43 (CH. 36) A New Battlefield...
While the Senate meeting was in full swing to bring about a ceasefire between the Republic and the Separatists, a lone planet was struggling to survive against an overwhelming alien invasion.
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"GO GO GO!"
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"NEED A MEDIC OVER HERE!"
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"WALKERS INBOUND!"
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"TAKE COVER!"
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(BOOOOOM!)
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"HEAVIES ON OUR POSITION! WHERES ARMOR SUPPORT!?"
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Chaos... utter Chaos was what reigned over the colony planet of Halcyon when the Golden Armada arrived. dozens of stray shielded Sub-cities, and star ports were all that stood as the beach head against the alien invaders, and the capital city.
Many of the planets populace were peaceful living their lives until the 'Pillars' fell from the sky. A blue wave of death soon spread from its arrival, and soon more followed. when the Galactic Republics soldiers arrived in a panicky state, basically forcing people to the center of the cities, the colonists thought it was the end of days. Even when the Ray-shields came online, the wasteland that could be seen outside the massive dome was sickening... and demoralizing.
Regardless though, when the first signs of enemy "landing crafts' entered the atmosphere, the GAR sprang back into action... what was left of them anyways.
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Of the seventy thousand ground troops stationed on the prosperous, and one of the most essential planets to the Republic Economy... only thirty-two thousand made it to a shield zone in time.
Many of the battalion bases and posts on the remote areas within well defensible positions, were the first to be targeted, leaving only those that were within the cities, on leave, or on patrols, the only members to survive the first wave.
Even the Jedi master, and his padawan stationed on the planet currently, barely made it out of the 'Dead Zone' alive. Sadly though, the Jedi Master sucomed to some sort of radiation poisoning from the Zone, leaving the GAR soldiers to quarantine their Commander in an isolated area of the makeshift Headquarters for a short while while medics scanned him.
Galen Merrick was an outstanding combatant, and for lack of a better description amongst the Clones, a 'typical Jedi'. But when it counted, the men would follow Galen and his late Master anywhere... even the fiery pits of Hell itself.
When the shield of the capital city was engaged, it was so large it covered the nearby cities of Toval, Garenda, and Heliopo. The sheild allowed for the other aforementioned cities to raise their own shields to reinforce the capitals robust generators.
The entire system was worth more then 'one plus one'... multiple times the 'Pillars' slammed into the ray-sheild, and multiple times again, it stood firm. Not much came in the ways of information... but broken signals, Holo chatter, and not to mention the devastation outside the sheild and from debris that somewhat looked like {Venators} that had been blasted to shreds, was all the Clones needed to know... they were under attack... but it wasnt by the Separatists.
Galen was soon released from his quarantine, after the 'Bombardment' ended, and after the Medical equipment cleared the young padawan; But what happened next brought us to the present...
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"GET SOME JUMPERS OVER HERE, WE HAVE MORE OF THOSE HEAVY WALKERS COMMING AT US!"
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"SOUTHERN QUADRANT IS UNDER HEAVY FIRE, WE NEED AIR SUPPORT! WE'RE PINNED DOWN!"
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"WE HAVE CONTACT!"
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Everywhere surrounding the massive dome were an uncountable number of strange crystalline objects that seemingly dropped from small artificially made black holes, and a seemingly endless number of hostile forces marching towards the sheilds of the defending GAR.
"WE HAVE CLOAKED! SWITCHING TO THERMAL!"
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"POINT BETA IS UNDER ATTACK BY CLOAKED ASSAILANTS, I REPEAT, CLOAKED ASSAIL... AHHHHHHH!"
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Galen was attempting to coordinate a defense, but against what he was seeing on his command terminal, it was proving to be almost impossible. using conventional methods of combat was practically a death sentence for anyone on the frontline, since these walkers weren't droids as far as anyone could tell... they had no 'patterns' to follow, and seemed to do things sporadically, like they had pilots.
With this information, the Clones took to covered, and trench styled warfare from the ancient times, as well as setting up small bunker emplacements using the surrounding rubble... and it seemed to work. With large anti-vehicle cannons, and launchers put in place behind the lines... any they could get their hands on anyways... anything that stepped through or near the sheilds was fired upon, whether from small arms fire, which seemed to deplete the aliens personnel shielding rather quickly, or the heavy artillery that was scavenged together in all the cities.
Now that a modicum of a defense was formed, there wasnt as staggering amounts of wounded or dead on the GAR's side of the conflict coming into the medical quarters, it was still extensive, but it wasnt as bad against the alien invaders, even the Thermal lenses on the Clone troopers helmets helped see the invisible enemies previously terrorizing them... at least till the "Chargers" arrived that is.
Strange golden armoured, twin kneed aliens poured onto the planet... and with their startling speed, Charged through the barrage of heavy fire with blurring movements, to close in on the Clone defenders...wielding what appeared to be armgaurd lightsabers, and light-axes, their blue blades ignited and singing death to all those unlucky enough to get close enough.
Some were seemingly Machines, while others had some parts of the aliens Grey scale-formed skin exposed for the world to see. The defenses had been broken twice by such charges from these Invaders, and twice more, they were reformed further into the Sheilded area of the outer perimeter, the only saving grace Galen's men, and the other commanders in the other cities had, was the 'heavy losses' the GAR inflicted upon their foes, as they either burst apart in shattered metal, or vanished in a blue misty form. As for the skies, they were doing the best they could to keep the alien crafts off the ground defences... with little, to no luck as most of the anti-air defenses were slowly lost.
All across the three cities, and even the Capital, there was holo-chatter about battles raging on the edges of said cities... the aliens were hitting everywhere at once, and no one was able to support the rapidly depleting forces Galen now comanded... of the thirty-two thousand troops that had survived, he had only a small four thousand under his command in Heliopo... and that number has since been halved since the beginning of the attacks almost a week ago. Galens men were tired... weak.... but they still fought on, always attempting to get civilians to the Blast Bunkers in the heart of the city... even at the cost of their lives.
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OVER HALCYON... BEHIND THE SECOND MOON, AND PASSING BETWEEN THE TWIN SUNS.....
"finnaly, Nu Zinot Lot: Kuplah Ikuny. Oy, Kam's Sis?"
looking out over a now completely new, and refurbished Bridge, a cloaked being stood by itself, as it gazed into the Golden colored fleet that had come into view. the Golden ships were beautifully crafted, and massive. several were launching fighters and fighting off similarly shaped ships to the Republic ones the being had seen previously in some of the data it had stolen from its asimilations.
Several alarms began going off on the sub-deck below, but the Figure ignored it... but below the shaded hood, part of a smooth feminine face could clearly be seen. As 'she' speaks to the dead air around her, as a vicious smirk graces her lips.
"Nu dont Minti Meistras Tariam Dvasi Nun playing Su Savimi Negu Nu Tevola..."
Looking over to the void that was space, the woman smirks, however the direction she was facing was no longer the previous destination she had felt her Master was before, but somewhere new. With a slight shudder passing through her cloaked body, excitement pulsed throughout her new nervous system... she couldn't wait to see her beloved master again.
The direction she was facing wasnt the direction towards Coruscant... but Mandalor.
