In 21bby Poggle
the lesser returned to the once subjugated planet of Geonosis, with new
Separatist funding to establish the largest system of battle droid factories
yet built.
While Geonosis
has been the first planet invaded by the Republic’s clone forces, following the
loss of Hypori (from which Captain Fordo had evacuated the few surviving Jedi),
Geonosis had fallen out of Republic control.
Now, to counter
this new threat, the Republic assembled one of the largest invasion forces of
the war so far. A huge systems army of 8 corps. Dozens of Jedi
were called to serve in command, masters Mundi, Kenobi and Unduli at
its head.
Asha and Sando
battalion were assigned to the brigade of Anx Jedi Thongla Jur, alongside
Thongla’s legion.
The superior Republic
fleet blockaded Geonosis and the Jedi planned the planetary scale
assault.
Thongla Jur
powered up the holomap. Asha, Tara, Colo, Fordo and Jur’s own Commander Kezin
gathered around.
‘The main
corps,’ he croaked, ‘under masters Mundi and Kenobi are committed to a
landing at point rain from where they’ll move to knock out the ray
shield fortress and progress against the primary droid foundaries.’
‘In the meantime
we have been assigned to take out the fighter hangers in the north, in order to
relieve aerial pressure on point rain and the bomber fleet. From here, we will
move on the northern hive fields and gorges. We will be working to keep
Geonosian forces occupied and away from the primary foundaries, while making
our own attacks on the supplementary material and weapons factories.’
‘Kezin and
myself will accompany the legion in a ground assault on the anti-aerial
defences in the hive fields. But Sando battalion has a special role. You will
make an aerial drop on the hive spires containing the hangers. It is your job
to secure the hangers, lay the charges and get their Nantex fighters
down!’
‘May the force be with you!’
Geonosis II. 21bby. Part 2.
Asha and Tara
climbed into a gunship as the Star fleet dropped into the atmosphere. The
hanger roof opened, and the transports took off.
Red dust whirled
through the air even at this high altitude. Tara shielded her face. Both Jedi
were clad for combat in clone armour over their tunics, coloured rusty red for
the planet environment. The pauldrons were slightly too big for Tara.
‘Were you at the
battle here before master?’ She asked.
‘No. Neither was
master Jur, I don’t know what to expect.’
‘Never fear, the
force will guide us!’ She declared confidently.
...
The Opees, like
the rest of Sando battalion, had been issued their new para equipment the day
before the assault. Each member quickly took to his armour with the Sando
colours, making markings. Corporal Holler and Rattles painted Opees on their
helmets. The equipment was more sophisticated than that they had used at
Alvorine, with high altitude helmets, and compact packs containing combat sails
in place of booster packs. These were a new innovation, reusable and not
reliant on fuel. Perfect for a lengthy campaign.
Now they held
tight on to the railing straps as their gunship pitched and dived, buffeted in
the thin air. Two other squads shared the transport.
‘What was it
like,’ Pilav asked over the wind, ‘the first battle?’
‘Dusty,’
Sergeant Dux shouted back.
‘The clankers
can stand it, and the bugs are everywhere,’ Holler added.
‘It was
nightmare. But we’re better prepared this time.’ Frostbite reassured him.
Geonosis II. 21bby. Part 3.
The clones
looked out through the slats at the red world, tiny spires pricking the
horizon. Jur’s gunships flocked alongside them.
As they approached
closer to the drop site, the ground lit up. Blasts and smoke filled the air
around them, and the gunship rocked.
‘Hold tight!’
Corporal Holler called.
The saw one of
Jur’s ships drop, and then another.
There was a
flash close by, and another.
Sleek Geonosian
Nantex fighters shot over and below them, their own ARC-170s dipping down and
struggling to keep them at bay. They felt so fragile in their own boxed
platform.
The fleet
persevered.
Commander Colo
appeared on the holo comm.
‘Thongla’s legion
are taking heavy losses. If they’re forced down we’ll have to join them.’
The air around
them was thick with flashes. The gunship rocked, hit.
‘We’re going
down,’ commed the pilot.
‘Hold on!’
Roared Dux.
The Opees’
gunship left its fellows behind. The pilot kept it steady, but they were
dropping fast. The ground sped past them in a blur.
They ploughed
into it, the nose of the transport splintering, it’s left side furrowing down.
The air was thick with dust. All was suddenly still.
Deka and Rattles
heaved open the door. The orange light illuminated the clones half buried in
the rusty dust. Another gunship had come down close besides them, and the
clones were rushing out of its burning hulk.
The Opees set
about digging out their brothers and kit.
‘That’s not the
drop I was expecting,’ cracked Tumble giving a hand to Holler. He reached out
to Sergeant Dux, half covered in sand, but received no response.
Pilav dropped
down beside Dux and removed his helmet.
He was very
still.
Geonosis II. 21bby. Part 4
Thongla
Jur flashed up on Asha’s holocomm.
‘We’re
taking heavy casualties, the enemy’s aerial defences are stronger than
expected. We’re going to have to put down,’ his voice was raised as he suddenly
cut out.
‘Down,
down!’ Asha ordered as he saw Jur’s ships banking.
With
the legion out of action, they couldn’t advance alone, and would need to help
defend the landing sight.
The
Sando’s gunships landed in a ring in front of the wrecked and damaged
transports. Asha and Tara rushed out, joining Colo and Fordo.
‘Strengthen
the perimeter,’ Asha ordered, ‘we’ve had the best of it so far and they need us
to secure the position.’
...
The
survivors of Opee squad under Cpl. Holler, seeing the gunships landing, jogged
through the dust to join them.
The
legion’s gunships had landed in disarray, most having taken damage, the clones
in their rust coloured armour staggered about, dazed, regrouping. The Opees
passed between them. The legion’s tanks were being deployed ahead and they jogged
on.
They
caught sight of Colo directing the defenders.
‘Reporting
commander!’
‘Over
there troopers, fall in!’
Opee
squad sprinted to their positions around the head of a gunship. The pilot
squatted beside. Sam examined their knocks and scrapes.
‘There’s
nothing out there but dust,’ murmured Pilav.
Staring
out across the barren dust flats, the fighters battling over head, it was a
long way from the drop they had expected, for which their kit was
prepared.
‘There!’
pointed Tumble, a dust cloud appearing on the horizon. They stared.
‘Bugs
on bikes!’ shouted Sharks, making out the forms.
The
whole perimeter rustled, readying their weapons.
Behind
them the tanks laid down fire at the fighters swooping down to strafe them
overhead.
‘Steady,’
roared Holler.
Part 5
Sharks, Pilav, Deka and Tumble took the first shots as the Geonosian
speeders came into range.
Frostbite and Rattles ran out of the line and under the cover of the
wing, Rattles swinging his rotary cannon from the shoulder.
Clad in his Red Arc gear, Captain Fordo appeared at their side.
‘Sir!’ They exclaimed.
He was silent.
As the bikers approached, he gave a signal. The ARC squad were suddenly
behind him, and they spilled out from the perimeter into the open
ground. Frostbite and Rattles gave a roar and burst out to join them, the
rest of the Opees giving covering fire. ‘For Dux!’
Part 6
As the Geonosians closed in, Fordo and the ARCs, with Rattles and
Frostbite laid down heavy fire. The barrage of shots scythed through
the closing bikers, and the Geonosians veered chaotically, breaking against the
field of fire.
All around the gunship perimeter the Sandos gave a heavy resistance,
holding the Geonosians at a distance, but again and again they continued round
with their harassing fire.
Fordo gave the signal, and the clones dashed back behind cover as both
sides continued their game of pot shots.
...
At the centre of the ring, Asha and Tara sat engaged in battle
meditation, seeking guidance from the force for their men and what was to come.
From the legion’s tank coming up alongside, leaped the large frame of
Thongla Jur.
They snapped to the present.
‘Master,’
‘Asha, young one,’
Three Nantex fighters dived down overhead, strafing the clone defenders.
‘we’re in quite a stick,’ he continued cooly, ‘We don’t have the
transports to complete our mission and we’re still a long way off. Out here
we’re like sitting quadducks! I don’t know how long we can hold out
here.’
‘But master,’ inserted Asha, ‘we can bring up more transports.’
‘Yes, but it will take a while until we have enough, we’ll need to
borrow from other corps, and they’re counting on us!’
‘We only need enough for Sando battalion,’ Asha continued, ‘we’ve not
lost many, and we can still complete the mission! We have an idea. We just need
to hold this position until command can get enough fighters together to bring
up more gunships and make a push! But before that we just need one. Come and
meet Captain Fordo.’
Part 7
‘May the force be with you,’ Asha raised his hand as the doors slid
closed on Fordo’s gunship, leaving Tara enclosed with the silent ARCs.
They took off, leaving the beleaguered legion below them, and hummed off
through the dust clouds. They were on their own now. Tara stared at Fordo’s
mask. This incredibly capable and decorated warrior looked attentively to her
every command. She quieted herself and looked to the force.
Fordo’s encrypted comms buzzed.
‘Approaching Shields commander,’ he alerted her.
She looked through the slats, the Geonosian shield close ahead. She
waited.
‘Cut engines!’ She gave the word.
Silence fell, the wind whistled, they glided, slowed and began to dip.
They passed through the shield.
The engines were thrown back on and they zimmed up again. The doors slid
back.
Part 8
‘There commander!’ Fordo gestured to the overhang of a high plateau
within the shielded area, holding several large gun placements.
They flew towards it, coming low on the plateau. Tara was first out,
igniting and absorbing a salvo as the surprised Geonosians scrambled to defend
their position.
Fordo and the ARCs were around her, blasters and canons filling the air.
The Geonosians were quickly overpowered. The ARCs leapt to work with the
charges.
The guns on the plateau were a key position in the huge hanger spire’s
defensive system, covering it agains aerial assault.
‘More bugs coming!’ Yelled one of the ARCs.
‘Let’s go Commander.’
They returned to the gunship, the explosion following.
Part 9
With the Geonosian fighters growing evermore pernicious in their
straffing, the Republic fleet gathered up their squadrons to concentrate on the
region, and thereby free up the troops assigned to thinning the fighters’
ranks, currently pinned on the ground.
Waves of clone fighters shot overhead and the Nantex fell back. A new
battalion’s compliment of gunships landed and the Sandos bundled aboard.
Thongla Jur, left with the legion to slog it out on the ground, watched as
Asha’s gunship took off.
This was a daring mission, they were going in unsupported. But Tara had
succeeded and Asha felt the force guiding them. The troops at point rain and
all the fighters in the sky (who would be freed up to support the former) were
relying on them to take out those hangers! It was crucial to achieving aerial
superiority.
The transports flew in the wake of the fighters as they spearheaded deep
against the enemy. The gunships peeled up as the shield approached.
Part 10
The Opees looked out at thick orange clouds as the doors slid back.
Their new white armour was covered in rusty dust from their sojourn on the
ground. But they were back on track now.
As they climbed, the high altitude respirators in their helmets engaged.
Corporal Holler signalled to make ready. They crouched and gripped their
blasters.
‘Go, go, go!’ Roared Holler. They sprang and jumped, one after another.
Last came Rattles, his canon strapped on, and Holler following last of all.
They plummeted through the clouds. These quickly gave way, and the red
planet’s surface opened out wide below them. The air all around was thick with
the falling clones of Sando battalion. Further beyond they could see dog fights
across the skies between Geonosian and Clone fighters. On the far southern
horizon was point rain and the towering spire of the great foundries.
Holler came diving head first past the others. Though last out he had
soon made it up. ‘See you on the ground!’ he taunted, and the others leant into
the dive after him.
There were the great hanger spires now, almost directly below them,
Nantex fighters going back and forth. There too was the ray shield above it,
which at this speed would deflect their fall. It was coming up fast.
Holler slowed and signalled. The squad pulled. Their quartered combat
sails shot out on wires from their packs, and yanked them suddenly upwards. All
around the air was filled as though with explosions, by unfurling combat
sails.
Slowing down as they approached the shield, they passed right
through.
Part 11
As the clone paras of Sando battalion floated through the shields, the
Geonosians started up a ragged fire from the ground. Their aerial defence guns
on the plateau were inactive (thanks to Tara and Fordo), and so, many of the
drones flew up at the clones.
The Opees pulled their steering reins to evade as the drones came at
them. Decka flew straight at one, smashing it across the face with his rifle
butt. Nearby Frostbite collided with another dealing it a great punch to the
face with his mechno fingers.
Bugs were dropping, but they were taking clones with them. Some of the
Sandos now hung limp in their sails. An injured drone flew careered straight up
and through Pilav’s sail. Losing control, he began to spin.
‘Keep back!’ Cpl Holler yelled at the others, ‘if you get close you’ll
be out too!’ They watched helplessly as poor Pilav spiralled.
‘We can’t just leave him!’ roared Decka in frustration. He tightened the
strap on his rifle, and gripped both his reins. ‘I’m going in!’
The looked on as Decka inched closer. ‘Grab my hand when I say!’ Pilav
acknowledged. He more one more revolution. Decka gave the signal. He suddenly
pulled his reins and his own sail shot back along the wires into his pack, and
he fell. Pilav grabbed him. Decka now began climbing up Pilav as they span
down. He detached Pilav’s sail and they plummeted together. The other watched
on in horror.
But suddenly there they came, shooting back upwards as it were, Decka’s
sail unfurling to carry them both smoothly down. The Opees cheered.
Comments
Post a Comment