Chapter 4
Originally, the plan was for the main bulk of the clone forces to distract the CIS on the outside, while a small strike force infiltrated the building, made their way into the mines, incapacitate the Count and then make their way out. If only things were that simple.
The 212th had assembled as much of their remaining forces as they could spare and marched on the Separatist hold out, while Anakin and a team of soldiers from the 501st had been tasked to infiltrate the City Hall via the old sewer network, cutting their way into the infrastructure and making their way down to the mines.
As the 212th got into position, Obi-Wan and Cody crouched behind a downed pillar with a pair of macrobinoculars each, giving the stronghold a final once over in person. They hadn't been exaggerating when they said that it had been turned into a fortress. There were a dozen snipers covering the rooftops overlooking the square, on the ground there were multiple barricades set up, presumably to stop any heavy tanks from getting through, and a battalion of droids stationed at various intervals around the square, and if they had to hazard a guess, there would be just as many on the inside waiting for them. It was most definitely a lose/lose situation for the clone forces, but that wasn't going to stop them.
"It's going to be tough breaking through their fortifications sir, they've really stepped it up with this one" Cody commented.
"Then that's what we'll have to do as well" Obi-Wan replied before activating his wrist comm, "Anakin, are you ready down there?".
"Ready and waiting Obi-Wan, just give us the signal, we're starting to get bored down here" Anakin quipped back over the feed.
Obi-Wan rolled his eyes "Stand by" he replied before getting into position, discarding his brown robe, leaving him in only his beige coloured tunic, "Cody, get the snipers into position".
"Yes sir" Cody said before activating his own communications unit "Sharpshot, you and your boys take out those snipers, quietly"
A quiet "Yes sir" was heard over the line before a series of shots were taken by the clone snipers from their vantage points. Streaking quickly but quietly through the sky, and with deadly precision, each droid sniper was taken out before they could comprehend their situation, and more importantly, before they could contact their ground forces.
"Time to move in" Obi-Wan said before contacting the tank hidden a few clicks behind them "Take out the barricades, now!"
A series of shots fired over their heads, striking down the barricades built by the droids, turning them into nothing more than smoke and rubble.
"Now it's our turn" Obi-Wan told Cody as he ignited his lightsaber, the deep blue blade activating with a snap hiss.
Cody turned to his men and signaled to move forwards "Now men, forward!"
The combined might of the 501st and the 212th mustered, stepping out of their positions and down the streets as the the red blaster bolts of the droid forces sailed towards them, forcing them to take cover next to downed chunks of debris big enough to shield them, firing back on them, their blue blaster bolts streaking towards the droids.
Each side traded volleys of blaster fire, neither one willing to give ground, picking each other off with deadly precision. Obi-Wan was up in front, his mastery of the defensive lightsaber form proving detrimental to the Republic's progress, with practiced ease he deflected every blaster bolt that came close to him or his men, sometimes redirecting them back at the enemy with pinpoint accuracy, allowing the force to guide his actions, the blade of his lightsaber acting as a cerulean shield, never straying as far it should and always hitting its mark.
A few battle droids decided to be brave and charge forward, which would prove to be their undoing as Obi-Wan streaked forwards, and with a flick of his wrist he sliced through the neck of one droid before angling to deflect a shot into the head of one behind him, then shifting his focus to the B-2 unit in front of him. Drawing on the power of the force, he leaped up into the air before bringing his saber down into the droid's chassis, cutting it in half. Composing himself, he resumed a defensive stance once more before spotting more droids approaching, this time being accompanied by destroyer droids equipped with shields. Obi-Wan managed to deflect a few blasts back but the shielding made it difficult and they were too far away for the force to be effective.
"Droid poppers incoming!" a voice called out from behind, and Obi-Wan ducked out of the way as the grenades were thrown his way, landing near the feet of the droids. After a split second, they activated, the shock emitted from the grenade disabling the robotic beings around it, collapsing them to the floor and with a few extra shots for good measure, the clones pressed on as Obi-Wan rallied back with Commander Cody.
"D'you think Skywalker got the signal from down there sir?" Cody asked after plugging a droid with a laser bolt.
"Oh don't worry" Obi-Wan quipped back, "If I know Anakin, he's probably half way down the mine shaft by now".
The Jedi and the Commander continued on, mowing down as many hostiles as they were able to, hoping that their plan had worked…
Meanwhile…
The bulk of the droid occupation had rushed to the front line in an effort to repel the Republic's assault while a few units were left behind to secure the rest of the building. Two solitary B-1 units stood alert in one of the building's many corridors, in front of a blast door that led into one of the offices on the lower floor.
"How d'you think it's going out there?" one of them asked.
"I don't know but I hope it's over soon" the other replied "I'm in desperate need for an oil bath, my parts are seizing up"
"Yeah, me too" the first one said before the door behind them slid open with a hiss, and before either could react or raise an alarm, the blue blade of a lightsaber sliced through them one at a time, rendering them useless.
Anakin Skywalker stepped out of the doorway and inspected the corridor before giving an all clear signal to the clones to come through, one by one the team came up through the hole that Skywalker had cut into the floor from the sewer system and out into the corridor, checking the area thoroughly.
"Alright men, let's get moving, I need some of you to find the communications centre and shut it down so the droids can't communicate with each other, the rest will come with me to the main hall." Anakin ordered.
Three troopers split off from the group while the rest followed the General, stealthily treading through the halls of the building while trying to avoid detection for as long as possible, at least until the communications array was dealt with.
"Sir, clankers up ahead" Captain Rex informed.
"Take 'em out Rex, quietly" Anakin instructed, watching as Rex and a trooper called Kano took aim, and within a blink of an eye dispatching each of them with well aimed shots to the head.
"Good job boys, let's move" Anakin said as Rex gestured to the squad behind him to follow.
They made their way through the corridor and up a flight of stairs as Rex's wrist comlink blinked with an emerald light.
"Sir, signal from the boys upstairs, they must've taken out the communications centre" Rex informed Anakin.
"Good, now let's g-" Anakin got out as the door opened and exposed them to the main hall, once a shining place of stability for the Christophsians now a wreck, which was currently occupied by a mixed group of battle droids and commando droids, guarding a giant chasm in the ground.
The droids started firing on the clone unit as soon as they spied them through the door, forcing the clones to have to narrowly dodge blaster fire as they came through the door, taking cover behind whatever was currently available.
Rex personally scrapped 3 units before he noticed General Skywalker engaging the commando droids units, 5 in total, who had managed to surround him near the main entrance way, all armed with vibroswords.
Anakin stood readily in the center, waiting for them to make the first move. It wasn't long before the one standing directly behind him charged forward, aimed to stab him in the back. Anakin intercepted this attack by swiping behind him, batting the blade away and into a riposte, slashing the droid's head off and using the force to blast it's body into the unit standing next to it, two birds with one stone.
Now with three opponents left, he used the force to lift two of them into the air, crushing both of them with a clench of his fist, while the one in the middle began to charge at him. As they dropped, the final droid slashed at Anakin, who dodged and weaved out the way of its first couple of strikes before catching its blade with his own, using his leverage to twist the sword out of the droid's mechanical hands. And with an overhead swing, Anakin cut down the middle of the commando droid, its parts collapsing dumbly to the floor.
Turning around, the Jedi focused on the droids on the balcony, pulling them over the edge and watching as they screamed their way down the crater in the floor, their mechanical voices echoing before fading away into the darkness.
"Rex, have your men secure the exits, no droid gets in or out" Anakin ordered.
"Right away General" Rex obeyed.
Anakin then produced his comlink and contacted Obi-Wan on the outside. The sound of blaster fire and the disorientated shouting of clone troopers emanated from the device before the voice of his old master came through.
"Anakin, glad to see you're still with us, how much progress have you made?"
"We infiltrated and took care of the security left in the building master" Anakin informed him "And we've made our way to the main entrance hall, looks like we were right, the Separatists have mined downwards into the old mine shaft. Looks to be about 30 feet at least".
"Good work" Obi-Wan replied "Just hold your position for now, we'll be along shortly, the outside battlements are proving tougher than they look".
Anakin frowned
"But Dooku is down there master, if we wait any longer we risk the chance of him getting away!"
"Don't let your personal vendetta get in the way Anakin" Obi-Wan scolded as he deflected blaster fire "He is too powerful for you alone and he could have more reinforcements down there with him for all we know".
"But-" Anakin started impatiently before being cut off.
"You will hold your position until I arrive young one!" Obi-Wan lectured "You will not jeopardize this mission for the sake of getting even, understood?"
Anakin blazed with anger before cutting off the transmission, determination set in his eyes as he scanned the room, then taking off his comlink before eyeing the chasm.
Outside, Obi-Wan waited for a reply, but there was no answer.
"Anakin? Do you copy? Anakin!" he shouted.
He had a bad feeling about this. He then tried contacting Captain Rex.
"Captain, where is General Skywalker? He isn't answering my calls".
"Uhhh…Sir, I hate to be the one to tell you this, but…" Rex hesitantly spoke.
"But what?" Obi-Wan questioned, already fearing the answer.
"Skywalker jumped down ahead of us, he never said a word, he just…left".
Obi-Wan heaved a long, exasperated sigh.
Before long, the Republic managed to break their way through the Separatist barrier and into the entrance hall, where Rex and his team stood waiting.
"I'm sorry sir but we couldn't stop him, he had already jumped before any of us noticed" Rex apologised.
"It's alright Captain, you and Cody supervise getting the descension cables prepped, if I know Anakin he'll have gotten into a heap of trouble by now" Obi-Wan instructed "I'll go down first and see if I can catch up to him".
"Sir, yes sir" both Rex and Cody echoed before rushing off.
Obi-Wan eyed the chasm in the floor and stood still a moment before taking a great leap forward, feeling the effect of gravity's pull almost immediately as he descended, the air rippling through his windswept hair and robes. He fell further, and further. 5 feet. 10 feet. 20 feet. 25 feet.
As he sensed the nearing of the bottom, he called upon the force to soften his landing, using the momentum to fling him into a forward roll before stopping himself, while simultaneously activating his lightsaber to light up the dark chasm, ready for any potential threat.
But all he found at the bottom was the aftermath of a massacre, all around him were dozens and dozens of droid body parts, sliced down the middle, hacked into multiple pieces, crushed by a powerful force, you name it. The mangled, mechanical carcasses of B-1 units, B-2's, commando droids, even destroyer droids were piled up.
Obi-Wan stared around in shock, never before having seen a slaughter of this size that wasn't on the main battlefield. As he started to move through the sea of metal, he could only think to himself -
Anakin, what have you done…