Star Wars: The Clone Wars IC

[Dentali]

Star Wars: The Clone Wars

Begun The Clone Wars Has...


Hello! Im Dentali and I shall be your Evil Emperor…. I mean OP for STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS





Hello and welcome to the IC for our clone wars game

ACCEPTED PLAYERS LIST/ Reference Sheet
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... sp=sharing

OOC
viewtopic.php?f=31&t=422925

[Great Confederacy of Commonwealth States]

CISS Sovereignty
Providence-class Dreadnaught
19th Fleet “Tidal Wave”, Allied Tion Fleets
Above Raxus

Space is a silent place. Outside of a planet’s atmosphere there is no medium for sound to travel through. If it weren’t for the sound systems installed in fighters and star ship bridges, even the most gruesome space battles would be almost serene. Sastan Raan had experienced this first hand, when a pirate fighter had cut off power to his bridge during a skirmish, a decade or so ago. Seeing a thousand people burn in white-hot flames of an exploding cruiser was bad enough, but in total silence it became a surreal experience.

Admiral-General Raan looked out over the immediate orbit of the planet Raxus, the freshly-chosen capital of the Confederacy of Independent Systems. It was a beautiful blue marble in the vast blackness of space, which was in itself dotted with a million million bright silvery stars. It was a curse for Raan that he only appreciated beauty in terrible circumstances, as he never looked out across the dark void in peacetime. At the start of every conflict he realised what he had to lose, and how feeble living beings were.

Raan wasn’t startled when two warm arms embraced him from behind, a head gently resting itself on his right shoulder. With his own hands, he gently caressed the arms locking him in an embrace, sighing as he closed his eyes. The arms hugged him even more tightly as he did so.

“I have spent years hoping for this conflict, Josk…” Raan said, stroking his tentacles pensively. Outside the window, a cruiser drifted by, making absolutely no sound at all. With the lights it looked like a city passing, like one of the skyscrapers on Mandalore.

“But now that it’s here, I wished I could turn back time”

“To when?” Josk asked, now standing beside Raan. Together they looked out the window, with Raan placing a hand on Josk’s shoulder.

“I don’t known, precisely. A week ago? To stop the battle of Geonosis? Or a year ago, to stop the construction of the Geonosis Foundries…” Raan said, both to Josk and to the cold emptiness of space. He did not know whose presence he preferred.

“Or ten years ago?” Josk said, “When the Trade Federation blockaded Naboo? When the Clone Army was first conceived? Or four thousand years ago, during the Great Shadow Crusade…”

There was a silence. A Droid Control Ship passed by. It didn’t look that way, but it carried enough fire power inside it to wrest control of an entire planet, to subdue an entire people. The power of an army without need for sleep, food or drink, controlled with the press of a button. Raan shuddered as it passed.

“What I’m trying to get at is…” Josk said, trying to formulate his thoughts “That there is nothing one person could have done. This war was long in the making. Not you, not Dooku, not chancellor Palpatine nor Chancellor Valorum could have prevented this”

“I know…” Raan said, clenching his fists. Josk felt his muscles tense, and with gentle touch tried to Raan down.

“But I dread at the pain I am going to cause in its name. The pain of tens of millions of battle droids”

“If you won’t do it, Dooku will find someone who will. He’ll give your armies to one of his cronies. Trench, Wat Tambor… Beings with more mind for money than war. I read about Malastare the other day. What Trench did there is beyond reason”

“It’s better for millions to die at my hands than at his?” Raan said, slightly annoyed.

“Better for millions to die at yours than hundreds of millions at his” Josk countered, causing a silence to form between the two. Raan then embraced him tightly, almost lifting him from the floor as he did so. Luckily, the admiral-general wasn’t that physically strong, so Josk remained affixed to the ground. Still, his air was pushed right from his lunges. After a few seconds, Raan let go.

“All councillors have been accounted for. Dooku landed with his personal ship yesterday, I heard, which means we’re going to war. I’ll try to keep contact as much as possible”

Josk shook his head, and brushed his hand past Raan’s tentacles.

“Focus on your duty. I’ll be here for you when you get back”

Raan nodded, and brushed his own hands across Josk’s tentacles. Then, the two parted, Josk taking the elevator downwards towards his shuttle, which would take him back to the planet’s surface. For a few moments, Raan looked at the closed elevator doors. With one sigh, he expelled all lingering emotions from his body, looking sternly at the other officers present. As he did so, the mainly Quarren staff of his flagship looked back, waiting for his command.

“Contact the fleets, and set a course for Quermia. We’re going home”

Those words were gladly received and immediately celebrated by all the Quarren present, with the other officers looking awkwardly at the jubilation that emerged. Hugging each other and shouting aloud, the Quarren began punching in the right coordinates for a hyperspace jump. The loudspeakers throughout the ship began blaring, and the command was transmitted across the void of space to all other ships: [SET COURSE FOR QUERMIA. GOING HOME]

[Futrellia]

Frozen Isolation

We thought our posting to Bravo Base would be our deaths as well. Being placed in such a backwater, frozen wasteland only meant that the Republic didn't have faith in my squad. I almost didn't have faith in my squad. How wrong I was.

–C-4787 "Grizz"
Commander of Grizz Squad
Journal Entry On Rhen Var 22 Years Before The Battle of Yavin

Planet Rhen Var

Bravo Base
Grand Army of the Republic Facility
Frozen world of Rhen Var

The howling winds of the icy, mountainous terrain were so loud, many troopers had a hard time sleeping. The newly posted crews weren't used to this atmosphere, not used to this kind of inhospitable wasteland, but yet they were ordered to defend the base and the planet from any Separatist threats. But they'd be fools to believe they'd ever see combat here. There was nothing of value on Rhen Var, just ice and snow and rock. Bravo Base was hastily set up only days before the Battle of Geonosis, completely fenced in with a few manufactured buildings with poor insulation, a single laser turret atop the command center would be the main form of defense against any threats. Every so often, the wind was strong enough that you could hear the steel beams groan, something else that kept Grizz awake.

CT-4787, known to his brothers as "Grizz" leaned forward off of his thin pillow and firm bedding to look around the dark barracks, where bunkbeds adorned every nook and cranny. He saw a few of his squad in the mess of sleeping clones. There was Eights, tossing and turning on his bed, trying to get comfortable. Eights always had trouble sleeping, so this was no surprise. His head panned to the right to see Stax, sprawled out with one foot hanging off the bed, snoring as loudly as he could. Grizz's eyes were caught by the view of the large, tinted window that showed the fierce wind and thick snow spraying brutally across the window. Grizz lifted himself from his bed and walked to the window. He stood there admiring the punishing, yet beautiful environment he was posted too. He had never seen snow such as this, so thick and unending. At first, he couldn't believe he and his squad were heading to some iceball nobody never heard of while his brothers were off fighting. The real heroes, as Torch described them. Torch was even less happy about it than he was, but he took his anger out on his squadmates instead of the practice dummies. For the first few days they'd been there, Torch had already gotten into a scuffle with Hammerhead, leaving Torch with a black eye and sore pride. They all tried to tell him "Don't mess with Hammerhead." he didn't believe them.

Luckily, they all loved each other so the fight wouldn't turn into some rivalry. Torch would have Hammerhead's back and vice versa. The sight Grizz was staring at became less and less intriguing and more and more irritating, just because of the fact that he and his squad would have patrol duty in four hours. Grizz decided he wasn't going to sleep any longer, so he walked to his bunk, slipped on his Phase One armor starting with the legs and ending with the helmet, picked up his DC-15S blaster rifle and walked out, the bright white light of the hallway blinding Grizz momentarily as his eyes adjusted. There was no cafeteria or any sort of that luxury here, only big crates full of ration bars, the white, tasteless, ration bars. Grizz would quickly gobble down the bar and head outside into the piercing cold, the floodlights rocked back and forth as they illuminated the base. Grizz began to shiver as his armor did very little to protect them from the cold. Luckily for them, artificial heating lamps were stationed at the corner of every building, a gathering place for all clones to heat up in, but during snowstorms like this one, they didn't do much. Grizz walked to the front of the base, where several clones were walking about, keeping the entrance guarded. Cheeks was stationed on the top tower, looking out the scope of a Z-6 Rotary blaster cannon mounted on the rails, looking down at the frigid plains and ice hills. Grizz climbed up the tower to sit with his squadmate while he waited until wake up.

"Anything out there, Cheeks?" Asked Grizz, wrapping his arms around his torso to try to preserve some heat.

"Well, let me just say this, if there was an enemy out there, I couldn't shoot them. Not because I don't want to, but because my fingers are frozen solid." Grizz let out small chuckle as he took a seat behind the perched clone trooper.

"You guys headin' out for patrol in a few hours?" Asked Cheeks. Normally, Cheeks would be with them, but because he was selected for night guard by the base commander, he would be allowed to sleep during the day.

"Yeah, headin' out over that hill for about a mile then establishing a perimeter, then following it around the base a few times. Should take around three hours. You gonna be alright without us?" Said Grizz, jokingly.

"Oh, yeah. I get to sleep while you guys sit in the cold like I am? Oh, I'll be just dandy." Laughed Cheeks. As the laughter died down, silence and howling winds filled the air for a few brief seconds.

"Couldn't sleep?" Asked Cheeks. Being the Medical specialist he was, he couldn't help but try to diagnose him, like everyone he meets.

"Nah. Too excited about today." Grizz replied, attempting a joke.

"I didn't want to be posted here either, sir. I don't think anyone in this squad wanted to. We all have potential. Sure, we didn't see action on Geonosis, but we are ready. The combat simulations are as close to the real thing as it can get. Pit us against a squad fresh from Geonosis, we can give them a run for their money."

"That's now how it works, Cheeks. They didn't choose us to be here just because we didn't see action. They chose squads at random. Those in the reserve forces would be posted to places like this because they need to keep their territories occupied." Replied Grizz, attempting to deflect the accusations that Grizz Squad was unprepared for battle.

"With all due respect, sir, I think that's a load of crap. I just..." The conservation ended with that.

"We will see our share of battle, Cheeks. Don't worry. There's plenty of war to go around." Said Grizz as he descended down from the tower and towards the small armory towards the center of the base, looking to check his squad's weapons, ammunition, and equipment, getting it all ready for a long patrol.

[Isapito]

Thelisa stands perfectly still, deep in dark side meditation. Her lower body is immersed in soothing water while the muscles of her upper body screamed with a burning pain as she gripped two ropes that pulled her in either direction. Using the pain to reach out into the dark side and the cool waters to focus her mind she opened her self up, listening to the will of the dark side of the force. The revelation came to her at once, yes, yes this was the will of the darkness. Her apprentice gave a sudden start as the weights attached to either rope clanged to the floor and Thelisa sent a small bolt of flame from either hand to light a pair of oil lamps.
"We walk the bloody path this night Nema" she said
"We proceed with the plan?" Asked the young Twi'lek
"We do, the darkness wills it"
Nema comes forward and clothes her in black robes with a crimson inner lining and a gap at the back that exposed her wing before fitting a prosthetic wing to the spot where one of her natural ones had been torn from her during her years as a slave. She takes her weapon from him, first the selection of knives and darts then her personal favourite weapon, a vibro falchion-glaive hybrid.
"Follow me then wait for my signal to land"

A short while later Thelisa was swooping down towards a large tower near the centre of Salis D'aar. The guards there had a sensor system set up but it wasn't designed to spot a single individual descending without the aid of a vehicle or heat producing jetpack. She hurls a knife at a guard, accelerating and guiding it with the force, while with her left hand she hauled a guard backwards over the edge of the tower. She came in low, baring down on a guard he turned to towards the second guard's cry. Thelisa struck out with the glaive fully extended, slashing in a diagonal motion in a blow the severed the guard's head. She came down with a hoping motion and ran to a console that controlled the sensors and flicked them off. A speeder comes in, rapidly decelerating, as it passed a few meters overhead three figures dropped down. Nema drops first, gracefully rolling as he hit the ground and came up with an e-5 blaster, it wasn't his first tool of choice but the ruse they intended required it. A squat, black astromech follows him, using its thrusters to slow the fall and a b2 battle droid lands clumsily and has to be helped to its feet. The astromech crosses the roof and opens a door to a dark stairwell. The two dark siders slip down, as they go a guard turns the corner and Thelisa reaches out with the force, grabbing her by the throat and pinning her up against the wall.
"Should I?" Askes Nema hesitantly
"Do it" she replies
The Twi'lek fires two shots into the guard, one into her heart one into her head.
"What was that?" Came a voice from bellow.
Thelisa and Nema slips into the shadows but the big, clumsily reprogrammed battle droid doesn't have the sense to. As they come to the bottom of the flight of stairs the two guard's attention is instantly attracted to large droid. Before they can fire Thelisa reaches out with the force and pulls the weapons from their hands. For a moment the two of them are left standing there looking at the b2 with empty hands. The droid opens fire, killing one guard outright and scoring a glancing hit on the other who dived back down the stairs. Nema nimbly vaults of the banister baring down on the guard and driving a vibro dagger into the man's neck where it meets the skull. The four enter out into a corridor, coming out fighting. Thelisa sends a flurry of blows and faints with her falchion cutting down a guard while Nema opened fire with the e-5 into another's guts leaving him for the b2 to finish him off.
"You, stand there" orders Thelisa to the battle droid pointing to a spot in the centre of a door way "you open the door" she says to the astromech.
As soon as the door opened the battle droid is hit by a blaster shot. Thelisa takes note of the direction the droid aimed as she stands to one side of the door, the b2 fires a volley of shots into the room but the room's occupant fires back three shots in quick succession, two hit the door frame but one finds its mark causing the droid to burst into flames. Thelisa and Nema slipped into the room using the still standing droid for cover. Seeing her target standing with a blaster behind a desk on the other side of the room she reached out and disarms him while Nema turns to a servant holding a chair as a makeshift club.
[i][/"Don't move"i] Thelisa flashes a small, private smile, her apprentice's technique had been a little overly aggressive, better suited for a force domination assisted interrogation but it forced the girl to instantly freeze.
"You CIS fools" says their target with venom "I'm an emissary of peace, killing me might bring us into the war but it certainly won't be on your side"
"We aren't with the CIS, and that is rather why we're here, Vel Captison" replies Thelisa.
The man's face is suddenly marked by terrible realisation before Thelisa flicks a dart at him and it sags as the muscle relaxant enters his body. Thelisa draws a knife and cuts away the man's shirt while Nema removes a small bowl from within his robes.
"Baalak var ah muldi" Thelisa chants before driving the blade into the man's chest, opening up a deep gash while Nema holds the bowl in order to collect the blood for use in a ritual later. With a sharp crack Thelisa pulls away a rib exposing the man's heart and with a practiced motion cuts it free. She hold it up to the light, the bowl over flowing, blood pouring over it's rim coving the apprentice's hands and dripping onto the floor.
Then Thelisa turns to the servant, using her species natural hypnotic abilities and force dominate she reaches into her mind, altering her memories of events before holding a drug soaked rag over the servant's mouth until she fell unconscious. She stands satisfied that the girl relay the events of the night as she now believes them to be, a group of CIS droids and mercenaries killed Vel for perceived cowardice in not joining the war on their side. On the wall Nema had written coward on the wall in the man's blood before pouring the blood in the wall into a bottle. She took the e-5 blaster and shot it with their target's weapon enough to render it useless but not unrecognisable as a CIS weapon. Then the remaining three left into the night.

[Isapito]

BTW roughly what time ratio are we doing? Something like one day to one week?

[Backatri]

On a small cargo ship, a smuggler wandered empty corridors. War had broken out, and this ship was his last chance to get back to the Outer Rim without risk of life or limb. The ship was headed for Dantooine, where the smuggler would run small jobs until the war ended. No need to choose sides so early.

It had been a hot exit from the Core, since the very spaceport he left on was full of troops when he got there. The smuggler felt that he was the last non-clone to leave through that port. As he wandered, the corridors became more and more empty, and as he descended deeper into the ship, more and more confused.

He was about to about-face and return to his cabin when a clone appeared before him. The smuggler waved. He turned round to go sleep, but a second clone blocked the exit. Another few appeared until he was surrounded by a squad. The smuggler stood in an awkward silence, his hand on his gun, waiting for the clones to either detain him or kill him. A clone spoke.

"Shall we retire to the canteen?"

Again, no words from the smuggler as the group moved to the canteen. They sat down, two to either side of him, and another four on the other side of the table, with a person sized gap between the pairs. A robed figure moved to fit in between the clones.

"Mr. Mustava, a pleasure", said the robed figure. The smuggler look at him, glowering.

"Very demure, I perceive." More glowering.

"Anyway, I am a representative of a, er, firm, based on Coruscant. We've attained an amount of power, and we are very proud of the weight we throw around."

The smuggler broke his silence. "Your firm's the Republic. You brought clones, not mercenaries. Is this amateur hour?"

"Well, um, yes, I do represent the government, and em, a, a- we've got a job for you. High paying. The war is at its beginning, and we need operatives who aren't as" the robed man gestured the the clones, "visible. We need you, a free man of the stars, to sabotage vital CIS installments around the Outer Rim. It won't be easy, but you've proven yourself a competent man for intelligence."

"Proven myself how?" The smuggler looked nervous.

"If you refuse, Mr. Mustava, these gentlemen in armor will be forced to arrest you for crimes against the Republic. You proved yourself by staying one step ahead of the police. But we've got you, and if you don't work for us, you'll be detained by us."

The smuggler looked around the room. There was nobody but the clones, the robed man, and himself.

The smuggler spoke with a measured, deliberate pace.

"I'll take the deal."

"Excellent!" exclaimed the robed figure, surprising the smuggler. "I'll send along a dossier of information right away! Best of luck Mr. Mustava."

In an instant, the man disappeared, along with his entourage.The smuggler stewed over what occurred, and became terrified.

[Wysten]

Planet Rhen Var

"Base Report 211-45 Major CT-4523
The only thing that I think will attack us is this damned cold and to think that this was home to beaches a load of rubbish if you ask me. Anyway everything seems to be in the clear. The turrets are working and the patrols have not received any contacts since we have been here. Its funny when you think about it I am the only survivor of my unit on the battle of Genosis you would think that I would be on the front with my brothers. But no they put me here in the back end of no where. But nothing to report here except snow snow and even more snow."

CT-4523 aka Ghost turned off the recorder and sat up putting his helmet on he turned around walked outside the sliding doors gave a loud hiss and he walked out. Looking out he saw that the blizzard had calmed down a bit looking above he saw two LAAt/s land taking out some new rations for the men. His eyes did notice something though in the distance calling over the comm he called to the quartermaster. "Hey are we expecting anymore shipments?" he said. For a minute all he heard was static then he heard a response. "Negative sir those LAAT/s were the only ones to come here." Ghost paused for a second then instinct kicked in. "Roger that." he then switched to comms with the captains. "This is Ghost sound the alarm seps are coming I am going to need to keep the LAAT/s grounded we are going to use them for EVAC." He heard an affirmative then a loud blaring alarm sounded. Running back to his quarters he grabbed his rifle and manned the large tower on top of the base.

[The Anarcho-Syndicalist Commune]

Sinya'dia, Korriban

Sinya had been sent to rot away on a ruin of a world for being concerned. At least that was how she saw it. What the council had actually said was more along the lines of "Go to Korriban and find evidence of separatist activity on the planet. Why on Ryloth they thought the Sepratists would be intrested in bloody Korriban was beyond her. The planet was worse than useless, desolate after being abandoned so many times. All that was left were stragglers who had lost their ships for a myriad of reasons. And just when it appeared that this investigation was going to be quick and easy, she had found evidence of Droid Activity within the region.

Taking out her communicator and broadcasting to the Jedi Watch Post that orbitted the old Sith capitol, Sinya sent a message stating that she was now following the droids to the ruins of an old temple complex. Cresting another Dune, Sinya found what she was looking for. The droids had begun a massive excavation of the area, and were digging out the old ruins. Sinya began to carefully approach, before stopping as it appeared there was some ruckus in the Camp. Listening closely, she could make out that the Droids had found something and were taking it to Ryloth. This heavily intrested the Jedi, so she drew closer. Watching now, the droids were carrying a heavily secured container with who knows what in it. Deciding it was now or never, Sinya quickly unsheathed her two emerald green lightsabers and charged the small patrol currently guarding the object. Quickly slicing through one, she began to slice and glide through the squad using her own variant of Juyo which focused on Jar'Kai techniques. As the last Droid fell, Sinya picked up the container. Though it proved impossible for her to open, it had a familiar feeling to it. Upon further inspection and tries to open it, Sinya decided to take it to someone who would.

Several Jumps Later, Tatooine, Mos Eisley

Sinya had her hood over her face as the Rodian sat down across from her. She looked him up and down before saying "It's good to know you are still alive. I wouldn't be able to do half the things I do without you Yudda."

The Rodian said simply "Why do you need me Eliasa, You're clearly calling in a favor.

Sinya said plainly "I need something opened, ASAP.

Yudda nodded and said "Well let me see the Item in Question."

Setting the container on the desk, Sinya waited for the Rodian's respose. Finally, the alien said "10,000 credits and I get it open tomorrow."

Sinya briefly considered the consequences to such a price, before deciding it was worth it.

Laying down a check for 5,000 credits, Sinya said "You get the rest when the job is done."

The Twi'lek then walked to the apartment she was staying in in the area to retire for the night.

[Esselman]

Admiral Jorran Benz
The Remembrance
Exiting Hyperspace en route to Felucia


Admiral Benz was tasked with transporting a large number of troops to the planet Felucia as it was a key part of controlling the Perlemian Trade Route. Though for the majority of time he dealt with clone troopers, the one bright reprieve was that of the 327th Star Corps who would be taking over ground operations alongside various Jedi generals once they made their way to the planet. For now Benz was to desecrate any Separatist blockade to clear a path for the troops. Troopers were no longer doing their training drills as they often took time to do back on Coruscant since no separatist attack would ever occur there. Instead all was peaceful, and quiet, while the entire crew were in waiting.

On the bridge, the admiral stood looking beyond the viewing window with a stoic face and hardened, straightened, back. A clone commander entered the bridge giving a salute that the admiral saw only in the reflection of the window that showed brightly due to the encapsulating glow of hyperspace travel.

"Admiral. We are about to enter Felucia and are detecting Separatist forces, though they aren't expecting us, the other Capital cruisers are-"

"I recognize this commander," interrupted Benz.

Using his hand to wipe the side of his mouth as he turned to face the commander, Benz began to speak.

"My plan is still in accordance, the final two cruisers will arrive on the opposite side of these separatists, and our ground assault can commence. Be sure to alert me if any changes occur, and that's all."

The commander gave his salute before leaving the bridge. Others operating on the ships controls noted the exchange, some giving long looks, others listening harder than working. In the docking bays, clone pilots began reaching their stations as the ship was ready to arrive above the planet as the commander had reported. Once they exited hyperspace, the Admiral's ability and strategy would be on display and the blame for failure would rest solely on him.

[Futrellia]

Planet Rhen Var
Bravo Base
Grand Army of the Republic Facility

---

The blaring alarms nearly caused Grizz to jump out of his skin. He wasn't expecting anything of this nature, not on this world. But the alarms signaled danger and he had to prepare for it. He activated his comm link and patched in Grizz Squad.

"Grizz Squad, report to the Central Armory, double time!" Grizz ordered, arriving at the armory, the steel double doors opening with a loud swish. Inside, he saw three or four troopers, adorning the black armor designs of CT-4523, Ghost, Commander of Bravo Base. He inspected the three rows of DC-15A and DC-15S Rifles, perched on the side of the holders. All at once, the rest of Grizz Squad ran in, saluting their Sergeant and reporting for duty.

"What's going on, Sergeant?" Asked Corporal Eights, second-in-command of Grizz Squad, as he grabbed a DC-15A from the rack, slapping in a battery.

"No idea, but the siren means we've got to get ready, grab a weapon." Grizz ordered, picking up a DC-15S rifle.

Grizz Squad rushed out of the Armory, heading for the closest fence line, the Eastern section. They sprinted past the buildings, dodging the other clone troopers reporting to their respective leaders.

"Sergeant, it's Cheeks. We've got heavy droid forces at the front entrance. We can't hold! Where are you-" The transmission cut off as a large explosion was seen near the main entrance. Without a second thought, Grizz redirected his squad to the front entrance, leaving the Eastern portion for another Clone squad.

When they arrived, they saw the countless bodies of his brethren, victims of the explosion he saw from over the buildings. Up ahead, there was Cheeks, thrown from the tower, his armor burnt black.

"Take positions! Keep them back!" Ordered Grizz, running forward and taking cover behind the ruins of one of the entrance towers. His troopers took up positions, trying to force back the Separatist forces, who possessed several Armored Assault Tanks, DSD1 Spider droids, three Multi-Troop Transports behind them all, deploying another three dozen B1 Battle Droids. They seriously outnumbered his squad and the other few clones that responded to the explosion.

"Focus on the droids, ignore the armor! Torch, hit 'em!" Ordered Grizz, exposing his torso and firing off a few shots, taking down two B1 battle droids, then returning to cover. Torch threw his RPS-6 rocket launcher from his back and loaded a high-explosive missile into the barrel. Torch tossed the launcher over his shoulder and exposed himself to aim at one of the Armored Assault Tanks. He fired off the rocket, resulting in a loud boom as it impacted with the front armor of the tank, tearing through the electronic systems and crew. The tank's booster modules shut down, causing the tank to smash into the ground, a smoking mess.

Grizz got on the comm link, patching into Major Ghost's frequency.

"Major, this is Sergeant Grizz! We are holding the front entrance but they've got heavy armor out here! What are your orders, sir?!" Said Grizz as he barely dodged a blaster bolt from a droid's E-5 blaster rifle.

"Sarge! We've got three more troop transports coming over the hills!" Yelled Feedback, firing off a whole clip before ducking back under cover.

"Hold this position! We will hold here until further orders!" Commanded Grizz, looking behind him as another squad rushed in to reinforce the front. Grizz's eyes returned front to see a sea of red blaster bolts. They were severely outnumbered, outgunned, and out of time. How could this have happened? Could the storm have knocked out Bravo Base's early warning systems? What happened to the patrols and how come they didn't respond back in time to warn us?

[Goverment Of The Argentinian State]

The Harbinger
CIS Command Vessel Over Sullust


TX-41 Walked on his flagship's command bridge in inspective manner. He was to hold fleet manuevers as soon as the 4 Recusant-Class destroyers the admirality had promised arrived, most likely within the next 7 planetary rotations, to join his ad hoc squadron of 6 frigates and 1 Command Ship. But he was to recive different news.

- "Sir" That was the Voice of OOM-856, the Harbinger's commanding officer. "We have a transmition from the admirality, it's enconded." Altho the tactical droid had negative reactions towards organic's descriptions and complaints about the supposed "monotone" voices shared by the Droid Army, 41 had to admit the generalization applied to B1s and their variants. Perhaps even more to OMM-856, who seemed lacking in any quality that could defferentiate it from the rest of the B1s straight out of the factory, except for the round, yellow circle that inhabited his torso.

- "Huh? This is unexpected. Put it trough as soon as you finish de-coding it." Nothing much seemed to be going as planned for the droid that day, there had been no shipment of republican goods to harras in the entire system, nor had any republic navy crusier been spoted close enough for The Fleet Commander to gather intelligence as he was supposed to. Had he been an organic, TX-41 would have called it a "bad day" but logical calculations gave him enough options to consider before that.

- "Sir, we have decoded the message." The tactical droid turned to see the new instructions, temporarly passing the calculations to second stage.

From: Confederate Admirality
To: ALL SECTORAL COMMANDERS

ATTENTION, CASE "RED" IS IN EFFECT ALL SECTORAL COMMANDERS ARE TO MOBILIZE THEIR FORCES AND HEAD TO DESIGNATED ASSEMBLY POINTS. ALL CODE IS TO BE ENCRYPTED FROM NOW ON.

FREEDOM IS VICTORY, HAIL DOOKU.

When the droid finished reading the message, the events of the day had already become clearer. "Red" stood for war, something which explained the absence of republican activity in the system.

- "Commander!" He now turned towards 856 "Have all planetary forces prepeared. I calculate republican forces in Eridau have not been capable of being adeuately reinforced. We are to head there as soon as possible."

- "Yes sir!"

The droid army and fleet in the Sullust system then spent the next day in preparation for a campaign into republic space.

After completing these preparations, the ships jumps into hyperspace with an attached invasion of force of 218,000 droids, leaving 50,000 to guard Sullust itself from any possible republic raids.

[Brusia]

Jedi General Martius Shan
The Victory
In Hyperspace

Martius was in his quarters reading through one of the countless texts on military history, strategy, and tactics he had scattered about his room when he heard a clone voice request his presence on the Bridge over the Intercomm. Taking a deep breath, he got up from his seat and stretched for a moment before walking towards the door. Before exiting the room, he stopped for a moment to touch his former Master's lightsaber which he kept on a shelf in the room and closed his eyes. That lightsaber was all he had left of his Master after her death on Geonosis, and he kept it in his room as a reminder of the importance of winning this war for the Republic so that her sacrifice would not be in vain.

After a brief moment of silence, Martius made his way out of the room and started walking towards the Bridge. As he did, he watched a number of clones move quickly moving about the ship; likely preparing for the possibility of a drill after overhearing the recent announcement. Though they had all been well-trained on Kamino, Martius' XO, ARC Commander Maverick, didn't find that training to be sufficient, and developed a rigorous regime of drills and extra training to make the 53rd "the best damned Attack Battalion in the Clone Army." In the week since Geonosis, they had begun to conduct war games on several different planets to get the troops acclimated to fighting in a variety of different environments. During the war games, half the Battalion was pitted against the other half, with Martius leading one group and Maverick leading the other.

So far, they'd conducted one war game in a densely wooded area on Alderaan, where Maverick's defending group eked out a narrow victory making excellent use of the treeline for cover, and one war game on Scarif, where Martius' attacking group secured victory after successfully enveloping the defenders in an amphibious assault. During the travel in between, the tactics employed by each Company and Squad were reviewed, and ways to improve upon those tactics in the future were discussed, and surprise drills were conducted to shorten the time required for the crew to get to battlestations as much as possible in the event of a surprise attack or orbital engagement.

The next planet on the list was one Rhen Var, where Martius would be commanding the defenders in the frozen tundra, while the Battalion's third in command would lead the attacking force, as Maverick had been temporarily recalled to Kamino to assist with training the newest batch of ARC troopers. As Martius made his way onto the Bridge, one of the clone officers quickly approached him to report: "General Shan sir, our scanners have just detected an enemy presence in orbit of Rhen Var!"

Martius raised an eyebrow in surprise at the report; Rhen Var had little in the way of valuable resources or strategic value, so he wouldn't have thought it'd make an attractive target for the Separatists this early in the war. Then again, maybe that was the point. "How large a presence?" he replied.

"We've just detected one ship so far sir; the harsh weather on the planet's surface is making it difficult to get any concrete readings at this distance." In a more quiet tone, the clone continued: "It is possible the ship is just a sensor glitch sir."

That would seem the most likely explanation, but Martius figured it was better to assume it was an enemy vessel and be wrong than to assume it was a sensor glitch and be wrong; besides, the crew was due for another drill soon anyway. "No sense taking any chances" he replied after taking a moment to think "Have all ships sound general quarters." The clone officer nodded, and made a signal to one of the Bridge crew, which soon resulted in klaxons sounding throughout the ship. "Have you been able to establish contact with the garrison on Rhen Var?" Martius then asked.

"Yes sir, we've just been able to raise Bravo Base; though our connection is spotty at best at the moment."

Martius nodded then ordered: "Patch me through to them." Once a channel was opened to the frozen base, Martius stated: "This is General Martius Shan to Bravo Base; repeat this is General Martius Shan to Bravo Base: what is your current status?"

[Sulania]

Jedi Knight Jennali Anida
Jedi Diplomat
Aboard the CSS-1 Open Dawn over the planet of Tatooine

Tatooine, a wretched hive of scum and villainy, reduced to a giant dull brown gem in from the diplomacy room of the CSS-1. The room was filled with various peoples, many of them to the Republic. Bureaucrats and security personnel, here on their mission to clear terms with the corporation Czerka Arms. Among Czerka's businessmen were men wearing outfits of yellow and black, fitting their corporate affiliation. Czerka had maintained their place of free enterprise, not siding with the Separatists, but also not actively siding with the Republic. And in the far corner, by the window overlooking the brown gem, stood the primary diplomat, Jedi Knight Jennali Anida.

Turning from her view of the brown gem below, Anida walked towards the center table and took her seat at the head. She wore her traditional Jedi robes, wearing her lightsaber underneath so not to give an aggressive impression to the Czerka representatives. She folded her hands in upon the table, and proceeded with the talks. "Thank you, gentlemen for coming on such short notice, the Republic appreciates your cooperation given these troubled times."

The man between them all, an older portly man, obviously living off the luxuries that only a nice corporate spot could buy, was the first to respond. "And we appreciate the continuing business the Republic brings. Given these indeed troubled times, it's important to have such powerful clients."

"That's the primary thing that we would like to discuss, sir. Given the nature of this new war, the Republic is very interested in ensuring not only its survival, but also the loyalty of our treasured corporations." Anida responded. "We would like to ensure that Czerka is here to aid the Republic in this crisis."

"Well of course, Czerka always honors the transaction of a loyal client."

"And only the Republic." The Jedi took a deep breath, knowing that this was going to be the big part of the problem. Czerka would have no problem supplying the Republic, as long as the Republic maintained a contract, but the problem was that Czerka would still maintain their contracts, including any with the CIS aligned enemies of the Republic.

This contention took hold of the old Czerka representative as well, as he also took a moment to take a breath and looked at his fellow reps. "Well, as you are aware, the problem with that is that we have contracts with a lot of different people. Some of them today are now considered enemies of the Republic."

"And we're well aware of that, but given how dire this is, the Republic is well prepared to make it worth your while."

"While that may be true, you must understand that we do not want to betray our current contracts with other parties. That is something we just cannot do."

"They have betrayed the Republic, so they are traitors, and we cannot have one of our corporate partners supplying our enemies. Surely you can see the benefit of having the Republic as a long-time ally in this, especially once the war is over."

"When the war is over, and the Republic loses, and now we lost half of our business. What you're offering is simply not something we would be interested in."

"And when the Republic wins the war, you will lose half when they are prosecuted as the traitors they are." She said, her composure beginning to break up.

"I think we'll take our chances, and keep our trade open." The man said, getting up from his chair. "We'll gladly continue our contract with the Republic, but we will not have them monopolize us to only doing business with them."

"I see..." She said, her hands beginning to tense in anger, before unfolding them and getting up from her own seat. "At least we touched base then, we still look forward to cooperating with you in the future." She said, shaking hands with the man, giving a smile so fake she bet the man could feel her anger leaking out.

"Tell the pilot to bring us to a landing on the planet below, so our friends may depart." She said to a security guard.

"Yes ma'am." He replied curtly before departing.

And so the ship took to landing on the planet below, at Mos Eisley Spaceport, her mission a failure.

[The Anarcho-Syndicalist Commune]

Sinya'Dia, Mos Eisley, Tatooine

The following morning, after the twin sun rise Sinya always enjoyed watching while she was here, Sinya had checked out of her rental apartnment and had returned to the Cantina. True to his word, Yudda was there with the box. Sinya sat down across the table from him. The Rodian spoke first saying "It was a tough job, but I got it open."

Sinya said "Well, open it up then, you're not getting paid until I see it open."

The Rodian placed a tool to the top of the box, pressed a button on it's handle, and sat back as it made several whirring and cranking sounds, before popping off the lid that had seemingly materialized on top of the box. Reaching inside, Sinya pulled out a strange red pyramid looking object. It may have been because she was tired, but something felt extremely... off about it. She was about to stand up, but the Rodian pulled a blaster on her. Several other creatures from around the bar surrounded the table.

The Rodian chuckled saying "I should have asked for more credits up start Eliasa, or should I call you Sinya Dia, Knight of the Jedi Order."

Sinya looked at the Rodian and asked "Why? We've been working together for years, and I've never failed to pay you."

The Rodian said "That would be no issue if it weren't for one tiny detail. The CIS has put up a bounty for both you, and that little pyramid."

Sinya said "How much. I can guarantee twice as much if you let me go!"

The Rodian laughed and said "Double."

Sinya raised her facial muscle where her eyebrows would be if she had any, asking "Double what?"

Yudda said "Every transaction we have ever had... and then some."

Sinya's hand went to one of her lightsabers, while she kept her grip firm on the strange object from the box. She told the men "This is your last chance to end this peacefully."

The Rodian said "Or what, you'll hurt us? You're nothing more than a glorified nun."

Feeling the raw emotion of rage build up inside her, Sinya unsheathed her lightsaber and sliced through the table and Yudda before the Rodian even knew what was happening. Jumping through the air behind the creatures surrounding her, She landed behind them, cutting down two more, while using the force to slam one of them onto the ground several times. She then used his corpse to block a few blaster shots from the two remaining bounty hunters before rushing forward and stabbing one. Finally, she force pulled the last one onto the blade of her lightsaber.

Then the horror of what she did hit her. She hadn't meant to kill them... well She did but... she didn't know. Falling to her knees, she became aware of all the eyes now on her. She picked herself up and ran. She didn't stop until she reached her ship. Taking off as quickly as possible, she set herself to warp to her next lead, Ryloth, and sat down to meditate and calm herself. Setting the strange object from the box down, she closed her eyes and tried to shake the dark presence from her mind. However, it only seemed stronger.

[Dentali]

GALACTIC NEWS HEADLINES

The Occupation of Karthakk ends after 10 years. With the help of the Galactic Republic the Lok Revenants drive out the occupying Trade Federation Forces.

Battle of Atraken begins. The 44th Division of the Galactic Republic Clone Troopers has landed on the planet in order to take control of the Doonium mining operations under CIS control. Doonium is a heavy metal used in the construction of starship hulls. Reports of the CIS using biochemical weapons have yet to be confirmed but it is clear the CIS is heavily entrenched and that many civilians have been caught in the crossfire

The Battle of Kaer Orbital Platform. Sev'rance Tann, the most trusted general of Count Dooku, launched a large scale raid on the Bae Orbital Platform which had been seized from the InterGalactic Banking Clan. The valuable resources taken from the platform there are expected to go a long way towards rebuilding the CIS forces lost at Geonosis and strengthen the CIS position in the southern reaches of the Outer Rim.

[Wysten]

Rhen Var

A red blaster round whizzed over head sitting behind a crate he looked over and fired a burst at a B1 its small frame quickly fell. He turned and fired another burst at another its head being blown clean off. It was in vain another 10 came through the small one a super battle droid had blown open. His company has been holding the east wall for awhile now but not for long half of it was filled with wounded most were in the med-bay. Taking cover he heard a call from Grizz "Hang on son I am sending a platoon to you now." Waving towards a new platoon that has been with him for a good portion of the battle he waved to the north. Another took its place sending a wave of blue lasers over towards the mass of B1 battle droids pouring into the the middle courtyard. "I need a grenade over here!" he waved towards the mass of droids. One of the white clad clone pulled out a small ball and pressed the red button making a slight buzzing sound threw it. It landed in the middle of the group blowing up and sending arms and legs flying. Taking cover one of his radio men ran up to him. "Sir we are getting a call from a ship I'm sending you the up link now." soon he heard a call from the radio."This is General Martius Shan to Bravo Base; repeat this is General Martius Shan to Bravo Base: what is your current status?" "This is Major Ghost we are being overrun by CIS forces we need immediate EVAC I will popping red smoke on the LZ." Pulling back he ran towards the center pulling out a red smoke grenade and threw it. A long red cloud flew up into the air pulling back he kept fighting with his platoon.

[Brusia]

Jedi General Martius Shan
Bridge of the Victory
En Route to Rhen Var

Concerned looks could be seen among many of the Victory's Bridge crew when the response came in from Bravo Base stating that they were being overrun. After Ghost had finished his message, Martius replied: "Acknowledged Major, we'll send gunships your way for an extraction as soon as we've arrived in the system. Shan out." As he ended contact with the base, he heard one of the clones exclaim:

"Sir! We've just picked up another Separatist signature in the system! And another, and...uh General, you might want to take a look at this."

Martius approached the clone's console, and saw the new data coming in showing three large Separatist ship signatures in the system. As far as Martius knew, there was only one class of Separatist vessels that could produce a signature that large: "Lucrehulks?" he asked the clone bridge officer.

"Looks that way to me General."

Martius rubbed his eyes as much in disbelief as in frustration; it hardly made sense for even a single enemy vessel to bother attacking this planet, let alone three Lucrehulk-class battleships. Something definitely seemed off here, but before he could ponder on it further, the officer informed him: "Sir, I'm also detecting two friendly transponder frequencies. They appear to belong to Generals Kenobi and Skywalker." Somehow that didn't particularly surprise him. He didn't know Kenobi or Skywalker very well himself, but he did now they had a knack for getting themselves right in the middle of this sort of trouble; Geonosis had certainly been evidence of that fact.

Turning towards the communications officer, Martius asked: "Can you patch me through to them?"

"So long as the Separatists haven't been able to block communications into the system yet, it shouldn't be a problem..." After pressing a few buttons on his console, the comm officer replied: "There, you're patched in now sir."

"This is Martius Shan to Master Kenobi, do you read me?"

"I read you Martius" the Jedi Master replied "I must compliment you on your impeccable timing; I was just about to call for a ship to evacuate our forces on the planet."

"Yes, I just spoke with a Major Ghost about the situation at Bravo Base, Master. He informed me he'll be establishing a new LZ and marking it's location with red smoke."

"Very good" Obi-Wan stated "Once you've arrived in the system we'll escort the gunships to the landing zone; you should remain on the Victory to coordinate the evacuation."

Anakin then interrupted to inform him: "Oh, and by the way, there are currently three Separatist battleships in the system, so you might want to watch out for that."

"I'm sure he's already aware of that fact Anakin" Obi-Wan replied.

"Just sayin..."

"Understood" Martius then interjected "We'll be careful, and I hope you two will be as well. May the Force be with you." Looking back at the console marking the enemy positions, Martius located the sector nearest to the planet which was also farthest away from the Separatist fleet and asked: "Are you detecting any debris or anything here that would prevent us from entering orbit at this location?"

"No sir" the officer replied "The Separatists haven't been in the system long enough to establish a planetary blockade yet, so there are still gaps in their perimeter, if that's what you were thinking."

"That is precisely what I was thinking Lieutenant" Martius replied with a grin, before tapping on the console to forward the position the helm, ordering: "Helmsman, plot a course for these coordinates and bring us out of hyperspace as close as feasibly possible."

"Yes sir!" the helmsman replied before rapidly pressing a series of buttons on his console.

After quickly looking up the size of the clone garrison at Bravo Base, Martius approached an intercomm link and pressed a button to contact the Victory's port Bridge, which served as the starfighter command center. After patching himself through to the senior flight officer, Martius asked: "Are our pilots ready to go?"

"Yes sir" the clone officer replied "All clones pilots were aboard their vessels four minutes and twelve seconds after general quarters was sounded."

"Thirty-four seconds faster than our last drill, very good" Martius replied "Now, I need fifteen gunships, two fighter squadrons, and one bomber squadron ready to launch the moment we've arrived in the Rhen Var system."

"Understood General" the senior flight officer replied "I'll see that it gets done."

The next few minutes passed in near utter silence on the Bridge as the final preparations for the evacuation were made. The clones knew that with each passing moment more and more of their brothers were being killed by the enemy, and even without using the Force, it was obvious to Martius that they were eager to get to the system as soon possible. Fortunately, they would soon be obliged, and after a few more minutes which seemed like hours passed, the Victory suddenly dropped out of hyperspace, and Rhen Var almost appeared to be rushing towards them through the viewscreen as the helmsman brought them to sublight speeds only a few kilometers out of the planet's orbit. At that distance, it required only a few seconds to enter the planet's orbit at which point Martius ordered: "Open the hanger doors and launch the squadrons."

The clones gladly obliged, and as the large hanger doors which ran along the dorsal surface of the ship moved open, a few dozen fighters, bombers, and gunships rapidly exited and made their way towards the planet's surface. As they did, Martius contacted Obi-Wan to inform him: "Master Kenobi, our ships have launched and are approaching Bravo Base now."

"We see them" Obi-Wan replied "We'll rendezvous with them shortly."

As the Jedi made their way towards the gunships, Martius contacted Bravo Base again and informed them: "General Shan to Major Ghost, our gunships are headed you way now, and I've deployed a bomber squadron to cover your retreat; once they've made their bombing run, I highly recommend pulling all your men back to the LZ." With that said, there was now nothing more the General could do but watch and hope the plan worked well enough for the clones to get to safety...

[Esselman]

Admiral Jorran Benz
The Remembrance
Above Felucia


Destroying the surprised CIS forces would become easy, but the ground assault was for a later cause that only a Jedi general led mission would complete. As they approached the planet out of hyperspace they encountered the blockade of the CIS Navy.

"Make contact with their capital ships, send in everything we've got. Remember, we are making time. That's it!" commanded the admiral as he pointed out of the vieiwing window.

Their capital ship unleashed fire on the CIS capital ship immediately as vulture droids swarmed the space around them. The blockade itself was mostly made up of frigates and medium sized capital ships that were clearly unprepared for the assault. Confident in his plan and willing to fail, Admiral Benz began a countdown until the rest of his Republic forces arrived from Hyperspace. Just as the CIS forces would begin to corner his ship, his remaining forces could decimate them.

"Perfect timing again! Focus fire on those landing crafts, the less droids they have down there the better." he instructed over comms to the ARC-170 starfighters that were quickly launching from the capital ship.

As the battle progressed, it would become increasingly clear to the Separatists forces that this rouge ship was up to more than a one off assault.

"Focus damnit, stick to my plan and this will all go fine." he instructed the bridge operators who were frantic in securing the backup they would need.

"Sir, we've got forces on Rhen Var who need help as well," instructed the clone commander who had spoken to him before.

"Then we'll help them after my victory!" he said with a smile, returning to the view of the battle before him.

[Sulania]

Jedi Knight Jennali Anida
Jedi Diplomat
Mos Eisley, Tatooine

Jennali waded through the streets of Tatooine, silently going over the talks with the Czerka representatives as well as the war at large. The Republic needed to secure as many allies as was possible, especially among the economic sector. With the Clone Army, perhaps the Republic could crush the Separatist threat, though it's very unlikely to be a quick end. Though Czerka chose not to cooperate, it is unlikely that other companies will be so bold as they.

She brushed through the crowd, her robes causing no short amount of sweat at her brow. She saw people from many walks of life, some honest working people, many were heartless criminals. It was as one master once told her, Tatooine was a hive of scum and villainy, and that one took a padawan from this very planet. She couldn't pull the name, it was eluding her at the very moment. Since the war began, she has tried to do her part, though she is scared that perhaps she's needed on the front lines. Being a diplomat obviously doesn't give her that ability, but it'd be something she feels she'd need to do. Part of her wanted to do it, but she was needed elsewhere.

The Jedi decided to take a respite from her wandering to enter a cantina, for both a drink and a break from the sun. She wandered into what could be described as a humble little watering hole to see a grizzly scene indeed being cleaned up.

Sinya'Dia, Mos Eisley, Tatooine

The cantina owners and inhabitants had already begun to clean it up, and she didn't think much of it, so Jen merely thought of it as the result of some bar fight or brawl gone extremely awry. She took a seat at the bar and the bartender approached her, a woman of her own age who looked as though she had seen much worse in her time. "Welcome to chalmun's Cantina, want something hard to wash away what you just saw?"

The Jedi looked to the site behind her, as the various people moved the covered up bodies and began to clean up the mess. She turned back towards the bartender, laying out a few credits for her. "Some corellian lum please." she requested.

"Sure thing." The lady said, getting a glass. She looked tired, as though she just awoke from a long night though it was the day. Perhaps it was the slaughter, or perhaps something else. She poured the lum into the glass and pushed it towards Jen.

"You look like you had a rough morning, what happened?" the Jedi asked, taking a swig of her drink.

"I typically work the night shifts, but the bartender today got a little frightened by what he saw."

"I can imagine, looks like it was one hell of a fight. Blasters a blaze and fists does that to people, in the hands of the untrained and criminal element."

"No blaster did that, man said it was a laser sword. A sword of light or something, something them Jedi use." She said, sighing her and shaking her head. "Don't know what the galaxies coming to where we can't trust the Jedi anymore, first that Dooku, now news of some platform taken by another Jedi, and here they are slaughtering patrons in the cantina."

Jennali's eyes widened as she heard the news of this. A Jedi cutting people down in a cantina?! Of all things she expected to find on this backwater, it wasn't this. And she had to find out more. "Who was the assailant, what did he look like?"

"My bud said that it was one of them Twi'leks, a red one, she and some Rodian fighting over something and it just went bad. Said she cut them all down, slammed one in to the wall without even touching him."

"A Twi'lek female Jedi... Well then..." Jen took a final swig of lum, before getting up from her seat. "Thank you miss...?"

"Ackmena."

"Thank you Ackmena, I'll see to it this one is brought to some justice, if it means anything." Jen said, vacating herself from the now refilling cantina, which had now recovered. She rushed back to the spaceport to get a full report from the port authorities, if she can get some information from the authorities about a red twi'lek, she can work on nailing down potential suspects. If none have gone through the port, then she can at least nail it down to Tatooine for her investigation.

Before she could continue though, she sent a quick transmition to go out to all Jedi to inform them of the situation. "This is a transmition from Jedi Knight Jennali Anida, I have found evidence of a fallen Jedi here on Tatooine. So far, I do not know of this Jedi's connection to the CIS or Count Dooku, but they are to be considered dangerous. So far, it is a Red Twi'lek female, and she is either on Tatooine or has fled the planet recently. I will be working with the resources I have right now in order to catch this assailant as soon as I can. Anida, out."

With that, she went over the travel manifest of the spaceport.

[The Anarcho-Syndicalist Commune]

Sinya'dia, Ryloth

As she exited Hyperspace, Sinya was greeted with a sight even she missed. The tidally locked of Ryloth was in front of her. Though she had little to no memories of her time on her own homeworld, she still took joy in visiting it from time to time. Some great spires marked the spots of underground Twi'Lek cities. However, Sinya was not looking to land in one of those. Guiding her ship towards the ground, she felt more at peace than before, though she could not shake the dark presence from her mind. The sooner she finished this accursed mission, the better. Activating her ships comms canner, she quickly detected Droid Activity near the equator of the planet, in the lush Equatorial Forests. She found a suitable spot nearby to land several minutes later, and deboarded her spacecraft.

The strange forests of the eternal twilight were laid out in front of her. She would be close to the Nightlands once she got to where the droids were based. Drawing her lightsaber for light, she checked the back of her belt to make sure the pouch where she was keeping the strange pyramid in was still on her belt. She heard some nearby bushes rustle. She went into a combative stance before screaming and charging into the bush. A few quick strikes at the monster of the forests revealed it to simply be a Gutkurr, a lower end predator on Ryloth, yet a threat none the less. Sinya was angered that the beast had to have gotten in the way. Using the force, she picked up the corpse of the monster and prepared to throw it, before remembering why she was here. She snapped out of her trance, and gently set the body down. Whatever this pyramid was, she longed to be rid of it... and quick.

Further progress through the forest revealed the CIS base. Several Battle Droids were set outside an ancient stone structure, guraded by ancient stone statues of a Twi'lek, and species Sinya did not recognize, though she remembered seeing some performer on Coruscant who looked vaguely similar to the figure. She began her usual tactics for a small camp, luring each droid away, before taking them out individually. However, she found herself growing bored after the first three and instead charged into the remaining droids. Fighting like a tornado of light, she cut through the battle droids like a hot knife through cheese. She took a moment when the blaster fire stopped to revel in her work. She shook her head. She realized through the dark haze on her mind that the pyramid might have something to do with her current plight. To her shock, she didn't really care.

Walking forward to the ruined structure, she discovered that it was not just some ruin, but in fact appeared to be some kind of vault door. A small triangular hole was set in the middle of it. Sinya took out the pyramid and placed it in the hole. The vault door began to open slowly. Sinya removed the pyramid and pocketed it again. She then held her lightsaber infront of her, and entered the structure.

[Brusia]

Evacuation of Rhen Var
Joint post with Wysten

As the group of aircraft made their way down through the planet’s atmosphere, one squadron of fighters diverged along with the squadron of bombers towards the Separatist position, while Obi-Wan, Anakin, and the remaining fighter squadron covered the gunships as they made their way towards Bravo Base. The gunships arrived at their target first, and began to touch down on the ground near the red smoke as soon as it came into view.

Shortly after, the lead bomber pilot informed the Republic troops in the vicinity that they were about to begin their bombing run. Less than a minute later, the ground at the front of the Separatist position was consumed in flames as proton bombs dropped directly on top of the vanguard of the droid forces.

Running back he waved his platoon on. “Get the wounded on board first then we will get the rest.” the LT nodded and helped get injured clones near the LZ. He went on the company comm and called over to the one he was leading. “Alright we are going to evacuate the wounded move slowly back to the LZ.” he heard an affirmative over the radio and he cut out. The fighters did a good job but not good enough; another force was coming through the wall. He picked up his rifle and fired a burst taking down a B1 droid. Turning around he saw the first transport land. Pulling the door open he helped load the wounded in. Waving the gunship off it pulled off into the stars. Looking at the captain he told him. “We need to hold here until we get the rest of the company off try to get any cover you can.” the captain nodded and quickly the company now 26 men strong set along boxes and speeders.

Once their payload had been expended, the bombers started making their way back to the Victory, alongside the first of the gunships to be loaded up with evacuees. As they did, the fighter escorts began making strafing runs against the droid forces nearest the base to help provide the remaining defenders with additional cover. Meanwhile, Martius and the Bridge crew were busy coordinating to minimize the time required to get the deployed squadrons back into their hangar bays. As the bombers were returning to their docking berths, one of the bridge officers stated: “General, the enemy battleships have begun approaching our position!”

That was not unexpected; while dropping out of lightspeed close to the planet helped buy them some time, it was inevitable that they’d be detected eventually. “Time to intercept?” Martius asked.

“Approximately 14 minutes sir.” Fortunately, for all its strengths, the Lucrehulk was not a particularly fast class of vessel.

Martius again contacted the forces on Rhen Var to inform them: “This is General Shan to Bravo Base, the enemy fleet will enter firing range in 14 minutes; we won’t be able to hold out long against that kind of firepower, so do whatever you have to to get back to the Victory before then.”

Meanwhile on the ground the droids were closing in. They were easily pushed back but ammo was running low. “This is Ghost, if you can make two more runs that will be great; I will not leave my men behind.”

“Acknowledged Major” one of the fighter pilots replied “Beginning another strafing run now.” A few moments later, the fighter squadrons formed up and blasted into the droid forces with everything they had; buying the clone troopers enough time to get to the LZ. After finishing their second run, the lead pilot informed them: “That’s all we’ve got time for Bravo Base. Zeta Squadron is returning to the Victory; Echo Squadron will stick around to escort the gunships, but you’ll need to leave now if we’re all going to make it back to the ship in time!”

The clone Major stood looking out over the LZ; the northern Company was on board as well as the southern one. Looking at his men who had held the line for the past hours, he walked up to the LT the officer turned around. “Sir you should get on board that air strike will not hold them off for long.” Ghost nodded and got on the last ship, he felt the LAAT take off seeing the planet for the last time. He felt like it was Geonosis again his men lying dead not a single one of his men made it out he felt like he lost all of his men again.

As the gunships made their way into orbit, a bridge officer informed Martius: “90 seconds until we’re in firing range General!”

“Get the hyperdrive ready, but don’t jump to lightspeed yet; give them every second we possibly can.”

“Yes sir!” the officer replied. Knowing time was running low, the gunship pilots quickly darted towards the Victory and back into their docking berths. The fighters followed close behind, and as the last one flew into the hanger, the large doors started to close before they could even get to their berths. “The last of our people are now aboard General!”

“Helmsman, make the jump to lightspeed!” The pilot at the helm gladly obliged, and the Victory quickly rotated away from the planet and made the jump to hyperspace. Kenobi and Skywalker docked with their hyperspace rings and made the jump simultaneously. With a heavy sigh, the bridge officer informed Martius: “We were 7 seconds away from firing range General, our boys certainly know how to cut it close!”

Some of the others on the Bridge let out a relieved laugh, and even Martius couldn’t help but chuckle a little. “That they do, Lieutenant” the General replied “That they do. Have we confirmed they all made it aboard safely?”

“Confirmed, sir. All our fighters, gunships, and the survivors from Rhen Var made it safely aboard. Generals Kenobi and Skywalker were able to safely depart the system as well.”

“Excellent, send my regards to Master Kenobi and his former Padawan for their assistance. Better prepare a comm link to Coruscant as well; the Council will undoubtedly want to hear about these events...”

[Futrellia]

CT-4787 "Grizz"
Clone Sergeant
Grizz Squad
Main Entrance

---

By the time reinforcements arrived to evacuate the base, Grizz Squad and a few other squads had been holding the front gate for what felt like eternity. No matter how many battle droids they took down, no matter how many Hover Tanks they destroyed, they always had more, coming right out from the horizon. They droids fell easily, a single shot to anywhere disarmed them, rendering them useless. The B2s required more bolts, but still fell. During this engagement, Corporal Eights was severely injured, suffering shrapnel to his chest and face from a detonator. Both Hesh and Stax tried to keep him as still as possible, applying first aid to the best of their abilities, but with Cheeks, the Combat Medic dead, he faced little hope of surviving his injuries. The rest of the squads took a heavy beating as well, as ten troopers fell from the gunfire and explosions. They couldn't keep them back any longer. With the droid forces twenty feet away, Grizz gave the retreat order to his squad.

"Squad, fall back! Fall back!" At that same time, he received a transmission informing them of a bombing run, once that would so desperately save Grizz Squad. The flames grew high in the icy winds, scattering mounds of dirt and snow in all directions as the Republic's BTL Y-Wing Fighter-Bombers whizzed overhead, releasing their payloads across the entire Separatist frontlines, demolishing them and leaving almost nothing behind besides charred remains of Hover tanks. The Clone defenders cheered them on as they flew past. Even Grizz was ecstatic to see them, watching as the immense droid forces were swept away, hundreds of them reduced to ash. But the cheers were shortlived as another wave slowly crept up over the hills, complete with hundreds of B1 and B2 Battle Droids. Grizz could hear the communications traffic between Major Ghost and Evac elements. They would get the wounded out first, then move to get everyone else out. Then he remembered....Eights.

"Hesh, Stax, get Eights to the Evac then defend the transports until we arrive or it's time to go!" Ordered Grizz to his troopers. They gave him a confused salute and picked up the incapacitated Eights and dragged him to the central platforms, where the Evacuation was taking place.

"Back to the entrance! We have to hold until the wounded are out! Let's do this, Clones!" Grizz yelled out as he ran back towards the gates, taking his position next to the burned out watchtower. His other five troopers held with him, letting loose with their blasters onto the incoming horde of Separatist droids. Six others from a different squad came to assist, taking position next to Grizz and opening fire as well.

"I'm out! Anybody a clip!?" Yelled out Feedback, his DC-15 blaster completely out of ammunition.

"I got you! Last clip!" Yelled one of the clones from the other squad.

"Trooper down!" yelled out another as his comrade fell.

Without missing a beat, the Y-Wings that had earlier established themselves as heroes, came barreling down on the Droid forces once more, filling the sky with blue boltfire and missiles. Huge chunks of dirt were thrown to the sky, creating a shower of mud and ice in the surrounding areas.

"All forces evacuate! I Say again, all Clone forces evacuate! This is your last chance! Thirty seconds till departure!" One of his clone brethren said over the Commlink

"Everyone out! Get to the transports, now!" Yelled Grizz to the clones in the area. He didn't have to tell them twice as they all sprinted to the central, except for Grizz. Sergeant Grizz walked to the center of the entrance and picked up the body of CT-3232 "Cheeks". He grabbed him by the shoulders and began to drag him towards the central area. The red glow of blaster bolts flying past his head as remnants of the droid forces still remained, pushing forward.

Torch came from behind Grizz and snagged his arm.

"Sir, we have to go!"

"I won't leave him behind! He has to be buried!" Argued Grizz, still trying to drag Cheeks' lifeless body.

"Sir, he's gone. He'd rather you get out while you can instead of trying to bury him! Come on!" With a forceful tug, Torch forced Grizz to release Cheeks, stumbling a few times before properly running to the last transport. Grizz and Torch barely made it on before the last LAAT began to rise up, giving them a good look at the smoldering ruins of Bravo Base. In a matter of an hour, they turned to the base into a smoking husk, watching as a few dozen droids entered in through the front gates, walking over Cheeks, pushing his body deep into the mushy, cold mud.

Grizz turned to see the LAAT's troop section filled to the brim with clones, including Major Ghost, who was staring towards the ground in what appeared to be shame and sadness.

Aboard the Victory

After the troops landed inside, Grizz Squad was looked over by the ship's medical personnel, checking for any cuts, bruises, or other minor wounds, while the most severely wounded were being treated by the Victory's surgeons. With the loss of Cheeks, the squad wouldn't be the same. They grew up together, bonded closely with one another, the squad was family, and now there was a death in it. Eights was taken in immediately and had since stabilized, allowing his body to sleep and restore it's strength. It would be a while before Eights could be back in action, but Grizz was willing to wait.

[Trytaria]

JEHRR ROOSH

BOUNTY HUNTER, LEADER OF ROOSH CLAN

---

Aboard the Wasp, Hornet-class Interceptor prototype

"Roosh, the other clans have not complied with the Confederacy's requests to cease hostilities in order to unite Rodia. Your rule will have to be prolonged." A holomessage was displayed on the center control panel of the Wasp. Jehrr shut off the message and powered on the hyperdrive. He set out to Rodia, where he and his few surviving supporters were battling the other Rodian clans. After setting course to Rodia, he turned on his holocomm and called the CIS droid who delivered the message. "This is C4208, communications droid, answering the call."

"See-Four," Jehrr said, as he spoke in Basic, "tell the Confederacy that I have hired a shuttle full of Rodian warriors to try and retake the Roosh Clan territory of Betu. I expect many casualties. Notify the Viceroy or Dooku, as soon as possible. Roosh, out."

Betu City, Betu, Rodia

As the Wasp landed, so did the Roosh Clan shuttle. Jehrr ignited his custom vibroblade and took out a GL-77, while also strapping his cycler rifle on his back. The Rodians marched out as Jehrr contacted the droid once more. "See-Four, I forgot to tell you: I request battle droid assistance while taking back Betu City from Morvoh Clan. Get to your superiors, soon. Roosh, out." The Rodians readied their blasters as they prepared to sneak into the former Roosh Clan capital. Roosh turned to the Rodians and called out to them in Rodese. "Brothers! For too long the Roosh Clan has not graced this city and continent with our kindness and mercy! But, the time for kindness is over. Today, we fight as rebels, but tomorrow..! Tomorrow, we fight as Grand Protectors of Rodia!" The Rodians let out a ferocious cry as they punched the air and clapped.

[Brusia]

Jedi General Martius Shan
The Victory
In Hyperspace

After giving his report to the Council, Martius was informed that the survivors from Rhen Var were to be reassigned to the 53rd. The Council had also expressed concern over the sudden Separatist interest in the seemingly unimportant Rhen Var System, but with the Republic's forces already spread thin, there was little they could do about it at the moment. For now, the 53rd was assigned to patrol Republic territory in the Outer Rim to keep an eye out for any more Separatist attacks and respond to any calls for aid. Fortunately that would at least give them time to help drill the new additions to the Attack Battalion...

Martius rubbed his eyes as he remembered he would now need to address the Rhen Var survivors to inform them of their reassignment. He didn't care for giving speeches on a good day, but what could he say to a group that had just lost nearly half their unit in battle and had the base they were tasked with guarding destroyed by the enemy? As he pondered that question, he gave the order for the able-bodied Rhen Var survivors to assemble on the flight deck, which the Victory's communication officer then relayed throughout the ship.

Once the men had assembled, Martius made his way down to the flight deck; trying to think of some good words to comfort the men, but coming up with nothing; he knew well the loss they were currently experiencing in the wake of his Master's death, and he knew that none of the consoling speeches even by the wisest of the Jedi had done anything to rid him of that loss. As he approached the assembled men on the flight deck, he heard one of the clones call out "A-ten-hut!" and watched as the group simultaneously stood up perfectly straight at the position of attention.

"At ease" he ordered as stood at the front and center of the assembled soldiers. "I have made my report on the attack on Rhen Var to the Jedi Council, and have been told that there won't be any attempt made to reclaim the planet in the foreseeable future. As such, they have decided to reassign you, and since you were already here, you've been reassigned as a new Company in our 53rd Attack Battalion. Major Ghost is to be your Company commander and the Battalion's second-officer, under only myself and Commander Maverick. If there are any problems merging into the Battalion, let one of us know and we'll address it."

After taking a moment to pause, he then continued: "Now, I know that you lost alot of good men at Bravo Base, and I am sorry for your loss; we lost alot of good people on Geonosis as well, but there won't be time to grieve for them. Rather, we must strive to become the best fighters we can be to bring the Separatists to justice and preserve our great Republic in order to honor the memory and sacrifices of our comrades. Remember this and remember the fallen as we train and fight to win this war so that they won't have died in vain. That will be all." With that, he turned and started making his way off of the flight deck, leaving Major Ghost to address his Company if he wished to, or officially dismiss them.

[Backatri]

The ship touched down on Dantooine, and the smuggler disembarked and promptly disposed of his dossier. He was to destroy some vital droid factory of something. He didn't know how. He had a cheap laser and some thermal detonators, courtesy of those clone troopers.

Dantooine was a picture of occupation. The streets were empty, save for a few looters. From where he was, the smuggler could see the spaceport. It was the only thing that looked alive. The droid factory was nearby, and so ships only left. None were flying in. The smuggler got closer. And closer. Eventually, as he neared the spaceport, signs of life arose. A few platoons of droids patrolled, causing the smuggler to hide. A few bars were open. One of them, named the Shadow Canteen, was nearly empty. The smuggler entered.

A few patrons sat at the bar. A bartender was halfheartedly cleaning a glass. The smuggler sat down to think over his plan.

He didn't have enough firepower to shoot his way in or out. Even if he managed to wipe out security, they'd just make more. And more. He looked at his thermal detonators. Even if he threw them into the most crucial parts of the factory, they'd only stop production for a few days. He'd have to find a bigger bomb. Plant it, then try to shoot his way out. It was ambitious, and would probably get him killed. But the Republic was offering a pretty high price for this, plus he could use the pardon. He left the bar and began to case the droid factory. That's when he found his bigger bomb. There was a hoversled, full of rhydonium, ready to fill up the smaller ships that were leaving. The smuggler didn't know what rhydonium was, but the label that said "VOLATILE-FLAMMABLE-EXPLOSIVE" gave him an idea of the effect it would have. He stole the transport, which was surprisingly easy. What wasn't easy was driving it to the droid factory. He had to pass through a security checkpoint, and he knew he would have to run and gun from there.

He got the checkpoint. A security droid asked him for his papers. He shot the droid. He gunned the engine and drove in through a large hangar door. AS he passed, he was caught in a moment of wonder as he looked at the expansive factory before him. Vast, undescribable landscapes of molten metal and churning machinery. He was brought back to reality when a fresh batch of droids began shooting at him. He ducked as a volly of lasers passed over him. He finally parked next to something that looked important. He left a thermal detonator behind as he ran deeper into the factory to avoid the growing crowd of security droids.

What the smuggler didn't understand was how volatile rhydonium was. The explosion ripped through the droids, the now closed hangar doors, the security checkpoint, and the building across the street from the factory. The smuggler, who was busy running, didn't detect the fireball until it was to late. The force of the explosion propelled him across the factory floor, giving him a bird's eye view of the destruction before slamming him against the wall. He was hurt. Badly. The smuggler was no expert, but he could tell that all of his ribs were broken, at least one leg, and... his arm was gone? The smuggler didn't have much time to think before passing out.

When he did wake up, he was in a tavern. A different tavern. He was in a basement, surrounded by other, more grizzled people. He had a new arm. That was nice. He had a new face. That wasn't nice.

"You were almost killed by your explosion.", said a doctorly fellow.

"What's on my face?", asked the smuggler.

"When you were caught in the explosion, you were badly, badly burned. It was lucky that we got to you before the droids did, and even luckier that we were able to save you. You're a lot different now."

The smuggler stood up. He looked at a nearby mirror. He was wearing robes, and had a mask that looked like pure death on it.

"Its for the terror factor" someone chimed in.

"You see, we, also work for the republic, and we got the information about you and your, er, raid. We're gonna get you back to health, and then you're gonna go terrorize every CIS in the galaxy with that new look of yours!"

The smuggler look at all he had lost, in one simple mission. His arm, a leg, too, it looked like, and any sort of beauty he once carried. He shed a tear. He had survived, but his spirit had not.