Hello there, Super Star Wars Fans. Welcome Back!

I hope the Force is flowing for you today.

Many of the battles/fight scenes I've written in this series are inspired or based off either actual historical battles, or famous ones from movies. Yes, Sarrish did happen in Legends, and a lot of this is straight from Star Wars comics. But can anyone guess what war or movie I get the rest of the inspiration from?

Enjoy!

Chapter Two

Aedan, Kyra, Foxtrot, and one more squad of troopers made their way to the right, staying under cover of the canyon they were in. Aedan halted, and peered over the embankment, assessing the landscape between them and the bottom of the plateau. For the most part they would have plenty of cover, especially with only eighteen soldiers and two jedi.

He turned and faced his companions, "Once we crest this canyon line, the barrage is going to be hellacious. Stay behind us, we'll deflect everything we can. We're going to move hard and fast to the closest outcropping."

Kyra took a quick peek over the embankment with her binoculars and saw the two turrets trained on their position. "Drix," she said, "What's the range on your PLX?"

He shrugged, "Well a good shooter could probably make it four hundred meters." Kyra nodded, internally dismissing her own idea. "But I," Drix slapped the rocket launcher on his shoulder, "Am not a good shooter. I'm a great one, and can make it to about five hundred meters."

Kyra grinned, "Think you can take out that turret? Range finders says it's about five hundred and five meters away," she asked, handing over her binoculars.

Drix peered through them and checked the range. "Yes, I can hit that."

"You're not just saying that to impress me?"

"Well, maybe a little. But I can make that shot."

Aedan chimed in, "When you're ready, we'll draw their attention here, and you take the shot from twenty meters over there."

"Agreed," Gregor confirmed, "Move it."

The Commando was in position, and the call went out from the other teams that they were about to commence their assault. Kyra and Aedan leapt over the canyon wall and immediately began taking heavy fire from the quad turrets and a number of droids that were firing from above. The distance was too great for them to make very many accurate shots, so Aedan and Kyra had little difficulty. From their left, they saw a missile streak past them, right toward the closest turret. Its firing ended in a satisfying explosion.

"We're in business," Captain Gregor shouted, "Foxtrot, Gamma squad, form up behind the Jedi. General, Commander, take us out."

The Jedi pressed forward, their sabers flashing, not letting any blasterfire through. They moved at quick pace, all the while cognizant of the clones' top speed, and them being encumbered with gear. They reached the first obstruction without any difficulties and took cover.

"Well done, a few more of those, and we'll be right at the bottom."

They skirted around cover, and sprinted to the next protected position, the closer they got to the plateau's acclivity, the closer and more concentrated the blasterfire became. They made it once again without incident, and Kyra was feeling very confident in the mission. THey were halfway there already. They set up a firing line along the ridge that they were temporarily stationed at, all taking a quick breather.

Two clone troopers ten meters away from her were vaporized in a blinding explosion. The shockwave knocked Kyra to the ground. "Artillery!" Someone shouted. "Take cover."

Kyra still shell-shocked from the explosion felt strong arms grab her, and carry her underneath a rocky overhang. "Are you alright, Commander?"

She shook her head, trying to clear the fuzziness, but to no avail. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and reached out to the force. That did the trick. She noticed it was Hoppie who had grabbed her. "I'm fine, Corporal."

"Foxtrot, Gamma," Aedan yelled, "We need to book it to the bottom of the plateau. We'll be too close for the artillery to hit us. Move it."

Once more they crossed the territory as quickly as possible, Aedan and Kyra's blades parrying all incoming fire. The constant volley of fire assaulted them every step of the way. Luckily the turbolasers, while extremely powerful, were slow in target acquisition, and Aedan, Kyra and the clones were moving at a very fast clip. Far faster than the droids were used to.

Finally, they made it to the target location underneath the gun emplacement. It would be a hundred meters up a steep incline to reach it, but like the rest of the planet, there was an abundance of rock formations that they could hide behind as they made their way up. Nevertheless, the droids had superior positioning, and the ascent would prove precarious.

The Jedi and two squads caught their breath behind cover, as the barrage of laser blasts rained down around them. "I don't know how we're going to get past that."

"We don't need to. We just need to draw their attention away long enough for Cody to get there," Aedan said.

Kyra moved to the edge of cover, looking up to the rockface that Cody and A-squad were climbing. They were almost there, and while the flanking forces had drawn most of the opposing forces away from the main gun area, there was still quite a few droids up there.

"Hoppie," Aedan shouted, "Take Kyra's spot, and use that DC-15x Sniper rifle to take out as many above Cody and A-squad as you can. Fire at will. The rest of us are going to make the charge. The Commander needs all the help he can get. Are we ready?"

"We're with you, General!"

He looked to Kyra, "Are you with me, Kyra?" he whispered.

She held his gaze, "I'm always with you."

Aedan nodded, and then re-ignited his lightsaber.

The clones roared as they made the charge. The Jedi sprinted up the hill, deflecting fire as best they could, while the clones marched up behind them firing as they made the ascent. They had barely made it a third of the way when Kyra's thigh muscles began burning, her lungs aching for air. But she pressed on, lightsaber making quick, precise movements, trying her best to redirect the blasterfire back at the shooters, but that was proving difficult. It was proving difficult with so many things to focus on. A cluster of blasts made it past them and took out one of Gamma squad's clones, mere meters before they made it to the halfway point where they found more cover.

The intensity of the fire was now overwhelming. So much so, that she could feel the rocks they were up against heating up as they absorbed the super-heated laser shots. The barrage of gunfire would slowly eat away at the cover, and they had no hope of mounting another assault up the hill, they would just be blasted to pieces. She tried peering over at the rockface to see Cody's upward progress, but she didn't have a clear line of sight.

Kyra took a quick peek up the hill just in time to see Droids begin throwing grenades down on them. Several heavy repeater cannons were being set up on top of the hill as well. Their cover was about to be decimated by sheer, overwhelming force of fire. "Captain," she called out, "Where are the ATTE's? Any chance we can get some support fire?"

Gregor just shook his head, "One was taken out by artillery fire, the other can't make it in to position because of the terrain."

The onslaught increased, the explosives landing on their cover. The blasts so close it rattled their teeth. One grenade landed inches from the edge of one embankment, right at the feet of a commando. She watched in horror as he was blown to pieces.

Despair gripped her now. They had nowhere to go. They couldn't call for reinforcements, or the troops would be cut to shreds climbing the hill now without Jedi leading them, coupled with the fact there was now more concentrated fire.

Another explosion rocked two troopers to her left. "What was that?" She said aloud and took another quick peek around the side of the rock. The droids had moved an armored assault tank into position, and it was rotating its barrel towards where she was.

She looked over to where Aedan was. Horror flooded his eyes. Horror and hopelessness. This would be it. So much left unsaid. So much left undone.

She braced herself for the end.

But it never came. All that came was a massive wave of heavy laser fire coming from the central part of the cliff face. An explosion rocked the top of the hill. She quickly looked over the rocks and saw that the tank was a smoking ruin. She looked back to the center point and saw Commander Cody was in the massive quad-cannon and raining fire down on the droid contingency above them, turning them all to smoking scraps of metal.

Aedan leapt from cover, "To the top!" he shouted, and once again the Commandos followed him, roaring as they made the ascent, and opening fire on the now distracted and discombobulated droids at the summit.

An attack on two fronts quickly routed the clankers on their side. When Cody saw that Aedan, Kyra, and the Commandos could handle the rest, he focused his fire on the other side, helping the Obi-Wan and the left flank move up to the top as well.

Kyra crested the hill alongside Aedan and the two immediately began slicing the remaining droids to pieces. They moved together perfectly, never leaving the other undefended. Their cuts and slices were identical, they even let out a force push at the exact same time, knocking over a half dozen droids in front of them.

No more droids were left for Aedan or Kyra, so they turned to observe Foxtrot Squad work in much the same manner, always aware of where their teammates were. Hoppie, now utilizing his side arm blaster, made quick, measured movements, firing one shot to the torso, and one shot to the head on every droid. His accuracy and swiftness were stunning, taking down five droids in rapid succession, eliminating all the threats in the vicinity.

He saw Kyra was once again staring at him, so he held up his Dc-15s blaster, twirled it around three times, and then slammed it home into his drop-down holster.

Kyra covered her mouth with one hand, covering her giggle.

"Geez, Hoppie," Aedan said, "I think we need lessons from you."

Hoppie bowed, "I'd be happy to impart my knowledge, wise Jedi."

Gregor walked up, "Corporal, radio into the lieutenant to send the rest of the troops. We have taken the ridgeline of the plateau. Once they get up here, we can commence assault on the center spire."

"Roger that, Captain," Hoppie said, and began radioing into the reinforcements.

There was another assembly of droids stationed by the spire. Only three platoon's worth of them, so nothing to worry about now. However, they weren't engaging.

Kyra gestured towards the host of droids, "Why aren't they attacking?"

Aedan shook his head, "I don't know, but I don't like it."

The rest of the battalion was making its way up the left and right flanks. The first of the squads were cresting the hill coming alongside them, when Kyra and Aedan felt the ripple. Without a moment's hesitation they grabbed whatever clones they could with the force and propelled them forward away from the ridgeline, towards the spire, and then they both channeled all they could into their sprint away from the edge as well.

The ground shook with a monstrous eruption, the entire hillside going up in an explosive inferno. The blast was so great it knocked the Jedi even farther back, and they fell in a heap. Several of the clones they saved landed on top of them.

They scrambled to their feet and ran towards the new edge that had formed now that the entire face of the hill had been destroyed. They tried assessing the damage but the dirt and debris from the explosion was obstructing their view. All they could see was one big dust cloud.

Seconds went by and the survivors' fear grew more and more intense. "Captain," Hoppie asked gravely, "Did we just lose the entire battalion."

Gregor just stood there, eyes glossed over, watching as the dust settled.

The hillside was completely caved in. The once rocky, hard-packed ground was now loose soil, dirt, and bits and pieces of clones and clone armor. White duraplast shards dotted the ground, limbs stuck up from the ground at awkward angles. Groans, moans, and cries of pain echoed up the acclivity. Kyra felt her heart sink, and her stomach lurch. Her knees went weak, and she nearly collapsed to the ground. Aedan was standing next to her, and she could feel the waves of anger and despair coming off of him.

"Captain," Drix shouted, but still the dazed platoon leader was shell shocked.

"Sergeant," Aedan said, "We need to save as many of them as we can."

"And looks like we'll have to cover the retreat," Kyra said, nodding towards the droids that had now mobilized, and were approaching from the center of the plateau. "Good thing there's only a few dozen or so."

Then the spire began to shake. The tip of it beginning to crumble and break apart.

"Oh, kriff," she said.

"You had to say it," Aedan added.

Several holes began forming in the structure as parts began collapsing. Out of the openings poured hundreds of droids.

"You've got to be kidding me," Aedan said quietly, then shouted, "Back to the landing zone! Drix, get our comms back up, and radio in the situation. Tell them we need evac now."

"Roger that, General."

"Move it, Commandos, carry as many wounded with you as you can," he yelled. "Kyra and I will bring up the rear."

Kyra began making her way down the hill, glancing over her shoulder every few seconds, tensing for the reign of laserfire that was about to descend. "I don't know how were going to get out of this one," she whispered, and sank deep into the force.