Chapter Eighteen: Renewed Conflict
Disclaimer: See Chapter One
Hey, everyone, guess who is back, back again. If you are one of the few that saw my little farewell address, I decided to stay for the time being, and I did not want to leave you guys who are readers of mine that solely are here.
Last time, well, some much needed Jedi Therapy for both Barriss & Luminara, and Anakin, also saw Etain briefly, good stuff.
This time, well, we are finally here, the war has begun again at last like I promised.
On with the show:
It had taken a few months of time, though they seemed to go by in a blink of an eye for the Galaxy, all three sides had needed the time to rest, rebuild, rearm, and reorganize their command chains. New commanders, new units, new weapons of war, all of which required time and supplies to be ready for the flame of war to be rekindled.
Shipyards have been producing new fleets, the first Victory II-class Star Destroyers were rolling off the line and being assigned to the most senior Republic officers first, and working their way down. Admiral Yularen knew he was in line somewhere for a new flagship, which will be a consolation, as his fleet was being attached to High Jedi General Kenobi's fleet while General Skywalker was on mandatory leave, and Commander Tano has been reassigned to other fronts, and Captain Rex and Torrent Company of the 501st Legion are currently attached to the 7th Sky Corps, which was Commander Cody's men. He was intending to name his Victory II as the Resolute II.
Mandalore was building new warships themselves, new Keldabe-class battleships and Crusader-class cruisers were being built, in orbit by MandalMotors, its people taking up arms again as Mandalore the Peacekeeper wanted. The first Keldabe Battleships were intended for the Mand'alor and her Minister of War and Defense, and they have already picked the names they wanted: Peacekeeper and Redeemer. Both Kryze sisters spent a lot of time going through the old warrior ways, Satine had been reading through the SuperCommando Codex that Jaster Mereel or Mandalore the Reformer had written, and they have been writing their own Codex, practices that the reborn warrior ways will follow under Clan Kryze's rule. Satine herself had to remark to her sister when they were overseeing a training session, that now she had her own Crusaders, but ones that would crusade to end injustice and protect the innocent. Not as conquerors, but liberators, that is what she told herself to help cope with the part of the brain that is screaming at her still for hypocrisy.
Despite the fact that all sides needed the time to build up, there were those carrying out their own wars against their faction's enemies. In order to buy the Republic more time, Privateers led by the three main Pirate Lords have been harassing Confederate and Hutt shipping, which slowed their shipbuilding capabilities. However, secret droid factories hidden on Mustafar became the major production center of new droid armies. Many of the Separatist Council transferred production to the remote lava world, now that it had been exposed that they had been playing both sides and their worlds were major targets of the GAR to bring to heel. Of prime concern was the Foundry of the Confederacy, a collection of worlds that did the heavy production of the Confederate Military. Especially with the fact that the Hutts had become a third faction in the war and that section of space was dangerously close to the borders of Hutt Space, it had become apparent that they would need to relocate some of the more important projects from there.
Mustafar
Currently, Count Dooku and General Grievous were at the recently expanded production center on the molten world, now run by Gizor Delso, overseeing the construction of several special projects. Grievous was left to oversee the production of new Super Tanks, and new Seismic Tanks, and other vehicles that will make the Republic pay for every inch of ground. As Grievous listened to the tactical droid translate for Gizor Dellso, he crossed his arms in thought, hopefully these make it to the battlefield. He was a bit bitter over learning about the self sabotage that was happening to the Confederate Military, but it wasn't exactly Dooku's fault entirely, with Lord Sidious controlling both sides of the war for the longest time.
"Enough! I have heard enough, the facility is producing as we need," Grievous barked. He needed time to think about a few things, as he was soon to be back on the battlefield. "I need time to think, dismissed," he growled, and both the droid and Geonosian shuffled out of the room. Grievous took a moment and walked through a side door out to a balcony, looking out over the molten surface of the planet.
There he stood, arms crossed, in thought. To be completely honest, Grievous didn't want to be there, Dooku knew what he thought of the droids under his command. Both of them knew that Mustafar had just become critical to the Confederacy's war effort, with all of the production facilities brought here to keep them safe, not mention here was the home of their newest commanders, the Blackguard, several of which were now acting as guards at the main facility where he currently was. He just hoped that they would be able to do what they needed to do.
He took consolation in the fact that, despite not having the Force, Dooku did him the favor of placing all of the new officers under his command when he reorganized the command structure. The Dark Acolytes were already technically under his command, if Dooku ordered them to be, but this was different. While he knew they were not happy to be taking his orders, they did respect that he was the most experienced officer out of everyone, and knew what he was doing, most of the time. Out of all the new underlings, Grievous was most interested in serving with Rayvis, a fellow Jedi killer, and reminded him of Durge a bit, but at least was not as crazy. At the least, Grievous is gonna treat them better than the droid officers under him, as he himself was once flesh and blood. The only droid that had even an ounce of the Supreme Commander's respect was the Super Tactical Droid General Kalani, who was still currently stationed on Agamar. When they were done on Mustafar, he and Dooku were to travel to Koboh, both to meet the new Bedlam Raiders, and travel to Tanalorr, as Dooku wanted to see this world he had heard about in his padawan days.
Speaking of the Count, Grievous was starting to wonder where he had disappeared to, said he had something he needed to see to, but would not share with the General what he was doing. So, there he was, on a lava observation platform, looking out over the ash-covered landscape, flowing rivers of molten rock and metal, and poisonous air that choked the light of the planet's sun. Good thing he did not need to breathe in the normal way, despite having a cough due to some issues with his cybernetics. He knew if he needed to, he could survive in the vacuum of space for brief amounts of time, longer than most organics, but not indefinitely.
It was on his mind due to the recent incident near Florrum when Kenobi ordered his ship's reactor to be set to blow, while he did have enough time to get out there, it was close. Should have just jumped out the bridge viewport, well, next time, as he knew it would probably happen again.
As he had a moment alone, his thoughts turned towards home, to Kalee, to the family he once had. He once had ten wives and thirty kids, and he loved them all in his own way, now not so many, only a handful of members left, as far as he was aware. It was like two of his wives and five of his kids that were left, maybe even less now, he hasn't been home in a long while. Even then, he wasn't sure he could face his family again, especially as he is now, even if they knew what he looked like as a cyborg. He leaned on the balcony's rail in thought of the times he had as normal flesh and blood with his family, in between battles, his kids burying him under them all, and laying down with his wives in his arms, it was something to say the least.
Kumar, if only we both went out together in that battle, he thought of the woman he loved first, and how he became the Kaleesh warlord Grievous after her death. Grievous heard footsteps behind him, multiple in fact, he knew the softer ones were Dooku's, and the heavier ones were droids. He did not turn to face his master just yet.
"Ah, there you are, General." Dooku greeted him. Deciding that the moment called for a little bit of charm, as he could tell that Grievous was lost in thought, and by the way he was leaning on the guard rail, he knew the General was thinking of home. "Thinking of home?"
"Yes, my surviving wives and children, I wonder how they are doing, without me, and without those that have died," Grievous answered him, a hint of sadness came through his vocabulator.
"I am sure they are fine, Chairmen Hill has assured me that the IBC is making sure they get the food and resources they need," Dooku half-lied, Kalee was getting the supplies promised in the deal Grievous made with the IBC, but his family was dead. They never made it home from seeing him in that bacta tank. Not that Dooku was going to tell him that, unless things go south for the Confederacy, and he gives Grievous his license to kill Gunray and the Council. The Droid General seemed satisfied enough with the answer.
"The production lines are working as expected, my lord," Grievous told him, as he looked over the balcony at a few Blackguards he spotted.
"Good, very good. The tide will turn for us when the Super Tanks are able to be deployed." Dooku thought for a moment about everything going on, before he turned to the matter at hand. "General, I have a gift for you," Dooku said, as two dark red and black painted droids stepped around the Count.
"More useless droids?" Grievous asked, as he turned around, his temper rising, he had a low opinion of all the droids under him, even his Magnaguard bodyguards. However, he recognized the droids standing with the Count.
"Not quite," Dooku answered, and the droids reached on their hips and grabbed a lightsaber in each hand. Activating them, the sabers blazed crimson red.
Grievous's yellow eyes widened a bit in intrigue and surprise. "You reactivated the project?"
"Yes, General. These are the EG-series Jedi Hunter droids that we were developing before Lord Sidious sent Skywalker to destroy the facility as he was worried they would turn the tide in the favor of the Confederacy and end the war too quickly." Dooku shook his head a bit, at the whole thing of self sabotage they did for so long.
Grievous had made sure to keep it under wraps that he had purchased a EG-series Jedi Hunter for his own purposes, when he tried to break from Dooku, which had met its fate above Mustafar. "Too bad about the C-B3s," Grievous remarked as he looked over the new droids.
"Yeah, another one of those that Sidious got concerned about, and sent Skywalker to deal with it. In any event, General, while they will not be too useful against the more experienced members of the Order, they will suffice to aid you in combat as bodyguards and commanders for the time being. These two are new bodyguards for you." Both droids deactivated their weapons, and saluted the General.
"They will do, are we done here? Rayvis and Commander Gera are waiting for us." Grievous reminded the Count, wanting to get going.
"Alright, General, we can go," Both Separatist leaders boarded the Count's Solar Sailer with the two new droids, and left for Koboh.
As they flew through hyperspace, Dooku sat in thought about that conversation he had with Grievous about his family. In an odd twist of fate, Dooku once had the pleasure of meeting Grievous' great grandmother when he and Qui-Gon were dispatched, along with other Jedi, to aid Kalee in a war against a different foe, before the Huk War began. Dooku never told the General that, as he wanted to avoid talking about Qui-Gon to those that never knew the man.
Koboh
As the Solar Sailer descended into Koboh's atmosphere, following coordinates that Rayvis provided them, toward the Viscous Bog, they found a crashed Core Ship from a Luchrehulk, to which both of them now knew what happened when they lost contact with the Primacy in this region of space.
They landed in a makeshift hanger, and were met by both Rayvis and Dagan, who then introduced the Count to the Lieutenants of the Bedlam Raiders, almost all of them were carrying lightsabers, save the one nicknamed the Fist of Rayvis, which Rayvis said were from his personal collection. Dooku had to bite his tongue on this, both as a master duelist and he found the practice of taking Jedi weapons as trophies distasteful, despite having a small collection of sabers in one of his castles, but that was different, it was in memory of friends that fell at Galidraan, and a reminder to himself of why he is doing what he is doing as he saw them as the Jedi Council's failure for what happened there.
Rayvis and Dagan assured both Separatist Leaders that they would be able to handle the task before them, and the responsibility of such weapons, and the fact they had reprogramed the droids to accept the Raiders as their masters on Dooku's orders. Dooku began to secretly doubt how this was gonna work out for him, he would keep an eye on them in the meantime.
Then, it was time to visit Tanalorr, with the arrays active thanks to Zee and a few Raiders, with Rayvis and Dagan along, who in the time apart from Dooku and Grievous had recovered the last intact compass. Dooku's ship managed to navigate the Kohoh Abyss smoothly, and came to rest at the old abandoned Jedi Temple.
"Impressive, most impressive," Dooku commented as he gazed over the world he had heard stories about from Yoda and Rancissis. "This will be a fine place to set up a hideaway base, and a place to start building a new Sith Order." His head turned to look back at the Temple, and how they would need to replace any Jedi symbols with Sith ones. Problems for another day, and this would be Dagan's main responsibility, this new Sith temple, when he wasn't out on the front lines. Despite it all, Dooku was pleased with how this was turning out for him.
Coruscant, Jedi Temple
In the time the war was on pause, many of the Republic's new commanders, at least those of direct Jedi descent paid visits to the Temple, with Master Altis himself coming to see his old home, and so did the Teepo Paladins. Even the Saarai-Kaar of the Jensaari paid a visit to the temple, hoping to secure an alliance for tutoring her followers in the ways of the Light to protect their sector of space, even Queen Djo of Dathomir and Mother Rell made the journey to see the Grand Master in person, and to the shock of the Order, the Sorcerers of Tund, the ones that were Light siders made the journey.
Yoda was glad that they did, as it would help get both officers and clones and volunteers used to each other before being shipped off to battle. Yoda knew in heart that this war was gonna last longer than it should, too long already it had been, and he sensed that at least several more years of bloody conflict would come to pass before this was all over. If he was to take comfort in anything related to this, was that the war had made it possible for him to reunite all the groups of Jedi descent together under one banner, and when the war was over, he intended to strengthen their ties to the Order and to each other, to avoid any potential problems from arising again. Many traditionalist Jedi around the temple were not entirely pleased by this, but even they had to admit, they needed help right now.
Yoda was also glad that the two Witches of Dathomir came to visit, as it allowed him to be able to ask them what to do about their newest recruit, a former Nightsister herself: Merrin. The Magicks of the Clans of Dathomir have their roots in the Force, due to the founder of the Witches being a former Jedi, and taught them to use the Light Side in unique ways and recovered ancient Sith texts cite that the Dark Side of the Force could be manifested as what was called Sith Sorcery, and it was clear that the Shadow Magicks stem from there. So with Mother Rell and Queen Djo here, they helped Yoda understand how to teach Merrin to more so channel her abilities from the Light Side. It seems it had worked out for him in the end, when he gave Mother Rell those Jedi teachings from the crashed Chu'unthor, as they had already made the necessary additions for Merrin's learning.
It was also on his mind, that he wanted to make sure they all came together again, as he felt in his heart, he was not long for the galaxy. He knew he had at least a decade or two left, but he was tired, and knew that the Force would be calling soon. He wanted to make sure the Order would be alright without him, as soon as the war was over, he would be busy overhauling a few things, which he has already begun with allowing families, and taking in at least one older student, but Merrin is a bit of technicality, due to being a Nightsister by culture.
Among the visitors to the Temple, as of late, came the Iron Knights from far Dweem, who were to see a certain Jedi Master of the Technical division, to make sure their droid bodies could handle the rigors of war. Well, only a handful of them were at the Temple, the rest were busy getting used to their soldiers.
As the four Iron Knights walked down the halls of the Jedi Temple toward the Technical Division to make sure their droid bodies could handle the stress of war, they got weird looks from every Jedi that did not know that they had been brought back into the Order.
As they walked into the Technical Division, they were met with looks from every Jedi in that room, like they were Temple Droids. "Excuse us, but we here to meet with Master Paratus?" Marshal Dragite did the talking for the group.
"Welcome, guests," The Aleena Jedi Master, Kazdan Paratus, came up on his mechanical legs. "The Council sent word that you would be coming, come, my station is this way." He turned around and led the group of them toward where his station was. "Here we are."
"Greetings, fellow droids, I am B1-0516, or Bats if you prefer." Bats greeted the Iron Knights.
"You are a Battle Droid," Dragite commented, in surprise.
"Yes, but I serve the Republic, and I am Master Paratus' assistant. Also, watch who you are calling a battle droid, considering…" Bats indicated that the Shards were housed in droid bodies, some were assassin droid models, others were in droids that were once meant for the Trade Federation before the war.
"I am Marshal Dragite, this is Firkrann, Illum, and her daughter Luxum. Illum is sort of the mother of the group." She did have twelve kids after all, in a crystal budding sort of way.
"Those are names of Lightsaber crystals, or where they come from," Paratus commented, as he got his station ready to work.
"Yeah, it was Master Aqinos' idea to adopt such names," Dragite explained.
"I see, well, let us do this examination," Paratus was eager to begin. A couple hours later, he had finished his examination and tinkering to make sure that they were up to the job, making sure all joints were lubricated and nothing was seized up. "Quite remarkable," he would remark a few times, at the thought of them being able to channel their Force abilities through droid bodies. "So, how is Master Aqinos doing these days?" Paratus asked.
"Still living on Dweem, kind of a recluse these days. I told him that Master Yoda was willing to take us back in, but he seemed a bit distrustful, which is fair, as I was even there when he got excommunicated," Marshal Dragite answered.
"Not surprising," Aleena's face shifted in thought.
"It is so cool that you guys get to wield lightsabers, they won't let me have one," Bats commented as he helped his master.
"You are not a Shard, Bats. Besides, you can still be as clumsy as your Separatist brethren," Paratus said, indicating the answer to the Iron Knights.
"I am not!" Bats argued, but as he did so, he accidently knocked over a box of parts from a shelf. "I see your point," as he bent down to pick up what he had dropped. "At least I can dual wield blasters, unlike them."
"True, you can, hey can you go get me a cup of caf?" Paratus sighed, he loved having Bats around, but sometimes he was a bit grating on the nerves.
"Yes, Master," Bats walked away to get his owner's caf.
"What's his story?" Illum asked the short Jedi.
"Took a blow to the head processor during a battle against Master Kenobi and Captain Rex, apparently disabled his Confederate programming, and decided to switch sides," Paratus informed them. That was the short answer, both Jedi and Clone had to rescue the droid from a Tactical Droid by crashing an AAT into the building he was in. It worked out in the end with him getting Bats as an assistant.
"Is he the first reprogramed B1 the Order has?" Luxum asked, curious if there were others.
"No, there was a trio of B1s we used for the Citadel Prison break, which I also reprogramed, but they did not make it back. Not to mention poor Coppertop, similar story to Bats, was found tending to the wounded on both sides after a battle, and soon after surrendered to the CIS to save some Republic forces, he hasn't been seen again." Kazdan seemed to be sorrowful that Coppertop did not make it home.
"Blast, so he is the only one that we still have," Dragite commented, moved a bit to emotion hearing that.
"Yeah, if there is nothing else, I see no reason to keep you from serving, the Iron Knights are fit for duty," Kazdan Paratus made it official and made a log saying that he was signing off on them.
"So, why are you not out there, you seem like you would love to study the enemy," Illum asked the Jedi Master.
"Early on in the war, I was a General, but the campaign I was a part of was a disaster, and I lost all my men, so I decided to remain here. I occasionally still go out and help my fellow Jedi if they need my skills." Master Paratus told them as Bats finally came back with his cup of Caf. "What kept you?"
"Two astromechs were causing problems for me, I think they were R2 units, one blue and one pink," Bats handed the cup of Caf to his master, who took a sip and set it to the side. Paratus knew which droids those were. Turning back to his guests, "If you need repair, I will be here for your needs." Dragite saluted him and led the four of them out of the room, as they had to check in with both Yoda and Master Aqinos as well as be introduced to their men.
Elsewhere on Coruscant
It was a bitter irony for the new Supreme Chancellor Organa, as he stood in the very place that he had stood three years ago, when he and his Sith Lord predecessor were overseeing legions of Clones and the lift off of several Acclamator-class cruisers, when the Clone Wars had begun. Though, in stark contrast, it was not evening this time round. Coruscant Prime, being the star that lit the Ecumenopolis, was high in the sky, and thus, the world was bright.
To his comfort, surrounding him were friends and allies, and his vice chancellor Mas Amedda, as the Senate hadn't voted a new one in yet. Senators Amidala and Mothma were standing the closest to the Chancellor, along with Representative Binks, Pantoran Senator Chuchi, and Wookiee Senator Yarua were there, and Mon Calamari Senator Meena Tills, were also by them.
Bail looked down at all the volunteers they had gotten when he had made his announcement. The various Senators that stood with him had done their part to put out calls for noble volunteers that wanted to fight against injustice. Jar Jar had put out a call to Boss Nass to get the Gungan Grand Army ready to help out, and in memory of Captain Tarpals, they were ready. His commission as Bombad General Binks was reactivated, which meant he was to be shipping out with the rest of the Gungan volunteers along with Mon Calamari and loyalist Quarren forces.
"I never wanted this," Bail said to his friends, and they knew what he meant. Bail was a man who held high the ideals of galactic peace, but he also knew when it was time to fight. If the Confederacy was going to rebuke his offers of peace, whether due to Dooku's grip was that tight, or due to the influence of senators representing the corporations of the Separatist Council, which was a lot more of a probability, due to them getting thrown out in the wake of Sidious' trial. Bail did take small satisfaction in watching Lott Dod get thrown out, they had been butting heads for a long time.
"None of us did, Chancellor," Padme said, if they and Mon Mothma were in his office they would use his first name as long time friends, but out in public they kept up formalities, especially with the Vice Chancellor. "However, here we are," she thought about that speech she made in front of the full Senate about diverting funding to help the lower levels, and the people of those levels, as she thought about how her handmaiden Teckla Minnua's family was doing on Naboo.
"I know what you are thinking about, old friend, and I do promise that things are changing. Remember my funding proposal?" Bail asked her, to which my brow quivered in question of where he was going with this. "In many ways, it is actually a tax cut from what the Republic was paying when Palpatine was in power, so now each member of the world has more money to spend on their citizens." Bail told her, and several of them looked at him in question of where he found the money to enable a tax cut. "I had been looking through some old expense reports, and some things weren't adding up. So, I pulled a few files out of Palpatine's formerly private office, and found where the money was going, toward something called the Expeditionary Battle Planetoid, or as we recall from the trial, the DS-1 Orbital Battle Station, the Death Star."
Many of the gathered Senators grew nervous at the mention of the weapon "You mean, he was actually building it?" Chuchi spoke up.
"Yeah, and it seems that a good number of our colleagues in the Senate and others in the military were meeting in what was called the Strategic Advisory Cell." Bail's voice turned hard for a moment, in thought about how far the plot to destroy the Republic went. Amedda blanched, he had also been at those meetings. "On lighter matters, Padme, recently, your queen contacted me. It was mostly over the new volunteers, but I did mention Teckla and her family and she said she'll see to it."
"Good, Queen Neyutnee's word on it means that she will take care of it," Padme took comfort in that fact that it was not all for naught, especially that with Bail in charge, the Republic was on its way to rebuilding, with a leader that at least has it's best interests at heart and not intending to tear it down and replace it with a dictatorship. Amidala did grow a bit concerned about what the Queen told her the last time they talked, about her possible resignation, and what that would mean if a new Queen took over.
"You know, it is a bitter irony, the last time I stood here with Mas Amedda, Palpatine was in power and we were seeing off the first legions of clones, and here I am overseeing the send off of the first regiments of volunteer forces." Bail shook his head in memory, and Amedda's back stiffened at the mention, considering everything he knew and was a part of under Sidious. Moore had been sent home to Umbara, as part of a plea deal after she tried to attack Palpatine in front of the full Senate, and had severed all contact with him. Pestage has also taken Palpatine going down as the time to disappear, and Amedda had no idea where he was at. For the time being, he knew he had to keep his nose clean, and there was no way that he could indulge in a little hobby of his anymore, that Sidious had allowed him to partake in as it helped him recover dark artifacts of Sith origins. He was just lucky that the Jedi hadn't taken him down with his lord.
"They are waiting to hear from you, Bail," Mothma quietly said, not as a senator to the Chancellor, but as a friend, as they looked out over the new forces, eyeing the present forces from Chandrilla.
"I know," He took a second to find his voice. He was a man of peace, who also knew when to fight. He had been against the use of Clones at the beginning of the War, but he fully supports them as brave men of the Republic. He had wanted to avoid this, but he had no choice, and now he has to send these denizens of the Republic that pledged themselves to her defense off to fight and maybe die for the cause. He knew what he had to say, he just needed to summon the courage to do it.
Drawing in a breath, he stood up straight and gave his address. "Brave men and women of the Republic, who have pledged to aid your home in its darkest hour, even after everything we learned about the nature of the war, I value your courage. You will soon be shipping out to serve alongside the noble clones and honorable Jedi Knights that have been fighting for the past three years in the firm belief that they were fighting to defend you, the lifeblood of the Republic. You all hail from worlds that inspire their citizens to stand against inequality and to fight against injustice, and this war represents one of the greatests injustices the galaxy has seen in millenia, and for your service, I salute you." Bail saluted the new volunteer corps and they saluted back. Bail found it a little humorous, that if the Galactic Republic had become a Galactic Empire, then he probably would have been a founder of a Rebel Alliance to fight the Empire, and it would be just like this, volunteers that seek to undo injustice. "Now, go my fellow citizens, and bring light to darkness, and may the Force be with us all." With a chorus of cheers for the Chancellor, the new Corps began to file onto their ships, to be sent out to help give the Clones some reinforcements. "Now we play the war game," he muttered to himself.
Cato Neimoidia
Cato Neimoidia, located in the Colonies region of the Galactic Disk. It was a jewel in the purse of the Trade Federation, a world that could be called the heart of the Confederacy of Independent Systems due to the importance of the Trade Federation to the Separatists. It was the greatest of the Neimoidian Purse Worlds, and its most critical, for it was here that the Headquarters of the Trade Federation was located here. It was also here that Viceroy Nute Gunray had a private Citadel retreat, loaded with wealth.
While not interested in the planet's wealth, the Republic saw it as a prime target, with the hope to capture Gunray and force the Federation to capitulate, which would rob the CIS of funds and droids, and they had launched an assault to make sure it was done. The Republic had taken the world before, but a Separatist fleet had managed to get in and take it back, now this was it, the battle that would truly decide who held control of the world. Fortunately, for the main assault force, the Separatist Naval forces defending the world had already been broken by Master Ferroda and the efforts of X1 and X2.
Currently, Jedi Master Plo Koon was flying his Delta-7 Jedi Starfighter, and alongside him was his temporary padawan, Ahsoka Tano, whom he was sharing with Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, while her own Master was on mandated leave of duty for some serious therapy work, to straighten him out. A part of Plo was secretly worried that in some way, she would turn out like Anakin, but from what he could gather from being partnered with her and from Master Kenobi, Anakin was actually doing well teaching her the Jedi way, albeit as a soldier and not as much as a peacekeeper. Not that Plo could blame Anakin much for that, as they all were soldiers now.
Flying in formation behind the two Jedi officers, were members of the Wolfpack, flying Z-95, ARC-170s, and several V-Wing interceptors, in protection of LAAT Gunships. Their mission was to hit the Trade Federation Headquarters while Master Ferroda went after Gunray's Citadel. The constant misty fog of the world made it a bit hard to see where one was flying, the clone had to rely on their instrument panels to avoid collisions with the tall spires of rock that reached up into the fog, from which the bridge cities of the world were suspended.
"Master Plo, do you think the Viceroy is still here?" Ahsoka asked as they flew toward the capital city of Zarra, one of the most opulent of the Bridge-Cities that dotted Cato's rock spires.
"Even if he isn't, a victory here will shift the balance of the war in the Republic's favor, and hopefully, we will not need to return," Plo told her. Warnings flashed on everyone's radars. "We have contacts ahead," he warned, and everyone braced for battle. "Warthog, Captain Jag, protect the gunships, the rest of you, follow me and Commander Tano to take out the fighters." He got his orders out, just in time, as both the Republic and CIS forces met at last. The Separatists sent Vultures and Droid Tri-fighters to intercept them, and the fight was on.
It was chaotic to say the least, aerial dogfights usually were, especially when trying to protect troop transports, and the natural environment was not in the favor of living pilots that needed to be able to see, whereas droid fighters had other kinds of vision for their photoreceptors. To any onlooker, it would seem like the sky had lit up with laser blasts. The V-Wings proved themselves as interceptors that day, and the Z-95 Headhunters held the droids at bay, allowing the ARC-170s to aid the Jedi clear a path for the gunships. Even the LAATs got in on the action with their bubble laser cannons providing what amount to point defense.
Despite everything being in the Republic's favor, it was not without losses. A Droid Tri-Fighter got several shots off of its main heavy laser cannon on one of the gunships and it went down, taking the clones aboard with it to a fiery crash.
"Commander Wolfe?" Plo Koon called over comms, wanting to make sure it was not his gunship that went down.
"I am still here, General," Wolfe's voice came back, putting the Jedi Master at ease.
"Good, Sergeant Sinker?" He called another clone gunship.
"I am here as well, did one of the Gunships go down?" Sinker asked, concerned.
"Yes, I was trying to figure out who was aboard the one that went down, Commander Wolfe, ordered the gunships to doubletime it to the landing point." Plo Koon ordered, he wanted his men on the ground immediately so that they could not be shot down.
"On it, sir," Wolfe acknowledged as the comms went silent, and the gunships increased speed as much as they could.
As the gunships got closer to the landing pad, they were met with fire from the emplaced flak guns and AATs, even before they were in range of those guns. The pilots had to dodge and weave through the flak as they were not yet in range for their missile launchers. "General, we need fire support on that pad," Wolfe emphasized the immediate need.
"Ahsoka, Jag, take out those guns," Plo handed out the assignment.
"Follow me, boys." Ahsoka and several ARC-170s broke off from the dogfight to clear the pad. "Prep proton torpedoes, I will draw their fire," Ahsoka boosted her ship out in front of the others to get the droids to focus on her, and it worked, as she began weaving through the cannon blasts coming at her, while returning fire, hitting a stockpile of shells, taking out one of the cannons on her own, buying time for the fighters to close the gap to reach the most effective range in atmosphere for their payloads.
"Torpedoes away," Jag ordered, and the ARC-170s each launched two of their six proton torpedoes, which flew straight toward their targets.
Hitting their marks, the torpedoes exploded, in a brilliant large fireball that consumed the remaining flak guns and the AATs on the pad. From afar, it looked like a column of red and orange flame, mixed with pieces of droid and cannon being flung this way and that, the sound of it was heard over the roar of the gunships' engines.
"Landing pad is clear, Commander Wolfe, have fun down there," The ARC-170s would continue to provide air support to the ground troops throughout the battle. Ahsoka would go on ahead and land on the pad to make sure any surviving battle droids were taken care of before the clones got there so that they were not immediately under fire upon exiting their ships.
With the pad clear, troops and Jedi were able to set down, unload and survey the objective. Plo, Ahsoka, and Commander Wolfe took a look at the map of the capital city that they had from both Archive Data and planetary scans from their Venators. "The target for our mission is here," Plo Koon pointed to the Trade Federation HQ building, on the far side of the city from where they landed. "We know that the enemy has gun emplacements here and here," two areas light up to show where they were.
"Those walkways are gonna be a slog to get through, General," Wolfe commented, seeing where the enemy guns were placed, on narrow walkways that would make crossing them a death sentence.
"To make matters worse, Commander, I was informed before we got here, that a sizable amount of the Neimoidian Home Defense League will be fighting alongside the droids, I would prefer to not cause a massacre, nor would I like to destroy their home, so I am putting a restriction on heavy weapons and explosives unless we have no other choice. Only kill if you must." Plo issued his orders.
"Very Well, General," Wolfe briefly pondered what he wanted to do, as far as telling the men about the restriction on weapons. It was not the first time that they had fought living beings, but he also knew how the general felt about fighting living beings. They have had that conversation before, and Plo did agree that if it protects the men, as long as it did not incur mass enemy casualties or undue suffering, then they could do it. Its why they only use the flamethrowers to clear debris and not against living beings, like how General Mundi did on Geonosis. He went about telling the men what to pack.
Later
They had been moving through the opulent city architecture, little by little, the only good thing was that there was plenty of cover for the clones, especially when special droids decide to make themselves known, like Droidekas, Dwarf Spider Droids, and Crab Droids, which the Jedi had to deal with. At least with the way the city was structured, it was easy to Force push the "rollies" over the ledges. Crab Droids usually required someone climbing on top of it and taking out the optics and central processors, which Commander Tano was adept at dealing with ever since the Citadel rescue. Spiders just were a case of ducking behind cover and trading fire with them until it was down.
They were about to cross another small bridge, the last major choke point before the second set of cannons and the target building, only being stopped by the large number of B1 Battle Droids on the other side that were raining fire on them, the clones were spread out so that they had a decent amount of cover from the droids. Even still, there were a lot of droids defending that bridge. The Jedi Officers were out in front, drawing fire and deflecting it back at the droids, to keep them from marching over the same bridge to cut down the clones. However, things were about to change, as the droids stopped firing for a moment.
Something caught Plo Koon's attention in the distance coming toward them. Several large droids were making their ways through the ranks of the B1's, by shape they were B2 Super Battle Droids, but they were built bulkier, and stronger. They were not normal Super Battle Droids, they were the B2 Grapple droids. They were armed with Electro pinchers, they were designed by Grievous himself to combat Jedi. At the front of the squad, was one painted red, which means they had small flamethrowers as well. With their armor, they could tear through Republic lines with ease, also, Master Koon had Ahsoka with him as well to worry about.
"Looks like the Clankers have brought some special units out," Boost commented to Plo.
Having recognized the droids heading toward them from reports, and his trust in his General's abilities, "General, now may be the time for a certain special ability," he advised, from his makeshift cover, as he was one of a few clones that knew about that ability.
Plo Koon made a split decision as those droids came near, he took one hand of his lightsaber and held it flat out toward the droids, in a way that did not indicate Force push. Feeling nothing, but a strong sense of determined justice and duty to protect his men and his temporary shared padawan, he let loose a blast of yellow lightning from his fingertips. The attack lanced out in a brilliant arc, toward the droids, straight and true to their targets. The lightning struck the Grapple droids dead on, causing them to short out and topple over, it even continued out past them into the lines of B1s, as if it was a concentrated EMP blast, taking out several squads of droids before grounding on the metal of a nearby building.
With the droids down, the Clones were able to advance, Sinker leaned over to whisper a question to Commander Tano, "Can you do that as well?"
"No, I can't and I don't know if I want to know it," Ahsoka told the Clone Sergeant.
"And I am not going to teach it to you, Little 'Soka," Plo had his reasons, yes he felt it was a useful part of his abilities, it was still a restricted Force power, and for the time being, the Council, him included, were not keen on letting any one below the rank of Master to study Electric Judgment. Despite channeling the Light Side of the Force, it was a slippery slope toward Force Lightning, or more accurately Sith Lightning. "Let's move out, Commander."
"On it sir, move it out men," Wolfe commanded the Wolfpack to follow the General down the bridge toward the Trade Federation headquarters on the world. Against his better wishes, General Plo Koon would need to use that lightning ability of his several more times on their way to where they needed to go, mostly due to the kinds of droids that the CIS would field against them to try to stop them. He would also use it once against the Neimoidian Defense Forces as a stunner like he did against that one criminal, to take them as prisoners, and it was safer for both sides that he did that, instead of having a big firefight where civilians were nearby.
"General, what do you plan to do with the prisoners?" Wolfe asked his Jedi officers.
"When we are done here, deprive them of weapons and let them return home," Plo decided.
"Will that not just cause us problems in the future?" Ahsoka asked, while she was glad to let them go, but it was definitely a cause for concern.
"These are not willing volunteers, these are merely conscripts, being forced to serve our enemy," Plo told them, showing his species' regard for life and his ethics as a Jedi Master. Several of the prisoners looked between each other in hope, and at the Jedi in thanks for the chance to go home. "Sometimes, it is in small acts of kindness that generate enough goodwill to turn an enemy into an ally, or at least remove them as an enemy in the future."
With the path at last clear, the Wolfpack began the assault of the Trade Federation HQ, it was only a matter of time that at least the capital would fall.
Meanwhile, Trade Federation Viceroy Citadel
As General Plo Koon and Commander Ahsoka Tano were busy taking the capital, elsewhere Jedi Master Ferroda and two very unique Clone brothers were attacking Viceroy Nute Gunray's private refuge, with hope of capturing the Viceroy to help bring the war to a quicker end. Earlier in the battle, X2 after driving a Separatist boarding party from their hanger, he had taken command of a heavy turbolaser cannon and did a couple precision orbital strikes to clear the way for their invasion, before boarding an ARC-170 and joining the fray on the surface with Master Ferroda and his older twin X1.
Currently, he was sitting on a crate at their base camp, writing in his journal. The War has taken me and my brother to the heart of the Separatist Movement, the planet Cato Neimoidia, home of the Trade Federation Viceroy. With this battle, we aim to capture the Viceroy to end this war sooner.
Recently, Master Ferroda has been seemingly more curious about me and X1, whatever he is looking for, I am not sure. While X1 and I know we are not clones of Jango Fett, we were never told who our genetic donor was, and we were led to believe for the longest time that we were like the Bad Batch, experiments for the Kaminoans. If Master Ferroda knows who our father is, he is not saying. When the battle is over, I will confront him about it.
Speaking of X1, lately, he has been depressed when not in battle, as until recently, he had been a major supporter of Chancellor Palpatine, until it was revealed that he was a Sith Lord in league with Count Dooku to destroy the Republic, and the Grand Army was all part of a plan to eliminate the Jedi and impose an Empire. I just hope he comes out soon.
As X2 finished his journal entry, both Master Ferroda and X1 came up to him. "Still writing that journal, little brother?" X1 asked, with a slight bit of disapproval in his voice.
"Helps calm and focus the mind, brother," X2 responded a bit bitterly, this was a conversation they have had before.
"There is wisdom in that, X2," Ferroda commented, many a great Jedi kept journals to record their feelings, as a form of containing more aggressive feelings. Didn't always work, but it was something. "We should be getting moving, my intel has led me to believe that Gunray has already fled the planet, but there is a master control station somewhere in his citadel, that will shut down ever battle droid on this planet, and if Master Plo Koon manages to get the Federation to have the Defense Legions stand down, then the battle will be over, and Cato Neimoidia will be a Republic world once again."
"Always trust a Neimoidian to save his own skin," X1 said, with an intense dislike for cowards, and Gunray was one of the biggest cowards in the galaxy. Both X2 and Ferroda did not respond to that comment.
"Alright, let's get moving, there are a lot of droids between us and the tower, X2, take a sniper with you, I want you to be in coverage for the advance, support the men as the tanks move up. X1, do what you do best, and lead your squad to cover the right flank, I will cover the left." Master Ferroda's face shifted a moment in thought, like he wanted to tell them something.
"Something you want to tell us, General?" X2 asked, in concern.
"After this battle is over, I need to tell you boys something, something big," Ferroda turned and walked away before he said any more about it, leaving the brothers to mull that over.
"What do you suppose that was about?" X1 asked his younger twin. Despite holding a higher rank than X2, Master Ferroda seemed closer to X2 than him. Then again, X2 was the more even tempered of the two of them.
"I don't know, brother, whatever it is, it seems like that it will change our lives in some manner," X2 mused.
"Think he knows who our genetic father is?" X1 asked, that was the biggest question the brothers had.
"Perhaps he does, there was a meeting he took in private from the Council, and he seemed shaken afterward, and it was not about Chancellor Palpatine, that I do know," X2 told him.
"Who knows, maybe we are Jedi," X1 joked, before brushing the notion off as silly. "Come on, little bro, let's get this done." Both of them picked up their respective rifles, and headed off to battle.
As X2 settled into his sniper perch, the last thing X1 said was sticking in his mind, which was not what he needed as he tried to focus. Are clones of a Jedi? It would certainly explain how they seemingly had enhanced reflexes and abilities over the rest of their clone comrades. Thought it was impossible to clone Jedi? Whatever the answer was, he needed to banish the distractions from his mind.
"Come in, X2, do you read me?" Master Ferroda's voice came over his comms.
"I read you, General, and I see you," X2 got Ferroda in his sights to keep an eye on him.
"Do you see your brother?" Ferroda asked.
X2 flicked his rifle over to where X1 was supposed to be, "I see him."
"Good, both of us will hail you when we need support, alright men, move out, stay by the UT-TEs and AT-APs, and we will get through this fine," Ferroda commanded and the battle had begun for Gunray's citadel.
X2 found his rhythm of snapping back and forth between Republic forces, but he was more keeping on his brother, both to protect him and to make sure he did not go to far, as he had a bit of thirst for violence, and if they have living opponents in this battle, X2 wanted to make sure X1 did not do anything horrendous. As he covered the troops with sniper fire, he couldn't help but wonder about the whole possible Jedi blood in him. Saying a little prayer, "if it be true, then may the Force guide my actions." He recalled that he once asked the General how one who was sensitive to the Force would access it, and the General responded that one had to be open-minded. Word had gotten around the ranks of what Master Yoda had taught the then-Lieutenant Thire, now Commander Thire, Jek and Rys of the Coruscant Guard on Rugosa, that even they could use the Force to quiet their minds. He opened his mind, hoping to hear its whispers, and yet nothing came immediately and he was disheartened that it wasn't true.
However, the Force was indeed with him, as he looked over General Ferroda, a feeling overcame him, a warning of danger, quickly looking around, he saw a Neimodian royal guard sniper that Ferroda hadn't even noticed, and was aiming directly for the General. Taking action, X2 breathed out and took the shot. His bolt flew straight and true, striking the enemy directly in the chest, dead, as the body fell from the perch.
"Nice shot, X2," Ferroda said over the comms. What X2 did not know was that shot confirmed to the General that his suspicions were correct. "It is safe enough for you to move up, X2, join me as we enter the citadel." X2 went and dropped off the sniper and picked up a regular DC-15A blaster carbine, and ran through the battlefield to catch up to Ferroda. On his way, he had to trade fire with several remaining droids that hadn't been cleared out.
"Brother, where are you?" X2 called over the comms to X1.
"Got a little pinned by a Snail Tank, thankfully the AT-AP took it out," X1 told him, meaning that he was alright. "Gonna be hitting the backside of the tower shortly."
"Alright, the General told me to move up and join him to enter the building from the front," X2 told his brother.
"See you inside, little brother," X1 cut the connection. As he moved through the streets, X2 had to wonder about what had happened when he was behind the sniper, he could have sworn he felt the Force whisper to him about that enemy. It was something to ask the General about later. First, they had a battle to win. As he approached the General, he saw him fighting several Neimoidian Royal brutes defending the palace, X2 raised his blaster and let loose several bolts into the brutes to give Ferroda a chance to strike them down.
"Good work, X2, now, let's find that control board and shut this planet's droids down." Ferroda ordered as they headed inside the place, now that the opposition was dealt with.
"X1 said he was hitting the rear," X2 informed the Jedi.
"Good, we'll be seeing him shortly," Ferroda pulled out a tracker to try and figure out where the signal was coming from. It led to a vacant office that no doubt was Gunray's office, where they found the control board they were looking for. "You may do the honors, X2." X2 did as was commanded and hit the control button to deactivate all Separatist Droids on the planet, making things a lot easier for the Republic.
"Master Koon, do you copy?" Ferroda opened comms with the other forces on the planet.
"I read you, Master Ferroda. I see that you succeeded in shutting down the droids," Plo Koon's voice came back.
"Unfortunately, we missed the Viceroy, clearly by a few light years, considering how fast it looks like he cleared out." Ferroda informed the Council Member.
"Gunray will continue to run and hide, it's in his nature. What about the twins?" Plo Koon's mind turned to more pressing matters.
Quickly glancing at X2, "It's true, Master Plo. I will handle that matter in short order."
"Very Well, Padawan Tano and I still have business in the capital, we will be joining you in short order," Plo Koon cut the connection.
Ferroda was silent for a moment after talking to Master Plo, almost somewhat uneasy. "General?" X2 asked, wanting to see what was wrong.
"Wait for your brother, X2," Ferroda told him, as they walked out of the office, to look for X1. They found him a moment later, getting an assessment of casualties.
"Well, another battle survived, little brother," X1 grinned at X2, but did note the serious, dour look on Master Ferroda's face. "You wanted to talk to us, General?"
"Come along, you two," Ferroda led them away from the other clones as he wanted a moment of privacy with his two best soldiers. Finding a secluded spot to talk, "boys, it has come to my attention that you are no ordinary clones."
"We could have told you that," X1 snarked, but X2 held his arm to silently tell him to take this seriously. "In what way, General?"
"For the longest time, the Order thought it was impossible for a Jedi to be cloned, but it was recently discovered by Kaminoan Jedi Master Kina Ha that around the time Jango Fett became the template for the GAR, Master Kota and his then Padawan, Falon Grey landed on Kamino in need of medical attention. What they didn't know was that from Grey, a DNA sample was taken without his permission, and was used to create two clones. Twins that would help train the Grand Army of the Republic." Ferroda told them, to which both of them were shocked to say the least.
"You gotta be kidding me, I literally joked earlier that we could have been Jedi clones, but we don't have the Force," X1 said incredulously.
"Are you sure about that?" Ferroda asked, before turning it back on them. "You may want to ask X2 about what happened during the battle." X1 turned toward his turn with a questioning look, to which X2 told him about getting the warning from the Force about the sniper aiming at Master Ferroda.
"That was what confirmed it to me, when we return to Coruscant, I am having both of you tested, and hopefully, Knight Grey is there as well. Oh Master Kota is not going to be pleased," Ferroda said that last part mostly to himself. "For now, we have to tend to the wounded." All three of them went to do that.
Within the hour, Plo Koon and Ahsoka had managed to get the Federation leadership on the planet to surrender and order the Home Defense Legions to stand down, turn in their weapons and go home, and so the battle of Cato Neimoidia came to an end in victory for the Republic, and with the fall of Cato Neimoidia marked what would be considered a turning point in the war, that the Republic was on its way to victory. However, it was a little early to be celebrating just yet, as the Confederacy was about to make its move, and the war was about enter a new, bloodier phase when General Grievous himself would lead the attack on Haruun Kal, and was sending the Blackguard out to be his officers, and it would be there that Grievous reminded the Jedi what he was capable of.
Hey, everyone, hope you enjoyed that chapter and are looking forward to how the war will being playing out, next time I think is the battle of Haruun Kal, which is Mace Windu's homeworld. Also, I hope I did a good job with writing the battle as they are not exactly a strong suit of mine, also, yes, brought in the lightning ability and the X twins from Elite Squadrons so I hope you enjoyed seeing them, and perhaps they will being getting Jedi training so that will be fun.
So, this was basically the battle of Cato Neimoidia from the time of ROTS just moved up, cause of certain factors like Anakin being on leave and Ferroda not being on Tatooine cause of the Hutts becoming a third faction and all that.
So, I will see you at some point for another chapter, see you all later. Peace.