Star Wars: The Clone Wars Elements

by Barrobroadcaster

Ep. 2 Ch. 2: With Precision

The jungle had sparse foliage but a thick canopy above. It was easy for Vok to walk through and the ground was surprisingly dry. That was bad; the easier to get through, the fewer places there were to hide and the easier it was for patrols to maneuver. Most CIS droids weren't the best trackers but he still needed to minimize his presence. Don't take a direct route, don't go in a straight line, eyes and ears open, no noise, breathe. Always remember to breathe.

He heard the sound of a STAP and hit the ground. Two of the droids hovered by the path directly in front of him slowly, searching. STAPs were fast and a lot louder when they were going at full speed, but these were clearly patrolling. Patrols meant there was something worth protecting nearby, and patrols had patterns. All he had to do was know how to deal with it, and then deal with it.

Vok preferred to deal with things with precision.

The two Battle Droids riding the STAPs rotated their heads slowly, very casually, almost like organics would scan an area visually. It wasn't known whether droids like these were programmed to simulate organic behavior or if they just picked it up on their own. One of the great mysteries of the universe. Either way, when the right-handed droid looked between the two trees at either side of the path Vok had been following, the droid picked up the silvery flash of something before its ocular sensors were disconnected from its body.

The droid's eyes picked up its own sudden decapitation, but without a connection to its processors, the recording was lost to empty space. The STAP slowly leaned to one side, then fell to the ground and deactivated. Before the other Battle Droid could fully compute what had happened to its comrade, the second droid was ripped from its own STAP and its head was severed, not by knife but by Vok's gloved hands. Vok retrieved his knife and left the droids where they fell.

Not far from where he found the scouts, Vok found the base. Not an outpost, not a waystation or a listening post, a full-fledged CIS base.

*VRRRRRRRMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm*

Cutting in low overhead was a Trade Federation freighter, flying low enough that its thrusters blasted the foliage around him. It glided over the ruins all the way to the north end of the base, landing next to another freighter of the same model. Vok noticed they were older pre-CIS TF Freighters.

He activated his helmet's commlink. "One is at base perimeter, south."

"Three is east."

A pause in the comms, and then, "Two is in the base."

"IN the base?"

"Affirmative."

Too risky. Too damn risky. Vok cursed under his breath, and that was the last he would think about his comrade's reckless actions until the mission was over. There was no debating, no asking what-ifs, there was reality and the next step.

Vok drew both of his blasters, inhaled... and exhaled. He took one long look at the compound. Droids were proficient at two things: coordinating and communicating. Once one of them had a target, they would all work in unison, all the various types available, to neutralize them. If some were destroyed, their commanders would know immediately, but unless the droid or another was able to communicate effectively, they would not know how they were destroyed. They would simply register as an inactive unit.

This low to the ground, with all this dense fog, the communications and sensor problems they were already having, it's likely the droids already had their uplinks active. Even with that, there was still a chance that if Vok was fast enough, he could destroy any droids he encountered by shooting them precisely. They had internal and external communications uplinks, most of them, so that meant shooting them twice: once in the commlink, once to destroy them.

Vok had to shoot every droid in the base twice. He had to hit them in their commlink and where they were most vulnerable. And he couldn't miss.

Not to mention avoid being seen, heard or detected in any other way. This was not going to be easily. Then again, Vok preferred to deal with things with precision.

---

R.A.S. Resolute, Command Bridge

"Comm and sensor buoys are in place, admiral. No effect."

Admiral Yularen pinched his chin, as if the trained, no-nonsense officer in him was trying to incite the rest of him to do what he knew had to be done. He looked out the viewport to Equestria, then to Prince Shining Armor and Princess Cadence. The two of them held their daughter tightly between the two of them, backs turned to the planet outside, their home. No, not their home; their home was right here between the three of them on this bridge.

For the briefest moment, Yularen's thoughts escaped him and he thought of his own home. His own family.

"Admiral," Commander Nim's voice brought his attention back to the present. "We've lost contact with Vok's 170."

The admiral snapped into focus. "That's it, then. Inform General Skywalker and prepare to move the fleet."

"What about our men still on the surface?"

He looked his commander directly in the eye and said, "We risk them if we go, we risk the fleet if we stay."

"Aye, sir," Nim responded, and turned precisely to carry out the order. It was the safe decision and they both knew it, but that didn't make it any easier. Soldiers didn't retreat when the innocent were in danger, but Equestria was not a Republic world. The whole ordeal felt like a trap and Yularen wasn't the type of admiral that wanted to find himself in it intentionally.

"You're retreating?" Shining Armor asked. Simple question, but loaded nonetheless, Shining still clung to his wife and daughter tightly. They clung to each other. He wasn't accusing him, just genuinely curious, as anyone would be, at what their next action would be.

Yularen nodded. "I'm sorry, your highnesses, but the situation is too dangerous to risk the fleet. The Republic is not abandoning you; we're merely falling back to regroup with our reinforcements." Of course, he left out the fact that if Command felt the sector was too dangerous, they may abandon it entirely to focus on another front of the war. There was no shortage of planets in danger and many were in fact Republic member worlds.

"But you just got here," Princess Cadence protested. "The work to rebuild the Crystal Empire is still ongoing."

"The detachment from the Republic Corps. of Engineers is remaining behind along with a security force. Along with the Jedi," Nim offered.

Yularen nodded, thankful for the support. "We came here to launch a rescue operation, not liberate a planet we weren't aware had been invaded."

"We weren't aware either... until it was too late," Shining said. Cadence whispered something to him, they both looked at their daughter and they nodded. "Admiral Yularen?"

"Yes?"

"We'd like to request... diplomatic asylum, for the time being. With the Republic," Cadence said.

Yularen was taken back a bit, but quickly understood why they asked. "I don't have the authority to grant that request. I'm not an ambassador and this ship is not on a diplomatic mission."

"But the Jedi are," Shining replied. "We could seek asylum with the Jedi Order. General Skywalker could allow us to take a shuttle to Coruscant, Alderaan or Dantooine."

Yularen pinched his forehead this time. Outmaneuvered on his own bridge. "...We will relay your message immediately, your highness, but I cannot guarantee-"

"Admiral!" the comm officer announced, "We're unable to reach General Skywalker. We've lost all communications with the surface!"

"Is the interference getting worse?"

"No sir- we are being jammed!"

Admiral Yularen didn't need the sensors to see a group of Separatist ships drop out of hyperspace right in front of the planet, aimed right at them. The three Munificent-class frigates and two Recusant-class light destroyers approached at flank speed and had already launched Vulture droid starfighters.

Comments

[Bronycommander]

nice to see this updated! funny, actually, star wars started for me the creation of an Oc that eventually became fleshed out through ml.

Pardon, old habit