The clone Starfleet is under siege!
Dozens of Republic warships have been destroyed in merciless attacks that leave no survivors.
Rumors spread of a terrible new Separatist weapon.
In the face of growing fear, the Jedi Council sends Master Plo Koon to hunt down the menace before it strikes again.
~~~
Three Republic Cruisers are heading toward a single Separatist ship, The Malevolence, this ship is the secret weapon the Republic has been looking for.
Master Plo Koon stands on the Bridge of his Flagship, The Triumphant. Standing there he notices a clone officer walking towards him.
"The enemy ship has reduced its speed, General," The clone officer stated.
"They must have realized we are tracking them," Master Plo Koon says while still looking at the Separatist ship, "Slow down, see if they notice."
"Right away, sir," the Clone Officer ordered his men to reduce the thrusters to 35%. As the ship slowed, Plo Koon walked toward the holo-table in the middle of the room. There he was greeted by Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker and his Padawan, Ahsoka Tano.
"Hello little 'Soka," Master Plo Koon greeted Ahsoka in Togruti.
"Greetings Master Plo," Ahsoka promptly replied, also in Togruti.
"What is the purpose of this transmission?" quarreled Skywalker.
"I believe that we have found the location of our great nuisance, and It may have noticed we're here," answered Master Plo Koon, "I would greatly appreciate some assistance, as attacking what has destroyed so many of our ships alone would be unwise."
"What is your location?" requested Anakin.
"We tracked down the Separatist weapon to the Abregado System," Plo Koon swiftly replied, "The travel shouldn't take too long."
"We will g..." Anakin was cut off. The hologram spasmed for a moment and then completely disappeared. The Clone Officer tried to regain their signal but ultimately failed.
"Officer, for what reason has the communicator ceased its function?" Plo Koon requested of the officer, giving him a questioning tilt of the head.
"The systems are being jammed, sir," The Officer stuttered, "it seems the Separatists have scrambled our transmissions, nothing gets in or out sir." Plo Koon rubs his chin in thought.
"Then there is no reason to slow our assault," Plo Koon commands, "Set thrust to 100%, and redirect all energy to shields at the front." Plo Koon stops for a moment, "make sure to send a few pods ahead of us as a distraction."
"Sir, yes, sir!" The clone said while saluting, "Eject three escape pods facing towards the enemy ship!" The clones assumed battle stations while a small group can be seen sprinting down the halls to release the pods.
"What exactly are they planning to do with those pods?" Grievous demanded, "They can't possibly expect us to be afraid of those."
"Answers will not always present themselves immediately, General," Dooku responded, "But the rest of their fleet will make a perfect test for the capabilities of this ship. You may fire when ready."
"Yes my lord," Grievous answered, ordering the droids at his command to fire upon the enemy ship's drawing nearer.
"Roger roger," the droid reacted. After pressing a couple of buttons the weapon charged up its Ion field, ready to fire at any given moment.
"Fire!" Grievous commanded. At his order, the Ion disruptor released its hold on the charged up EMP, firing it in the direction of the Republic cruisers.
A wave of purple energy was inbound towards Plo Koon and his men.
"What's that they're firing at us?" The officer questioned.
"Whatever it is, the shields at full power should be able to counter their attack," Plo Koon responded. As the wave drew closer, it came into contact with the pods. Immediately, they shut down power and were only being propelled by the forces pushing them before. "Wait, that's not an energy blast," Plo Koon realizes, "that's an EMP wave. Brace yourselves!"
Not long after, the wave came crashing into the front and sides of the ships. Rendering the ships absolutely useless. In the bridge of The Triumphant, it felt like the inside of a maraca.
Plo Koon stands after the shaking has ceased, "I want all men who are able to find and re-activate the power generators. Also, I need some of you to contact the repair team for the hyperdrive."
"Their shields are down," The droid told Grievous.
"All cannons, fire," Bolt after bolt of pure red shot through the vast expanse of space in between the 2 clashing forces, the first half a dozen rounds ripped the escape pods down to scrap metal and fuel. A flurry of crimson energy took out the cruiser to the left of The Triumphant. Only a few seconds later, the cruiser to the right went up, and down, in flames. A controlled column of energy bolts tore through half of the ship in almost an instant.
"Sir, power has been restored," The Clone officer stated, "if we are lucky, the hyperdrive will be activated momentarily."
"Forget the hyperdrive, we must evacuate, everybody to the escape pods immediately!" Plo Koon shouted at the top of his lungs as he jumped out of his cover and hastily ran towards the pods. The clone forces, what was left of them, ran to the door. As it was opening, a giant bolt of energy blasted through the hull of this section of the ship. three unlucky souls, the Officer among them, were sucked out into the empty void of space. Master Plo Koon jumped to the main control panel and smashed a button, creating a field inside of the ship that should have stopped the three men from leaving. Unfortunately, however, he was a second too late and only managed to surgically remove the right arm on the officer. The other clones acted in horror and disgust at the sight of the disembodied arm plopping onto the ground with a meaty thwack.
Suddenly, with a newfound motivation to leave, the Clones ran to the pod bay, followed by Plo Koon. Plo Koon organized the clones into groups that could fit into the pods. As he began to fit each group into their sections, a blast fired through the hallway. A blue wall of energy appeared that stopped the men from being engulfed by the vast emptiness of space, but another shot came through the hallway, followed by another wall. At double pace, Plo Koon stationed the clones. With only three shots left until the pods started being destroyed. Master Plo then realized that there were still some clones left outside of the pod.
"Men, we must leave now. Get into the pod," Master Plo demanded while pointing at his would-be escape pod.
"No sir, you need to be kept alive," The clones responded, "We're clones, we're meant to be expendable."
"Not to me," Plo Koon then tried to walk up to them and squeeze them into the pod, but the clones ended up shoving him back toward the pod, causing him to trip and fall into it. The remainder of clones on the outside closed the pod door and shot them into the scrap pile of ships. Plo Koon got one last look at the clones who had served him before a crimson ray blasted them into pure carbon. Master Plo and the rest of his men that were in the pod with him donned a saddened expression.
"Another mission success my lord," Grievous celebrated.
"We must keep our location secret," Dooku demanded "Send out the hunters, I want all of those lifepods destroyed," The Count said with a sinister grin. One Droch-class boarding ship exited The Malevolence and headed into the debris field left by the tsunami of anarchy that the spacecraft had caused seconds earlier.
"We will go to your location immediately," Skywalker replied just as the hologram dispersed. Anakin had a look of confusion and frustration painted across his face.
"You heard Master Plo, he needs our support, we have to go help him." Ahsoka stubbornly says.
"We have to see what the Council decides first, this is an important meeting, Ahsoka," Anakin deflected, "Remember, be mindful, and only speak when spoken to."
"Don't I always?" Ahsoka replied sarcastically. Anakin gives her a questioning look before heading into the meeting room. Inside, they were met by Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, Chancellor Palpatine, Grand Master Yoda, Master Windu, and Padawan Matthew Sparrow.
"This mystery weapon has struck in almost a dozen systems, and disappeared without a trace," Mace Windu stated with a thoughtful expression.
"We cannot afford to lose any more ships, my friends," The Chancellor explained, just before noticing Anakin and Ahsoka, "Ah, Master Skywalker, have you had any success in finding General Grievous' secret weapon?"
"Not yet Chancellor, but we believe Master Plo Koon has," Anakin replied before putting coordinates into the holotable, "He was last contacted here, in the Abregato system." A holographic image of the system showed up in front of the Jedi and Chancellor.
"We've had no further contact with General Plo Koon and his fleet," Ahsoka stated, "Unfortunately communications were cut right before we could tell them that help was on its way."
"The lack of distress beacons indicates that his ship was... destroyed like the others," Anakin explained solemnly. "We are about to prepare a rescue mission."
"Hasn't clone intelligence reported this weapon never leaves any survivors?" Palpatine questioned.
"The Separatists are being unusually tidy. They don't want any witnesses." Obi-Wan pointed out.
"Tragic these losses are, but prevent more... we must." Master Yoda informed the disheartened Padawan.
"All our battle groups will be reassigned to guard our supply convoys, Including yours, Skywalker." Master Windu informed Anakin, "I'm afraid we can't risk any more ships with a rescue mission."
"Wait!" Ahsoka burst, causing the Jedi and the Chancellor to look at her, "Just because there haven't been any survivors before... doesn't mean there won't be any this time." the Council shared looks before the Chancellor spoke out.
"Boldy spoken for one so young," Palpatine observed.
"She is learning from Anakin," Obi-Wan replied with a smirk on his face.
"Excuse my padawan, we will deploy as you've instructed, master," Anakin stated with a bow. The transmission suddenly ended after Ahsoka started walking away with her head down in shame.
"Ahsoka!" Anakin snapped. She immediately turned around and looked at him.
"If anyone could have survived, Master Plo could. I don't understand why--"
"What you don't understand is Jedi protocol, or your place, my young padawan." Anakin scolded. Before he could say anything else to his padawan, Admiral Yularen walked in from the bridge. "Admiral. We'll split our ships to maximize our defense area, I'll scout ahead for enemy activity."
"Isn't that risky, with the mystery weapon out there?" Admiral Yularen asked.
"It might be, but I know you won't argue with my orders," Anakin replied while looking at Ahsoka "C'mon Snips."
"I will be sending my padawan to Ryloth, in the outer rim, to assist a supply convoy and the clone troopers stationed there," Obi-Wan stated to the council and Palpatine, "I have faith in the boy, but I suggest that we send someone with him. Just to make sure he doesn't get into any...Trouble..."
"Perhaps you should go with the young padawan, Master Kenobi." Mace said, Which shocked the Jedi Master and his padawan.
"I can't simply leave the fleet unattended," Obi-Wan tried to argue.
"It won't be, sir," Commander Cody said from his right, "my men and I can take care of the fleet while you and the Commander go on your mission."
"Very well," Obi-Wan replied, "If you truly insist, then I shall take the boy. farewell masters, and may the force be with you." Obi-wan started walking towards the ship bay with Matt as the Holotable shut off.
As Dooku was standing on the bridge of the Malevolence, looking at the debris left by the wake of his destruction, his personal holoprojector started beeping. Pulling it out, Dooku's face gained a blue glow as a hologram appeared of his master, Darth Sidious.
"Darth Tyranus, My sources tell me that Obi-Wan and his pet are going to Ryloth to bring medical supplies for the injured. See to it that they fail," Sidious instructed.
"Very well master, I will send two of my most trusted assassins to take care of them," Dooku responded. Sidious nodded and ended the holo-call. Turning around he was greeted by the sight of General Grievous.
"Who might these assassins be my lord?" Grievous coughs.
"You will know in due time, my friend," Dooku responds as he procures his holoprojector. As he activated the device, Dooku punched in a familiar code. Two figures appeared out of thin air in front of him, they both bowed to Dooku in respect. "I have instructions for you two," Darth Tyranus said in a strict monotone voice.
"What is thy bidding my master?" the masked figure on the right requested.
"You should stop being so formal all the time," the figure clad in robes on the left demanded, "all it does is waste time." Ignoring the robed assassin, Dooku continued with his instructions
"I need you to cripple the republic supply convoys heading to Ryloth," Dooku stated, "And Shindako, please show a little more respect to your peers." Dooku raised his hand in the air and clenched his fist. The robed assassin began to grab at his neck breathlessly, "One can lose sight of their true objective if they cannot work well with their peers." Dooku released his fist, allowing the assassin to take a breath.
"Yes master," Shindako panted while clutching at his throat.
"Good. Now do as you were instructed," The Count stated, turning off his holoprojector before they could respond.
Obi-Wan flicked the hyperdrive activator switch on the small freighter, causing the space around them to warp and become distorted.
"We must be careful on Ryloth," Obi-Wan warned, "there is a lot of unneeded tension there." Obi-Wan turned to his padawan, "I don't need you causing even more."
"Of course, master," Matt responded awkwardly while rubbing the back of his neck, "you won't have to worry about another Sarrish."
"Just try not to upset the natives," Obi-Wan instructed while turning his attention back to the control panel, "We should be there in 5 minutes, prepare yourself for when we arrive." Obi-Wan gave a glance to Matt, "I don't want to wait 10 minutes for you to get out of the bathroom again." Matt left his seat, heading toward his private quarters.
"What's crackin' egg?" the masked assassin asked, turning his attention to the skewed space ahead of them.
"Making fun of one's cultural name is one of the lowest forms of wit James," Shindako retorted.
"Well Cithro'egg'raw is a lot longer than just 'egg' and Shindako doesn't exactly roll off the tongue," James protested, "And I thought you were complaining that being formal wastes time."
"I would still prefer not being called 'egg'," Shindako replied, "It's a bit demeaning." Before James could respond to Shindako their Separatist command ship exited hyperspace, ahead of them a row of Republic ships surrounded the planet to deter any Separatists from attacking the planet's surface.
"Woah, that's a lot of ships," James vocalized under his breath.
"Having more ships doesn't necessarily mean victory," Shindako retaliated as a fleet of Separatist ships appeared behind them, "size means nothing without technique to back it up." Shindako activated his voice transmitter, "I want Three fridgets to separate the destroyers on the left from the rest of the blockade. All remaining ships focus their attention on the others, we need them distracted."
After Shindako relayed his orders to his fleet, three fidgets to the left of him accelerated in the direction of the Republic destroyers. Not long after, the ships to the right also accelerated, but to attack the remaining Republic fleet. The fleet took notice and started to engage the Separatist forces, firing shots to deter the aggressors. Once the Fridgets were close enough to the Destroyers, they released hundreds of vulture droids while discharging thousands of crimson energy bolts upon the Republic Destroyers and Light Cruisers. In response, the Republic ships start to fire upon the many of vulture droids heading to their position. On the other side of the field, bolts of red and blue light are exchanged by the two factions. The vulture droids from the flanking side start to swarm the destroyer closest to the main bulk of the enemy.
"Perfect," Shindako states, "With the rest of their forces distracted, the remaining Republic ships are left helpless." The swarmed ship starts to fire upon the vulture droids, making dents in the blanket of the enemy. "Send more ships closer to the destroyer, we need to bypass their shield in order to harm them," Shindako ordered. Before the vultures could descend, the Republic ships released their ARC-170 starfighters to combat the Separatist droids. The frigates started to focus their attention on the Republic fighters, cutting them off before they can engage the vultures. Fifty of the four hundred vulture droids left descended upon the destroyer, shooting and disabling the canons.
The Destroyer very quickly became a block of swiss cheese. The Republic cruiser and the destroyer to the left started to propel themselves forward to escape the onslaught of vulture droids. Just as they reached full speed, they came into range of the fridgets and the command ship. Vibrant red bolts started raining upon the republic ships, spelling nearly instant death for anyone inside. The shields lasted about 3 seconds before being completely drained, allowing the Separatist fleet to cripple the Republic ships by getting rid of a third of their armada.
"Success is guaranteed," Shindako explained, "I trust you have enough intellect to defeat opponents we vastly outnumber."
"Where are you going?" James demanded, "you surely don't expect me to lead the ground forces on my own? That's very uncharacteristic of you."
"Just make sure not to destroy the right-most destroyer, that one's mine," Shindako instructed, his red eyes piercing into James' soul. James stared back, emotionlessly. The entire bridge was silent, as if the slightest bit of motion would unleash chaos. "I will be leaving now," Shindako said in a monotone voice. As he left the bridge James turned back toward the front window, gazing upon the destruction of Shindako's design.
Shindako made his way through the massive command ship, heading to the hanger. Upon his arrival, he was greeted by rows of B1 and B2 Battle Droids.
"Prepare the boarding crafts," Shindako ordered, "And prepare my personal vessel."
"Roger roger."
Shindako entered his personal vessel The Row Boat as he watched the B1 Droids enter the two other ships and prepare for departure. A small group of B2 battle droids entered his own ship before he engaged the thrusters and exited the command ship.
"Matt, would you mind carrying the bandage crates to the medical center?" Obi-Wan requested, "They have an unusual amount of patients today."
"Of course, master," the padawan began to walk in the direction of the supply crates before being cut off by a clone.
"You need help with those sir?" The clone asked politely.
"Sure, Chainrunner," Chainrunner nodded before proceeding to pick up a crate of medical supplies. Matt went to pick up a crate of his own, but before he could grab it an explosion went off only 3 meters away from Chainrunner. Matt looked into the distance as he saw dozens of Droid transport ships landing. Bolts of energy were flying left and right, every once in a while almost grazing Matt. Matt procured his lightsaber, waves of black and silver ran up the hilt before ending with a rounded spearhead shaped point. There was a blue glow emitting from the blade as Matt began to run toward the downed body of Chainrunner, standing over him defensively, blocking any blaster bolts coming his way.
"Matthew, we need to evacuate the patients from the medical center!" Obi-Wan commanded.
"I'm a little busy over here!" Matt turned to look at Chainrunner's prone form,"I'm going to get you out of here."
"No... leave me. Save yourself..." Chainrunner says weakly. A group of B1 battle droids pushed their way through the dust cloud between them. Obi-Wan leaped into the middle of the group of droids and activated his saber halfway through an upward swing, cleanly decapitating one of the droids. He then brought his blade down while taking a step back cutting two more droids in half. From the backstep, he twirled his lightsaber and transitioned into a sweeping strike deactivating the three droids behind him.
"We must fall back!" Obi-Wan states as he continues to cleanly block the blaster bolts heading in their direction.
"Not without Chainrunner," Matt retaliates, also deflecting blaster shots.
"Very well, but we must do it quickly, the droids are making headway," Kenobi responds, "Help him up and get him to safety, I'll cover you."
"Thank you, master," Matt deactivated his lightsaber and nodded, attaching it to his belt. He bent down and grabbed Chainrunners arms, throwing the trooper over his shoulder. Matt started running back to the medical bay as Chainrunner bounced with each step. As Matt reached the medical bay doors, he heard Chainrunner groan in pain.
"I need all able-bodied troopers to grab as many supplies as they possibly can!" Matt shouted, "All others must get on our transport ship." While the clones were preparing themselves, Matt put Chainrunner into a stretcher before going outside to keep watch for Separatist forces.
Just before the last clone entered the transport ship, Matt felt a disturbance in the force. Activating his lightsaber, he swung it up to block the oncoming strike. The aggressor, clad in his Sith Acolyte armor kicked Matt in his torso, causing the young padawan to hunch over, grasping his stomach. Taking this rare opportunity, the Sith assassin brought his blade down upon the padawan. Just before he would have been sliced in half, Matt raised his saber in a defensive swing. Parrying the maroon blade, Matt shoved himself into the Sith assassin, knocking him back. James recollected himself and force pushed the clones in the transport ship back into their seats and snapped his arm up, force pushing the ships entrance shut with a loud CLUNK.
With the entrance to the Republic transport ship shut, Matt entered the stance of Form III, Sorseu. The Sith advanced on the padawan, doing a downward strike. Matt raised his lightsaber in defense, but the Sith assassin pushed off of his lightsaber and did a flip, activating the other side of his lightsaber and doing a harpooning motion down onto Matt. Matt stepped to the side and raised the hilt of his lightsaber next to his face with the blade pointing outward towards the Sith Acolyte. Matt lunged forward, driving the lightsaber in a stabbing motion in an attempt to skewer his enemy. The Sith sidestepped and swung his lightsaber to deflect the padawans blade. Matt used the momentum to spin and position his blade behind him to block any incoming strikes. The Sith used the bottom blade of his saber to do a strike to the side just as Matt shifted his lightsaber in front of him to block.
Matt pushed back and took a few steps behind himself. "You're a Sith, aren't you?" Matt questioned the acolyte while using his saber to draw a line between them on the ground. The assassin held the hilt of his lightsaber to his side in both hands. Matt could visibly see his opponents saber now, it was jet black with tiny waves curving throughout the handle. The assassin flipped forward in response, slashing down with the top blade of his lightsaber, missing Matt as he stepped to the side. Matt swung his lightsaber up before gliding his blade down to hit the assassin's feet. The acolyte did a static block with the bottom end of his lightsaber. The Sith began a flip before being shoved to the side mid-air by a force push.
"We need to leave now!" Obi-Wan shouted from the distance, "There's too many!" He came running toward Matt with the remaining clone troopers that survived the battle against the Separatists.
"What about him?" Matt demanded, before turning around to see the Siths incapacitated body on the floor after hitting a rock jutting out of the ground.
"There's no time!" Obi-Wan force pulled the door of the transport ship open and dived inside. Matt followed his master before an army of B1 and B2 droids began to crawl over the hill nearest to them.
"Get us out of here!" Matt commanded the pilot.
"Right away sir," The clone responded as he flipped a couple of switches and pushed the ignition on. The Transporter began to hover off the ground as the droids began to fire upon them, hitting the sides and back of the vessel. As they started to lift off the planet's surface, they began to head towards the Republic blockade before seeing that more than half of the ships were reduced to scrap.
"How will we get off this forsaken planet?" Matt queried while looking at the Separatist fleet and turning to look at Obi-Wan.
"We don't."
(Word Count: 4248)
I want to give a special thanks to WhoInTheirRightMind for making this collab with me, I also want to thank zombiereader334 for allowing us to use his OC in this book, WhoInTheirRightMind will also be publishing this story on his account so go show him some of that Wattpad love.