01.17: The Light Begins to Dim

[22 BBY]

[Approaching Nabat, Groundside, Ryloth, Ryloth System]

She was getting annoyed by Skyguy sending her away with these sneaky sneaks when she should be charging with her Master and Master Kenobi to beat the droids and free the slaves. Instead...she could to stay with the mask-guy who'd failed at being a padawan or something, and then left the Order. That was shocking...terrifying even...Ahsoka found; she couldn't imagine leaving and not being a Jedi. Even weirder there weren't any clones amongst the Republic Troopers, but there were using droids of all things!

Oh...well, Skyguy had R2tooie, but this wasn't the same! These were like Grievous's Magna-Guards maybe, and they'd used droidekas when she landed, and it was strange to have them just behind her as they....sooooo slowlyyyyy....edged around the droid forces while her Master and Obi-wan, and Cody were already in the fight with the bad guys. They were moving forward sure, but it was like everything spooked them, scouting ahead with tiny droid scouts and Troopers with a stop, move quickly, stop again, start, stop, start...ugh it was just frustrating when there were people suffering so close to her. Couldn't General Helmet-head feel it?

Maybe not, he'd failed at being Jedi, so that was it possibly?

'Ugh...more crawling in the dirt? Oh, come on!' she complained to nobody as she found herself being motioned to get down as they reached a sparsely wooded and rock area up in the hills overlooking the village where the Twi'leks were being held prisoner. If they'd let her she could run ahead, scout out the area, take out the droids, rescue the slaves, and then come back and they'd still be only half-way there...

...General Helmet-head's right arm came up, forming a fist with his armoured hand, and the squad around her came to a stop. Reluctantly Ahsoka did the same, staying crouched down under some rock face with dried and ugly shrubbery around them as her 'Superior Officer' knelt down, hand pressing at the buttons on the other arm so a holographic map sprung into existence. Seconds later the little comm unit on her montral sprang to life, an armoured hand gesturing at her to come over even as the voice seemed directed at others.

{Squad/Site/Affirm}

Whatever the response was Ahsoka didn't hear it as she knelt down beside the General as he nodded his head, murmuring something with a hand pressed to a button on his suit before lowering it and looking at Ahsoka "We are just about in position, we're overlooking the enemy position in a few steps...." he motioned at the holographic image "...here's the enemy position, tank here and here, and that looks like the tactical droid near the proton canons. Much as I'd like to hit hard and destructive they've got prisoners as slave-shields scattered all around the cannons and camp"

'Kriffing Seppies, what new low can they drop too!' Ahsoka glared at the image "So we bust in and save them? What do you need me to do?"

"No, well, we will bust in, but we need to cheat first" that slightly synthesized voice replied and she glanced at him in confusion.

"Cheating?"

"As in; Use the Force Commander Tano"

She couldn't help but frown "The Force is not Cheating, it is..."

General Helmet-head waved his free hand at her comment as if swatting away an insect "Yeah, it kinda is, but we need to be creative, and subtle, hence using our Force abilities"

'About time!' she thought to herself hand moving towards her lightsaber "So I take out the Tactical Droid"

He sighed, free hand touching his helmeted head a moment "No. There is more to the Force than using a flashy laser sword you know? No, we're going to move droid-poppers quietly into position around the camp, and then set them off just as we start our assault. I don't want those droids cutting down innocents as part of some last 'kriff you!' order from above"

Ahsoka fidgeted, hand touching her lightsaber hilt "Are you sure..."

"Yes, I am Commander Tano, so the shiny can opener can wait..." he came back, and she was sure he was amused despite his weirdly controlled Force signature and lack of any sign of it in his tone "...my troopers will drop EMP detonators, we ensure they don't just fall off the cliff, then roll them into spots near droid concentrations. Understand?"

"But..."

"Padawan Tano"

She huffed out and looked at the ground "I understand"

"Good, now here..." he motioned at the hologram, then another spot, then another "...here, here, here, and here, are feasible from our current location. Just reach out with your senses and roll the little exploding metal balls. It's just like when you were an Initiate playing pranks, except, ya know, in a war now"

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[22 BBY]

[Approaching Nabat, Groundside, Ryloth, Ryloth System]

I reached out with the Force, guiding my little charges down the slopes along with Tano as I carefully immersed myself in the energy field all around us. Ahsoka Tano was a somewhat 'wild' presence in the Force, and energetic blazing light that reflected the nature of her Master in many ways. Strong too, if unfocused and impatient as I 'led' the surge of power; regulating them by 'guiding' the flow in an indirect manner and encouraging her to meditating through it.

It looked somewhat odd, sitting half-lotus in the middle of a battlefield, but whatever helped keep control as the little balls rolled into the camp out of sight of the droid forces. Skywalker and Kenobi assault seemed to have stalled out, but it was certainly distracting the droids as best I could tell between my senses and the data-feed from our scout units.

Reinforcements had, were, being sent down the valley towards the clone forces under the two Jedi so now was the time to strike; - take out the command droid, secure the prisoners, and then obliterate the droid forces between hammer and anvil of my troopers and the clones. My eyes opened as the last little metal ball rolled into place and my squads of soldiers waited in their clusters around the hills to start the assault. I pressed a button wrist, turning off the small hologram display, and then clicking the command circuit.

"All squads, pick your targets, initiate on my mark" then it was crouching as I moved to the edge of the cliffs, motioning forward my squad as I drew my blaster rifle and began to take aim while staying under cover. All around me my squad were doing likewise, with one of my bodyguard droids dropping into sniper mode while the other entered overwatch mode. Resting down the rifle I brought my hand up to the circuit on my left arm and wrist, readying the activation command on the EMP detonators. Tano at least had the good sense to stay down behind me, waiting eagerly to start a fight though from the 'feel' of her.

"Initiate, Now. All Units Begin Attack" I stated after another eternity as I studied the enemy, waiting for the ideal moment to strike, and then pressing down on the small wrist computer ordering the EMPs to activate. A dozen coronas of electricity flashed into existence around the enemy camp, just as the Tactical Droid's head exploded as sniper rifles began to speak. Dozens of droids dropped, either from the EMP weapons the Clones and my soldiers called droid-poppers of from the initial volley of blaster fire at the more dangerous of the units; or those colour coded for our convenience like with the Clones.

My own blaster-rifle was in my hands in a swift movement, unerringly calm and certain as Force guided senses guided the first and second shots into the distant targets as the neat and organised slave guarding droid camp was careful torn apart. They were slow too, those droids not hit in the first strikes looking around, or firing somewhat blindly up at the hills; those were targeted next as it was best to kill the 'smarter' ones as fast as possible. My hand touched the command circuit, starting to rise up just as I spoke "Phase 2 Initiate, Overwatch Squad Cover"

I could have used...wasted...the Force to jump, but I triggered the jetpack instead like the rest of my squad as our 'jump infantry' lived up to their names by jumping off the cliffs. Three squads descended, mine to secure the prisoners, one to secure the Proton Cannons, and the third, the Heavy squad, to prevent the droids coming back up the valley at us. I was weird, going from standing to 'falling' and I resisted the sudden urge to case Feather-Fall as I shoot at a surviving droid even as the ground rose up to greet me...

"Ooofff" I grunted as my booted feet impacted the ground, a little rough on the landing but not a problem as I braced moved...sorta fell...to one knee and began to scan for targets with my rifle. Of which there were none now apparently, just the fearful and sobbing Twi'leks who hadn't realised they'd been rescued as yet....just that scary armoured people had landed amongst them as things started exploding around them. That was fine for the moment, none of them had died, and we'd got the canons under control it looked like.

"Squad Leaders Sound off! Alpha Secure"

"Beta: Cannons Secure"

"Delta here; Overwatch Secure, No enemies in sight"

"Epilson Squad, we've fighting distant but no droids alive in sight"

"Braika, Heavy Squad in place, shields deployed, limited resistance"

"Copy Squads, Phase 3, defend this location at all costs" I replied before triggering the command link to the skies above and the Hammer strike-force under Kenobi and Skywalker "This is Aegis, we have Site Secure and Cannons under control. Repeat Site Secure, Cannons down, Skies are Clear"

General Geen's voice echoed in my ears as I motioned for my squad-mates to start helping the startled, but calming, Twi'leks whose hopes surged I could feel at the sight of Tano's shining energy blade "Copy Aegis; hold position, beginning Drop"

"Wow that was....easy. Weird I...ugh, didn't even...doesn't matter"

I nodded at Tano, turning towards her as I motioned around us "Preparation is Key and Unity is Strength; mundane things win battles often enough....like now, so show that shiny can opener to the prisoners and lets et then into shelter quickly as possible. If we're lucky the enemy around are finished, but we have to assume they might try a counter-attack before the Legions land on top of them and I don't want any caught in the crossfire if I can help it...."