Author's Note: I inspect listening posts with Cody and Rex in this chapter. How will my presence affect what happens at the Rishi Moon outpost? Read and find out.
Chapter 7: Enemy Sneak Attack
The war continued to affect many innocent systems, and the trouble The Malevolence gave us showed we couldn't be too prepared for a Separatist strike. Many new Clone Troopers were being sent into action from Kamino before they had fully completed their training. Many of these troops were posted at the Republic listening posts. They aimed to alert the Republic when Separatist forces moved toward our systems. One of the most important posts was the one on the Rishi Moon. The Rishi Maze was the system just beyond Kamino. If the Separatists managed to get past it. They could attack Kamino and deal a terrible blow to the Republic's war efforts. Captain Rex, Commander Cody, and I were inspecting the various outposts around the Outer Rim as a high member of the Jedi Council and a high-ranking Jedi General. It was part of my responsibility to help with such important inspections. "Cody," I said. "Contact Generals Kenobi and Skywalker. Give them an update on our inspections." "Yes, Sir," Cody said. He made the transmission to the Resolute. "General Kenobi, General Skywalker," I heard him say. "Cody, how goes the inspections?" Obi-Wan asked. "The tracking station in Pastil is fully operational," Cody reported. "General Jones, Captain Rex, and I are proceeding to the outpost in the Rishi System." "Good," Obi-Wan said. "Report back once you've arrived." "Copy that," Cody said. "Cody out." Cody, Rex, and I were traveling in a special Republic shuttle. As we approached the Rishi system, I began to feel a disturbance in the Force. "Sir, what's wrong?" Rex asked. "A disturbance in the Force," I replied. "I sense that we may be heading into trouble with this next inspection. "What sort of trouble, sir?" Rex asked. "I'm not sure," I said. "Cody, contact the base and let them know we're on approach." "Yes, sir," Cody said. "Rishi outpost, this is Commander Cody. Do you copy?" There was no response. "Rishi outpost, please respond," Cody tried again. "Keep trying, Cody," I said. "Rishi outpost come in. Rishi outpost, come in," Cody said frantically. Suddenly, the helmet of a clone appeared on the communicator. "Sorry, Commander," he said. "We're, um, experiencing technical difficulties." "This is the inspection team," Cody said. "Inspection?" the clone said, clearly surprised. "Negative, negative. We uh, do not require an inspection. Everything is fine here. Thank you." "We'll be the judge of that," I said. "Prepare for our arrival at once." "Roger, Roger," the clone said and ended the transmission. "Something's not right here," Rex said. "Just what I was thinking, Rex," I said. "Good luck to you because it's your turn to be in charge." I smiled cheekily, knowing Rex wasn't going to like that.
When we approached the Rishi Moon, it was the night cycle. The base was located at the top of a canyon where they had a clear view of the outer space above. "Steady does it, Rex," I said. Fortunately, the platform had some light to guide him. After we landed, Cody and Rex put on their helmets and grabbed their guns. I put on my cloak and ensured my lightsaber was within easy and quick reach. I had a feeling that this wouldn't be a routine inspection. As we exited the shuttle, there was no one to greet us, which was not a good sign. "This is not good," Rex said. "I don't see the deck officer anywhere. "These boys are sloppy," Cody said. "There should always be an officer on duty." "I'm not sure if the boys are sloppy, Cody," I said. "I have a sense of impending danger in the Force. Something is not right here." We walked to the front door with Rex on my right and Cody on my left. The doors opened, and a trooper came out. Though his presence felt strange. I wasn't the only one with the jitters. "I have a bad feeling about this," Rex said. The trooper walked up to us. "Welcome to Rishi, General," he said. "As you can see, the outpost is operating at peak efficiency. Thank you for visiting and have a safe trip back." His hand motions as he spoke were bizarre indeed. I could sense that Rex and Cody realized that as well. "We need to inspect the base just the same," Cody said. As we moved forward again, the trooper held up his hands. "Uh, there is no need," he tried to say. "Everything is fine and fully operational." I didn't need the Force to tell me something was wrong here. "Take us to the sergeant in command," Rex said. "Roger, Roger," the trooper said. Suddenly, there was a red light behind us. The three of us looked back and saw a flare shoot up from the canyon below. "A droid attack flare," Cody said. I turned to the imposter and drew my lightsaber, but Rex beat me to the punch. He shot him right in the head, and the imposter fell right on his back. "Whoa! Rex!" Cody said. "What the heck are you doing?" "Nothing of consequence, Cody," I said as I deactivated my lightsaber but kept it in my hand. Rex knelt down and removed the helmet to reveal a droid in the armor. "Just as I thought," Rex said. "Look like one of those new commando droids." The BX commando droids were special battle droids the Separatists had recently developed. They were agile and were fierce fighters. They were mostly designed for ambush, infiltration, and surprise attacks. They were good enough to face even us Jedi. Thankfully, my source revealed they were too costly for the Separatists to mass-produce, or we'd be in trouble. "That flare must have come from the survivors," Cody said. "Then I suggest we find them before the droids do," I said. However, the droids ended up finding us first. Commando droids appeared all around us, firing their blasters at us. "Ambush," Rex said. Rex and Cody did their best to return fire as I activated my lightsaber again to deflect enemy fire.
Cody had a direct hit on one of the droids, but it didn't do much. "Aah! Those clankers have tough armor," he said. "I doubt it'll stand against this," I said. I jumped toward the commando droid and cut it in half with my lightsaber. Then, I jumped around the platform and did the same to several more. While I took care of droids on one side, Cody and Rex were able to focus on droids on the other side. I had finished off the droids by the door and was coming to help Rex and Cody with the droids nearest to our shuttle. I was cutting up more droids when I heard the door to the base open again. More commando droids came out, and they threw thermal detonators almost before I knew it. "Off the platform. Now!" I ordered. "Copy that," Cody said. As the grenades exploded, Cody, Rex, and I jumped off and pulled out our climbing cables. We used them to grapple to the bottom of the platform and hid there. I heard the droids walking around looking for us as the explosions died. "No sign of them," I heard one say. "They must have been pulverized. Resume defensive posts." "Roger, Roger," I heard the others reply. I looked at Rex and Cody and gave them a nod. We descended on our cables to the canyon below. We jumped off and retracted our cables once we were close to the ground. "Well, that sure complicates things, General," Rex told me. "No worse than that time on Tibrin," Cody said. "Nothing could be worse than that," I said. The Battle of Tibrin was a terrible loss for the Republic. Count Dooku killed the old dictator and won the loyalty of the native Ishi Tib people. After they joined the Separatist Alliance, several Jedi, including myself, launched a fierce invasion to retake the system for the Republic. However, the resistance from the Ishi Tibs was stronger than anticipated, and we lost a lot of good men. At that point, I ordered a full retreat from Tibrin, letting them rot under Separatist rule. "We had more of your fellow Jedi on Tibrin," Rex pointed out. "They helped." "Still, at least I'm here now, and that will even the odds a mite," I said. As we looked at the burning wreckage of our shuttle that had fallen off the platform, Rex held his hand up. I could sense a few contacts walking toward us. I activated my lightsaber in case it was more droids. Rex and Cody made ready to fire again. "Hold fire," I said as I deactivated my saber. Three clone troopers emerged from the flaming wreckage. "Hand above your heads. Take your sun bonnets off," Rex said. The troopers all put their hands up. "Easy, Rex," I said. "I can sense these are the survivors." "How can you tell, sir?" Cody asked. "It's not hard to sense the difference between a droid and a lifeform through the Force," I said. "If you quiet your mind. You'll be able to do the same thing." I put my lightsaber away and walked to the survivors. "Please remove your helmets to show you are brothers," I said. Each trooper did so, and just as I expected, they had a clone's face underneath. "Rex, Cody, take your helmets off, too," I ordered. Rex and Cody obeyed naturally. Before we could get to the introduction, however, a giant Rishi Eel Worm appeared. Again, Rex beat me to the punch by shooting the damn thing right in the head. I fell dead on the ground. "Nice shot," said one of the survivors. "The name's Rex," he said as he inspected his kill. "But you'll call me 'Captain' or 'Sir.'" "Sir, yes sir!" the troopers said. "I'm Commander Cody, your new boss," Cody said. "And this is General Jones, boss of all of us." I bowed to the survivors. "What are your names, troopers?" I asked. "My designation is Trooper 27-5555, sir," one said. "We call him 'Fives,'" said another. "I'm Hevy. This is Echo." He gestured to the clone behind him.
"Pleased to meet you all," I said. "I wish I was it under better circumstances, though." "Where's your sergeant?" Cody asked. "Dead, sir," Echo said. "We're all that's left." "Look like we got ourselves a batch of shinnies, Commander," Rex said. "Shinnies, sir?" Hevy asked. "That's right," Rex said. "Your armor, it's shiny and new, just like you," Rex put his hand on Echo's armor and left a dirty hand print. I laughed inside. "I assure you; Captain Rex means that in the best way possible," I said. "Sir, my batchers and I are trained and ready," Hevy said. "We'll take back our post, shiny or not." "There's hope for you yet, rookie," Rex said. "Let's just hope yet for the Republic," I said. After everyone put their helmets back on. We began to climb up the canyon wall towards the post. When we reached the top, Rex turned to the rookies. "Look, sharp rookies," he said. "As long as those tweezers occupy this post. Our home planet of Kamino is at risk. He handed his DC-15A blaster to Echo, and Cody handed his blaster to Fives. Hevy had a DC-17 blaster pistol. Rex shares one of his with Cody. "But there's so many of them," Echo said. "Doesn't matter, kid," Rex said. "We have to retake this base, so we will retake this base." Echo, Fives, and Hevy cogged their guns, ready for orders. "How do you propose we get through those blast doors, Rex, old boy?" Cody asked. "I could cut us a way inside," I said, activating my saber. "With respect, General, I think I have a better idea," Rex said. When he told me his idea, I was proud. As the rest of us hid at the sides of the door, Rex walked up to it, acting like he was a commando droid in disguise. "Unit 2-6 is that you," I heard a droid say over the door speaker. The door security camera popped out and blinked at Rex. I couldn't believe Rex's trick seemed to be working partly because the droids were too stupid to remember that Rex's armor differed from what the commando droid used. "Roger, Roger," Rex said. "You sound strange," I heard the droid say. "Is something wrong with your vocabulator?" "Roger, Roger," Rex said again. "Take off your helmet," the droid said. "Let me see your faceplate." "Roger, Roger," Rex said. He ducked down below the camera and then held up the head of one of the dead commando droids. "This is never gonna work," Cody said, shaking his head. "Not if you don't keep quiet," I told him. Amazingly, the droids opened the door. "Clones," I heard one exclaim. "Roger, Roger," Rex said before he shot one of the droids. Cody and Echo came out and shot the other two. "Good work now, let's move," I said. I drew my lightsaber and went to the front. We ran through the base until we reached the stairs to the command center. "Permission to take point, sir?" Echo asked. "Rank seniority, son," I said. "Cover me while I put on a show for you." Echo nodded, and I ran up the stairs, surprising the droids. Some tried to shoot me, but I deflected while the clones shot back at them. I sliced through several of the droids until I came to those armed with vibroswords. These swords were made from durasteel with a particular metal called cortosis. Cortosis is a rare metal from the planets of Dinzo and Mokivj. The most unique thing about it is that cortosis is strong enough to resist lightsabers. The ancient Sith Empire made Sith Swords similar to these. However, that special blade was nothing without the actual skill to use it, which the commando droids had none. They may have parried me once or twice before I sliced them to pieces. Before I knew it, we had dealt with all the droids in the base. Everyone took off their helmets, and I put my saber away. "Not so tough now, are you, Sparky?" Hevy said. I just had to simile. Cody checked the computers. "Get to the window," he said. "It looks like we have more visitors." We all scrambled up to the window and looked up. Using the binoculars I had in my belt. I took a closer look. "It's a Separatist fleet," I said. There were several Munificent-Class cruisers with two Lucrehulks. "That's why they commandeered the outpost," Cody said. "They're mounting a full-scale invasion." "If they attack Kamino. It would mean all your brothers back home will be in danger," I said. "We have to warn command," Rex said.
Echo went down to the computers to see what he could do. "Those clankers sabotaged our transmitter, and they hard-wired the all-clear signal," he said. "It'll take time to repair." "We don't have time, trooper," I said. "Look," Cody added. A droid dropship was landing on the platform. Hevy ran back up to the window. "Well, buddy," Fives said. "You said you always wanted to be on the front lines." "It's not nearly as fun as you may think," I said. A squad of b1 and super battle droids marched from the dropship. "We can't protect that outpost for long against that army of clankers," Cody said. "Even if we managed to all off the droids in that ship," I said. "Grievous will send more once he knows something is up." "Then we'll destroy the outpost instead," Rex said. Even I was surprised by Rex's suggestion. "But, sir," Echo protested. "Our mission is to defend this facility at all costs." "We have to warn the Republic about the invasion," Rex said. "They'll take notice when the all-clear signal stops." "Captain Rex has a point," I said. "That's right," Fives said. "When they stop receiving our beacon, they'll get the message something's wrong." "We'll need every thermal detonator in the inventory," Rex said. "It'll take more than a few detonators to destroy this outpost," Hevy pointed out. "We can use the LT," Echo suggested. "This moon freezes for over half the year. We use liquid tibanna as fuel to heat the base." "Liquid tibanna: highly explosive," Cody said. "It would blow this place so high that the Republic would have to notice," I added. "Good. Bring the tanks here and prime the detonators," Rex said. "Also, let's see what ammunition is left in the supply," I said. "We may need it to hold off the droids while we prime the detonators." The three rookies gathered around Rex, Cody, and me. "All right, listen up," Rex said. "There's only one target of interest in this sector: Kamino. It's the closest thing we clones have to a home." "If the Separatists invade that, the Republic will lose its most vital resource, its troops," I said. "We can't let that happen." "Today, we fight for more than the Republic," Rex said. "Today, we fight for all our brothers back home. Understood?" "Sir, yes, sir," the rookies said together. "Then arm yourselves, boys," I said. "Now is the time to fight." Everyone put on their helmets, and we went to the supply to see what weapons were available. "I think we can even the odds a bit, Commander," Hevy said. "Especially since they don't know we're here." He picked up a Z-6 rotary blaster cannon. "This one here is mine," he laughed. "Big gun doesn't make a big man," Cody reminded him. "Just take what you feel will help," I said. "We'll need all we can get to win the coming fight." As Rex and Echo positioned the tanks of liquid tibanna. Cody, Fives, Hevy, and I went to the door to greet our new guests.
One battle droid hit the communicator on the door. "Reinforcements reporting," he said. "Open up." I opened the door to reveal Hevy with his heavy gun. "Didn't say please," he said and fired, knocking out several droids. Cody, Fives, and I came out to back him up. I deflected as Fives threw a denotator and blew up several droids. Then I jumped forward and cut up several more. Then, more droids exited the ship. "Fall back and lock the door," I ordered as I fell back to them. The droids blasted their way through the door and continued their attack. "Fall back to the operations center. I'll cover you," I said. Cody led Fives and Hevy back to the center of the base as I held off the droids as well as I could. I used the Force to push several of them back, thus creating a barricade that would slow the rest of the droids down a mite. I ran back to the ops center. "Rex report," I said. "The detonator isn't working, sir," Rex said. "I'll see what I can do," I said. "You and Cody get the rookies to safety." "But, sir," Rex said. "We can't leave you here." "I'll be fine. You boys get out of here, and that's an order," I said. "Yes, sir," Rex said. Fives showed them how they got out before. They went into a maintenance vent that led down to the canyon below. I did what I could with the remote and the detonator, but the two refused to connect. That's when I knew I'd need to activate it differently. As I heard the battle droids getting closer, I got an idea. I hid myself near the window. "The base is ours again, sir," one battle droid said to the commander. "The clones and the Jedi are fleeing." "Cowards," said the commander. "Secure the area." "Already done," I said as I exited my hiding place. I jumped on them and began to slice them up again. As I fought, I got a call from Rex. "General, you need to get yourself out of there," he said. "Are you guys all safe?" I asked as I deflected enemy fire. "Yes, sir," Rex replied. "Good, I'm coming down," I said. I jumped to the window and used Force Lighting to zap the tibanna tanks. I smashed the window with my saber and jumped to the canyon below. I knew my lighting would take a moment to activate the detonator and set off the explosives. That gave me time to jump clear of the explosions. I stabbed my lightsaber into the side of the cliff to slow my descent until I met back up with the men.
We all had to take cover as the flaming wreckage of both the base and the Separatist dropship came down around us. I used the Force to redirect the wreckage away from us. "I always did hate that place," Hevy said. We all laughed. "That was a stunt worthy of General Skywalker himself, sir," Rex said. We all laughed again. I could see with my binoculars that the Republic fleet had arrived. They were turning the Separatist fleet away. Echo saw the same with some binoculars on his helmet. "We've got those tinnies on the run," he said. "Thanks to you, General," Fives said. "It was a team effort trooper," I said. Suddenly, we all heard a welcoming sound. "Gunships," Rex said. "We're getting off this crater, boys." I swung my lightsaber like a signal so the gunships would know where to find us. They came right for us, and soon, we were all back on the Resolute. I assigned Hevy, Fives, and Echo to Anakin and Rex in the 501st Legion. We held a small awards ceremony in the hangar of the Resolute. "On behalf of the Republic, we thank you for your valiant service," Obi-Wan said. "And we honor the sacrifice of your comrades." "Your new unit is lucky to have you," Anakin added. We each placed a medal on Hevy, Fives, and Echo. "I'd be proud to fight beside you anytime, anywhere," Anakin said. "That goes double for me," I added. We bowed as they saluted us. Obi-Wan, Anakin, and I walked off to figure out what to do next. Rather than rebuild the base, I chose to have a strong blockage set up at Kamino to protect the system. Hopefully, the Separatists would think twice before they threatened it again. Though I knew in my heart, this was just the start. When they found a new way to hit us, they would. We just needed to be prepared for whatever it was.