Inspirations for this story that you should check out

Vader: The Goblins Bane by DWAR

Deathtrooper by ErrorPleaseReload


CHAPTER I: The Mission

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On the bridge of a Venator-class Star Destroyer designated a The Horizon, four clone commando's entered the command center. The squad had been summoned no more than half an hour ago, having geared up in their Katarn-class armor and fully armed, fully prepared for whatever orders came their way.

Standing there for a moment longer, the large doors closed, and the room darkening. The holo-table of the command bridge began to project the image of a clone in Phase I armor.

"Securing communication line." The clone began, and after a few seconds the helmet turned to them. "Line secured. Task Force Sierra, this is CC-03/692, any issues on your part?"

"None Advisor. All clear on this end." The first commando spoke up. This one's armor had black highlights which were quite faded around a relatively clean white of the Katarn III-class armor. His armor had antennas coming out of his survival pack and helmet decorated with tally marks which indicated the number of successful operations he had undergone.

"Copy that RC-01/004. It's good to see all of you again, and once more I congratulate you on a successful mission in the Corellia system despite the complications." He could feel the Advisors eyes land on him for a second before looking at a data pad. "Our cryptologists have uncovered vital intel on information pertaining to a hidden droid foundry in the Mid-Rim."

The holo-table shrunk the Advisor and showed a system with three planetary bodies.

"Off of the Corellian Trade Spine somewhere between Harrin and Kinyen, there was a hidden system that was not recorded of our starcharts." The star chart proceeded to zoom in further, to a planet labeled 'Cossul III'.

"Not recorded?" Another commando spoke up, the commando whose armor was painted in various shades of gray, helmet adorned with a micro-binocular modification on the top and his survival pack attached with a communications array amplifier. "Or removed?"

"We are currently unable to ascertain that information RC-4096-29, whether or not it was recorded before the start of the Separatist Crisis, though we have been informed that it is not uncommon for corporate entities to have hidden systems. As for what intelligence has been able to decrypt, it seems to be on the smaller end of droid manufacturing, possibly and research and development foundry."

"How do we know that this System is suitable for a foundry?" RC- 01/1004 looked to the miniaturized Advisor.

"According to the criteria given to us by Republic Intelligence, this star chart contains four planets, of which two are unable to meet the Separatists standards for building a foundry due to environmental instability."

"And the other two?"

"Only one satisfies the classification which Intelligence has deemed 'Prime Foundry Conditions'."

The planet labeled 'Cossul III' blinked rapidly on the display.

"If there is indeed a secret foundry here, it is very likely that there is also a systemwide early detection system, meaning that most hyperdrive capable ships and shuttles are likely to be detected approaching."

"So what's our method into the system then?" RC-4096-29 put his hand up to the chin of his helmet.

The press of a button shifted the planets to the side and revealed a ship.

"The first part of this mission will require you to stowaway on one of their vessels, and here is the prime candidate for it, The Wealth of Trade, a Trade Federation Super Freighter which has been reported to travel out of the system of Kinyen but does not stop along the any of the planets on the Correlian Trade Spine."

"And we are to board this Superfreighter?" RC-01/004 asked, helmet focused on the ship schematics.

"A Nu-Class Shuttle with an improved jammer will get you close enough to dock and enter through one of the farther air locks" The diagram of the ship pinged a specific air lock on the rear-port side. "From there you will remain undetected in the vessel until you enter the system and once in atmosphere of Cossul III, you will depart from the Superfreighter silently, to which your squad will discern if these foundries are here."

Seeing as there were no questions, the Advisor continued.

"Once there, you will be without support for around forty-eight hours before exfiltration. Within that time, you must confirm the location of the foundries and other facilities."

"Forty-eight hours?" RC-01/1004 inquired. "Is The Horizon not going to be within jump distance?"

"The Horizon and her escort complement are needed elsewhere, however the recently commissioned Venerator Victory-I Class and her escort complement are currently enroute and should be here within that time."

"Understood." RC-01/1004 acknowledged, though his voice carried dissatisfaction at that fact.

"Is this strictly a stealth mission?" The third commando, voice gruff and wearing a more… reinforced armor set with explosives strapped to the greaves of his armor, questioned. "Or do we have some discretion to… deactivate the elements there?"

"At the moment, this is a designated reconnaissance mission RC-1102-17, and command is hesitant to do anything without more than that without further intel."

"Tsk, typical." The demolitions expert expressed his disappointment.

"Predicted enemy garrison?" The final clone spoke up, his armor still the silvery color that was issued to him, however there were a number of reinforcing pieces that made up additional armor, as well as coving up the more vulnerable areas that the armor-weave undersuit did not protect. "Are we looking at a standard active droid garrison?"

"If they follow the standard R and D practices seen in other foundries, either a light or medium sized garrison." The Advisor returned to full size on the holotable. "Once you're planet side and have located a number of these facilities, you are to make contact with me, and I will relay it back to command. You are to then carry out the next set of orders when you receive them."

"Is that all?" RC-1102-17 curtly asked, quite clearly bored.

"Nothing else." The Advisor looked back at the squad. "Your shuttle will be awaiting for you in Hanger bay 17-B. You have an hour to prepare, if you need additional equipment, requisition it."

"Copy that." The squad's leader acknowledged. "We will be in the hanger as soon as possible."

"Good luck Task Force Sierra, over and out."

With that the communication ended and the room brightened.

"Gather all the gear you'll need, you've got no more than thirty minutes to be in the hanger."

"Copy that '04." '29 acknowledged.

"Will do." '17 exhaled.

"Roger." '05 gave a half salute.

The four of them funneled out of the command room, naval officers replacing their positions.

"Another mission sent into dangers unknown." The squads leader said to him. "You're sure your up to the task?"

"I am." The armored commando looked to him, and tiredly spoke. "It is another glorious day in the Grand Army of the Republic."

ooo-/*\-ooo

Twenty minutes went by as RC-02/105 sat on crates beside the members of his squad as they waited for the pilots of the Nu-Class Assault shuttle in hanger 17-B, all with gear acquired from the quartermasters.

Clone flight crew and engineers were outside the vessel, doing all their pre-flight checks, and they had been assured they'd be done within ten minutes, and the pilots would be down in twelve.

This was good, it gave him more than enough time to sextuple and septuple check his weapons and gear, so they would not give him any hassle while out in the field.

His hands first gently moved across the near factory new plating that his DC-17m Interchangeable Weapons Systems had. Truly, a marvel of weapons engineering. He deftly swapped the many interchangeable modes of the weapon from the anti-armor to the sniper mode, and back to the base rifle. He wondered if they would create new modes for this blaster… but it mattered not as he holstered it and moved onto his pistol.

Unholstering it, he repeated the process that he had done with his main firearm, hand taking in the many groves and imperfections that had marred this blaster. His eyes wandered to the newer two members of their squad, RC-1102-17 and RC-4096-29 to see their sidearms holstered. He knew most commandos had switched to the newer and more powerful DC-17 'commando' pistols, but the DC-15s side arm blaster was the 'true' commando pistol, boasting a higher shot capacity than its younger brother. Besides, stopping power meant nothing when you ran out of ammo in the field.

Checking the ordinance not related to his DC-17m, he had five of each type strapped to the belt he requisitioned. Thermal detonators, the preferred choice for any clone. Electromagnetic pulse grenades, or EMP grenades, these cylindrical grenades more potent than the spherical 'droid poppers' the common rank and file used. Sonic detonators, while not particularly useful on droids, he had used them against native wildlife to great effect. Flash detonators, like the sonic detonator, much better on organics, but he'd be damned if he left this hanger unprepared. He also had a single detonation pack and a few door breaching detonators as per standard kit.

My arsenal, locked and loaded. His survival pack unlocking from his armor, he moved it towards his front.

First thing he noticed was the glow of the number '05', the last two digits which were given to him from birth, and the only two numbers he ever needed.

The hermetic seals opened with a depressurized hiss, soon revealing the top layer of expertly packed medical supplies he could access in a combat scenario. The next layer contained rations which could last him a week if he was cautious and a month if he resisted the urge to eat every day. And in the two compartments, extra ammunition for the blaster and sniper modes in one, and extra anti-armor shells.

There was even a small recon droid the size of a thermal detonator he had collected from an insurgent from his last mission.

Satisfied, he moved the pack to his back with a practiced motion, and with a click.

"You done?" The annoyed voice of RC-1102-17 nearly growled. "You always do this before a mission."

Rolling his eyes, he looked back forward. "17" has always been a hassle. For a self proclaimed 'pyrotechnics enjoyer', he was almost as good as one first generation commando. 17 could create some of the most devastating explosives with whatever he had in his arsenal, and this knowledge had saved them time and time again. 05 would give respect where it was due.

"It never changes the result."

"Better to be safe than sorry."

"A good mindset to have." RC-4096-29 chirped in. From what he could gather so far, he had a very cheery personality, having been recently cross-trained to be a commando. He was better at the more 'technological' matters, if only by a margin. Almost any first-generation commando could splice a door or hack into Moderate-Risk or even High-Risk level security, but 29 could easily crack what the boys in Republic Intelligence would consider 'Confidential'. If he was here as a replacement, he could not afford to discount his skills as their techie.

"It's a ritual, leave it be," RC-01/004 ordered. A first-generation commando, and bore the scars of the First Battle of Geonosis to prove it. A reliable leader one could count on and quick on his feet, he but despite all of it he was a dour man. As one who lost his entire pod, he could understand why he was the way he was, and none could blame him. "and play nice 05."

Finally, there was himself. First generation Commando designated RC-02/105. He easily found his spot as RC-01/004's second in command whenever 04 wasn't around. His specialty is to be the squad's designated medic, and with superior knowledge of battlefield traumas and limited knowledge in other ailments, paired with his commando training made him a valuable ally as much as it made him a formidable foe.

"Our pilots here."

"RC-01/1004, this is CC-8740-58 'Vector' reporting in." The clone pilot saluted, to which the Sergeant waved off. "Are you ready to depart?"

The commando looked to the squad, speaking over their squad communications. "Final Comms Check."

"Loud and Clear."

"I hear you."

"Acknowledged."

"We are ready." The squads leader turned back to the two pilots.

"Copy that, Squip, lets go."

"Roger that." The co-pilot ran in first with the pilot following suit.

So the four commandos got on board and without delay the shuttle began to fly out of The Horizon.

From where he sat, he could hear the hyperdrive preparing to make the jump, and with that, he closed his eyes.

ooo-/*\-ooo

"Entering system… jamming enemy radar… we are undetected!"

He was quick to awake as the hyperdrive disengaged, looking to his fellow squadmates.

"Alright, preparing to dock…" The 'thunk' of the landing gear touching hull could be heard. "Their hyperdrive is warming up, you have a minute."

"You heard Vector, 29 jam their security cameras, and 17 get that door open. Silently."

"Cams will be on loop in half that." "Roger." Both echoed as they did their respective tasks.

A moment passed before the both of them spoke simultaneously.

"Security cameras on loop."

"Port opened, go!"

With their mark the four of them entered the airlock, and when the door closed behind them the doors opened in front.

"05 you're with me to clear. You clear right side."

With a salute, he drew his DC-17m and they moved in.

"Right clear." 05 stated.

"Left clear." 04 stated. "Vector, you're clear to leave."

"Roger that, good luck!" The sound of a shuttle unclamping could be heard before silence.

"We have forty-eight hours starting now." 04 looked to 29, who pulled out a handheld holoprojector. "We are here… and where do you suggest we move?"

"I believe we should move towards… here first…" 29 pointed to the area designated 'communication vault'. "There we can learn more of our mysterious 'Cossul III', and report our findings when we get planetside."

"And afterwards?" 17 looked to the splicer.

"We should head to the closest escape pod bay… preferably here." 05 pointed to Escape Pod Bay 07-C. "We change bays if it proves more advantageous."

"Good idea, now lets get moving before the cameras return to live feed." 29 acknowledged, looking to 04. "Sir?"

Overhead, they heard the voice of a robotic advisor.

"ENTERING HYPERSPACE, APPOXIMATE TIME UNTIL ARRIVIAL: TEN HOURS."

"You heard the droid commandos, we have ten hours, lets not waste it."

ooo-/*\-ooo

The plan so far was holding up quite well. Task Force Sierra had easily retrieved the data logs of the planet of 'Cossul III', only having to dispose of less than a handful of droids. They followed up their luck with completing to the escape pods.

"So from what we gathered from the logs indicated a large manifest of raw metals and materials, to be sent to two different foundries." 04 stated pointing to the two main foundries which projected on the holoprojecter. "And Republic Intelligence was correct about the possibility of there being both a shield generator protecting the areas of both foundries and an early warning array which connects to small posts around the system…"

The boss rubbed his chin as he analyzed the data.

"We've learned something, now we got to report back to Advisor." The techie stated, fiddling with his vambrace.

"Hope this means I'll get to blow something up." 17 was idly tossing a thermal detonator up and down. "We've been sitting here for six hours, if I don't get to blow something up, this superfreighter will have to do the trick."

"Don't worry, we'll be entering atmosphere soon." 04 told the rest of the squad. "Which means we'll be planetside in no time. 29, create a malfunction."

"It'll take a second…" The splicer walked up to panel, and began to examine the wires.

Before he could begin however, the demolitions expert pressed a few buttons before placing a breaching charge in the centers of the wires. With a small explosion, the doors closed and the pod launched.

"Simulates haywire which requires the jettison of the pod." 17 looked at 29. "No need to overcomplicate it."

"If you say so…" Huffed 29. "You do that often?"

"Often enough to know it."

"Quit the chatter. Brace for impact." 05 braced, and the others followed suit.

With a crash, the collided into the earth below.

ooo-/*\-ooo

"Squad, out of the pod."

Temporarily dazed, he found himself surprised that the landing was able to daze him for longer than he'd expected it to. Still, he did not let it stall him from pushing the harness from off his chest and began moving towards the exit.

As his head popped out of the pod, he could tell that he was the last one out, 04's hand outstretched to help him outside of the wrecked pod, next and next to their leader that 17 had already set charges on the outside. As he took his first step out of the pod, he could see that 29 looked rather unwell, even with his helmet on.

"29, are you good?" 05 asked the splicer, going over a scan quickened by the helmets modifications. "Nothing' broken… no concussion… just dazed."

"Yeah, yeah… just never been in an escape pod out of high orbit…" The commando waved off the medic. "Give me a minute."

"While he's getting his bearings, 05 set up the communications with the Advisor, 17 how much longer?"

"Technically, I can blow it up whenever." 17 waved his hand dismissively as 05 pulled a cable from the base of the antenna of 29's survival pack. "But give me another thirty seconds."

"Comms are… nearly ready." 05 looked to 29. "If you're feeling better now, I'll need you to ensure that this channel is secure."

"Right, right." The command moved to the projector and pressed a few buttons. "Should be good now."

"Destroy the escape pod, rest of the squad stand back."

So the two of them complied while they let 17 do his thing, the shuttle exploding in what he claimed to be a 'magnificent use of ordinance".

With the fire blazing behind them, the three of them moved away from the site of the escape pod and gathered around the holoprojector standing on its tripod, a minute passing before the commando's advisor appeared on screen.

"Advisor, reporting in."

"Connection is secure." Satisfied, the Advisor looked to them. "Tell me what you have discovered."

"We've confirmed the site of two foundries, as well as a communications relay and a shield generator." 04 reported their findings. "Sending the data now."

04 put the holodisk in the slot on the projector, and the advisor proceeded to look over it.

"This is concerning…" The clone put his hands together, thumbs idly twiddling for a moment before it stopped. "I'll need to run this by command."

The Advisor stepped away from the projector for a moment.

"Do you think the op's changed?" 29 looked to the Sergeant in charge. "I doubt command wants to leave this place intact."

"I hope it does, it'll mean I didn't bring all this ordinance for nothing."

"Command has given me a new set of orders to relay to your squad. This mission is no longer only a reconnaissance mission."

"Mission reclassified to reconnaissance to sabotage?" 17 obviously guessed.

"Correct RC-1102-17. Command has authorized the 'deactivation' of these foundries and these facilities."

"Has our timetable been extended?" 05 asked, looking to the advisor.

"Negative, command still needs these tasks complete within the forty-eight standard hours allotted." The Advisor tapped a few buttons on his vambrace before turning away, the data they recently sent now being put up on display. "You will need to sabotage the communications array, the shield generator, and the two foundries."

"That's a tall order you're asking from us Advisor." 04's voice betrayed no emotions, but 05 could feel the tension. "The communications array and shield generator are in the west whereas the foundries are east, north and south respectively."

"I know. I informed them that it would be a dangerous operation if it was only the four of you"

"And command still wants us to sabotage these facilities?"

"They have noticed your track record of completing operations with… similar profiles. They believe it important to sabotage the foundries so that this prevents a protracted siege." The advisor reappeared on screen. "The Venerator and its flotilla intents on bombarding before launching a main strike force, so you understand the importance that the targets be softened up as much as possible."

"Suggestions?" 05 asked for the advisor's take on the situation.

"Two head east, two head west where the two of you will split up." The advisor zoomed in on the relay station and shield generator. "Based on your service history, RC-01/004 and RC-4096-29 will head to the west and deal with these targets." The map then switched to the two foundries. "RC-02/105 and RC-1102-17 will head to the east."

"Its not a favorable strategy, but if we can pull it off, the army that comes to mop up will thank us for it." 29 spun it optimistically.

"Or we die horribly." 17 clicked his tongue, less enthused with the task he had been voluntold for.

"Is this the only option available to us?"

"Command needs those targets destroyed, and they'd prefer it be done before they arrive."

After another moment, 04 sighed.

"We might to pull it off, though I don't like the odds."

"Good luck Task Force Sierra."

The transmission faded as the lot of them looked at one another.

A moment of silence passed as they stood around the holo projector.

It wasn't odd or uncommon to be given an order which might be fatal, but that in itself was probably a bad sign.

A reminder of their expendability.

"17, how many explosives did you bring?"

"Enough to cripple a Subjugator-class heavy cruiser's engine room." 17 responded, his survival pack unlatching from his armor. Looking into his pouch, he pulled out six high yield detonation packs and a few TB-47's. "And maybe it's hyperdrive generator if I could place them properly."

"That's… a lot of explosives." 29 sounded baffled.

"Better safe than sorry."

"That's good. You'll need to split it up with the rest of us." 04 moved up to the pile of ordinance. "Only one for me and 29."

"Right, 05?" The demolitions expert pointed to the pile. "Take three detpacks and a single TB-47, I'll take the bigger foundry."

05 didn't bother to suggest to take the larger of the two. 17 always picked the target that would create the biggest fireworks.

His helmets H.U.D with an arrow in the direction he was to begin walking, he knew that the trip would take around a day if the stars aligned… and they rarely did.

ooo-/*\-ooo

The journey to the facility took roughly twenty-eight hours, including an hour-long rest to eat and rest before continuing the trek.

Upon arriving to the outskirts of the foundry, he could see where the superfreighter had unloaded all of its supplies. Spending an hour observing the patrol patterns and locations of outer security holocams of the B1 and B2 battle droids, and although the security was tight, he could see a convoy of hover carts with different boxes and other supplies,

With the stealth honed through arduous training, he deftly hopped onto the cart and hid behind a number of the supplies. As the cart entered the facility he waited for a number of minutes before it came to a halt.

The commando waited a minute or two before peaking his head from out of the back, seeing more crates and additional supplies. Checking for any additional security system or roving patrols, when he found none he left the cart and looked around his new surroundings.

Moving around the number of hovercraft all with crates, he quickly realized that he was in a storage room. As he progressed to one end of the room, he kept an eye out for any terminals or even an office which may have a terminal.

Fortunate for him, he did not need to find a central office as he found an open terminal that he could work with.

Moving towards it, he quickly went to work splicing into the terminal, and although it was not his strong suit, he always found it easier to splice wall terminals like these compared to more dedicated terminals.

Plus, much of the Confederacy's systems were quite cheaply made, and thus, easier to bypass.

Tapping away at a number of keys for the next minute, he was pleased when red screen became an accessed green, allowing him access to much of the information of this facility that wasn't hidden behind a 'Top Secret' data lock.

The perks of being connected to a single network. 05 began to skim through various bits of information, from manifests of this room to the general purpose of this facility.

This was accelerated through the process of searching for key words; IG-Series, ST-Series, T-Series, W-Series, Q-series, B-Series… B1, B2, BX… wait.

There.

A number of the data manifests are in reference to the BX-Series Battle Droid Line, more commonly known as 'Commando Droids'. What wasn't hidden behind a 'Secret' and 'Non-Critical Secret' research clearance was pretty simple to decrypt. Schematics, specifications, and other vital information pertaining to the manufacturing and production.

There was a number of files referencing a specific experimental 'BX' series, but without further digging, he would be unable to tell what it was. Deciding to take a risk, he began to dig deeper, after another number of minutes, he managed to decrypt a 'Non-Critical Secret' file detailing the droid production manifest.

"BX-X Series." He whispered the name of the experimental model.

According to the manifest, this foundry was primarily focused on the production of new B1's and a number of B2's, however there were a number of facilities within this foundry dedicated to the experimental commando droid model dubbed 'BX-X'.

It seems that a number of the items from the ships manifest were sent here possibly to assist in the fabrication of these newer droids. Looking closer at the list, he noticed that a number of metals were listed for their 'blaster resistance', which meant that it was likely that the Research and Development Separatist Command was interested in increasing the survivability of their more elite units.

And according to the findings R&D have recently discovered, these units had a longer assembly time than the standard commando droid… and that this facility was intending on decreasing the time by at least 33%.

If they succeed here, then the creation of foundries across the Outer Rim might begin fabricating these droids.

Copying this data onto a disk, he stored it away in one of the pockets on the belt, he unholstered his DC-17m.

05 got to work, making his way through the facility, having some hassle maneuvering his way throughout the foundry due to the having to splice through a number of doors and having to avoid the patrols of B1's and B2's. He was narrowly caught by one of these patrol, but thankfully for him, B2 battle droids had poor object permanence and once he was out of their line of sight, they returned to their normal subroutines.

B1's were not a hassle to dispose of, but if a patrol of B2's had seen him, he'd have a hell of a time getting to his destination.

Aside from the patrols, the layout of this base was relatively simple and mundane, a task much easier compared to a number of other facilities he'd been sent into with the rest of Task Force Sierra.

Perhaps it was the idea that this facility was supposed to be a 'secret' that the Separatists had no reason to suspect infiltrators here to sabotage? He'd expect at least more security defenses such as ray shields and other means to lock out any unwanted visitors.

Or maybe it was the size of the foundry itself? This foundry was on such a smaller scale compared to a number of other facilities he had entered.

Still, whether or not the security was high or low, or the size of the foundry, he was certain where both the main generators main power conduit and the second power conduits would be protected quite similarly to those on Geonosis.

As he reached the main generator, he could hear the familiar hum of the many turbines working and see the white light of the first main power conduit. He knew that the second main power conduit would not be too far away, however the one issues being that his next objective was past a ray shielded hallway.

Pulling out the first set of detonation packs, he punched in the key code with a pre-decided combination code, and set the timer to allow for him to get out of this blast radius.

Once this conduit was destroyed, the power fluctuation would disable the ray shielding for a number of minutes, allowing him a clear path towards the second main power conduit.

And if this one like the one of Geonosis, then the auxiliary power would not be able to allow the foundry to do most of its primary functions and prevent a mass retaliation.

Entering the last digits in, he heard the familiar chime of a primed det-pack, and the 15 second timer began to count down.

This facility needs to be destroyed… no matter the cost.

ooo-/*\-ooo

05's luck had been holding up quite well.

Once the first conduit had gone down, an alarm began to blare out.

He managed to easily rush towards the second main power conduit, and in the wake of a power shutoff and subsequent swap to auxiliary power, he was able to place his second set of detonation packs.

That was when he felt a seismic shock, presumably from the other foundry a number of miles out.

17 must've completed his part of the mission. 05 could only hope as he continued onwards as he detonated the second main power conduit. With it's destruction he rushed towards his best chance of escaping this facility alive, the foundry's midlevel hanger bay.

Lower hanger bays would likely be locked up with all their speeders out roving the area by now and the upper ones would be receiving security patrols and reinforcements by the time he reached it, whereas the middling bay was most likely to be open given that they have yet to ascertain what the threat is.

There also had to be at least a number of STAP's in there, one of which he'd be able to commandeer and hopefully escape the foundry. Then he'd create a big enough distraction so that he'd be able to escape to the rendezvous point without hassle.

Reaching the bay, he could peek in and see maybe a dozen STAP's docked and another dozen empty charging ports. Along the ceiling there were inactive vulture droids and a number more piloted scouting craft.

Following one of those tubes led to a silo with familiar markings on them.

Rhydonium.

A plan hatching in his mind, he ducked back into cover as he noticed a number of the B1 battle droids stationed here were moving. Most of them were walking towards one direction, although he did not know what they were doing yet.

Carefully getting closer, he could hear the idle chatter of the B1's. There was one with yellow markings with yellow lines on its torso, whereas the rest had grey markings on their head and torso.

"Mechanic droids, gather here." The battle droid sergeant nasally vocabulator echoed in the bay, as the droids got closer. "The Commander wants us to lock up all the speeders, apparently there has been a security breach."

"A security breach? I thought no one knew about this place?" One of the mechanics spoke up, whereas the rest of them echoed 'Roger Rogers'.

"No one is, though the Commander has already sent droids to investigate the problem. But it is our job to make sure these speeders are shut down and— was that can always here?"

The droids all turned to look down to see the cylindrical silver container slowly coming to a stop.

"I have a bad fee—"

A surge of electricity came out from it as the dozen battle droids were hit with a shock that fried their internal circuitry and dropping them to the ground.

Popping out from cover the commando rushed over to one of the STAP's and prepared it for launch. Checking the many displays of it, he could tell that it had been recently charged up and ready for flight, a good sign for him.

As it began to power up, he pulled out a TB-17, and set the dial to 20 seconds.

Jumping onto the speeder, he tossed the primed time bomb into the middle of three large fuel canisters within the hanger bay.

15 seconds remaining.

05's STAP quickly turned and began flying towards the exit of the foundry.

10 seconds remaining.

The thrusters of the STAP roared as he put distance between himself and the foundry.

5…4…3…2…1

The thunderous roar of the fuel silo's erupting into explosions and plumes of blue flame, followed by a shockwave which shook the world around him, even on the STAP.

Hearing a beeping sound over his helmet, he could see it was a transmission from 29.

Accepting the communication, he greeted.

"29, this is 05."

"Good to see you in one piece, lead wants to speak with you."

The comm switched from the tech expert to the leader.

"This is 04, have you heard from 17?"

"Have you not been able to get in contact?"

"Negative, after the first tremor, I tried to no success."

"Concerning… but given his previous track record I'm certain he's fine… probably." 05 stated, flying away from the foundry. "I am currently on route to my designated rendezvous point via a STAP speeder, having completed my objective."

"Excellent." 04 praised. "29 and I have completed our assignment as well and are heading to our designated exfiltration zone, and hopefully 17 is doing the same."

"This operation has been going smoothly so far." 29 added, optimism in his voice. "With any luck, we will be on The Venerator in roughly a few hours time."

"Don't count your aiwha before they hatch." 04 chastised. "We still have roughly six hours give or take until pick up is predicted to be in system."

"Now we execute post operation exfiltration procedures?"

"Indeed 05," 04's hologram nodded turning to the newer member of their squad. "We get away from the site of our operation, lay low, and maintain comm's silence until further notice."

"Good luck then, 05 over and out."

They simply nodded as the communications link ended.

He continued his journey away from the site of his most recent mission and around three hours worth of travel, he stopped his speeder and camouflaged it with some of the local shrubbery.

As he set up a temporary camp, he raised his helmet so that it covered everything above the nose.

Pulling out a ration cube, he plopped it into his mouth, letting the sweetness of the cube settle as he chewed.

They've been successful.

05 noted, pleased that aside from 17's usual communications silence, they've succeeded on all fronts with maximum success and no losses.

This is a good place to rest. He noted as he chose to lean up against a tree, resealing his helmet.

Once The Venerator and her whole escort complement arrives, then the factories will be put to the end of their turbo lasers and hopeful the army compliment will be able to deal with once and for all without their help.

Unlikely.

05 typed in a preset alarm for roughly three hours, taking the recon droid and tossing up in the air, its query being incoming patrols and speeders.

Hopefully this would be enough security for him to rest before continuing the journey towards the exfiltration zone. He was roughly halfway there, hopefully he'd be able to make it the rest of the way there with some more rest.

He closed his eyes as he let over two days' worth of exhaustion take him.

ooo-/*\-ooo

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

A steady chime played.

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

There it was again.

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

Strange… it hasn't been three hours… has it?

Eyes promptly opening, he got up, back and neck sore from his nap, rubbing his neck to soothe the ache. It was nothing he wasn't already used to.

His alarm still had an hour's worth of time to it, give or take, so that was the first cause for concern.

The next sign was seeing the alert notification appear on his visor. According to his recon droid , it had spotted a patrol of ten Flitknot speeders roughly two, maybe one and a half kilometers out from his current position, and getting closer.

Quickly deducing that this was not mere coincidence, he uncovered the STAP speeder from under the shrubbery and quickly got it in working order, activating it and readying himself to get on the move.

Looking at the low quality feed produced by the droid, he couldn't make out what was on top of those speeders, and in normal circumstances, he'd gladly take up a sniping position and prepare for their arrival.

Yet these were not normal circumstances.

And it was because in his experience, he knew that only higher quality droids rode these speeders due to the cost of those speeders. The Separatists would not entrust B1 or B2-series droids to handle those speeders, and he was not confident that he could handle a squad of IG or BX's in open combat.

He was about to press a button on his vambrace to return the recon droid to him, only for a single red bolt to hit the spherical droid and after a moment of falling, the feed cut to black.

They had discovered his location, and worse, they were on their way.

Cursing the loss of both his recon droid and the sudden turn in luck, he hopped onto the STAP.

Once all systems were green, he began to fly in the direction towards the exfiltration zone.

As 05 traveled towards the exfiltration zone, he could only guess to how they found him as quickly as they did. Perhaps the recon droid had led them to him? Or maybe it was the speeder itself? He was certain that STAP's did not have trackers in them.

Regardless, it did not change that the Separatists had found him and were giving chase. It was worsened by the fact that their speeders were faster than his, meaning that they were slowly gaining ground.

Entering the open field, he noticed ten small dots slowly growing in size tailing behind him.

This situation was pretty bad, but from what he gathered from the recon droid, at least one of them had a marksmen blaster, and if they had not shot at him yet, that must mean they wish to get closer and most likely capture him alive.

Not that he'd let them, but sometimes being a semi-high value target in the eyes of the Separatists was always a perk in this line of work.

The STAP did its best to keep ahead of the many Flitknot speeders, but it wasn't too much longer before they were no more than one hundred meters and gaining.

That was when he felt the impact of a blaster bolt hit his back, specifically his left shoulder. If it were not for the deflector shield, he would certainly be feeling the heat of the impact, as the E-5 despite it's cost could be a rather dangerous blaster rifle model.

Taking evasive action he did his best to avoid the incoming blaster fire from behind.

A quick peek behind him revealed that the Flitknot speeders were being ridden by BX-Series commando droids, although these models were not the standard black and brown, rather these ones were a more… bone-like color.

Still, after another two bolts bounced off his armor's shield, he decided that evasion itself was not the answer.

Unholstering his DC-17m, he quickly turned his head and pointed his blaster towards one of the droids, the H.U.D accommodating for the change.

The commando fired a practiced burst of three ionized bolts into the closest battle droid.

They struck true as they hit twice in the torso and once in the head, causing the droid to slump back for a moment and its one hand still on the handle.

That set of shots was normally a fatal to any humanoid battle droid produced by Baktoid Combat Automata, yet it quickly straightened itself out and continued returning fire.

Letting out another volley in a similar fashion, he managed to hit the blaster out of its hand, but it simply straightened itself out again, two singe marks on its forehead sticking out like a sore thumb.

"Damn it all." 05 couldn't help cursing out, holstering his DC-17m.

The only reasonable explanation for this was either that the droids were more heavily armored, or these were the 'BX-X'-series talked about in the files he obtained.

The droids must've been feeling confident, as two of them sped up past the main group and got right next to him side by side. More red blaster bolts flew past him from behind and he narrowly managed to avoid the two next to him as his STAP avoided the shots by hitting the brakes.

It didn't take him long to formulate another plan. Although these droids were seemingly impervious to his blaster bolts, their speeders were not.

Using the STAP's repeating dual blaster cannon, green blaster cannon bolts struck the ion engine of the Flitknot, causing it to explode in a plume of flame. The second one managed to nearly avoid all the shots of the blaster cannon arc, but not without being grazed by it, sparks beginning to fly from the damage caused.

This chase had devolved into a bit of an impasse.

They could not get too close to him or they'd be destroyed by the STAP's cannons.

He could not stop to engage, as his blasters were unable to penetrate their thick plating and he would not be able to evade the firing squad that was the wall of E-5 blaster shots.

And he could only assume that the marksmen blaster in the back of the pack was not firing only because it'd jeopardize the directive it had been given.

This was a bad situation.

He tried to think a solution to get these droids off of his tail…

Continue to fire at them with his DC-17m? Not sustainable, he'd be lucky to hit a vital component of their speeders.

Use a different mode on his DC-17m? Could be effective, but require him to remove both hands off the STAP, leaving him moving in a linear path for too long.

Drop grenades? Too telegraphed, their processors would have enough time to register the threat and evade them.

Turn around and face them head on? Borderline suicidal, but if it worked…

Gripping on the handles, he took a breath in as he prepared to do something many would consider extraordinarily reckless.

It would be the end of him.

Grip on the handles loosening, he exhaled.

He was overthinking this.

He was a clone.

He was bred to fight the enemies of the Republic, and give his life if it was required.

And besides, there were definitely worse ways to die.

05 glanced back once more. There were nine of them, and one of him. He had to make this count.

Bo-weep Bo-weep Boweep

An incoming communication halted him from action, and looking to his H.U.D., the signals origin was from friendly forces!

Quickly pressing a button on his vambrace, he heard a transmission which would be the salvation to any clones ears.

"RC-02/105, this is Shuttle K-1138 deployed from The Venerator, requesting a sitrep."

"Shuttle K-1138, this is RC-02/105, I am currently being pursued by nine BX-Series modified on Flitknot Speeders, requesting immediate support if possible!"

"Understood, can you make it to the rendezvous point?"

Before he could respond, a blaster bolt hit the lower end of his speeder. A warning began to blare on his speeder's monitor, stating that damage had been done to the anti-grav unit.

The recommended action was to come to a full stop.

"Negative, my speeder has been damaged and I have roughly fifteen—" Flames began to spark out from the damaged zone. "ten minutes or less. Requesting close air support and pick up."

"RC-02/105, we copy your request, we have locked onto your signal and will be nearing your location, ETA five minutes, I say again ETA five minutes. Stay alive and good luck."

With that, the communication between Shuttle K-1138 cut out as he continued to evade blaster fire from his pursuers.

It took only a moment before Shuttle K-1138 was in sight, and what he could see in the sky was a bulky transport ship. Despite its size, its armament complimented it as green blaster cannon bolts began to rain down upon his enemies.

"RC-02/105, close air support danger close."

Looking behind him, he could see that another three of them of them had been destroyed by the volley.

The remaining six began to widen up their formation to avoid being destroyed by the next volley.

Yet it seemed the shuttle was prepared for such an outcome.

"RC-02105, this is Shuttle K-1138, deploying a BARC speeder attachment to assist you with your exfil."

As the shuttle turned about, the two cargo doors on its rear opened up, and four BARC speeders flew out of it, and began to provide support.

Their initial volley took out another Flitknot, and the remaining realized the turn of the situation, yet their programing was flexible enough for them to change tactics. Now five remaining, three of them of them turned back to deal with the speeders on their tail now, while two attempted to catch up with him.

"RC-02/105, Shuttle K-1138 pulling ahead to provide ample boarding space." The shuttle flew overhead and soon in front. "Enter in from the port side, I say again the port side."

"Copy that, just need to get rid of these droids." Once more, he unholstered his DC-17m, in preparation to eliminate the two catching up.

To his left and right, he could see the captain with dark markings matching those of a captain, and what he'd assume to be the closest thing to a battle droid lieutenant, both side by side, beginning to open up on his speeder.

However, he pulled the same maneuver as he did before, managing to catch the lieutenant off guard, speeder loosing its stride and the rider flying off.

It did not work, for the commando captain as the moment a single bolt hit its speeder, it hopped onto the STAP, attempting to wrestle control from him.

"Shuttle K-1138, commando on my speeder, coming in hot!"

The STAP was struggling to increase in speed and altitude, but fortunately for the commando the damaged speeder managed to get into the cargo bay without imploding on itself and exploding.

The two commandos on different sides of the war tumbled into a number of crates while a few the clones which were onboard were more concern with the explosive hazard that was the STAP.

05 could only see the face of the commando droid staring straight at him.

The clone commando immediately attempted to throw a punch with his left fist, vibroblade extended, however the commando droid immediately caught it, and headbutted the commando, dazing him for a moment.

Picking him up, the commando droid attempted to run towards the open bay door, its next move to jump out along with him.

This was stopped by one of the speeders re-entering the bay colliding straight into the retreating droid, throwing it and himself back into the main speeder bay.

All of the clones in the bay noticed the commando droid captain in the bay, and pulled out their blasters, beginning to fire into it, however to no success as it simply pulled out its vibro-blade, and in two fluid motions killing one clone, while the other clones moved back, preparing a defense.

Laying on his side, he could see that a second speeder had returned heavily damaged, and one might be worried that it would explode. However, that was less concerning considering that there was a commando droid hanging from underneath it.

Before he could get the grappling hook to tie around the droid, the commando quickly grabbed the speeder pilot and threw the clone at him, knocking him and the clone backwards on the ground.

"Damned droids!" 05 gritted his teeth as pushed the clone off of himself and switched to the shuttles commlink. "Shuttle K-1138, we've been boarded by these commando droids!" 05 alerted the shuttle's pilots. "Get more troop reinforcement in the speeder bay!"

"Copy that, sending the rest of the attached squad."

Before the captain could swing at the next clone, 05 threw himself at the droid captain, causing the swing to go wide and dig into the floor of the shuttle. Before it could retrieve it, he punched in the faceplate, ignoring the pain in his right hand and continuing to get it away from the blade.

From the corner of his H.U.D., the other commando was swiftly surrounded by clones, who were attempting to hold it down with little success as it jumped and dodged most attempts to grapple it. When a clone did manage to grab it, a punch was thrown to the chest throwing the clone back.

Continuing to fight the droid, he felt his deflector shield soften the blow of a number of punches which he blocked, but broke with a punch to the gut.

That was when he heard the whirring of a Z-6 rotary cannon, preparing to fire.

"Don't do it trooper!" The voice of a more senior clone called out before it could unleash its barrage. "You might hit something important here!"

05 attempted to draw his DC-17m, only to receive an uppercut which knocked him to his back, sending his blaster away from him and almost putting him out of the fight, as the droid scrambled for the vibroblade.

Quickly coming to his senses, he remembered that the stun setting oftentimes caused unarmored droids circuitry to fry.

If his blaster bolts couldn't get through, hopefully the charge from the stun would.

As it reached the blade, another clone attempted to stop it, only to be cut down like the last one.

This sacrifice bought him the time he needed to set his pistol to stun and line up his shot.

The first shot hit the leg, causing the droid to fall to one knee.

The second shot hit the arm seemingly causing the arm to drop the vibroblade and go limp.

The third and fourth shot hit the torso, causing the eyes to flicker.

The fifth and seemingly final shot hit the head, causing the lights of its eyes to turn off and it struggled to stay active, its one arm forcing itself to crawl to him, before completely crumbling in its place.

"Stun settings work on them!" 05 called to the shuttle's squad. "Set your blasters to stun and open fire!"

"Squad you heard the commando." The group backed up from the commando droid for a moment, and the droid seemed to realize what was about to happen. "Open fire!"

A flurry of stun shots hit the second droid, and it collapsed.

Exhaling, he laid back down, the adrenaline wearing off and in a fair bit of pain. His vitals according to the suits internal diagnostics reading high yellow, seven out of eleven bars in total.

"RC-02/105, what is your current status?" The pilot checked in.

"Engagement complete, droids decommissioned."

"Copy that, we will be leaving this planet and system immediately then."

The shuttle began to fly upwards leaving the clones to clean up in the hanger bay.

It didn't take too much longer before a clone with the red sigil on a shoulder pad moved up next to him, but he waved them off.

"I'll be fine, look at everyone else."

"I did, two dead and another four pretty badly beaten up."

"Then get the two in bags and the rest treated." He got up and took the vibroblade. "Get a Military Grade Droid Restraining Bolt on those two droids, does this vessel have an Armory I can lock this up in?"

"You plan on keeping these droids?" The Sergeant asked. "I'd think it better to just toss them out and leave system."

"I have some data and I believe that taking these droids back for evaluation is likely to confirm it."

"I see then… well you're the boss, follow me." The Sergeant of the squad took the commando through a hallway which had two doors on both sides. Entering the one on the left he saw three more doors. "Weapon storage on the right, I'm going to get bolts from the left."

With a nod he entered to room and saw three tall racks which could carry maybe around forty blasters and a variety of explosives give or take. At this moment, the space was empty, given that it was likely all the clones currently held all the munitions they wanted.

Putting the vibro-weapon in a box-like container, he left the room to see the droids being carried into the left room, MG-Droid Restraining bolts on their red dot sensors on their chest. The droids were tossed into a crate with a warning sigil.

"Pilots, is The Venerator in system yet?"

"Negative, we jumped from a nearby mining station, as to not alert the Separatists that a fleet it nearby." The pilot could be heard flipping switches and pressing a number of keys. "From what the other shuttles reported, two of your squad mates have been picked up, and they're still waiting on one more."

"I see." 05 left the storage area and began moving towards the main passenger compartment. "Can you get us out of system."

"Already on it." The pilot stated, switching from their communication line to the shuttles. "Attention all passengers, we will be preparing for hyperspace jump in the next minute." The shuttle's speaker announced. "Essential personnel who cannot be seated are advised to magnetize for the jump."

When he entered the room, he could see around forty seats, twelve arranged on both sides, and in the middle being sixteen, with emergency life support crates on either side of the middle seats.

Most of the other clones filtered in and where he sat alone, he noticed the rest of the clones chose to sit closer to one another.

"We are clear now, initiating jump in ten… nine… eight…" The pilots began their countdown.

The hyperdrive engine was stirring to life as the shuttle prepared to leave the system.

"seven…six… five…"

05 leaned and closed his eyes as he looked forward to some real rest. It wouldn't be long before he met up with some Republic Officer or another individual of high command, be praised for the success and the good that came from the mission.

"four… three…"

Maybe they'll be accolades, though if he wanted those, he would've been born an ARC Trooper or one of the regs.

"two… woah, woah wait a minute, something big's coming out of hyperspace."

Maybe they would give him some leave?

"Abort! Abort!"

These thoughts came to abrupt stop when the cabin shook violently as the sounds of the hyperdrive activated.

"I cant!"

Immediately, he quickly tapped some buttons on his vambrace and patched himself into the shuttles communication line.

"Pilot, what's the situation!"

"We were preparing for jump when a flotilla of Separatist ships came out of hyperspace. Three Munificent's heavy frigates and a Providence dreadnought." The pilot began, concern in his voice. "There were some… breaches in the shield and we've sustained a moderate amount of damage."

"Only moderate damage?'" The commando echoed as he tried to get out of his seat, but for some reason, his harness wouldn't budge. "How bad is this 'moderate damage' then?"

"Most of it is to the port side hull, engine damage here and there, and damage to the nose of the shuttle." The pilot listed out. "The worst of it is that the hyperdrive is malfunct-."

The shuttle's comms went dark and suddenly felt like it was going… faster.

That should be impossible, given that they were already going as fast as a shuttle could go.

Quickly, he activated the magnetic soles of his boots and gripped onto the other harnesses.

As seconds became minutes, he could feel the worry and uncertainty grow despite their masked faces. If he was concerned, any reg would likely be on the verge of panic.

He had done everything he could to prepare for the worse.

Finally, the silence would be broken by the pilots over the commlink.

"BR—E –R IM—T"

That broken sentence was the last thing he heard as the ship's violent crash thrashed him around in his seat.

This combined with the injuries suffered early caused the world around him to fade to black.

┈ ┈ ┈ ⋞ 〈 ⏣ 〉 ⋟ ┈ ┈ ┈

The Gods were confused.

How did such a collection of new pieces make its way onto the board?

Such strange pieces to be identical!

One looked at the other, either in confusion or in anger, believing that this had to be one or the others doing.

It isn't long before they begin to bicker amongst themselves, accusing one another for the sudden manifestation of these pieces!

Only Illusion and Truth could recognize such pieces, oh yes, these pieces were from that game, and what a pleasant surprise for it to end up here!

Regardless, Truth moved to remove the seventeen excess pieces from the board, tossing each one into the proverbial bin. While it was not a glamourous task, he could not say he did not enjoy it.

Illusion could only try to convince Truth to not do such an act, as she had already imagined the amount of fun they could have with them. She had planned out many stories, many tales, many adventures!

Yet he did not budge or buckle, as these pieces did not belong here.

He continued to do such a thing until his hands grasped the last one. He picked it up to admire the artistry put into this piece. Although it was similar to the other pieces removed, there was something unmistakably different… something… unique.

He did not know if the creator of this piece had put the same attention and care that he and Illusion would do for theirs, but to toss thispiece away with the rest would be a grave sin.

Perhaps Illusions plea's had some merit to them?

A devious grin spread across Truth's face as he put that piece back down.

Yes… yes! A marvelous adventure could be in store for this piece… perhaps if he let it remain, there would be a tale in store for them.

Illusion was overjoyed to see his change of heart, but could not help but feel that something was… off. Truth had looked at that piece for awfully long.

Still he called for her to follow him, not looking back at the still scuffling deities.

He claimed they had more important things to do.

After all, they had to see how far that game had progressed since it left their care and their eyes.


Hey everyone!

First and foremost, Merry Christmas and I wish you all a good holiday season.

I know I haven't updated this story in a while, but that's because I've been busy with work and finishing up my degree.

Every time I found myself ready and pumped to rework this, I ended up stalling out and stuck at whatever my latest chapter had been at the time.

I reread what I had many times, and I struggled to find a good way to continue, so here I am restarting this project again.

Hopefully I'll get it right this time...

-Moonlight Talon of the Night!

Wish me luck