R-7B pulled the data stick from his head. It creaked and groaned under his three metal digits as his CPU adjusted to the changes.
"Careful," Rags said, hastily snatching it from his fingers.
"Sorry, I'm just getting used to the update" R-7B replied.
The doors of the workshop were wide open. Birds of a colorful variety flew by, pushing in a cool rush of wind. The sun was at its brightest since the end of the storm season. Periodically a thick cloud would pass by, covering the base in a dim blanket of cool air. The droid's temperatures would fluctuate with each period of shade.
R-7B rushed out the door, immediately setting his antenna to find R-23E and the rest of his squad.
They had finally secured enough credits to purchase the rest of their much needed defensive units.
Ron was eager to leave. He paced the base, signaling for the droids to group up and help with the moving of their new units, "It will take the entire day, hopefully we will done before nightfall" He said to Rev who was always close to his side.
"We aren't organics, we don't need the stars to see at night," Rev replied.
"I know but it would still make things difficult"
R-7B and his squad approached them from the side of the headquarters, he slid his fingers across his blaster as he holstered it onto his back, "We're all ready to go"
Ron stopped in his tracks and turned to them. Their chassis were much dirtier than yesterday after spending the night repairing the drills. Their paint was finally beginning to wear and crack. They all wore the same woodland camo from Felucia. Slowly but surely it had begun to peel off with each passing day. The tiny spots of rust on their body would be unnoticeable to an organic but Ron could see every single one. Even with the chemical solutions they had used to get rid of the rust, it still came back with the frequent storms that passed through the area.
"Once we are finished with this purchase I will see to it that we make some cosmetic purchases," Ron said to Rev privately.
Rev wrote a note in his database, "Everyone's here, those J-1 proton canons don't need much strength"
Ron turned to the freighter. His photo-receptors caught sight of a small dot in the sky that fast-approached their position.
The fighter's metal hull shone in the rays of sunlight shining down on the base. R-56V quickly pulled at the throttle, landing to the side of The Scout.
"Ron! I spotted something, you need to take a look," R-56V said, sending a photo over their radio signal.
Ron felt his power spike at the sight of the distant but easily recognizable form of a Republic light cruiser. It's red paint illuminated clearly by the sun, "Why didn't you call me?" His steps carrying him back to the headquarters.
"I couldn't, I was being jammed," R-56V said.
Ron connected to the channel he had established with all the droids in the sanctuary, "Attention all units, prepare for combat! A Republic light cruiser has been spotted approaching the base"
OOM stood up from the center table inside the headquarters, fast enough to nearly topple it over. He pointed to R-TY and R-V9 sat at a table in the corner of the dome-shaped building, "You two, get on those anti-air turrets"
They spared no time and ran for the doors.
"Ranger, get on the J-1 proton canon immediately!" OOM commanded.
"Roger, roger," Ranger replied, his voice over the radio was accompanied by the sound of his metallic footsteps thumping against the dirt.
R-7B and his squad marched into the armory. He looked behind, a long line formed behind him. They left HQ in an orderly manner, their frequencies and combat protocols syncing up for the first time since the fight against the spiders in the cave.
C-37, giddy with joy, synchronized with C-05 using their new program. Lines of messages filled his internal console. He looked over to C-05 at the exact same time as he did.
"Wow, it really works," C-37 said jogging to the front of the sanctuary.
"Now's not the time be amazed by our programming. Wait for orders from Ron and Rev," C-05 replied.
As if on cue, Ron and Rev approached the front of the sanctuary in front of the freighter.
Ron paced the front of the base, "R-56V, get back in the sky and get ready to fight against their fighters. If my memory serves me right, that cruiser only has enough to send out three ships, the rest are docked somewhere in the middle"
"I'll relay you a photo every minute," R-56V said on his jog over to the fighter, his E-5 blaster holstered on his back.
"Stay alive," Rev said.
"OOM is everyone set up?" Ron questioned him over the radio.
"Almost, I sent the units from Akiva over to the mining operation to defend it," OOM said over the radio. He helped Ranger get accustomed to the controls of the canon at the top of a hill east of the base. It was nestled inside a crowd of trees, hidden from ships above.
"The rest of you disperse into the forest, no doubt they will be shooting on the buildings first," Ron said.
"We'll lose everything if they destroy the base," Rev replied.
"Our most important asset is the mine. It's where all of our credits come from, that is all we need"
The droids followed orders and ran into the forest. Ron and Rev stood at the very edge of the treeline, getting as close to The Scout as they could, ready to jump in and take to the sky.
Johnny and Thomas ran over to them.
"We can fly our own freighter if need be," Johnny said.
"Yes, stand-by close to us," Ron replied, his head lifted up towards the sky.
"Is it the Empire?" Johnny asked, getting in position beside him.
"I don't think so. They aren't using their old ships anymore. All of them should have been converted by now based on what our allied astromech on Boleria told me," Rev replied.
"If it's not the Empire, then we have a chance. Now let's see who wishes to destroy us," Ron said.
Crultekk stood at the helm of the T-shaped command bridge. His wide form nearly blocked the whole view for Nakssa and Krunnoh behind him.
"You stayed true to your word and you didn't try running away," Crultekss said with a hiss, "What a surprise. Head down to the cargo bay and get your weapons ready, we aren't going to do all the work"
Nakssa grunted in response. He dragged Krunnoh along with him, ensuring none of the guards on the far ends of the bridge pulled their blasters on them.
They breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing the doors of the command bridge bang close behind them. Their brief moment of respite was immediately torn away at the sight of two guards that trailed them closely.
"Keep close," Nakssa whispered, tapping on his ears.
Krunnoh nodded, reluctant to say anything.
They moved through the winding hallways, chipped red paint lined the walls just as with every Republic ship. Krunnoh tried his best to memorize the layout but after the first turn, he'd already forgotten most of it. Nakssa on the other hand, knew each room and turn like the back of his hand. Plenty of times, he'd raided a Republic light-cruiser with his old crew. They had always been one of the easier ships to pillage. His memory was still fuzzy, however and at one or two turns he became confused before correcting himself onto the right path. At each stop, the guards behind them would keep close watch.
His mouth twitched as they turned into the cargo bay entrance. The doors were the same semicircular shape. He squinted, his eyes filling in the white paint with burn marks. Krunnoh nudged at his shoulder. He whipped around to look at him in the eyes. Krunnoh pointed to a camera in one of the dark corners of the hallway.
"I know," Nakssa said with a scowl. The doors of the cargo bay opened with a hiss. He peered in. The space was packed with stacked crates organized in neat columns and rows. Each stack led up all the way to the ceiling a few dozen feet or so. The area was dark, only lit with a few dim red lights. The floor was littered with stains of a dark blue liquid. His slit eyes honed in on a set of blasters on a table in front of the stacks of crates.
Nakssa patted at Krunnoh's shoulder, getting his attention. He pointed two fingers to his eyes. Krunnoh nodded. Nakssa grabbed the first blaster pistol, a simple DC-17.
The door behind them slammed shut.
Nakssa growled. In one swift movement he shot out the camera in the center of the cargo bay, "The reactor's at the very back of the ship. We need to pass through a crawlspace to get to it"
Krunnoh checked the entrance, "They locked us in here"
"There should be a crawlspace in the corner," Nakssa replied waving him over. They waded through the rows of crates before coming upon the metal grate. He pulled it loose with all his might, permanently damaging the wall where it had been screwed in.
"You lead the way, I've never been in one of these before"
Nakssa stormed out of the room through the opening and continued to crouch down in a futile attempt to conceal his bulky body.
In the command bridge, Crultekss glanced over at the security monitor, taking notice of the downed camera in the cargo-bay. He turned and called forward Crussk from the corner of the bridge, "Take your usual squad and eliminate Nakssa and Krunnoh"
Crussk brow furrowed, "But they-"
Crultekss grabbed his shoulder and swung him to his side, "Did you really think we were going to let them live after what they did on Zygorath?"
Crussk sighed, "No, we'll get it done"
"Keep that attitude and you'll be next," Crultekss threw him to the ground.
Crussk pulled himself on his feet and gestured at his three usual squad-mates to follow him.
R-56V hovered just above the tree-line, flying at a low enough speed to make a quick landing at any time. His photo-receptors zoomed in on three glints of metal in the distance. The fighters were slim and painted in a green and brown pattern with an upside down V-shape, it's wings extending out and then drooping down as if its blasters were weighing it down. He could just about make out the trandoshans sat in the cockpit.
'Doesn't look like they pack much firepower,' R-56V thought. He scanned his database for all data points he had on star-fighters. Most of them were Republic ships. He looked at a report for a V-wing, 'These should be more similar to a V-wing than anything else,' he thought. He sent a report of his findings to Ron. The distant light-cruiser was speeding towards their position. It was no Republic star-destroyer but it's size would cover the whole of their base in it's shadow. It almost appeared as if it were a miniature star-destroyer powered by three engines wider than the bulk of the main body.
"We're all prepared down here, I wish we could help you up there but these light-freighters would only be a burden rather than a help," Ron said.
"That's alright, I can eliminate them all," R-56V said.
"You don't need to, just keep them in range of the anti-air turrets and we can help from down here," Ron replied.
"Copy that," He noted the range of the anti-air turrets that Ron sent over their line.
The fighters began dipping down towards the base, firing their twin blasters at the headquarters first. They did little damage.
"Open fire," OOM commanded from the outskirts of the sanctuary.
R-TY and R-V9 responded to the attack with a barrage of bolts while keeping watch on the heat levels of the turrets. The thick green bolts flew through the air, splitting up the three fighters from their attack formation.
R-56V throttled to full speed and targeted the ship closest to his position, east of the sanctuary. The fighter vibrated with each shot. His CPU easily tracked the speed and trajectory of the enemy as he flew in a straight line upward, away from the base. His shots met their target but the pilot reacted just as the third bolt struck one of the wings, jerking his ship upward into a roll, putting his blasters right onto R-56V.
The shields of R-56V's fighter dwindled down to fifty percent. He rolled and turned back towards towards the sanctuary, keeping the fighter in his rear view while dodging the incoming fire.
R-TY and R-V9 were having trouble tracking the other two hostiles. Both of them had managed to land a single shot onto the fighters, taking down their shields. They struggled to land another as the trandoshans frantically maneuvered through the air.
R-23E strode into the edge of the treeline and cocked his disruptor rifle ready. He focused on the left-most fighter spinning in frantic circles as the pilot awaited for his shields to return. R-23E's auto-aim program took precedence over all of his other internal functions as he set up the shot. The disruptor rifle he wielded was a slow shot but devastating. He pulled the trigger. The bolt flew forward, inching its way across the skies. For a moment, it was leading against the fighter's path appearing as if it were going to strike the hull of the ship but the pilot sped forward at the last moment, the bolt almost clipping the tail of the fighter.
R-7B came up to R-23E's side with a cable, "Use my CPU to help," he said connecting himself to him.
In the chaos of the green bolts flying through the air along with the fighters wildly flying in unpredictable patterns, R-23E somehow saw a pattern. He pulled the rifle up to his photo-receptors. Time seemed to slow around him upon feeling the extra processing power of R-7B's CPU. He fired a few moments later, the bolt flying through the air, straight through a barrage of green bolts before meeting it's target on the hull of one of the fighters. It burned a hole straight through it. The ship hung in the air, quickly losing momentum until it nosedived into the forest below.
R-TY fired a single barrage, blowing the rest of the immobile ship to pieces, the metal fragments rained down scaring off a flock of birds.
R-V9 aimed at the incoming fighter behind R-56V. It whipped around, bobbing and weaving through the green bolts that narrowly missed R-56V's ship.
"Be careful with that turret!" R-56V said after one of the bolts grazed a wing, burning the very edges.
"Get him to move down," R-V9 replied.
R-56V dipped the fighter in an arc downward. The fighter followed suit right into the line of fire. The green bolts tore the ship in two, completely eviscerating the pilot in the process. A lone blaster pistol managed to escape the carnage, dropping down into the forest below. R-V9 shot at it, his aiming protocols becoming confused.
"Stop firing at the trees! You're going to kill us before the enemy does," OOM said from the edge of the tree-line, swatting at R-V9 from afar.
"Copy," R-V9 replied whipping the turret back up.
"We require R-23E's automatic aiming protocols installed in everybody once this is all over," OOM said off the radio to R-4V beside him.
"I'll make a note of it," R-4V replied, leaning out from the treeline, his head tilted upward to watch the battle above.
R-56V slowed down, making a sharp turn directly to the last remaining fighter. It's shields had recovered, a blue shimmer enveloped the entire ship. The green bolts continued to fly wildly into the air.
"Stop firing, I can deal with him," R-56V said.
OOM ordered them to stop. The green blaster fire completely ceased. It became silent enough for Ron to hear the hiss of the light-cruisers three engines above, "R-7B, you and your squad prepare to board The Scout for a retaliatory strike on that cruiser. Dornan, B-35, join us. We're down one droid with R-56V being in the air. R-4V, keep your squad on the ground with OOM"
His orders were interrupted by a brief barrage of blaster-fire onto the headquarters of the base from the cruiser above. Parts of the roof melted and littered the interior with burn marks.
"They better not hit the workshop, my projects won't survive the attack," R-4V commented.
"Ranger, fire that proton canon on these coordinates and disable their shields and turrets," OOM commanded, sending the coordinates over their signal.
"Right away sir," Ranger replied. He fiddled with the controls, pulling on the left and right levers until the numbers on the computer screen before him lined up exactly with the coordinates. He pushed at a button and was forced back into his seat as a single blue shot fired up straight into the belly of the cruiser. The shot dispersed in a wave of blue static, like a raging storm of blue lightning, "Shields down"
"The area is clear, start boarding," Ron commanded, leading the way to The Scout with Rev. Johnny and Thomas split ways to their freighter.
"I've been waiting for a fight like this since my desertion," Dornan said, his E-5 blaster in hand and vibroblade holstered on his back.
"Meatbags must be terminated regardless of battle or war," B-35 replied, jogging over to The Scout, his heavy stomping feet breaking rocks in half.
OOM ordered R-TY and R-V9 to dismount the anti-air turrets, "I'm not staying down here, Ron," he said running up to The Scout himself, "I need to see my tactics in action"
"Get on board, there's no time to argue," Ron replied pushing him towards the cargo bay, "R-4V you're in charge of the crew down here"
"I will hold the line," R-4V replied from the edge of the treeline, R-TY and R-V9 close behind him.
"Silver and R-G2, get your squads aboard Johnny's freighter. Johnny pilot them up to the right side of that cruiser, we'll board from the left," Rev commanded.
"Already on it," Johnny said running aboard his ship along with Thomas at his side, "I'm sorry, there isn't much room," He said directing Silver's squad aboard. Their metal feet created a cacophony of clanging metal.
"This is fine, better than those MTT's," Silver replied.
"Are you a good pilot? If not I can fly. I don't want to be killed in the air," R-G2 said following Johnny up the stairs to the cockpit.
"I outran an Imperial recon ship while it's tie-fighters chased me, dodging a few bolts should be just as easy," Johnny replied, hopping into the pilot's seat. Thomas stood in the corner, tucking away his blades as best he could, "Although, you could help me in the co-pilot. Thomas there can't really do much with those blades"
R-G2 hopped into the seat beside Johnny who began explaining the ins and outs of the ship's instruments before him.
Ron and Rev settled into their usual routine in their own cockpit, a little more hurried than usual. They were off the ground within seconds, "Eliminate all hostiles once aboard the ship," Ron relayed to the entire attack group.
"I know the layout of this type of cruiser, I have them stored in my database. I will send out the map," OOM said, "Although, this one appears to be a little larger than the ones I've seen. They don't usually have small hangars on either end like that"
"Whatever the case, strike at the command bridge and take down their leader. Perhaps we could use this cruiser ourselves"
"We'd need more droids to man it," Rev replied. The cruiser grew larger and larger in size as they neared the hangar-area. Scars of past battles littered the outer shell. The red paint was visibly worn down and hundreds of blast-marks stained the entirety of the cruiser from end to end. The quad-laser canon turrets guarding the hangars were just as beaten as the rest of the ship.
Ron maneuvered through the sea of incoming bolts from the two turbo-laser turrets at either side of the hangar. He dipped down just out of sight but was forced to conduct evasive maneuvers as the batteries on the ship's underside began firing at his position.
Johnny weaved through the sea of twin batteries on the ship's underbelly, the cockpit lighting up with a torrent of red bolts raining down on them.
"Go ahead with the boarding. Watch those turrets," Ron said weaving through the air in a semicircular pattern.
Johnny pressed forward right into the hangar-area from directly below, the turrets on either side struggled to keep on-target.
The hangars on Ron's end was completely empty, with only enough space for a few small ships at best. The Scout took up the majority of the area, only leaving enough room to dismount the crew.
Johnny reluctantly entered the hanger on his side even though there still remained two fighters.
"Land on them, the shields should hold the damage" R-G2 said.
"If you say so," Johnny replied. The light-freighter crushed both fighters underfoot, turning them into piles of scrap metal.
"Disembark, don't push forward into the ship until I finish a full scan of the area," Ron said to the entire group.
"There's fifty something of them on-board, we can't fight through them all," Krunnoh whispered, trailing in Nakssa's footsteps. Several crew-members had passed their position behind a tower of trash near the tail-end of the cruiser.
"Do I have to remind you who owns this ship? The only person on-board who's scored any major points is Crussk and me. Crultekk only prays on the weak. He's a coward just like everyone here, save for Crussk. He was forced into a deal a long time ago," Nakssa piped down upon seeing the shadow of a crew member pass by, "We'll sneak through where we can and fight through the rest"
Nakssa's head poked out from the pile of trash. He crept along the outskirts of the hallway, his talons creating a clicking sound with every step he took on the metal flooring. He turned the corner and came face to face with a familiar hallway. The red emergency lights were already on, blinking on and off. At the very end of the hall was a rusted and discolored door with the words 'Maintenance' written above it. His arm jerked back to his blaster.
'This is where it happened,' Nakssa thought.
He could almost see the smoke from that day. Like a fog bringing on a malicious presence from the ends of the galaxy. He recalled Crussk's face scrunched up in pain and the sounds of blaster-fire hitting close to his face, illuminating the fog into shades of blue and red. It suddenly ended. A pair of clawed feet appeared before his face, "Get up," A scruffy voice said in his language. The feet shifted over to Crussk, his arms curled around his stomach, "This one was about to surrrender," He heard another voice say, "We should kill you for the shame you bring to us all"
Nakssa felt a violent shaking on his shoulder.
"What are you doing?! Keep going!" Krunnoh said whispering loudly.
Nakssa shook his head and pressed on forward. They came upon the door and waited for it to slide open. Nothing happened.
"This is going to make a lot of noise," Nakssa said grabbing the emergency handle of the doorway and pushing it to one side.
Krunnoh turned around. The sound of multiple claws tapping against metal grew closer. He slapped Nakssa on the back while pulling his blaster, "They're coming"
They pressed up against the right wall, behind a bend in the hall.
Crussk led the way, his blaster up.
Nakssa stepped out from cover right into his line of sight.
"I'm sorry old friend but this is where it ends," Crussk said, his blaster aimed at Nakssa's head.
Krunnoh pulled his second blaster pistol upon seeing another two trandoshans appear from around the corner.
"I figured this day would come," Nakssa said, standing tall in the middle of the hall, "I'll put you out of your misery, Crussk," He steadied his blaster with both hands, "Call it a parting gift"
"Call me sentimental, but I wish we'd met sooner...maybe in another life"
Krigi growled turning from Krunnoh to Crussk beside him, "You two are pathetic old men who've grown soft with age. The Scorekeeper would be disgusted by the sight of this," He turned his blaster to Crussk.
Krunnoh fired at Krigi's head. He slumped down to the ground with a loud thump. He whipped his blaster to the trandoshan on his left, firing a single bolt into his head. His body fell to the floor, head-first.
Crussk's blaster trembled in his hands.
"Let's do this the old fashioned way," Nakssa said holstering his blaster and pulling out his blade. The length of it held the names of those who had wielded it before him.
Crussk gladly holstered his blaster and pulled out his own vibroblade. It's metal was darkened with shades of blue on the grip, "You always were much more honorable than me"
"Stop talking, more fighting," Krunnoh said.
They inched closer and closer to each other, their blades held out before them.
Nakssa charged forward and grabbed at Crussk's hand before he could dodge. He pulled him upward before slamming his blade into Crussk's chest. His eyes widened and his mouth opened to let out a final gasp of pain. Nakssa carried him to the ground, withdrawing his knife.
Krunnoh wordlessly followed him back into the reactor room, "What was that about?" He said, pulling the detonators from his pockets.
"Just plant these where I tell you to," Nakssa replied, his voice much softer than Krunnoh had ever heard before.
Krunnoh set down the first with a satisfying beep.
The intercom blasted on, Crultekss voice came through "All personnel, the enemy is on board. Focus all attention on them, forget their base. Do not retreat, I'll kill you myself if you do"
"Scan's completed," Ron reported, "My sensors estimate around fifty to sixty organics on-board. Eliminate all of them, move on the command-bridge first"
The droids on the left and right sides of the cruiser moved in unison with each other. Their metal feet clanging against the metal below. Thomas moved to the front on the right side along with Warhead of Silver's squad wielding a makeshift shield made of the leftover scraps of metal from the sanctuary. It extended down close to his feet. His head was modified with spikes extending from the tops and sides. On the left, Dornan and B-35 secured the perimeter of the first room. The hallway held no forms of cover, it was barren save for scraps of trash that littered the floor. They came upon the first door and stopped just short of the sensor that would slide it open automatically.
"Meatbags detected," B-35 boomed.
"I'll get into cover," Dornan replied, setting up close to the side of the door.
"Don't stand in front of the doorway, move to the sides," OOM said to the entire group.
Silver repeated his command on the other end.
"There's little cover in here, advance quickly," Ron added.
"Beginning attack," B-35 said, his wrist blaster pointed forward. The doors slid open revealing one set of cover for the trandoshans ahead hastily crafted from a decommissioned turret turned sideways. Five trandoshans hid behind it with more reptiles hidden behind doorways on either sides of the room leading to their barrack's quarters.
B-35 began spraying his shots on the trandoshans set up in the middle of the room, eliminating one as he attempted to return fire. The trandoshans hidden on the sides began returning fire. Some shot at B-35, others at the rest of the group behind him. Dornan crept in from the side, hurrying across the room into the first alcove on the left. He pulled the vibrosword from his back and slashed horizontally, beheading the trandoshan cowering inside who fired back at the last minute. His body jolted and fell back, his finger still squeezing the trigger sending the blaster recoiling upwards, firing into his partner behind him.
R-7B moved to follow Dornan but R-23E pulled him back.
"He is made of titanium, we are not. If you are hit by even one bolt you will overheat and miss the entire fight," R-23E said.
R-7B reluctantly returned to his position.
"Stay with us, you'll get your chance to use that blade one day," C-05 said while firing down the hall.
One-by one the trandoshans fell. With B-35 covering Dornan and R-23E's intermittent firing of his disruptor rifle along with the rest of the droid's barrage of covering fire, none of them had stood a chance.
"Not one of them moved to retreat. These organics are strange but worthy of a good fight," OOM commented as they set up on the next door.
"Agreed," R-7B coming up on his side.
"All clear on the sides," Dornan reported, coming out of the very last room on the left side.
"Move forward," Ron commanded.
OOM surveyed the passageway ahead of them based on the layout contained within his database, "I am unsure if this is the correct depiction of the main passageway but if it is, we will need to obscure their vision. The room is wide open, but the clones would always have a tendency to heavily fortify this position out of any other. These organics must know about such tactics"
"C-5B, C-6C move up. We don't have smoke grenades but we can use those flamethrowers," Ron commanded.
"There's a lot of them," Rev said, reviewing Ron's scan report.
"I estimate twenty or so in this next position, how big is this next area?" Ron asked turning to OOM.
"Wide enough to accommodate several medium-sized ships. This is where the clones would store their transports. The floor opens up and they fly out the bottom," OOM explained.
Ron ran a few simulations, "Silver, what's the situation on your end?"
"We've cleared the first room. We counted ten organics eliminated," Silver reported.
"Sync with me, we will push them at the same time," Ron replied.
C-37 moved forward with C-5B and C-6C behind him, his hand opening and closing over the grip of his blaster. He watched B-35 approach the door. Something in his CPU screamed at him.
"Ron, there's something behind this door," C-37 turning off his photo-receptors for a moment to fully focus on the alert in his system.
"Hold," Ron commanded to the group, "What is it?"
C-37 was silent. His CPU focused on his sensors detecting an object that was very reminiscent of a particular explosive he'd worked with many times in the past, "They're using mines, just in front of the door"
"Don't move forward, Silver," Ron said over the radio.
"Copy that," Silver replied.
"Can you disarm them?" Rev asked. He was situated at the back of the group with Ron and OOM.
"If you can give me cover. If not, we could detonate them," C-37 said.
"We do not possess any sort of smokes, and those flamethrowers would only do so much. Will those mines put a hole in the ship?" OOM asked turning to C-37 on the other side of the hall.
"Don't know. They're small, so maybe not"
"Detonate them, we are wasting time here," OOM replied, his grip on his blaster tightening. His CPU was fired up and working at full utilization.
"I'll give some covering fire with B-35," R-7B said, readying his DC-15 heavy blaster.
B-35 carefully stepped forward, opening up the doorway while the rest of the group took cover in the alcoves and rooms behind him.
Just as OOM had said, the main hallway had been heavily fortified. Two turret nests stood at the far ends of the room constructed on top of two platforms that overlooked the entire area. The gunners were guarded by makeshift metal shields with a U-shaped hole in the middle. The rest of the area was littered with metal shields that spanned several feet horizontally.
Within a second of the doors opening, C-37 fired on the first mine he saw. The explosion sent metal fragments flying in all directions. A few trandoshans that had been watching the doorway were killed by stray pieces of shrapnel that entered their skull and eyes.
The trandoshans responded with a torrent of blaster-fire.
On the other end of the ship. Thomas stood at the doorway with Johnny holding onto his upper arm to pull him back if need be.
"Advance," Silver commanded.
Thomas stepped forward, being met with a similar sight of enemies and turret nests.
R-G2 fired his blaster on a mine, sending metal fragments flying back into the trandoshans, wounding a few that had been moving positions.
"Don't move in just yet," Silver said, "Warhead, get a sticky detonator on that turret nest on the right"
"Right away," Warhead said, pulling a detonator from his waist. He pushed up to the very edge of the doorway, putting his shield down in front of him. The turret unleashed a barrage at it, threatening to melt it down. Warhead threw the detonator directly onto the shield of the gunner. The trandoshan, in the chaos of his heavy blaster firing, never saw the detonator. It blew up, breaking the shield in two and sending one half directly into the neck of the gunner. He clawed at his neck, collapsing on the floor, writhing in pain.
"Thomas, there's a stack-a crates over there on the left. I'll cover for you," Johnny said, pulling up his blaster to his metal chin.
"I'm moving," Thomas replied. Using his blades as shields, he sprinted forward, his speed betraying his size. He leapt onto a trandoshan hidden behind cover, bringing one wrist blade overhead directly onto the eye of the enemy. The reptile dropped his blaster in shock and grabbed at the blade embedded in his head. He fell limp in Thomas' arm a few moments later. He used the body as a shield against incoming fire and discarded it once he took cover against the crates as more blaster fire poured in on his position.
"Cover me," Johnny said, patting Deadeye on the shoulder.
"I've got you," Deadeye said, turning his attention to the left side of the room. He pulled his modified E-5 blaster up to his shoulder.
Johnny raced forward once Deadeye began his firing. His feet suddenly became entangled on the body of a fallen trandoshan. He fell forward straight onto his metal stomach, still clinging on tight to his blaster. Thomas leapt forward, pulling him into a bear hug before any of the incoming blaster bolts could hit Johnny. His temperatures rose with the barrage of bolts that hit his back as he sprinted back into cover.
"Thanks," Johnny said, crouching beside him.
"You saved me, I am returning the favor," Thomas replied.
Some of the trandoshans had turned to face Johnny and Thomas while the others continued to spray into Silver's position. Deadeye took advantage of the distraction and fired a single round into one of the trandoshan's head, sending him crashing to the ground. He rapid-fired another two head-shots on another set of enemies nearby.
"Your aim hasn't degraded yet, even after so much time being away from combat," Silver commented while spraying into the room.
"It only improves in my downtime," Deadeye replied.
The incoming fire decreased in frequency as the trandoshans took count of their losses. They began to talk among themselves in their native language.
"Dosh, that's the name of their language," Silver said, attempting to decipher their conversations, "They're regrouping further into the room, move in now, R-G2"
"We're going," R-G2 said, leading the way. His squad sprinted into the room heading straight for a scrapped fighter the organics had been using for cover on the right side. Deadeye took out the turret gunner to their left with a headshot. The trandoshan's head let out a small puff of smoke before falling to the ground.
His superior eye noticed something, 'They aren't retreating...they're moving forward'
From the milisecond his CPU sent out the signal for his vocalizer to activate, it was already too late.
R-G2 never noticed the bolt that came flying at him landing directly onto his head. He instantly fell to the ground, his body tangling into a pile of metal.
C-8H fell to his side and began to pull him into cover only to stop once he saw the smoke coming from his head, "Oh, I-I think he's dead"
The sound of a much more powerful blaster rang out, burning a hole in C-8H's head.
C-J2 slide behind the fighter. He looked to the bodies of his fallen squad-mates and pulled them both in with his feet. A stray bolt from the same blaster as before hit his foot. He ran his CPU at full efficiency, calculating the distance and position of the attacker. Leaping out, he fired a few shots, one burned into the head of the trandoshan that had fired at him at the very back of the room. The rest of the trandoshans were forced back into cover as Warhead pushed into the area, spraying the entire left-side with his modified E-5 blaster. He pulled a detonator from his waist and threw it into the middle of the trandoshan's position. The explosion sent a few of them flying in their air, their bodies becoming deformed from the fragments of metal that ripped through their scales. Another trandoshan sprinted for the turret and began firing on C-J2, littering his body and head with bolts as he covered the bodies of R-G2 and C-8H.
R-6Y, assessing the situation before him, leapt out from behind the scrapped fighter and sprinted for the turret just ahead of his position. He sloppily fired his blaster with one hand into the head of a trandoshan that had ran for the turret, and took position on the gun. His CPU brought up memories of his first operation on Geonosis and suddenly he was already accustomed to the feel of the heavy blaster turret before him. He whipped it around to the organics further inside the room and fired a barrage at them, he counted three being peppered with bolts before he was forced to take cover as the others retaliated.
"Get in here! I can cover you!" R-6Y said to Silver.
"We were pinned down give us a second," Silver replied, syncing up with Deadeye. A sudden tingling of heat peppered his chest and abdomen, a mimicry of Deadeye's systems. He looked over to the unconscious body of Deadeye. He pulled him into the room where he was positioned.
"Ron, I'm taking heavy losses. I will send a signal if my death comes," Silver said over their comms-line.
"Who's down?" Ron said, peppering the room ahead of him with blaster fire as Dornan moved in.
"R-G2 and most of his squad is dead except for R-6Y and Deadeye has overheated. Johnny and Thomas are pinned down. I'm going to advance in a moment"
Ron's CPU began to overheat but with a violent purge of unnecessary thoughts and process he regained control, "Hold out, we will try our best to eliminate the organics as quick as we can over here"
C-37 attempted to throw his incendiary grenade for the second time but was forced back by a barrage of fire coming from the turret on the right-side of the room. He banged his fist against the wall in frustration and pulled his blaster back out, reluctantly returning fire with C-05 at his side in one of the barracks quarters.
R-7B turned to Dornan and watched in awe as he slid forward and began to dance around the trandoshans as if friction ceased to exist. His movements were a blur, the only sounds he could hear from him being the swooshing of the air and the cutting of scales.
He glanced at the turret gunner on the left go down thanks to a precise shot from R-23E and immediately pulled up his heavy blaster and laid down covering fire as he pushed up himself into another over-turned turret.
"Where are you going! Stop!" OOM shouted over the radio.
"Wait!" R-23E said grabbing for him, he reluctantly followed him forward even as a few blaster bolts hissed close to his face.
A few meters before sliding into cover, he felt his entire body lock up. His CPU spiked in heat, 'No! This can't happen now'
The turret gunner whipped his blaster around to R-23E's immobile body after suppressing C-05 and his squadron.
He felt the bolts litter his body, his CPU sent one final warning message before he shutdown.
R-7B watched the scene play out in horror, "No!"
He brought his blaster up to his head and fired a burst into the turret gunner's head. The gunner collapsed onto the ground, smoke coming off of his head.
R-7B moved forward and grabbed R-23E's body, pulling him back towards OOM's outstretched arms. He tossed his body to him before a flurry of bolts pushed him to the floor, shutting him down.
"This battle isn't going to end as quickly as the others is it?" Rev said turning to Ron.
Ron was struggling to contain his artificial emotions, "No, I don't think it will"