Star Wars the Clone Wars; Tides of War [IC/OPEN]

[Unified Imperial States]

OOM-375 Labored away at the command console, relaying design specs to the internal systems for the recent modifications. "Sir, the captain has come aboard from the station. Systems are optimal for launch," stated a nearby pilot droid. "Prepare engine systems for ignition", 375 replied. There was a droning hum as the engine systems began their ignition sequence. The doors to the bridge opened, and Captain Thorn walked into the spacious command room. "Commander on deck", shouted one of the organic deck officers, a Neimoidian. "Carry on", commanded the young captain. He strode over to the command pulpit. "Have systems been prepared as per my instructions, 357?" he asked his command droid. OOM-375 had been with him since he started off as a Lieutenant. "Yes sir. Engines are prepared for ignition, and experimental stealth systems are operational. We are prepared to undock with the station." The droid lifelessly stared on as it's captain gave him a look of approval. "That's the work I expect, 375," Thorn nodded as he went to sit on his chair at the back of the command pulpit. "Well then, let's get this scouting mission started. Launch."

The Exilis disengaged it's docking clamps from the Confederate Naval station over Hypori, activating it's engines. Engaged, it was prepared to jump to hyperspace.

"Calculate hyperspace jump. Engage advanced sensors." The droids on the bridge followed their captain's orders, bringing the ship's detection system to life and preparing the ship for interplanetary travel. 347 monitored as the plotter made it's way around thousands of stars and other celestial bodies, the path finally becoming stable enough for the hyperdrive to be engaged. "Engage hyperdrive", OOM-347 ordered.

The Exilis jumped, it's path extending beyond the outer rim, to it's intended coordinates. The Kamino cloning facilities.

[Newne Carriebean7]

Black Fleet Battlegroup
Gears of War
OOM-776 'Piratei' saw the blue and white lines disappear and the planet of salucecami emerge.
" this system's allied, right?"
" yes admiral. and look!"
he was shocked as he saw a munificent frigate's bottom move up slowly as he ordered the ship to take evasive action.
" try not to crash into these Sunday drivers!"
the providence class lurched downward in an attempt to avoid the frigate, it looked clear, but the rear bridge would be caught.
" get everyone off the bridge, now!"
he rushed down into the elevator and a couple minutes later, heard a massive riiiip.
" what's that?!"
" that's just the two ships colliding, sir."
" inform all remaining officers to head to the forward bridge, I'll meet with them there."
" roger roger."
Piratei walked down the steep hallway, reminding him.
" and can someone right the ship?!"
the hallway soon emerged not as a slide but as a long corridor, the way it's supposed to be.
he entered the bridge.
" what are you all staring at? put out an offer of piracy."
" roger roger."
" attention scum of the galaxy, I am requesting volunteers for a most dangerous task, raiding the republic trade routes at the Corellian Trade Spine, we will attack these systems and scare the inhabitants, if you wish to see me, please visit my headquarters on Teth for further instructions. that is all."
" that will fit on the holonet add we plan to place."
" excellent! now leave me alone."
" roger roger."

the door shut and the droid punched in a number. a hologram of a battle droid appeared with binoculars.
" sir, this is OOM-128, what is it sir?"
" how many units do we have on the ground?"
" 1,000 B1 battle droids, 300 B2 battle droids, the 10 AATs you put here and 5 MTTs with an additional 448 b1 battle droids and 20 droidekas ready sir."
" no spider droids?"
" well, sir we could-"
" you are to be in charge of bounty hunters that might show up at the door looking for a job and some credits, please, make them comfortable, then send their sorry asses over to Saleucami, by then, I should return."
" roger roger."
he emerged from the room and out onto the bridge.
" Prepare the jump to hyperspace, destination, the Roche Asteriods, have all cannons ready to fire and increase power to the shields!"
" roger roger."
OOM-776 sat back in his reclining chair as the view of hyperspace emerged and the fleet disappered.

[Pantorrum]

Master Kulsto
In Route to Geonosis

Master Kulsto had attempted to contact Admiral Andreaus, but for some reason his communications were not getting through. That was when he received a report that Geonosis was almost finished. When he seen the stagering number of troops on the planet, he changed his mind about deploying any of the first there.
Instead, he order the fleet to exit hyperspace and Jump to Christophsis instead. He had received a transmission that the planet was under attack by Confederate forces. The key mining world was positioned not to far from Geonosis and his ship was actually just a system away.
Christophsis
It was a brief 7 minutes as the ship traveled through hyperspace to the near by system of Christophsis. The large fleet of Republic ships that made up the 24 Combat Fleet were positioned with the Acclamators behind the Venators and Arquitens, and the Pelta Frigates safely behind them. The Fleet did not advance on the Confederate Forces blockading the planet.
"Admiral, order all pilots to their fighters. All boost weapons power and order all combat ships to form up on us. Open a transmission for the enemy commander to hear."
The Admiral complied. Hundreds of pilots rushed to their fighters and prepared to launch. Almost a thousand fighter craft would launch from the fleets 51 Venators when the order was given. For now they waited in the hanger while power was diverted from the engines to weapons.
"Attention Confederate Commander, this is Jedi Master Mile Kulsto of the Jedi Council. We are here to Defend Christophsis. I order you to surrender immediately. The odds are stacked against you."
He left the line open, waiting for a response. Meanwhile, 12 Venators moved down beneath the rest of the fleet and 12 moved up above it, 6 moved out far to the left and 6 more moved out far to the right. The remaining 15 Senators remained back in the center. These positions would allow the fleet to to attack the enemy from above, beneath, on both sides, and in front. The 20 Arquitens formed up in the center with the 15 Venators there. They were ready to engage the enemy from five directions should they need to advance.

[Spindle]

Cripple frowned at the Jedi's question. Either he'd been told something Cripple hadn't or one of them was being an absolute idiot. Cripple wasn't sure he knew which one it was.

"Sir, we hardly know anything about how the Seppies structure their forces, or what the specs on their hardware is." He began, never leaving the easy position, "Hell, Sir, they rebuilt their forces without anyone in the Republic noticing! Those foundries are filled with info, about to be in range of Glaci-uh, CC-3132's SPHA-Ts and the ground forces defending them are in full retreat. We have a chance here to potentially get intel on...anything! All we need is a chance to get our troops in there and get the data out."

---

"Are we ready?" Dekko asked, checking the deployment patterns in the holo for the upteenth time.

"We are ready, Sir." TX-77 said, "Although there is a matter to take care of once we are in hyperspace."

"What?" He asked, annoyance showing through his features.

"One of the B-X-series has had its programming changed beyond regular parameters." TX-77 said, and Dekko felt the strings of memory being plucked. There was something there...

"Nevermind." He said, "Let's focus on the mission at hand. Commence the attack."

"Acknowledged." TX-77 said, and in the holo, units began to move. The line was more or less stable for the eight kilometers Dekko had engaged across, with no side having a spur of more than three hundred meters. Dekko intended to change that.

The first attack was going to take place two and a half kilometers West of the center, aimed at the Administrative District and away from the spaceport. Another assault would be launched five minutes later to break through the enemy line and interdict the reserves, forcing elements nearer the spaceport to contribute units. That would be when the Droch-launched units and the remaining land forces would launch an attack on the entire depth of the defences near to the spaceport, while the assault on the Administrative District was re-routed back to the Spaceport, around the enemy counter-blow. Dekko knew that was the riskiest part, and so it was the part that he planned on having the most airpower in reserve, as opposed to flying pre-planned missions.

Dekko watched with baited breath as the first assault began to make gruelling headway, the second assault catching the enemy off-guard and penetrating much further than Dekko had been expecting. It didn't change the basic mission plan though, although it did look promising for the assault on the spaceport. It seemed his earlier push for the Administrative District had shaken whoever was in command.

As expected, the enemy began to move units off to aid the now-stalled counter-assault, probably on the logic that Dekko didn't possess the strength to take any major locations and actually hold them without support. Dekko grinned wickedly at the thought. Had he not spent the past half-hour infiltrating over three hundred B-Xs into position, they would be right.

A string of explosions traced along the Eastern defence line, rapidly followed by a parallel string of explosions across the support line and Dekko smiled. He loved the B-Xs. They were the only droids he didn't have to micromanage to get the job done correctly. He watched as the line of other, less useful droids began an excruciatingly predictable advance. It pained him to watch it, but he had to know where to drop the Droch.

"There." He said after several minutes of engagement, indicating a point four hundred meters behind the defence line, "Drop them there."

"Affirmative." TX-77 nodded and Dekko felt the floor kick slightly as the Droch detached and fell towards the ground below. In the holo, the last of the enemy's tactical reserves were being brought up, passing under the projected impact sites moments before the Droch screamed out of the sky, their light cannon spitting at the enemy as they did. Dekko knew the engagement was over in all but name.

"Call the 11th in." He ordered, "By the time they're here, this will be done."

"That may be a problem." TX-77 said, "Republic forces dropping out of Hyperspace."

"Enough for the 11th to handle?" Dekko asked, dreading the answer.

"No." TX-77 stated, "By quite a significant amount."

"Get everything we can ready to leave." Dekko said, "How long until they reach orbit?"

"If the 11th doesn't slow them down?" TX-77 asked rhetorically, "Eleven minutes and twenty-two seconds."

"I want us in the air by then, prepped to jump." Dekko ordered, "Leave anything not onboard in seven behind."

"Affirmative." TX-77 said, but Dekko ignored him, instead playing the message whoever was leading the new force had sent him.

"Set us up with a line to them. I'll see about buying some time." Dekko ordered, and as soon as the holoprojectors were online he continued: "Greetings, Master Kulsto. I'm glad I warranted a Jedi, and a Master at that! No messing around with the knights. Good!"

Under his helmet, Dekko's face was split with a savage smile.

"Thank you for your kind offer to surrender, but I'm not in the mood today. But, Master Kulsto, I've still got good news for you! Right now, the Open Purse is in the skies of Crystal City, and I think everyone would agree that attacking her here would be a bad idea, especially if, by some terrible accident, the hypermatter reactor went off. I'm offering you the chance to prevent any such accident, Master Kulsto. Hold your forces back for fifteen minutes and we'll be on our way peacefully, letting you get on with your invasion of this fine planet. What do you say, Master Kulsto?"

The moment the holoprojectors turned off, Dekko whirled back to TX-77.

"Tell the 11th what I've done." He said wildly, "Don't let them send any messages to Kulsto. Keep them here until we're ready."

[Pantorrum]

Master Kulsto
A frown crept onto Kulsto's face. A threat like this was to be taken seriously. If that hypermatter reactor went off it would be truly detrimental. The damage would be catastrophic. He hated the idea of letting the Separatist escape. Nothing got under his skin more. He closed his eyes for a moment and thought.
If he moved to engage the Separatists, they would detonate the hypermatter reactor. That meant he had only one choice. It would be worse for the reactor to detonate than for the traitor to escape. He could hunt down the Separatist leader, but he couldn't undo the explosion. It was a necessary compromise, though not one he was particularly fond of.
He responded after two minutes or so.
"Very well. You play a dangerous game, commander. Hasn't anyone every told you not to threaten the Jedi? I will allow your ship to escape, but be warned. I will hunt you down and bring you to justice. And next time, your escape wont be a possibility. You have 15 minutes to escape. As soon as that time is up, I am engaging. If you are still there, I expect you to honor our agreement and not detonate your reactor."
He would find a way to track him down. For now, the planet below needed relief and this separatist wasn't worth their suffering

[Spindle]

Dekko breathed a sigh of relief as the Jedi accepted the request. That was one battle he had no intention of fighting...not today, at any rate.

"Do it." He told TX-77, the droid leaving to coordinate withdrawal to the Open Purse. Dekko turned to the holo, the taste of ashes filling his mouth. This planet wouldn't fall. Not today, at least. But still, he'd gotten their forces out more-or-less intact, and that was what mattered. Turning the holoprojectors on again, Dekko addressed the Jedi once more.

"Excellent choice, Master Kulsto." He grinned, "We'll be gone before the fifteen minutes are up, you have my word. For all that's worth, anyway."

He made to leave, before turning again and firing one last parting shot.

"And if you hunt me? I'll be sure to kill you quickly. Good-bye, Master Kulsto. I hope we meet again one day."

---

The Open Purse entered hyperspace with the 11th fleet, disappearing from the System as the Republic forces swarmed towards their prize. Dekko hoped they liked the explosives he'd rigged around the spaceport: his final gift. Still on the surface were over three thousand droids of varying types, locked in combat with the Republic forces and unable to reach the Open Purse. He'd wished them the best of luck before he left, of course. He wasn't a complete monster.

"TX-77, as soon as we reach Cato Neimodia I want a full report filed!" He ordered, "Make sure to point out that, had Rath given us more than twelve ships as support, we could have actually taken the blasted world and the number of ships Kulsto had. Then get us restocked and inform me the moment anyone gives us a new set of orders. I want to have time to look through the files of whoever I'm shadowing before I have to talk to them."

[Newne Carriebean7]

Black Fleet Battlegroup
Gears of War
OOM-776 felt a light tap on his arm.
"what is it?"
" sir, we are 50 seconds away from our destination, don't you think we should be ready for the enemy?"
" you're right, now signal all ships to prepare to open fire, and transfer any remaining power not used to the shields!"
" roger roger."
the fleet emerged from hyperspace and came under fire from several vessels.
" who are these people?"
" they might be the rocheians sir."
"rocheians, you mean people live in these rocks?!"
" they call them home sir, and they don't like it when-"
an explosion interrupted and muted the t rest of his sentence.
" understood?"
" run that by me again, I was too busy looking at the destroyed frigate we've just lost!"
the wreckage of the munificent came close by the Gears of War.
" hard to port, captain!"
" roger roger."
" sir, our sheilds are at 30 per="
" 30%?! how is this possible?! all cannons return fire at once, and calculate the jump to light speed."
" yes sir."
the droid looked down at the little panel and motioned for OOM-776 to come over.
" 5-5 percent?!"
an explosion rocked the vessel.
" Damage report!"
" we've lost 6 of our heavy cannons, 10 of our light cannons and several turbolazers. shields are gone , but engines are functioning properly."
" the Hyperdrive is..."
" still functioning, but-"
"get us out of here, now!"
" roger roger."
the fleet left the system quickly.

[Eridanus 3]

Admiral Andraeus

They all made good points. However, as he was preparing to make counterpoints and critiques to them, of which there were few, the situation changed dramatically. And as more commanders joined in, it became increasingly difficult to decide. However, the Jedi Master in command of the 5th Strategic Response Group changed all that. He sent tightbeam messages to all commanders on Geonosis, proclaiming that he was preparing for orbital bombardment. From a short-term and strategic standpoint it made sense, but it would leave the nasty side effect of either driving the bugs underground or driving them out. A renewed Geonosian assault would be a product of this, either soon, or in the not-to-distant future.

"While I don't agree with the Jedi, he is in command of the naval forces here, and I am in no place to argue. All of you here, listen up. Pull your men back from the foundries and into a defensive positions. The native insects will either be driven underground or they will throw themselves at you, and we need to be prepared. All of you boys that have assets in space, get them on the ground. We'll need all the forces we can muster in the tunnels down there, and we need to seal them before we leave - a measure taken in order to guarantee the security of this sector. Your orders are as follows: Form a staging area away from orbital bombardment, regroup against possible enemy counterattack, deploy units into the rubble to secure the remains of the factories."

[New Decius]

Christophsis, Outer Rim
High Orbit

Ah Christophsis, a beauty from ground or space, and so peaceful and tranquil. At least those were the thought's of Captain Marcus Gregor, the officer in command of the five Venator-Class Star Destroyer's guarding the planet. From the viewport of his flagship, the Elegance he gazed out at the vast expanse of space with wonder. He was a newly minted Captain and this was his first posting outside the Academy. From here, the war seemed so far off compared to the peace of Christophsis and her people.

That is until a Clone technician officer approached him from behind and caught his attention. "Captain, we are detecting multiple ships emerging from Hyperspace." Marcus turned to ask how many when the first of these multiple ships dropped out in front of Christophsis' moon. A Providence-Dreadnought! Before the new Captain could speak the Clone did it for him. "Enemy contact! Point 6-224!" Then more ships began to emerge filling up the viewport. Dozens of ships, mainly Munificent and Lucrehulk classes. Marcus could only stare in frightened amazement, rooted to the spot as enemy ships emerged into the planet's orbit all around him, it was an invasion fleet!

The final count was one Providence-Dreadnought, obviously the Flagship, twenty-seven Lucrehulk-Battleship's, thirty-one Recursant-Destroyers, and forty-eight Munificent-Frigates, vastly outnumbering the five Star Destroyers that made up the Guard Fleet protecting Christophsis. And it didn't take long for this massive Separatist invasion fleet to begin opening fire on the Republic ships, tearing them to pieces. Captain Gregor could only watch in fear as his ship was torn apart and then a Turbolaser blast blew apart the Bridge, taking him with it. Before the ship was blown apart, it did manage to send out a distress signal specifically sounding an Invasion Alert for Christophsis.

Soon enough hundreds of C-9979 Landing Craft began to head away from the Battleships and make for the planet below.

------------------

In the Capital City, a Landing Craft just happened to make landfall in the main square and a full Droid Battalion exited the vessel and began to deploy. One set a Holoprojector on the ground and a massive hologram of Admiral Trench popped up. "Citizens of Christophsis, I am Admiral Trench of the Separatist Alliance! You have been deceived into following the corrupt regime of the Republic and we are here to liberate you! My droid forces are at this moment securing the planet against further Republic incursions. I welcome you all into the Separatist Alliance!" And as hundreds of thousands of Droids were securing the planet Christophsis, Admiral Trench's fleet was in blockade formation over the planet.

[Alotopia]

Jedi Master Aborak Rathon
Low Orbit over Geonosis
Shadow of War

Master Rathon listened to the Clone Commander before speaking, "Commander, this maybe something new to you, but we have produced droids in this galaxy for centuries. Heck, I could build one. We know how they are produced and I sure as hell know that they were able to build this army because the Republic was content and stupid. If CC-3132's SPHA-Ts are almost in range as you say, then you obviously are preparing to bombard the foundries anyway... I am ordering an orbital bombardment on and around the droid foundries, there will be nothing left alive. This is my final word on the subject, Commander... Prepare your forces for the bombardment..." he ended the communication...

"What was that trooper's number, my Lord? I shall see that he is reprimanded for his insubordination." asked General Tolfin as he had listened to the entire conversation...

"It is of no matter, General. We breed them to be perfect soldiers, ones who follow orders to the point. Obviously some would question the orders more than others... What is the intel on the ground?" asked Rathon as he watched the clones begin to pull back... The droids saw this, and were seeming to shore up their defensive lines.

"My Lord, the general intel on the Geonosisians state that they likely have deep tunnels in and out of the foundries. Disgusting bugs... We believe if we hit them with max power heavy-turbolaser shots, the tunnels will collapse under the quakes they will induce. The foundries themselves will likely be vaporized with most of the tunnel entrances either buried or destroyed." responded General Tolfin as he thumbed through the most recent intelligence report.

"What of the side effects of using heavy-turbolasers against ground targets? What effect will it have on the clones?" Rathon asked...

Admiral Czer stepped in, obviously knowing more about the power of turbolasers in atmosphere, "My Lord, the area around the foundries will be reduced to molten slag if we want to ensure that these bugs cannot rise up again. I would suggest a sustained bombardment of around half a standard hour. Within that time, we should melt enough of the surface to ensure 100% Geonosisian and droid casualities. The clones should be well protected against any sort of toxic gas the bombardment produces and they will be well out of range of our shots." he paused as he looked at the planet, "The bugs are resilient, but when their foundries are reduced to dust, they will surrender. *he chuckles* My Lord, the Shadow of War awaits your commands."

"That is does, Admiral, that it does..."

"My Lord, we also have an incoming message from Master Arklight, they have been forced out of hyperspace near Felucia and need assistance." said Admiral Czer.

"Order the Black Triumvirate to make all due haste to the planet. Ensure that Elisee is safe and that all survivors are picked up..." Rathon responded as his orders were carried out. Three Venators, painted a jet black, turned from the fleet and made a hyperspace jump to Felucia...

Jedi Padawan Elisee Jarquen
Felucia
Golden Heart

She ripped the cords from her throat and spat, "Bold move Bounty Hunter, shame your love didn't fight this well." she said as she rose to her feet and felt the ship rumble and shake, "You fool! You are lucky we weren't ripped apart from exiting hyperspace! Now the ship is going to have a reactor core meltdown! I guess it's time for me to leave." she smirked as she channeled her energy to rip the sith saber out of his hand and into her's. "Pays to wield the force. You should work on that", she force pushed him out the cargo hold door into an adjacent room and locked it. She pressed a button on her commlink, "Master Arklight, I understand. My crew will begin moving the artifacts to my ship and we will try to move the critically wounded onto it as well."

As she spoke, Darth Marouk's clones burst into the storage compartment with their blasters ready to fire. She waved at them at grab the crates and carry them to her ship. They moved quickly picking up the six crates and carrying them to her ship. Once they were stowed on board, she ordered them to assist with the medically wounded while she made her way to the reactor core. When she arrived, the Madalorians had already cleared out making their way to the bridge. She saw the other wounded Padawan, and picked him up. Carrying him back to her ship...

The clones had carried the most critically wounded onto the Consular-class ship and were waiting when she arrived with the other padawan, "Put him with the others in the escape pods, I have to handle something..." She went back to the cargo hold with Klaggis still stuck behind the door. He had begun to cut his way out with his blade, but was far from complete... She lifted the door and spoke, "Get to your escape ship, you have accomplished your mission. Well done bounty hunter." she ran out the room and back onto her ship, "Get us out of here captain!"

They dropped out of the Venator's hanger and made a beeline for clear space. They were taing fire from the Separatist ships, but the shielding would hold... However, they had a better plan. Elisee made her way to the escape pod with Padawan Kite in it, and had the clones jettison all the escape pods before detonating a sonic mine, cloaking themselves, and going to hyperspace...

Arkon Jarrib
Hyperspace

It had been seveeral hours since he had entered hyperspace and he had a few more to go... It was always a boring trip in hyperspace. No action, no fighting, just blue swirls...

[New Decius]

Jedi Master Aborak Rathon
Low Orbit over Geonosis
Shadow of War

Master Rathon listened to the Clone Commander before speaking, "Commander, this maybe something new to you, but we have produced droids in this galaxy for centuries. Heck, I could build one. We know how they are produced and I sure as hell know that they were able to build this army because the Republic was content and stupid. If CC-3132's SPHA-Ts are almost in range as you say, then you obviously are preparing to bombard the foundries anyway... I am ordering an orbital bombardment on and around the droid foundries, there will be nothing left alive. This is my final word on the subject, Commander... Prepare your forces for the bombardment..." he ended the communication...

"What was that trooper's number, my Lord? I shall see that he is reprimanded for his insubordination." asked General Tolfin as he had listened to the entire conversation...

"It is of no matter, General. We breed them to be perfect soldiers, ones who follow orders to the point. Obviously some would question the orders more than others... What is the intel on the ground?" asked Rathon as he watched the clones begin to pull back... The droids saw this, and were seeming to shore up their defensive lines.

"My Lord, the general intel on the Geonosisians state that they likely have deep tunnels in and out of the foundries. Disgusting bugs... We believe if we hit them with max power heavy-turbolaser shots, the tunnels will collapse under the quakes they will induce. The foundries themselves will likely be vaporized with most of the tunnel entrances either buried or destroyed." responded General Tolfin as he thumbed through the most recent intelligence report.

"What of the side effects of using heavy-turbolasers against ground targets? What effect will it have on the clones?" Rathon asked...

Admiral Czer stepped in, obviously knowing more about the power of turbolasers in atmosphere, "My Lord, the area around the foundries will be reduced to molten slag if we want to ensure that these bugs cannot rise up again. I would suggest a sustained bombardment of around half a standard hour. Within that time, we should melt enough of the surface to ensure 100% Geonosisian and droid casualities. The clones should be well protected against any sort of toxic gas the bombardment produces and they will be well out of range of our shots." he paused as he looked at the planet, "The bugs are resilient, but when their foundries are reduced to dust, they will surrender. *he chuckles* My Lord, the Shadow of War awaits your commands."

"That is does, Admiral, that it does..."

"My Lord, we also have an incoming message from Master Arklight, they have been forced out of hyperspace near Felucia and need assistance." said Admiral Czer.

"Order the Black Triumvirate to make all due haste to the planet. Ensure that Elisee is safe and that all survivors are picked up..." Rathon responded as his orders were carried out. Three Venators, painted a jet black, turned from the fleet and made a hyperspace jump to Felucia...

Jedi Padawan Elisee Jarquen
Felucia
Golden Heart

She ripped the cords from her throat and spat, "Bold move Bounty Hunter, shame your love didn't fight this well." she said as she rose to her feet and felt the ship rumble and shake, "You fool! You are lucky we weren't ripped apart from exiting hyperspace! Now the ship is going to have a reactor core meltdown! I guess it's time for me to leave." she smirked as she channeled her energy to rip the sith saber out of his hand and into her's. "Pays to wield the force. You should work on that", she force pushed him out the cargo hold door into an adjacent room and locked it. She pressed a button on her commlink, "Master Arklight, I understand. My crew will begin moving the artifacts to my ship and we will try to move the critically wounded onto it as well."

As she spoke, Darth Marouk's clones burst into the storage compartment with their blasters ready to fire. She waved at them at grab the crates and carry them to her ship. They moved quickly picking up the six crates and carrying them to her ship. Once they were stowed on board, she ordered them to assist with the medically wounded while she made her way to the reactor core. When she arrived, the Madalorians had already cleared out making their way to the bridge. She saw the other wounded Padawan, and picked him up. Carrying him back to her ship...

The clones had carried the most critically wounded onto the Consular-class ship and were waiting when she arrived with the other padawan, "Put him with the others in the escape pods, I have to handle something..." She went back to the cargo hold with Klaggis still stuck behind the door. He had begun to cut his way out with his blade, but was far from complete... She lifted the door and spoke, "Get to your escape ship, you have accomplished your mission. Well done bounty hunter." she ran out the room and back onto her ship, "Get us out of here captain!"

They dropped out of the Venator's hanger and made a beeline for clear space. They were taing fire from the Separatist ships, but the shielding would hold... However, they had a better plan. Elisee made her way to the escape pod with Padawan Kite in it, and had the clones jettison all the escape pods before detonating a sonic mine, cloaking themselves, and going to hyperspace...

Arkon Jarrib
Hyperspace

It had been seveeral hours since he had entered hyperspace and he had a few more to go... It was always a boring trip in hyperspace. No action, no fighting, just blue swirls...

Byron had jumped in his personal Delta-7 Starfighter and launched from the Hanger around the time that Elisee's ship jumped to Hyperspace. Following him were about a hundred V-19 Torrent Starfighters, fifty BTL-B Y-Wing Assault Bombers, and twenty LAAT Gunships, all fleeing the Main Hanger as the Escape Pods fired off from the Golden Sun like Corellian hornets. Byron noticed that escape pods were sitting around and came to the conclusion that Elisee's ship must have been destroyed by the Separatist's, he also noticed several Mandalorian Gunships fleeing the scene and jumping to Hyperspace.

"Admiral Jek have you gotten off the ship alright?" He got three short bursts over the com channel in confirmation that the Admiral was in an escape pod. It also meant he had wiped the ships databanks so the Separatist couldn't recover anything from the debris. Mere moments later as the Separatist Recursant moved to broadside the Golden Sun, the Venator-Star Destroyer rippled with explosions as the Reactor Core melted down. The warship splintered apart as pieces of debris of varying sizes flew off in all different directions, one such large piece, formerly part of the main Hanger, crashed straight through the skeletal section connecting the Recursant's engines to the rest of the ship.

Byron swerved around a piece of debris and blasted a Vulture Droid as he got on the com channel. "Padawan Jarquen, I take it your ship was lost. Any casualties?" Then he jokingly added. "Looks like I need a new flagship." He began to lead the Starfighters and Bombers which had escaped with him in an attack on the two remaining Separatist warships.......

When Kite awoke and saw Elisee at the controls of the escape pod, he gave a small grin. "What a friendly sight to wake up to." Then he realized the gravity of the situation that it was just himself alone with her in the pod. "Oh! Um Elisee, what's going on? Did the Bounty Hunters get the artifacts or no?"

[Zepplien]

Zul broke into a small smile at the bounty hunter in front of her, professional, but at the same time he clearly felt loyalty to her family and their credits. She pointed to a pilot Droid "Secure our communications." The Droid tapping a few buttons with the usual "Roger Roger." Zul then smiled a little at her mercenary"I am planning my attack on the world of Ryloth, I would like you to lead a unit of commando droids to take the bridge controls of the Capital. With that I will be able to take the city almost unopposed. You will be well paid of course, but I will need minimum civilian deaths, and minimum damage to the city, I will be rebuilding Techno Union foundries, and I need the extra labour supply." With that she offered a gloved hand in metaphor"Do we have a deal?"

[Ascium]

Varik Thane

"Admiral that is the problem we have two Jedi. I have mybforces already back from the foundries. Honestly to me, I think we need to just pull forces off and bombard the area. If you want to go back after the orbital bombardment then by all means. But the 772nd have taken heavy losses which my legion the 419th has taken their place. I ordered two of my ships to bombard retreating droid forces. Honestly the sep fleet is either burning or running. I think we just bombard the foundries and call it. I bet you that other seps are attacking or planning to attack other planets. So I'm going to pull my forces out and watch the fire works." Informed Varik as he was playing with his light saber.

Then he walked out of the room and got in contact with Krieg. "Commander Krieg, prepare all 419th forces for a withdrawal from the planet. Tell Captain Scratch is he wants to withdraw with us to contact me and I will send ships to get them out of there. Commander you have your orders."

Commander Krieg
419th front line

"Roger that sir!" Barked Krieg over the comms as he looked down field at the clankers. "Alright boys, prepare for tactical withdrawal. We will hold this line until the LAATs get here and we don't let the clankers push us back if they try anything! Captain Scratch we are pulling out if you want a ride contact me ASAP. The LAATs are being preped now and the rest of the 112th will be in low orbit shorty." Informed Krieg.

Blue Squadron

The squadron had been shitting down the culture droids for what seemed like am hour now. They had lost several fighters and were relieved to see that they would soon be able to go back to the ship. "Blue leader, you got a vulture on your tail." Informed blue three as he dove down and shot the vulture down.

Rear Admiral Frederick

"Aye general, we are moving the fleet to low orbit." Informed Frederick as he gave the orders to descend into orbit. The fighters that were engaged in space followed the fleet down and made a safe zone while the LAATs fkew to pick up their chalk.

[Newne Carriebean7]

Gears of War
Metalorn System
Piratei scowled as the battered ship emerged from hyperspace. guns were out of action, the bridge had several holes in it, and the former elevator to the former rear bridge had been cut off.
" sir, I regret to inform you that-"
" what?! can't I have a stinking minute of peace without bad news?!"
" no sir."
Piratei grabbed the droid by the scrawny neck and went to the escape pods, shoving the piece of scrap metal in.
" why are we- hey hey watch the antenna! aaaaahhhh!"
he pressed the button and the escape pod flew off with the insubordinate droid inside.
Piratei calmly descended the steps and emerged back on the bridge.
" sir. while the fires have been put out, the ship is heavily damaged, I suggest we retreat back to the-"
Piratei grabbed the droid by the neck.
" s-sir...."
" retreat? I've never heard of such a disgraceful word, that incident was merely, a tactical reshuffle of our forces, a strategic simulation, and some good battle experience."
a t-series tactical droid came up.
" sir, I have completed checking of the hanger bay, and I regret to inform you that 7 vulture droid fighters and 7 hyena droid bombers have failed to return to Gears of War."
" two entire squadrons?!" Piratei made a fist and hit the wall.
He calmed down.
" It's ok then, you can't expect war that everyone will live, besides, someone has to die in order for others to live, send out the following orders to the fleet: all men and machines are granted
R and R for 3 hours, alcohol is permitted, though I don't know why we'd be carrying it, we're droids for the love of our creators!"
" roger roger."

[Archangelskl Oblast]

Violet turned to her wrist comunicator with a few taps was broadcasting to the headsets of all her men waiting in formation either all read inside or around the Laties.
"Second Division, 3rd Sky Corps, this is Lieutenant Commander Violet, all units stand down. I repeat stand down. Report to your barracks for role call and get back on schedule. I expect training sims, maintenance of weapons and craft and person, aswell as food and rest for all of you. Violet out."

Violet could feel the annoyance and anger in all her men even from this side of the ship. They wanted that fight.
Turning toward the others at the table, "If that is all I need to go make sure our supply requisitions are in order." Spinning on her heel, Violet clutched her helmet under her arm, making a paced walk off the bridge clear to hide her annoyance that she wouldn't be getting to fight the bugs again.

[Eridanus 3]

Admiral Andraeus

It did not take long for the responses to come in, positive or non. For some reason the new Commander, Violet, had taken it as a stand down order, and just when the Admiral was going to issue a call belaying that order, an interesting development came up. A certain Separatist fleet had placed itself in a blockade around the planet of Christophsis, likely in an attempt to block or raid trade routes in the sector. Alongside this development came a stern attachment from the office of the Supreme Chancellor. Orders straight from the top - Christophsis must be secured. He turned off the display of Geonosis. "All field commands on Geonosis, The 7th is being retasked to deal with CIS intrusions on Christophsis. Have fun down there." He severed the communications link. They were on their own. His fight was now elsewhere. He looked at Commander Corinthi. A silent nod was given, and the Commander hit his comlink, speaking to Commander Violet in a hushed tone, "put your men on alert and meet us back on the bridge in 30 minutes. We will be deploying to Christophsis shortly." The Admiral then directed his attention to the fleet at large. "Sword Group, disengage and prepare for emergency hyperspace jump, Hssiss formation. Co-ordinates uploading now."


The battle was officially over. The war had just begun.

[New Decius]

High Orbit over Christophsis

Admiral Trench was enjoying a nice meal of roasted Womprat with some Jogan fruits on the side in his cabin when his Tactical Droid, TX-173, entered the room and gave him a datapad. Trench put down a Jogan he had been about to bite into and looked over the datapad with interest. "So there is a relief movement setup in Capital City to give supplies to the citizens due to our assigning limited rations. Well we shall have to deal with this." The Tactical Droid took the datapad back as the Admiral resumed his meal. "What are your orders Admiral?"

Trench wiped his mouth and then stood up as he grasped two of his six hands behind his back and stroked his mandibles with one of the others. "Send the Hyena's to bomb them and have one of our B1 Platoons raid whatever is leftover of this relief movement's headquarters." At that moment a BX-Series Commando Droid entered the room and placed a Holocommunicator on the table. Up sprung an image of Count Dooku and Trench immediately did a bow and hung his head. "My Lord, Count Dooku what an esteemed pleasure this is."

Dooku smirked as he spoke of his news. "Lord Sidious has informed me that the Republic is sending a fleet to liberate Christophsis from your hands. What is the status there?" Trench cleared his throat as he declared the next bit of information. "I have achieved complete control of the space around the planet and General Loathsom has near total control of the planet itself, there are a few civilian resistance forces but nothing the General and his several hundred thousand Droid forces cannot handle." Dooku smirked evilly as he processed that information.

"Lord Sidious has instructed me to relay this to you. Do not let Christophsis fall back into Republic control. And my orders stand, bleed the planet dry of any resources it possesses and then burn Crystal City to the ground." Trench bowed again and clicked his mandibles. "As you wish Count Dooku." With that the transmission was ended and Trench exited his cabin to head for the Bridge. As he walked he gave orders to his Tactical Droid. "I want all ships to have weapons and shields set to a full charge. Fighters are to be prepped and ready. I don't want anything getting through this blockade."

[Spindle]

Cripple bowed his head as the Jedi left the holo.

"Sir, yes Sir." He said, before turning back to Shadow, "Get everyone we can out of the killbox."

"On it, Sir." Shadow said, turning and beginning to plot courses.

"All units!" Cripple said, "Pull back to the rock wall again. We're slagging the foundries from orbit."

In the holo, Cripple saw his units disengaging from the seppie forces still headed for the foundries. Pulling away. They'd spent so much to try and get to those foundries, only to be told now that they were going to be slagged from orbit? Cripple knew their mouths would be filled with the taste of ashes because his was as well. So many men, so much material gone, and for what? What purpose?

---

"I'm sorry Sir, what?" Scratch asked.

"Pull out, Scratch, that's an order!" Cripple's voice came over the comm, "The people upstairs are about to slag the foundries. Just get out of there."

"Sir, yes Sir." Scratch muttered bitterly before keying the comm, "Plod, Guns, Beams, turn us around. We're pulling back. Dizzy, Lurch, exfiltrate out of there and get as many men as you can out with you. We're done here."

A slow sickness filled his stomach and he pounded a fist on the side of his tank. Why had they not done that earlier? Why now? Why did they decide to slag it after they'd wasted lives trying to claim it? What was the point? As the column wheeled around, Scratch glowered at the landscape around him, as if daring it to try something. He wanted something to punch, and he hoped Genosis would provide.

---

"So this is the malfunctioning B-X." Dekko said as he entered the repair bay, the droids all saluting as he passed, "What's your designation?"

"BX-0293." The droid replied.

"Wonderful." Dekko said, "What's in your head?"

"Not enough data to postulate." 0293 replied as Dekko pulled out a tangle of wires and started plugging them into the droid's disembodied head at one end and a screen on the other. Running through the normal software, Dekko nodded to himself as he found the block of code that really shouldn't have been there.

"Well, you've got a memeticised version of some old code I wrote up there." He frowned, "I've got no clue how it got in there, but I know I can't pull it out."

"Will this impair my combat effectiveness?" The droid asked.

"Are you afraid it will?" Dekko asked. The droid spent several moments considering this before speaking again.

"Yes." It said, "I am."

"Good." Dekko grinned broadly, "The code I wrote was for a decoy droid that looked like me and acted like me. I never saw the need for it before now, but now I've got Rath in hot water and a Jedi on my tail. So you, my friend, are going to become me. How do you feel about that?"

"Unsure." 0293 said, "Will this job be dangerous?"

"Of course it will." Dekko told him, grin widening even further.

"Then I think I will like this." The droid said, with a hint of humour about it. Dekko's grin broadened.

"Good. We'll need to remake your body almost completely, but we can keep the head." He paused for a moment, adding up the value of the parts he would need before shrugging, "It doesn't matter how much I spend." He said to the droid, "I can send the bill to Rath, the lucky lady."

"Sir." TX-77 said, also entering the repair bay, before it was cut off by Dekko.

"77!" He exclaimed, "Just the droid I wanted. Send an order down to Cato Neimodia for these parts." He handed the droid the tablet for a moment before taking it back, "Oh, and send the bill to Rath."

"Of course, Sir, but your orders have arrived." 77 said, taken aback somewhat, "You have been ordered to assist Admiral Zul Mawaar. I have taken the liberty of downloading her files onto this."

77 handed Dekko a small tablet before turning to go and deliver Dekko's shopping list, but Dekko stopped him.

"Oh, and ask Admiral Mawaar when she's ready for us to meet." He ordered, "She probably needs to be formally introduced to her official spy, after all."

As 77 gave his acknowledgement and left, Dekko propped the tablet up in front of 0293's head and set it to scroll.

"0293, could you read that out?" He asked, before assembling the tools and parts he had available to him and beginning to dismantle the droid's body. 0293 obliged and Dekko let his hands move by themselves, while his mind worked on analysing Zul and the frame in front of him in equal parts. The problem was the gait and the posture, since appearance could be taken care of by body armour. Shareholder, eh? That could be good or bad for him. No, he needed to lock the spinal rods into position! Taking droids to school? That must have been bad. And strengthen the electromagnets, stop the body swaying too much.

After perhaps twenty minutes, he had an almost unrecognisable B-X frame in front of him. The straightened spine held it a little taller than he himself was and it's limbs still moved far too smoothly, with an overly rolling action, but it would do for now. At least, until he got his hands on some decent parts and machinery. Wiping his hands on a rag he stood and left to find 77. Did that droid never tell him anything or was there just something wrong with his communicator? Either one could be fixed, he contemplated.

[Alotopia]

Jedi Padawan Elisee Jarquen
Felucia
Escape Pod

She quickly checked her scanners to ensure that her Master had received the distress signal, of course he had... The Black Triumvirate? Oh no... Uncle Jarquen is on the Republic's Fire... This will be fun to explain..., she thought as she was suddenly contacted by Master Arklight.

"I lost thirteen good clones, Master Arklight. Undoubtedly more were lost on the Venator. Pardon me if I don't share in your humor. *she sighed* My Master has dispatched his most powerful Venators to assist us. They will be here shortly." She shut off the transmission and turned her attention to the now awakening Kite.

"Kite, glad to seek you are finally awaking from your nap. You will be happy to know that the bounty hunters did not get the artifacts, as they were destroyed with my ship when it exploded. The same ship I carried you out of... You're welcome." She sassed at him, obviously annoyed at his stupid question and the situation she is currently in, "My Master has sent his most powerful ships to get me and take you to Rhen Var. They will arrive shortly." And shortly arrive, they did. As she spoke, three jet black Venators came out of hyperspace and opened up on the CIS ships.

As two of the ships dealt with the CIS vessels, one made its way to Elisee's escape pod... It lifted the escape pod into the hanger Bay and set it down. Elisee extended the ramp and was about to exit before she got close to Kite and whispered in his ear, "You need to learn to hide your emotions better, Padawan. I can see right through you..." she said as she brushed her hand against his and exited the craft to assist in the rescue operations.

She began to travel to the bridge, to help direct the rescue ship... What a loser, she thought as she entered the elevator, I have to thank Master Rathon for sending these ships when he did. To think I might of had to spend hours in there with him. Uck.

She reached the bridge and was stopped by a built man who towered over her. "Who is this little girl on my bridge?" His voice boomed, "Has she come to relieve me of command?"

"UNCLE JARQUEN!" yelled Elisee as she jumped on him to give him a giant hug.

"Hey little one!" He said as he picked her up and spun her around, "What are you doing here? Did you accomplish your mission?" He cracked a smirk.

"Sir, yes sir! Mission accomplished." She smiled as she saluted him.

"Good, then let's pick up this Jedi scum and return you to your father. Shall we?" He said to her as he turned back to his clone bridge crew. Obviously, they were only loyal to Rathon as he had had the Black Triumvirate crews staffed by clones he had made on Kamino. These three ships plus the Shadow of War were the only ones in his fleet like this however...

"Sounds like a plan, Rear-Admiral Jarquen. Proceed with your mission..." Elisee said as she stood beside him, "Oh, and what about the new Tector-class ships were were supposed to be receiving from our families on Kuat?"

He smiled at her, "Listening to your father's and my communications have you? Well you'll be delighted to know that we were able to push through a deal and purchase three *jet black* ships at a discounted rate. We are going to pick them up after we deliver these Jedi to Rhen Var."

"Jedi Master Bryon Arklight, this is Rear-Admiral Oberon Jarquen of the 5th Strategic Response Fleet's Republic's Fire. You are to land your forces in any of the three ships here and we will leave this system."

[Zepplien]

Boolmide Cato Neimodia
TX-19 marched slowly past the many rows of droids being stored in the hanger bay, watching the useless lesser machines with disgust. It was made for better things than this cannon fodder, Mistress Mawarr insured it through her upgrades, and he would be eternally grateful for her increasing her free will, and would insure these lesser droids obeyed their Mistress without question. It clasped its hands behind its back as it tilted its head to a transmission from another Tactical droid, her lesser brother in a manner of speaking, its own master wishing to meet with the Great Emir Mawarr. TX-19 shook its head, calling her that was premature, but it knew Zul was brilliant and would secure Ryloth for them. TX marched back toward the bridge to inform the Admiral of this meeting personally, its twin Droid commandos following closely as bodyguards. Though nothing could threaten TX on the ship, but it followed the example of its mistress, and would always have bodyguards ready to protect it.

Zul glanced up at TX-19 as she walked onto the bridge, standing out of her command chair to offer "You can use your communicator you know?" TX dismissing it with a hand gesture, and instead offering "Another tactical droid in service to one Dekko Char, he is the commander of the Open Purse." Zul cut it off with a chuckle "Quite an ironic name for a Trade Fed ship, they have the most closed purses this side of the Banking Clan." the Tactical droid simply continued as if it had not heard the unfunny joke "Commander Char wishes to meet with you, and has been assigned to support your fleet. He is a very strange choice, and I advise we do not trust him." offering Zul a datapad. Zul sat down with the datapad, offhandedly saying "Invite him to visit us here, I am not leaving my fortress of a ship unless I am going to Skako, one hole in this suit and boom." running her free hand over her seals just out of fear. However as her eyes scanned the datapad she smiled under her mask, glancing up to TX and offering "We both seem to have been gifted as children, young human commander, not overly attractive, but passable. Interesting that he had a millitary education, very interesting, I would have chosen for him to be in Stock departments, but the Trade Federation isn't known for being overly logical." the Tactical droid bowed and offering "Unlike the cold minds of the Techno Union, who see all things with logic." earning it a nod from its Mistress before she barked "Prepare to receive guests, I want you to adress me as my full title in front of Dekko, you will address me as Engineer-Admiral instead of Admiral, and refer to me as Engineer-Admiral Mawarr instead of Zul." after watching her droid bow again she ordered "Send our invitation."

At the time Dekko Char's ship was docking, Engineer-Admiral Mawarr, and TX-19 stood together waiting for their honored guest. Mawarr wore her traditional Admiral's exosuit, Confederate blue with several metals for her work in the Union, though not combat were present on her chest. She toyed with the nobs on her breastplate, to adjust her voice box in the heat of conversation in case it started acting up again. TX stood next to her, the Techno Union symbol in bold purple visible on its chest, and Zul's CIS coat over its shoulders. While TX-19 wore a blaster pistol magnetically sealed to its leg, Zul had a Jedi's lighsaber as a show of power on hers. Behind the two commanders stood two IG-86 droids cradling sniper rifles, their eyes following the guests and their rifles reminding them not to make trouble, or the IGs would make themselves trouble.

[Ascium]

Varik Thane
112th Flagship

Varik had just arrived on the bridge as the last of the LAAT were preparing to land. "Admiral, I want a head count of all squadrons. We need to figure out what our losses are." Informed Varik as he walked over to the halo table and saw the battlefield. The 419th for a bunch of raw clones. They handled themselves very well. "Frederick we have a message from Christophis. Wait, we have a republic shuttle dropping out in front of our shop and they are requesting permission to land. Admiral give it to them." Informed Varik as he walked to the elevator and went down to the hanger. Once he was in the hanger the shuttle had just landed and Varik was waiting for whatever to come out of the shuttle.

The ramp finally opened and four clones appeared. Then a women no younger than 14 walked down the ramp. Suddenly Varik knew what was about to happen. "Master Thane, I am Sarah Watmen. I was sent here by the council." Informed Sarah as she bowed.

"Welcome, also you don't have to call me master. I never liked being called by titles or position. So either call me Varik or Thane. I don't really care which." Informed Varik as he escorted her to the elevator then to the bridge.

Commander Kreig

"The LAATs are here! Get on those transports we are pulling out! Barked Krieg as he hoped on a transport and told several to go to Scratches and the 772nd forces. The 419th swarmed the the LAAT in order of companies and were them taking off to the ship. As they approached Scratch krieg yelled, " Hey Captain, do you want a ride off this kill zone?"

[Aquesta]

Dyre nodded as he listened to admiral Zul. Ryloth eh, well at least I won't have to travel far. "Alright as long as your beskar'ad are competent, i'll get it done." Dyre snapped off his communication, he figured she would send him any more information he would need when he got to Ryloth. He wasn't very happy to be working with droids, but credits are credits and you gotta do what you gotta do. He made his way to his ship Bondage I in one of Mos Eisleys many spaceports. He quickly entered his ship, exited the planet and then engaged his hyperdrive for Ryloth, Well now is as good time as any to sober up

Senior Commander CC-3132 'Glacier'
3132 wasn't too bothered by the fact that the foundries were about to be blown to kingdom come, it wasn't his place to question his superiors and none of his men were in kill zone, apart from a few BARC speeders who would be well outside the killzone when the bombardment started. The orbital bombardment allowed him to conserve troops and ammunition for another battle.

[New Decius]

Jedi Padawan Elisee Jarquen
Felucia
Escape Pod

She quickly checked her scanners to ensure that her Master had received the distress signal, of course he had... The Black Triumvirate? Oh no... Uncle Jarquen is on the Republic's Fire... This will be fun to explain..., she thought as she was suddenly contacted by Master Arklight.

"I lost thirteen good clones, Master Arklight. Undoubtedly more were lost on the Venator. Pardon me if I don't share in your humor. *she sighed* My Master has dispatched his most powerful Venators to assist us. They will be here shortly." She shut off the transmission and turned her attention to the now awakening Kite.

"Kite, glad to seek you are finally awaking from your nap. You will be happy to know that the bounty hunters did not get the artifacts, as they were destroyed with my ship when it exploded. The same ship I carried you out of... You're welcome." She sassed at him, obviously annoyed at his stupid question and the situation she is currently in, "My Master has sent his most powerful ships to get me and take you to Rhen Var. They will arrive shortly." And shortly arrive, they did. As she spoke, three jet black Venators came out of hyperspace and opened up on the CIS ships.

As two of the ships dealt with the CIS vessels, one made its way to Elisee's escape pod... It lifted the escape pod into the hanger Bay and set it down. Elisee extended the ramp and was about to exit before she got close to Kite and whispered in his ear, "You need to learn to hide your emotions better, Padawan. I can see right through you..." she said as she brushed her hand against his and exited the craft to assist in the rescue operations.

She began to travel to the bridge, to help direct the rescue ship... What a loser, she thought as she entered the elevator, I have to thank Master Rathon for sending these ships when he did. To think I might of had to spend hours in there with him. Uck.

She reached the bridge and was stopped by a built man who towered over her. "Who is this little girl on my bridge?" His voice boomed, "Has she come to relieve me of command?"

"UNCLE JARQUEN!" yelled Elisee as she jumped on him to give him a giant hug.

"Hey little one!" He said as he picked her up and spun her around, "What are you doing here? Did you accomplish your mission?" He cracked a smirk.

"Sir, yes sir! Mission accomplished." She smiled as she saluted him.

"Good, then let's pick up this Jedi scum and return you to your father. Shall we?" He said to her as he turned back to his clone bridge crew. Obviously, they were only loyal to Rathon as he had had the Black Triumvirate crews staffed by clones he had made on Kamino. These three ships plus the Shadow of War were the only ones in his fleet like this however...

"Sounds like a plan, Rear-Admiral Jarquen. Proceed with your mission..." Elisee said as she stood beside him, "Oh, and what about the new Tector-class ships were were supposed to be receiving from our families on Kuat?"

He smiled at her, "Listening to your father's and my communications have you? Well you'll be delighted to know that we were able to push through a deal and purchase three *jet black* ships at a discounted rate. We are going to pick them up after we deliver these Jedi to Rhen Var."

"Jedi Master Bryon Arklight, this is Rear-Admiral Oberon Jarquen of the 5th Strategic Response Fleet's Republic's Fire. You are to land your forces in any of the three ships here and we will leave this system."

Byron was about to respond until his sensors alerted him to five ships entering the system and he looked to his rear to see five ships exit Hyperspace unfortunately these being Separatist ships. Admiral Kaizer had arrived to deliver reinforcements to the former Captain of the Recursant before he was torn to bits by a piece of debris from the wrecked Star Destroyer hitting the Bridge of his Destroyer, but Kaizer was not aware of said development. Thus as he sat in the Command Chair on the Bridge of his modified Providence-Dreadnought, the Tyrant, he was trying to contact Captain Marok.

"Captain Marok, where are you you pathetic worm." Then they did pick up a Separatist signal, coming from one of the Frigates under fire by the three Republic warships. An OOM series Commander Droid looked around nervously and rubbed the back of its head as it was put on the line with Admiral Kaizer. "Where is Captain Marok you bucket of bolts? First he demands my presence and then he ignores my transmissions." The Droid hesitated before answering. "Uh I believe he was terminated sir." Kaizer shot to his feet in anger and grabbed a passing Battle Droid headed to its station. "Is that so? Well this is what I do to rust buckets that deliver me bad news." He picked up the Droid with one hand using the Force and then it slowly began to crush and compartment itself until it was just a little ball of scrap which he tossed to the BX-Series Commando Droid's on guard duty. "Take that to the Incinerator with the rest of the garbage."

Kaizer sat down and gripped the arms of his chair in a manner so aggressive that one might think he would break off the arms of the chair. "Listen here binary doltz, you are to resume attack on the Republic forces, I don't care how damaged your ships are, press the attack!" With that he cut off the transmission and observed his own strategic position. Aside from his own ship, he also had at his disposal a Recursant-Destroyer and three Munificent-Star Frigates. Kaizer was thinking of a way to strike a blow to the Republic forces when he thought up the perfect idea. There were around a hundred or so Escape Pods still floating in space from the wrecked Star Destroyer. Along with more than a hundred ships of varying classes that had escaped the Star Destroyer before it exploded.

"Commander," He addressed his Tactical Droid. "..focus your fire on the Republic Escape Pods and their ships fleeing the Star Destroyer wreckage. Order our Frigates to use their Dual Turbolaser cannons to fire on the Republic ships from afar, target the Star Destroyer on the farthest right." He smirked as a spread of lasers fired off into the wreckage, striking Escape Pods and blowing them to bits as well as hundreds of Vulture Droids being sent in to tangle with Arklight and his escapee's of the Star Destroyer.

Kaizer went on an open frequency transmission so as to meet the enemy. "Attention Republic scum! I am Admiral Kaizer of the Separatist Alliance! Surrender now and your men may yet be spared the torture that such a death at my hands would incur. Or you can fight and be destroyed. Personally I prefer that you try and fight me, so I get the high pleasure of killing you all." With that he cut the transmission and turned to the Tactical Droid with a rather evil smirk. "Send the Hyena Bombers to attack them, versatile formation to increase chance of success. Give them fallback orders that if they cannot make it to drop their payload they are to terminate themselves and their payload against points of importance on the Republic ships, kamikaze's as it were." And his orders were carried out as several hundred Hyena Droid Bombers sailed away from the fleet, moving about this way and that to decrease their chances of being shot down by Anti-Aircraft Fire.

[Newne Carriebean7]

Gears of War
Metalorn System
OOM-776 'Piratei' felt the ship shake. clearly someone didn't put the fires out, or started new ones.
he pressed a button and a TX droid popped out and walked clunkily down the hallway
" you can never be too sure who you put in charge? now, we are at the..."
" Metalorn system sir."
" Metalorn, ah. right, thank you. now with that, incident in the Roche Asteroids, how many ships do we have left?"
" 2 sir. this one and that frigate."
" thank you for the update, now what are we going to do?"
" I suggest we hold teth, as that was our original mission."
" very well then, signal the fleet to-"
" sir. I suggest we hold teth, as it is a vital planet that we must hold..."
" will you shut up about that TX-27?! stop being that damn goody two shoe, get me the tethian commander."
" roger roger."
a hologram appeared of a man in mandalorian armor.
" sorry about the droid, he's scrap metal now, I rule this system now, the name's Jax. Jax Jaxter, I'm a bounty hunter, we got bored waiting for ya, so I suggest you try and stop us!"
" you have made the wrong move, prepare for the separatist fist in your face!"
" oh, please, I'm ready for it, just make sure to bring company, it gets so lonely here!"
as the hologram disappeared Piratei threw his fists on the table.
" get me in contact with the remaining forces in orbit, and set a course for teth, we're taking it back, no matter what!"
" roger roger!"
Piratei sat down as the veiwscreen was engulfed in blue and white lines.

[Unified Imperial States]

Views of destruction on unimaginable scales permeated the viewing screens of the Exilis' comms center. Distress signals could be heard from various ships and command centers across Geonosis. More than a few officers in the room quietly discussed abandoning the mission and proceeding to help the primary forces in combat.

OOM-375 strode onto the bridge, walking up the stairs to the command pulpit where Captain Thorn monitored the navigation systems. "Sir, Comm Monitors display high losses on Geonosis. Several officers contemplate whether we should proceed there." Looking up from his console display, Thorn gave the droid commander a questioning expression. "Why abandon the mission just to fight a losing battle commander? They've taken a major droid foundry from our possession. I aim to take something from them. If this subject comes up again, quell it. I won't have dissension in the ranks." The droid nodded as it backed off. "Very well, sir." It walked back off the bridge. Thorn contemplated what he was truly going to be able to accomplish on this mission. Truth be told he would much rather be raiding Republic supply lines and commerce lanes. Only time would tell.

Weeks had passed since the Exilis left Hypori, and it was finally nearing it's destination. On the bridge, Thorn had assembled his officers. "We're finally reaching our destination, gentlemen, and my lady", he said, acknowlaging the tall and rather lithe female alien in the back, dressed in a uniform reminiscent of Naval Intelligence. "I'm aware of your concerns regarding this mission. It's a scouting mission, where with these new systems we could bring the fight to the Republic's supply lines and hid them where it hurts. We may be all about that soon enough, but we have new matters to deal with. Where did the Republic get such an extensive army of clones? Our colleague here has the answer". Thorn motioned for the female to come forward. "Thank you, Captain Thorn. Gentlemen, I do in fact have the answer. They came from my race's home planet." The command cadre listened intently as the Kaminoan, named Seva Maro, divulged certain things that undoubtedly the Kaminoan's in general wish to be kept secret. When she finished, the captain dismissed the Cadre to their battlestations. "Prepare systems for combat, we don't know what we'll run into on the other side. Keep as low of a comm signature as we can. Lieutenant Maro, please take the seat next to mine." As the officers dispersed and attended to their individual jobs, Maro leaned over to Thorn. "I certainly hope your systems can hide us from the defense grid's sensors. Our technology is prized among many." "I know", Thorn responded. "Have a little faith. We might all be dead tomorrow, or next year."

The Exilis exited hyperspace, half a lightyear away from the planet so as to avoid detection with the hyperdrive. Droid combat units had been activated in the cargo hold and sent to the Special Operations C&C, where they would be outfitted with special gear in the event they were needed. Vulture droids and a few shuttles outfitted with stealth systems had also been fueled and readied for action in the landing bays. The 42 forward facing torpedo tubes were loaded and primed, enough to give any Star Destroyer a good punch on a well aimed shot.

At speeds thought incapable for stealth systems to hide, the Exilis stalked it's way to Kamino, one Lightyear decimal at a time. Merely hours after exiting hyperspace it was already nearing the planet's gravity well.