
"Sergeant" Boil heard from behind him, turning around he saw Trapper in his own AT-RT ride up to the left of him. To the right, Boil saw another clone by the name of Peel join his side with another AT-RT. Soon about a dozen AT-RT walkers converged on Boil's position, organizing themselves into a rectangular cavalry charge position.
"Alright boys, let's hit 'em fast and hit 'em hard!" said Boil "all walker units, CHARGE!"
The AT-RT squadron began charging at the Umbaran cannons, kicking dirt and mud off the ground as the walker legs churned through the soil like industrial ploughers. One of the major advantages of the AT-RT scout walkers was that they were the fastest walker in Kuat Drive Yards' arsenal of all-terrain vehicles. Furthermore, thanks to built-in sound-baffling systems, the AT-RTs were essentially silent until they reached several meters from a target. When the first Umbaran soldier noticed the stampede via his macrobinoculars, it was too late to try and redirect the cannons. The Umbarans dug into their military trenches and began trying to arrange their sharpshooters into a proper firing line. For the time they had, the Umbarans were efficient in organising a defensive before the AT-RTs climbed over the ridge, but without the assistance of any substantial firepower, Boil and his squadron slammed through the sharpshooter line and began blasting the anti-air cannons.
"The flak is lifting, sir" declared the clone pilot of Obi-Wan's gunship, "I'll attempt a landing!"
"All right men, weapons primed and ready!" ordered Alpha-17 "we're engaging hard contact the moment the blast doors open!"
The gunships began rapidly descending onto the lithosphere of Umbara, the clone trooper passengers were silent in anticipation and dread.
"The light is green, good luck down there!" said the clone pilot as the blast doors opened and troopers immediately begin jumping out of the gunship.
Obi-Wan turned to the orange-striped clone trooper next to him who was carrying a Z-6 rotary cannon. "Crys! Lay down wide covering fire for the advance, you'll be the tip of the spear!"
The clone named Crys nodded and began firing a barrage of blue laser bolts in the general direction of the Umbaran position, waving his gun left and right to cover a large circumference of in laser fire. Crys began slowly marching forward, the barrel of his cannon beginning to glow hot red from the excessive volume of blaster rounds being fired. On each side adjacent to him, Alpha-17 and Obi-Wan kept Crys from being hit, either by deflecting laser bolts with a lightsaber, or in Alpha-17's case, sharpshooting Umbaran soldiers before they could take aim.
Emerging from the shadows, Cody joined Obi-Wan's position and assists in taking potshots at the enemy with his DC-15a blaster rifle. A few other clone troopers armed with Z-6's began forming a horizontal line, each heavy trooper about eighteen metres apart, creating a wall of rapidly fired laser bolts that shredded through the Umbaran militia.
"C'mon men! Keep the heavies covered and we'll push over this ridge to RV Alpha!" yelled Commander Cody. Ghost Company clambered through the Umbaran defence line while elsewhere, General Maw and his troopers were deployed several hundred kilometres with their tanks and walkers. Thus, the ground invasion of Umbara had officially begun in a glorious spectacle of glowing blaster fire rippling through a thick purple fog; officially starting the Recapture of Umbara.
The Tipoca City military complex has been breached, that was what the frenzied comm chatter relayed to ARC Commander Colt as his squad began assembling within the narrow halls that led into the cadet barracks. A massive Trident-class assault ship had managed to bypass the hanger bay defences and deployed battle droids right into the training courtyard. Already Colt could hear the unmistakable mechanical march of the approaching battle droids echoing through the halls.
Commander Colt activated his comm link to try and contact his fellow ARC Trooper brothers still defending the central Tipoca hanger bay. "Havoc, do you read me? We're pinned down by the cadet barracks with droids fast approaching, hard contact estimated in three minutes, can you spare reinforcements?"
Colt's comm went static for several seconds until a respondent signal finally came through. "This is ARC Lieutenant Hammer reporting from hanger bay garrison."
"Hammer? Where is Commander Havoc?" asked Commander Colt.
"Dead sir, SBD gunned him down" responded ARC Lieutenant Hammer, who by the process of elimination, was now leading the defence of the Tipoca hanger bay.
"We're pinned down by the barracks, Lieutenant" explained the ARC Commander "can you spare us any reinforcements?"
The comms went silent again. There wasn't a communications problem, Colt knew that, Lieutenant Hammer just didn't know how to tell his commanding officer that there was no one he could spare. "Sir, I-" Hammer stopped "I'm afraid not, sir."
Colt closed his eyes behind his helmet in melancholic acceptance "copy that" he said before deactivating his communicator. "Spanner" Colt called the clone trooper closest to his side "estimated time until hard contact is about two minutes, can you get establish a barricade before then?"
The clone named Spanner looked around at the few armour lockers spread throughout the hallway. "A meagre one, sir" he finally answered, "enough to give us a firing line."
"Make it so, trooper" ordered the ARC.
Spanner nodded and began directing his fellow clone troopers in tipping over weapon cabinets and armour lockers into something resembling a barricade. Though Commander Colt could tell that it would take nothing less than a single thermal detonator to rip through this haphazard defensive site. While it was still better than nothing, Colt had to admit to himself that if the droid force approaching is as large as it sounded, both his squad and he were dead men walking. But the clone commander reminded himself of what he was protecting, his cadet brothers who were still too young to join the fight with him. For the future of the Grand Army of the Republic, Colt promised himself he will not go quietly.
"Men, we hold the line here" declared Commander Colt "no retreat, no surrender, if those tinnies want to take our home, they'll have to fight us bolt and file for it, understood?"
The consensus was clear amongst the clone troopers "Sir, yes sir!" they all shouted. There were no more than twelve men including Colt himself, against the horde of droids approaching, but the clones were all steadfast in their duty to protect their younger brothers.
Turning around the corner of the furthest visible end of the hallway, the first battle droid revealed itself. Spanner was quick to dispatch it with a shot from his DC-15 rifle. But that droid was followed by a tight phalanx of droids, all of which opened fire in a brilliant blaze of red laser bolts. Much to Colt's surprise, the barricade of lockers was actually managing to hold under the strain of the blaster shots. Three clones were crouched behind it, returning fire once the battle droids had dispensed their first round of shots.
Several droids fell to the ground for every one clone that was tagged by laser blast. Spanner's shoulder was grazed by a lucky shot from one of the droids and he was forced to duck between one of the vertical door frames littering the Kaminoan hallway to try and take cover. Commander Colt had nestled himself behind the cross-section corner that joined the hallway to another room. From his cover, Colt systematically firing six shots every two seconds, before ducking back behind the corner to take cover before the battle droids fired back in retribution.
Five minutes into the skirmish and Colt was already down to less than half of his squad. The barricade has severely weathered and scorched thanks to a bombardment of blaster fire, only one clone remained firing from that position. But the clone troopers had managed to scrap a number of droids, whose bodies were beginning to pile up against the narrow alabaster white hallway.
"What's holding up our advance?" spoke a monstrous voice more coarse than cracked carbonite that managed to cut through the sound of blaster fire and the ranks of battle droids. The Gen'Dai bounty hunter Durge emerged from the hallway and saw the small group of clones that had kept his army from advancing. The soulless eye slits of his helmet hid Durge's unrelenting rage at the sight of such insignificant pests. The hulking figure ripped his way through his own battle droid soldiers as he charged at the last remaining clones like a berserk Irodonian reek.
The clone trooper behind the barricade stood up to shoot Durge before he advanced any further. But the inhuman reflexes of the Gen'Dai meant that the soldier could not even squeeze the trigger of his rifle before the Bounty Hunter had planted a retractable vibroblade from his knuckle into the t-visor of the clone's helmet. Durge launched the punctured body at Spanner, causing him to fall onto the ground from the impact. Before Spanner could so much as move the body of his dead brother off him, Durge removed his blaster pistol from its holster and shot Spanner through the head.
From behind a corner, two more clones turned to fire at Durge, managing to be the first to get a shot off since the Bounty Hunter's arrival. Durge spined around and activated his wrist-mounted energy shield on his right arm to deflect the clone trooper's laser bolts. With his spare left arm, he uncoiled a Bilari electro-chain whip kept within a compartment in his gauntlet and slashed the two clones, bisecting the pair in one clean motion. In eliminating the two clones, Durge now had his back facing Commander Colt.
"Resistance is stupidity, faux child" Durge declared without even turning to face the ARC Trooper.
In a blinding instance, the Gen'Dai arched his chain whip overhead towards the last surviving clone. Commander Colt dove to the ground to avoid the sparking red tendril, tucking his head and rolling along the floor until he was in front of Durge's chest. Uncoiling into a kneeling position, Colt fired five direct shots from his DC-15, all landing their mark. Three blaster bolts planted themselves on Durge's, the remaining shooting through the bounty hunter's throat. For any other man, it was a decisive kill. But Durge's alien healing factor kicked in almost instantaneously as the bounty hunter whacked Colt into the wall. The impact popped Colt's shoulder and shattered his collarbone. Durge slowly approached the wounded clone while rubbing his recently shot throat.
"You fight like a Mandalorian" said Durge as he grabbed Colt by his helmet "I HATE Mandalorians." The ARC Commander began squirming as Durge began to apply an unnatural amount of pressure with his grip. Colt scraped his fingers against his helmet as its distinctive T-visor began to crack until- CRUNCH Durge dropped the Commander and began wiping the blood on his chest plate. "Yuck, I got lab waste on my armour."
The bounty hunter stepped over Commander Colt's gory corpse when he saw a figure out of his peripheral vision. Immediately he grabbed his pistol and aimed it at the silhouette, only to see the familiar face of Count Dooku's chief assassin, Asajj Ventress.
"Durge" the Dathomirian Rattataki addressed her Bounty Hunter ally with a smile colder than a winter night in Hoth. "It does my heart good to see you haven't lost your appetite for bloodshed."
The Gen'Dai laughed at Ventress' comment "Ahh Ventress, you bald witch, did Count Dooku send you to join in the fun?"
"I have my own mission, Durge, I would not want to interfere with your work" she responded.
Durge nodded and signalled for his Battle Droids to advance "scare those Cadet children out of hiding and give them an early discharge from military service."
The droids gave a collective "roger, roger" before marching further into the hallways of the Cadet Barracks.
Durge turned back to his force-sensitive colleague "murder and mayhem awaits" and with that final note, he continued forward, relishing the carnage that awaited him.