Chapters subject to change.
"The priest told me it's not a sin to kill if you don't enjoy killing. My question is whether indifference is the same as enjoyment."
–Sgt. Antonio 'Poke' Espera
Responses:
To all the Commision Artists: As much as I would love to work with you I am kinda broke unfortunately.
Azai Jin: Haha, you'll see.
Don Cheeto: I see what you are getting at. Won't happen immediately though. (Possibly some junior officers start a dialogue about it and the seniors laugh it off, at least until Coleville)
DeluxeHipster1945: Yes, Glory to Holy Terra
CheesusChrist15: I have no idea how you missed the plan detailed by the ONI Section V Officer. Also yes I called you a retard on PM, I am so sorry boo hoo.
Scarease: I mean they did try to trade for it (it's just Sidious and his goons got their grubby little hands in the mix)
Rogue1bois: Interesting concept to have the Infinity act as sort of a Malevolence 2.0. Also people have to take into account that the Republic literally spans an entire galaxy (or nearly an entire galaxy) and has a vast array of resources it can pull from compared to the UNSC (or in this case the UTSC). A Paris can beat a Venator but the Republic can simply replace the Venator with 2 more, hence why the first actions in this war are defensive for the Terrans.
Sci fi guy 22: You are god damned right they are a lot more nasty.
Blaze1992: You'll see in this chapter ;)
Zzzxxc1: (best liberal voice impression) BIGOT! Also ty very much btw
LegoDoc: Ah, your fic was one of the inspirations for my tomfoolery on this platform :)
DarkReader-14: The Fortitude kinda got railed by the Budapest and Durnan was in one of the escape pods, maybe I should provide a little more explanation.
Naufalrakha0104: A lot more dying to happen
PistolPeteus: Cause it's Earth, you nerd. I am a global nationalist and you are goddamn right I am gooning to that.
SpartanWolfj6: Explodes Coruscant with Nova Bomb
Hungarian: Eh, I also don't get it but I assumed from other fics it's to get away from the political heat that plagues the 26th century (you know, Insurrection and that sort of shit).
Zone-Miester: This is where my fic will hopefully deviate from the rest. Also mind you this is only the first 'story arc'.
Fisting Time: (Great name by the way) I fixed the issue in Catalyst to be a little more clear in description.
[24 MARCH 2590]
Operation AEGIS SPEAR
FROM: FLEETCOM, HIGHCOM
TO: ANDROMEDA FLEETCOM
….
Vice Admiral Donathin Coney,
With the Republic Offensive on Strangreal underway, we must make a line in the sand.
HIGHCOM is ordering a defense be held at Coleville and Nova Terra. Both of these planets must not be allowed to fall, lest we open ourselves to an invasion and risk the discovery of New Cascades.
Admiral Lasky has informed me that the 11th Fleet has arrived and is ready to assist you in the defense of these worlds. Due to rank issues, you are being temporarily promoted to the rank of 'Admiral' and will remain in command of ANDROMEDA COMMAND.
Continue Operation AEGIS SPEAR Phase 1 for New Kilaeau and have their detachment evacuate the world and reinforce that of Coleville.
All eyes are on you, Admiral.
Godspeed.
-Fleet Admiral Jacob Keyes
Location: Farbanti City Hall, MBT-334 Choke on This
March 23 2590
Gunnery Sergeant Lee Juns
"There goes another one," Lee muttered, watching the TX-130 go up in flames as a 120mm APFSDS round sliced straight through.
A shot lanced from the clouds of dust and glanced right off of the improved composite armor of the M808N1 Super Scorpion. The clang was minor as the tank commander, Lee scoffed at the attempt of the enemy tank, the bolt hitting right on the turret cheek, the most armored part of his damned tank.
"Lased target, Gunner Sabot, Tank!" Lee said as his gunner, Sergeant Ellis Turner depressed the trigger on his joystick.
"On the way!" With that, a 120mm sabot was sent flying through the air as it hit dead on, the tank sputtering before slewing to the right and hitting an empty shop building.
"Cease Fire, I got infantry, engaging with 20 mikes," Lee said as he pressed his own trigger on the joystick as the 20mm Turret on the top of the Scorpion flared to life.
Lee looked through thermals as the tracers flew around, creating chunky messes of both road and enemy, the 20mm shells exploding near suspected Clone positions, wrecking both men and infrastructure.
In all his years serving the Marine Armored Corps he had never seen 20 mikes in action, likely since most conflicts nowadays were fought with espionage and spying, a first strike doctrine.
But now since the Republic invasion, he and his tank have been through a year's worth of combat within 4 hours.
"Sir, I'm black on Sabot! Switching to HEAT!" Ellis yelled as the whirring of the autoloader made a satisfying mechanical chunk.
An Alligator rolled up behind the tank, traversing its turret as it fired its 90mm cannon, sending a High Explosive round sailing through a shop building, its coaxial 30mm autocannon sending more HE to finish off any survivors.
"So, are they just attacking with light infantry platoons or are we going to go against their beetles?" The driver, Specialist Cooper Mayfield, quipped as another rocket bounced off the front glacis plate, harmlessly detonating in the City Hall.
Another Alligator rolled behind the first one, firing its autocannon at any targets the gunner spotted. So far the Marines in the City Hall were doing a pretty good job at siphoning the Republic's resources. This was likely the 3rd attack and already the carcasses of both man and machine were piling up.
"Wouldn't be surprised if they called in an airstrike, they're going to need it," Lee muttered as a rocket launched from a destroyed shop. Luckily for Lee and his crew the Super Scorpion had earned its adjective for a reason. The Active Protection System quickly locked on and intercepted the munition, killing the rocket before it could do any significant damage.
"Sir, with all due respect you probably jinxed us," Cooper muttered, the cannon boom echoing in the armored cocoon of the Super Scorpion. Another High Explosive round detonating near a suspected rocket position.
"Maybe," Lee muttered.
Then all of a sudden an AT-TE came around the corner and fired its Mass Driver Cannon at the Alligator blasting away with its autocannon. The round struck true as the Alligator shuddered from the blow as it physically recoiled, the shields shattering, it turned its turret to the AT-TE, driving backward as its cannon rattled on.
"We're hit! Our armor is completely dead!" the IFV's Commander yelped as the wounded IFV reversed, smoking as it fell back behind the cover of buildings, the hatches opening to let the crew escape and seek refuge within City Hall.
The other Alligator was quick to respond, firing a High Explosive at the AT-TE, the 90mm warhead bouncing off the slanted armor, making the iconic ricochet wirble.
"Gunner HEAT! Walker!" Lee yelled at Ellis as the gunner simply grunted in response, his crosshairs drifting onto the large beetle.
"Coming up–!" With a pull of the trigger, a 120mm HEAT round soared through the air, impacting its target less than a second later. The round hit the angled plate, the round ricocheting as Lee felt his heartbeat jump in his chest.
"Re-engage!" Lee said as the turret of the AT-TE rotated forth, its gun barrel pointing right at his tank. The gunner on the AT-TE fired, the mass driver recoiling as it sent its projectile slamming into the turret cheek of the Scorpion. The whirring of the autoloader filled Lee's ears once more as Turner's crosshairs drifted onto the armored beetle.
"On the way!" the AT-TE sputtered, the second round slamming just below the driver compartment and into the lower right turret. A secondary explosion sealed the walker's fate as hatches opened to let their survivors escape the hellfire.
Lee wouldn't let them.
A burst from the 20mm RWS cut down a man in an instant, vaporizing his body as shrapnel bounced off the thick metal hide of the destroyed vehicle. Another man attempted to hide behind the fallen walker's legs, Lee depressed the trigger on the joystick as 20mm rounds ripped and tore both asphalt and flesh.
"They're retreating!" came the radio call of a Marine. Lee looked into his thermals as he saw men slowly pulling back, running from the carnage that was the front of city hall. Lee walked up his 20mm shells, the high explosives spalling on the asphalt, making a mess of any Clone unlucky enough to be caught in the blast radius.
Lee looked through his thermals as he saw the retreating white blobs take cover behind the rows of buildings adorning the end of the street.
"Gunner HEAT, Infantry!" Lee shouted, spotting the faint white blobs housed within a building.
Turner depressed the trigger, the HEAT round crumpling the supports of the building as it became a massive white blotch on Lee's thermals.
Lee walked up some 20mm, making sure to clear out whatever was left. The other Alligator fired an HE round, obliterating anything that remained.
The silence was deafening afterwards. Lee scanned the area with his Thermals, left, right, center.
Nothing.
A plume of smoke erupted from the end of the street, the rocket slamming into the shielded hull, failing to penetrate. A second one hit from above, detonating just above the driver hatches, the shields preventing another penetration.
A 3rd rocket lanced out from a building, then a 4th and a 5th. The first rockets overwhelmed the shields, cracking them as the latter half slammed into the armored skirts of the vehicle, tracking the vehicle.
Lee cursed internally as he depressed the trigger to the 20mm RWS, trying to pinpoint where the munitions were coming from.
His breath stopped as his 20mm shells slammed into the front plate of an AT-TE, spalling and ricocheting.
"Gunner HEAT! Walker! He's looking at us!" Lee shouted as he heard Turner curse and slam his console.
"Guns inoperab–!" Turner didn't have time to finish his sentence before the armored cocoon of the Super Scorpion shook violently. Throwing Lee into his console, breaking his nose as smoke poured in.
"Armor Compromised, Armor Compromised, Armor Compromis–" Lee made a motion and silenced the automated voice. He always hated that feature.
"Turner? Mayfield?" he asked weakly, looking over to see his driver slumped in his seat, blood pouring from his forehead. Lee moved the body, seeing the right side of Mayfield's skull, his eye missing from its socket as the smell of charred flesh wafted in the armored cocoon.
Lee had jinxed them.
"Shit," he muttered as he forced the Commanders hatch open, turning to his gunner who looked to be in better shape than his driver, he shook him, Turner groaning as he clutched his head. Lee grabbed his arm, pulling him out of the hatch and towards the city hall
"C'mon, wake up buddy, we got to move," Lee said, attempting to drag Turner out of the hatch. Lee lost his footing and fell, hitting his arm at an unnatural angle on the open hatch as he seethed in pain.
Lee didn't even feel the blaster shots slamming into the back of his skull, dropping like a paper weight on the cold steps of the city hall.
Location: Farbanti Interstellar Spaceport
March 23 2590
Lieutenant Kasa CT-2324
"You know, now that I think about it maybe Terran culture ain't all that bad?" one of Kasa's clones, Hardhat, muttered, the trooper lugging around a Z-6 Rotary Blaster Cannon, the heavy weapons expert taking cover behind a ruined car as flashes of light erupted from the entrance of the main terminal, his cannon in need of a change of power cells.
"How so Hardhat?" another, Runs, asked, carrying the same DC-15S Kasa was equipped with, firing periodically back at the Terrans, the radioman being nicked by a Terran bullet, forcing him behind cover.
"Well I mean, have you seen how they draw their women? Crazy you know? I think they call it anime or manga, not sure which one it is," Hardhat replied as Kasa simply scoffed.
"Listen Hardhat, if it weren't for that big target on your head I woulda mistaken you for one of them Terrans," Kasa replied, motioning towards the yellow circle that adorned Hardhat's helmet, getting chuckles from his pinned-down squad. For the past hour or so the battle for the Space Port raged on, with the clones encountering heavier than expected resistance.
There was so much blood, fragments, and gore that at this point, all the clones were desensitized. This was war and war was messy. However this didn't mean they would rather fight a Terran than a clanker.
"Eh, your loss, don't come stealing what I collected back on the ship!" Hardhat said as he revved the Z-6, fully charged and ready for action, inching out of cover as he pointed the 6 muzzles down range and pulled the trigger.
Kasa dreaded to see what his brother's bunk looked like.
Blue bolts smashed into the terminal, suppressing any Terran still alive as Kasa made motions to the other squads to move up.
"C'mon! While they have their heads down!" Kasa shouted. With that 50 or so troopers charged into the shattered glass, climbing through and killing any stunned Terran they found.
Kasa jumped in, taking cover behind one of the support struts, leaning out slightly as a lead rain poured onto the troopers below, Kasa weathered the storm as cracks and whistles zipped past, the once pristine tile floors cracked and fractured.
Kasa saw 5 Clones get caught in the storm, their bodies ripped and mutilated beyond recognition as he looked away out of respect.
He would get some compensation for their deaths.
"Hardhat! That blaster cannon would be helpful any time now!" Kasa yelled over the commotion as Hardhat struggled with his heavy weapon of choice.
"I'm trying sergeant, damned Terrans are draining me of cells!" Hardhat gruffly shouted, lugging the cannon up on a destroyed bench, depressing the trigger as he sent a stream of heavy blaster bolts into the Terran positions.
"Alright! While they're down! Move up troopers!" Kasa yelled, his squad pushing up the escalators, following the tracers of Hardhats Z-6 which kept up its constant rhythmic whines, suppressing any Terran who dared to peek a corner.
Kasa was one of the first to get to the top of the escalators, instantly diving to the ground as he took cover behind the large reception desk, peeking out over the top once in a while to let loose a stream of blaster fire before ducking back before he pushed his luck too far.
"They have kriffing jetpacks!" A trooper yelped as green armored men began to fall from the terminal, zipping from side to side.
Kasa repositioned behind a few pillars, a bullet whizzing past and striking him in the shoulder, luckily impacting his shoulder pauldron which absorbed most of the energy. Kasa grunted, his arm now stung and the nerves exploding in pain, yet he carried on.
"You know LT, this is like those commando droids, only I can't seem to hit them," a trooper, Tuber said, firing his DC-15S at one of the green men, the bolts being absorbed by a golden shield.
"You can hit them Tuber, just these nerf herders ain't going down easy," Kasa said as he concentrated his fire on the Terran soldier, the man's shields failing as he tried to retreat into cover, only to eat more than a dozen blaster bolts and slump to the ground. Kasa put another bolt in him for good measure.
You could never be too sure on Strangreal.
Slowly the clones gained the upper hand, due in part since for every dead clone 3 more took his place.
"They're retreating! C'mon men!" Kasa yelled, leading his platoon to charge through the terminal, pushing the Terrans back across and out towards the runways, quickly pushing up through the minimall with little to no resistance.
Kasa hopped off one of the metal staircases, quickly diving towards the sacred cover of a forklift and bullets rained down on the clones below.
"We are pinned down! We need immediate air support!" Runs yelled into his comms, bullets whizzing past from the control tower. Kasa heard a bullet ricochet off the metal grating of the forklift he was taking cover behind.
An element of Y-Wings dived down, dropping their payload of cluster munitions before half of them screeched past to provide support to another location and the other to provide support with their heavy laser cannons.
He slowly inched out of cover and sent a full 20 bolt burst towards the culprit, suppressing him as another clone, this one with a DC-15A, followed suit, silencing the position with the significantly more powerful blaster rifle.
'Need to switch out this S for an A,' Kasa thought, looking down on his dingy carbine.
A Y-Wing dived down from the right, firing 2 concussion missiles into the tower as it exploded into a brilliant light. Said Y-Wing was instantly engaged by the enemy's MANPADS as 3 plumes of smoke tracked the evading starfighter, detonating and sending the craft into a fiery grave.
Kasa gulped but pushed the mental imagery out of his head. He had men to lead. He huddled with his troopers, making a large group near the base of the ruined control tower. The Republic had already captured the main terminals of the Space Port, all they needed to do was capture the runways and hangar spaces for Fabnati Interstellar to be completely in the hands of the GAR.
"Alright LT, what's the plan?" Hardhat asked, hefting his Z-6 on his shoulder as Kasa pulled a mini holo-projector from his belt, within it the plans for the space port assault.
"Those hangars are likely where they store their military equipment, we blast it to kingdom come and we end this war a hell of a lot faster," Kasa quipped as another explosion marked the brutal destruction of an AT-TE.
"Alright, so how do you want to destroy it?" Hardhat asked.
"We go towards the hangars and call in a strike, destroy a few of them to disperse them and hopefully they scamper off," Kasa said as Runs grunted.
"So you're hoping they scamper off? Respectfully, these kriffers fight for every dust particle on this damn world," Run said, putting in his dissent as the comms man folded his arms.
"Do you have a better idea?" Kasa asked as Runs shrugged. That was his answer just a few minutes ago as Kasa rode with his men in the safe bay of an AT-TE, the walker slowly approaching the hangar areas.
The walker abruptly stopped as the hatches opened, bullets began to ricochet off the walker's armored plates, making metal plinking noises which were almost whimsical in nature. If it was raining, Kasa would have felt relaxed.
"C'mon! Go! Go! Go!" one of the Clone gunners yelled. Kasa tumbled out of the hatch, landing at an awkward angle on his foot as he yelped in pain before quickly suppressing it. He would look after his wound after the battle, lest he be shot by a kriffing Terran.
Kasa sprinted across the runway, finding refuge in a grassy depression right smack in the middle of the asphalt.
He dove into the pit to avoid the rampage as he landed right next to his troopers, nodding as he quickly looked up from cover, using his helmet mounted macrobinoculars to do so.
"Alright! I'm getting multiple life forms–" a bullet whizzed past as Kasa instinctively ducked, he felt his arm being grabbed by Tuber who shook him a little.
"Sir! Sir!?" the Clone private yelled as Kasa tapped Tuber on the shoulder.
"I'm fine! I'm lucky these Terrans have worse marksmanship than those clankers!" Kasa replied, getting a few chuckles from his men. Kasa ignored this and dared to peek again from cover before ducking back to sweet safety.
"Alright, got some Terran soldiers plus what looks to be spacecraft, could be that equipment the brief talked about, Runs I need you to call in a strike from Resuscitator, tell them to level it to the ground!" Kasa said, another AT-TE crumpled, its armor compromised from 2 missiles fired by the Terrans as Kasa saw the gunner of said walker go flying in 3 bits.
"You know, the faster you call it in the less walkers we lose!" Hardhat yelled at Runs, sending a wave of blue blaster bolts at the Terran line with his Z-6.
"We need a turbolaser concentration on grid mark five zero niner! Taking heavy fire!" Runs shouted into the comms, a bullet whizzed past and struck an unfortunate Clone in the head, the helmet cracking as crimson sprayed all around the huddled clones.
"We read you Domino Platoon, support incoming," the emotionless tone from an officer on the Acclamator Class, Resuscitator, replied.
Kasa watched from the cover of the AT-TE, blue turbolaser bolts slamming into the hangar facilities, turning them into twisted metal hulks within large craters a few good meters deep.
A vessel attempted to take off, one of the Terran Egret Spaceliners, however it didn't get far as the Resuscitator focused a battery onto the craft. This sustained bombardment added to 2 SPHA-T's slamming their beams into superstructure doomed the Egret to destruction as it floundered towards the ground, making a massive explosion as it hit the asphalt.
"Holy Mackerel," Hardhat said in childlike wonder, using a very common Terran expression as Runs punched him in the shoulder.
"The more I'm around you the more I think of you as a Terran spy," the comms man said as Hardhat bellowed a hearty chuckle which even over the commotion vibrated within Kasa's chest.
"Liven up Runs! I'll make you a deal, I'll give you some of those magazines I got back on the ship if you stop being such a killjoy!" Hardhat shouted back.
"I am concerned with what your bunk looks like," Kasa muttered as the staccato of weapons fire lessened, sounding farther back as the clone pushed the Terrans out of the space port. Kasa walked forward, confident as an AT-TE walked past the destroyed structures without a missile ruining its day.
"Alright boys, open them up."
A few clones pried opened the charred doors, expecting to see a whole load of dead soldiers and destroyed equipment.
"Kriff these are civilians," Hardhat muttered as the clones of Kasa's platoon looked on in horror. Bodies in civilian clothing lined the hangar, it looked like they attempted to escape the AT-TE attack, only to be silenced by the short yet evidently violent bombardment by the Resuscitator, the stench of flesh was almost unbearable to Kasa, and that was THROUGH the filter.
'So this is where they were,' Kasa thought, worry and guilt coursing through his veins.
"What… what have I–" Runs began, falling to his knees as his comms backpack made a notable thud.
Kasa couldn't look at the scene anymore, the blood, gore, charred bits of flesh was too much for him as he looked away and back towards Runs who was being patted on the back by Hardhat.
"We all make mistakes trooper, it's just–" Kasa began before Runs balled his fists and pointed an accusing finger at his sergeant.
"It's just what?! Huh?! What is it?! A mistake?! A kriffing mistake?! I CALLED IT IN, I called in your strike because you thought these were those Terran bastards!" Kasa screeched, his helmet torn off as Kasa could clearly see anger flowing through his brother's veins.
Kasa had to admit to himself, he was partially responsible, he had called it in, just a day of fighting on the planet had made everyone wary of Terran soldiers. They were everywhere, in the alleyways, in the streets, in the shops, behind vehicles, amongst the rubble, somewhere in the fields and hiding among the trees.
But Kasa couldn't blame it on that, he had made a genuine mistake, a mistake that had killed so many innocents. At least the droid armies would have checked (or in this fleeting moment, Kasa felt like they would).
"I made a mistake trooper, this is war, in war the hard way is the only way that goes," Kasa replied, however this did nothing to calm the raging storm that was Runs.
"You didn't even bother to check it LT, we've just killed civilians, gone against everything this Republic stands for and your response is it's just war?" Runs hissed.
Kasa looked at the charred remains of the hangar as the smell became a hell of a lot more revolting under the now blazing Strangreal sun. The faces of the dead either in shock, horror, or in most of the cases, non-existent, having been burned and cauterized to be unrecognizable charcoal lumps.
His stomach churned. He was following orders. He was going along with what intelligence had told him. How was he to know these were civilians? He wasn't a damn Jedi.
Kasa finally snapped.
"YOU THINK I'M COMPLICIT IN THIS? YOU THINK I DON'T FEEL GUILT?" Kasa roared, snatching at his radioman, his DC-15S clattering to the floor.
An uncomfortable silence fell across the platoon. It didn't help that burned and torn bodies were also an audience to this breakdown, still baking in the sun.
"Calm yourselves for the love of the maw," said an authoritative voice, cutting through the tension as Kasa turned his attention to a clone in airborne issued armor, behind him a full squad of airborne with their iconic 'beehive' helmets, each carrying DC-15A's. A captain's pauldron adorned the leaders shoulders.
"Sir, with all due respect, who am I talking to?" Kasa said, his voice low as he let go of Runs.
"Captain Barlex, Parjai Squad, commander of all the Airborne elements of the 212th, right now I am taking over from Captain Gutter who is–"
"Dead."
A second uneasy silence fell across the room, the Terrans had been responsible for so many officer deaths that it was honestly a surprise the 212th kept it together.
"I was made aware on the Arrestor."
"Then why did we bomb civilians?" Kasa asked, getting uncomfortably close to Barlex who simply sneered at his fellow clone brother.
"Wrong intel," Barlex muttered, his voice indifferent as the rest of his squad simply mulled about, kicking aside dead bodies to make themselves a path through the carnage.
"What do you mean wrong intel?" Kasa asked. Was that his brother's blasted reason for it?
"Intelligence thought the hangars held Terran military personnel, therefore we bombed what looked to be transports, we simply followed orders," Barlex replied, his voice about as chilly as the winters of Hoth.
"That's your justification?"
"Good soldiers follow orders."
Those words still rang within Kasa's ears as he looked back at the bodies and the destroyed hangars. He looked out to the airfield, destroyed 'Egret' Spaceliners dotted the tarmac. He could only imagine what horror's lie inside their burning steel carcasses.
"What have we done," he muttered quietly to himself.
Location: Low Orbit of Strangreal
March 23 2590
General Obi-Wan Kenobi
Another Terran fighter zipped past Kenobi, diving towards the planet below as Kenobi turned to give chase. He grunted as he pulled an excess of 9 G's, yanking on the control stick. Even with the Terran fleet gone, the fight for the sky was still raging on.
Obi-Wan whipped the front end of his fighter around, barely keeping on the tail of the fighter which went into a series of twists and turns in an attempt to throw the Jedi off. But Obi-Wan was persistent.
Obi-Wan depressed the triggers on his joysticks, the heavy laser bolts slamming into the rear of the fighter. He was rewarded with a bright golden shield as he focused on the fighter. He relaxed himself, preventing the adrenaline from taking over as he summoned the Force.
Normally with the CIS, their droid fighters were easily swatted out of the sky, but with the Terrans, Obi-Wan was struggling to keep up with all their moves, their twists, their turns, by the force he had seen some do 90-degree turns.
"Come on…" he muttered under his breath as he finally got the Terran where he wanted him, a turn too quick and the Terran nearly collided with the underside of an Acclimator. Obi-Wan depressed the triggers once more as he sent the fighter tumbling out of space, a smoke trail becoming a raging fireball quickly silenced by the vacuum.
"General! I need some assistance over here!" yelled one of the pilots of Scrapper squadron, Bantha, his Z-95 barely avoiding the flurry of 50mmcannon fire which zipped past his cockpit.
"Bantha! Take him around and put him in a dive," Obi-Wan ordered, Bantha taking his Z-95 and going into extravagant twists and turns, tipping his nose down as the Terran followed.
Obi-Wan did a full circle, getting his crosshairs lined up as he pulled the trigger, the heavy turbolaser bolts smashing into the Terran fighter who seemed to recognize the new enemy hot on its tail as the large craft broke hard right, terminating its pursuit of Bantha as its efforts diverted to fend off Obi-Wan.
Obi-Wan on the other hand barely kept up with the fighter, the Terran threw his large craft into a downward spiral in an attempt to shake off the persistent Jedi.
"Inbound! General above you!" yelled Bantha as Obi-Wan turned to see a Terran fighter on his tail. The large black silhouette made a beeline for his small interceptor in an attempt to get him off the tail of the Terran fighter.
'By the Force,' he thought as he took his fighter in a series of tight twists and turns as he put the maximum amount of stress and G-Forces on his fighter as humanly possible trying to outrun the Terran, putting the ETA-2 into a 2 circle, the Terran hot on his tail.
Multiple blue bolts slammed into his pursuant however, Bantha's Z-95 screeching past followed by that of Gazer's, the Terran fighter careening into space before exploding.
"Much appreciated Gazer," Obi-Wan replied, ripping his fighter around into another turn, instantly engaging another one of the Terran monstrosities.
"You got it General!" Gazer replied as he and Bantha dived away from Obi-Wan's fighter, heading into the disorganized melee erupting below. Obi-Wan simply shook his head as he followed, diving headlong into the fight as he quickly engaged another Terran fighter.
Ripping his nose around he placed quick blaster shots in quick succession, the Terran's shields glowing a magnificent gold as
"Sir! Our scanners are indicating a small force of 30 fighters heading for the Auxiliary Fleet, shall we intercept them?" Racker asked, his Z-95 forming up near Obi-Wan's Eta-2.
From Obi-Wan's perspective this new group seemed to have taken advantage of the Republic fighter screen being involved in taking out the Terran fighters wreaking havoc on the landing LAATs. Something was awry and Obi-Wan was not about to let the Terrans pull another card out of their sleeve.
"Well they aren't going to shoot themselves down, are they?" Obi-Wan asked sarcastically which earned a chuckle from the pilots of Scrapper squadron, each gunning towards the group of Terran fighters.
"Torpedo Launch! Torpedo Launch!" a beleaguered flight ops director shouted into his comms, quickly ruining the light hearted atmosphere. Obi-Wan could faintly see the trails of ionized gas, 4 per fighter as the scanners soon picked up their signatures.
"What did they launch?" Gazer asked as he quickly got his answer from his teammates.
"Picking up heavy radiation from those missiles!"
"Nukes? No way in the Nine Corellian Hells they're still using those," Bantha replied. Obi-Wan could only watch from afar, he was too far away to do anything about the nuclear torpedoes, the distraction provided by the other half of the Terran fighters had done its job.
"They're going to hit the transports!"
Obi-Wan was treated to the sight of the birth of several new stars. Or at the very least it looked like so. Expanding orange bubbles of death replaced a large swath of the auxiliary fleet. Medical ships, landing craft, Acclimators, and freighters, all gone in the blink of an eye.
His headache, his nerves radiating with the deaths of thousands. He felt each one of them, the bleeding, the stinging pain, the burns. All of it.
"General!? General are you ok?" came the panicked call from Racker. The Scrapper Squadron leader's Z-95 coming alongside Obi-Wan's now drifting ETA-2.
Kenobi reformed himself, taking a deep breath as he let the Force calm and suppress the adrenaline flowing through his veins.
"Yes Racker, I am fine, how is your squadron?" Obi-Wan said, wanting to assure the fidgety Clone commander and by extension all the fighter jockeys currently witnessing the expanding debris field that was the Auxiliary Fleet.
"Not great, we sustained 50% losses, those Terran fighters were eating us alive," Racker replied, his voice somber. Though the clones weren't Force sensitive, the death of their brothers, the empty barracks which they used to share, was just as impactful if not more so than what Kenobi experienced.
A Jedi learned to control emotions, non-force users didn't.
'...I have a feeling this little squabble will spiral into something that neither the Republic or the Separatists can control.'
Obi-Wan was never a pessimist, he simply saw things the way they were. However sometimes he wished he was wrong, wrong in his predictions, that they wouldn't play out that way.
But sometimes, unfortunately…
He was right.
Location: Red Orchard Fields
March 23 2590
Captain Jolt CT-2235
'Poor bastards,' Jolt thought as he walked his AT-RT like one of the Terran horses, surveying an old couple who were talking to a 212th Lieutenant on the porch of their ranch.
"How long till you think they crumble?" one of his Sergeant's, Jumper, asked, resting atop his AT-RT, munching on one of the apples a farmer had provided him.
Jolt had to think about it for a moment, so far the Republic had taken the City Hall and was currently working their way through the Spaceport, the last quadrant of the city under Terran control. After that a majority of forces would be redirected to fight the forces on the flanks of the city, where hopefully Strangreal would be secure in Republic hands and the Mandalorians could stop whining in the Senate.
Capturing the city hall however seemed to do nothing to the morale of the enemy, who the Clones were now just finding out were mostly in the fields and the wildlands surrounding Farbanti. It was a tough fight and Jolt was happy to take a little break from the fighting away from the frontline.
In the fields joining the so-called 'sheep' was the rest of his platoon, resting up, eating, and maintaining their AT-RT's for the next engagement.
"Captain!" a voice called, Jolt turning his attention towards the Lieutenant, his helmet under his arm as he adjusted his kama.
"Any news Tatters?" Jolt asked as he climbed off his walker and approached Lt. Tatters, also taking off his ARF Helmet which had begun to weigh down heavily on him from battle weariness.
"Yeah, this couple says just 4 klicks from here is a platoon sized element, dug into the hillside and across a river," Tatter replied, motioning out behind the couple's ranch and towards a few hills just beyond the fields.
"Any armor?"
"No heavy armor, just some light reconnaissance vehicles," Tatter said. Jolt snorted at the name 'light reconnaissance vehicles'. They looked light but they were anything but, he had seen what just 2 of the Terran 'Warthogs' in combination with one of their 'Alligators' could do to a whole Clone company before finally being overrun.
It wasn't pretty.
"You see that Captain?" Jumper asked, pointing skywards as Jolt looked up to where his sergeant was pointing.
"That ship?" Jolt asked, annoyed, pointing to the large Acclimator which descended upon Farbanti. He didn't need to be interrupted for such trivial things.
His Sergeant clarified where he was pointing by placing his walker right next to Jolt's and pointing towards the lights in the early dawn sky; it looked like a star, then another star, another star, then another.
"What the hell is tha–"
Then a resounding boom cut him off as it shattered eardrums as the polarized visors of Jolt's helmets tried its best to mitigate the flash.
Jolt fell over onto the padded grass as he looked to see 2 gigantic mushroom clouds emulating over the sky as the Acclimator was consumed in nuclear fury. His eyes widened in shock and awe.
'Holy Mother of the Maw.' he thought, unable to speak up. These were the Terran nuclear weapons everyone had been gossiping about. They were horrifying, a weapon of such destruction that despite being replaced with the conventional turbolaser, still held to its sheer shock value.
"Sir! I've lost contact with Cody!" Jumper yelled, the rising sun blotted out by the cloud of debris, blinding their sight and their comm devices.
"No use! Get those walkers and try to regroup to the nearest company command center, watch your comm–"
Jolt would never get the chance to finish his sentence as a 9.5x40mm round pierced his lower jaw and a second hit him in the upper chest, dropping him instantly as he bled out unconscious on the fields of Red Orchard.
Location: Red Orchard Fields
March 23 2590
Lieutenant Edson 'Eddie' Ford
The Clone captain dropped from the marksman's well placed headshot, his brains splattering across his still shocked troops. Those nukes really proved their shock value as Edson watched the clones' petrified movements from his position in the treeline.
"Good shot Humphreys," Edson said as he patted the back of the Specialist, Gerald Humphreys as the ranger chuckled through his helmet.
"Still got it in me Lt," Humphreys replied, smiling under his sealed helmet.
"Alright 1st Platoon, this is our queue, get those jetpacks ready, hooah?"
"Hooah!" came the reply from 11 Rangers, all locked and loaded. Edson checked his jetpack one last time, making sure it was safe and secure to his exoskeleton.
Ever since the end of the Human–Covenant War, humanity realized it needed fast mobile infantry to complement its standard mechanized units. Thus the Rangers were rebirthed once more for the Army, acting much like the ODST's were to the Marine Corp.
Edson was never really fond of the whole jetpack concept but slowly he had become more attached to it. Being able to rocket around and traverse the battlefield in quick succession was a nice thing to have, especially if the situation required rapid response to a threat or if it involved hit and run tactics.
With a boost the 11 Rangers jumped high into the air, landing amidst the field of confused and disorganized clones, gunning them down before quickly moving to avoid blaster fire. The more confusion the better.
Edson turned his MA-6A towards a group of clones, the flurry of 5.56x45mm rounds tore through the clones, making mince meat and staining their white armor with crimson.
"You and you, we're assaulting that walker!" Edson said, as he pointed towards 2 Rangers finishing off another squad of clones
Edson switched to an AT-OT with the 2 other Rangers as they boosted above the walker. Having no armored top meant it was easy for the Rangers to set up a killing zone.
Edson depressed the trigger on the MA-6A, sending a storm of 5.56 into the troopers. It was quite literally shooting fish in a barrel.
Once the fire died down, Edson replaced his emptied magazine, tossing it into a dump pouch and replacing it with a new one from his chest rig, slapping home the charging handle with a satisfying mechanical click.
He hopped down, the 2 other rangers following as they walked through the carnage and towards the driver's door which was sealed shut. Edson hung his carbine by a sling, drawing his Ranger blade, the hard light sword slicing through metal like butter.
He kicked the door in, taking out an M-11 Entente and placing 3 rounds of 10mm into the drivers skull, blood splattering across the claustrophobic cockpit.
"Charges set sir!"
Edson rocketed off the AT-OT along with the other Rangers, the transport along with 4 others detonated in a brilliant blue light as cheers hollered through the comms.
"Alright! 2 more minutes then we all regroup near the second rendezvous–" Edson started until an explosion erupted near 2 rangers, their vitals flatlining as Edson whirled around in shock.
"Shit! It's AT-TE's!"
The large armored beetles staggered though the fields, emerging from the flanking forest, firing at any ranger unlucky enough to be caught with their pants down. The enclosed walkers presented a difficult target compared to the open top AT-OT's and AT-RT's.
"Alright! You know how to crack 'em open! Get to work!" Edson shouted, rocketing to the top of an AT-TE, wrestling with the gunner as he took his Ranger blade and sank the 11 inch serrated knife into the man's neck, blood sputtering and staining the dead man's plastoid armor.
A clone emerged from the middle hatch, or perhaps it was an airlock? To Edson it looked like an airlock, which would make sense considering the environments armored vehicles were expected to be deployed.
This train of thought was derailed as he grabbed the man by the neck and pulled him out of the hatch, tossing him onto the top of the AT-TE. The clone staggered but successfully dodged the thrusting knife of Edson as the Ranger felt a punch to his lower abdomen.
Edson stumbled back, for being unaugmented humans, the clones could punch pretty hard. Edson charged again, pinning the clone beneath him as he drove his knife towards the man's skull, the clone holding him off, barely keeping the edge away from his visor.
Edson was about to push harder until a blaster bolt hit him square in the back, staggering him as he quickly wheeled around towards his new opponent, another clone armed with a DC-15S. Edson took the knife's blade and tossed it.
Hard.
The knife entered the man's skull, killing him instantly as the clone fell off the still moving walker. Great, now he was without his knife.
Of course his train of thought was derailed as he felt himself be tackled by the clone he was originally fighting. Edson attempted to take out his M-11, only to have the clone punch him in the visor and kick out the gun from his hands.
Edson attempted to retaliate only to have the clone tackle him off the walker, Edson hitting the ground hard, the clone on top taking out his own melee, a combat knife as Edson felt the stinging sensation of a knife driving straight into his arm as he blocked the thrust into his chest.
Suddenly the AT-TE from which Edson and his new companion fell off, exploded, a rocket penetrating its lower area below the angled plate and detonating, causing a chain reaction as it sent hot shrapnel flying across the field.
This provided enough of a distraction as the clone focused from killing the Ranger beneath him and looking in awe at the explosion.
2 shots rang out as the clone crumpled. Edson looked up as his IFF instantly identified his savior as another Ranger.
Quickly the Ranger grabbed him, and dragged him through the fields and towards a secluded barn bordering the orchard and just near the flanking forest.
"Sir! Are you ok?"
Edson looked up finally from his seething pain to see Humphreys, battered and without his helmet.
"Just fine, where's your helmet trooper?" Edson said, wiping off some dust as he sat himself up against the wall of the barn.
"Some fucker took it off when I was scuffling with the clones sir, I'll get a new one when we return to the FOB," Humphreys replied as the distinct sound of an AT-TE drew near. Humphreys made a motion for Edson to stay there, taking an AVSUL canister off his back and deploying the launcher, arming it and silently moving outside the barn door.
Edson watched with his VISR module, watching Humphreys line up his sight with an AT-TE, possibly 30-40 meters away.
'That's too close,' Edson thought. The minimum arming distance of the AVSUL was 45 meters, Humphreys would just be rewarded with a blank rocket shot and a ticket to the pearly gates. Of course Humprehys wouldn't have known since he was without his HUD provided by the helmet.
"Humphreys, move back you're too close!" Edson muttered into his comms, luckily Humphreys still had his comm system as he heard the young Ranger curse.
"Oh shit am I–"
Humprehys didn't have any time to finish his sentence as the AT-TE's turret rotated and fired a single shot from its cannon, sending Humpreys flying into 2 pieces and landing just by the barn where Edson was hiding.
"Shit."
He took a quick look, identifying the AVSUL, still intact, lying in the field. He winced as his armor sealed up his knife wound. Slowly he got up and waited for the coast to be clear.
Taking the AVSUL from the cold dead hands of Humprheys, Edson looked his crosshairs onto an AT-TE, its backside now turned to him, picking Top Attack as the 50mm missile rocketed away, making a smoke plume high into the sky before slamming into the joints of the walkers vulnerable top side, making a cloud of hot shrapnel and sparks visible in the sunrise of Strangreal.
Edson was quickly engaged by a few Clones, their shouts directed at him as blaster fire fell all around.
A grenade erupted near his position, his shields quickly regenerating as he quickly ran into the orchard, diving into a ditch, avoiding the trails of Republic blaster fire.
Just as he thought he found a temporary haven from hell, a small device rolled into his ditch and before he knew it there was a high pitched ring as Edson gritted his teeth, his body convulsing in blue electric lightning as he grunted in pain and anger.
He checked his HUD, still fizzling as slowly functions returned, his own breathing fogging up his visor.
Those fuckers just hit him with an EMP.
He checked again as he tossed out another magazine for his MA-6, his comms were back online, the dumb AI in his suit doing its best to fix up what was tossed up by the EMP. However the same could not be said for his jetpack.
It could work but all the safety features were offline and fried beyond repair, if he dared use his pack he would slam head first into a tree and become a red splatter among the foliage.
"This is Hermes Troop! Anyone read this?" Edson shouted into his comms. The silence was a lot more deafening than the blaster fire erupting around him.
Quickly Edson checked the local BATTLENET, looking at his squad's vitals as he was greeted with a congregation of flat lines and the word 'DECEASED' in big red letters.
"Fuck," he muttered, a burst of blaster fire hitting near his position kicking up dirt and debris as he slammed his fist into the ground in frustration.
"Surrender now and we will not kill you!" declared a voice, one of the clones, sounded way too proud as well, though maybe Edson could detect a hint of empathy buried underneath the layers of 'order'.
The clones were closing in, their numbers overwhelming, he counted at least 45, he had literally no hope in taking them on. But he was not one to yield easily.
"Respectfully boys, I refuse!" he retorted. His finger tightened around the trigger of his weapon, ready to unleash a storm of bullets.
He peeked from cover, pulling the trigger, the MA-6 rattling on until the ammo counter displayed a big fat 0.
Edson cursed as blue blaster bolts smashed into his position, kicking up dirt into his visor as he returned to cover, tossing out the empty magazine and searching for another on his chest rig. He patted his holsters, all empty until he gripped on a firm one, ripping out the magazine and slamming it into the gun, racking the charging handle.
This was his last one.
"Make it count," he muttered, moving along the orchard, he set his rifle to burst, as he steadied his breath, drifting his crosshairs on his HUD to the first clone he saw.
One down.
Two down.
Three down.
Four down.
5 dow–
Blaster fire erupted towards his position, 7 bolts from a DC-15A striking him in the upper chest and arms, his shields collapsing as his armor bore the brunt of the assault.
"Fuck!" he grunted, perching himself on the base of the apple tree, wheezing as he lost motor functions for his right arm. Clones began to surround him, blasters raised as they were cautious to deal with a Terran like him.
"Respectfully, I demand your surrender," one of the clones said, poking a little lightheartened quip in an otherwise grim field of death.
Edson, seeing no other way out and not wanting to waste his life for nothing, slowly raised his hands in the air as he felt himself being taken into handcuffs and led into one of the Republic's 'beetle' walkers.
Location: GRNS Negotiator
March 25 2590
Admiral Arden Block
Arden looked across his battered fleet hanging lazily in orbit. Sorrowful eyes staring at the shattered superstructures of the auxiliaries, drifting aimlessly amongst the orbit of Strangreal.
"Sir, message from Commander Cody," an officer informed Arden, tapping the back of his shoulder as Arden did an about face.
"Put him on the holo-projector, we'll see if he's done better than us vacheads," Arden replied, using lowly terminology used by the rank and file clones was rather odd for such a high ranked officer as himself but Arden didn't care at that moment.
The Terrans had exhausted him and all we wanted to do was retire to his quarters and take a well deserved nap in his bunk.
With a whir the holo-projector soon displayed the avatar of Commander Cody, his helmet off and resting on the table in front of him, his face weathered with the amount of coordinating he had to do .
"Commander Cody, any update on your progress?" Arden asked, straightening his already pristine uniform. A drastic contrast to the muddied and battered plastoid armor of the Commander.
"Yes, the 212th have managed to take Farbanti in its entirety, still chasing some of the Terrans into the forests however," Cody replied, exhaustion plaguing his voice.
"How confident are you in securing the entire planet?"
"Possibly this following week, currently I have men setting up defensive perimeters around Farbanti to ward off potential insurgents. We have had significant civilian casualties after some di'kut decided it was a good idea to bomb civilians."
Arden felt his stomach twist. He knew civilian casualties were inevitable, it was just a by-product of war. But the fact that his own ships had fired on refugee areas without his prior knowledge was scandalous to say the least.
To be reminded of such failure to be informed twisted the figurative knife in the gut.
"We will look into such actions and will bring the irresponsible captain to court," Arden replied, hoping to alleviate some pressure off of Cody who simply nodded.
"Any response from Foxtrot Group?"
"Yes, Commander Gregor reported to me that the Terrans evacuated any high value prisoners including Commodore Durnan from the Correctional Center, all they found were regulars and troopers," Cody replied as Arden sighed with frustration.
He had personally known Durnan for a while. Of course Durnan was always a bit over his head but he was still a friend nonetheless. Arden just hoped the Terrans were a lot more humane compared to the CIS when it came to POWs.
Just as Cody was about to follow up his report, an alarm squawked on the other end of the holo-projector, a Clone walking up to Cody and tapping his shoulder.
"Sir, the base is under attack, some insurgents breached the walls, currently taking care of them as we speak."
Cody looked up to Arden, his look a silent que for him to leave.
"May the force be with you Admiral," the Commander stated before grabbing his helmet and placing it atop his head, hiding his baggy eyes and exhausted expression and grabbing a DC-15S.
"Likewise Commander," Arden replied as the holo-projector connection terminated and returned to displaying the tactical map of the space around Strangreal.
Arden looked at the map as if he were in deep thought. He had lost approximately half his ships, each either torn apart by tungsten projectiles, missile barrages, or most recently, nuclear weapons.
Nuclear Weapons.
Arden had heard rumors the Terrans still employed nukes within their arsenal though many shrugged it off. How could established humanitarians employ nuclear weapons? That would be if Naboo held the strongest military in the galaxy.
Arden along with many other galactic scholars and military officers today were proven wrong. He had seen the devastation they had on his auxiliary fleet, destroying some and mission killing a majority of his vessels, meaning he was in dire need of reinforcements.
The doors opened and Arden looked to see Jedi General Obi-Wan Kenobi walk in. His forehead damp in sweat, a telltale sign of the intense fighter combat the General experienced.
"General."
"Admiral."
The 2 men stared at each other across the bridge as Kenobi, the Jedi General battered by the starfighter engagement, walked up to the massive holoprojector in the middle of the room, placing his hands on the edge of the table.
"I see you have been busy," General Kenobi spoke, motioning to the ships displayed on the holoprojectors tactical map. It was a grim remainder of the losses Arden had experienced.
"Indeed, our troubles seemed to have transferred over to the ground," Arden replied as he motioned to the tactical map which transferred from the naval aspect to the ground portion of the struggle for Strangreal, showcasing which areas of the planet currently under Republic control.
"I see Cody has been able to secure the front line, good man he is," Kenobi replied as Arden nodded, putting his hands behind his back in a parade rest. Silence fell across the bridge again, leaving only the consoling beeps and taps of monitors.
"I'm sure you've seen the Terran surprise," Kenobi said, breaking the silence.
"Nuclear weapons are a bold choice," Arden replied as the video replayed on the holoprojector of the nuclear suns detonating within the midst of the Auxiliary Fleet.
"What an astute observation Admiral," Kenobi replied sarcastically, causing a small smile to break out on Arden's lips.
"Still, the Senate is not going to be enthusiastic about it," Arden replied. In Arden's opinion the Senate were a bunch of bumbling fools, people only concerned with how their people viewed them at that current moment, not how they were viewed after.
Legacy was everything and the Senate or at least a majority of them seemed to loose grasp of such concepts.
"The Senate is never enthusiastic about anything Admiral."
"I already called in for reinforcements from Ryloth, they're sending a fresh fleet and rotating out the 212th with the 962nd Star Corp, and a contingent of Victory's under Commodore Trell."
"Master Tiplar is going to have a fun time," Kenobi replied, looking solemnly out the bridge window. Arden did much of the same as he once again wiped off his pristine uniform.
The Republic had won this battle.
But at what cost?
A/N: Alright so the Republic has taken Strangreal (or at least they took Farbanti) and committed some 'minor war crimes'. Nothing too serious, it's all in the name of freedom and democracy.
Next chapter will likely be next week considering I was working on it side by side with this one, also check out the codex I updated it.
Also I am aware of the chapter changes, I don't know why but it seems FF reverts changes I make to my chapters and then returns it to the current version if you get the gist of it. Website problems I can't really influence so I'm sorry to anyone if it says the chapter 'doesn't exist'. Just wait a few hours and it should fix itself.
Please Read and Review criticism is welcome.