A Dark Jedi whose species and sex was hidden by their loose robes and facemask, was deflecting blue blaster bolts left and right, keeping the firing line of Super Battle Droids behind them safe and free to fire at the Republic position up ahead. The Dark Jedi then saw a spark in the distance. Upon focusing their view into the sparking object, they saw that it was a rocket fired at their position. The Dark Jedi jumped behind the Super Battle Droid line to remain protected from the constant blaster fire as they lowered their lightsaber and channeled the force to redirect the projectile. They stood still as they began causing the rocket to spin wildly in the air, when suddenly a blue sniper bolt came from the Republic position, went through a gap in the droid line and punched right through their chest. Their lightsaber clicked off as they staggered backwards and fell lifelessly to the ground.
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"Target neutralized." Mech reported through their comms.
"Good shot, Mech. I couldn't get an angle on the bugger." Spotter replied. Their comms once again came to life, this time a transmission that was crackling with much more static. Spotter pressed two fingers against the side of his helmet as he received the transmission.
"Kappa Squad, Kappa Squad, Kappa Squad, this is Gamma Company. We are interdicting enemy reinforcements, you have a window to advance to General Skywalker. Be advised, Dark Jedi forces inbound, expect melee contacts, over." A clone's voice said through the speakers. Spotter saw a waypoint marker appear on his HUD a good distance away from their location denoting the coordinates of Gamma Company.
"This is RC-4129. We read you, Gamma Company. Preparing to make our move now. We'll let you know once we have made contact with General Skywalker's forces. Kappa Squad out." Spotter replied on the frequency while his team shot off a couple more sniper rounds. He then turned to the two Jedi they were with and called their attention.
"Generals! Gamma Company is engaging enemy forces and giving us an opening to move in on General Skywalker's position. We have to move, now!" Spotter shouted to them over the sound of blaster fire.
"Then let's start moving out! Squads Epsilon and Beta, stay here and hold this position. Cover us from long range with rifles and heavy weapons. Squads Alpha and Tide, pack it up and get ready to move!" Bikarim ordered while still defending their position from blaster bolts.
"Sir, yes sir!" The clone troopers replied. Epsilon and Beta started taking up positions in higher vantage points and setting up
E-WeB guns behind debris cover. The 2 other squads had a couple members sling anti-armor and heavy blaster weapons on their back.
"Alpha team ready! Tide's ready!" The squads reported while still.
"Keep a tight formation, everyone and cover the flanks. Epsilon, Beta, we're waiting on your go signal" Bikarim said as the squads quickly set up a around 3 defensive turrets while the rest continued firing from cover.
"Kappas we're going to split into two. Signal, you're with me. We'll cover our right flank. Cockpit, Mech, you two have our left flank. Switch your DC's to blaster mode and take down anything focusing on us that isn't being shot or suppressed. The Generals will lead the way and clear a path from the center. Keep following the formation, run and gun, and don't lag behind for anything! Understood?" Spotter ordered.
"Yes, squad leader!" They answered simultaneously.
Epsilon's and Beta's heavy guns started firing into the droid line to suppress snipers and Dark Jedi and mow down the unlucky ones in front as their snipers began picking off targets.
"E-WeB's ready, sir! GO!" Epsilon's squad leader announced as the heavy blasters started firing a storm of bolts into the enemy position.
"Forward!!!" Bikarim cried as he leaped over debris in front of him with Jovardo by his side. The clone troopers all jumped in behind them while Kappa squad took their position on the flanks. The moment they all popped out of cover was a chaotic moment filled with the sound of whizzing blaster bolts, DC's firing, and battle cries of the clones.
"LET'S GO BOYS!"
"Move it! Move MOVE!"
"Don't stop running!"
"For the Republic!"The formation of two Jedi, 10 clone troopers, and 4 commandos quickly ran through the open ground, firing into the droid positions in the distance. They could see the gunship driven into the ground. It was around a little less than 200 meters away from them, the surviving crew firing from what little cover they had. They continued their advance as Bikarim and Jovardo deflected blaster fire that came through the center. A multitude of droids were shooting at them, and while Epsilon and Beta were occupying a number of them, there were still a few who focused their fire. Spotter heard one clone cry out from being hit barely a minute into their charge. Meanwhile, he was shooting at any droids that were focusing on them for more than 2 seconds.
Red blaster bolts kept flying through the air. A lot passing dangerously close to him. One even hitting him on the shoulder, but was thankfully negated by the Katarn armor's deflector shields as he saw the shield status on his HUD decrease. He kept scanning around for more targets and then saw the CIS forces setting up another heavy gun as the location wasn't being suppressed. It was to the far left of them, already halfway set-up, and judging by the direction it was pointing in, they were going to shoot at them and not the men in the gunship.
"General! They're gonna have a heavy turret firing on us from eleven 'o-clock in 5 seconds!" Spotter shouted at the Jedi.
"Get to cover! Everyone into that pit!" Bikarim commanded as he pointed at a crater in the ground of the field. Spotter marked it with a waypoint to help direct his squad to it better. He glanced back at the turret and saw the commando droid gunner starting to adjust their aim.
"Everybody down!" Spotter shouted as he dived into the crater. The Jedi were already there with their lightsabers off while his squad jumped down with him. The heavy blaster started firing shots through the air above them. While most of them made it inside, a clone trooper carrying an anti-tank rocket launcher was the last go in, and got shredded with blaster shots before dropping dead into the pit.
"Zik, take the launcher!" one of the clone troopers ordered as their squadmate crawled over to the body and undid the straps of the weapon.
"We can't stay here, sir! If we stick around too long, they'll flush us out with explosives and cut us down while we're out in the open." Spotter said, facing towards the Jedi masters. Bikarim brought up his arm-mounted communicator as some clones crawled to the edge of the crater and peeked out slightly to return fire.
"Epsilon, do you read? Can you or Beta take out the gun position, eleven o-clock from our location? We're pinned down here." He said.
"Negative sir! Our position doesn't have an angle on them!" The clone replied on the comms.
"Clever droids... What now?" Jovardo asked. One of the clone troopers returning fire flinched as a blaster bolt hit the ground an inch from his face as he retreated deeper into the crater.
"That gun's got us pinned down good. We can't advance while its active. And we can't shoot it while its focused on us!" The trooper remarked.
"What about a distraction then? I can come out to draw the gun's attention while you guys take it down!" Cockpit suggested.
"Are you crazy? Your shields will be vaporized in seconds!" Signal retorted.
"Well we're going to die anyway if we just sit here with a thumb up our rear-guards!" Cockpit replied assertively.
"Perhaps I can be the distraction. I can reflect fire as it's coming at me-" Jovardo began.
"No way, sir. They've got too much concentrated firepower. You'll be overwhelmed!" A clone trooper interrupted.
"Blast it... We're running out of time and we need to do something, fast!" Bikarim exclaimed. Spotter looked away from the group and towards the open ground to their right.
"What if they can't see them..." Spotter said quietly. He turned back towards his allies.
"Thermal detonators. I can blow them up in front of Cockpit once he steps out. It will create a large blast and kick up fire and dirt to obscure the gunners vision. Once they can't see him, Cockpit can hit the ground to avoid the blaster fire while we take out the gun position!" Spotter said.
"Why Cockpit, sir?" Signal asked.
"It's too risky to send out the generals, and they'll have a tough time reflecting blaster fire if they can't see where its coming from behind the blast. Our shields make us the best option." Spotter answered.
"We'll keep the shots off of you all once we get up. We all start moving the moment that heavy gun is down!" Bikarim said.
"Ok, I'll do it. But you guys better take them out on the first try because I am NOT doing this twice!" Cockpit said as he crawled over to the right edge of the crater next to Spotter.
"Kappas, DC's to sniper mode! Everyone get ready to fire." Spotter ordered as he reconfigured his DC-17 into a sniper rifle and then prepared a Thermal Detonator. He waited once everyone had their weapons locked and loaded. Then, he clicked the Detonator's trigger.
"GO! GO! GO!" Spotter shouted as Cockpit jumped out of the crater and fired at the gun emplacement while strafing to the right.
"Free target right here, you stupid piles of scrap!" Cockpit shouted as he unloaded at them in blaster mode. The gunner swung the turret to Cockpit's direction while holding down the trigger, with some stray shots from the gun already causing his deflector shields to glow in reaction. Spotter then threw the detonator to land in front of Cockpit, but at a safe enough distance. The detonator exploded and Cockpit went prone as soon as it did, with the gunner still shooting into the smoke, but shooting too high to hit the commando.
"TAKE THEM DOWN!" Spotter shouted as they all got up, clones with their guns ready, and the Jedi with their lightsabers drawn. The gunner immediately went down in the initial storm of blaster fire while the units supporting the gunner were quickly sniped by Kappa Squad's sniper fire. They immediately started making a break for it.
"Back to blaster mode, squad! Signal, take Cockpit and watch the right flank. Me and Mech have the left!" Spotter ordered as they climbed out. Signal went over to Cockpit and pulled him up as they continued running with the formation.
"THIS is why we're NOT supposed be on the frontlines!" Cockpit exclaimed as he got up and ran with him.
"We're getting close to the gunship. Keep going!" Bikarim ordered as they continued running and gunning towards the crashed gunship. Another clone trooper cried out in pain as their closer distance to the droid position made it easier to get hit. Signal and Mech took a few hits as well, causing their shields to glow. Spotter's perception of time was blurred as his shooting and target-selecting became nearly instinctual in the chaos of the charge. They began nearing it and some clone troopers gestured towards the blue 501st soldiers defending the crash site.
"Sir, the squad's shields are failing! We need to get to cover now!" Signal shouted. Another unlucky clone carrying a
Z-6 Rotary blaster cannon on his back went down as a shot nailed them in the leg. They attempted to continue crawling, but 2 shots to the chest and 1 to their head put them down for good.
"Everyone into the trench, now!" Bikarim ordered. They jumped into the trench left by the ship while Bikarim and Jovardo defended them until they were all inside. After the Jedi jumped in, they continued forward towards the ship as they kept their heads low for the final push.
"How much did we lose? Jovardo asked as they jogged through the trench.
"We lost 4 men, sir. Two from each squad. There's 6 of us left. We lost one rocket launcher and the Z-6 cannon, but we still have one more Anti-tank launcher and a deployable turret as both the turret itself and munition carrier made it." a clone replied. Once they were behind the gunship, they climbed out.
Bikarim and Jovardo took positions on the left and right side of the gunship respectively, immediately starting to deflect blaster fire to defend the clones.
"Set up with what we have. Hold this position at all costs!" Bikarim ordered before turning to the 501st soldiers.
"How's, Master Skywalker?" Bikarim asked.
"He's out of commission, sir! He got knocked out cold when we landed!" The blue-armored clone replied. The clone troopers that the Jedi had brought were already setting up the turret and providing extra firepower with their carbines. Signal and Cockpit supported the two Jedi with blaster fire while Spotter went with Mech to check up on the unconscious Jedi. They saw Anakin Skywalker pressed against the back of the gunship with a clone medic tending to them.
"How is he? Spotter asked.
"He's still out of it, but he'll live. We just have to make sure he doesn't get killed while he's still unconscious." The medic replied.
"Alright then, Mech give Cockpit a hand on his side of the ship. I'll join up with Signal!" Spotter ordered as he took position next to Bikarim, behind a detached ball turret of the gunship. Near him, the remaining clones of Alpha Squad were setting up their E-WeB turret and attaching the power source to get it up and running as Bikarim kept them protected from blaster fire.
He pressed his back against the ball turret and opened up a comm frequency with the leader of Gamma company.
Gamma Company. Gamma Company. This is Kappa Squad reporting in. We have made contact with General Skywalker's forces. The General is incapacitated but he's alive. We're holding position with some additional forces to secure the area. We'll update you once extraction arrives." Spotter said into the comms.
He then changed frequencies to contact their advisor.
"Advisor, we have reached General Skywalker and are holding position. What's the status on the extraction team?" Spotter asked as he popped out of cover to fire a burst of rounds at a squad of advancing B1's.
"Good work, squad. Extraction is still on the way. They have encountered some enemy resistance but nothing too serious. ETA is 15 minutes. Hold out until they arrive to get you all out of there." The advisor replied as the comms shut off.
"This is going to be a long 15 minutes... Spotter thought as the droid position didn't seem to have any shortage of combatants. And he was expecting the two Dark Jedi holding their position to make a move at any moment.
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