8/18/7956 C.R.C

  Providence-class Dreadnought, The Finest Hour

  "Move forward team." Niner ordered.

  Darman, Atin, and Fi complied, and the four clones of Omega Squad moved into the Providence-class dreadnought, while the regs fended off droid reinforcements and their exit strategy.

  "Remember. Target is the togruta dark Jedi Lona Hys. Blue skinned. Secondary and tertiary targets are the droid in charge of the fleet and potentially the head clanker himself, BZ-KG, along with assisting the regs with taking down the three targets in the reactor bay." Niner added.

  "Why did we get picked to go after a dark jedi?" Atin complained. "Isn't that more Delta Squad's speed? It feels like something Scorch would volunteer them for, anyway."

  "We were voluntold to do this mission, Atin. We didn't volunteer ourselves." Darman said as they moved into an unused corridor. "These orders came directly from High Command. From the Chancellor himself, I think."

  A few droids tried to stop them as they went, but they were easy to shoot down, even if they were smarter than normal, hiding behind cover and using actual tactics instead of walking forward and shooting at them. But they were highly trained clone commandos, and programming or not, clones were just superior to the mass-produced pieces of junk. What mattered was the mission. So, the commandos destroyed them and kept moving.

  "Does anyone feel like we're being watched?" Darman asked as they moved down a desolate hallway.

  "We are. I can feel it." Niner replied, his grip on his blaster tightening. "Keep moving."

  The group encountered a group of two B1s and a B2, and Darman quickly dispatched them with a thermal detonator that sent droid pieces flying everywhere. Another group rounded the corner and found them, and the firefight that followed almost got a few of them, but the commandos had trained intensively throughout their entire lives and were purposely grown for these kinds of operations. Soon the droids were dismantled, and they kept moving.

  "This feels tougher than our last mission." Atin remarked as they moved through the ship.

  "Yeah. These droids don't go down as easily either." Darman added, thinking back to the droid he had just shot in the chest, which raised itself back up and continued to fire with a blaster bolt hole in its torso until a neck shot finally took it all the way down.

  The group made their way further into the ship, until the PA system suddenly crackled overhead.

  "So… your mission is to harm one of my crew?" A female voice asked. "I knew assassins would come for my head engineer eventually.

  "The kriff? How did the clankers hear that?" Niner queried.

  "And who exactly is that?" Fi added. "I don't remember there being anything in the briefing about some woman on the PA system."

  "Oh, I'm more than just a woman, boy. I… am Phoenix."

  The microsecond she said that a blast door shut right in front of them, cutting them off. And before they could turn around and go the other way, another blast door shut behind them, sealing all four of them into a small part of the hall.

  "Atin, get these doors open!" Niner ordered.

  "Yes, sir!" The tech specialist replied, moving over to the doors.

  But before he could reach the panel, the voice spoke again.

  "I've been waiting for something like this to happen." A giggle could be heard from the speakers "I've been practicing. We're going to have some fun."

  Then the floor gave way beneath them, and the commandos screamed as they fell into the pitch-black darkness.

  —

  Sundari Maximum Security Prison

  Internment Sector, Mandalore

  Being virtually weaponless beyond my lightsaber has given me a bit more respect for the Jedi and a little for Grievous.

  Because only insane people or force users would willingly enter a battle with nothing but a laser sword to protect themselves instead of a full arsenal.

  Thankfully, however, my fists are very good substitutes for my normal loadout in times of emergency.

  A backhand sent a clone crashing into a wall, and my lightsaber slashed through the wall, taking off his head as I spun. My blade spun, deflecting four bolts as I ran down the corridor. Another clone fired a bolt into my back, and I spun around and slashed through his chest, then punched him in the head, sending him flying. I spun my saber, and carved through an ARC trooper, leaving four lightsaber slashes in his torso.

  I spun, cleaving through another two clones, before reflecting two bolts back at the clones who shot them. Another clone tried punching me in the head, and I lifted him up and used his body as a shield for four bolts fired simultaneously at me, killing him and protecting me. Then I threw his body at the other clones, knocking a few of them down. I kicked up a DC-15 and started rapidly firing into the crowd of clones.

  I blocked three more bolts, then kicked one clone into the wall and stabbed him in the chest. The blaster in my hands overheated, and I threw it at another clone, stunning him long enough to stab him in the chest. After blocking another seven bolts aimed at me, I stopped spinning my saber and backpedaled behind LB-88, who hefted his Imperator, and with a stream of searing bolts of condensed and ignited tibanna gas, the remaining clones were all cut down, and silence filled the hall, followed by heat sinks clicking out and dumping their heat into the cool air.

  "Nice shooting, LB." I complimented.

  The eight-and-a-half-foot tall droid nodded and patted his massive gun.

  "My girl does good work, doesn't she?" He replied in binary.

  Oh Primus… I've created a droid version of the TF2 Heavy… worth it.

  "Alright, that's all of them. Let's move." 99 ordered, lowering a pair of thermal macrobinoculars and clipping it to his waist.

  As we moved down the hallway, I grabbed a DC-17 from a fallen ARC trooper and racked the heat sink, dumping the small amount of heat that the ARC trooper was able to build in it.

  "General?" 99 queried. "Why are you grabbing a clone's blaster?"

  "I need a ranged option. I lost that pocket pistol and I have no clue where it went." I said in explanation, checking the gas pack and then racking the small charging handle on the blaster.

  "Fair enough."

  I turned to look at 99. "Where is the rest of your squad?"

  "Legs and R3 are a few floors down in the maintenance level, trying to activate the base defenses. Rio is somewhere close, calling out targets. H1 and Sparks are guarding the ship. The other BXes are in the main control room acting as overwatch. And LB-88, RP-P5, and I are all here, obviously."

  An explosion suddenly rocked the building, almost knocking me over due to how much the room shook. Once it stopped, I scanned the hallway, then looked over at 99.

  "The slag was that!?" I exclaimed, then looked back down the hall as 99 accessed his internal radio.

  "...Death Watch just blew up the main control room." He said. "Those terrorists have just released every single prisoner in Sundari Max."

  "Why is Death Watch here?" I demanded. "And why are they inciting a full slagging prison riot!?"

  "Rescuing their fellow terrorists, most likely. That and probably trying to kill the Duchess while she's at least somewhere close by."

  I shook my head. "Yeah, I guess that makes sense. Wait, didn't you say there were a bunch of BX commandos in the main control room?"

  99 paused, then commed his squad.

  "BX-99 to BX squad, report… BX squad, this is BX-99, report, now!" There was no answer, and 99 kicked the wall in anger. "Slagging Death Watch!"

  "I have a bad feeling about this." P5 commented, cycling out the wrist rocket on one arm.

  "Ya think?" I replied sarcastically. "Let's get moving." Another explosion rocked the complex, and I opened a comm channel to Legs. "Legs, what was that?"

  "Oh, that's easy to explain, sir. There are pieces of debris from the space battle crashing down around and on Sundari. Both forces are really tearing into each other up there." The assassin droid reported.

  I scoffed. "Lovely. Not only do we have to worry about Death Watch, Jedi, and Clones, but now we need to watch out for falling pieces of ships."

  "You'd think the clones or whoever was in charge would have moved the battle away from right above Sundari." 99 remarked.

  Speaking of clones, a group of them suddenly rounded the corner and opened fire on us.

  I quickly pulled out and ignited my lightsaber, then began spinning it until it was a blur, blocking and deflecting dozens of bolts from reaching those behind me. The clones intensified their fire, and I was forced to duck behind a column. LB opened fire with his Imperator, and death screams echoed out. I pulled back out into the hallway, lightsaber spinning and catching a few dozen more blaster bolts as we slowly moved down the corridor.

  "Fragging clones!" I roared, firing my blaster as fast as my finger could pull the trigger.

  One by one, the clones slowly began to fall, once it got down to three of them, I lunged down the hallway and sliced one's head off after slamming him into the wall. A blaster bolt hit the back of my head, and I spun around, decapitating the one who shot me, and slicing the blaster in half of the other. The clone tried to pull out a DC-17, but I buried my saber in his chest, then tossed him down the hall.

  I grabbed his blaster pistol and attached it to my waist, then motioned to the others. We kept moving and eventually came out into an observation area above a massive warehouse-like room, where dozens of prisoners were in the process of running for the exits.

  "You were right, sir. It is a full-on breakout riot." 99 remarked as we looked down at all the skittering prisoners.

  "I hate being right in this scenario." I responded. "This means we need to be even more careful. Now not only are there dozens of clones in this prison gunning for us, but now there are opportunistic prisoners looking to steal whatever weapons they can to get out of here."

  "Yeah… stopping a whole prison riot with just the eight of us is a bit above my pay grade, sir." P5 commented.

  "Don't worry, this job is more for the main army than just us eight." I replied, before turning to the other door. "Let's just focus on getting out of here,"

  "And hope that Omen is keeping the fleet intact."

  —

  Finest Hour

  Bridge

  "Shields are holding at fifty-four percent. We're good to recharge them for a few minutes, as long as the wreck of that Venator stays in front of us." Sharpshot -the B1 at the Weapons console- reported.

  "Don't worry, I'm keeping us in front of it while Phoenix deals with those clone commandos." Nav responded.

  "Is she still toying with them?" Omen asked.

  "Yes, sir. She's down to two of them now though. The other two broke down and are in the brig now. ETA on the other two is around thirty more minutes."

  Omen nodded. "Then let's keep maneuvering the fleet. We need as much time as possible for our commando team to rescue General Blitzkrieg."

  A hologram popped up in front of Omen. It was Lona and one of the Engineering B1s.

  "Admiral, we have a problem!" Lona immediately exclaimed, making Omen fully focus on them.

  "What's going on?" He asked.

  "The clones have just captured two terminals and overridden the reactor room's locks. I wouldn't want to be on this ship if they manage to destroy the cooling vents." The togruta explained.

  "And Phoenix is busy dealing with the commandos. How many damn clones are there in the hangar?" Omen demanded.

  "Three-hundred and forty-eight by my count, sir." The B1 answered. "One hundred and fifty-two have already been killed, but they are pushing so hard we can't properly get defenses set up in time to properly stop them. I also heard from another team that there's a couple dozen of them that split off and are heading to the bridge."

  Omen heard distant blaster fire, and he glared at the B1 "You really should have led with that." He growled as he cut the comm. "All hands to combat!" He bellowed into his comm, which transmitted all over the ship. "Repel the invaders, immediately!"

  The bridge crew pulled out their blasters, and Omen's hand ghosted over the DL-44 hidden under his duster as the sounds of blaster fire got louder.

  "Get ready." He ordered.

  Omen pulled the blaster off his waist and shifted so that he could fire around the command chair. The doors suddenly opened, revealing clone troopers, and Omen opened fire along with the rest of the bridge. The hail of blaster bolts cut down the entire first wave of clones before they could even fire, and Omen pressed his advantage by running over to the side of the doorway and aiming out, catching two clones before they could get into cover.

  "Kriffing clankers!" One clone yelled, then was hit right in the face with a bolt, killing him.

  "I have defended the ships under my command from pirates for thirty years! You are not taking my ship, clones!" Omen roared as he fired into the hallway.

  One clone threw a thermal detonator, and Omen took one look at it and kicked it back into the hall. Some clones screamed, and then it exploded, sending a puff of smoke into the bridge. The bridge crew pressed their advantage, moving forward and sending a wall of blaster fire into the hallway. More clones fell to blasterfire, but then one of them ran in with a vibroblade, his pace likely taking him towards the shielding console.

  Omen reached down and pulled his own out, his duster flaring as he lunged out and caught the clone's sword with his own.

  "What the-"

  The clone didn't have any time to finish, because Omen knocked his vibroblade away and sliced the clone's neck open, blood splattering on the droid admiral's white armor and gray duster. Omen fired another few shots into the hall, tearing through plastoid and cooking flesh where the bolts landed.

  Nav, the navigation B1, saw another clone that had slipped by and was heading for Sandi. The B1 lunged at the clone, knocking the two into the console next to Sandi, startling her because she was focused on the scanners. Nav punched the clone in the head, then fired point blank into his chest until the clone slumped over.

  "Thank you." Sandi said.

  "It was nothing." Nav replied, turning and firing at the clones in the hall.

  The admiral moved into the hallway, and a blaster bolt hit him in the torso, but his additional armor easily protected him, and he advanced, firing rapidly. He stabbed a charging clone in the chest and used his body as a shield. Blaster bolts impacted the meat shield, and Omen threw the clone's body into the hall, smacking two clones to the ground, where they were quickly shot. The admiral advanced into the hallway, his blaster firing more times than he ever thought it would be used.

  "Must I do everything myself?" Omen growled, firing his blaster rapidly into the hall, killing clones left and right.

  He made his way into the main hallway, Nav and Sandi following out as well, and his blaster barked as it took down more clones.

  "Uh, sir. Where are you going?" Nav asked, firing his E-5 at a clone that ran at them firing wildly, until a bolt hit him in the helmet and he collapsed.

  "Isn't it obvious?" Omen asked. "The clones want a fight; I'm going to give them one. Now return to the bridge."

  Nav stopped in his tracks, and both B1s stared at their admiral as he was joined by a squad of B2s, a squad of B1s, and two BX commandos.

  "You know, I didn't even know that Admiral Omen had a blaster." Sandi remarked. "Or a vibrosword for that matter."

  Nav tilted his head, his yellow optics tracking the admiral and his group until they all rounded a corner and left his sight.

  "Me neither." Nav replied, before turning back to the bridge doorway. "Come on, let's make sure the ship doesn't wander off course."

  Sandi looked over at Nav, her blue optics softening. "You were very brave coming to my rescue, by the way."

  Nav glanced at her, then away, his cooling fans kicking on. "I-it was nothing, Sandi."

  The B1 froze completely when Sandi nuzzled his head with her own. The femme pressed the tip of her head to the side of Nav's, then giggled.

  "It wasn't nothing to me, Nav." She cooed, before walking into the bridge.

  Nav stood there, cooling fans visibly venting heat from his systems. His entire processor glitched, and he barely remained standing.

  "Buh."

  —

  Sundari Maximum Security

  Sundari, Mandalore

  The hallway was quiet, which was worrying.

  "I don't like this." P5 muttered.

  "Me neither." I added. "But it's the way out, so we have to keep moving."

  We finally exited the hallway and entered another one of the massive warehouse-like rooms, but this one was damaged heavily. A large piece of ship durasteel was sitting in a pile of rubble, a few fires burning around it, and the rest of the room had blaster burns, lightsaber marks, and dead Death Watch in it. It was rather disconcerting to have the normally pristine walls of the prison broken and ruined like they were.

  There were also the last remnants of a fight happening. Along with the swinging of a lightsaber.

  It was Anakin, along with a group of clone troopers, fighting a few Death Watch and prisoners. The man looked tired, like he had been fighting for a while before he even came across me. Given that a full prison riot is happening, plus Death Watch is here to try and kill Satine and rescue their compatriots, I'm not surprised. The Jedi cleaved through a non-updated B2 that was attempting to shoot him, then turned to us.

  "Hello there." I greeted, narrowing my optics into combat mode.

  "General Blitzkrieg." Anakin greeted, twirling his saber lightly. "I was wondering when I'd see you again."

  "You are a bold one, Knight Skywalker. Facing me again, after I nearly beat you last time?" I asked, tilting my head. "I think I like my odds, now that Kenobi and Satine are nowhere near to shoot me in the back."

  Anakin frowned. "I won't let you escape, Blitzkrieg. My duty as a Jedi will not allow it." His lightsaber flew into his grip and ignited. "I do not fear you."

  I ignited my own blade, its azure glow flowing across my frame. The others began fighting while we stared each other down.

  "Then you will die braver than most." I rumbled.

  We stared at each other for what felt like minutes, until finally, we launched ourselves at each other. Our blades clashed against each other, and we began the duel. Our lightsabers danced as we circled each other, neither side gaining an edge. The battle continued on around us, blaster bolts flying overhead and explosions ringing out.

  Anakin threw out his hand, and I rolled to the left, dodging a Force Push that cracked the wall it hit. I fired my blaster, forcing the Jedi to block the bolts coming for him. I ran at him, still firing, and slashed at him. He blocked my blade, then spun, his own saber glancing off my abdomen. He must have forgotten that my armor is made of Phrik, because his eyes widened when he only saw the burn mark from the saber.

  "Forgot my armor is Phrik, didn't you?" I asked, then lunged at him, kneeing him in the chest.

  Anakin dropped into a roll as he fell back, then reignited his saber and blocked four massive downward strikes from me. The Jedi backpedaled and started throwing things at me with the Force. I sliced a rock in half, then started firing my blaster at him. Skywalker quickly blocked the bolts as they approached, but one managed to get through, and hit him right in the shoulder. Anakin grunted in pain, then doubled his efforts as I ran towards him again.

  We both reared back and swung at each other, and our blades clashed so hard against each other that they broke free from our grip and went flying over into the pile of rubble from the ceiling. Half a second later, a Force-enhanced fist slammed into my midsection, and I retaliated, our duel devolving into a fierce fist fight. Remembering that a Super Tactical Droid calculated that the best chance he had against Anakin was to punch the Jedi in the face, that's exactly what I did.

  I blocked a haymaker, and slammed into the Jedi, sending us sprawling along the ground. I punched him in the face, then raised up both arms and slammed them down. But he blocked that strike by crossing his arms, then kicked me off of him, and rolled to his feet. My hand went down to the pistol on my waist, but it was missing. Anakin revealed the blaster in his hand, and he fired at me.

  I ran at him, tanking the two bolts he was able to fire at my shoulder and stomach, and I lunged, knocking the pistol out of his hand and slamming my knee into his stomach. Anakin wheezed, and staggered back, then lifted up a metal pipe off the ground and swung it at me. I could tell that it wasn't as easy to swing something like that for him, since he had to contend with the weight of the whole blade instead of just the hilt.

  I grabbed a longer pipe off the ground and used my experience with electrostaves to bat away one swing.

  "Why can't I sense your movements!" He snarled as I dodged a wild swing from him.

  I backpedaled, then knocked a piece of rubble at him, which hit his hand and made him drop the pipe. Anakin growled, then pulled the pistol to his hand with the force and fired at me while he ran for his lightsaber. I ran after him, blocking or dodging the bolts, but just as I got close to where our lightsabers flew to, he spun around, and his lightsaber cleaved through the pipe in my hands. I backed up a bit, using both ends of the pipe to dodge his strikes, more and more of them being sliced off as we fought.

  Soon the pipes became too short to help, and I tossed them at him. Skywalker sliced one end in half but yelped when the other hit him in the thigh. He ran at me and his blade rose into the air. He swung down, but I blocked the lightsaber with my arm, stopping it in its tracks. Anakin barely had time to widen his eyes, before my fist impacted his chest, sending him flying back. I quickly turned and ran for the area where our lightsabers had gone.

  I heard Skywalker yell something, but I had spotted my saber hilt. I lunged towards it, slamming into the ground and grabbing it. The azure blade snapped into existence, and I rolled onto my back just in time to block a leaping strike from the Jedi Knight. I kicked him away, then got to my feet and ran at him. Our blades danced once more, each of us swinging and striking with the intent to kill.

  My blade hummed as it sliced through a nearby pipe, sending steam bursting forth and into the air. Skywalker backed up and went on the defensive as I relentlessly swung my saber at him. I was following what Dooku had done, forcing Skywalker onto the defensive while forcing Kenobi to the offensive. But Kenobi wasn't here to attack, meaning that Anakin had to defend himself alone against my never ceasing attacks.

  Our blades locked against each other again, and Anakin looked into my optics with an angry expression.

  "How did you know I force choked Poggle!?" He demanded over our locked blades.

  I chuckled. "Oh, I know plenty about you, Knight Anakin Skywalker, the former slave from Tatooine, who just one year ago slaughtered an entire camp of Tusken Raiders. The men, the women, and the children."

  Anakin scowled, and we broke away. Our blades clashed again and again as we moved through the shattered courtyard. I spun around, and he ducked, my blade slicing through the air. He rose back up and slashed at me, and I blocked. Our blades locked against each other again, and he snarled at me.

  "What else do you know!?" He demanded.

  "I also know that right after the First Battle of Geonosis, once you went back to Coruscant and became a Knight, you went to Naboo, and married Senator Padme Amidala, with only your droids as witnesses."

  "How do you know that!?" This time his demand had a hint of fear in it.

  I tilted my head. "Oh, I have my ways. You'd be surprised how willing someone can be to spy when their pockets are filled with the right number of credits."

  Anakin snarled at me. "What did you do!?"

  I gut-punched him, and Anakin wheezed as he backed up, holding his abdomen. While he was distracted, I swung down and sliced his prosthetic arm off again. Anakin staggered back with a yelp but quickly pulled his lightsaber into his flesh hand. But before he could do anything, I punched him across the face, then kicked him in the chest, sending him falling backwards. I twirled my lightsaber into a resting stance as he got to his feet.

  "Oh, calm down, Jedi. It's just a bit of spying on a potential enemy of the Confederacy." I tilted my head, and my tone turned smug. "How else would I know that Padme likes to use a pair of handcuffs on you?"

  Anakin reared back in shock, then his face went red, and in anger and embarrassment, he reached out with his stump, the sparking prosthetic shaking, and my frame started to creak. The pressure increased until I started to feel like I was being crushed…

  A Force Crush!

  I groaned in pain as my armor rippled and warped. A sickening creak of metal emanated out of my body, and my torso's armor cracked and partially collapsed, making a yelp of pain escape my vocalizer. I raised my blaster and fired blindly at the tired looking Jedi, forcing him further away from me and into the path of LB, who opened fire himself. The Jedi retreated further until he was just far enough away that I stopped firing and lowered my blaster.

  "Fuck, that hurts." I wheezed out, my vocalizer glitching slightly and overlaying static on my voice as I clutched my chest.

  "Are you alright, sir?" 99 asked, running over as I extinguished my lightsaber and placed my hands on my knees.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  "Damned Jedi! He Force Crushed my torso! Thankfully he was tired from fighting so much, otherwise I'd probably be the size of a soup can by now."

  99 had his hands out, ready to catch me if I fell. "That's not good."

  I straightened back up as the pain faded into a dull ache all across my frame, and I shook myself slightly, servos and joints audibly whirring before settling back to their normal quietness. My torso armor was partially crumpled, but it didn't impede me as much as I expected. I still had my full range of movement, but I couldn't access my parts storage. I could still get my multi-tool and vibroknife, though.

  "Yeah, it isn't. I can still move though, so keep moving." I ordered.

  99 nodded, and when LB joined back up with us and handed me the DC-17 I had dropped, we set off into the next hallway, weapons ready for whatever may come our way.

  —

  Providence-class dreadnought, The Finest Hour

  Phoenix

  Phoenix was having fun.

  The clone trooper's screams of terror were satisfying to hear when they fell into the pit, and their panic soon began in earnest when they realized they had all been separated. She had also jammed all their comms, adding to the chaos. And she had added a new ability she had recently gained as well.

  The ability to project fear into their minds of organics, showing them their fears, regrets, and causing hallucinations of their dead comrades to appear before them and ask why they never saved them.

  She had been training quite a bit more than General Blitzkrieg had expected, and she had also recently gained the ability to change around and lengthen her halls. So, now the commandos had been practically running around in giant circles the whole time, while she had been rearranging the halls themselves to seem endless, while projecting fear into their minds, letting them hallucinate all the horrible things they had seen.

  The first to crack was the one named, Atin.

  After twenty minutes of running around in halls that all looked exactly the same, he finally screamed 'I can't take this anymore!' and he started scratching at the walls themselves while yelling incoherently. She dropped him into a brig, where two B1's had been waiting to stun him with their blasters. The last thing Atin said before being stunned had been 'What kind of ship is this!?' and Phoenix had honestly thought a girl had screamed that, because it was so high-pitched. The B1's had glanced at each other, then went to remove Atin's armor.

  The next one to crack was -thankfully- the one named Darman, who was the demolition expert.

  Darman got progressively more and more agitated as he kept wandering, until he finally started yelling as well. But this time, he started throwing his grenades all over the place, damaging the walls and knocking pipes and panels loose while yelling about someone named Etain. Phoenix waited until he ran out of grenades, then manipulated the gravity to launch him into the ceiling, knocking him unconscious. Then she dumped him in the cell next to Atin's, where another two B1s stunned him for good measure, then started stripping him of his gear and armor, like they had just done to Atin.

  She might have been a little irritated at him blowing up the walls of her literal insides.

  The next one was Niner, surprisingly.

  He wandered around for almost forty minutes, progressively getting quieter as he went. At the forty-five minute mark, he slumped against a wall and tore his helmet off, then began crying. Phoenix began to feel bad for the clone and felt a little worse when he sat down and cradled his head in his hands, quiet sobs of 'I failed them.' and 'Not again.' quietly coming from him. She waited until he had exhausted himself, then gently deposited him into the next cell where it only took one stun round to send him to sleep.

  After that, the final one was Fi, who held out the longest, but Pheonix didn't see how he broke down because she was helping to defend the reactor room from the clone incursion. Once she returned, nearly a whole hour after they had infiltrated the ship, she found him curled up on the floor in the fetal position, muttering that he was ok to himself. She cut off the fear connection, then had a duo of B2's stun and take him to the brig, since he was closest to it.

  After a whole hour of having her fun and testing her abilities against the clone commandos, Phoenix turned her full attention back to the outside, where she saw that both fleets had torn into each other. The Tector-classes had taken a beating, and even with their increased armor, they were visibly damaged. One was even missing the entire top of its conning tower, and when Phoenix rolled back the footage, she saw two Munificents fire their main cannons at it after the Tector's shields briefly fell, and the entire conning tower exploded on contact.

  Looking around at her allied ships, she saw that the 104th wasn't doing so well, but they were in better overall condition. Smoke trailed from her own body into the void, and another one of the Recusants -one that she remembered had been the Harbinger's Greed, General Blitzkrieg's former flagship- had been torn to shreds, and was in the process of breaking up in the atmosphere.

  The Lucrehulks were surprisingly fine, probably thanks to the large amounts of point defense weaponry that had been retrofitted to their design over the last few months. The escort craft were all in good condition overall, with only a few having damage from ion blasts that had managed to hit them. But other than that, two were disabled, and were being pulled to her hull with her tractor beams.

  She re-angled herself slightly, letting a few turbolasers aim better at a Republic CR90 that was getting close to one of the disabled ships, and watched as it cracked in half from three turbolaser blasts hitting it in the same place. A few moments later, however, Phoenix noticed something was wrong with one of the GAR ships.

  The Tector that was missing its bridge was starting to list into the atmosphere, and her projections put it down dangerously close to Sundari.

  Oh, that's not good.' She thought.

  She let her calculations continue for a few minutes as the bridgeless Tector-class fell further and further into the atmosphere. Finally, her calculations were completed, and in the confines of the computer core, she audibly gasped.

  The ship was going to actually hit Sundari, and potentially kill thousands, maybe even tens of thousands of people. And it might even kill General Blitzkrieg.

  Phoenix immediately activated her comm unit, and she used a not-insignificant amount of her processing power to override and project her voice from every speaker in the entirety of Sundari. After a final recalculation -which took way too long for her comfort- she began her emergency announcement.

  "Attention, residents of Sundari. A Tector-class Star Destroyer is going to crash into the commercial district of the city, please evacuate as soon as possible. The bridge has been destroyed, and we are unable to stop it, as we are still in battle with the Republic. I repeat, a Star Destroyer is inbound with the commercial sector of Sundari. Please evacuate as soon as possible."

  —

  Sundari Maximum Security

  Sundari, Mandalore

  I froze mid-step, my processor not comprehending what I had just heard over the city-wide comms.

  Well… shit.

  "Omen, come in." I ordered.

  "Yes, sir, I am aware of the Tector class that fell into the atmosphere, I just need your confirmation to send down landing craft to begin assisting." Omen reported.

  "Do so. And double time it, Omen." I ordered, then turned to 99 and LB. "Call back the Marauders, the prison is lost, and we are leaving as soon as possible. I need repairs, badly."

  "Yes sir." LB replied, before placing one of his large fingers against his temple and calling his squadmates.

  "Sir, I thought we were already leaving?" 99 asked as we continued down the hall.

  "We are. But now it's a full retreat from Sundari Max. You heard what's going to happen. A Star Destroyer is crashing in the city."

  We kept moving, but barely ten minutes later, a massive crashing noise reached my audials, and an earth-shaking rumble knocked me off my feet, along with presumably literally everyone else in a couple mile radius.

  "That was the falling Star Destroyer, wasn't it?" P5 asked as he propped himself up on his elbow joints.

  "It was. Well… Sundari is probably completely slagged now." I remarked as I got back to my feet and activated my comm. "Omen, where are the landing craft?"

  "They are en-route, sir. I had to personally deal with a boarding party attempting to breach the bridge, so orders were a bit hard to give for a little while." Omen reported.

  "I hope you didn't get injured, Admiral. You still have a space battle to win."

  "Oh please, sir. These clones are no match for the Star Wreckers."

  I rolled my optics, then turned to the BX next to me. "99, are we close to the exit yet?"

  "We are, sir, just two more halls and we will be out of here." He replied.

  "Good."

  Just like 99 said, two hallways later, we exited into the main entrance of the prison. There had clearly been heavy fighting at the entrance. Mandalorians in both guard armor and prison uniforms were scattered around, blaster holes in their bodies, or electrostaves stabbed through them. It was a massacre. Blood and shattered plastoid covered the ground, and clones, many stripped of their weapons, were lying on the floor as well.

  "By Primus…" I muttered as we moved through the entrance. "You'd think there was no one left with all these bodies in here."

  99 stepped over a Mandalorian protector body, then looked back at it. "I think that was one of Satine's guards." He commented.

  I looked back, and it was.

  "That's not good." I said, my pace quickening.

  I pushed the half broken entrance doors open just in time to see a helmetless Pre Vizsla throw an unconscious Satine onto a large piece of rubble, then ignite the Darksaber in his hand. Kenobi was nowhere in sight, but I saw a small blade of blue off in the distance, along with the small figures of flying Death Watch soldiers.

  "Today, we take back our planet from these weak New Mandalorians. Today, we see Satine beheaded!" He bellowed out, resulting in cheers from the gathered Death Watch, some even hovering in the air.

  I raised my blaster and fired three shots into the air, silencing everyone. Vizsla, scowled at the interruption and turned towards me.

  "General Blitzkrieg?" He queried. "Now this is a surprise. I thought you were still in lockup?"

  "I escaped, no thanks to you, Vizsla. And here I thought Death Watch was allied with the CIS?" I replied.

  Vizsla's scowl became more pronounced, and he clenched his free hand.

  "Haven't you heard? Count Dooku cut us off." He growled. "That's the only reason I greenlit this mission in the first place. My loyal men and women would have been freed either way, but without his funding, we had to do it the violent way. Not that a droid like you knows anything about loyalty or honor."

  I tilted my head slightly. "Really?" I asked, taking a step forward. "Then let us test that opinion of yours, Vizsla. I challenge you to single combat."

  A few scattered chuckles emanated from the crowd of Death Watch, and Vizsla chuckled, before he sneered at me.

  "Me and you? Fight to the death? What a joke. A droid fighting against the true Mandalor?" He began laughing.

  "Oh I think you will fight me in single combat Vizsla… otherwise you'll just prove to every Mandalorian here that you are nothing but a hut'uun." I retorted, insulting him with the greatest insult you can say to any Mandalorian, at any time in the entirety of Star Wars' history.

  By calling them a coward.

  Audible gasps echoed out from the crowd, and half of the soldiers in the air landed on rubble overlooking the slowly forming arena. Vizsla froze mid-laugh, then his mouth snapped shut and he blankly stared at me as he processed what I said. After a moment, his face reddened and contorted into a snarl.

  "You… YOU DARE CALL ME A HUT'UUN!?" He roared. "I WILL MELT YOU DOWN INTO SLAG, DROID! PREPARE FOR SINGLE COMBAT!"

  "Are you sure this is a good idea, sir?" 99 quietly asked.

  "Not really, but I'd prefer that Satine stay alive on my own terms. Besides, I just called the man a coward, Mandalorians are touchy about that. Now give me your rifle."

  99 handed me his E-5C, and I slung it onto my back. I stepped forward as someone tossed Vizsla his helmet, and he put it on a bit more forcefully than was probably necessary.

  "Now we will see who the hut'uun is, droid." Vizsla growled as he ignited the Darksaber.

  "I think you will find, Vizsla," I said as I pulled out my own saber and ignited it. "That your little laser sword does not frighten me as much as it would an innocent civilian. Ni'durra gar ge'hut'uun."

  Vizsla's grip on the Darksaber tightened, and he lunged at me with a roar of pure rage.

  "DIE, DROID!" He bellowed.

  I blocked the overhead strike from him, and spun around, deflecting his next swing.

  Compared to Anakin, who could buff himself with the force, Vizsla was physically weaker. But the man seemed to have more experience with the sword. It didn't mean he was as powerful, but he was better able to fight with it than the younger Jedi. to top it all off, he is wearing Beskar, likely the same quality as the Beskar that Din Djarin wears in The Mandalorian. In other words, Vizsla is a slower opponent, but he is much more tanky than Anakin. He does, however, have noticeable weak spots, just like all Mandalorians in armor do.

  Vizsla spun around, dropping down and slicing at my legs. I leaped over him, hitting him in the head with my saber. My blade bounced off, but the force behind the swing knocked his head forwards, sending him into a roll. He spun around and fired at me with his wrist blaster, forcing me to deflect the shot into the ground. He was definitely a much better shot than Anakin.

  Vizsla holstered the Darksaber, then flew up into the air, pulling out his blasters and opening fire on me. I spun my blade until it was a shield of azure plasma, blocking and deflecting bolts all over the place, sending the Death Watch soldiers scattering behind cover. I pulled out the DC-17 I had, then fired back at him, aiming above him to force him down. It worked, and once he was low enough, I lunged at him, hanging off of his legs.

  I climbed around dodging blaster bolts and wild swings from the Darksaber, while pulling out my vibroknife. I reared back, then stabbed it into his jetpack. Then pulled it out and stabbed again and then again, and finally one last time, and then I twisted it. The jetpack audibly spluttered, then cut out, and both of us tumbled to the ground. I landed in a three-point landing, and sheathed my vibroknife.

  Vizsla chuckled. "I will admit, you're smart for a droid." He complimented, before igniting the Darksaber once more. "But you can't compare to a Mandalorian warrior."

  He lunged at me, twisting in the air. I dodged, deflecting the strike from his black blade. My saber hummed as our blades locked against each other. I kicked him away, and fired a few shots at him with my pistol. He staggered back as the bolts hit him in the chestplate, but didn't puncture. My optics flashed, and the pseudo-flashbang screamed out. It wasn't effective, but it briefly stunned the man.

  Vizsla quickly recovered and fired at me again with his blaster, forcing me to dodge or deflect the bolts. But then a gout of flame washed over my frame, heating up my systems and bubbling my paint. I rolled out of the arc of flame, literally on fire, and fired at Vizsla again. The man threw something small and cylindrical at me, and I leaped out of the way just as an explosion cratered the ground.

  He threw another, and I sliced that one in half with my saber, making the man audibly growl. He lunged at me through the smoke, and we both went tumbling out back into sight. I got onto my hands, and swung my lower body around, kicking Vizsla in the head, and quickly crawling away back to my feet. The Darksaber whizzed over my head, and I turned and deflected the blade with one arm.

  "Mandalorians are meant to be warriors, Vizsla!" I said, spinning my saber to block two strikes from him. "You are nothing like the warriors of old!"

  "Silence!" Vizsla roared.

  The Death Watch leader pushed me back against a piece of rubble, and slashed again and again, hitting either my arm or my saber, leaving deep marks in the Phrik armor of my forearm. I pushed myself forward, the Darksaber slicing into my shoulder armor and cleaving it off, exposing my joint. Vizsla stabbed downward, but it slid into my torso and dangerously close to my neck. I kicked him back slightly, and spun around and blocked his slash with my saber.

  "The Mandalorians deserve someone better than you." I growled, spinning around and blocking a point-blank blaster bolt.

  I needed to end this, and soon. My armor was already compromised before Vizsla sliced off my left pauldron.

  The Death Watch leader fired a grapple at me, but I sliced it in half before it could tangle itself on me. Vizsla let out a war cry as he charged me, the Darksaber held high. Taking a cue from Maul, I grabbed his other arm and twisted, forcing the Death Watch leader sideways. Before he could break the hold, I raised my other arm, then slammed it down on his elbow, breaking his arm. Vizsla yelled in pain, but pulled free and swung the Darksaber, me reigniting my lightsaber in response.

  He slashed again at me, but with one arm broken and the haze of pain clouding his vision, his aim was off, and the blade glanced off my intact shoulder armor. I slashed downward, slicing off Vizsla's leg at the knee. The man screamed in pain, then my blade cut halfway through his neck underneath his helmet. The Darksaber flew from his grip as he flailed around, grasping at his cauterized neck with his good arm.

  The Mandalorian lightsaber landed in my open grip, and I held it up, making all of the Death Watch around us pause. Vizsla garbled something, but I activated the Darksaber and sliced the rest of the way through his neck, decapitating him, and sending his head bouncing a few times before it slid out of his helmet, a surprised and pained expression on his dead face. An electronic huff left my vocalizer, and I turned to the Death Watch hovering around me, holding up their weapons as they all aimed in my direction.

  I scoffed, and held the Darksaber high above me.

  "Cease your antics, Death Watch, or your beloved Darksaber will be destroyed." I threatened, clenching my digits around the hilt of the Mandalorian lightsaber.

  That got their attention, and the rest of the Death Watch soldiers landed around and on the rubble of the prison. Everyone stopped, seeing Vizsla fall and the Death Watch landing. The leader of Death Watch had just been felled by a droid. Everything they had been fed by the man had just been called into question for them.

  The endoskeleton frame in my chest was seriously starting to hurt, that force crush from Anakin must have done more damage to me than I thought. The servos and joints in my abdomen were actually whirring and creaking now, and it felt like I was having to put effort into moving my body at this point. A check of my power levels told me I was running a bit low as well.

  "Bring me Bo-Katan Kryze." I ordered. "The rest of you will leave, right now, or I will crush the Darksaber right here and right now and you will never have a leader of Mandalore again."

  I could almost feel the shock emanating from the Death Watch, and one by one, they either activated their jetpacks and flew off, or ran back to their ships.

  And then only one member of Death Watch remained. A Mandalorian with a Y-shaped visor and the Nite Owl paint scheme on her helmet. She took the helmet off, revealing the young green eyes framed by ginger locks of Bo-Katan Kryze. She slowly walked over, hooking her helmet on her waist, and she came to a stop a few feet away from me.

  "...You asked to see me?" She asked, her emotions plain to see without her helmet.

  I knew Mandalorians would have terrible poker faces. Their faces are covered by helmets 80% of the time.

  I looked at the Darksaber in my grip, then back at her.

  "Bo-Katan Kryze. You will be Mandalor now." I said, gently tossing the Darksaber to her.

  The woman almost dropped the hilt in her haste to grab it. She stared wide eyed down at the Darksaber, then looked back up at me.

  "But… But I can't be Mandalor!" She exclaimed. "I didn't win it! You did!"

  "You must." I shook my head and placed my free hand on my chest. "I am a droid, and as such, I cannot be Mandalor, Bo-Katan. The Mandalorians will never accept a droid leading them, since one Mandalor of old was assassinated by one of my kind. You and your sister are the best option for Mandalore and its vassal sectors now."

  She looked at the Darksaber in her hands, then back up at me. "B-but I… I can't-"

  My optics narrowed at her, and she quieted. "You will, Bo-Katan. Your sister is in no right mind to rule after all she saw during the last Mandalorian Civil War, and you ran off before you realized that." I poked the woman in the chest, and her expression fell at my words as I then pointed at the unconscious woman on the ground. "You left your trauma-riddled sister to her own devices, and this is what she turned Mandalore into."

  "She… did see a lot of bad things back then…" She murmured.

  "Do you want to know what she said to me before I escaped? She nearly begged me to have mercy on Mandalore. This is my mercy. Mandalore will join the CIS, along with any Neutral planet that wishes to do so. And I believe that once the news gets out, there will be plenty of them joining. However, to appeal to your sister's pacifism, Sundari shall become the home for all New Mandalorian ideals. While the rest of the planet, along with Concordia and Kalevala, shall be allowed to return to their ways of wearing armor."

  A small smile grew on Bo's face. "I suppose I could get behind that."

  "I will not take away your people's right to Beskar. It is Mandalorian, and Mandalorian it will stay. As much as I would enjoy having beskar plated droids, I believe that would be nigh-impossible to produce on any large scale. I will, however, ask for a shield made of pure beskar, as a sign of trust."

  Bo-Katan raised an eyebrow. "And in return?"

  "I will keep my promise to Satine, and help restore the biosphere of Mandalore to its former glory."

  Her eyes widened, and Bo-Katan actually sat down on a piece of rubble.

  "You would do that for us?" She asked almost shakily.

  "I am not a monster, Bo-Katan. I will keep my word."

  The woman took a deep breath, then after a few moments she looked at me, determination filling her young eyes.

  "Very well Blitzkrieg, I accept this title of Mandalor." She said. "I also accept your terms for joining the CIS. I know the Republic would never offer this to Mandalore. Not like how we are now."

  "No. They wouldn't." I replied.

  The conversation lapsed into silence, and the sounds of fighting slowly began to die off.

  After a few minutes, I looked out at the destroyed city, fallen Mandalorians both prisoner and staff scattered around, killed by the crossfire between Death Watch and my forces. Bo-Katan was still sitting on the piece of rubble, the Darksaber in her grip, and her helmet sitting on the ground beside her as she stared blankly at the Mandalorian lightsaber. I could almost feel the mix of emotions curling around her like living armor as she gently stroked Satine's face as the woman's head rested in her lap.

  She looked out at the half-destroyed city, and the Star Destroyer lying in the city, itself half destroyed by turbolaser fire, then her eyes trailed over the destruction until they eventually landed on me.

  "Things really are never going to be the same after this, are they?" She quietly asked.

  I looked out at the destroyed prison around us, then over at the massive hole in Sundari's dome where the Tector-class Star Destroyer had slammed through.

  "No." I replied, slowly looking down to stare at my severely damaged frame. "No, they aren't."

  "I never should have joined Death Watch…" She said so quietly I probably wasn't supposed to hear it.

  I set one hand on her shoulder, and 'smiled' at her. "Never mourn the past, young warrior. Thanks to you, your kind's culture survives."

  As my stealthipede landed nearby, and Omen briskly walked out with blaster marks, dust, and blood on his duster, and his own blaster held in one hand, I had a feeling that this would be one of the biggest catastrophes that the galaxy had seen in recent memory.

  Things are only going to get worse from here on a galactic scale. The battle of Kamino, the murder of Mina Bonteri, and dozens of other high-profile events are going to start happening, darkening the war even further than expected.

  …I suppose it's high time I upgraded my body from this frame.

  It is time for my fleet to return to Telos IV.

  Blitzkrieg rolls into view, coming to a stop right in the center.

  He waves, then raises up a finger to his temple.

  "See you all soon!" He shouts as his eyes begin to glow brighter.