18 Battle of Felucia (Part I)
Anakin turned his gaze to his lightsaber and then at Ahsoka, she was looking pretty bruised, but her eyes were still determined. The training was rough but war waited for no one and Anakin was not known for being gentle.
"You are improving, and I like how much your endurance has improved. Before a couple of minutes into the fight and a few bruises and you were done, now? Now you are taking it with the best of them. I'm proud of you, but you still aren't there yet."
Dashing forward Anakin smashed Ahsoka's blade and went for a gut punch with his off hand. However the blow was quickly deflected with a downward swing of her left arm, forcing Anakin to retreat to avoid Ahsoka's counterattack.
Ahsoka didn't miss the opportunity to go on the offensive, her lightsaber always in motion, never letting off the pressure, at which point Anakin smiled.
"Tell me, what do you think of General Grievous," Anakin said, kicking Ahsoka to get back on the attack, slashing rapidly and very hard at Ahsoka's lightsaber, feeling himself sweating heavily from the physical exertion along with his body heating up from the effort, it may not have been a very intense workout but constant exercise was more costly than intense.
Gasping as she pushed Anakin with the force Ahsoka began to use the hangar to run from Anakin and gain a respite from Anakin's heavily aggressive attack while beginning to taunt Grievous.
"He's a clanker, we'll defeat him easily in this offensive and with that we win the war, I don't know what all the drama is with that tin can." She said as she ran down the wing of a LAAT.
Anakin jumped onto the LAAT wing and chased Ahsoka around, every few moments another exchanging jabs until she jumped higher up, abandoning the LAAT and staying in a platform near to the roof.
"It's over, I have the high ground." Ahsoka said, her mouth set in a confident smirk, the height advantage gave her the chance to defeat her master for once.
Anakin laughed, with a gesture he sent her crashing down off the platform, just before she hit the ground Anakin caught her with the force preventing further harm.
Aside from her pride of course.
"You underestimated my power!" Shouted Anakin, laughing as he jumped from the LAAT, Ashoka held firmly by the force right in front of him.
Ahsoka stared up the roof of the Hangar roof from her position on the floor, stewing at her loss.
"Defeat is a good teacher, or so Yoda says, don't be sad. It's normal to lose but you're getting the hang of it a few more months and this will seem like child's play." He reassured.
"You know for a Jedi you go for a lot of cheap shots."
Anakin frowned slightly before chuckling.
"If you can talk so much it means you can still train."
Ahsoka ignited her lightsaber as she righted herself, giving Anakin a playful glare.
"Bring it."
—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mania looked at the battle plans her four sisters were handling, one hundred Venator class destroyers and two Maelstrom battleships were being brought to bear. Although the Venator was a fine spacecraft and served its many duties well there was no denying that it was not the best option to rely solely on Venators, the lack of variety in spacecraft was an easy que soy weakness to exploit.
With the number of fighters boasting, simply bringing more Venators was nearly pointless.
"I'm not experienced in creating spaceships larger than a LAAT, but I can add further ship development to our plans, I lose nothing by doing so." Said Mania.
Hera glared at Mania's intervention but CC-0001 quickly nodded, giving her approval.
"If it's not too much trouble I would appreciate it if you could give us more alternatives in the future, this battle is complicated by the Republic's ineptitude." Tanya said, zooming out the holo map.
"This is a trap, we need to double the number of enemy frigates, add a few Lucrehulks, if it's an ambush they should have half again their numbers at least in a nearby system. Start again from scratch." Tanya said quickly, putting away the battle plan and pulling out a new empty one. Medusa and Hestia sighed, going back to work on recreating a new battle as Tanya sat and stared at the ceiling.
"This is the decisive battle, but even if they win they would not have enough forces to attack Coruscant, unless we have been very optimistic with their losses on Megytoo and Geonosis. There is also the question of the Hutt, who are in disarray are still a criminal empire capable with large economic capacities, it won't be long before they recover."
Looking at the plan her Sister's were making, Tanya brooded over the projected enemy forces.
"If we completely destroy the fleet... we can continue the assault on the enemy capital, win the war there and then."
Suddenly Tanya came to a startling realization.
After the war, precisely what awaited the clones, the slave soldiers of the republic.
The Republic was a flawed, corrupt, inept, blind government, would they care to maintain an army? Would they disband it? If they did, what would be the fate of her and hers? Her new family she loved as any rational person should.
Tanya listened to her Sister's conversation, estimating the chance of winning the war in a few months. Yet neither gave any thought about what would happen next.
The truth was that no one was thinking about their future, everyone was focused on winning the war and absolutely no one was thinking about what would happen next. No matter how good a relationship they had with Chancellor Palpatine it was clear that he was as powerful as the Senate wanted him to be. The same Senate would regain its power once the war was over if Palpatine's promises were correct.
The door opened and a shorter figure in a cadet's uniform entered. All the sisters turned to greet the new arrival with a smile that Hecate responded in kind. However Tanya, in her deep thought had not noticed her, was blindsided by the lunging hug.
"Schwester!" She cried out excitedly, speaking the language of the Sisters.
"Na Hekate, wie geht's dir? Konntest du etwas Zeit mit deinem Bruder Rex verbringen?" Questioned Tanya, as she adjusted herself in her seat,stroking Hecate's head all the while.
"Ja, er ist voll nett! Wir haben mit einigen Brüder aus der 501sten verstecken gespielt, und dann ist noch dieses komische orangene Mädchen vorbeigekommen und hat mitgemacht!" She enthused. Tanya continued to smile down at her littlest Sister, feeling refreshed at Hecate's childish attitude.
"Das freut mich. Das Mädchen heißt übrigens Ahsoka. Wenn es dir nichts ausmacht, könntest du vielleicht zu Rex gehen und ihm sagen das er für ein paar Stunden auf dich aufpassen soll? Ich habe gerade viel zu tun, werde aber später bei dir sein." Instructed Tanya as she let the Sister go, Hecate pouted before leaving the way she came.
Hera felt a pang of sympathy as she watched Hecate leave.
"Poor thing, she's had it even worse than us. I can't imagine what it felt like to be experimented on by the Kaminoans for years, it would be truly horrible."
Mania frowned before looking at the map again, ignoring her little sister.
"I want my legion to lead the assault on the Malevolence." She said, Mania's legion was likely the best suited to an assault due to Mania's modifications on her own troops. Hestia and Medusa nodded while Hera was simply silent. Tanya stood up from the chair and looked at the map again.
"If those are your wishes, we will use your's and Lion's legions."
—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Grievous was in the command center of the Malevolence, the planet of Felucia was under siege and the rats that had snuck onto the ship were being hunted down, though they were tough to crack.
"Any new report?" Grievous said, approaching a droid in charge of communications. He began moving folders around the screen until he found what he was looking for.
"Last report an hour ago, one hundred venators and two Maelstrom."
Grievous nodded and continued walking, taking the Republic into a decisive battle to destroy their naval capabilities for months was the only option for the Separatists to survive and Grievous knew it.
"I suppose the war will last for decades," he said, putting both arms behind his back as he thought about Dooku's orders. From the beginning it was expected that the droid armies would maintain a status quo with the clone armies while large penetration forces attacked strategic points, destroying them and handing victory to the Separatists.
However, the Supreme Clone Commander opted for an internal mobilization plan, constantly moving large forces into secure Republic systems to make major offensives, taking over dozens of systems and then leaving several clone legions on the defensive alongside local armies.
A clone defensive war was expected, however the Supreme Commander decided to attack and after inflicting heavy defeats and forcing the Separatist army to fight on fronts they did not want to fight on several times, any hope of the original plan working was dashed. Grievous warned Dooku of this several times but no one ever listened to him, almost as if he didn't care. Forcing him to now make a decisive battle so that the Republic cannot follow any longer this strategy and stall the front lines while the Republic recovers its ships and armies.
"Forcing me to work to win a war while seeming to want to lose the war, not to mention the representatives of the Trade Federation. Trade rats without the knowledge of what honour is, constantly complaining about the heavy losses of the Separatist armies and mostly blaming these defeats on me"
If Grievous had a Nemodian near him now, he wouldn't have hesitated to cut off its head.
"Estimated arrival time?" Grievous asked.
"One week," said the same communications droid.
"Right, deploy the chemical weapons, let's decimate the armies on Felucia while we can."
It wouldn't be long before they could finally leave Felucia.
—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Grievous brooded as he gazed out into space, the shrill cry of sirens blaring could be heard as the enemy dropped out of hyperspace.
"Have the fighters take off, prepare the ion cannon." Grievous commanded never leaving the battlefield, the Venators were in groups of five, and steadily deploying fighters. Grievous estimated it would take another ten minutes for the Venators to finish deploying their fighters.
"How long until the reinforcements arrive?" asked Grievous.
"Fifteen minutes, sir." Answered a nearby droid.
Nodding Grievous returned his gaze to his target.
"Target the Maelstrom-class battleship."
The B1 gave a timid "Roger, Roger." and began to calculate the shot necessary to disable the battleship.
In a carrier battle, the Separatists had the advantage, the sheer number of troops and ships they had is what allowed the Separatists to take so many planets as quickly as they did. Grievous watched as a Maelstrom closed in on his ships. Grievous estimated that it would take dozens of his ships if allowed to engage… And that was assuming total fighter superiority.
"A second battleship is likely either cloaked or preparing a small hyperspace jump to surprise us. Prepare all batteries for a sudden approach." Grievous commanded as he watched the enemy formation, when he noticed something. He quickly pulled an image to the display of their approaching fighters
"They have many Jedi fighters…"
Jedi fighters were very easy to identify, but contrary to expectations, they were a strategic asset, a single Jedi fighter could change a battle, to have so many here...
Grievous then recalled Geonosis.
"Ion cannon operator, change target, the formation identified as formation ten has a greater number of Jedi than the other formations, fire ion cannon when ready.
The Jedi fighters were very fast but the chances of them being able to evade the ion cannon were slim, by the time the Maelstrom got close enough to be a threat they would have a second shot ready, prioritizing weakening the Jedi fighters was the best course of action… And only had a 7% chance of failing by his calculations.
"But General, there is a separatist frigate in the path of the shot." Another droid observed as Grievous calculated the benefits and losses of such an action.
"Continue firing, the loss of the frigate will only effect us minimally, the loss of those Jedi fighters will severely affect the enemy."
"...Roger, Roger." Agreed the droid.
The Malevolence began to slowly turn, pointing its ion cannon towards its target. Where most of the Jedi were deploying from.
The Malevolence's ion cannon fired, cutting through space disabling the separatist frigate. The Venators and fighters began evasive maneuvers. But all efforts were in vain as they were consumed by the blast, soon drifting helplessly in the void.
Grievous nodded with satisfaction as a droid shouted a single phrase.
"A Republican ship is coming out of hyperspace... THEY'RE TOO CLOSE, EVASIVE MANEUVERS, WE'RE GOING TO COLLIDE!"
Grievous watched as a Maelstrom battleship emerged from hyperspace just a few kilometers from the Malevolence, hurtling incredibly fast and on a collision course with the Ion Cannon.
"Now I understand, they were taking time to calculate the coordinates for a collision course out of hyperspace, they drew my attention to the Jedi on purpose, they knew I would fire on such a concentration of Jedi. Certainly the Supreme Clone Commander is clever." He admitted. Barely a minute passed when the Republic Battleship slammed into the ion cannon, destroying it in the process, the impact almost shearing his ship in half..
"Tactical Droid, I grant you control of the Malevolence," Grievous said, finally bringing his two arms in front of him, readying his lightsabers. "It seems the clones want to board us and it would be rude not to attend the guests."
"But the plan?" Inquired the tactical droid, approaching Grievous.
"It hasn't changed, only the fun I will have, stick to the plan, reinforcements will be arriving soon.
The tactical droid looked at Grievous and then at the battlefield.
"Roger, Roger."
—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"You know, when they told me this would be fun, I didn't expect fun to mean we were going to crash the ship WITH US ONBOARD!" Ahsoka shouted as she avoided the fire of the approaching B2s, Lion and several soldiers exchanging fire with the clankers as a Big Brother simply weathered the fire and returned it two fold.
"What do you mean? I'm having fun.!" Chuckled Anakin, enjoying the thrill of battle, with an effort of force he pushed the B2's back, sending their formation into chaos. Both Anakin and Ahsoka rushed through the break in fire, cutting them down as they went.
"If you say so Skyguy." Ahsoka added with a grin, with the fight over Anakin responded by giving Ahsoka a playful shove.
"I in fact do say so, Snips." He said between guffaws as Lion and his clones advanced over the corpses, some stumbling along the way due to the amount of droids on the ground, doing a poor job of ground work.
"General Skywalker, while I appreciate your help I think in order to maintain proper discipline I think it would be best to keep the banter to a minimum." Lion commented, head scanning for new enemies.
"Come on, don't be so serious, Lion." Anakin said with a wry chuckle, used to the battle banter.
Lion just shook his head before letting out a wry laugh.
"Whatever."
The lack of discipline infuriated Lion, he could only stand Joker in that regard and even then only for so long.
The dull thumping march of fresh B2s alerted them to the new assault. Anakin readied his lightsaber again as the Big Brother intervened.
"You can't have all the fun." he said, raising his weapon, over two meters long and fifty centimeters wide, a weapon created in a spur of the moment by Mania to deal with Grievous' challenge.
The Big Brother watched as Anakin and Ahsoka moved away while Lion and the clones deafened their helmets.
"SAY HELLO CLANKERS." The Big Brother said, stepping around the corner and firing the giant gun. The roar of the giant slugthrower firing was deafening, the sheer recoil of the cannon was enough to force the giant clone back. When the smoke cleared the only thing left before him was carnage and wreckage. The whole side of the corridor was wrecked, the droids were nothing more than scrap, the largest piece no bigger than a fist.
The Big Brother cackled at the devastation he had wrought.
"Let's keep moving," Lion said, motioning for Anakin and Ahsoka to follow.
The group continued to move forward slowly and methodically, clearing hundreds of droids as they reached the logistics rail inside the ship.
"The only way we are getting to the command center is if you use this tram." Lion said as he began to hack a console, his allies covering him.
"Big Brother, what is your name," Ahsoka said curiously.
"They call me Dan, but Mania calls me Daddy, she says she likes it better." He said wryly, his gaze watchful even as he bantered, ready to level any clankers that dared attack.
"Is it true, you're more metal than flesh?" he asked curiously. Anakin in his curiosity instead of reprimanding Ahsoka listened attentively.
"We are more than our flesh, my arms and legs have been replaced with the surety of steel, and my enhanced skeleton allows my organic parts to handle the force of my modified body." Dan said with great pride.
"And you're not afraid to... become... you know, a..."
Dan laughed again sympathetically.
"I know what you mean, I won't become a mere machine. Mania is wise and Medusa has helped us along the way. We know what we can become and what we want to avoid. We will take this path to free ourselves." He said, approaching Ahsoka and taking a chocolate bar from a storage compartment in his arm.
"Here, I like you." He said, offering the sweet treat. Ahsoka took it, nodding her head and thanking him.
"Eat later." Anakin broke in suddenly, looking more serious than usual, at which point Lion stepped in.
"That's it, a train is going to stop here, I have programmed it to bring us to the bridge. They will know we are coming, so make some cover and get ready." Lion said, quickly everyone started to move boxes to make a defensive position in the train, while most only moved one box at a time, Dan moved two at the same time, each one in one of his arms.
In the train the group faced heavy resistance. The prepared cover was the only reason they did not get vaporized by the sheer volume of fire levied against them. The fire fight was intense but short, put to a swift end by a few thermal detonators, however things became quiet, too quiet as they continued their infiltration.
"They haven't attacked us in what, five minutes? Ten? There must be at least fifty thousand droids on this ship, something is wrong." Anakin commented.
"Joker once told me that the forest becomes silent when a large predator is on the prowl, you don't think…" Lion noted as the tension grew.
Two screams soon answered that question, General Grievous was already among them. He brought his full might to bear against Ahsoka as Ankin was stymied by a clone used as a human shield by Grievous.
Ahsoka was pressured but she was able to defend herself from the assault.
Lion and his brothers gained distance as the battle raged on. Dan was unable to bring his weapon to bear for fear of killing the Jedi. Dropping the cumbersome weapon he rushed Grievous.
Amidst the chaos a plan began to form in Lion's mind.
The Big Brother bore down on Grievous like a runaway train, sending the blindsided general flying.
Lion didn't hesitate, taking up the fallen cannon, he fired. The recoil of the mighty weapon was too much for the clone as a loud crack could be heard as something snapped in his shoulder, sending him crashing to the floor with a grunt.
Not to be out done the clones fired into the smoke, not leaving anything to chance… This may be their only chance to put the monster down for good.
Lion gave the order to stop as he rose to his feet as best he could despite the arm that hung limply at his side.
All was quiet as this one moment seemed to last a single eternity.
Then what they all dreaded happened.
Four lightsabers glowed in the smoke, their dull thrum overpowering in the silence.
"It can never be easy can it?" Anakin noted, the trepidation audible for all to hear.
—----------------------------------------------------------------
Translations:
"Schwester!" = "Sister!"
"Na Hekate, wie geht's dir? Konntest du etwas Zeit mit deinem Bruder Rex verbringen?" = "How are you Hecate, tell me, have you been spending time with your brother Rex?"
"Ja, er ist voll nett! Wir haben mit einigen Brüder aus der 501sten verstecken gespielt, und dann ist noch dieses komische orangene Mädchen vorbeigekommen und hat mitgemacht!" = "Yes, he's a lot of fun! We were playing hide and seek together with 501st and then this weird orange girl came along and joined in!"
"Das freut mich. Das Mädchen heißt übrigens Ahsoka. Wenn es dir nichts ausmacht, könntest du vielleicht zu Rex gehen und ihm sagen das er für ein paar Stunden auf dich aufpassen soll? Ich habe gerade viel zu tun, werde aber später bei dir sein." = "I'm glad, the girl's name is Ahsoka and if you don't mind can you go back to Rex and tell him I asked him to take care of you for a few more hours? I have things to do, I'll be with you later."
