chapter 18

Republics side on Ryloth

Obi-wan was not having a very nice day on Ryloth because not only did they lose huge amounts of ground from the terrans, but the two sides could be trapped if their navy lost over the planet which was still going on.

Not only did he have to worry about this, but there was still groups of separatist strongholds on the planet still holding hostages and could become a problem if they attacked them with the terrans near them.

Before they were attacked, Obi-wan and his legion of clones were tasked in breaking these strongholds from the separatist and run them off the planet. Now that plan was halted with the advancements of the Terran forces on the planet and the planet would likely be a hotspot for major battles later in the war.

The Terrans on the other hand had positioned themselves a few miles from their perimeter and it seemed like they would hold their position at the moment, but several squad of clones were still alert in the front lines incase they tried something.

Over the battlefield ahead it had become a no man's land and it was almost pitch dark with the only light on the battlefield being destroyed tanks that were still dimly burning in the night sky. Occasionally you can see the bright lights of the battle in space as parts of ships can be seen falling down towards the ground.

Right now Obi-wan was trying to communicate with mace windu and contact any of their forces near Ryloth to put this battle into there hands.

"I don't think we can hold out here any longer if this continues like this." Obi-wan says to windu.

"I've lost not only ground but a mass amount of troops just from their first assault. It won't be long before the terrans overwhelm us on the ground." Obi-wan says desperate for any help against the terrans.

"I'm sorry Kenobi but it seems we will be on our own for now. Most of our forces are occupied at the moment and those that are able to aid us will take a while until they can help us." Windu says trying to keep his chain of command under control as his loses in space has started to pile up with neither side seeming able to gain the upper hand.

Obi-wan only sighs in disappointment before putting a hand to his chin thinking about the earlier battle against the terrans.

"You know. The terrans were using slugthrowers when we engaged them. It looked like it was one of their standard weapons throughout their military." Obi-wan says to windu remembering all of the projectiles hitting near them during the battle.

"The use of blasters seem to be nonexistent for them and the only thing remotely close to a blaster was a laser going through one of our tanks, but what caused the laser is still unknown to us." Obi-wan says thinking about the weapons the Terrans have that they may have never even seen before.

"Slugthrowers? The terrans are using slugthrowers as their main weapons!?" Windu says in disbelief.

"Those types of weapons haven't been mass produced for years and pirates or bounty hunters are usually the only few to use slugthrowers as a weapon." Windu says still not being able to grasp the idea of an entire military using these weapons as a standard weapon for their soldiers.

Many in the galaxy had seen slugthrowers as inferior to blasters since slugthrowers needed more maintenance, ammo needed to be carried resulting in said soldier to carry a heavier load, and it was said to be easier to operate a blaster than a slugthrower.

Although having a blaster seemed to be the better option, many forget that bullets are way more faster than a bolt of energy and this would cause Jedi to have a hard time to block them. But blocking them may be even a worse idea since the saber would turn the bullet into multiple molten hot fragments resulting in the Jedi to become exposed to them.

Another things was that the weapons the terrans held had a faster rate of fire than a blaster, so suppressive fire on a area by slugthrowers was more dangerous than from blasters.

"Yes that had came as a surprise to even me." Obi-wan says curiously.

As they are about to continue on with their reports and findings about the terran republic Cody walks in to inform Obi-wan about something.

"General we may have a problem around the perimeter." Cody says.

"There have been reports of movements in the front lines, but every spot where we were certain of an individual was met with an empty field." Cody says anxious a little because of how this new enemy operates and they could be under their noses and they won't even know it.

Obi-wan ends his transmission with windu before following Cody towards the perimeter where Waneta was also at talking to some clones.

"We're going to be on our own for a while, so we will have to hold this position as much as possible before our reinforcements arrive." Obi-wan says to Cody walking beside him.

"It's almost like the battle on Christophsis all over again." Cody says.

"Indeed it is." Obi-wan says back to him.

They continue to walk until Obi-wan spots his padawan conversing with a few clones probably about strategies since she was occasionally pointing at different locations on the battlefield.

"How's my padawan been? What are your thoughts about her so far?" Obi-wan questions him.

Cody becomes quiet for a while thinking of what to say before speaking.

"She adapts well to any situation that was thrown at us so far. She even saved the lives of many of my brothers because of her quick thinking." Cody answers to Obi-wan.

"That alone has already given her some of my respect." Cody says.

As they are nearing the front of their perimeter multiple loud pops can be heard as multiple flares are shot over their position lighting up most of their positions.

"Everyone get down!" Obi-wan yells to this troops as they all take cover just in time as a rain of bullets are shot at them.

The rain of bullets began to slow down seconds later after they dived for cover. A few clones seeing this as their chance to return fire peeks their head out and is about to fire at any enemy they see first. As they do this they immediately get shot in the head as the terrans suppressing fire intensify all over again.

"How are we supposed to fight against an enemy like this. We can't even see them!" A random clone yells frustrated.

"Calm down trooper! We just need to wait for the right time to strike." Cody says trying to get his head out of the gutter.

Minutes later all of the gunshots stop and it becomes dark and quiet all over again as the last flare goes out. The clones not seeing any threat to their life gets out of cover firing at anything in front of them even though they didn't see anything.

After everything seemed to calm down Cody had already started to make a group to scout out where the terrans were hiding and point out their location to their heavy weapons and potentially take them out.

Seeing that it may be all clear Waneta slowly makes her way towards Obi-wan being wary of in case of another attack.

"Master. I don't think we will be able to hold our ground for much longer if things go on like this." She says to Obi-wan.

"We will have to hold this position for a while. If we don't, we will have our backs against the village we just liberated a few weeks ago." Obi-wan says to Waneta.

"You are right about us not being able to hold out for long, but we cannot allow our battle to come near the innocents." Obi-wan says to Waneta.

"They've suffered enough already." Obi-wan says.

"I understand master...but there has to be another option than just letting them to inflict heavy loses on us." Waneta says hesitant to fully speak her mind as she looks at some of the dead clones on the ground frowning which doesn't go unnoticed by Obi-wan.

"You are strong and wise for someone at your age my padawan, but you must understand that the republic and Jedi were meant to protect those that wouldn't be able to do it themselves." Obi-wan says to Waneta.

"Sometimes sacrifices will be made, even if we don't want it. It will happen, but it is because of their sacrifice that the republic and those following will be protected from those who want to cause harm to them." He says.

At least that is what he would have told himself years ago, but now he is not so sure with the push for war. The Jedi were supposed to be peacekeepers yet they go against what a peacekeeper was supposed to do. They can command over an army of clones leading them into battle.

And now they were in a situation with another faction that could have been avoided if they hadn't try and force a mostly unknown planet to join their war and now the republic may suffer because of it.

Getting out of his thoughts he looks at Waneta who was also deep in thought before looking at him.

"I understand master. I just wish things didn't have to be like this." She says frowning looking at the ground.

Obi-wan walks up to her and puts a hand on her shoulder to reassure her. When he grabs her she slowly looks up at him as he smiles down at her.

"It's good that you care, but in time you will have to make decisions that all look bad and you'll have to choose one." Obi-wan says to her before walking off to care for the wounded before making a report.

As he walks off Waneta thinks hesitantly on whether her judgement on all the Jedi was correct. Too her it seems like Obi-wan would never be like the Jedi she heard about. She was told they were all hypocrites and only cared for their glory or themselves.

She was given only little details about some of the Jedi and never knew who she was going to be a padawan too when she was given this mission. When she was handed to Obi-wan as her master was completely different from what she thought he would be like and even started to like him.

Even though she started to care for her master, if he or anyone else found out about her and her mission. She wouldn't hesitate to kill them.

That's what she tells herself. After all she was trained to do this and would even kill herself if it meant the secrets of the Terran republic would be kept from them.

As she also walks towards Obi-wan to take care of the wounded no one spotted the uneven grass that looked like prints of a boot. Moments later the figure can be seen moving if you looked closely, but since it was so dark you wouldn't be able to spot it.

On a cliff looking over a separatist base

On a cliff overlooking a separatist base a Spartan can be seen using his scope on his sniper as way to survey the base.

He continues to do this before he gets a transmission on his wrist.

"Is the base defended heavily like we thought it was?" A voice says over his comms.

"No I already have their patrol routes all figured out and their strong points aren't located in effective placements." The Spartan says getting up carrying the sniper in one hand about to start moving waiting for high command to respond back to him.

The comms are quiet for a few seconds before the voice speaks again.

"Noble six you have the green light to start the operation. Make sure to watch out for any civilians in the area. Happy hunting Spartan." The voice responds.

"Affirmative sir." Six says walking down the cliff about to wreck havoc on the separatist base.