Chapter 20 - Fighter Pilot Experience Level? Simulator.

Geonosis is definitely not somewhere Sulani wanted to be, but sure enough, Geonosis was where they were at the moment. This was where the clone wars began and where so many Jedi had fallen before the clones had arrived to save the survivors. Her brother, Anakin and Padme had also almost been killed in an execution arena, so no one should be able to blame her for not wanting to be here. At present, she was not aboard the Resolute, she was aboard the Tranquility instead. She was not going to be stepping foot on Geonosis until much later, alongside Master Luminara Unduli. This was why she was aboard Master Luminara's flagship and not Anakin's.

So at this moment, Master Luminara and Sulani were in the Tranquility's meeting room, the hologram images of Anakin, Obi-Wan, Ahsoka and Master Ki-Adi-Mundi were also present. The first thing they had done was contact the Outer Rim Command consisting of Master Yoda and Master Windu, but also from Coruscant, Chancellor Palpatine. They were working out their plan for the first assault against Geonosis' now ray-shielded droid factory. "Our ships are now in position," Obi-Wan starts, "and we are ready to begin our campaign against the Geonosians."

"And what about Poggle?" Master Windu asks, "Any report on his location?"

Using the holotable to show the droid factory, Obi-Wan answers, "It seems he's holed up at the primary droid foundry here. The factory is protected by a shield generator. Anakin, Ki-Adi and I shall attempt a three-pronged attack through their defense lines to a staging area just short of the shield. Once we have landed, we shall knock out the shield generator. That is our primary target."

"Isn't it risky committing three generals to one area of the attack?" the Chancellor asks, "If something went wrong, we could be dealt a serious blow."

"To ensure rise again, Geonosis does not," Master Yoda answers, "capture Poggle we must."

"Of course," Chancellor Palpatine says, "As always, I shall leave the strategy to you Master Jedi."

"Our thanks, Chancellor," Obi-Wan says in return.

"May the Force be with you," Master Windu says before he, Master Yoda and Chancellor Palpatine cut their ends of the call.

After they are gone, Sulani and Master Luminara watch as the three commanding clones of the other three generals enter the hologram. "Good, Cody," Obi-Wan says to his Clone Commander, "these are the coordinates for the rendezvous."

"Yes, sir," Cody replies, "When we hit the ground, we'll create a perimeter there. Getting past their defences here will be the trick. General Mundi will come across the defensive lines from the North, we will make our assault through the middle. General Skywalker will make his attack on the defensive lines from the South and we will meet at the rendezvous point at oh-seven-hundred exactly."

"If we meet with strong resistance, and are forced down away from the landing zone, hold out until we join our forces before attacking the shield generator," Master Mundi adds.

"Their front lines are heavily fortified," Ahsoka points out, "Look at that giant wall with all the gun emplacements. That won't be easy to get past."

"Don't worry," Anakin says, "we're not going anywhere near that."

"Come now," Obi-Wan joins in, "What happened to all the enthusiasm I saw earlier?"

"Don't worry about us," Anakin jabs back, "You just make sure you get back to the landing zone in one piece."

"Yes, I shall be waiting for you when you finally arrive."

"Gentleman," Master Luminara cuts in, "if you are quite finished, we have a battle to begin."

"Quite right," Obi-Wan agrees. "Cody, prep the gunships. I'll meet you in the hangar."

Seeing as Obi-Wan was on his way out, Sulani and Master Luminara bow to Master Mundi before ending their side of the call.

Sulani and Master Luminara were on the bridge, waiting for the others to finish the initial invasion, something they knew would take some time. They watched as the smaller ships left the cruisers, the three groups making their way from their various locations to meet in the drop zone. They met with resistance, ground air defences and they were taking out a few gunships along the way.

It was not long before the Geonosians mounted an air defense, sending their own fighters into the air, this caused many of their transport ships to go down. She felt Ahsoka's panic, meaning the ship her and Anakin were on was one of the ones going down. She could still feel them both, so at least she knew they were still alive. "Generals, we just lost contact with General Skywalker's team," a nearby clone informed them.

Sulani had already known this, so she remained quiet, Master Luminara answered instead, "What of General Kenobi and General Mundi?"

"Under heavy fire, sir," he replies.

"Then things are not currently in our favour," she says, eyeing Sulani from where she stood.

"No General."

They continued to watch as more of their gunships, carrying their troopers, went down. They were able to see that some had only crashed, but the occupants were mostly okay. Either way, it was not looking good as the Geonosians had the upper hand in their small fighters. Then she felt it, her brother's ship had also gone down, but thankfully, he too had survived the fall. She was worried about the status of Master Mundi now as well, had all three of them crashed?

At this moment, another clone came up to them, "Generals, we have re-established communications with General Skywalker, he is making his way forward but is very far from the rendezvous. General Mundi has also crashed far from the drop off and is hoping to meet up with General Skywalker. Commander Cody has informed that he has landed with General Kenobi's battalion and the tanks, but General Kenobi appears to have crashed five clicks East beyond their position. They are hoping to retrieve him quickly."

"Thank you," Master Luminara replies.

"General Unduli," another clone comes over quickly, "the enemy fighters are heading for the cruisers."

"Launch all fighters, we must keep them from destroying the fleet," she orders, "make sure the other ships are also on the defensive."

"Yes sir," the clones in the room all salute then follow her orders.

Master Luminara then turned back to face Sulani, "Mother Sulani, Guardian Mothers are trained to pilot Jedi fighters correct?"

Sulani did not like where this was going, but answered truthfully, "Yes, we are, I can't say we're as skilled as other Jedi, but we do have training. We rely more on our connection to the Force than any actual skill."

"Good, without the other Generals on their ships, we have a massive fleet, but only two generals and Admiral Yularen. One of us needs to be out there while the other works alongside the Admiral to lead the fleet. Are you up to going out there?"

Sulani took a moment to really think, she had the training, she had the Force behind her and she needed to help lead the clone pilots. While Admiral Yularen and Master Luminara handled the fleet, she would have to lead the fighters. Was she ready for such a responsibility? Not really, however, though she was not out here to command fleets, she could command a squadron of fighters. There was also the fact that she did in fact have her own fighter, the problem with that was that it was on the Resolute and it was too dangerous to get over there first. "I'll do it Master, but my fighter is on the Resolute, so if I may, I'd like to borrow yours."

"Of course, and you need not worry, Barriss will be out there with you," Master Luminara tries to comfort her.

Sulani had almost forgotten about Barriss, Master Luminara's Padawan. She had apparently been in her quarters memorising a map of the tunnels beneath the factory, hence why she was not on the bridge. It did comfort her a little, knowing she would have dependable help as well. "Very well Master, I'll be off now."

"May the Force be with you, Mother."

"It always is," she answers over her shoulder as she leaves for the hangar.

Sulani was currently acquainting herself with Master Luminara's starfighter, it was not any different than hers with the exception of the colour, she was more centering herself than anything else. She took a deep breath then turned on her communication transponder, "Alright everyone, let's get out there."

"Yes, sir," everyone answered.

So she carefully flew the fighter out of the hangar, making her way towards the enemy ships. Now with every one out and in formation, it was time to check in, "This is Blue Leader," she says, "all wings call in."

"Blue two standing by."

"This is blue five."

"Blue three ready to go General."

"Red two here."

"Blue one ready to hit some bugs."

"Red one here and ready."

"Blue four at your side."

"Red three, finger on the trigger."

"Red Leader standing by," she finally hears Barriss call, "It is an honour to be flying with you Mother Sulani."

"Well, you probably have more talent at this Barriss, but I hope I can at least live up to some expectations," she replies. "Alright, all wings fan out, pick your targets and watch each others' backs."

"Aye General." "Yes, ma'am." "Let's go." "Let's squash some bugs."

Sulani and her squad separate from formation and start their attack. The various other fighters from the other ships were already out in the fight and Sulani certainly hoped she would be able to make a difference out here. As she had told Master Luminara, Guardian Mothers were not really all that skilled at piloting fighters and relied more on their connection to the Force, and therefore instincts, to actually succeed at being a fighter pilot. Was this her first time in a real fight? Most definitely, she had only trained in a simulator and gone for a fly in her own fighter around empty space, only to get a feel for the controls. So, was she nervous beyond belief? Does one even need to ask. Anakin had flown beside her when she went around for a test run and he said she was not half bad. Without seeing her in a real fight however, he could not say if she would be not half bad then as well, but she would let her instincts guide her and send her nervousness into the Force because she certainly did not need it clouding her thoughts.
She closed her eyes, breathed in deeply, exhaled that breath and then snapped her eyes back open, she was as ready as she was ever going to be. She picked up speed and spotted a Geonosian dead ahead. She locked on target and fired. It must not have seen her coming because she hit it with no trouble and watched as it went up in flames. She had no time to feel relief, this battle was far from over. However, it certainly bolstered her confidence, she could do this.

So she continued to fly around, firing upon enemy fighters and dodging when she needed. She had not realised how freeing it was to be flying so fast through space and she began to realise why Anakin loved it so much. She twisted and turned, flying around the Republic cruisers and her ally fighters. She called out warnings to the clones and Barriss, and they called out warnings to her. She never realised that she could handle so much chatter all in one.

"Blue five, you have a tail at your six," she called to said clone pilot.

"I see it General, thanks for the heads up," he said back.

"Mother bird, you have two with you in their sights, to your four o'clock," another clone called out to her.

She looked out to her right and sure enough, there they were, "Good catch, red three. Blue two, I need a hand, two on my four, they're at your ten."

"I've got your back General," blue two flew over to assist her.

This continued for quite some time, never ending voices on her comms, talking to her and each other. It was not without loss though as she watched blue four go down, but she had to wait until it was over to mourn the loss of her troopers. She was starting to relax, things were going well for them non-the-less. Unfortunately, she was too relaxed and she almost jumped in her cockpit when she heard Barriss shouting, "MOTHER WATCH OUT!"

She focused back on the fight, as tense as the moment she exited the ship. She barely had any time to realise what was going on before she allowed her instincts to guide her. She dodged the incoming missile with barely a few inches to spare. If she did not have such a strong connection to the Force, she may not have had enough time to locate the missile before it had hit her.

She could feel her heart beating in her chest and she realised, this was the reality of battle and she was not as ready for it as she had told herself she was. She would not allow herself to become so lax again and she grabbed onto that high strung feeling, she needed it if she wanted to live to see another day. Refocusing on the battle made time go much faster than it had been before, and before she knew it, she heard the cheers from the clones remaining in her squadron. Then she took a deep breath and unstrung herself. She could see now that the enemy were retreating back to the ground. They had won.

"Mother Sulani," she heard Master Luminara call to her, "Return to the ship, you and the troopers deserve a break. I have also had word from the surface, all three generals on the ground made the rendezvous and have destroyed the shield generator. With our successes up here, we were able to send air support to them as well. We can now proceed with the next phase of the invasion."

"I'm glad to hear that Master," she said, "We're on our way back now."

"Good," Master Luminara replied back, "And Mother?"

"Yes?"

"You're a better pilot than you give yourself credit for," she says gently.

Sulani can only laugh lightly, a sigh somewhere in between, "Thank you Master, but I really hope I don't have to do that again any time soon."

"Don't worry Mother," Master Luminara reassures, "I only asked you because I needed to, I would not have asked if the situation had not been so dire. It is a rare occasion that we have a fleet this large and not all its generals to lead it."

"Right," Sulani said, pulling into the hangar. "Well we're back on board, so I'll be seeing you soon Master."

"Don't rush, I'm not needed down there for some time, and Barriss needs to prepare for her part of the mission."

"Very well."

With that, Sulani ended her side of the call, landed the fighter in the hangar and allowed herself five minutes before she was even going to think about getting out of the cockpit. She just knew her legs would be shaking too much if she tried.

A/N: and here we have part 1/5 for the Second Battle of Geonosis arc and yes I did just say there will be 5 parts. In my defense, this is a four episode arc and although Sulani is not present for all scenes, she does have a lot of her own. For example, this chapter where she flew a starfighter in battle for the first time, because I don't give my main character enough anxiety by being off Coruscant, clearly. Anyway, more chappies are coming out until the end of the arc, so I'll say more later.
Seza, out.