Ch9 - The Tests of a Warrior - Part 1
5th Fleet Headquarters, Republic Naval Base Anaxes, 21 BBY
"All crews prepare to board, Captains send final checks," Commanded the voice of Phoebus Apollo, Admiral of the Open Circle Armada, Galactic Republic Navy.
"Task Force 38, Republic Star Destroyer Negotiator confirming operational readiness."
On cue, the other vessels of the deploying 5th Fleet called in, each vessel of the 38th through 59th Task Forces announcing their presences and preparation to the Kuati Admiral, placed in the overall command of the Republic Assault Force moving towards the soon-to-be-contested Umbara System.
Of course, as fleets went, this one was not all structured in the same way as the Jedi-led assault forces. While, of course, many of the 5th Fleet's Task Forces were made up of three Venator Star Destroyers and their support ships to whatever specifications their Commander had desired, this force was significantly more complex, with massive medical craft, Acclamator Troop Transports and even mobile command centres, ready to be set up on the Umbaran surface as the troops were put down.
This was the Republican High Command making a move, assaulting a kep planet which was not already directly at war with themselves, and it would be one of the toughest campaigns of the war, alongside the still-raging conflict on Mygeeto, currently overseen by the war-hardened Ki-Adi Mundi, recently reinforced but not relieved by Depa Billaba. Jackson had been keeping contact with the Master who had sent him down this path, and the updates he received from the front there were not encouraging ones.
Still, he realised as the last ship of the 59th, the Venator under the command of Jedi General Pong Krell declared itself, there would be time to consider other battles when this one was fought and won.
"All 5th Fleet Elements, deploying at 0500, prepare to move off."
The passively working thrusters of RSD Negotiator whirred to life, thousands of tonnes of Durasteel being moved out of the holding position at the edge of Anaxes' orbit, and all those watching on from the surface gazed on in awe as one of the largest assault fleets in living memory set off from the port of Anaxes.
Three armies were to engage the Umbaran people in what would doubtlessly become a defining engagement in the Clone War. Kenobi's 212th would strike for the planet's capital and largest population centre, while the men of the 501st, General Sassee Tiin's 90th and Krell's personal command force moved in support.
The assault promised to be a punishing one, many of the greatest locations of strategic importance being sequestered away in the dense jungles of the shadowy planet, but they knew that as much as the conquest of Umbara was to be of military consequence, they were also set to be the subject of intense political scrutiny.
If they won, the Separatist-sympathetic neutral systems would be forced to reconsider, with the knowledge that the Republic was capable of simply barging down their front door and occupying their planet, no matter how formidable their military strength.
If the Republic's invasion were to fail, the message would be clear, no matter how long it would take for the Umbarans to recover. The fight was not the Clones of Kamino against the droids of Geonosis, but the Clone Army against the Umbaran Militias. Dooku would send some support in the Space battle, yes, to protect Separatist interests along the Hyperspace Lanes running along the Great Kashyyyk Branch, but on the ground the Umbarans were alone, against some of the most decorated commanders and troops in recent memory.
If they were to fail, the Republic's credibility would be shot, not to recover for significant amounts of time. The Clones' morale would be significantly damaged, and the Confederation of Independent Systems would gain huge numbers of neutral, or indeed even Republic-friendly systems, as well as the money, weaponry and men that would come with them.
Strategically, there was significance, yes. While Umbara had seceded from the Republic, it remained a vital link to the Kashyyyk system, and without the shadow people's realm within Republic Hands, the wookies would fall, slowly and painfully, until they were forced into submission.
This, too, was a factor which weighed heavy on the minds of the Republic's High Command. Their hands, they had explained to the onlooking senate, had been forced.
RSD Scipio, Umbara System, Ghost Nebula Sector, 20 BBY
Captain Reyna Avila Ramirez-Arellano felt her jaw slacken at the sight of the blockade awaiting the Galactic Republic Navy's 5th Fleet as they dropped out of Hyperspace in the Umbara System. All reports had suggested that the system would be heavily contested, yes, as a result of the Great Kashyyyk Branch, but this?
It would be a miracle if Republic vessels made it to the surface, let alone captured the planet outright. The already vast Separatist fleet sent to defend the recently seceded planet had been reinforced by vessels the likes of which Reyna had never seen before, with haunting, animalistic designs and eerie blue ray shields which taunted the Republic Commanders with their unobstructive views of those inside, though their transparency didn't extend to weapons, as unfortunate as that was.
They had been informed of a militia presence on the Umbarans' part.
It appeared as though they had misjudged exactly what 'militia' meant.
The Separatists advanced, their gargantuan fleet pushing through in a wedge towards the Republic's centre, aiming to cripple the core of the invaders' force before they swept up the wings in a decisive engagement.
Pah, as though they'd fold that easily.
"5th Fleet, engage plan Sarlacc. Variation on the ground at 38th's discretion," Admiral Apollo commanded over the communications system that linked all Star Destroyers of the invasion force. Reyna knew the plan well; she had designed it, after all.
"Affirmative Admiral," Jackson called out, "Variation 2-0-Alpha. Let's get our boys on the ground before we deal with this."
Oh, Reyna was about to have some fun.
The Republic centre began to fall back, gargantuan Venators and Acclamators giving ground in the battlespace and the smaller Consular and Arquitens Cruisers moving out in all directions.
Starfighters began to deploy on both sides, huge swarms of BTL-B Y-Wing Bombers and V-19 Torrent Starfighters pouring from the topside hangar bays of the Venator complement of the 5th Fleet's invasion force.
"All fighters deployed," Jason Grace announced over the comm, "Sarlacc is a go."
"Seen Commodore, confirming Sarlacc 2-0-Alpha is Go, Anaxes."
"Prepare to draw them out, Negotiator," Apollo cautioned, "We need those Acclamators out of the way if we want men on the ground."
"I hear you Anaxes, the tentacles are out."
Reyna examined her command console, studying the battlespace for a moment, and she smiled. The enemy's wedge was entering what was quickly becoming a cone, with the Republic's strongest ships - their Venator Star Destroyers - occupying the centre, while the smaller ships surged out around them. Fighters, barely visible on her tactical display, hunted in packs for easy kills and trapping the Separatist wedge inside a trap.
There was no escape for the enemy once Sarlacc was properly executed, with the strongest of the enemy to the front, significant firepower to either side, and your own comrades behind you. The Separatists would be rendered immobile, trapped by the reaching tentacles of a Sarlacc, and facing its many, many teeth and a slow, painful death.
The great advantage to the Republic's forces, however, was that they would have troops on the ground as quickly as possible as they smashed through the blockade. While the enemy were caught up in a stream of traffic, they would be nearly powerless to prevent the Acclamator-Class Transgalactic Assault Ships from skirting back and around from their positions at the rear of the Sarlacc, punching through what little of the enemy was left before they turned to close the lid on the helpless enemy fleet.
Her systems chirped. "Kill!" she announced, watching as a Separatist Frigate went up in flames.
Fifty Six now.
Republic Assault Ship Anvil, Umbara, Ghost Nebula Sector, 20 BBY
Jedi Padawan Nico di Angelo understood that this mission was far, far different to anything he, or indeed anyone, would likely encounter over the course of this war. He knew this planet, and he knew the people who roamed it. He had warned his master of the risks of fighting here, but he also understood that action needed to be taken. The Wookies were suffering, and this was their one chance at sending them much-needed relief.
"Kill!" he heard over the comm for the second time that day. He chuckled to himself at the Anaxes-born Captain's love of success, though he knew that it was her way of simplifying the hell of this war down to something more digestible. Even still, he was astounded at Reyna's ability to destroy the enemy, and that impression of the Captain hadn't changed in the nearly two years that he had known her.
"Alright boys, let's get ready to move," Skywalker warned from behind Nico, "Let's keep comms within the Battalion at most, going in tac."
Nico flushed under his Umbaran helmet, the green obscuring the small burst of red that he knew would have erupted across his face, though Skywalker's hand on his shoulder let him know that the comment had been as joking as it had been serious.
He had already noticed differences between the styles of leadership of Masters Kenobi and Skywalker, though large parts of their methods remained similar. There would be, he mused, the guy was exactly where I was a few years ago.
The real reason for the change, however, was a result of Master Krell's masterplan for the invasion; Master Kenobi would be pushing his forces from the opposite side to Masters Skywalker and Tiin, and advancing directly on the capital city. Having more commanders on that front was of little use, since they would all be operating in close proximity to the command team of the 212th, whereas a larger command staff in the 501st, especially without Ahsoka Tano present to aid them as she commanded her fighter squadron under Admiral Yularen's command, made far more sense to the Besalisk Jedi Master placed in command of the Ground Assault Force.
He checked his sabre at his waist, rolling his neck in preparation for the fight that was to come, and gripped the handhold above him, attached to the roof of the LAAT/i craft that he had been shepherded into by Captain Rex, Skywalker's right hand.
At the back of the Landing Craft sat what Master Skywalker had informed Nico would be the Republic's greatest asset in the campaign to come, and Nico couldn't help but agree.
On Ryloth, he had seen the effectiveness of AT-TE tanks at destroying enemy presences, and then, later on, he had observed Master Windu's use of AT-RT walkers against heavy, immobile Separatist Tanks.
While the larger AT-TE would be of little use in the overgrown forests of his home planet, Nico knew that the size and build of the AT-RT made it ideal for closing down and destroying the enemy's positions in a way that not even speeder bikes could.
The Umbaran Militia's Hover Tanks would be no match for their speed and agility, and the enemy infantry would be weeded out into the open for the clones to capture or kill.
RSD Negotiator, Umbara System, Ghost Nebula Sector, 20 BBY
"We've got them, Admiral," Jedi Commander Tano informed him as her fighter squadron flitted across his field of view from left to right.
'Them', in this case, was a Separatist Cruiser which had attempted to make a move on the rear lines of the Republic formation. Needless to say, Percy had incapacitated it quickly, making use of his guns to cripple its means of movement, and he had opened the door for Yularen's fighters to finish it off as he reoriented his ship to seek larger prey.
Reyna called in her fourth kill of the day, and Percy shook his head in amusement. The pair of them had spoken about her little habit many times, but nothing would ever break a habit that the young woman had picked up at the Academy on her home planet of Anaxes. As a matter of fact, he had it on good authority from his Second in Command on the Negotiator, a Clone by the name of Splash, that she had earned herself a Clone Nickname of her own.
'Killstreak', they called her, and Percy still chuckled when he thought of that moment.
"And what do you guys call me, then?"
"Ah, boss, I'd prefer not to say."
"Splash, focus fire on Vector point nought six," he commanded, spotting an oddly designed Umbaran Assault Ship bearing down on Yularen's ship from dead ahead. The older admiral's hangar doors were open, meaning that the shields were weak enough to let a fighter pass through. Still strong, yes, but he didn't want to have to justify the loss of one of the Republic's most brilliant minds with the excuse, 'his shields were still up'.
The ship began to falter easily enough, breaking off its attack run, and Jedi Commander Barriss Offee gave chase.
"On their tail, Admiral, thank you for your covering fire."
"Anytime, Commander."
The run, however, fell flat quickly, the laser bolts fired by the Mirialan Padawan's Delta-7B Aethersprite-Class Light Interceptor not enough to damage the well-defended Umbaran defenders.
"Commander, break contact," Yularen instructed, "Their shields too strong, you're overcommitting."
Barriss Offee growled her displeasure, but broke off all the same. "That's the third one of those Umbaran ships we've tried and failed to beat today Admiral. We need to find a way to destroy them!"
"Understood, Commander," Yularen agreed, "continue the assault, hold out for a solution."
"Roger that Relentless, Offee out."
Republic Landing Zone North, Umbara, 20 BBY
The LAAT/i shuddered in the chop, the pilot wrestling with the controls as he fought to keep the landing craft upright. The fighter escort of Incom/Sublight Products Z-95 Headhunters taking them towards the surface was long gone, and the Umbarans were using all means available to break the invading force before they could put boots on the ground.
The Krupx MG5 Concussion Missile Launchers mounted on the Headhunters let loose their payloads, huge chunks of dust spraying into the air to join the flak that was obstructing the Grand Army of the Republic's move on the surface.
Through the open side door, Nico could see the efforts of his people as they struggled to repel the army with whom he served now. Skywalker leaned out of the opposite hatch, wincing as a sickly green bolt detonated a few metres from his face.
"There's a lot of surface fire," Captain Rex observed.
"They ain't got nothing we can't handle, Sir," Fives shot back.
A Republic LAAT/i went down in a fiery ball off to their flank, caught flush by a shrill, ringing tracer round that resulted in a deafening boom, even across a few hundred metres' distance.
Memories of Geonosis flashed across Nico's memory, and by the looks of it, he wasn't the only one to be reminded of that particular set of landings.
The 212th, he knew, had made it through the blockade fairly unscathed, though their counterparts in the 501st had lost huge numbers in the landings, including their entire armour complement and a large amount of their kit. They had been rendered little more than light infantry on that day, fighting through challenging terrain towards Nico's own position at Point Rain.
Today, they were fulfilling very much the same role, though this time it was by design. They were going in with only their personal kit to speak of, no heavy weapons and certainly no tanks. He could understand that they weren't exactly champing at the bit to be on the ground.
"You hanging in there, Tup?" Rex asked gruffly. The soldier in question was gripping the handholds with both hands, DC-15 Blaster Rifle slung across his back next to the kit he carried in his rucksack.
"So far so good Cap'n," the rookie responded, and Nico clapped him on the back with a nod.
"Thanks Commander."
"General Skywalker," the pilot, Hawk, called over the comm, "I'm turning the lights out. Our Night Vision Sensors are having a tough time in this chop - I hope we don't overshoot the landing zone."
"Just get us as close as you can," Skywalker placated, as the clones within the landing craft readied their weapons.
Hawk landed out in the open, the overgrown forests spread out ahead of them, where Nico knew the Umbarans would be hiding. With a flick, his sabre was in his hand, not yet ignited, though he knew that it wouldn't take a moment for it to become a lethal weapon.
He leapt out of the landing craft alongside their section's AT-RT Walker, sabre igniting in its familiar green as he dropped into a roll.
As he emerged on one knee, he took a moment to examine the battlefield around him. In the distance, he could see Umbarans in the trees, their green helmets appearing like floating orbs in the fog. Closer than them, however, was the horde of Republic Walkers, which had already taken off at a run.
No point in waiting, he mused to himself, and he set off himself, robes swishing around him as he sprinted off towards where he knew the enemy were.
A mortar shell exploded in front of him, removing one AT-RT from the fight in a mighty explosion, and a burst of fire from a hover tank removed another two in a ball of flaming blue. Nico advanced still, accelerating to a sprint and overtaking the first of the Walkers, and suddenly he was in the fight.
The Green Blaster Bolts that he had watched his father fire as a child were suddenly directed at him, the shooters having doubled in number as they noticed a Jedi emerging to attack them. "All walkers, push towards the tanks," Nico ordered as he ran, deflecting a round back in the direction it had come from, "I've got the men in the trees."
The battlefield around him was illuminated by blinding white light as the Republic's Infantry touched down behind him. Nine LAAT/i Landing Craft made up the first wave, and nine more would make up the second; two companies of the 501st having been committed to seize and secure this landing site, before they and the reinforcements sent from the next Acclamator to break the blockade would be sent to take control of a nearby ridge, which could be utilised as a staging area, the reconnaissance elements sent out beforehand having identified several dried-out streams which ran along it which could be used as makeshift trench systems once the ridge was cleared of enemies. For now, however, they would need to clear the path of enemies, and make their way into the forest. It was common knowledge, of course, that open ground on Umbara meant death.
He fell upon the Umbaran defenders in a matter of moments, ducking as the first rounds of Republic fire rattled through the trees. "All 501st elements, switch fire!" he called, rolling under what had quickly become an amalgamation of Republic Blue and Umbaran Green Blaster bolts in a sheet of laser at head height.
Almost immediately, Skywalker's men caught on, moving the direction of their fire ever so slightly to the right, and giving Kenobi's Padawan some room in which to operate. The young man took no time at all to take advantage, and within moments he had engaged the enemy, well within the range of his sabre, and for too quick to be caught by the militiamen's blaster fire.
"Position clear master, move through at will," he called back, not caring for the mess of bodies that lay around him. No, not caring was not accurate. He cared, yes, for all the Umbaran blood that was being spilt by his blade, and he cared for the suffering that he knew was being caused by his actions.
He also cared, however, for peace.
That was not an option when the separatists were involved, and so what he was doing, he justified, was a necessity.
The faster he broke his people here, the faster the defenders of the capital would break, and the faster this blasted war would be off his home world.
RSD Scipio, Umbara System, Ghost Nebula Sector, 20 BBY
"Admiral, awaiting confirmation for phase 2 of Sarlacc? Reyna asked of her commanding officer, smirking as she watched the ship in front of her capitulate to the overwhelming fire of one of her starboard batteries. They had been in combat for several hours now, and with all Grand Army assets having made their way to the ground, the Republic Navy had redoubled their efforts to break the Separatist blockade.
"Negative, Scipio," she heard in return from Phoebus Apollo, "wait out."
"Roger that Anaxes" Reyna affirmed, switching channels.
"Negotiator, this is Scipio, requesting permission to sally."
"You have it, Scipio," Percy replied, "Measured push, fighter support. Two Squadrons."
"Deploying Argentum squadron," Reyna confirmed, "Aurum deployed and waiting."
"Make the move Reyna," Percy encouraged, driving his own vessel slightly to the port side to facilitate the push.
Reyna smiled, and turned to her tactical display of the local space around her.
"Aurum, hold my left, Argentum on the right, let's break the centre."
"Aurum-1 to Scipio, roger that."
"Argentum-1 to Scipio, ready and waiting."
"Scipio to Negotiator, making our move."
Without waiting, Reyna directed her ship forwards, the massive Star Destroyer foraying into the gap between Separatist vessels on her left and right flanks.
"Scipio, this is Aurum-1, we're being engaged by unidentified Umbaran fighters, requesting covering fire in order to disengage."
Her fire control officer acted quickly, Port side Laser Cannon batteries opening up on the small formation of Umbaran starfighters.
"Ma'am, pilot's pods are ray shielded. How do I proceed?"
"Aim for their thrusters," Reyna called back, and the man sprinted off to a console somewhere else on the bridge.
"Aurum-1 to Scipio, hostiles have broken off, confirming weak spot on rear thrusters."
"Thanks Aurum-1," Reyna responded, "Keep my flank secure." she turned to her second in command. "Commander, call it in - we've found a potential weakness."
RSD Scipio continued to push on, however, the target of Reyna's sally attack being a Trade Federation Lucrehulk Battleship a short distance away. It was evidently acting as a command post of some sort, and it was also sending out sorties of Vulture Droids. A fine prize indeed.
"Captain, we're seeing an Umbaran Dreadnought off our Port side. Do we fall back?"
"No, get me Tano and Offee - let's sink the bastard."
"Roger that Ma'am."
Immediately, the two Jedi Padawans appeared on Reyna's Holotable, occupying a corner of her tactical display.
"Commanders, care to help me test a theory?"
"Go for it Captain," Ahsoka responded immediately, and a flashing blip on the translucent blue display told Reyna that the Togruta Padawan's squadron had swung about from their former holding position off the bows of Admiral Yularen's Star Destroyer towards Reyna's advancing force.
"Commander Offee?" Reyna prompted, seeing the Mirialan deep in thought.
"You mean to beat that Umbaran Dreadnought, do you not?" she asked, tone as wistful and dreamy as always, something that Reyna had come to be familiar with as Second in Command of Task Force 38 on Geonosis past the end of the initial landings, when Percy had been recalled to Coruscant for his suspiciously convenient promotion.
"I do, Barriss," she responded, tone firm. "If you're in, take up battlegroup position 3-2-Oscar around Scipio."
Without another word spoken, a second fighter squadron was swinging about towards her position, and Reyna felt the smirk on her face grow.
This was going to be fun.
"Tano and Offee formed up on your verticals Captain," her 2IC confirmed, and Reyna nodded. "Scipio Group, move off. Watch your wingmen, and stay alert - we don't know what tricks these Umbarans have up their sleeves."
"Roger that Captain, let's show them what we're made of."
The small force advanced, and the Umbaran Captain realised quickly that he was their target. The Dreadnought swung sharply to the right, bringing its broadside to bear on Reyna's flagship, and she responded immediately.
Three rapid salvos of Scipio's main armament struck the rear of the craft, plumes of smoke being emitted on the points of impact as huge laser bolts struck the Dreadnought on its rear.
The Umbaran captain responded quickly, his own weaponry belching out what appeared to be a ball of electricity.
"Taking evasive action," Reyna announced, "Commanders, do me a favour and try to break their shields."
"Roger that Ma'am," Commander Tano replied, and Reyna watched as the two squadrons of Headhunters broke formation, immediately engaged by Vulture Droids. The quality of the pilots, however, showed as they broke through with little hassle, free to commence their assault on the Umbaran Dreadnought.
"We've picked a good one Captain," Ahsoka commented, "looks like their flagship."
"Affirmative, Commander," Reyna replied, "It's being signalled as Lycaon. It's their largest and their best, and we're going to be the ones to beat it."
Concussion Missiles peppered Lycaon's sides as Barriss Offee was first to reach her target. "Reinforced Durasteel Cladding," she warned, "Concussions are the only way to break it unless anyone's got an Ion Torpedo handy."
"Deploying a squadron of Y-Wings," Reyna answered back, "Argentum Squadron, get them there."
"Scipio, requesting status report," Reyna heard Percy ask over her comm, "Unable to see progress of battle."
"Engaging Umbaran Dreadnought, confirmed to be Flagship Lycaon. Wait out for report on initial fighter run."
"Understood Scipio, be careful there. Pull back if taking even or overwhelming fire."
"Roger that Negotiator."
Reyna's Y-Wing Squadron soared out of the Star Destroyer's hangar doors, nine of the bombers armed to the teeth and prepared to use it to deal a huge blow to the Umbaran Defence. The Headhunters of Argentum squadron formed up tight around them, covering off their angles as they prepared to escort the bombers to their goal.
The Umbaran Captain reacted quickly, and he moved to obstruct Reyna's former path towards the Lucrehulk Battleship behind him, and his primary battery unleashed a barrage of broadside fire against Scipio's front shields.
He hasn't seen the bombers.
"Divert power to front shields," Reyna instructed, "open fire on their trailing side. Let's knock out their thrusters."
The secondary battery of Lycaon opened up in tandem with the primary, closing off what would have been a lull in the shooting as the main armament recharged to firing power.
"We're taking hits," a weapons operator said aloud, and Reyna shook her head in amusement.
"Negative, forward shields at 149 percent still. Listen properly, Kiddo, you'll panic less."
"149, Captain?"
"We diverted power from the other shields. Anything attacking our weaker sides gets countered by the Point Defence Gunners or the Fighters we've got around us –" she paused as another volley crashed into her shields, "and the enemy's direct fire, we're willing to take until either we win, or we can't keep going."
The Ensign nodded, and returned to their task. Reyna turned back to the tactical display on her holotable, tapping twice quickly to find the advancing force of Y-wings.
Ten seconds.
The Jedi Commanders had done well, swinging their own Headhunter Squadrons about the Umbaran Captain's Bridge. Good ship, poor captain.
Then, her fighters were upon them, the Concussion Weaponry of the Headhunters pummelling the Reinforced Durasteel surface of the Lycaon, before the Y-Wings made their play.
They approached from the underside, sticking close to the hull of the Umbaran Flagship and remaining there as they raced along it, from end to end. The occupants of the Scipio's tactical bridge found themselves watching with bated breath as the bombers moved, and then it started.
The iridescent pink-blue of Ion Torpedoes dropped from the underbellies of the Y-wings, crashing into the Umbaran Flagship and even from that distance, Reyna could see the metallic hull glowing red from the heat of the combined ordnance.
"Kriffing hell," Reyna found herself breathing out, and the shocked look of many of the others alongside her told her that she wasn't the only one shocked by this feat of engineering.
The Umbaran, however, turned away, a collection of his lighter vessels flocking to cover him as the Lycaon prepared to limp away.
"All fighters, pull back to Scipio, time to get out of here," Reyna commanded, "Let's get away. Equalise shield power, ensure front is prioritised if we can't redivert power."
Once more, the Tactical Bridge whirred into a hub of activity, the clones who ran it making their way to the relevant stations to deal with the tasks at hand.
"Scipio, this is Offee, I'm seeing incoming fighters off the port side."
"Thank you Commander," Reyna replied, "Aurum Squadron head them off."
Immediately, however, she saw something going wrong.
A pair of explosions rocked the side of her ship, and she knew that these weren't missiles of any sort that she'd faced before.
"Fighter Command, Status report!" she demanded, slamming a hand into the table as she noticed her shields weaken significantly.
"They…
They're driving fighters into our shields!"
Reyna swore loudly. "Divert power from primary battery to shields, and close the hangar doors." She hung her head, and, knowing that this might well condemn several of her pilots to their doom, "All pilots divert course, regroup at 38th Task Force Flagship Negotiator, sending coordinates now."
There were upwards of seven thousand souls on this ship, from those in her tactical and fighter command centres, to the clones who manned the guns, to those who swabbed the decks. She was Captain of this ship, and as harsh as it felt, they were her priority.
Reyna would lose twenty three of her fighters in the torturous hour that would follow, and the remaining fifteen deployed would limp back to RSD Negotiator, barely functioning.
The Republic had won the battle, yes, but the cost had been high.
Then, a blast rang out across her bridge.
"Reyna?"
"Reyna!"
"REYNA!"
501st Legion, Umbaran Jungle, Umbara, 20 BBY
The troops paused, the Platoon Commanders congregating towards the Clone Captain and Jedi Commander at the head 9f the column. "Sir, confirming that we're pushing onto the road up ahead?"
"Yeah, that's what we're doing," Rex sighed, resigned to his duty. "The General wants us to march up this road, straight to the Capital City."
The Clones grumbled, but moved ahead, Jedi and Clone Captain at the head of the head platoon of the forward company deployed by General Krell. Troops occupied the road, exhausted clones not even maintaining their spacings despite the threat of ambush from the trees.
Nico could feel it, the traces of men in the trees, the militia having retreated alongside these same roads to their safe haven in the capital. The hexagonal tiling of the road's surface was ever so slightly visible in the moonlight, and all of a sudden the Jedi's mind was cast back to the days of his youth, when he had lifted up the tile. Beneath it, he had found a spot, not deep enough to hold much of importance. He had asked his father about it that evening and the man's response had been noncommittal at best.
One day, Niccolo, bad men will come to our planet, and that will be the day that you lift those panels once more. Not before that, my child.
How true those words were.
"ARC Trooper Fives, would you mind scanning the road?"
"Sure, commander," the veteran clone replied, engaging the scanner on his vambrace. Within five seconds of searching, he gasped.
"Mines," Rex deduced beside him. "Good thinking, Commander."
Nico nodded grimly next to him. "Eyes on the trees. If there are mines here, troops aren't far further."
"You heard the commander," Fives demanded, "get to it!"
Clones scrambled for cover, and within moments Nico was unfortunately proven right. Arcing over the trees came a bright blue mortar, a trail of energy and light left in its wake until it exploded on contact with the ground.
One clone was caught by the debris kicked up by the blast, a piece of tarmac breaking his helmet open and throwing him back. Then, as one, the Umbarans emerged from the trees, shooters in the open cups of the canopy, firing from the boughs of branches and from behind dead trees on the roadside in the chaos of an ambush.
"Three Platoon, advance into contact, push through trees and engage hostiles from rear," Nico instructed, "stay quiet until the last moment."
The men moved rapidly, the first two platoons of Captain Rex and Fives' company holding their position and engaging from the trees while their brothers peeled off on either side.
"Get me rocket launchers, NOW!" Rex demanded, pointing a hand furiously at a tree perhaps thirty yards off their position. "Let's get them out of those trees!"
A Clone sprinted up towards the tree root that Nico, Rex and Fives had taken cover behind, and took a knee, the black tube of a rocket launcher supported halfway on his shoulder. On instinct, the other three covered their ears and turned away. The clone fired.
The characteristic sound of ripping paper accompanied the projectile as it soared towards the tree, and it took less than a second to make contact. The Umbarans wouldn't even have noticed their doom approaching them before they died.
A burst of automatic fire from behind told Nico that the platoon's Machine Gunner Hardcase had set back up, and his Z-6 Rotary Blaster Cannon unleashed a burst of Republic Blue Blaster fire on the Umbarans, suppressing the guerilla fighters on the road and allowing the second platoon, now accompanied by Fives, to leapfrog past the first, closing the distance to effectively point-blank range.
The Umbarans, however, had made their move already, and a high-pitched whine had the Umbaran Jedi Padawan's eyes widening as he reached out in the force.
"TAKE COVER!"
As the dust from the latest Mortar Shell's explosion cleared and the Second Platoon opened fire again, Nico breathed out in relief as he saw the men of the 501st scramble back to their feet. Three bodies, however, were being dragged back behind the lines.
Three lives he couldn't save.
Three men he wasn't fast enough to help
Though the Umbaran defenders had begun to waver, the fight wasn't won yet, and Nico knew how he could make that happen. He closed his eyes for a moment, searching through the trees, and the planet answered to him.
As though nature itself was speaking to him, he could feel every footfall, every native firing from the trees, and every clone creeping around the flanks to ambush them.
Three
Two
One
"One Platoon, prepare to move…"
Three Platoon, set in position, opened fire in the trees, trapping the Militia between themselves and the chaos of the road. There was only one thing left to do, and Nico would be damned if he didn't win the fight here.
"MOVE!"
They darted from cover, breaking through the centre of the road as those remaining of Two Platoon increased their rate of fire to cover their advance. A pair of Clone Grenades were lobbed forwards, destroying one Umbaran position, and then suddenly they were within hand-to-hand range.
The Clones pounced with the savagery of a hungry Krayt Dragon, kicking and throwing their enemies to the floor before ending their lives at point blank range. One by one, the defensive positions of the ambush fell, and inch by inch the Clones advanced down the road until the shooting had stopped in its entirety.
They reorganised quickly, handing out weapons and ammunition while Nico searched for any evidence of further attack, only pausing to take on some rest and water when he was happy that all threats had been eliminated.
Krell strode over from his position behind the lines, a small complement including the Clone Trooper Nico recognised as Sergeant Appo accompanying him.
"Well fought, young Padawan," he complimented. "Your master's praise was not exaggerated."
"Thank you, Master," Nico accepted humbly, meeting the Besalisk Jedi's gaze from where he sat, kneeling in front of a tree root. "I was only doing my duty."
"And you have done it at exactly the right time, Padawan," Krell continued as though he hadn't spoken. "Your master has identified a chain of Militia-controlled bases that he wishes to be taken, quickly and efficiently. You and ARC-5555 are to lead a Commando platoon, accompanied by a small detachment of the Advanced Reconnaissance Force Scout Troopers and destroy them, making a rendezvous with us at an Umbaran Airbase a few miles from here."
"General, our Commandos and ARF Troopers are embedded within the platoons as they stand," Rex pointed out, "We would have to completely reorganise the force to make this happen."
"Then do it, CT-7567," The Jedi Master demanded, "Padawan di Angelo's force departs in ten minutes."
Fives put his helmet on his head, signing as he signalled across the Comm channel of the 501st for the thirty Clone Commandos embedded within the , while Rex gathered ten of his own ARF Troopers, ensuring that their Kuat Drive Yards All Terrain Reconnaissance Transport vehicles, AT-RTs, were fully functional and operating correctly. They would be delving deep into the overgrown jungles of Umbara, most likely cut off from wider comms, as a result of a combination of the Umbaran defenders' jamming of communications and the dense foliage of the theatre of operations.
Just about standard for the operatives of the Clone Commandos.
501st Legion, Umbaran Jungle, Umbara, 20 BBY
Nico drew his sabre, crouching down behind a tree root and signalling for the rest of his force to do the same. Fives and the Commando Platoon Sergeant made their way quickly over to him, hunkering down beside him and bringing their own binoculars to scan the area that Krell had informed them would be the first of a chain of Umbaran holdouts.
Fives sighed beside him, and the Umbaran Padawan admitted to himself that he was just about ready to do the same. "Either they're dug in underground and we really needed to be here, or there's something seriously wrong with my master," Nico remarked. "He wouldn't send us on a route as convoluted as this - certainly not with the strongest of our troops."
The ARC Trooper nodded thoughtfully in response.
"Sergeant, get a scan of the surface, we'll need to hold here until I'm able to find what I'm looking for."
"And what's that, Commander?" Fives prompted, cocking his head to one side.
"Whatever Umbara tells me, Fives."
The clone backed off, shaking his head in amusement.
Nico, for his part, sank to his knees, bowing his head and exhaling softly. His breathing balanced as he reached out through the mud and fog of the planet where he had been born, and he searched for those who defended it from the Republic.
There was nobody there.
Nico frowned, his brow furrowing in confusion as he focussed harder, hundreds of metres of trees and dense foliage reaching across the forest until he even found the tranquil oasis of the force that his master seemed to exude, some thirteen kilometres away from him.
Not a single disturbance in the ground, no natives to be seen.
He sighed, reaching out behind him just as easily behind him to reach Master Krell, to inform him that the intelligence with which he had been supplied was faulty.
Upon searching in that direction, however, he found darkness. It reacted, eerie tendrils of black lunging at him through the grey harmony of the Force.
He was thrown out of his meditation with a start, his skin clammy with sweat even in the cool of the Umbaran night, his eyes wide in shock and hyperventilating at the discovery.
"Commander?" Fives asked, removing his helmet and placing a hand on the Jedi's shoulder.
"Fives, gather the men," Nico demanded, "there's no enemy here - we left them behind on the road."
501st Legion, Gorge West of Capital City, Umbara, 20 BBY
The Clone Commando jogged over to Nico, offering his binoculars as the Umbaran native seemed to scan the gorge. He refused them, however, with a small smile and a shake of the head.
"Thank you, Corporal, but I won't be needing it," he offered by way of an explanation. "Not on this planet."
The clone paused, before shrugging and resuming his own watch over the valley below.
The Platoon's RadOp was the next to make his way over. "Commander, I'm still unable to reach General Kenobi, though I've let General Tiin know what we've found."
"Thank you Cracker," Nico acknowledged with a nod, "Gather the men; Master Krell's troops are not far away from us at all."
The Commando nodded and ran off again, keeping his head down to prevent from skylighting himself against the top of the gorge that they were currently occupying. Down below them, they could see the edge of the track which Krell was preparing to send his troops down, and the Umbaran defenders on the airbase had already begun to deploy their Impeding Assault Tanks, the armour being a genius invention of the Umbarans' finest engineers.
The Republic would lose a great number of troops if they were to come face to face with them, even more so without the Commando complement that they had been assigned.
Nico would need to act quickly to prevent that.
The thuds of AT-RT walkers' feet told him that Cracker had gathered the rest of the Commando Force. Turning about and dropping to his knees, he found the Clone Commandos gathered around him in a horseshoe, the front rows crouched to his height, the walkers crouched down at the back to provide every clone a view of the man commanding them.
A gesture from the Jedi Commander to the ARC Trooper who served as his Second in Command saw Fives tap his wrist to bring up a holographic image of the local area
"This," he gestured to a red dot on the map, "is us. Valley below us, base down to our West as we stand, directly down the gorge."
Fives took over. "General Krell's troops, our brothers in the 501st, are one Klick off the mouth of the valley, and judging by his tactics, he isn't about to send out Recce Patrols," he scowled, "we're going to do that for him."
"As ARC Trooper Fives explained," Nico continued, "we will trace the lip of the gorge towards the base, before using the trees and other such shrubbery to infiltrate the electric fence on the southern side, closest to their airfield. Once the first section has breached, the second and third will set about bringing down the tree and using its fall to bring down the fence, allowing our AT-RTs into the base. The infantry sections outside will then provide supporting fire for those infiltrating, as well as ensuring that the enemy are unable to pursue from outside."
"Is that understood?" Fives asked, scanning the troops in front of him.
There were no responses. They were ready to begin, barring one thing.
"Before we begin, I will warn you," Nico cautioned, "If we fail, we are going to be in line for a treason charge. Instant death, no questions. If you wish to back down, I will not think any less of you"
Nobody moved.
501st Legion, Base West of Capital City, Umbara, 20 BBY
The men moved quickly and quietly, leaping from branch to branch as they reached to take up position for the assault to come. They had seen the General and his bodyguards taking up positions on a large rock overlooking the valley, two companies of men held in reserve as they sent the first company of the battalion down in a full-forward assault.
They needed to act quickly.
"Master Krell, this is commando force, beginning assault on airbase," Nico pinged out, before cutting the message. Anything further would be unnecessary. He nodded to the men around him, forming the first section of his assault team. Below them, men of the second section of the commando platoon had began to lay their detonators, ready to launch their phase of the assault.
The Umbaran Jedi nodded.
It was time.
On a signal from their commander, the Clone Commando Platoon launched their attack.
The first eight, Nice leading the charge, dropped in first, suspended from zip lines that extended from the barrels of their weapons. The first to land were the first to raise their weapons to cover their comrades, but there was no reason to engage, not yet.
And so, they continued in silence, moving towards the nearest building and establishing secure cover.
Nico closed his eyes.
Three
Two
One
BOOM
The tree came down with a mighty crash, a number of Umbaran tanks rendered useless beneath it. Suddenly, the base was on high alert, a large number of soldiers rushing out of the building into a hail of bright blue gunfire.
Nico ignited his sabre, darting out from behind cover to engage the defenders while his men took new defensive positions.
Three shots were quickly deflected into unsuspecting enemy soldiers before the fourth bolt to meet his blade careened into a fuel cell, sending it and the vehicles around it into flames.
Taking advantage of the chaos, the commandos pushed through, all eight of them giving no quarter as they burst into the enemy compound, carving out a path for the rest of their force to enter.
It was just as the first portion of the Umbaran militia force began to reorganise that the AT-RTs burst into the compound, balancing carefully on the feller tree as they ran in, the front-mounted laser cannons on the agile reconnaissance walkers dealing huge damage as they advanced past Nico, another section of the commandos in their wake.
Now rocket launchers joined AT-RTs in destroying any and all Umbaran armour found on the base as the commander dealt with the enemy without a care of the consequences. Their job wasn't to question why, just to do or die. They were Clone Commandos of the Republic, about to turn this gorge into the thrice-damned valley of death.
They pushed through, capturing building after building as they cleared out the base, and by the end of it, Nico knew that the casualties had been high.
He himself had watched as a group of his soldiers had been caught in a mortar blast, two of them barely crawling away while the third had continued to be there, motionless.
Four more had died to overwhelming enemy fire from a hidden machine gun nest hidden in a rocky outcrop at the edge of the base.
None of the ARF troopers still had their vehicles, most having saved themselves in time to continue in the fight, but too of their number had been lost, fending off on Umbaran Mobile Rocket Launcher until Nico had been able to reach and destroy it with his sabre.
Their losses hadn't been kind, but Nico knew that far more would likely have been lost in Krell's own assault.
The 501st would occupy the airbase in its entirety a few short hours later, the Umbaran defences in tatters, and the supply lines to the capital had been broken.
The battle was far from won, but the actions of Jedi Padawan di Angelo and his Clone Commandos would quickly become recognised as a deciding factor in this campaign.
RSD Negotiator, Umbara System, Ghost Nebula Sector, 20 BBY
Perseus Jackson surveyed the tactical display in front of him, though it was not in its usual setting. Today, he was in his comms room, in what he suspected would be one of the most consequential meetings of the campaign, if not the year.
They had just now completed a debrief on the above-atmosphere engagements of the campaign thus far, the dust having settled after their aggressive breakthrough and the Umbarans' counter push, and currently Republic Forces held the upper hand against what appeared to be a resolute but faltering Umbaran Navy, depleted of Separatist support. This had been fed back to High Jedi Generals Mace Windu and Yoda at Republic Naval Command on Coruscant, as well as Phoebus Apollo at 5th Fleet Command on Anaxes.
The Coruscanti Admiral had been joined by the almost miraculously recovered Captain Reyna Avila Ramirez-Arellano, the Third-in-Command of the 38th Task Force having been forced to evacuate back into friendly territory following the series of brutal Kamikaze attacks she had faced after her victory over the Umbaran flagship.
Reports had suggested that she had barely made it back herself, having been dragged out of her command bridge by a fearless clone and taken back to the base on her homeworld of Anaxes via shuttle.
Before the meeting could finish, however, a new figure joined, causing quite the stir.
Jedi Commander Nico di Angelo had appeared, crouched and hidden from outside view beneath his hood, bearing an urgent message. Percy remembered it vividly, from the distorted image of the frantic Padawan to the very words that he had whispered into the communicator that he had used to send the message.
"This is Jedi Commander Nico di Angelo. Master Krell is an Agent of Dooku - he is a traito–"
Static.
A/N
Right, new chapter done, perhaps my longest ever at approximately 8.2k words. The biggest piece of character development for Nico that we'll get throughout the story, or at least over the two parts of this little arc that I'm writing.
With regards to the structure of this story, those of you on AO3, newly caught up on this, will have seen that this is a part of a series. 'The Wings of a Republic' will end in approximately 7 chapters, including the culmination of the Umbaran Campaign, Mygeeto for reasons that will quickly become apparent (don't comment until you've read it lol) followed by Order 66, some content following the transition from Republic to Empire, before we end this first arc of the story.
On FFN, not to worry - I'll continue with part 2 in this same project, though you'll get a title header at the start of the prologue for that, and it continues here. AO3, however, because it's cool and versatile like that, will get a second work within the series.
The title for that, by the way, courtesy of Dudududhehe, will be The Talons of an Empire, which I love.
Wait out for next chapter, including even more of Nico being cool, and Percy definitely not stressing over that fact.
I've mentioned him already, Dudududhehe's been helping me with this story, from some Beta Reading, to helping me with lore and making sure I don't mess it up too spectacularly. Go and check out his work if you haven't already.
Until next time then,
Sol
I don't own Star Wars, Percy Jackson or any related media.