C3P8

Tipoca City, Outer Ward

Hangar Bay 4

Things were getting bad. First Grievous decides to literally drop in from an insertion pod with an army of Commando Droids behind enemy lines and now he's pressing the attack with nearly ten thousand droids inside the inner wards of the city. The initial push caught them all by surprise and the confusion that briefly reigned resulted in the deaths of over three hundred clones by the time they had gotten their act together.

It was, in Rex's opinion, a complete clusterfuck.

They had all set up checkpoints and secured positions to fight a defensive battle, but Grievous had ignored those avenues of attack and simply opted for a frustrating series of hit and run attacks that forced them to chase and search for him. Worse, that they had to send troops out to flush Grievous out meant bleeding the garrisons for reinforcements and leaving them open for ambushes.

If the fleet in high orbit couldn't handle the pressure and Separatist transports kept trickling past the defenses, things were going to just get worse as enemy numbers would swell. Fortunately, the AA towers that had been installed last week served to cut down enemy drop pod numbers by at least half.

Yes, Grievous was surrounded. Yes, his forces were scattered in pockets and easily destroyed. Yes, his reinforcements have been reduced by half thanks to the city defenses. Yes, the clones had the home-field advantage, the numbers, and three veteran skilled Jedi to lead them; but there was something that stirred in his gut. Something was telling him that there was something else at work here.

"Sir."

Rex glanced to his side, where a clone trooper had just arrived.

"Grievous is pinned down in the inner wards, but he's holed up in one of our training grounds with a couple of hundred clanker commandos. General Kenobi is engaging him as we speak, but his forces are heavily outnumbered," said the trooper hurriedly. "What are your orders?"

The captain's mind immediately jumped to sending another battalion of troopers to reinforce Kenobi, but at the same time he'd risk leaving all the defenses in the outer wards at three-quarter strength.

He was about to reply when shouts of alarm rang from around him. Rex turned, only to stumble as something struck the hangar bay. Sirens came to life as the hangar bay shook again.

"What's going on!" He demanded.

"Assault craft! Coming out of the water!" Shouted a trooper, pointing. Rex looked in the direction the trooper was pointing at, just in time to see something massive fly up in a blur, sending a spray of seawater in every direction.

"Close the blast doors!" Rex shouted, pulling his hand blasters out, "I want troopers in their turrets and behind cover!"

Even as the blast doors to the hangar bay doors began to fall, he could see and feel dozens of these crafts landing on top of the massive domed section of the outer wards.

"All units, get into your positions! Inform the Generals of the situation!" He ordered before turning to get behind a barricade. "This Captain Rex to AA Control! Redirect your fire to the assault craft coming out of the water! Now!"

"Sir, that would let more pods slip through the net-" Came the reply.

But he wasn't having none of it, "Control, I am ordering you to redirect your fire dammit!"

"Right away sir!"

The AA defenses were concentrated around the outer and inner wards , with small batteries scattered around the central hub. While redirecting them to fire on the assault craft would let more pods land, compared to how many droids each of the squid-like transports had inside each other...

Explosions rumbled above them as the entire hangar trembled. The screeching sound of metal against metal signaled the destruction of at least some of the assault craft, but then more were landing each second.

"AA Control to Captain Rex, we can't get them all! There are too many! Enemy transports are armed and they are returning firahh!"

The captain was about to curse when the first dozen drills bored right through the roof, sending debris everywhere. Rex resisted the urge to duck when a hail of blaster fire began to rain down on his position. The drills split open and suddenly it started raining droids.

Battledroids unfolded midair and dropped to the ground, crouching, firing their blaster rifles. Rex nailed six with several pulls of the trigger of his blaster pistols, but was forced back into cover as the machines returned fire.

"This is Captain Rex, all units hold the line! Tipoca City will not fall this day! Not on our fucking watch!"

-

Tipoca City, Inner Wards

Clone Trooper Training Grounds

"There he is! Blast him!"

The clones opened fire, their armor blending almost perfectly with the snow-covered hillside they had climbed up. Their rifles barked rapidly, sending blue bolts lancing into the air.

They never stood a chance as a large blur descended upon them.

Grievous let himself laugh as his four sabers whirled like buzzsaws, cutting down dozens of clone troopers in seconds as he threw himself recklessly into the mass of white armored soldiers. Their blaster bolts only served to scorch his armor and do little else as he cut them apart.

The attack had truly begun! Now that the full force of the Separatist invasion had struck, he could enjoy himself.

"Fight, fight to the last pitiful clones!" He roared, slapping aside an unfortunate trooper. The clone flew in the air, disappearing into the fray of bodies and scrap. "Tipoca City will fall by my hand! And there is nothing you can do about it!"

A round, more powerful than the conventional blaster shots, struck him in the shoulder, leaving a small crater. His reflexes, already superhuman, went into overdrive as he deflected another two shots. Grievous watched with satisfaction as a sniper fell backwards, a smoking hole smack dab in the middle of his helmet.

The last trooper was priming a grenade and threw himself at him. Grievous nonchalantly caught the man with a clawed foot, crushed his head and tossed his body aside. The grenade exploded shortly after with no effect.

His battledroids joined him, what was left of them, forming loose ranks as they found favorable positions.

"All units, charge!" Yelled an oh so familiar voice. Grievous turned to the left slightly and chuckled. Down the hill were a fresh company of clones with light armor, AT-PTs he noted. And Kenobi was not alone, he had a togruta woman with him, also wielding a lightsaber.

"General Kenobi! And General Shaak'ti! What a pleasant surprise!" Greeted the kaleesh cyborg gleefully. All four of his arms shifted as he crept closer to the Jedi, ignoring the clones charging towards him. "How good of you to come. It saves me the time to search for you Jedi scum!"

An electronic message pinged his comlink. Grievous decoded it and read through the contents quickly. A rasping chuckle came through the vocorecorder of his mask as he sent a return ping of acknowledgment.

"Heheheh! Cavalry at last! All units, charge!"

As the AT-PT walker deployed, the battledroids threw themselves into the fray, with Grievou leading the charge. Just as the clones and their Jedi Commanders were within range of their blasters, the ceiling exploded.

Hundreds of tons of debris dropped, sending snow flying like a miniature frozen cloud of a tsunami. Dropping from the ceiling were over twenty Trident Assault Transports, their laser turret spitting death into the confused ranks of the clone troopers as they deployed battledroids by the dozens.

Grievous could barely make it out through the chaos, but Kenobi's expression of surprise and outrage was one he would savor forever.