Completed Campaign - "For the Soul of JanFathal"

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Kylar Thrane

Lord of Admirals
Staff member
Community Team
Jedi Order
Nov 26, 2020
285
84
28
34
Phase 1 - The Arrival

Republic Task Force Argento
Position - High Orbit over JanFathal


(Ambient Music for Scene)

JanFathal.jpg
Jedi Knight Kylar Thrane gazed out the Venator's viewport at the world before him. JanFathal, a minor terran world ringed with asteroids in high orbit, which made its wealth exporting various metal ores. In normal times, this peaceful world was just a minor trade stop on the route to Muunilist, but all that changed when new veins of durasteel and carbonite were advertised.

Then in swooped the CIS to lock in exclusive extraction rights with the Mining Unions, which the government swiftly sold-out to. Upset over the loss of the new mines to a foreign power, civil unrest swept thru the populace until it sparked into civil war. And now the Republic steps in to back the Traditionalists in their valiant struggle against the pro-CIS Unionists........and to gain the same valuable metal resources for starships fabrication that the CIS so greedily seeks. Politics at its finest.

His orders from High Command were simple: Land contingents of 104th on JanFathal, reinforce the Republic Commandos on the ground, and aide the Traditionalists in securing their world from CIS influence. Campaign duration estimated from two weeks to one month of hard fighting.

Kylar scoffed to himself, "A month to end a planetary civil war......Command had similar estimates for Mygeeto, and Master Mundi has been their for near three years!" And unfortunately for Task Force Argento, this operation had begun in a similar fashion to near every recent Republic campaign.......in disaster. He felt the shock wave of the explosions before hearing the comm chatter on the command bridge behind him.

"Troop Transport Odyssey hit! Multiple hull breaches across her decks from asteroid impacts!", reported a junior officer in the pit. Before Kylar could respond, the Task Force's Commodore Gorcuev Telani began barking complaints and orders in a panicked voice. "How could those pilots be so blind to fly straight into asteroids? Tell them to come about immediately, they are blocking the invasion corridor!" A nearby radar screen began to blink with red dots, but Kylar could see the small shapes in the distance well enough to know what they were.....jackals attempting to swarm a wounded beast. He swiftly turned about to the pit officers. "Belay that order!! We have enemy Vulture droids in-bound for the Odyssey. Deploy Viper squadron's V-wing flights 1 thru 4 immediately to defensive positions around the Acclamator. Move up two Arquitens for close-range support and instruct our reserve Pelta-class frigates to begin search and rescue missions for life-pods and any personnel trapped in damaged hull sections. Move it!"

acclamator under attack.jpg
A chorus of yes sir's followed Kylar as he quickly strode past Commodore Telani to the tactical holo-display at the back of the bridge, which showed Vulture droids emerging from out-croppings of nearby asteroids in attempted strafing runs on the listing Odyssey. Thankfully, most of their V-wing flights were already launched and quickly engaged the would-be ambushers. The reminder of the support ships moved following is commands to aid the poor souls of the on the Odyssey. Telani moved up beside, stiff at attention as if that somehow gave him the authority he lacked. "Commander Thrane, may I remind you that upon this mission I am the lead officer, and I will not have you questioning my authority in-front of the Clones........"

"Men", Kylar quipped. "........You mean in-front of the Men." He turned to face the young Commodore. Truly, Telani was about his age, but the difference was Kylar had been a GAR Commander at war for the last five years, while the Commodore had just recently graduated from the Anaxes Officers College. "Commodore Telani, I'll be brief. First off, the Odyssey did not fly into asteroids by accident, those were low-yield explosives creating improvised space mines. Ingenious really, by the locals, as our scanners would not be able to detect them and yet they can do enough damage with shattering an asteroid into a starship. Probably both sides of the war have strewn the asteroid field with make-shift mines, which means they will only activate by proximity for any ship passing by, regardless of allegiance.

Secondly, I specifically recommended against your text book maneuver to land massive assault ships on a world cloaked by asteroids as it would be miracle if they got thru unscathed. Now, we have a damaged Acclamator that can no longer participate in this operation and hundreds dead for no reason. That will be in your report back to GAR Command.

And thirdly.......
"Kylar stared Telani in the eyes, ".....thirdly your recent promotion to the head of this task force was not because of your outstanding grades or term papers at Anaxes, but rather because we've lost so many command staff in damn fleet battles over the last three years that the GAR is promoting anyone with an officer rank. So get your smug head out of your ass and do your job!! There are men out their that need saving, and get that Acclamator tugged back out of harms way! No more large scale invasion attempts. The CIS beat us to the ground, and I will follow my orders and take the 104th planetside to end this civil war. And the 58th Airborne will lead the way, how we always do!"

Seeing Telani bristle red with a combination of embarrassment and ego, Kylar smirked and turned back to the holo-display to resume orders. He inserted one of his command cylinders into the counsel which granted him a fleet wide broad-cast. "This Jedi Commander Thrane. Our Venators, remaining Acclamators, and Arquitens will remain in high orbit under Commodore Telani's command, to assist the Odyssey and to send supplies to us planetside. In order to get down to the planet, contingents of the 104th will disembark their respective ships and load unto the CR-70 Chargers, the heavy CR-90, and any LAAT gunship in condition to keep up. Also, the 58th's squadrons of ARC-170s and Y-wings will lead the way and remain planetside for the duration of this campaign. Gear-up men and be ready to disembark."

Telani attempt to recover some face, in lieu of the circumstances. "The 58th's fighter wing would be greatly beneficial to support the fleet......", but a cold stare from Kylar silenced him. "You have two Venators' worth of star fighters at your command, and if you cannot protect this task force with that, then I don't know what to say. However, the 58th are my men, and they stay with me. I'll need their firepower planetside. I trust you'll manage without our few dozen ships." Kylar brushed past him to the turbolift.

"But.....how will you get the 58th and 104th planetside without the Acclamators?", Telani asked with pure curiosity. Kylar flashed a grin as the lift doors began to close, "Simple, my good Commodore.....we're going to run the gauntlet".

A few minutes later Kylar was in the hanger bay of the Venator, linking up with his men of the 104th. His leading officer, Cpt Jori, strode up flanked by members of the 58th Airborne. His wolf-emblazoned ARC trooper helmet under one arm, Jori saluted Kylar swiftly, "58th's Squadrons are fueling up and we are loading supplies onto two docked CR-70s, sir. Thre rest of the fleet is following suite with the remaining CR-70s as instructed, and Cpt Rook-Ti's CR-90 corvette is already loaded down with personnel. Though, there isn't much room on-board these Chargers. If you want the 104th at decent strength, we'll need to pack the men into any hallway or engineering space we can find." Kylar returned his saluate and smiled, "Prompt action Jori, you never cease to amaze. This run won't be easy, but the men will have to hunker down in any space available aboard the CR-70s. If there are any LAAT pilots you trust to keep pace with us on this ship, reassign them to the 58th and start loading men and supplies." Kylar handed him two rank code cylinders to ensure no logistics stood in his captain's way.

"Easy? Its going to be a tight one, Commander. So.....are we pulling a run the gauntlet maneuver, or so I'd guess by your comm broadcast." Kylar clapped an hand on the captain's shoulder with a grin, "It worked over Ringo Vinda, didn't it? Pass the word, we're going in hot planetside. We're on a time table. How long till men, gear, and ships can be ready to move out?"

Jori looked down the vast hanger of garages, "Give us one to two hours, Commander, and we'll be ready to go." Also watching men scramble all over in preparation for the coming attack, Kylar nodded in approval, "So be it. That will also give Commodore Telani enough time to rescue the Odyssey and have it tractored-beamed to safety. I'll be taking a handful of our elite guard down in the Ancestral Blade, and lead the front of our formation." Kylar paused for a moment, calculating their odds at getting enough men planetside with this manuever. Turning again to Cpt. Jori, "In the dorsal hanger alongside my ship, there is a reserve CR-70. Its now your command, Jori. The second code cylinder will give you access, and pack it to the brim with your commandos and all the heavy ordnance they can carry." Jori beamed from ear to ear, "Thank you sir! Alright boys, you heard the commander! Grab all the muntions, rations, and rifles you can and start stowing them on our new ride. We move out in under two hours, at the Commander's call!" Jori saluated and then moved out with his men.

Kylar turned back to the various divisions across the Venator's hanger bay. He itched to get down to the Ancestral Blade, to start the pre-flight checks himself before soaring off into combat. But first, he wanted to check if any other squads or Jedi wanted to tag along on this venture.



OOC - hey guys, please use the Venator hanger or nearby ships as a staging area for our characters to meet, talk, and get ready to ship out to JanFathal. This is going to be wild flight, if you want to ride with the 58th!
 
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Rowan Caltera
Venator Hangar
Getting ready to launch


Somewhere in the hangar not too far from Kylar sat an Eta-2 Actis starfighter with dings and scrapes aplenty. Its owner was doing some last-minute adjustments, sparks flying from his plasma torch. He paused, then lowered the torch and flipped up the mask shielding his face.

Rowan scanned the area with vibrant eyes, made all the more prominent by his contrasting crimson-hued skin. His gaze settled upon the other Jedi, whom he nodded to. He whipped the mask back down, turned, and quickly completed the last segment on his interceptor he'd been repairing. That done, he tossed both items of gear into a storage container and strode to Kylar. Despite his armored boots and size, he's a surprisingly quiet walker.

“Knight Thrane?” He extended a large, rather meaty hand to shake. If he cared about how messy his hair was, it didn't show. “Rowan Caltera,” he introduced himself. “I was temporarily reassigned to this battlegroup for the engagement on JanFathal. What's your plan of attack?”
 
Clone Captain Xu
Commanding Officer of the 7th Spec Ops Task Force Company 'Star Prowlers'
Aboard Venator Flagship, Primary Hanger


The moving formations of his company worked in order, keeping a space for themselves by their squadron of assigned LA-ATs. Textbox of a hundred and forty-four clone troopers, hard-drilled and experienced overall since stepping into the scrutiny of Marshal Commander Bacara of the 21st Nova Corps and extended down to Captain Xu in training and confidence of his own ARC cross-classing. He stood in attention, the grim appearance of his veil-faced helm staring onto his clones. Their distinctive attire of insulated synthmesh and powered packs with the expectation of cut supplies and complications ground-or-voidside. All in all, the Star Prowlers of 21st were made ready at a moment's notice.

When the company sergeants made their turnabouts, saluting to their sergeant-majors and lieutenants. Xu looked to his four immediate as they delivered salute and spoke in order of veterancy;

"Lieutenant Copper. Quake Knives at the ready, sir."

"Lieutenant Gar. Phontshot Platoon at the ready, sir."

"Lieutenant Firr. Atin'marev at the ready, sir."

"Lieutenant Kirc. Joker's End at the ready, sir."

Xu saluted back with approval, clicking his comms to the immediate officer in command of the coming mission, "Star Prowlers at the ready, sir."

It was a somewhat necessary roll-call; to ensure cohesion was present and to remind his soldiers that they had names and unity under their practically identical armour with the barest distinctions that only they recognized. They were men to him and they will fight and die before becoming referred as any less as far as the Captain was concerned. Kamino-born and from the recent notice of some...odd, no-count replacements to the many brothers that have fallen over the years. Xu heard they were 'Spartii-bred'. Maybe in account to the Kaminoans' shifty 'neutrality' but they weren't very liked by Bacara when the recent troop replacements in their comms chat.

The captain was almost glad he had none in his company now. Keep fighting, keep training, keep living until it's your time. Those words never left Xu's mind since hearing it from that one Mandalorian. A strange and vicious folk but..they had just as profound wisdom as the Jedi now and again. Then again, what did you expect from a clone of said-folk?
 
Captain Kal'thera
Commanding Officer of the 44th Combat Support Company 'Umbra'
Venator Primary Hangar


The Twi'lek captain walked once again to the other side of the hangar, occasionally reviewing her units lined up beside the LA-ATs. She passed her datapad to her First Lieutenant striding by her before confirming. "Logistics checks out. The Commodore's been fussing for nothing. Must be his first campaign." The lieutenant gestured to the nearest clone trooper, relaying the messages.

The busy hangar stopped to silence as the Jedi Commander's broadcast was received. The First Lieutenant Styx was quick to jump on the matter "The Acclamators are staying? Entry to JanFathal is going to be hard." Kal motioned to the LA-AT pilots. "Normally. But we're with the 58th now. You know the drill."

Her left lek twitched upon noticing the Jedi Commander Kylar Thrane in the hangar. "Or if you have any protests, you could just always bring it up to the man himself." Kal teased the lieutenant before making her way to report to the Jedi. The twi'lek noticed that Kylar already has another Jedi Knight with him. Rowan Caltera, was it? She vaguely remembered his name from the manifest as it was written similarly to hers in the High Galactic alphabet. A weird alphabet system, really.

She walked up to salute both of the Jedi. "44th Combat Support Company Umbra, Captain Thera reporting." It seemed that they were already talking about a plan. "So, this good lieutenant of mine," She gestured behind with her thumb, pointing at the flustered lieutenant. "He really wanted to know how we are going get close to the surface without the Acclamators."
 
"Rupture" Squad
Position - Wrong Place, Wrong Time

JanFathal


commandos.jpg
In the beginning came the immense pressure of the breeding tanks, followed by the harsh oppression of unforgiving simulations and barking of instruction. And then, the Clones were born, on the frontlines and prepped for emergency surgery. Words were no different than the constant shelling of target artillery, another code to break to learn the secrets of dastardly foreign agents.

All Clones lived the same lives, and yet Captain Carver couldn't help but wonder why he always got plopped down right in the middle of another planetary civil war. After all, a change of scenery every once in a while kept the mind fresh, sharp like his vibroblade's humming edge.

Blasterfire from his squadron's set of DC-rifles played like synth-strings in a cantina band. He loved to make the big droids dance and stumble. He always stopped counting bodies after a while and got lost in the symphony.

"'Ey, Foe! Remember when we told you to land away from all the droids?" the delighted cry of the group's youngest - Forty - rang into his ear through the helm-comm, "You sure know how to nail a landing!"

To Carv's left, the nervous pilot Foe fumbled just slightly as he reloaded his rifle before shooting back, "Don't worry, Forty, I'm just tryin' to get rid of ya."

Landing in a smoking heap of scrap beside the city's besieged capitol building had never been Rupture Squad's plan, but the commandos had come to expect every plan of theirs to get blown to bits the moment they entered orbit anyway. That seemed to be the theme with this bunch. At least, they seemed to be lucky to have made it planetside at all. The trip from space into orbit had been one of the bumpier ones Rupture Squad had seen all their lives.

Pushing on, the five of them pulled what they could from the wreckage and made the short trek directly through a small enemy encampment and to the capitol's perimeter. Currently held by a small and battered contingent of CapSec, disjointed Clone squads and civilian militiamen, they numbered maybe three dozen at the most.

The building itself was a simple, steel structure, already well-scuffed over the course of their contributions to the war. The Clone captain could even tell what scars were artillery, what were blaster, or what might have been flesh once upon a time. In between counting the scorch-marks, Carver wondered what it was like to have a home to fight for. He envied the green pastures beyond the city walls, the life of a farmer.


But still the war raged, and even the farmers raised arms in name of their state - on JanFatha like on thousands of other planets in the galaxy, families found themselves split down the middle by political loyalties. Captain Carver had to wonder if any of them wished they'd been bred in a tube and raised to kill.

"Hey, Cap, any word on those reinforcements?" in between held breaths, he glancing down the scope of his sniper, Tag asked the question someone always ended up asking.

"I think they're still on Kashyyyk-" Miro added in, quick like a slip.

"Last I heard, our boys on the ground are still holed up south of her, by the spaceport, near the bridges. Fleet coming in from out of sector could be here in ten minutes or ten days," Carver spoke in rushed chunks of time, as if he always forgot he could speak until he had to, "so get back to counting your hits, lads. All we got to kill around here is time and droids."

"I stopped counting when I hit a baker's dozen."

"How many is that, Mi?"

"It's however many Tag dropped, plus one."

The rain of laughter flashed together like a bang with the popping off of blaster rifles, the clanking of shredding droid bits and flesh thumping against the ground. Carver forgot the purpose of language. He dug deep into the purpose of standing his ground. Every droid that stepped toward the capitol would get a blaster-bolt in its head, or he himself would be a crumpled mess, lifeless among family and foe alike.
 
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"Illogical."

From the roof of a building, Super Tactical Droid TC-96 looks up at a Vulture droid, half-burnt, going down toward Janfatha's surface leaving a trail of black, oily smoke behind. Enemy fighters erupt out of the said trail, all thrusters screaming, dodging the blaster shots of AA guns placed around the city.

In a matter of minutes, everything went wrong on Janfatha for the CIS.

Until now, the droids had the upper hand. The Traditionalists lacked proper training and weapons, except for the help of a few trained Republic commandos, and this was why TC-96 had been dispatched here. To test new tactics on easy targets. And its B1 droids, under proper command, had reached 57% of their objectives when the Republic Army appeared to join the fight.

The CIS had deployed enough droids and firepower to crush a local rebellion. But not to fight clones and jedis!

"Illogical." repeats TC-96 as it stares at the sky filling up with enemy ships "An attack on Janfatha had only a 07,2% probability to happen. Living beings are using their inferior, chaotic conception to take illogical actions against us. According to my superior programming, it is time to activate my improvisation chips."

TC-96's eyes flicker for a second. Next to it, a B1 droid stops observing the enemy through its binoculars to look at TC-96.

"Are you okay sir?" the droid asks with its high-pitched voice.
"Positive. Just adding chaos to my calculations to replicate the thoughts of living beings."
"Chaos? Are the living being using corrupted datas to think?" the B1 asks.
"Positive. They are highly illogical beings." TC-96 explains "To think like them means adding stupid concepts to your database. Like "Honor"".
"What is honor, sir?"
"The opposite of "Efficiency.""
"Roger roger." the B1 nods, unable to fully understand the answer.

Meanwhile, TC-96 calculates a new plan. Clone troopers were already reported in various sectors of Janfatha's capital, taking control of streets and buildings. B1s squads were often wiped out in a matter of seconds, falling into ambushes while on their way to reinforce another front.

"They're indeed trying to use chaos against us." TC-96 eventually calculates "New orders. All regular units: regroup North of the Parliament, ready to hold a new line at coordinates X988 and X989. All heavy units: your orders to join the frontline are canceled. Retreat to said coordinate, entrench, and cover the regular units as they retreat. Mobile units: stay in reserve, and get ready to move to the North-East bridge on my order."

TC-96 processes the situation, once again. And it's bad. The CIS doesn't have the proper troops to counter such an offensive.

But TC-96's job isn't to complain.

It's to be efficient.

"To available artillery units... our units are retreating. Meaning the enemy will be moving on the city bridges, to bring fresh soldiers to the retreating front and evacuate wounded ones."

TC-96 thinks about the strange concept of honor in its database. Living beings are definitely illogical. But whatever.


"When they'll be crowded, fire at the bridges." orders TC-96.
 
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venator hanger.jpg

Kylar accepted Rowan's outstretched hand, returning the gesture to firmly clasp his arm in a comrades' embrace. "Its good to have you brother. The presence of a fellow knight is a welcome one on this venture." He nodded back towards Rowan's Eta-2, "I see you know your way around repairs. The Eta interceptor is a fine ship, though she's alittle underwhelmed in firepower and flexibility for my taste. Perhaps when we get a break planetside, we can swap some shop talk. I'm constantly tinkering to improve my Crescent X-9. I still need to get its turbo-laser cannon operational....." He trailed off as he scanned the hanger beyond Roland's ship. He could see units of the 58th scrabbling all over, standing out with their gray-tinted armor with crimson stripes. His men were busy making final pre-flight checks on star fighters, loading crates of supplies into their custom LAAT's, and after dismissing their infantry squads to board nearby dropships, Kylar saw several of his officers making their way across the hanger to his position, including Cpt. Jori.

Stopping just short of the two Jedi, his officers offered a salute as Jori reported the CR-70 Charger in the ventral hanger was primed and loaded, but they still had room for more men. The officers accompanying Jori likewise made their reports on the varying readiness of their units, but not all the voices were that of clones. Before Kylar stood men cloned from Mandalorian Jango Fett, Alderaani from House Thrane, Corellians, Mon Cals, Twi'leks, and Onderonians. The fighting 58th were no different, as they suffered more than their share of casualties throughout the war, and clones were not an endless supply regardless of the propaganda. Luckily, everywhere they had fought, their actions and honor had swelled their ranks with volunteers until near only 50% of Kylar's battalion were clones. But they all fought as one unit.

Kylar returned their salutes while taking in their updates. "We're in luck today, as it seems the 58th won't have to fight this one alone. Jedi Knight Rowan will accompany us.....", he let his gaze drift to other companies standing by throughout the Venator hanger, ".....and we'll take any others who are willing. I see members of the 21st Nova Corps here, and......is that the 44th Umbra Company? Rally their officers to us, and we can begin the mission briefing here."

Just then, Cpt. Kal'thera of the 44th strode up with her lieutenant. Kylar returned her salute, and smiled at her joking remark. "Well Captain Thera, tell your men not to worry, Acclamators are only useful if we completely have the upper hand. Unforunately, we are two weeks late to this party on JanFathal, so thus we must plan accordingly. Please, join us for the mission briefing......", he paused as he waved over Cpt Xu, and then took a moment to remove his holo-projector from his armor and set on a nearby munitions crate. Quickly pressing a few keys, Kylar brought up a holo-image of JanFathal along with holo-projections of his remaining officers spread throughout the fleet.

Turning back to Thera, Kylar looked at her uniform's service medals, "......I see you have the insignia for the Battle of Ryloth, something we share in common. I also fought on your homeworld, and was there for its liberation from the CIS. That is where I met Cpt. Rook-Ti, one of my best officers and pilots." He gestured towards the holo-image of the blue-skinned Twi'lek on the bridge of her CR-90 Corvette. "What do you mean one of the best, Commander? Seriously?", she smirked. Kylar responded, "Oh, just small talk Rook.....you know what I mean. Alright, everyone assembled?......Good, this will serve as your mission briefing, and we have a rough road ahead........"

With members of the 58th, 21st, and 44th assembled, Kylar began the mission briefing in earnest. "Thank you all for being here. Republic Forces are stretched thin, and it is an honor to have some of the most elite troopers of our army present to come to the aide of JanFathal." He brought up an orbital map of the world. "By now, I'm sure you've heard of the unfortunate disaster of the Odyssey. Thankfully, loss of life was minimal, but the ship is terribly damaged after the ambush in the asteroid field, which means we need to ditch text-book GAR tactics. They won't work here, and they'll only get more soldiers killed."

He paused as he zoomed in on the world. "You can see that JanFathal is ringed with asteroids, reaching near to the limit of their atmosphere. What does that mean to us? It means our scanners are near useless, communication to the surface is crap, and we have fly thru massive rocks to even reach the clouds of this world. Due to landing complications, we will not be able to bring the entire 104th Legion down with us. However, we can safely bring in a number of companies, including those present here, on smaller transports......but not in the slow swarm of LAAT's most of you are familiar with. No, due to the dangers of a mined asteroid field, Speed will be our greatest ally. Thus, as the Airborne likes to say, we will be running the gauntlet! This entails all disembarking troops immediately load on to available CR-70 Chargers, and I don't care if you have to exceed the capacity. Just bring as much food/supplies/ammunition as you can stockpile. My task force's CR-90 is already weighed down with over half my unit," he nodded towards Rook-Ti, as she returned his gesture. "Remaining troops will come down in the 58th's LAATs or any equivalent that can keep up, along with our ARC-170s and Y-wings."

Adjusting the image, Kylar focused on the world's capital of Athar. "JanFathal is a world divided between the Unionists who have sided with the CIS, and the Traditionalists who have called upon the Republic for support, though let it be known this all boils down to the mining rights of the new durasteel and carbonite ore discovered on the planet. Regardless of resources, the people of this world have asked for our aid. The Republic sent in a group of advisors........the CIS answered with an invasion force two weeks ago, and much of the capital is overrun. It is our duty to protect the people of this world. This is the current situation below". Kylar motioned the shifting colors of the battle map overlaying the city.

Athar_Battlelines_Day1.jpg

Kylar gestured to the BLUE outline, "The CIS are holding over half the city, including the government parliament, three (3) major AA gun installations, a wide LZ and deployment zone on the northern outskirts, and have been seizing Energy Collection Sites across the city to fuel their droids. Initial estimates range between 6,000 to 10,000 droids could be deployed in the city to support the Unionist Militia, which could number in the thousands themselves." Panning the view to the South, he continued, "The good news is that the Traditionalist Guard also numbers in the thousands have continued to hold tight to the capital's spaceport, and most of the southern area indicated in RED. We also already have a few hundred troopers fighting with them to hold the three main bridges along with four (4) southern AA gun emplacements. As a bonus, we have some commandos down there keeping the CIS hold on the center of the city a tentative one at best", as he gestured to the PURPLE hashed region. "Fighting all over will be tight, confined.....block-by-block, house-to-house.........I know some of your units are more at home in large open battlefields, but your troopers will need to adjust quickly." Kylar's serious demeanor warmed into a small smirk, "However, the CIS droids are even less experienced with intense urban warfare, so their vast droid numbers will be less effective and less responsive in this close proximity fighting. Nevertheless, we'll still be well outnumbered........but not out gunned nor outmaneuvered."

At his beckoning, two of his household guard brought forth the Airborne's standard issue jetpack and glider-pack. Cpt. Jori spoke as he outlined the controls for both, "Besides their use for a fast descent thru the asteroids, the 58th has developed a technique for using CR-70s for rapid air-drops behind enemy lines. Leaping from modified airlocks, most of my men use jetpacks to control our descent while using any remaining fuel to support combat maneuvers once we're to ground. However, for higher altitude jumps, the glider-packs are immensely useful, providing a trooper with enhanced maneuverability upon descent while maintaining speed. Also, for those untrained in jetpacks, the glider-pack is far easier to use and will get you down to the surface just fine, but with its smaller thruster you'll only get a single long propulsion burst out of it, either during descent or if you need to make a single "jump" once on the ground. We brought enough to cover all companies and we've already started handing crates out to your men, if they choose to utilize them."

Kylar nodded in approval, "Thank you Jori. Now, to wrap this briefing up, we'll only be able to plan so far ahead, as current communications with the surface is non-existent. The asteroids certainly don't help comm signals, but I have feeling we are being deliberately jammed. Which leads me to believe the CIS are pushing to land the fatal blow the our allies. Again, Speed is key. We'll begin by launching in three (3) groups at these coordinates, to essentially give us lanes thru the asteroid field, or the closest we can get to that. Each group will consist of three (3) CR-70s, multiple LAAT's, and the 58ths starfighters. I'll lead the central group in the my Crescent X-9, and we'll pull off some of the Task Force's V-wings to help see us thru the asteroids. Cpt. Rook-Ti, I want you leading the second in your CR-90, and Knight Rowan will lead the third in his Eta-2. Since the asteroid mines appear to be dummy charges set to proximity, the goal is to run the routes full throttle thru the asteroid field until we reach atmosphere. Undoubtedly, we will encounter enemy Vulture droids, but don't stop your descent. All ships have approval for weapons-free, and the laser cannons of the CR-70s should provide plenty of suppressive fire. If things get too dicey, I'll pull off with several fighters to see what we are up against."

"Once in atmosphere, we'll attempt to make contact to our allies on the ground. If fighting is heavy still around the capital building, I'll need at least one CR-70 to peel off and air drop its 100+ men contingent to reinforce there. Same goes for the bridges. The LAAT's, CR-90, and remaining ships will all head to the spaceport to land and immediately disembark troops and supplies." Kylar took inhaled a heavy sigh while staring at the holo-map of the city. He slowly turned to looked at the faces of the men and women before him......these souls he was about to plunge into harms way. "That's all I have for the moment. We can review if anyone needs space on which transport, including my personal ship. That said, any questions?"

@Warwolfer @EnviousWorm @Castellus @Blarg Spartan 999
 
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Rowan Caltera
Venator Hangar
Tactics Briefing


Rowan's own grip was firm as he shook Kylar's hand. “I know mechanics more out of necessity than interest,” he replied with a wry smile. “And it's what I've got,” he continued, nodding at his interceptor. “Somehow it hasn't blown up on me yet. It's a trustworthy fighter, at least.”

A few officers arrived around that time, whom Rowan crisply saluted back. There are some Jedi who may be said to dislike such militaristic gestures. He was not one of them. The black-skinned twi'lek, Captain Thera, earned a curious look when Rowan realized her full name. While it would be funny if their names sounded exactly the same, he was glad they weren't; there was no place for confusion on the battlefield.

He remained quiet as introductions were made, though he made sure to give a respectful nod to each of the gathered commanders, if nothing else.

He clasped his arms behind his back as the holo-briefing commenced. The first part where Kylar explained they'd be running the gauntlet, he pursed his lips and examined the asteroids more closely. Navigating an almost literal minefield was tricky enough without going full throttle.

Then Kylar moved on to the situation on the ground, an environment Rowan was more comfortable in than space. A corner of his mouth quirked up as he thought about battle droids trying to navigate a crumbling cityscape. To mobile units that were smart about it, the droids could be completely outmaneuvered. But, that did presume they weren't just leveling the city with artillery.

As the jetpacks and glider suits were taken out, his eyebrows shot up and he whistled appreciatively. “Beautiful.” He hadn't frequently used jetpacks, but every single time he had had been a thrilling experience.

Rowan nodded when Kylar assigned him to be the third group's leader. At the opening for questions, he made a gesture to speak. “Would it be safer if we staggered the groups? Fighters first through to make sure the lane is—somewhat—safe, followed by the CR-70's? It'd be more dangerous for the fighters, but it could help the chargers avoid potential mines.”
 
Refocusing the holo-display back to their routes thru the asteroid field, Kylar stroked his chin as he pondered Rowan's query. He had intended for three flights to fly as unified groups, moving thru the asteroids and mines as fast a possible, with the key to literally out-run any denotations. It had worked during their Ringo Vinda operation......but there they had just been dodging mines and not asteroid shrapnel. Rowan had a valid point.

"Hmm, well put Rowan. Your caution on the approach may be the superior solution to protect the convey groups from the mines." He nodded in approval towards the Zeltron Jedi, "However, if I may improve upon it. In lieu of sending the ARC-170s in first, I propose we just send three (3) ships. My original intent was for the groups to literally outrun any ambushing fighters and mine denotations, but that may be pushing our luck. So, if we could instead create the three lanes........" he paused as he zoomed into the coordinates previously selected for their descent, ".....and send out one (1) ship per lane to dash thru at high speeds, that will detonate any proximity mines in the paths for the remaining ships to follow, thus clearing the way from the mine hazard. The lead ships will send out continuous nav pings for the other ships to track and follow to guide them thru the asteroid field. These ships will be two (2) CR-70s, and myself, in order to outrun the mines and clear the way."

Kylar saw several of his troopers shift nervously at the notion of their commander racing past exploding mines, "Fear not friends, I'll be fine in my Crescent X-9, and she can near out-pace any snub fighter. Furthermore, the CR-70s we have can outrun an ARC-170 with their superior speed, especially with our stunning pilots at the helm. So, we adjust the plan........to push thru and clear a path from unwanted explosions using two (2) CR-70s and my ship. At top speed we can outrun and dance around any potential mines, and once we near atmosphere, the remaining ships could proceed unhindered."

He looked to Cpt. Xu and Thera, "Any other suggestions to consider before we start this fight off in earnest?"
 
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The Twi'lek just found out that the Jedi Knight was also present on the Battle of Ryloth times ago. "Glad to serve again for freedom of the people," She nodded. The other units' commanding officers then gathered together for the briefing. As Kylar briefed them about this gauntlet they are running, Kal took note of the key points of the strategy. None of those techniques was familiar to her, but again, flying is more of the 58th's speciality.

"I don't think the droids will be expecting this," She remarked to her lieutenant; he seemed to a bit more content after hearing the plan. "Still risky, but we're fighting against number right now. I don't have any objections." Lieutenant Styx nodded slowly to agree with her while eyeing the jetpacks and glider packs.

Trying to formulate a smaller plan of her own, she naturally blocked the noises to focus more on the holo-map. This ability to concentrate has helped Kal through battles. Several imaginary lines on the map formed to visualize her plan and how it'll roughly go. The only vital information lacking to complete it was how droids will adapt to urban combat.

Just moments later she switched her other senses back on, figuratively. It seemed Jedi Knight Rowan has proposed an alternate plan to push through the minefield. "Plan's solid," She agreed. They needed to stay intact and not explode in the space first before they can fight, after all. "Then I will lead my first and second platoon to drop on the capital. The third will jump further to the bridge to set up emplacements, just some distance from the firefight. The fourth will land on the spaceport and take care of the supplies."
 
Rowan Caltera
Venator Hangar
A not so brief briefing


Rowan hummed at Kylar's improvement to his suggestion. He nodded slowly as he compared pros to cons. “Makes sense. Solid plan.” He nodded again, more certain this time. “I'll join wherever I'm needed on the ground. Not too picky, as long as I can break some droids.” The Zeltron's eyes glittered as he idly tapped the lightsaber hilt clipped to his side.
 
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Captain Xu
Venator Hangar


Captain Xu listened to the briefing with acute attention, standing as perfect and stoic as any natural born soldier, First Lieutenant Copper at his side for any chance he miss a detail and secondary option. One day, Xu might be around and his immediate officer had to get the experience. The mission briefing wasn't complicated, it was a hydraic maneuvering of attention with the two fronts and middle no-man's zone. The 7th was flexible in its capabilities, taking a moment to listen to the others first on their input and contribution on their part.

The jetpacks were an natural addition to the captain, already planning for airborne auxiliary to augment the platoons for flanking and heightened maneuverability. A moment in, Xu spoke up. "I can assign platoon to support our approach, to be flexible multipliers to our strategies while I take my main body to assist in the attrition. Any boarding maneuvers required en out to the battlezone, the Star Prowlers are able and willing."
 
Storming the front door was always the easy part.

Break through the thin-spread Confederate lines and set the charges. At least CIS hadn't expected the resistance they'd found on JanFathal -- both from the Republic, and from natives defending their idea of homeland.

Miro, ever so happy to be making something thick take a big tumble with a loud boom, hummed to the beat of the discharging DC's and the clanking of droid parts. Carver envied his younger brother; Miro never seemed to have trouble drowning out the cries of rage from charging soldiers, or their cries of pain in the death-throes of the immediate aftermath.

The charge went off and the heavy Parliament doors when caroming into the center of the main hall. Running in through the cloud of grey smoke and sparking circuits, they were met with the incoming fire of droids from near every angle. The commandos of Rupture squad took cover, with Miro and Forty laying cover fire for Tag, who picked off droids manning turrets or the few squadron leaders he could see, trying to send the CIS into a scramble.

Behind them, only a handful of JanFathalans and clones followed in, themselves taking cover and drawing the bulk of concentrated fire off Rupture; the rest - maybe a dozen clones and fifty or sixty natives - were pushing around the sides of Parliament, split into two platoons trying to pincer around to the rear.

"Maybe two dozen left on the ground floor!" Forty called out, dutiful. Miro, in response, hurled a grenade.

"Make that just one dozen, Carv!" Miro and Forty laughed while they captain remained deep in serious assessment of the situation.

"We only have one choice," He said, ignoring his brothers, "Rupture goes up to take the second floor while Squad A sweeps the rest of the first floor. We work our way up to the third, they clean out the second, and so on."

"Damn, boss, you're a true-blue tactical genius!" Miro quipped.

"It works for me," Tag grumbled into his comm.

"Foehammer, I want you to lead Squad A."

"Y-yeah, Carv, of course," Foe hadn't seen much combat, but he was still trained as a commando. Carver had faith that he could lead the hodge-podge squad as ably as any other.

Foe tucked away under cover from the rest of Rupture. From there, the boys of Rupture Squad did what they do best - they pushed forward, letting loose the pent up adrenaline bound tight in their throats as they squeezed hard on their triggers and charged up the parliament stairs through a throng of brown and blue metal, red and green lasers, sparking electronics and spilling oil.


__________________

Jedi General Kia-wian

Position - A System Too Far
Jedi Starfighter
To have his hands back on the controls of his fighter, the Kel Dor couldn't help but think of Master Plo Koon - the one who'd found him, brought him to the Jedi to train as a padawan. How Plo had loved flying. Kia never quite had the taste for it, but he could fly fast and agile if he had the need.

And from the tremor he'd felt in the Force, he had the need.

He wouldn't let his reunion with Rupture Squad be him, standing mournful over their mangled bodies.
 
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"Enemy is breaking into the parliament, sir."

TC-96, still observing the battlefield from the roof of a building, silently registers this new information, before fully processing it. Hands behind its back, it eventually starts giving orders.

"Send four droidekas, and four B1 squads in there."
"Roger roger..." the B1 OOM standing next to TC-96 hesitates "According to our reports, there's a full clone squad in here, and an unknown number of rebels, it might not be enough to secure the..."
"Your authorization to speak has been terminated, OOM-11." TC-96 brutally interrupts "Please upgrade your tactical chips before discussing orders coming from a superior unit. This is not about securing the parliament. Allow me to share the backlog of my decision to enlighten your inferior processors:

> Information added > "Enemy is breaking into the parliament"
> Interrogation > Why is the enemy breaking into the parliament?
> Answer [Human logic database] > "Parliament is a symbol of democracy, controlling it will raise the morale of the rebels."
> Interrogation > Why does CIS keep the parliament?
> Answer [CIS local diplomacy protocols] > "Parliament is a symbol of democracy, controlling it will keep the population quiet."
> ILLOGICAL > Population is already in full rebellion
> Updating [CIS local diplomacy protocols] > "Parliament is a symbol of democracy controlling it will keep the population quiet."
> Checking CIS Database for "Need for Democracy"... > "Need for Democracy" not found
> NO NEED FOR DEMOCRACY > Registered [TC96_note "And approved"]
> Parliament is now considered as "Not useful" and "Obstacle for fire lines"
> Tactical decision: send a few units in to keep the enemy busy. Droidekas efficiency in corridors: 87,3%. B1 support: YES.
> Objective: for the enemy to send more units in THEN destroy the building to maximize enemy casualties.
> Updating [CIS local diplomacy protocols] > "Parliament is a symbol of democracy. Losing it will lower the morale of the rebels."

TC-96 then stares at OOM-11.

"Understood?" TC-96 asks.
"..."
"Authorization to speak." TC-96 adds, its eyes blinking with annoyance.
"Roger roger, sir." OOM-11 answers "I couldn't process it all, but roger roger."
"Good." TC-96 says "Now, send the coordinates of the parliament to the artillery. They're already ready to fire on the bridges. Now, they should be ready to fire on the parliament too, on my order."

TC-96 then uses its integrated binoculars to check at the parliament roof. The moment it'll see a Republic flag here... it'll be the end of it.
 
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"City of ATHAR
Manufacturing District"



JanFerrel?

JanFurral?

JanFathal.....

The name of the planet finally came to Sebastian, left on the sidelines due to his unimportance as a newbie despite the fact that he was one of the CIS' own Dark Jedi. Still he was fresh and due to this he wasn't thrown onto the frontline first, mostly used to keep certain positions secure...mere protector work, bodyguarding inanimate objects or locations.

It was a shame and it left the youth with a yearning for more, then again facing war outright wasn't something he had participated in yet. Sure he had cut down some Republic soldiers and the like, but he hadn't faced a full fledged Jedi nor had he taken part in a large scale battle.

But, here...Now, it was time. A fact that came to him as his comm-link began to scream with an alarm, alerting him to activate his earpiece to receive new orders. In moments he was being mechanically barked at, being told to move out and to head into battle immediately. His first task? To aide in attacking the Parliament building itself. Sucking on his teeth with excitement the dark haired lad would quickly kick up dust as he set off after his nearby vessel, an Orb Wing given to him as his only reward for joining the Dark Jedi within the CIS.

Taking off and moving with notable speed and agility the Orb Wing proved it's worth in haste while lacking in firepower and defensive capabilities. Still it's speed would allow for more strafing runs, meaning more shots could be taken at the building. And so his attacks would come in swift, firing upon the building while dodging enemy fire when he had to. Right now it was time to tear up the building, taking out the enemy starfighters was an afterthought...At least for the moment it was for soon enough Sebastian's wandering mind would begin to wonder on what might happen should he neglect going after the enemy ships while maintaining focus on the building....

Damn droids! Giving reckless orders like us reckless Dark Jedi won't dive head first into the madness willingly....Damnit, fireworks know how it ends, but of course they want to explode!

Trying to humor himself to help overcome the building anxiety Sebastian would continue to dart about the sky during his strafing.
 
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They had a plan......an adventurous one, but Kylar felt it was solid. And with him leading the 58th, he could get them all down as safely as this damn war would allow anyway.

"Very well, we launch the operation in 20 minutes. Cpt. Kal'thera, if you intend to have your 1st and 2nd companies air drop around the capital, I would recommend joining my Cpt. Jori on-board his CR-70 in the ventral hanger. That is where his squads will be aiming for and I'm sure the 58th combined with the 44th will be devastating on the ground. Any other immediate drops, also board our modified CR-70s and equip your men with jetpacks. The remaining battalions will load on to LAAT's and follow our descent to the allied held spaceport. Good luck everyone, and may the Force be with us."

With that Kylar dismissed the briefing, nodded to Rowan, and turned in pace with Cpt. Jori down to the ventral hanger bay. The assigned battalions loaded on to their respective transports as he strode up the boarding ramp to the Ancestral Blade. "Thought you could leave without me, eh?", said a voice behind him. Kylar instantly recognized the voice and turned to face its speaker. "No, I just figured if I delayed the mission briefing long enough for your Mandalorian hide to sober up, then you might make it on time to support the battle. Well, get on board Tarek Rau, before you try my patience." The Mandalorian mercenary strode up the boarding ramp, his beskar armor mirroring the crimson/gray of which the 58th defines its namesake in blood and honor. "You didn't think I'd let you lead this suicide charge without me, did you?", Tarek scoffed. "Do you think me so naïve?" Kylar responded. "Now get in the cockpit, 58th will need you on surface before we're done here." Tarek saluted and strode up the ship's docking ramp with Kylar trailing him.

Once settled in the cockpit, he was home again. He gently brushed his hands across the twin flight sticks that guided the craft. "Once more, we must dance thru hell girl to save those who cannot save themselves", he thought to himself, "Let us at least make it glorious and worthy of remembrance". He began his pre-flight checklist over the ship, when he heard the bridge command come over his headset. "58th Airborne, you are cleared to launch. Repeat, cleared to launch. Good hunting out there." Kylar keyed his fleet comm channel, "Copy that Command, we are disembarking. Stay safe up here."

20210302_210840.jpgHe throttled up the ship's engines and queued the attack force's comm channel, "All battalions, disembark for JanFathal. Move to rally point 3-1 just beyond the fleet's position. Hold up in formation until we clear the asteroid run." He jolted the ship into action and slammed the accelerator forward once clear of the ventral hanger. The Ancestral Blade roared forward to lead the attack formation.

The ships formed up in minutes. Besides Kylar's personal ship, two (2) Counselor-class CR-70s took point to form the three (3) primary flight lanes through the asteroid field. He started at the wall of rocks ahead, with the swirling clouds of the planet below. It was such a short distance, yet fraught with danger and ambush. He had to clear the way.......58th had to get to ground.....they had too........

After a deep breath, he queued the squadron comms, "Lead CR-70s, begin your runs on my mark. Don't stop for anything, max speed and get thru this barricade in one piece. Three, two, one, MARK!" He surged his flight sticks forward as the ship's engines responded with immediate acceleration. They were off! Kylar began plotting his dance through the initial asteroids as he forced his ship to max speed. Rolling to port over a rock the third the size of a Ventaor, Kylar felt the vibrations of the explosions thru the Force before he heard or physically felt their affects, though with his current speed, the aftershock was merely a shudder for the ship. He turned to his command staff, "Steady now, no need for shields yet. We were well beyond range of that first mine.....and I suspect we have many more to go!" With a laughing demeanor in the face of unspeaking peril, he continued to bob-n-weave his ship thru the asteroids, explosions ever following in his wake, as proximity mines denoted from his passing. Faster and faster he pushed the craft until heat warnings began to sound for the primary engines.........faster and faster, even past the lazy Vulture droids laying in ambush throughout the rocky sea surrounding the planet, only coming to life too late to catch him, but were bathed in fire and rock shrapnel in his wake. He intended to clear the asteroid field unscathed, and his late Jedi Master Plo Koon would demand nothing less. Upon passing the last major asteroid, Kylar signaled the landing force, "This is CDR Thrane, I've cleared the asteroid field! Flight 1, follow my path thru the asteroids and you will spared from the hazard of mines."

At that moment he heard the CR-70 crews leading Flights 2 and 3 follow suit. They had made it.......by the Force they had made it thru the damned asteroids! Now they just needed to get planet side.

As Kylar plunged his craft into the atmosphere, he could see many of the squadron already following suit and a few laser bursts here and there to ward of any lingering CIS fighters. Near the entire formation had cleared the asteroids unscathed, and now a delta wedge of CR-70s, CR-90s, LAAT's, ARC-170s, and Y-wings were piercing the clouds of JanFathal with the Ancestral Blade in the lead.

But just as he felt relief at their success, Kylar felt immediate danger upon them, and the flashes in the clouds below confirmed his fear. "Incoming turbo-laser fire!! Fan out! We dropped out of the asteroid field too far north of the city! We're in CIS firing range!" Shock waves and smoke from the anti-craft fire erupted around the formation as they began to fan out in maneuvers, but not before two (2) LAAT's were claimed by fire and smoke as their wrecked hulls plummeted planetside. At that moment, Kylar's comms broke to life with chatter from the surface. "Republic Forces, Republic Forces.....this is Traditionalist Militia. We have units pinned down or in full retreat on the south side of the city by the River. Your current forces are penned in at the Parliament building with our own troops, but they are being steadily surrounded. We hold the southern spaceport for now, but radar shows CIS bombers and gunships en-route to our position and the AA guns are already firing at max capacity to hold the droids at bay."

"Hang tight, allied forces. We'll be coming in hot to reinforce you positions around Parliament and the spaceport. Clear all major landing sites, as we have multiple corvettes and gunships in-bound for emergency landings. Then the 58th will do what we can to clear the skies."

Kylar started barking additional orders:
"Cpt Rook-Ti lead the burdened LAAT's and the CR-90 south to the spaceport for immediate landing.
Cpt. Jori, take your 58th and 44th squads and be-line over the capital to start your drops. I'll send a second CR-70 to also reinforce your drop, as I've picked up Rupture Squad's signal from inside the building. Take all your men and reinforce their position.
Cpt. Thera, your remaining men will drop to secure the bridges along with Nova Corps. All remaining troops and supplies will land at the spaceport and deploy with further orders.
Y-wings! ARC-170s! All fighters follow me! We have targets to bomb
."

Kylar continued his perilous dive thru the clouds, weaving thru the incoming flashes of the AA turbo-laser batteries below. Breaking thru the cloud cover, he could see the city now. "Y-wings, move into dagger formation behind me", he ordered as he dove the nearest set of turbo-laser towers. In this attack profile, the enemy would only be able to target his ship from an AA standpoint, while the bombers remained safely in his shadow. The maneuver would ripe most ships apart from the sustained enemy fire......but not his Ancestral Blade. Kylar flicked on all eight (8) shield projectors of the ship, which he had been flying without till this point, and continued his dive straight for the nearest turbo-laser towers. "Here we go again", as the first turbo-laser blasted against his starboard shield. "Shield integrity at 85% and dropping", Tarek reported. Kylar clenched his teeth as he maintained the dive......he had to stay the course....maintain the shield for his Y-wings.......more shudders rippled thru him as more and more AA batteries focused on his descent. "Shields at 70%......60%......45%......35%, Kylar we're loosing shield integrity fast!" Kylar snapped back at Tarek, "She can hold awhile longer, we nearly in range. Bringing up laser cannons now!" Kylar angled out his dive, turbo-laser arounds still smashing into the front of his craft but he would not relent. They were nearly there. "Shields 25%" sounded around the cabin. "Weapons free!", he called to the bombers, as he leveled out his dive and lit up the nearest AA battery with sweltering bursts from his three (3) heavy laser cannons, until the main structure gave way and the turret collapsed as he flew over what remained of the tower. He barrel rolled up and over the smoking tower while disengaging the shields to conserve remaining power. In his wake, the Y-wing's of the 58th laid waste to two other AA gun tower emplacements of the city in addition to several mobile AA batteries the CIS had set-up on the Northside of the city.

As the squadron angled higher above the warzone, Kylar spotted multiple enemy fighters, bombers, and gunships angling out of the Northeast. "Airborne, look alive! We have plenty of targets. ARC-170s, let's engage the enemy. Y-wings, engage in street bombing runs as we call them out from the local forces. Priority on armored tanks and artillery units. All Airborne units in CR-70s, begin your jumps! Remember, we gladly plunge feet first into hell........"

"......Knowing we shall rise from the ashes! For the 58th and for Commander Thrane!!" The unit's motto rung out on every available comm channel, both Republic and local. The airborne were coming, and all the fury of an exploding star was coming with them!
 
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Rowan Caltera
Venator Hangar
Time to rock and roll


Rowan returned Kylar's nod. He turned on his heel and strode away from the briefing, heading for the battered interceptor that had carried him through many battles. His newly-assigned astromech droid wheeled up and twittered a greeting.

“We'll be maneuvering through an asteroid field, R4,” he told it. “As fast as possible. Depending on ground conditions, I may need you to fly the interceptor to the spaceport with the others.”

R4-L9 trilled a query.

“Dramatically jumping from the fighter, I think,” he answered wryly. “Now get yourself situated. I want to grab a jetpack if there are any spares...”

In due course, close to twenty minutes had passed. Rowan, fully armored, shifted the jetpack in between his legs. If there was one thing that annoyed him about these interceptors, it was the minimalist cockpits. Which translated into cramped quarters if you added anything more than the bare necessities. A jetpack was worth it, though.

“Ready?”

R4 beeped an affirmative.

Rowan steered the fighter through the void until he settled in the lead position of group three. The CR-70 meant to clear a path for them was already moving into position, along with a second CR-70 and Kylar's personal ship.

The Zeltron Knight waited patiently as the three wove through the asteroids, explosions going off close to them—but not close enough. His eyes were glued to the digital display as a path was traced for them to follow, his ears straining to pick up chatter. Until...

“Flight 3, your path is clear! Repeat, your path is clear!”

“Punch it!” he barked over the coms for his flight.

Rowan's interceptor darted forward, the tip of a stream of transports and fighters rocketing after him. He determined that he would take care of the harassing vulture droids before they caused any significant losses. Which...wasn't too hard, really. They had been scattered through the asteroid field while chasing the lead ships, and the mines had impacted their numbers quite a bit. What resistance they put up was sporadic and poorly coordinated, which made them easy pickings for him.

Once they cleared the asteroids, he lagged behind to ward off some of the enemy fighters that attempted to close on the Republic forces. That was probably what saved his life.

He sensed danger and saw a flash of incoming light just in time to swerve out of the way of a turbolaser bolt. Kylar's order to fan out helped, and he made there there was sufficient distance between his interceptor and the nearby vessels.

During the other Knight's bombing run, Rowan commed some of the fighters from his own flight. “ARC-170's of flight three, this is Knight Caltera. Once Knight Thrane makes an opening, let's clear the flack around the Parliament building. Give our men on the ground some breathing room, ay?”

“Yes, sir!” came the chorus of replies.

“Just what I like to hear,” Rowan murmured under his breath. Though separated by distance, he felt the excitement and determination of the pilots near him. Even fainter, he felt the panic, anger, and defiance from below. Rather typical of ground engagements.

Such emotions were bitter and tangy, but as they were familiar to him. His heart sped up in response to those emotions. Under the clone-style helmet, he grinned, though he barely realized it.

He was in his element.

Kylar and the Y-Wings following handily blew up the immediately threatening AA emplacements. It was time.

“Path clear. Flight three, on me!” Rowan sent his interceptor into a dive, nine ARC-170's tailing him.

On his scanners, he saw mostly vulture droids lurking around the parliament building. There was a weird spherical fighter darting around, too, which was an oddity. He didn't see designs like that very often. A specialty model, perhaps?

In either case, the vulture droids quickly became aware of their intent and swung around to meet Rowan's flight. While he would never claim that he was a naturally gifted aerial combatant, let alone an ace, Rowan had built up sufficient skill through experience to take on the buzzards facing his flight.

R4 squealed as he fired the thrusters and cut the engines, sending his interceptor in a backwards spin, so he could track a passing vulture droid and blast it out of the sky. He flipped the engines on as the fighter concluded its rotation, stabilizing its roll just in time to land a damaging hit to a second droid.

“Here's where the fun begins.”
 
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Inside the Parliament building, the crashing cacophonies of the arriving reinforcements meshed with the internal blasterfire, raging into a deafening crescendo.

Rupture Squad pushed their way up to the third floor, the building itself rocking along with the pressure of external starfighter assaults. Captain Carver wasn't sure if the CIS wanted to capture Parliament or blow it up, but he wouldn't be surprised if they wanted a bit of both.

"Captain, our assault on the perimeter is at a stand-still," Foe relayed information to the rest of his squad from a floor below, cleaning up the mess his comrades had made, "we're down to a handful of clones out there, mostly JanFathalans now-"

"Tell them to hold on, we're almost clear inside," Carver replied, turning his comms to a direct channel with General Thrane, "we won't be able to clear LZ's near Parliament -- it's too hot over here. You'll either need to clear the skies or drop in some back-up so we can get those LZ's cleared for you."

"Carv, we got Droidekas and B1's charging in to reinforce-" Tag called out.

"Frak!" Carver replied, looking out the window down below to the streets, paved as much with fallen soldiers as it was with stone, as the reinforcing Separatist group began to plow over the unsuspecting soldiers carving out their perimeter out front. And just as he noticed-

"Captain!" Forty called out, and Carver could feel his squadmate trying to tackle him to the ground.

Carver didn't hear the explosion, just like he hadn't heard the missile slamming into the window. And neither he or Forty would feel the force of their impact as they were flung to the ground and into a far wall with enough force to fade their worlds to black.


_______________________________

Jedi General Kia-wian
Position: Orbit, JanFathal
Kia could feel that he was just a little too late. A pain in the Force punched him in the chest as his starfighter swooped into view of the action above JanFathal.

Republic forces had just descended valiantly through the asteroid field, while the opposing navies had begun to engage in earnest -- red and blue turbolasers exchanging heavy fire, fighter detachments dogfighting and pirouetting between the larger ships.

Though he could sense the urgency from the planet below, the Kel Dor stayed patient. First, he took his fighter near the main Venator -- detached from the Second Coming Fleet, which Kia knew all too well.

"Knight Thrane, I do apologize for my tardiness," Kia-wian called out to the Jedi leading the charge, "I'll be down in no time at all."

'Not that I have any time left,' Kia noted to himself, his hands gripping the controls of his starfighter anxiously. It'd been a few months since he'd been in combat. But he took to it like it'd been a seed planted in him, sprouting from him.

_______________________________

Andil Drinkwater
Position: Nearby...

It had been quite some time since the history of the Force had called to her like this. One moment, she'd never heard the name JanFathal -- the next, she felt she'd known it her whole life. Andil wondered if this was what she'd been searching for, on Ruusan, on Dxun, all over the galaxy.

From the planet she could feel it tearing itself in two, much like the CIS and the Republic did with itself. Mirror images of the other. Oddly fitting.

Andil did what she could, to keep out of the self-proclaimed Clone Wars, but she could feel her time vast approaching. She could see where the dark and the light met, danced with the other, twisted into one another. The ex-Jedi, already in the cockpit of her ship, could resist the urge no longer.
 
"Let's go." She motioned for several troopers to come and grab the jetpacks as the briefing ended, before getting one for herself. "Jumping, captain?" Clone Lieutenant Styx asked while distributing the remaining jetpacks to his fellow lieutenants. Kal responded confidently with a joke, "Who else is going lead the boys on the field? You?" She chuckled.

After making sure her orders have been relayed to the third and fourth platoon, the captain made haste to one of the CR-70s; specifically Cpt. Jori's. "Captain Jori," she saluted "I'm sure you've been briefed. We will be in your care."

And one by one, they launched into formation towards JanFathal. As the ships approached the asteroid field, Kylar's orders to power through the field with maximum speed broke the silence inside the ship.

"So this is what they call 'Running the gauntlet'."


The explosions around the ship emitted shockwaves that caused the speeding CR-70 to rattle a bit. The formation was pushing through the path of least resistance, probably already planned by the Jedi Commander. Somehow, she was able to feel that nothing in the orbit was going to stop the formation.

At least not until they entered the atmosphere. The turbolaser warning was so sudden that the two LA-ATs didn't manage to dodge, leaving the ship, clones and supplies plummeting onto the ground in flames.

"Kriff."

Just shortly after, Kylar's transmission continued with his orders. With no changes to the original plan, she relayed the order further. "You heard him. Styx, Mael, we'll jump on my mark!" The CR-70 made its way through the turbolasers and other anti-air weapons, quickly manoeuvring and descend to an altitude safe enough from the CIS firepower. Unfortunately, they cannot drop close to the parliament building as it was too hot. She nodded to Cpt. Jori before jumping out from the hovering CR-70. "Go, go, jump now!"

Dozens of the 44th clone troopers jumped out of the ship, quickly descending in a line with their jetpacks. They landed in formation, firing back at the droids patrolling the contested area of the capital before being joined by their captain. "Let's go. We'll rendezvous with the Rupture Squad inside the parliament building."

The platoons moved methodically, utilizing every aspect of the urban environment to their advantage. The ground combat was trivial, but soon the CIS' number superiority began to show its power. Their advance seemed to come to a halt, just a few blocks from the parliament building. Even after joined with few stragglers of the Traditionalist, the push has slowed considerably. 44th has no means of heavy firepower on the front line.

All of sudden a loud explosion could be heard in the direction of the parliament building, as big fire and smoke began to form on the outer parts of the building. Artillery? Or missile fire? If the droids managed to hit the parliament building with artillery that accurate, then...

It was like something spoke, or rather, whispered to her.

"Lieutenant Drei, do not set up the emplacements on the bridge. Push further and get the mortars running on the capital side." She quickly sent an order to the third platoon that originally was to reinforce the bridges. "They might be trying something different here." At the moment, there's no reply. They're probably still securing the bridges along with the Nova Corps.

"We need to get the Rupture Squad out of there. Now." Kal'thera rallied her company to push through the droid formation, trying to get close to the burning parliament building.
 
Captain Xu

The platoons boarded their pressurized LAAT/i, four of the main body and the fifth becoming Captain Xu’s immediate retinue. The comms gave another rotational roll-call before giving the affirmative to the Star Prowlers’ preparation; gear and all. On the word ‘go’, the 7th took flight into formation. The music of mando’a playing in secondary comms for morale, drumming out to the units as they moved behind the spearhead of fore-flight. 58th with its bravado and arching blade of starfighters and corvettes leading the flight lanes. Through the looming ring of asteroids, the silent inertia rumbling under their boots, magnetized and their undersuits reactively pressured by their power armour’s constant calibrations. Their ships shuddering to the silent explosions of mines clearing the way by the Jedi. The grim scowl of their helmets reflecting their duty and history of zero-g combat, death was just an unappreciated inconvenience for clone troopers.

The Captain himself had his ship in the foremost of his platoon’s own careful strafe, he was willing to die first before his men when they lunged into battle. He’ve seen how the normalborns liked to hide in their back ranks, prioritizing their lives above the countless clone officers put to the fronts more often than not. The shame that many crippled soldiers had when they had to stay with the high-noses.

Hut’uun.

“We are out of the field.” His pilot announced. “Entering into the stratosphere, Captain.”

Xu pinged the yellow dot in the top left corner of his platoon’s HUDs. Battle posture. The turn of the stomach when the body is aware that right-side up was making a differentiation to their senses. Their gunships started to splinter off at the shudder of AA guns attacking. Too far north. Fine by him. Hearing the commands filtering from General Kylar, the 7th Captain pinged green. The Quake Knives and Atin’marev will take to the bridge occupational push with First Lieutenant Cooper taking ground operations for their unit. Lieutenant Gar and the Phontshot Platoon assisting the spaceport’s defense and Joker’s End. His troop made for the eastern edge of the no-man’s zone, drop-hot to take advantage of the CIS’ new troubles.

From the 7th Spec Ops, there was no comms clutter. They had their maneuvers and expectations to heart, there was nothing else to say nor give.

Xu’s LAAT/i swept in high speed, following the city line. The way a fat bird swung in and out, closing towards the designated University of Mining and Arts before shifting off. Personal Platoon: Green-2. Jetpacks were engaged. The waypoint locked, closing in with a projection of the city outside. 500. 432. 341. 221. 162...100...80. Targets made known. Six droid artillerists, including a DSD1 dwarf spider droid nestled on its web of steel and fiberglass.

The side-doors slid up, revealing the fast whip of buildings and by the final tick, twenty specialized clone troopers made a swift dive while the LAAT was still moving at breakneck-speed. Captain Xu snapped a shock-grenade in his dive, angling and fired himself like a missile while two of the said-similes sped by his head. One destroying a sniper’s perch and the other missing its mark, only to draw the spider droid’s attention in its fast calculations. One shot from its proboscis-like turret blasting it out of the sky and another nestled spider dwarf from a distant building firing for the transport.

The close buildings denied the LAAT any common side maneuvers, but risked the suddenly tilt that swung her whole body in a testing angle. The soft whine of her frame, evading the projectile by mere inches and the heat scarring her face but the pilot strafed back up before a side-gunner followed the origins to the spider droid already moving from its position. The whip of green laser sliced its own returning scar on a building and cleaved the attended cannon-assassin in threes.

Xu himself zipped past the re-aligned spider droid with his grenade smacking between its locked legs. A second of falling but its radius catching the small mobile tank into a spasming of frying electronics, including the lock mechanisms. The captain flying over the falling droid doomed to a several kilometer fall to the street below, to become a flattened disk of crackling metal. A grim satisfaction as he repositioned up to the roof and shot a droid looking down a missile launcher with a quick-draw of his blaster pistol, quickly taking its place.

Target 6 down. Target 3 down. Target 4 down. Target 1 down. Target 5 down. Crash. Target 2 down.

All green.
 
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