Yerbana
Ground Forces
Mayday, with his squad, crouched behind what little cover they could find in the debris from destroyed buildings and vehicles, pinned down like the rest of the 212th on the way to the Bridge.
Dust blew around and settled everywhere; he was thankful for the filters on his helmet, but it still dulled his sight.
They still hadn't identified the tactical droid in charge or where it was hiding. it still amazed him that droids had a self preservation streak a mile wide across their backs.
"Any sign?" Cody's voice came over his com, loud and clear.
"Nothing yet sir. Splicer's still working on it."
"Kriff! Bloody droid!"
Mayday automatically ducked as another piece of debris flew towards him, finally bouncing off the vehicle he was sheltering behind; there was nowhere else to shelter.
"You okay?" Cody asked.
"Yes sir." He squirmed, trying to wriggle his toes in his boots, "Just trying to relieve the cramp from crouching still for so long. Any news?"
"We're waiting on the Generals unless we find that Tactical Droid before then."
The Separatists forces were overwhelming at this point, even the air support was being blown out of the sky before they could fire on the droids to give the ground forces a way in.
"Anaxes was bad." He heard Tank mutter over the com, "Get that shiny under cover or he'll get his head blown off." He shouted to someone, Mayday couldn't identify exactly who, "Di'kut!" Mayday heard him bark out. "But this is worse and you know why?" His voice returned to normal conversation level.
"Why?" Asked Decs, rising to the bait.
"Because the 501st are getting to use their jetpacks and we aren't."
Mayday couldn't help but smile at the comment; they had provided cover for Captain Rex and some of the 501st to stealthily make their way under the bridge and there they hung, waiting. Impatiently knowing Rex.
He peered above the vehicle and looked up, there were no jet packs in the air, "They aren't using them yet, Tank."
A blaster bolt splintered his cover; he ducked quickly back.
He visualised the 501st hanging like hawk bats under the bridge; unsure what Skywalker was planning but they followed his orders, pending General Kenobi's arrival from the other front.
None were doing well.
"Ooooh!" Replied Decs, rising to the occasion and giving it a dramatic pause, "I thought it was because you found someone there bigger than you."
There were sniggers from the rest of the squad.
"You mean those weirdos, Clone Force 99?"
There were more sniggers.
"You have to admit it LT, he was big." Hexx butted in.
"Yeah! But mine is all natural and due to hard work, not tweaked by the Kaminoans." He huffed.
"Stow it lads we're all on the same side." Ordered Mayday, he didn't normally interrupt the banter but this was going on too long and he hadn't seen the Commandos they referred to.
"I wish the General's would do whatever they're going to and quickly." Splicer added, changing the subject for him, "I still can't identify exactly where that kriffing Tactical droid is. They're jamming our signals with a new code—again."
"I know you can break it."
"Yes sir. Just need more time sir."
Mayday heard him curse under his breath and looked up, a sixth sense prompting him to look for a rocket that sounded as if it was heading his way. It wasn't but it was heading towards his brothers, Commander Cody in particular. He was in the open and there was nowhere for him to go. Despite ordering his teams to take cover, he hadn't taken that advice himself.
Mayday held his breath.
The rocket exploded in a bright fireball and when the smoke cleared, he saw Cody and the General standing there. Kenobi had intercepted it.
Mayday breathed out, still not quite believing what he saw— Kenobi had taken out a rocket with his lightsaber and was still standing with barely a hair out of place.
He watched as they took cover, the road to the bridge they needed to take littered with destroyed tanks.
Mayday slid back down, resting against the debris of whatever it used to be, still waiting for his orders. Then he heard the chatter on the coms.
"Skywalker's just kriffing walking in front of the droids!"
He popped up like a Lothcat to look.
He thought Kenobi was bad but Skywalker was insane. He was talking to the droids and they were listening.
Then he saw why.
"Kark! Skywalker's taken out the tactical droid." The chatter confirmed.
The 501st streamed out from under the bridge, jet packs burning brightly, oh how he would have loved to do that.
"Those 501st get all the best jobs," groused Decs.
Then they heard Kenobi's order and Cody's reply; they didn't need to be told twice. They cheered as they joined the fun, racing towards the droids, blasting with unerring accuracy as the superbly trained soldiers they were.
.
Their LAATi finally landed on the hanger deck; if Mayday was truthful he missed Wing's banter, you didn't get that with the newer clones, they were tightly strung and didn't seem inclined to unwind. Some struggled to fit in despite their brothers trying to help. This pilot was fine, a good pilot but it wasn't the same.
The squad walked slowly off, they had been up and fighting something like twenty - eight to thirty hours with just a couple of naps; the adrenaline rush was ebbing fast and they were all beginning to feel sluggish. Mayday stretched out his neck; he was beginning to feel his age, he was getting aches from simply being in battle, continuously; it had been months now since his last complete RNR and he took longer to recover.
He stretched out his shoulder; the last blast had thrown him into the vehicle and he had hit it hard; he would have a good bruise tomorrow but he could move it so it wasn't dislocated. He rotated it again, wincing but just to make sure. No. It was fine.
He was Gen 1, he wasn't sure how many of those were left now—Rex, Cody, Wilco, Howzer….. There were a few others he could think of, some in the 501st and 212th. The Wolfpack.
The whistle from Tank disturbed his thoughts and he turned to look at what prompted it; it was a vehicle that had caused the reaction and he had to admit it, it was impressive.
"Kom'rk starfighter." He murmured in awe; he was no pilot but still appreciated it as an exceptional military machine.
The star fighter glided effortlessly and silently through the force field and came to a halt in the hangar. The ramp lowered and they stood and watched as several fully armoured Mandalorians followed a Togruta down the starship's ramp.
Mayday automatically stood to attention. He had never fought with her but he recognised Commander Tano, as they walked towards the Generals. He had wondered what had happened to her when she left the Order. Someone had cocked up there; she had heard she was a good commander, cared for her men, they needed more like her.
Tank whistled again, Mayday saw that he was no longer looking at the starship.
"Magnificent armour, probably Beskar and old. And that is a magnificent woman inside it." Tank's admiring voice came over the com.
"Who?" Decs had to ask.
"The redhead. Who kriffing else?"
She had removed her helmet.
"Do you even know who she is?" Veetch asked, a grin splitting his face, as he followed her too.
"Bo-Katan Kryse."
"Who?" Asked Decs.
"Duchess Satyne's sister and an ex member of Death Watch.
Mayday looked again at who he was referring to, "I think you'd definitely be punching above your weight there brother." He said.
"Never say never." Muttered Tank, his helmet still following the Mandalorian as she walked away with the Generals. Mayday was sure the Mandalorians had noticed him looking, head tilted a few degrees in their direction.
Mayday slapped him on the back, "For now. Eat, shower, rest. That's an order."
"Yeah boss. Will do." He answered automatically, as his helmet pointedly still followed the Mandalorian until the doors closed behind her.
"You'll need all your strength, if you're aiming that high."
Mayday shook his head as he walked to his own quarters, desperate to get out of his rank bodysuit, eat something —anything— and shower. He wasn't sure which to do first until his stomach rumbled then he detoured quickly to the Mess Hall to fetch a Caf and some ration bars. He didn't wait to get to his quarters before he started chewing on them.
.
Mayday stepped out of the wet shower, he had opted for, rather than a sonic. Sometimes it helped.
The ship wide alarm sounded— Battlestations.
"Osik!" He quickly dried himself, pulling on a clean body suit over a still damp body and clamping on his armour in double time. He was on the coms and out of the door within minutes; all the time getting messages and updates on his com, from all areas, as he raced to the Ops Room to join Cody and the rest of the Command staff.
Cody stood there, hands leaning on the holotable, a grim expression on his face.
"Grievous and a Battle Fleet have attacked Coruscant."
He pointed to the blue holotable; the situation looked dire, the planet was surrounded by Separatist ships, "The Generals have all been recalled to the core as are we but Communications are patchy and he may have kidnapped the Chancellor. His whereabouts are as yet unknown. Prepare your squads."
Mayday's stomach flipped in panic, for Hela, but there was no way to contact her safely.
.
Coruscant
Hela held up the lingerie set, it was cream silk and felt wonderful, so soft.
The assistant hovered around her.
"Madam will look amazing in that, I assume there is a special significant other to see it."
"Not at the moment." She replied, knowing the assistant knew exactly who she was and was angling for some information she could sell. She moved on, after handing over the garments, and looked at some different colours.
Hela looked up from the lingerie in disbelief. She'd heard the alarms, everyone had but she looked around, as had everyone surrounding her, thinking it was a drill or false alarm until she walked out of the shop, followed by the assistant.
She heard the assistant screaming behind her.
Hearing the muffled sounds of what she assumed were laser cannons, she stepped back, as debris started falling out of the sky. She caught glimpses of large ships, through the gaps in the clouds and flashes of laser cannon fire, as they fired on each other.
There were numerous ships battling in the atmosphere.
She fumbled for her comlink, and stumbled backwards against the wall of the walkway, out of the way of the people who had also realised this wasn't some kind of drill, and were starting to panic, running around, in every direction. Smoke and flames appeared in buildings in the distance and screams and shouts from the crowd.
"Zur? Where are you?"
"I'm in the Federal District." He sounded breathless, "The Chancellor's been kidnapped. Are you home?"
"No I— "
"Then get there fast. Preferably the basement speeder park. There should be a safe room there. Can you hear me?" He was breathing hard, running and talking at the same time.
She couldn't answer, she'd heard a noise she remembered from Naboo. The noise of droids marching—clanking — just as they had done in Theed.
"Hela! You still there?"
"Hela! Answer me!" Zur shouted.
The urgency in his voice punched through the memories.
"Yes."
"Cover your face. Try not to breathe in the smoke and dust and get home! Now!"
Hela pulled her scarf off and wrapped around her head and face, covering her nose and mouth, tying it tight and ran where she could, following the crowds where she couldn't. Her eyes were already watering from the smoke and dust. She was being swept away by the crowd in places and there was no warning as to where the debris would fall next.
Hiding in doorways to avoid the debris, as sky cars and speeders were hit; always with an ear for the clanking in the distance, or was she imagining it now.
She leaned against the wall trying to calm herself and listened.
They were still here— the droids.
.
Zur flattened himself against the wall; it was chaos out here. Droids, civilian ships, GAR gunships and Jedi starships were all flying around and from what he heard in his com, they were all searching for the Chancellor, who it assumed had been captured by Grievous despite being under the protection of a Jedi. But the Orders he was receiving didn't seem to match the level of the threat.
"Leave it to the Jedi!" Was the order he received.
"BAU." came over his com, meaning he had to secure his asset; he didn't have a problem with that, he was trying to track Hela to make sure she was safe.
Communications were spotty to say the least but he was still moving away from the Federal District when he found her. She was heading in the right direction but had stopped moving.
"Hela! You okay!"
"Yes." She answered, he knew she was alive.
"You have to keep moving."
He looked around at the sound of screeching, damaged engines, and automatically ducked as a Jedi star fighter, spiralled towards the side of a building, across the divide from him. He covered his face with his arm, expecting to be hit with shrapnel as there was no other cover.
He heard the explosion as it hit the building and ducked, covering his head with his arms; the smell of burning fuel and durocrete swept over him but only dust and small particles hit him.
He stood up and blinked, trying to see the result; he debated whether to go and help but then saw the lightsaber punch through the debris. The Jedi didn't need his help.
He checked Hela's position again and managed to get another ping; she was moving in the right direction.
He ran off towards it.
.
GAR Headquarters
The Commanders studied the holomap before them; Mayday never thought he would be called upon to defend Coruscant but here he was.
The droids were still there, on the ground, attacking various specific areas that they had obviously targeted and they showed no signs of retreating despite the Seppie starships attempting to flee the system, now hemmed in by Republic ships which had returned to the Core to defend the planet.
"Kenobi and Skywalker are going after the Chancellor. It's confirmed he's on the Invisible Hand with Grievous and Dooku. Whilst they're there, we'll be doing our bit on the ground. Let's go, everyone."
Mayday jammed his helmet on and headed to the Gunships hangar, to meet his team.
.
Hela's Building
Zur dragged Hela inside, the building looked relatively unscathed considering the battle still raging in and above the planet. Although the droids seem to be targeting certain key areas which made sense and he had seen more and more troops on the ground, he couldn't tell which battalions they belonged to, as there were no colour markings on some. Many seemed to be new clones. He briefly wondered where they had all appeared from.
The air Battle still raged. They had to be underground, away from the debris, although it appeared to have reduced. The Separatists were trying to escape the planet but couldn't, the Republic fleet had returned, so debris was falling further and burning up.
He pulled her towards the underground speeder park.
"What about the others?"
"Who?"
"The other people in the building."
"If they've got any sense they're already sheltering."
He dragged her protesting to the safe room, pushing her inside and blocking the door.
She pulled her scarf off, dust flying everywhere and a bottle of water was pushed into her hand.
"Hela! I'm so happy you're safe."
Taking several large gulps and coughing before she replied, "Ella you're safe." She looked around, blinking, eyes watering, "You're all safe." Realising there were other residents there too, ones she rarely saw and barely knew.
Zur listened to his com; Republic Intel updated continuously.
"Palpatine?" she asked.
"Grievous had him but Skywalker and Kenobi were sent to rescue him and succeeded. It seems the Separatists had bitten off more than they could chew with this attack."
Now she was worried about the Chancellor, and Mayday and his team; she knew most of them.
"Now! Let's see if we can clean your eyes, whilst Zur checks on the status of the battle on his com.
The Admiral pushed her into a chair and gently dripped water into her eyes in an effort to clean them.
.
Federal District
The squad pushed through the smoking debris of the buildings on the edge of the Federal District, some had been flattened, whilst others were left standing with little or no damage.
It didn't make sense but then some times this war didn't make sense, especially if you thought about it too much.
"HoloNet HQ secure." The message came over his com, "Next target Senate."
They had been ordered around various districts of Coruscant over the last thirty hours.
"Senate District." He ordered the pilot.
"Yes sir."
"Thought the CG were there?" Asked Tank
"They are."
"Oh!"
"And what's that supposed to mean?" Asked Mayday.
"Nothing!"
They swept around and landed on the platform. The Senate District looking remarkably unscathed, although the surrounding Federal District had taken some hits.
"Not sure why we're here." Muttered Decs, looking around.
"Shut it!" Snapped Mayday, "We're following orders."
"Are they?" asked Decs, pointing to a squad in plain white armour at the far end of the platform. They looked a little lost.
Then they heard the familiar sound—clanking droids.
"Troopers! This way!" Shouted Veetch, he waved his arm to emphasise it.
They looked around and trotted obediently over.
"Where's your officer?" Asked Mayday.
The shiny white helmets turned to each other.
First deployment thought Mayday.
"Who do you report to?" He tried again.
"We were told to report to Commander Mayday, here." one volunteered.
"By who?"
Command."
Mayday checked his orders, nothing had come through about new shinies and these looked very new, almost freshly decanted.
"Okay!" They needed someone to show them the ropes, although he heard some groans over the squad com channel, "We're to protect the Senate and we've got clankers already heading this way. None get through!"
"Clankers?" Asked one.
Decs and Splicer looked at each other.
"Droids!" Splicer explained.
"Fek!" Muttered Decs over their personal channel, "This lot are very shiny. Was I ever that bad?"
"Worse!"
"Cheeky!"
"Take cover boys. They're on their way!"
He directed them with hand signals and finally, under whatever cover they could find, they waited for their enemy to approach.
Mayday watched in astonishment when the new troopers failed to hit many of the clankers heading towards them in their normal battle formation. Rows and rows of them, usually overwhelming numbers and when they did hit one, it was more by luck than well judged aims.
Finally it went ominously quiet.
Just the lingering smell of scorched armour and melted battle droid.
Mayday raised his viewfinder; he could get a good look without getting his head blown off.
There were no new clankers coming through.
Aerial bombardment appeared to have stopped.
"Anything Splicer?"
"Nothing Sir, except…."
"Except what?"
"That!" He pointed upwards.
The huge Separatist ship was plummeting towards the planet, its hull streaming flames, as parts of its hull broke off.
They watched, fascinated, as it headed towards them, then veered off, plummeting into the planet.
"You lot eaten?" asked Decs, to the Shinies.
They stood around body language uncertain.
"Here!" he threw each of them a parcel. "Not kriffing sure what they are but they taste alright. None of us have died yet. Some citizens pushed them into our arms a while."
Mayday smiled under his bucket, Decs had come on a lot since he was a shiny.