Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Title: Stories
Chapter: 6
Story: A staff of seven and the end
“Like most brothers, there was nothing much about me at all, during my training or in my missions. But I could tell you how Staff his name.”
“Go ahead O’Seven. Tell me,” said Even, dejectedly.
“Staff got his name on Geonosis. He was seen using his DC-15A as his melee weapon when his ammunition ran out and leaned on it as a staff. And I had been keeping my name since Kamino. Like me, there wasn’t anything interesting that happen in his life, so I can’t really tell you anything,” said O’Seven, silently remembering his good friend.
“Is that really all?”
“Didn’t I tell you already?”
Everybody on the table also went silent. Even had just finished chewing his last mouthful of dinner when O’Seven finished talking. He was actually amazed by what they had told him and was unable to believe some of the stories, especially Captain Cross’ story. He began to believe what Zapper said about him in keeping the soldiers in line. What Zapper said actually made sense, in a certain way, but the real situation was probably different than originally thought.
Somehow, Even preferred to talk to Zapper if he wants to get a dose of reality. Smiley if he wants humour. Book and O’Seven if he wants information.
“What about you, Even?” asked Smiley.
Even looked at him and pondered, “It is like what O’Seven said, nothing much happen to most brothers. Besides, I’m still a rookie.”
With that said he just kept quiet and finished his drink. Even finally got up, went to his barracks, had a shower and finally dozed off on his bed. His last image before he slept was looking at his brothers cleaning their weapons and armours.
I am sorry if this ending is disappointing. I don’t know how to write endings. Still, I would prefer if you guys like this story and give your overall reviews.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Title: Stories
Chapter: 5
Story: Booking the moss of spider webs
During his early years while training in Kamino, Book heard the story of how a Mandalorian saved 6 clones from being “reconditioned”, in other words, terminated. Later, he also heard that these 6 clones enjoyed the privilege of having names early in their lives and also running around the training facilities at the same time being trained by their caretaker and other Mandalorians.
The more stories Book heard about the 6, which later be called the Nulls, the more he wanted to meet them. Even though he didn’t like it, Book had to admit that he became a fan of the Nulls. When he was 5 years old, he began to sneak out of his barracks every night just to meet them and also the Mandalorians.
However, he never had the chance to meet any of the Nulls. In the end, the only person Book met was the Mandalorian that trained him and that was just by chance. After meeting the Mandalorian, Book continued sneaking out to meet him after training and dinner for a year and after a while, the Mandalorian decided to teach him. And every time he came back to the barracks, Book was always carrying a book, hiding it in his shirt and was seen by his brothers reading using a small torchlight.
From that point, his brothers kept on calling him Book and the name stick on him. Because of the knowledge he had acquired from the Mandalorian, he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant in his 8th year. Like all original members of the pathfinder regiment, he was from the 9th Assault Corp.
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“I still can’t believe that throughout your ten-year training, you failed in meeting any one of the Nulls,” said Smiley.
“Put that smirk out of your face, Smiley or I’ll break your jaw.”
Everyone at the table, except Zapper was laughing away. As the laughter died down, there was quietness.
“What about the CO of our company, Captain Moss?” asked Even.
“He is just like you, you know,” said Book.
“I heard that before.”
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Before the war erupted, Moss was actually a lieutenant on his way to become a captain. So when the war started, that prospect was ultimately lost from his grasp. However, within a first few months of the war, his performance as a leader was undeniable and soon he was back on track into becoming a captain.
Captain Moss was one of the few unusual clones that were curious about everything. Still, his curiosity was perhaps one of the factors that got him his promotion to captain. After a particular jungle mission early in the war, his armour was covered in moss. And that was how he got his name. There wasn’t anything much about him after that except that he was a volunteer from the 9th Assault Corp.
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“Which jungle mission did he get his name since both you and O’Seven were there with him from the beginning?” asked Even.
“It is classified, Even.”
“Oh come on, lieutenant. We are now in the same team. New guys like me should know.”
“Sorry. I can’t indulge you with that information.”
“Alright. What about Commander Webb then?” asked Even.
Even could see that Book and the others were actually contemplating on what to say.
“The truth is, we don’t actually know his story, except on how he got his name,” said O’Seven.
“Well, his own men refused to tell anything about him, so I don’t really know anything,” said Smiley.
“Then, how did you know about Captain Cross?”
“We used to work with his former regiment when this regiment was still affiliated with the 9th Assault Corp. That is why we know about Cross,” said Book.
“How do you know about Commander Strike when you don’t even know about Commander Webb?”
“We know about Commander Strike because he was once like us. A non-commission officer that worked his way up to become a commander. Basically we all know him without him telling us his story. But for Webb, he already was a commander before this war erupted. Even at my insistence, they only told me about how he got his name,” said Book.
Even felt a bit disappointed, but he certainly wanted to hear anything about Webb.
“Webb’s original name was Eleven, but his men had told me that Webb preferred to use the name Double. When he was promoted, there was policy to encourage commanders to have better names. So after much consideration, he finally called himself Webb,” said Book.
“Webb. Do you know how he got this name?” asked Even.
“I don’t know, but apparently he chose it because the name rhymed with his title,” said O’Seven.
“Now that’s odd.”
“Yes it is.”
“So what about you, O’Seven? Anything to tell?” asked Even.
O’Seven looked at him and smiled wearily.
Title: Stories
Chapter: 4
Story: Crossing the path in a zap
Captain Cross formerly held the rank of major for one of the battalions in the lesser known 33rd Ground Combat Corp serving in the Outer Rim. He was firstly called by his designated number and continued until one particular mission sometime after Geonosis.
In that mission, his battalion was ordered to retake a city from the enemy and specifically to capture a Separatist leader that resided there alive. In the end, his battalion finally captured their target city and the Separatist leader. However, as Cross and his squad were handing the leader over to their Jedi Commander, the Separatist leader suddenly knelt down and begged to be released in exchange for money.
Hearing this, Cross suddenly became very angry, took out his sidearm and killed the Separatist leader right in front of the Jedi and his very men. After handing in his weapons, he was arrested. Cross was supposed to be court-martialled for disobeying a direct order and killing a valuable prisoner, but for the sake of his well-performed military record, he was given only a stern reprimand and also a demotion.
Because of this, many of the clone troopers consider him as a leader who was willing to cross the line into being violent. Thus, he was nicknamed Cross, even though he hated the name and preferred to be called ‘Thirteen’ or ‘One Three’. With the demotion to captain, he was actually transferred to lead a company in the Logistic and Supply Battalion for the 33rd Ground Combat Corp. The transfer had shown Cross that his superiors no longer trusted him to follow orders in combat and he came to resent it.
Commander Webb heard about Captain Cross’ story and knowing his potential, quickly transferred Cross to the 99th Attack Regiment as Commander Webb’s adjutant. Captain Cross was actually grateful for Webb’s faith in him, but he knew that he would be scrutinized by the rest of the regiment.
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“He really killed the Separatist leader?” asked Even.
“That is what I heard. But it is still unbelievable that a brother of his rank would disobey his orders,” replied Book.
“Did he actually admit it?”
“No. Nor did he deny it.”
“And because of that, everybody in the 99th is afraid of pissing him off.”
“He certainly wants to become the toughest chakaar in the whole of GAR,” said Smiley.
“It is one effective way to keep soldiers in line. What is a good way of reminding other soldiers of doing a good job than to have this kind of story sticking to you,” said Zapper.
Everybody went quiet after listening to that answer.
“So, Zapper, what’s your story?” asked Even.
Zapper looked at Even and then looked at his food long enough to make everybody else think that he was considering the question. “You really want to know?”
“Yeah.”
“Alright, I’ll tell you.”
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Zapper was member of 3rd Airborne of the 7th Sky Corp, serving under the famous Commander Cody and the Jedi General Kenobi. However, not all troopers in the Corp were able to see both leaders or work directly under any of them. Most of the time they had to be attached to other combat division or sent to different missions in different systems. And Zapper was one of those who weren’t able to see or work with both famous leaders.
It was because of these missions that he and his brothers fought against the Mandalorians early in the Clone Wars. Losing so many of his brothers basically made the 3rd Airborne angry about anything connected to the Mandalorians.
The only reason why he joined the pathfinder regiment was because he preferred his feet to touching the ground all the time instead of flying around with his jetpack. Somehow everyone knew that he was actually afraid of heights.
Aside from him, there were five other volunteers from the 7th Sky Corp who gave differential reasons, but had one thing in common. The five wanted more action.
Of all places though, Zapper was assigned to Lieutenant Book’s platoon and found out about Book’s mild obsession for Mandalorian culture a few days before their Creat mission. As angry as he was, he still had a job to do and still follow orders.
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“If you are so angry at me Zap, then why didn’t you apply for a transfer to another platoon?”
“As angry as I am, lieutenant, we are professionals. In any given mission, we must cast aside our feelings and stay focus on the job at hand. As for you, lieutenant, for the sake of professionalism, I just tolerated you,” replied Zapper.
O’Seven, Even and Smiley felt the quiet tension between both of them even though the mess hall was noisy with the chatter of other clones. Even was expecting to see Book clenching his fist, but Book remained calm.
“Even?” asked Book.
“Yes.”
“Anything else you want to know?”
“What about you, lieutenant? What’s your story?”
“After all this while, you ask me now?”
“I’m sorry, sir. I just ask what comes into mind.”
“Ok then. I’ll tell you my story.”
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Title: Stories
Chapter: 3
Story: Nothing but a smile
Smiley started out as a just another clone trooper in the 212th Attack Battalion. Nothing really happen during his stint in the battalion, but he had shown some potential in destroying all infantry based droids very quickly and in urban and jungle missions, he did it without being seen. Because of this, he was usually given infiltration missions.
As his skills grew, he was recommended to be trained as a sniper and was actually trained by one of Null ARCs who called himself Jaing. Aside from Jaing, Smiley had received a few tips about infiltration from another Null ARC, Prudii. So unlike Lieutenant Book who wanted to meet one of them so badly, he was very lucky to meet two of them.
However, when he heard about the formation of the pathfinder regiment, he quickly dropped out of the training programme and volunteered to become a pathfinder. Smiley’s reason to become a pathfinder was because he wanted to see more action since a sniper was considered as a support unit instead of fighting first hand on the battlefield.
After joining the regiment, it became obvious that he actually enjoyed shooting down droids as much as possible. There were even reports from his own squad of hearing him laughing away while mowing down droids. How he got his name was quite obvious. Every time his company got a mission, he was always smiling in excitement and after each mission, he was still smiling, but it was more of a smile of accomplishment. His former team-mates from 212th also remember him behaving this way.
Apparently before he joined the pathfinder regiment, he had a smiley face on a yellow circle both on the front and back of his helmet. Since all pathfinders were given green-coloured armour, he summarised that yellow and green don’t go along together and opted to shave his hair into two circles and a curve line. Every time anybody saw the top of his head, they either laugh it off or got irritated by it.
Conqueror was just like any other Venator-class Star Destroyers. What made the ship stand out were the two red circles and a long red curve on its hull. The circles and the curve were actually the repaired area from the damages received during all the battles the ship took part. However, from where the spots were placed, it really looked like a smiley face on the hull of the ship.
The maintenance crew were supposed repaint the spots, but under a lot of argument with a particular clone trooper, they finally paint the areas red. If anyone was looking out from any other ship, they could see two large circular spots and one curving line that made the smiling face.
Thus, the ship had a few nicknames of its own. The most popular ones were The Smiling Conqueror and The Happy Ship. Even the commander of the ship didn’t bother to dispute about the nicknames and didn’t care about the clone trooper who argued with the maintenance crew. His reasoning was that the smiley face could actually boost morale of the crew of the ship and in the matter of fact, it did.
Even though the ship was treated as a joke sometimes and considered by many as overkill in boosting morale, it was undeniable that the ship was commanded by one of the experienced commanders and housed the famous pathfinder regiment.
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“So that is how it happened, huh?” asked Even. “And don’t you think what you are doing is a bit too much, Smiley?”
“I was actually reluctant to force the maintenance crew, but look at how it turns out. If you could bring something positive, isn’t it worth the trouble? Isn’t it worth going to jail or court-martialed for it?”
Even pondered at the question and nodded. “But making your hair like that isn’t that too much?” Smiley just smiled at him without answering.
It was then Zapper, wearing his civilian fatigues came in, took his tray of food and sat down beside them.
“Any more you want to know, Even?” asked O’Seven.
“When I talked to the members of 99th Attack Regiment, they seemed to be afraid of Captain Cross. I asked them about it, but they refused to talk about him. Do any you guys know about this Captain Cross?”
“I heard a rumour about him, but I’m not sure it is true,” said Lieutenant Book.
“I’m all ears.”
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Title: Stories
Chapter: 2
Story: One and the Other
The pathfinder regiment was initially created as an advance force for the 9th Assault Corp to eliminate any possible ambushes and open up any possible ways in the missions that the Corp was involved. The regiment also had another objective, which was to act independently from any other command. From this objective, the pathfinder regiment can actually sent out their companies to help other military divisions without the permission of Commander Gree or Jedi General Luminara Unduli. However, the regiment was still part of the 9th Assault Corp.
With the success of many missions that they’re involved in for the first six weeks of the regiment’s activation, the pathfinders became very popular that they were given a full autonomy. With this status, they could act more independently, reside in any ship the regiment wanted and more importantly, the regiment no longer became part of the 9th Assault Corp and the regiment don’t have any permanent Jedi Commander.
Thus the pathfinders became a separate entity and like the elite crimson Clone Shock Troopers and the blue 501st Legion, their base of operations was located in Coruscant. However, with their tight schedule, only one company resided in Coruscant while the other companies usually resided in ships, often called as Mobile Headquarters by the pathfinders. Commander Strike’s favourite ship was the Venator-class Star Destroyer, Conqueror. Under his leadership, the ship became more and more like a second home to them that the other ships became more like temporarily shelters.
Since it was formerly affiliated with the 9th Assault Corp, Commander Strike had retained the colour green, but made it darker. He also introduced a standard to differentiate the pathfinders from the 9th Assault Corp. On this emblem, two DC-15As were criss-crossing each other inside a circle of small white stars on a green background. Every pathfinder had this emblem on the side of their helmets and their shoulder pads.
The Pathfinder Regiment was initially made up of volunteers from the Corp itself, but since getting full autonomy, volunteers came in from all over GAR, including freshly trained clone troopers.
Before Strike became the commander, he was just a sergeant in one of the companies of the 9th Assault Corp. Through the experience of fighting in the war for almost 6 months, he became an experience tactician. Based on this experience, his superior leadership skills and a few acts of bravery, he got promoted to the rank of Major in one of 9th Assault Corp’s battalions. He even earned a pair of Jaig eyes and even got his own kama and pauldron.
Commander Strike got his name because of his habit of striking hard and fast on his enemies during missions. Because of this, his battalion became a more specialized unit in opening paths for the Corp. For 2 months he led the battalion using this tactic, and Commander Gree finally decided to create the pathfinder regiment within the Corp with Strike as its head. Based on his past military performance and Commander Gree’s recommendation, General Luminara Unduli made him the regimental commander of the pathfinders. However, General Unduli gave him the independence of command, which required him to help other military divisions without having the scrutiny of Commander Gree and General Unduli.
Having to work with so many commanders from other divisions made him a well connected commander and became part of the GAR’s upper military echelons, something he was proud of.
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“Now you know both stories. Any other that you’re interested in?” asked Lieutenant Book.
“Yes, I do actually. How did this ship got its smiling face?”
“That I got to answer,” said Smiley, giving one big smile.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Title: Stories
Chapter: 1
Story: Curiousity
Place: Aboard the Venator-class Star Destroyer, the Pathfinder Regiment’s flagship, Conqueror.
The 9th and the 10th Advance Pathfinder Companies had just arrived to the ship and were greeted by the CO of the Pathfinder Regiment, Commander Strike himself. They had left Creat just less than 3 hours ago and all of them were tired and hungry.
After they saluted their Commanding Officer and took their leave, both the companies separated into 3 groups. One group hit the showers; another went to their respective barracks for a quick doze and the last went to the ship’s mess hall.
Even was sitting together with the other three of the Creat’s infiltration team in the mess hall. Zapper was not with them though as he had gone to the showers first. Everyone was chewing their food quietly, trying to comprehend their experience in the last mission that had ended almost 6 hours ago at 0022 hours. Unable to bear the quietness in the mess hall, Even finally spoke.
“How did this regiment came to be?”
Everybody looked at him.
“Well, I’m just asking.”
No one answered and continued on eating quietly. A few minutes later, Even spoke out again.
“Well, it was good of our CO to bring the Conqueror to Creat to pick us up. I wonder how Conqueror got its smiling face.”
O’Seven sighed in annoyance. “Are you always like this, Even?”
“He’s curious about everything. He did ask a few questions in our previous mission,” said Smiley.
“The creation of this regiment comes hand in hand with Commander Strike. If you want to know any one of them, you must know the other too,” said Lieutenant Book. “Are you ready to hear it, Even?”
“Yes, I am ready.”
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Chapter 5
Captain Cross was true to his word. He managed to get the regiment to the base within 40 minutes and garrisoned it. Captain Cross certainly knew how to do things. Webb was glad to have him as his adjutant. Too bad Cross was demoted to the rank of captain.
In all, the 99th Attack Regiment had lost only 231 troopers with 277 wounded. Out of the 18 AT-HEs that were deployed, 6 were destroyed and 4 were damaged. As for the pathfinder companies, 59 were killed, with 41 wounded. As for 20 AT-RTs that were deployed together, only 5 were destroyed.
General Hellon and her Padawan finally arrived, with their own accomplishment in securing Gilren Directorate’s support for the Republic.
Reinforcements came in less than 2 hours. The two regiments and two extra Venator-class Star Destroyers under Jedi General Yuren Zara came just in time before CIS counterattacked. However, the CIS didn’t seem to take it seriously as only 4 Munificent-class ships took part in counterattack.
There was not much of a fight at all. Under General Zara’s superb command and amazing piloting skills, the CIS ships were driven back in less than 13 minutes with one ship destroyed. When Even heard about this, he began to wonder if Zap was right about dividing and conquer the GAR.
Together with General Zara’s forces was a detachment of replacements for the 99th. It seemed that protecting the planet with both General Hellon’s and Genearal Zara’s forces was overkill since the CIS did not even try harder to defend or retake the planet. Still, both generals agreed to stay on the planet for a few days, just in case before leaving a sizeable garrison.
As for the pathfinder companies, they had left immediately after the arrival of their reinforcements to link up with their regiment for another mission. Lieutenant Book, with a mild obsession of becoming a Mandalorian, managed to find the dead RC squad and did the same rite to them, since almost all commandos were trained by Mandalorians.
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Commander Webb was standing on a field, looking at his men redecorating the droid base into a Republic friendly base. He had Captain Cross to build a tracking station in one of those mountain ranges. The station would at least give the garrison to prepare for battle and alert the Republic.
Commander Webb was glad that the mission to make Creat a Republic controlled planet was a success.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Chapter 4
Lieutenant Book was glad that he actually met a Cuy’val Dar during his ten-year training in Kamino. Through him, Book had learned more and specific ways than just slicing into the computer. And Book wasn’t even part of the commando programme that was meant for the Cuy’val Dar to train. Infiltrating a base wasn’t something that he liked, but he felt that it was useful somehow. This kind of missions had proved that having the skills do have an advantage. However, Commander Webb seemed to be good at infiltrating too. Right now, he’s trying to find the right controls to shut down the droids.
“Wheelers!!” Zap shouted, referring to 6 droidekas moving towards the room. Zap took out his handgun and fired.
“Shoot before they turn on their shields,” commanded Webb. Six clone troopers quickly fired. Out of it, only Commander Webb and Smiley managed to destroy one each just as the droidekas transform.
“We’re pinned down, lieutenant. You better hurry up,” said Webb.
“Doing as fast as I can, sir,” replied Book.
Zap suddenly fired his EMP Launcher at the remaining droidekas. Just a few seconds after disabling the droidekas, heavy footsteps were heard heading towards them.
“Remind me what type of droids that makes heavy footsteps,” Even said.
“B2 droids. Commonly known as Super Battle Droids, SBDs for short,” Staff replied.
“Are you there yet, Lt?” Smiley asked.
“Almost there,” Book replied, grimly.
For some reason, Staff decided to use the last EMP grenade. However, just right after he threw it, he was shot. The grenade was shot by the droids and exploded without harming any of the droids.
“Man down!!” shouted O’Seven and all of them kept on shooting.
The remaining B2 droids suddenly stopped everything. As soon as the droids stopped firing, the five clone troopers quickly stopped, knowing that Lieutenant Book had managed to stop the signal. Still, everyone knew that the B2 droids had a certain degree of independence and it showed.
“Are you receiving any signal?” asked one droid to another.
“No. Are you?” replied the other.
“No. What should we do now?”
“Everyone on standby and wait for orders,” said another.
Listening to them speaking can make a person laugh. Even was certainly going to if it wasn’t for Staff.
“How is Staff, Smiley?” Webb asked.
“He’s dead, sir,” replied Smiley, sighing. Everybody went silent.
“Zapper, is your launcher fully charged?” asked Webb.
“Not yet, sir,” Zap replied.
“Good timing, Lieutenant Book. Captain Cross, you there?”
“Still alive and kicking, sir.”
“How goes the battle?”
“Easier now since most of them stop working a minute ago. Should we continue destroying them?”
“Only those who are still moving. How soon can the regiment be here at the base?”
“In 40 minutes, sir. Is that all sir?”
“That’s all for now, captain. Webb out. Zapper, once your weapon is fully charged, clear the way of those B2s.”
“Yes, sir,” replied Zap. Seeing that his weapon had been charged, Zap quickly aimed at the B2 droids and fired.
“All right. I’m going to ask Blessed Angel to contact Coruscant Command in sending in reinforcements. Blessed Angel, this is Commander Webb, do you read?”
“Commander Webb, this is Blessed Angel. We read you loud and clear. What is your mission status?”
“We had accomplished our mission in shutting down the base and neutralising most of the droids. My regiment and the pathfinder companies are clearing the area of droids that are still working. We need more reinforcements to occupy this planet.”
“Understood, Commander Webb. Admiral Hunt is calling for reinforcements as we speak.”
“How are your flyboys holding up?”
“Well, not much action as on the surface of the planet. But we did destroy two CIS capital ships. The other two managed to escape the battle. Our squadrons though, were not so lucky. Almost a third of our standing squadrons were killed.”
“So, it’s just a matter of time before the CIS counterattack. You better urge our reinforcement to hurry up.”
“We know what we should do, commander.”
Commander Webb then heard another same voice, but with more authoritative tone to it.
“Let me speak to Commander Webb.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Commander Webb?”
“Yes, Admiral Hunt.”
“I already requested for reinforcements from Coruscant Command and they’re sending in 2 regiments, under Jedi General Yuren Zara. He will be here within 2 hours.”
“Copy that, Admiral Hunt. Thank you. Webb out.”
“2 hours. Captain Cross will be here in 30 minutes. So I assume that we stick our guns in this room a while longer, sir?” asked Book.
“Yeah, that is what we should do now,” replied Webb.
“While we are still here, we might as well do a rite that I had learned from a Mandalorian Cuy’val Dar,” Book said.
“The Cuy’val Dar? Since when did you meet them?” Webb wondered.
“I always heard about the Null ARCs running around our training facilities back in Kamino. Most nights, I sneaked out without anyone noticing me just to meet them. I never met any one of them, but I did meet one of the Mandalorian Cuy’val Dar. He only taught me the basics of everything he knew. From there, he expected me to develop my own techniques. Beyond the training context, he taught me the Mandalorian culture.”
“He trained you even though you are not part of the commando training programme?” asked Webb.
“Yeah. Until this day, I still don’t know why he trained me all those things, but I’m glad for it.”
“Well, leave me out this. I already did my way of remembering Staff,” said Zap, as he got up and aimed his EMP Launcher at the passageway outside of the control room.
“Just what kind of rite is this, Lieutenant Book?” Webb asked.
“A farewell rite for all the soldiers that died.” Book looked down at Staff. “Ni su’cuyi, gar kyr’adyc, ni partayli, gar darasuum,” said Book.
There was a minute of silence. “Staff.” Book went over to the body, took the tally and kept it in his pouch.
“What do those words mean, Lt?” asked Even.
“I’m still alive, you’re dead, I’ll remember you, so you’re eternal.”
“What is Zapper’s problem, lieutenant? He doesn’t seem to be interested in doing this Mandalorian rite.”
“Zapper is a volunteer from the 3rd Airborne of the 7th Sky Corp. He had lost some of his brothers to the other Mandalorians who served for the Separatist.”
Webb nodded in acknowledgement. As planned, the remaining six holed up in the room and waited.
Chapter 3
Orders were given to pull back from the main battlefield. It was fortunate that everyone studied the geography and the terrain by heart before coming to Creat. The enemy base was built in the dead enter of a flat terrain that span for more than 5 kilometres in radius.
About 7.5 kilometres southwest of the enemy base was a mountain range. With a cover of rocks and higher ground, it just might work for them. The AT-HEs were the ones that Webb was worried about.
Can the armoured walkers move up the rocky higher ground? Webb hoped the walkers do as he had heard two AT-TEs managed to climb up a cliff on planet Teth. With this withdrawal from the main battlefield, he hoped that the droids would actually follow. He also ordered for a gunship to wait at a designated area, together with a squad of six pathfinders.
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Lieutenant Book was initially surprised when Commander Webb ordered him to bring along a squad of five pathfinders to a location. “O’Seven, Staff, Even, Zapper, Smiley, follow me!”
“Sir, yes, sir,” all five of them answered simultaneously.
By the time all six of them reached the location, most of the regiment had already reached the mountain range.
“Sir, what are your orders?” asked Book.
“Get into the larty first,” Webb replied. “The commando squad had failed in their mission. And I want to infiltrate the base to finish the job.”
“And you want us to help you out?” asked Book.
“Yeah, that’s about it,” replied Webb.
“Why didn’t you ask Captain Moss to help?”
“I did. He recommended you to me. He said that you’re good in infiltrating. Your nicknames, gentlemen.”
The five remaining troopers then told him their respective nicknames.
“Sir, having a well-trained RC squad to fail, the base must be well protected,” said O’Seven.
“Not to mention the droids must have fortified it after the squad’s infiltration,” Staff added.
“We’ll go through the ventilation shaft and work our way there,” said Webb.
“Which ventilation shaft should we use, sir?” asked Book.
“There is a lone ventilation shaft at the north side of the building. That is the least protected entry for all of us. The commando squad managed to get the floor plans and sent it to me before they were killed. I had been studying it while waiting for you guys.”
Everyone nodded their heads, knowing what they were supposed to do.
“By the way, with you leading us, who is in charge of the regiment?” asked Even.
“My adjutant, Captain Cross.”
“Out of curiosity, why am I been chosen for this infiltration mission?” asked Zap.
“Your EMP Launcher. It is strong enough to disable any type of droids,” said Webb.
“But there were few others.”
“I know, but I saw you first,” said Book.
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The gunship took less than 7 minutes to arrive undetected at the northern side of the base. All seven of them quickly got out and sprinted to the only ventilation shaft at that part of the building. Just as the gunship was about to take off, it suddenly exploded.
“Better hurry, boys. They know we’re here,” Webb said.
“Poor Rusty. I kinda like that pilot,” said Staff.
“Everybody like him, Staff. So did I,” replied Smiley.
The ventilation shaft was not big at all, but enough for a man to crawl in all fours. The shaft was fortunately built close to the ground, so in a way they won’t make any noise. Through the openings that they had passed, they can hear all the droid movements and communication with each other.
“This is our exit. It is the closest shaft to the control room.”
Even though there were a lot of droids protecting the base, there wasn’t much protection within the inner base. Well, Webb was actually quite grateful that the droids were created to fight, not to think. If the droids can do that, they could at least put a squad or 2 at every corner of the base all the way to the control room. That was what Webb would do.
“I’ll take point. O’Seven, watch our backs,” ordered Webb.
“Yes, sir.”
As they move fast but carefully, they encountered two squads of B2 droids.
“2 squads of SBDs. Zapper, you ready?” Webb asked.
“Charged and ready, sir.”
“Do it now.”
Zap aimed his EMP Launcher at the droids and fired. The innards of the droids crackled and all seven clone troopers took cover behind the bulkheads as the droids’ arms and legs flew past them.
“Does any of you still have droid popper?” Webb asked, as they past the fallen droids.
“I’m down to 2,” said Staff, while the others had finished theirs.
Moving on, they encountered another 2 droid squads. This time was the weaker B1 droids, and was easily dispatched.
“The blast doors are locked, sir,” said Staff.
“Hotwire it, Lieutenant Book. And do it fast,” ordered Webb.
“Don’t rush an artist, sir,” Book replied.
“Staff, give me a popper. Zapper, is the launcher charged?”
“Half way there, sir.”
“Take cover behind the bulkheads.” Everyone, except Book took cover.
“Sir, I got it open,” said Book. The blast doors opened and out came a barrage of laser blasts.
Webb took the EMP grenade, activated it and threw it into the room. There was a loud bang, followed by a crackled of droids. An assuring sound that it hit the droids where he wanted them. Now was a good time to end the battle.
Mission To Creat
Chapter 2
For a LAAT/i gunship to take off from orbit and land onto the planet’s surface actually takes at most 10 minutes. Throughout the similar missions in his short life, Commander Webb began to dread it. It always seemed to be the longest time in his life before he could do his part in a particular mission. Yet he got used to it, so did his men. Webb began to feel that he and Commander Strike of the pathfinder regiment would have a strong professional relationship during the course of the war. His chrono showed that time had passed the 10-minute mark. Now he had to wait for the pathfinders to do their job.
“Larty pilots, rev up the engines now,” ordered Webb.
Webb looked around the hangar bay. He could see the members of his regiment were waiting inside their designated gunships, anxious to fight. As part of his plan, Webb had a few AT-HEs to be sent down together with the rest of the regiment. Because of the nature of the mission, he couldn’t have the artillery. In his mind, Webb had decided to deploy the rest of the 99th Attack Regiment after the pathfinders had destroyed the fourth droid platoon.
He suddenly received the first report he wanted to hear from the pathfinders: a platoon of droids had been destroyed. When he heard the third report, Webb quickly hopped into his designated gunship, and as he received the fourth report, ordered for a full deployment.
----------------------------------------
Lieutenant Book always hated night missions. Even though he and his brothers had night training and experienced a few night missions, Book never seemed to get used to it. Infrared didn’t seem to help either in calming his nerves. When he heard the second report from the 9th Advance Pathfinder Company, Book, knowing Commander Webb, knew that his company had 10 minutes to complete their part of the mission. He ordered his men to hasten in destroying the droid platoon. The 10th Advance Pathfinder Company finally destroyed the final droid platoon in less than six minutes, and Book was glad for it. All in all, 10 troopers were killed, with 28 wounded; 8 of them critical. The company was fortunate that all of their 10 AT-RTs were still intact.
Time seemed to be moving fast for everyone who do their job, but it was not so for those who were pumping adrenaline, especially the soldiers in battle. In missions, it was always an easy decision to leave behind the dead and critically wounded and pick them up later. But Captain Moss, the CO of the 10th Advance Pathfinder Company preferred not to leave anyone behind. Because of this philosophy, he got the respect of the men he lead and also frustrating anyone who wanted to finish the mission as soon as possible.
They had just finished reorganizing the company when the regiment arrived. Captain Moss quickly ordered for a gunship to collect the casualties while the remaining clone troopers quickly hopped into any LAAT/i that came into view. Book hopped into a gunship and disabled his infrared. All he could see was darkness engulfing everything, except for the 29 T-shaped visors. Reactivating the infrared, everything went back to normal. Before they actually reach the battlefield, they could already hear the sound of battle.
The battle was actually tougher than initially thought, but it was expected from the Mudorian Intelligence’s incomplete information. Right now, Lieutenant Book hoped that the RC squad do their job fast.
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Commander Webb felt relieved that the Kaminoans had replaced their Phase I armour to the newly improved Phase II some time ago. The upgrade of the armour and a few extra things being added did save his life and some of his brothers in a particular mission. His upgraded HUD was a small perk of life that he relished, but he wondered what Katarn armour felt like. He certainly would like to ask one of those guys after this mission.
The hatches of his gunship opened, proving that they were within the planet’s atmosphere.
“Commandos, deploy now,” ordered Webb as the gunships came within 10 kilometres of the base. With infrared activated, he can see a gunship taking a different route.
The battle commenced as all the gunships landed just six kilometres away from the base. The battle raged for nearly 20 minutes. AT-HEs were supporting in the middle column, the two pathfinder companies were reinforcing the right flank and with most of his regiment concentrating on the left and middle, he was satisfied.
Right now, he had to keep this up until the commandos did their job. The night and the pathfinders’ dark green armour made the regiment’s job easier. In a way, he liked night missions, even though the infrared did annoy him. He remembered reading through a manual about military tactics, stating that any army had higher chance of survival and success if they attack at night and wearing dark fatigues. Well, the few night missions that they had proved the theory was right.
Suddenly he received a call. It was the sergeant from the commando squad. Webb was expecting that they did it, but seeing that the droids were still working, he knew something was wrong.
“Commander, we have a problem. The defence all the way to the control room is heavily fortified. We were about to try the ventilating shaft when we were ambushed midway and under heavy fire. I’m sending you the floor plans just in case. We need more…”
“Man down, sergeant.”
“Zann, take him away from the crossfire. I’ll cover you. Heap, throw some... AARGH!”
“Sarge!!!” then there was static.
Webb realised that what he heard was something he had dreaded for a long time; the commando squad had failed.
Chapter 1
Blessed Angel, briefing room, 1800 hours, 57 minutes before reaching planet Creat.
“Good evening, pathfinders,” greeted Commander Webb as he walked in.
“Good evening, sir,” replied the members of the 9th & 10th Advance Pathfinder Companies simultaneously as they stood up.
“In less than an hour, we will be reaching Creat, a planet of Mudor System. As you all know, Mudor System is a neutral system. Almost a year into the war, they somehow managed to maintain their independence from the Republic and the CIS with the little resources they had.”
Everyone was quiet in the room, waiting for the commander to continue.
“12 hours ago, CIS ships were sighted on Creat’s orbit. About 10 hours ago, the Intelligence of the Mudor Government had reported that the CIS had established a base on the planet’s surface. They had tried to repel the CIS, but were overwhelmed by CIS firepower and numbers.”
“So they called us begging for help and protection in return for their support against the Separatist?” asked Captain Moss.
“Yeah, it was something like that.”
“But why this planet? Why this system? It’s not like the system is strategic or something for both sides.”
“You shouldn’t dwell into things beyond your scope of rank, captain.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Creat is 70% water with two large continents without any island supplements. The lands are not fertile enough for any agricultural purposes nor does it have any minerals. So the planet can be considered a barren planet and it does make our job much easier since there is virtually no sentient living on the planet. The terrain on both continents is mostly flat and because of that, buildings can be built almost anywhere,” said Commander Webb as he put on a holoprojector and showed everyone the planet.
Commander Webb stopped to take his breath and continued. “The CIS base is located here in this continent,” he said pointing towards a smaller continent, “and according to Mudor Intelligence, the base is right here.” He then showed the base.
“My regiment, the 99th will attack the base as a diversion while a squad of the elite Republic Commandos will infiltrate the base and disable the droids in the control room. Before the Mudorian ships retreated 3 hours ago, their long range scanners had detected 6 droid platoon had been sent out, heading towards to these two sectors south of the base.” He then showed the sectors and said, “Your job, pathfinders, is to locate the six platoons, destroy them, report in and assist the regiment. Questions?”
“Sir?”
“Yes, Captain Moss?”
“Any Separatist reinforcements coming in so far?”
“2 hours ago, a Munificent-class star frigate was sighted coming out of hyperspace. And that was about it.”
“Isn’t it easier just to bombard the two sectors?”
“It is, but the Mudor Government doesn’t want any destruction to happen to any of their planets, whether or not the particular planet is barren. And that is why your outfit was formed two months ago.”
“Are there any droid flyers on the surface?”
“Good question. Apparently the Mudor Intelligence had failed to find any of those flyers. However, we can still depend on our larties to cover our backs.”
Everyone nodded in agreement. “All right, you know your role and get prep in 20 minutes.”
----------------------------------------
Hangar Bay, Blessed Angel, 1840 hours
The 10th Advanced Pathfinder Company was waiting in their designated LAAT/i gunships, doing a last minute check on their dark green armour, weapons, supplies and the attack plan.
“Zapper, why do you still want to use that EMP Launcher? You do know that you can’t shoot straight with it. With its slow rate of fire, it could get you killed on the battlefield. More or less, Merr-Sonn doesn’t build the best weapons around,” said Even.
“Do you know from where I was transferred from, Even?” Zap asked.
“No,” replied Even.
“I thought so. I forgive you, rookie, for your ignorance,” said Zap.
“Zap here likes to be different. Instead of exchanging for something like a rotary blaster, he wants to be one of a kind. The weapon was the only reason he got his name,” said Smiley, smiling too much which gave him his name.
Hearing the explanation, Even nodded in acknowledgement. “So, any theories on why the Separatist landed on that backwater planet?”
Another clone trooper replied, “Maybe they want to have a little chat with you, rookie.” Everyone in that particular LAAT/i laughed.
“No seriously. Why? And only one more Munificent frigate to help three others to defend their base in a backwater planet? Something is not right here.”
“You really are curious, aren’t you, rookie?” asked another.
“Maybe that’s why he was transferred to Captain Moss’ company.” There was another round of laughter.
“I could think of nothing, save one. Divide and conquer. A good tactic as any,” theorized Zap.
“Maybe, but you’re depressing me,” said Smiley.
“But shouldn’t General Hellon and her Padawan be here leading the attack?”
“They are busy negotiating for a collaboration between the Republic and Gilren Directorate, you know that,” said Smiley.
“How does she know that our outfit would be useful for this mission beforehand?”
“I heard that she can partially foresee the future.”
“Can the Jedi do that?”
“I don’t know, but they surely are creepy.”
“Shut it, boys. We’ll be there in five minutes.”
“Yes sirreee, sergeant,” replied Smiley.
Everyone noticed that the LAAT/i gunships carrying the pathfinders had the engines turned on. Those who were new thought that this might be too soon, but for the veterans, it was a necessity as they need to be on the battlefield as soon as possible and clear a particular area of enemies for the bulk of the regiment.
There was a slight jerk in the Venator-class ship as it got out from hyperspace. Every pathfinder quickly held onto their own railings as each LAAT/i closed the hatches. As planned, three ships will move closer to the planet’s orbit to deploy the ground forces while the other three will initiate a space battle to cover the deployment.
When Blessed Angel finally opened its large hangar doors, the gunships finally rolled out in waves.
Title: Mission to Creat.
Army Division:
9th and 10th Advance Pathfinder Company attached to the 99th Attack Regiment of the 9th Assault Corp of the Grand Army of the Republic.
Characters:
99th Attack Regiment:-
Clone Commander CT-2188/3311 “Webb”
Clone Captain CT-3770/4413 “Cross”
10th Advance Pathfinder Company
Clone Captain CT-7777/9099 “Moss”
Clone Lieutenant CT-8087/7549 “Book”
Clone Trooper CT-1135/4007 “O’Seven”
Clone Trooper CT-9144/8235 “Staff”
Clone Trooper CT-6229/6918 “Zapper” or “Zap”
Clone Trooper CT-4890/5731 “Smiley”
Clone Trooper CT-5337/6000 “Even”
Location:
In hyperspace, on the way to planet Creat of Mudor System, Mid Rim.
Fleet:
6 Venator-class Star Destroyers; Flagship: Blessed Angel
Mission:
Take over the planet Creat from the Separatist control.
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