CP-8201 reacts almost instantly to the command. Without even thinking, he starts moving as soon as he hears the words, "Fighter squadron Cresh, prepare for immediate launch," announced coolly over his helmet's integrated comlink. As Cresh 3, that means him.
He and his squad are already ready for flight, their armor on and their ships at the ready for exactly this reason. The pre-flight checks are nearly automatic for him, and every detail of his Eta-2 Actis-class interceptor is intimately familiar to him. The exterior he inspects first, quickly circling the fighter and glancing at every little bit of damage, making sure none of it is new. No ship can ever be kept perfect in a war, but it has served him well for this campaign.
The Eta-2s are just at the beginning of production, still a relatively rare ship for the Republic Navy, but they are far faster than the V-19 Torrents. They are fragile, but Cresh squadron has earned the right to use them: They're pilots who don't get hit often, especially not when flying something as nimble as the Eta-2 interceptors. He punches the buttons with practiced ease, ordering it to abridge the checks but still almost shaking as he waits for the system to complete its analysis. As he does so, the voice over the comlink interrupts again, this time with the voice of Cresh Leader, stating "Vulture droids are in the process of launching from Selbar. Approach them at full speed and expect to chase them west, as they are likely targeting General Keldon."
Perhaps a less disciplined soldier would be wondering why Keldon is far away from their camps to the west, but not clone troopers. Their job isn't to think; it's to deal with the problem. Their commanders know what's going on, and they're far superior tacticians, so there is no reason at all for anyone in Cresh squadron to be curious. Such thoughts, the Kaminoan trainers told them, are a distraction, and there is no place for distraction in war.
At last, 8201's engines fire up and it confirms that all systems are ready to go. After looking around briefly, he surmises that he finished second or third in his squad. Not bad. His wingman, Cresh 4 asks, "How many fighters do they have, and is it just us going after them?"
By now, Cresh Leader and Cresh 2 are launching, and they waste no time in almost immediately accelerating. Over the comlink, Cresh Leader elaborates, "Command reported at least four vultures, but they're launching more as we speak. I see ten right now. There are two squadrons of Torrents already at the site, so we're just going to be coming as reinforcements. Plus, the artillery will be supporting us." Now, he and 4 are launching, and they follow suit by quickly accelerating to give chase. Vultures are still pouring out, but they're not exactly going west. Their vector is more to the north, so the clones all adjust course slightly to compensate. He also notices that a single shuttle has joined the Separatist convoy.
The distant V-19 Torrents are visible on his IFF (Identification Friend or Foe) system, hovering off to the west in the direction that the vultures were supposed to be headed. "Any idea why the vultures are veering north?" someone finally dares to voice over the comms. The vultures have turned somewhat west, but they're flying low, below the surface of the plateau and tight up against the cliff.
They're answered with a brief silence before Cresh leader suggests, "They're probably using the cliff face as cover. Doesn't matter, we can still chase them down." As if to affirm their leader's idea, the surface-to-air batteries behind them launch two missiles, which sail low over the ground on a vector that's too far north. They go around the corner of the plateau before trying to correct slightly south, but the high-speed missiles just can't turn sharply enough, and they sail wide of their targets.
"Coming into range now," Cresh 2 announces as the first duo of Eta-2 interceptors zooms past the cliff, spewing laser blasts into the Separatist droids.
A part of CP-8201 is wondering why the vultures would slow themselves down with such a roundabout route, or why they included a shuttle in their attack group at all, but that's not his job. General Keldon is no doubt analyzing the situation right now. She'll figure it out and tell us what we need to do. The vultures are flying close to the cliff, and slowly as if they're worried about crashing into it. That allows the squad to catch up quickly, and Cresh 3 quickly nabs his first kill of the day on a hapless vulture. It's almost too easy: The only fire coming at them is from a tail gunner on the shuttle, which is giving Cresh 5 some trouble, but the Separatists seem intent on maintaining their journey west.
A few more vultures are destroyed, and perhaps in response, they accelerate, speeding up as if they just realized that the enemy ships might be a bigger threat than the cliffside. It's no matter, this squadron can more than handle some tight maneuvers, and they can fly mere meters away from the cliff if need be and still not be in real danger of a collision.
Suddenly, something flashes on the right side of his ship's targeting computer: missiles. It takes only a fraction of a second for him to process. The Republic would of course want to launch more missiles, but in order to get a sharp enough curve, they would have to fire at very low velocity. That would give time for the Separatists to react to them, speeding up once they are launched.
The missiles will instead land right behind the vulture droids, right in the middle of… "Look-" is all he manages before the missiles smash into the cliffside, and the resulting blast consumes the fragile interceptor of his wingman.
Cresh 3 is a hair luckier, as the blast only takes out the left half of his ship. The right engine is still working as he enters a spiral, tossed off course like chaff in the wind. He does his best to correct his course, but everything is spinning so fast that he doesn't immediately know where to go, and with only half the engine power, it probably wouldn't matter anyway.
In one moment, it is Bandomeer's gloomy gray-blue sky above; after half a spin, there is rocky soil right in front of him. Then, Cresh 3 experiences nothing at all.
Just ahead, in the shuttle, the troopers of Babteer Pil are celebrating. "Good call, sergeant," WanThir responds over the comlink, in Meerian, to TeenPat, who nods quickly in response. It was his call indeed, as soon as he saw the first missile launch, he knew they would try again at a lower speed, that the ships could dodge.
"Thanks, sir," he responds politely. TeenPat is typically distinguished from his fellow Meerians by youth, for he is several decades younger than either WanThir or LilVas, and his long hair, wide eyes, and stubbled chin stand out, but in this case, the belrat stands out due to his wetsuit, an insulated, waterproof piece of gear.
It was the only wetsuit that they could grab on such short notice, so it will be TeenPat and TeenPat alone who dives down to find Grievous. If we make it there. "Have four of the vultures slow down and attack the remaining interceptors," he orders, "Force these guys to choose between slowing down to make evasive maneuvers or staying on target to chase us."
WanThir, who is overseeing the mission from their headquarters in Selbar, presses in buttons on a console to order the vulture droids. As he does so, he nods approvingly but with a slight frown, as if dismayed that he didn't think of the idea himself. Unfortunately, it seems like the more seasoned general likes taking his time to think, never deciding in haste, and he seems almost overwhelmed by the chaos. Ever since Grievous started leaving, he's just seemed a step behind.
The remaining Republic interceptors, a newer model that neither of them have seen before, seem fast but fragile, and while they've lost a few vulture droids, the clones' numbers have dwindled as well. As they speak, WanThir is having someone find B9 to ask it for information about the fighters. Two are quickly shot down by the vultures behind them, but the survivors stay on course to lay down more fire. The shuttle's shields are down to 70%, a bit less than where any of them would like to be, and the fighter complement is getting awfully thin. At last, the interceptors veer away, turning to engage the four vultures in a true dogfight, which should give the remainder of the Separatist vessels some breathing room.
TeenPat chose himself to be the one in suit, as he would much rather be the one leading from the front than the back. He climbed the ranks by being a good soldier, and it almost seems like he's been promoted too far. I'm sick of feeling so out of my element at these strategy meetings. And yet, WanThir is too slow; LilVas is too conservative; Mu is too specialized in the navy… We need Grievous, and we need Grievous to start having some success.
"Torrents incoming from the north," WanThir warns over the comlink, and TeenPat cranes his head to look out the viewport and try to get an eye on them.
"Just get us to the target; there's no time for dogfighting with the rest of the fighters catching up soon," he orders. We're almost there, Grievous isn't far south of the cliff at all, and lake Nilseen is coming up soon. Blue lasers rain down from above as the V-19s open fire on the shuttle, and the shields continue to hold, but a few of the soldiers are looking around nervously. Suddenly, the ship lurches as it takes a sharp turn upward and then left, with lake Nilseen directly ahead of them, right where Grievous' signal came from.
"Land close to the north shore of the lake," TeenPat orders, his voice trying to match WanThir's calm but authoritative tones, "and try to find cover." That last part will be the real trick. We'll be going nowhere fast if this shuttle gets destroyed while idle.
The pilot dives down suddenly, and the ship lurches as it slows down, shooting for a gap between trees. It hits the ground faster than they would've liked, stopping with a thud that knocks TeenPat to the ground. The ramp at the back of the ship opens, and the squad of Babteer Pil infantry pours out onto the snowy ground. They fire off to their left at distant clone troopers who are quickly advancing, all while a strafing run by one of the Torrents nearly takes out half the squad.
TeenPat sprints out immediately after, circling around the ship to begin stepping into the frigid waters. The starfighters are dueling overhead, and he can hear blaster fire ringing out as everyone else provides him cover fire. The wetsuit is designed for mobility and insulation, he knows, so it would do little to protect him if a stray shot were to hit him. He dives down, where his goggles provide a reasonable level of visibility despite the murky waters of the lake. Pushing aside some seaweed, he has the vague impression of hearing blaster bolts fly overhead, but he is isolated from the battle. Grievous's precise location is a bit of a mystery, and every second he spends looking is a second that Republic reinforcements could close in, his men could die, the shuttle's shields could get worn down…
Grievous's signal originated slightly east of where they landed, but he could've gone anywhere since then, for it was lost once he entered the water. He could also be dead by now. Does he need air? TeenPat swims with all his strength, swiveling his head back and forth rapidly to search for the bone-white body of his general. At last, Grievous becomes visible, curled up motionless on the bottom of the lake, charred and missing multiple limbs by the looks of it.
Wiggling Grievous to make sure that he isn't stuck, it is clear that the cyborg is very heavy even with missing limbs, so he will definitely need some help. Thankfully, according to WanThir while planning en route, Grievous has a wrist mounted grappling hook. If I can get this rope extended, all of us can pull him together. TeenPat grabs the fallen General's right wrist and begins fumbling with the device, and after a few seconds, he figures out how to release about 10 meters of slack before re-latching it.
In doing so, he notices that Grievous's body is warmer than the water around it, seemingly heated by something, which means that he hasn't been completely disabled, and hopefully, he is warm enough to survive. However, he is still motionless, not responding at all to TeenPat's prodding, eyes closed, and damaged everywhere. TeenPat swims and wades back to the shore, pulling the rope behind him.
"Over here, MalWon and SalTath," he shouts, noting that the troopers seem to be holding up well against the clones' fire. "Help pull him!" At their position, the ship is between them and the bulk of the clones, so it is actually a fairly safe spot as the two troopers run over and grab the rope alongside him. Together, they begin to move Grievous, getting closer to the shuttle meter by meter. At last, their general emerges from the waters, and the three run towards him to pick him up for what should be the easier but longer part of the journey.
"We need to get going soon!" the pilot shouts into the comlink. "Shields are down to 22%," he informs, a nervous tone gripping his voice. That won't last long. As time runs down, they carry Grievous closer, and the other soldiers climb into the extended boarding ramp. Overhead, the V-19 Torrents break away from the vulture droids, making a sudden dive toward the ground. Blue laser blasts rain down on them even as the vultures make attacks of their own against the enemy starfighters. TeenPat's hopes fade away as shot after shot hits their shuttle.
One misses and hits right in front of them, knocking them back and causing them to drop Grievous out of surprise. MalWon cries out as his own leg is caught beneath the heavy cybernetic body, but the sound is quickly eclipsed by a far greater explosion, as the shuttle, its shields whittled down, explodes upon a hit to the engines.
No! There is no way out for them now. Grievous gambled and lost, and now their doubling down on his gamble has also lost. Everyone else in the shuttle is no doubt dead now, and it looks like TeenPat, MalWon, SalTath, and Grievous will soon join them. After the explosion, he does not hear the sound of clones advancing like he expected. They are drowned out by the whirring of an approaching vulture droid. The only thing we have left here that can fly back.
Clutching the rope, an idea begins to form in TeenPat's mind. The vulture pulls up, delivering a well-placed shot into the aft of a fleeing V-19, and TeenPat grabs his comlink, "I need one vulture landing at my position now!" he orders.
SalTath, meanwhile, has taken out his blaster rifle, and he delivers several shots in the direction of a clone who was approaching them. The shots all miss as his target takes cover. But more clones are coming, advancing quickly now that the strafing run has thinned out the forces of Babteer Pil. TeenPat, with only a blaster pistol. shoots one of them, but not before the clone was able to deliver a shot into the chest of already wounded MalWon.
A few blaster bolts fly past them, but SalTath and he can't take on this many enemies, especially not while trying to protect Grievous, whom TeenPat is now trying to drag towards a tree. It's a slow process, and SalTath needs both of his hands available to shoot. Suddenly, miraculously, red lasers shoot down from behind them, cutting through the clone ranks. A vulture droid lands in front of the two, and it continues to pour down covering fire. Immediately, TeenPat gets to work finding a spot for the cable to attach. There's no way that this can take SalTath or I, but it will at least bring back what we came for.
As he attaches the cable, clones appear on the coastline, to TeenPat's left and away from where the vulture droid is looking. The droid may be able to tank the hits, but neither of the two living soldiers can survive for long being outflanked like this. They try to use the vulture's legs for cover, but TeenPat hears as SalTath takes a hit somewhere. He keeps shooting, and TeenPat finishes his work of attaching the cable. It's with just seconds to spare, as a blaster bolt hits his own leg moments later.
He crumbles to the ground, lying on his back, still able to see SalTath fighting, awkwardly holding his weapon with one arm. "Go!" TeenPat manages to shout to both his comrade and the droid, all while shooting his blaster pistol in the general direction of the enemy. No amount of adrenaline can drown out this pain, but TeenPat isn't about to let that drown out his chance to see the outcome of this crazy mission.
A grenade explodes in front of them, right around the droid's front left leg, knocking SalTath to the ground at last. TeenPat is better protected from being prone. But the starfighter still takes off, and a limp Grievous ascends in tow. TeenPat looks into the sky as his last accomplishment flies upwards. I've given Grievous another chance. It's a good way to end if Grievous can go on to defeat the Republic and save Bandomeer. Something tells TeenPat that once Grievous is recovered, his hero will do exactly that.