The UNSC's twin-engine light gunships, the Hornets, made a low pass in a wedge formation of three. Blaster bolts flashed off their undercarriages as their top-mounted heavy machine guns let loose, thundering gunfire raking the advancing two-hundred-strong Droid Battalion and its armored reinforcements. Missiles lanced forward from the bellies of the gunships as well, before each of them split off in a different direction, explosions rocking the area ahead.
A laser lanced out from a building, piercing the top hull of a tripedal walker droid that had three cannons mounted beneath what seemed to be a radar array of some sort. The walker's innards blew outward as the scarlet SPARTAN Laser beam punched clean through it, before it tumbled over to the side and collapsed over the edge of the highway, onto the massive field of glassy blue crystalline outcroppings below, further shattering its own frame under its weight.
The return fire was succinct, the two siblings of the droid immediately turning their heavy blaster cannons toward the culprits. The ODSTs inside the tower retreated behind the cover of thicker walls just as the plasma bolts blew out half the floor they were on. Thankfully for Dutch, he had made it to cover just in time. Mickey swore, "Holy fucking God almighty, those things have cannons that pack a punch!"
"Don't call the Lord's name in vain, Mickey! We might get shafted next!" The heavy-duty laser-wielder replied to his comrade. Mickey let out a short, mocking laugh at that as he hefted his Jackhammer. He waved to a Corpsman as he saw a Clone laying on the floor, his armor punctured by Shrapnel, before standing back up and activating the Smartscope on the launcher.
Down below, in the street, UNSC Marines mounted on the backs of advancing Warthogs rode into battle, firing assault weapons and the back-mounted turret guns of their vehicles. Tup was sat beside a Marine that was laying down hell with an assault weapon that had a bipod and a drum magazine. Spent casings, hot as blaster bolts, dropped to the floor below the man as he continued firing.
AT-TEs and Scorpion MBTs rolled forward into the battle line, their cannons roaring with fury. The droid tanks in the rear began to reply as Anakin, Obi-Wan and the Arbiter moved up, blades drawn. The Arbiter commented, "This is certainly familiar!" as he looked around at the battle in the skies and the engagement against the Battle Droids, "Though our enemies wore more flesh than metal!"
"Welcome to the fun, then, Arbiter!" Laughed Skywalker as he brandished his Lightsaber.
Obi-Wan looked back to Cody and said, "Cody, tell our armor to prepare to counter theirs! Have our cannons keep them pinned while the UNSC's flanking units hit them from behind!" to which Cody gave a nod and a quick salute. He brandished his own lightsaber and deflected three blaster bolts back at the droids, watching as their Reinforcements ran forward.
Three platoons of clones, including Tup and Check, hefted their blasters and joined the dogged defense, with Tup shouldering his blaster and opening up the moment he hit the barricade made of the collapsed building in the middle of the highway. In the corner of his eye, on the crystalline fields, he could see about a dozen UNSC Fast-moving Vehicles rolling out under the cover of their gunships.
Squeezing off the first shot from his blaster, he missed one of the enemy B1s that were advancing in a square formation toward them. The B1-series Battle Droids were never the smartest bunch, nor were their tactics the most useful, but they had Force-damned numbers. Tup ducked under a bolt that struck a few feet in front of him, then balked, "Kriffin' hell! That was close!"
"We really pissed'em off!" Check remarked as he fired from his heavy rifle. He aimed and nailed one of the B1s leading the assault, before waving over a pair of UNSC Marines and a Corpsman. Another of their brothers took two blaster bolts to the chest from the droids, but he seemed to have survived, so Check directed them to him. The lead Corpsman, an Asian-descended woman, took a knee beside the wounded trooper, took his chest plate off and applied a self-sealing foam to his wounds, before looking up at Check and stating, "He'll be fine! We'll run him back to the Aid Station then ship him to our fleet once the Space Battle above dies down!"
"How the Kriff did these bastards get more ships in!?" Another trooper demanded from their left, hefting a Z-6 rotary blaster cannon and squeezing the trigger. The bulky six-barrel handheld machine cannon spooled started spitting blaster fire. The third tri-droid ahead spun its cannon toward them, forcing the clone heavy gunner to dip back into cover as the area ahead of him exploded thrice-over, dust and debris kicking up into the sky.
"Swung around the planet, according to data. Hit our combined fleet from both sides," Replied the other Corpsman as he set up a stretcher, his voice dull, calm, focused on the duty at hand as they hefted the injured clone onto it nad started carrying him out. The trio of clones seemed surprised to hear that, but their thoughts were quickly squelched as they began to return fire against the droids up ahead, with Tup nailing his first kill for the day just as generals Skywalker and Kenobi rolled up.
Above, the greenish hulls of Swords Of Sangheilios Banshees swept down, their twin plasma cannons letting loose bursts of fire as they strafed the enemy's center and rear lines. The UNSC vehicles from the flanking team had also finally jumped in, sowing discord among the enemy's backline. Several clones watched with muted awe as a pair of dropships deployed a pair of heavy mortar tanks to their rears, followed by a contingent of about two-dozen Elite Minors led by a general.
Said General approached the Arbiter and the Jedi, putting a fist to his chest and stating, "Arbiter, Generals. The Fleet faces heavy resistance above. Reinforcements for the Clone troops may yet be possible, however, as we and the UNSC prepare to breach through their forward lines," as he brandished his own Energy Sword. The Arbiter gave a nod of approval to his soldier.
"Then, it looks like we're breaching through..." Obi-Wan said, "Two-prong attack?"
"You know me," Grinned Anakin. He turned to Rex and called out, "Rex! Get the boys and let's move it! I have a plan."
"On it, sir!" Replied the Captain, before dashing off.
"Should be interesting to see what the General pulls out this time..." Check whispered, poking out to take more shots at the droids. Tup snorted and joined his brother. The two paused as a UNSC Marine took a bolt to the throat beside them. Clawing at the burnt, cauterized injury, the man collapsed backward, only for one of his buddies to be raked by blaster fire in the back as he went to try and help him.
"Fuck!" Another Marine cried out, "Someone fucking kill those tin cans!"
His wish seemed to be answered as a Wraith and a Scorpion fired at the same time, with the former's plasma ball landing square in the middle of the enemy's formation and melting a good few droids with the hit. As General Skywalker departed with Rex, his platoon and a bunch of Jetpacks, Obi-Wan pushed up to the line and next to the UNSC officers with the Arbiter, before stating, "Seems like we're gaining the advantage!"
"We should press it," The Arbiter stated, "Seems like your artillery can keep the enemy at bay with the help of our armor..."
Kenobi nodded, then looked up ahead and stated, "We'll attack alongside Anakin..." watching as the UNSC harassment group from before continued to wreak havoc in the enemy's rear. Several AATs took bursts of heavy fire, while the Banshees and Hornets up above launched continuous strafing runs to pressure the droids. He saw the General and Rex far ahead, jetpacks at the ready, on a high-rise. Watching as the first jet ignited, Obi-Wan looked to the Arbiter, smiled, then lifted his lightsaber to mark the charge.
The Clones and Marines cried raucous battle cries, rifles drawn. Battle Tanks rolled over the rubble alongside AT-TE hexapedal walkers, Wraith tanks and Ghost Jetbikes. Bolts of plasma, blaster fire and bullets met the conjoined formation of Droids, both B1 and B2, with casualties on all sides in the beginning volley. Two Scorpion MBTs rolled over the droids ahead, providing covering fire for the Marines that pushed behind them.
A clone dropped in front of one of the troopers, wounded, while his brother died, filled with Blaster bolts. The Marine dragged the injured Clone toward him and started treating him again as his buddies pushed forward. Two Clones saw the soldier lift their Brother up on his shoulders and start hauling ass toward the rear, where Corpsmen were waiting.
The Arbiter and his Elites, meanwhile, pushed through, cutting a swath through the droids with energy swords and plasma rifles. One of the Elites, a Ranger, jumped into the sky using his jetpack and rained hell down on the Droids below with the two plasma rifles in his hands. The Arbiter's face was impassive as he and General Kenobi cut down the droids ahead of them, bolts of blaster fire flashing off the shields of his ornate armor.
The female Marine that'd interacted with Tup caught up with him and Check, taking cover beside them with her balaclava covering her face. She pulled out a grenade, thumbed the primer, then long-armed it toward a squad of Super Battle Droids. The thunder-flash-snap of the blast staggered the machines, allowing her to poke out with her Battle Rifle and put four three-round bursts into the creatures' central processors with deadly accuracy.
She looked to Tup, smiled behind the balaclava, going by the creases, then nodded to her and Check to follow her in. Check grinned and said, "Your girl just challenged us, Tup. And I ain't losing to a Basic, no matter how cute you find her!" before pushing forward and hefting his blaster. He squeezed the trigger as rapidly as he could, providing cover to the young woman.
Tup had wanted to protest, but he froze when he saw the girl slam into a droid, putting the muzzle of her weapon against its chest and squeezing the trigger three separate times. She saw the other droids approaching and, instead of reloading, she slung her BR on her back, drew her sidearm and blasted the leading droid in the face, cratering its armor with a high-power armor-piercing shot that dropped it like a sack of bricks.
Following up, she head-butted another droid, causing a ringing in her own ears that obviously gave her slight orientation issues. Still, she managed to lift and pin the barrel of her pistol against its chest before putting half the remaining magazine into it. He gasped as he saw one of the Droids approaching from behind and aiming its twin arm blaster at the back of her head.
Standing up, Tup aimed and squeezed. Six azure bolts left the barrel of the weapon by the time the girl had awoken to realize there was a droid behind her. Six cratering, still-hot holes had been drilled into the machine's armor, sending it tumbling to the floor as Tup pushed up next to her and Check. She looked to him as she drew her battle rifle and swapped out a mag, before smiling at him again.
He nodded, smile invisible behind his helmet.
... Before they even properly began their push, however, the Droids began a retreat. Their last Tri-Droid lost its head at the hand of a Scorpion tank's shell. Sighs of relief and cheering and whooping filled the place, followed some hours later by Troops picking up their casualties. Rex sighed and looked at the report as, up above, Banshees flew upward toward the landing zones on top of a cluster of high-rise buildings in the center of the city.
"Sixty clones and forty-five Marines," The Colonel in charge of the Marine ground forces shook his head, "Damn shame."
"Agreed, sir..." Rex replied as he walked with the man toward the holotable ahead, "Generals Skywalker and Kenobi are going to try and call for Reinforcements, but from what I got, the CIS is really trying to keep you and us pinned here... They brought in a larger naval contingent than most of us thought they had in this area of the Rim." and he handed the reports to the officer.
The Colonel shrugged, "We'll see what the Generals and Admirals want to do..."
Approaching the makeshift command center in the middle of some rubble and destroyed enemy vehicles, the captain and Colonel saluted the Generals. Anakin noted, "Nice of you to join us, Rex. We were just trying to get through to the Admirals... Seems like Admiral Yularen ain't willing to answer, though," before he watched the communications hologram flicker, zap with static, then filter and appear. In front of them, Admiral Lasky stood, alongside Rtas 'Vadum, the Shipmaster of the small contingent of Sangheili ships present with the fleet.
Lasky said, "Good day, Generals. Caught us at a decently good time... Admiral Yularen's cruiser managed to slip out of the encirclement and is heading out to gather supplies as we speak. He should be back within the coming hours. In the meantime, I'm still thinking over the envoy I should send to you folks's Galactic Senate. We have quite a few Section One members that are eager to go..."
"Any chance you could spare us more reinforcements, sir? We might need a certain unit to help us break the stalemate here," The Colonel quipped, "If it isn't too much of a bother for them to come down here and help us kick some ass. And if Palmer wants to tag along, too, that's fine..." before he scratched the scar on the side of his head. The two Generals and the Clone Officers seemed confused.
Lasky, meanwhile, chuckled, "I'll see what I can do, Colonel. I think they're eager to get their armored boots on solid ground, so we'll send them over as soon as Admiral Yularen's back with your reinforcements..." and paused just as an explosion roared outside, "We'll talk more when we're done up here... Infinity, over and out." With that, the hologram winked off.
"Well..." Obi-Wan said, "That was interesting..."
In Orbit...
UNSC Autumn-class Cruiser Apache let loose a full salvo of her missiles toward a Confederacy Munificent-class frigate. Turbolaser bolts struck her shields, causing them to flare, all while the return fire from the ship's 50mm Rampart point-defenses raked the hull of the undefended droid vessel. Behind her and a dozen of her sister ships, two Lucrehulk-class Dreadnoughts continued spitting out starfighters. The bitten-donut-shaped warships also fired, maintaining their Point-Defenses against the UNSC's own fighters.
Two frigates joined the Apache, firing their MACs at the enemy ship. Paris-classes, uparmored and shielded, let loose with their own missiles and weapons as they flew on both sides of the enemy ship, coring two of its sisters with their MACs and raking it full of shell and missile holes. They took fire from the sides as they swept back around, their Rampart batteries now spitting Flak and HE against the Vulture fighter droids that tried to pursue them.
Broadsword fighters of the UNSC followed up, reinforcing the two vessels. Two banked down toward the trailing enemy fighters and opened fire the moment their ballistic computers aligned the shots. Magnetic autocannons raked the shieldless droid fighter swarm, forcing them to turn and engage them. Red plasma lanced past the UNSC Pilots' cockpits as their radio chatter played in each-other's ears.
One locked a squadron of enemy bombers with her missiles, banked toward them as her helmet's HUD maintained lock, then aimed and fired. A flurry of anti-fighter missiles lanced out of their bays in the fighter's hull before it veered to the right and refocused on another target. Seven explosions lit the void and four enemy fighters vanished off the radars.
Republic starfighters followed up, joining the Broadsword in formation and engaging the droid fighters ahead with their twin laser cannons. The three-wing-design folding starfighters kept up decently well with the more aerodynamic UNSC one, even as it used its maneuvering thrusters and vectoring engines to engage the enemy and out-turn them. Above them, another UNSC Cruiser fired its MAC.
The subsequent detonation of a Munificent shook its sisters hard, throwing off their aim and ensuring that the rest of the Navy had a clear line of sight on them. The two Republic Cruisers in orbit joined in as well, turbolaser batteries raining fire toward the enemy's vessels, some of which attempted to flank the bulwark of the orbital defense forces present around the planet.
The Droid fleet watched as the UNSC vessels ahead opened up a clear view down the center as they veered to engage the multitude of arriving reinforcements. One of the Lucrehulks took this as a sign they could begin advancing. They started pouring in turbolaser shots toward the UNSC ships moving in to cover the flanks, catching a frigate with its shields draining and managing a decent enough hit to drill a hole through the armor.
... However, the lead Lucrehulk did not expect what came next...
Four bolts of light lanced forth from amid the formation of United Nations Space Command vessels. Four massive ferrous tungsten projectiles screamed silently through the darkness of the void, splitting the dark before striking their intended target at hypersonic speeds. The massive rods of ferrous tungsten penetrated the armored hull of the Lucrehulk amidships.
Two struck the command center, while the other two had torn through the central hull and hit the reactor's coolant lines and the reactor shielding, before all punched out of the rear and into the void. The Lucrehulk itself began to split at the seams, the central command pod losing atmosphere and erupting into flames. as the vessel's reactor suffered destabilization.
For a moment, a bright second sun filled the vision ports on board the UNSC's super-carrier. The UNSC Infinity began its emergence from among its battlegroup, a salvo of missiles leaving the tubes and arching toward the CIS's vessels as the other surviving Lucrehulk began a desperate turn to escape. Lasky, however, wasted no time, ordering, "All elements of the Navy are to provide Infinity cover as we open up a path for the Resolute to jump back in. Roland, all guns forward."
"Yes, sir, captain!" The AI saluted.
"Cortana," The man called out. The blue avatar of the female AI appeared with a grin as the man looked toward the table. She snapped a crisp salute, then flashed a single word on the holotable's side screens. 'READY'. Lasky gave a nod and thumbed the computer's touch screen, authorizing the deployment, to which Cortana flashed off the com and presumably went back to Blue Team.
"Sir," The sensor op reported, "The Resolute is returning..."
"Well," Lasky breathed, "Let's hope they brought those reinforcements... Send our armor, too."