[Telos IV Shadowfeed network]
[Date: 7/6/7956-C.R.C]
[Authorization code: BZ-KG-34SMH285]
[Login: Gen. Blitzkrieg]
[Password: *********]
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[Login Successful]
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[You have (1) new message]
[R&D Update selected]
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[Access Granted]
[Playing video file: Project Update(s) Midnight, Arclight, Junglefowl]
A schematic of a familiar silhouette floated in a holotank display. Tall, imposing, humanoid, but noticeably mechanical.
"
Project Midnight is progressing well, despite a few hiccups from the prototype's locomotion systems. Marching in formation is working perfectly, but independent movement was hampered slightly due to how complex the droid brains are going to be. However, the coding you've given has sped up our progress immensely, and Project Midnight should be completed sooner than planned by around four months. I assure you that in eight months, when they are on the battlefield, most if not all of the problems will be solved. Right on time for all the combat problems to arise."
The schematic shifted to another familiar silhouette, one that would have terrified any future rebel.
"
Progress on Project Junglefowl is going much smoother. The captured Republic IFVs are helping tremendously in that respect, to the point that mass production is projected to start within two and a half weeks. Two pilot vehicles have been built, one is being used to test modifications to the design, and the other is being used to train the droid brain necessary for its operation. There were a few teething problems with the legs, but the extra gyroscopes you suggested that we place in them have reduced the chance of it falling over to about 28%. That is much better than the 68% it was at beforehand."
The schematic shifted to a host of differing blueprints, all with promising applications.
"Project Arclight has no projected change for the foreseeable future. As of now, the teams have arrived on Illum, and have begun their search for kyber crystals that are the right size. We should be expecting preliminary results within a month. I have to say, this project is the most ambitious you have given us so far. I never would have thought to use the crystals that Jedi use in such a way. Not to mention it is deliciously ironic."
"
All in all. The projects you have given us are progressing well and are sure to put the Republic on the run whenever your forces are present in the future."
[End file]
...
[Logging off]
Date:7/13/7956 C.R.C
Sand buffeted all three of us as we marched across the dusty landscape of Geonosis.
Thankfully, I had decided to grab my cloak before leaving the Finest Hour, so that I would be more presentable to my 'creator' once I arrived. Thanks to that, the sand harmlessly bounced off of
it instead of scratching up my paint, getting under my plating, and most importantly, potentially damaging my joints and internals.
The same could not be said for my companions, who were forced to take the brunt of the light sandstorm that we were marching through, with no way to cover themselves. After a particularly large gust of sand pelted us, I even started thinking of issuing cheap cloaks or trench coats to my units in order to keep the elements away from their joints.
Plus, droids in cloaks are cool.
"Augh. This sand is getting everywhere, it's almost as bad as Tatooine!" The B1 pilot, B1-P327 -which I quickly shortened to just 'P3- remarked, shaking off some sand that had accumulated on his frame.
"Irritated agreement: I agree with my lesser compatriot, this sand is most irritating. Query: General, how far out are we from the droid foundry?" H1 asked.
"About twenty minutes out, as long as we aren't spotted by the Republic." I replied, my voice slightly staticky as my central optic's zoom returned to normal from its maximum.
For a lack of a better option, considering we were practically in the middle of nowhere, we were heading back to the factory that Duke Poggle was at. It was the closest location we could easily get to on foot without being drawn into a losing battle against the clones. Even if I were to have the Starlight brought down, we'd still lose due to how many clones there are compared to the three of us.
And there were a lot of clones indeed. AA cannons echoed on the horizon, and distant blaster fire followed by human or Geonosian screaming kept our scanners on high.
After a minute or so of walking, the foundry was finally in sight after we passed by a large butte. I silently sighed in relief as the probe droid, who had been keeping a sensor on my former stealthipede and scanning for any GAR troops, chirped as it landed on my shoulder again. I raised up a hand and stroked its head and back for a moment or two, the probe chirping in happiness at the petting.
"Any changes?" I asked after a moment.
The probe chirped again, sending me a shortwave report. A video file popped up in my Hud, and after a moment, I stopped and played the file.
--
From where the probe was hovering, it got a very good view of a squad of LAATs landing near the crashed ship. Numerous clones exited, and began establishing a staging area, complete with a couple AT-TEs dropped off by a loader variant. The probe moved back behind a rock spire as a squad of clones approached the wreck, along with two Jedi.
Both of them were cloaked in black clothing, along with headdresses. Their pale green faces and hands being the only skin shown, and two lightsabers, one green, and one blue, were in their hands.
Jedi Master Luminara Unduli, the warrior priestess, and her apprentice, Padawan Barris Offee, the future anti-war mad bomber of the Jedi.
The probe focused its audials onto the two Jedi as it flew to a closer outcropping. It picked up the beginning of their conversation.
"
-aster, what exactly are we looking for?" Barris asked.
"The droid General that Knight Skywalker fought during the battle of Devaron. Republic intelligence stated that it should be here." Luminara replied.
"Sir, the ship is empty, and it looks like the clanker used a lightsaber to cut the door open." One of the clones reported.
"Where did this droid acquire a lightsaber?" Bariss nearly hissed.
"I do not know, Padawan." Luminara calmly replied.
"Hey, what's that?"
The probe's footage jumped as a blaster bolt impacted near it.
"It's a droid, blast it!"
--
The footage cut out as the probe flew away, and I subconsciously patted the little droid again to comfort it.
"Query: What does the probe droid have to report?" H1 asked.
"Two Jedi are apparently hunting for me specifically. They set up their staging area near the crash site and are probably attempting to track us." I replied.
Interesting. I figured that those two Jedi wouldn't be on the planet until the assault on the factory. Perhaps the presence of my ship in orbit has forced them to arrive earlier than anticipated and begin searching for me, since I've left the relative safety of my ship.
I jolted slightly when I realized that Lona was still on the Finest Hour. I looked up as we walked, knowing full well that my central optic's zoom wasn't good enough to see my ship all the way in orbit.
I could only hope Lona was alright.
--
Lona was
not alright.
The togrutas normally blue skinned knuckles were nearly white as she held onto the command seat, as the Finest Hour shuddered again under a barrage of turbolaser fire.
"Status report." Lona ordered.
"The ship is operating at 92% efficiency, ma'am. Shields are holding strong at 84%, but that Venator is pounding us with its turbolasers." 25 reported, his voice distinguishable from the other B1s with its lower, less nasally tone.
"What's the ID on the ship?"
"ID is confirmed as the Peacemaker, General Ki Adi Mundi's flagship."
Lona narrowed her orange eyes, "The Cerean? I knew he'd jump at the chance to have a ship named that."
25 turned his head to her and tilted it to the side slightly, his yellow photoreceptors casting a dull glow through his optical covering.
"Past experience with the man?" He asked.
"You could say that." Lona replied.
The ship shuddered again as another volley of turbolaser shots impacted it. Dull thumps echoed back as the Finest Hour's own lasers returned fire.
"Weapons, prepare our
surprise for that Venator." 25 ordered.
"Roger, roger."
"Uh, what surprise?" Lona asked. "I didn't know we had any surprises on the ship."
"Just a little something the General slapped together for a 'just in case' scenario."
"What's it called?"
"He labeled it the 'Get that annoying ship of my aft' procedure. Whatever that means."
"That's a bit of a strange name for a tactic, you know."
"Funny, that's exactly what I told Blitzkrieg when he brought the idea to me."
"Target locked." The weapons B1 reported.
"Open fire." 25 ordered.
Lona watched in awe, satisfaction, (and a small bit of horror) as dozens upon dozens of proton torpedoes, normally meant to be on fighters and bombers, streamed out of the panels and rocketed towards the Venator. The Republic ship had no time to react as 70 proton torpedoes slammed into the shielding, breaking it in less than a second, followed by the remaining 50 slamming into the bottom of the tower where it connects to the main body, practically cracking the thing in two.
Lona winced as she felt hundreds of lives be snuffed out, followed by even more as the General's fleet tore into the wreckage and the rest of the Republic fleet that was chasing them. She watched as two Recuscants rolled, putting all of their batteries onto an Acclamator. The two destroyers opened fire, the shielding flickered and died after under a minute of sustained fire, and its bridge was destroyed in a flash of light.
Lona tilted her head, and looked over at the Venator, which was destroyed in much the same way.
"25?" Lona asked.
"Yes?" 25 responded.
"Why did the torpedoes aim for the towers and not the ship itself on the Venators and Acclamators?"
"Something that the General ordered me to do whenever we activate that procedure. I'm sure you saw the Venator and two Acclamators still in space when we left Telos IV, right?"
"You mean the ships that were surrounded by salvage vessels? Yes, what about them?"
"Well, the general had a great idea, and it spread to the rest of the captains as well. If the shielding on a GAR ship gets overloaded, aim for the bottom of the tower, and it will effectively crack the entire thing off the main body, quickly disabling the whole vessel. It was actually pretty funny to see the ships go from war machines to floating hunks of metal in less than a minute."
Lona was silent, her mind blue screening for a moment as she processed what 25 had just said.
"...You mean to tell me that General Blitzkrieg has exploited a weakness barely anyone has ever thought about, and nullified thousands of years of Kuat's signature way of making ships?" She asked.
"That's KDYs signature? I thought it was the arrowhead design of the ships themselves." 25 mused. "Anyway. He came up with the idea, and he also had the thought that we could salvage and fix the ships up, repaint them in a Confederate livery, and attach them to our fleet, which would bolster our numbers and our firepower. I believe they'll fight even better with the modifications that the General has put forth. Depends on whenever Project: Arclight gets done, of course."
"That's… surprisingly intuitive from you. Did the General let you in on that project?"
"Yes, he did, considering the Finest Hour is going to be the first ship to have that refit done to it. And I am old for a B1, I'm supposed to be intuitive. Plus, I haven't had a memory wipe since before the blockade of Naboo."
"Kriff, you're
that old?"
"Ma'am, I'm older than
you. I'm in my thirties."
"Huh."
Lona just stared at the B1 for a moment, processing everything he said. She was finally jolted out of her thoughts by another member of the bridge crew calling for her.
"Commander Lona, I have a fix on the General's position!" The communications B1 reported.
"Where is he?" Lona asked, whipping around so fast one of her lekku nearly hit her in the face.
"He's on approach to the same droid foundry that he originally went to in the stealthipede. He must be heading there to secure an HAAT or defend the Archduke until he can secure a vessel to get back to the Finest Hour. We've already contacted the rest of the fleet he was heading for; they'll be attempting a breakout in around an hour."
"Can we get in contact with him?"
"Unfortunately, not, ma'am. It seems his internal radio was damaged in the crash. All we can do is track his position from the tracker beacon in his abdomen."
Lona slowly stood from the command chair and walked over to the windows. She looked out at the desert planet below her, where the ground battle was heating up. If she focused, she could make out some of the explosions on the ground, and the plumes of smoke clogging the air. She closed her eyes for a moment and hoped that her General would be alright.
"25, are we in any position to land the troops?" Lona asked.
"Not right now, ma'am." The B1 admiral responded. "We'd need to get away from the Republic carriers or destroy them first."
Lona glanced back at the Republic fleet opposing them and clenched a fist.
"25, do whatever you can to get that Republic fleet away and find us a landing zone. I'm going down there with a rescue force whether Blitzkrieg likes it or not."
"But-" 25 tried to argue but was silenced by a fierce glare from the togruta. "…Yes, ma'am."
--
"Duke Poggle, come in, this is General Blitzkrieg." I radioed.
My internal radio buzzed with nothing but static.
"Archduke Poggle, this is General BZ-KG, come in. I am getting close to the foundry, and I would like to not be ambushed by Republic or Geonosian forces."
Once again, static buzzed through my internal radio and I shut it off a bit forcefully in anger.
"Stupid slagging jamming." I muttered.
"Query: Slagging? That sounds like a droid centric swear. Why was I not made aware of these new forms of insulting my fellow chrome plated brethren?" H1 asked.
I looked back at the HK-series with a metaphorical brow raised.
Should I?
…Yeah, sure why not?
"It's part of a larger list of droid centric swears I'm working on. You can use it if you wish." I replied.
"Pleased statement: Thank you for clarifying, sir. I will be sure to add this to my list of applicable curses." H1 said.
'Oh god what have I done…'
"Does that mean I can use it too?" P3 asked.
I sighed. "Yes, you can use it too."
"Yes!"
The B1 pumped his fist in the air, but a quick glare from me made him return to guarding the rear of our four-droid convoy.
"Additional query: Is there something wrong with your internal radio?" H1 asked.
"My radio may be damaged, or the Republic is using jammers. I'm leaning towards the former, though. I did get knocked around before we braced for the crash, so perhaps it became damaged then. Let me check my diagnostics."
[Initiating diagnostics]
...
[Diagnostic complete, displaying results]
[Power Core - Integrity: 100% - Status: Online - Power level: 73%]
[Primary & Secondary Data Drives - Integrity: 100% - Status: Online]
[Photoreceptors - Integrity: 100% - Status: Online]
[Audio Sensors - Integrity: 100% - Status: Online]
[Vocalizer - Integrity: 84% - Status: Online - Damage: Mild]
[Locomotor Functions - Integrity: 100% - Status: Online]
[Primary Processing core: Online]
[Secondary Processing core: Online]
[Heuristic Processor: Online]
[Repulsion systems: Online]
[Weapon systems: Online]
[Shadowfeed connection: Connected]
[Battlenet connection: Connected]
[Internal Communications: Status: Offline - Damage: Error]
"Hmm. The crash knocked out my internal radio, and it must have jolted my vocalizer as well. At least I now know why the Finest Hour hasn't contacted me yet…"
"Uh, sir! We have incoming!" P3 suddenly exclaimed.
I spun around to see a
very low flying LAAT with its doors open heading towards us.
"Open fire on the canopy!" I shouted.
All three of us fired at the LAAT with reckless abandon. The bolts sailed through the air, impacting the canopy of the ship. The windscreen was soon covered in blast marks, and one well placed shot intersecting with another finally melted a hole in the canopy, making the pilot jump. The vessel jerked to the left and hit the ground, digging a trench into the sand until it came to a stop barely a hundred feet from us.
"Keep your weapons hot and move back." I ordered.
All three of us started backpedaling away from the crash site as figures started moving out of it. I jolted when a blue lightsaber ignited, followed by a green one.
"Slag." I muttered. "We are in no way prepared to fight two Jedi at once, especially not one on their fragging high council."
"Query: Perhaps discretion is the better part of valor, sir? I do have a rechargeable flashbang built into my chest." H1 said.
"When did that get put in?" I asked.
"Confused query: All HK-50s have the same, I expected you to know that?"
"Huh, I thought that was just a flashlight. I suppose I need to look over your blueprints more thoroughly once we return to Telos."
"So, what's the plan?" P3 asked.
"Both of you hang flank around and deal with the clones, I'll stall the Jedi. Once the soldiers are dealt with, assist me with the Force users."
H1 and P3 ran off, and left me with the approaching Jedi. My cloak fluttered in the wind as they approached, lightsabers buzzing slightly louder as the sand flew into the blades. I pulled my vibrosword and lightsaber out and ignited the azure blade, the slight kick from the ignition.
"Jedi Master Luminara Unduli. Jedi Padawan Barris Offee. It was a mistake to try and hunt me." I said, my wrist whirring lightly as it spun the azure blade in a slow circle.
"The Republic demands your destruction, droid." Luminara responded.
"You can try, but it won't be easy for either of you."
[Attack]
Blaster shots rang out as the B1 and H1 attacked the clones. Barris flinched and glanced behind her.
That was all the distraction I needed.
I lunged forward, catching both Jedi off guard. Blue met green as my blade clashed with the Master's. I spun, vibrosword at the ready as I caught Barris' blade as well. I twirled my blades, locking them again. I kicked out, and knocked Barris back with a foot right under the ribs. Leaving Barris to cough and hold her midsection, I turned my attention to her Master.
We locked blades, both of mine against her singular one. She slashed, I parried and backed up a few steps. She lunged forwards, and I spun out of the way, just missing her blade near my neck. We clashed again and again, neither of us gaining an edge as the sand whipped around us.
I parried a strike from her and kicked the back of her leg, sending the mirialan flying forward into a roll. She got to her feet and faced me, her eyes narrowed. I tried to back away, but she grabbed me with the force and started pulling me towards her.
I sheathed my vibrosword and opened fire on Luminara, forcing the Jedi to split her attention between dragging me towards her and blocking my blaster bolts. My feet dug trenches into the sand as she pulled me towards her. One of my shots impacted her headdress and burned a hole in it, and she narrowed her eyes even more at me.
A scream of pain made Luminara lose her concentration, and we turned to see Barris on the ground, holding her arm which was missing a hand. H1 was standing over her, a bloody vibrosword in his hand. Behind them was the P3, who was missing his blaster, which was in two pieces on the ground.
"Barris!" Luminara exclaimed, throwing H1 away with the force.
The Master ran over and pulled her Padawan to her feet.
"Your attempt to assassinate me was illogical." I taunted.
With a snarl, Luminara force pushed us all to the ground and into the sand. I got to my feet just in time to see them running away, Barris practically being carried by her Master.
"Mockery: Those cowardly Jedi would rather run away than face us, sir." H1 said as I helped him to his feet.
"You did slice the Padawans hand off. Luminara must not have been in her right mind at the moment." I responded, glancing over at P3, who was walking inside the LAAT.
"Speculative statement: Perhaps brutalizing the meatbags will make them disoriented and more likely to make mistakes during combat."
I turned to look at the HK unit with a metaphorical brow raised. "That…
could work, if you don't care about publicity. For now though, no. Keep that idea on the backburner, however, we may need to revisit it in the future if I am somehow captured."
"Agreement: I believe that will be for the best, sir. We should probably leave before Republic reinforcements arrive."
"Right. P3, is that LAAT still operational?"
"The doors are stuck open from the crash, one's too warped to even close, there's some large scratches on the bottom of the hull, one of the wings is bent slightly from the crash, and there's a hole in the canopy from where two shots intersected and melted the transparisteel."
"Can it fly?"
"Fly? Yes. Can it fly us all the way to the Finest Hour? No. But I think I can manage to keep it in the air long enough for us to get to the droid foundry and get something that
can."
"Very well. Get us in the air, P3."
P3 nodded and climbed into the cockpit.
H1 and I dug a little bit of the LAAT off of the ground, and a liberal use of a lightsaber saw the warped side door fall away from the main body. The probe droid stayed nestled on my shoulder the whole time.
Lightsabers are
so useful, despite being glorified glowsticks.
After a few minutes, the engines of the LAAT coughed to life, and the ship slowly rose from the ground, sand falling away from the pale white frame as one of the engines smoked slightly. I was leaning against the doorframe, a GAR datapad in my hand as I synced to it.
"Uh, we've got a problem." P3 said from the cockpit.
"What's wrong, P3?" I asked.
"There's a fuel leak, we have maybe twenty minutes of flight time before the tanks are dry."
"Slag, that's even less time than a Vulture droid on a full tank."
"The news gets worse. We have to head to the foundry if we want to acquire a fresh ship. We don't have enough fuel to even make it to our docked fleet."
"I don't like the idea of heading towards such a large target."
"Query: What large target?" H1 asked.
"According to what I'm reading on this datapad, once Luminara and Barris killed me, they were to assault the foundry with assistance from Skywalker and his padawan, Kenobi, and Mundi. Somehow the Republic has gained knowledge about the production of the HAATs."
I, of course, knew that Palpatine most likely let the location slip. If the HAATs managed to get into full production, they would practically bulldoze over any battlefield they were deployed on until the Republic managed to stop them, probably through orbital bombardment. I would eventually end up building them, but they'd stay in reserve until I had full control of the CIS, or if I needed a trump card in a ground battle designed to kill me.
"Well, we still need to find a new ship. We'll head to the foundry." I ordered.
"Roger, roger." P3 replied.
The LAATs engines whirred louder as we sped off towards the foundry.
--
When we reached the foundry, the ray shield had already been destroyed, and the Republic was amassing outside.
P3 quickly transmitted his clearance code to the foundry, and we landed in an outer hangar. My cloak fluttered behind me as we walked through the halls back into the control room.
"
Ah, General BZ-KG. I am glad to see that my creation has survived the invasion." The archduke greeted. "
Come, we need to organize the defenses."
"Duke Poggle, I have run multiple simulations on how this battle could potentially go, and all of them end with this facility being destroyed by the Republic." I said.
The Geonosian scoffed. "
They won't make it past the bridge."
"My lord, I beg you to let us use the secret weapons." The tactical droid next to Poggle said.
"
Perhaps…"
"We have twenty units ready now, and many more on the way."
"
Fine, have them move out across the bridge and rout the Republic forces. It is time for us to remove these pests from Geonosis."
"Thank you, my lord." The droid moved over and activated a radio. "Deploy super tanks, attack formation."
After a minute or so, I internally sighed and moved over to the holotank.
"May I be of assistance, sir?" I asked.
"
Yes. I need you to coordinate the next wave of battle droids leaving the factory. They will mop up any clones that are left behi-"
The duke didn't get to finish his sentence, as a Geonosian drone ran into the room.
"
Sir, there are two Jedi nearing the power generator!"
"Two Jedi in the generator? That is impossible. How could they have gotten past security?" The tactical droid asked.
"
I don't care, take a super tank and get rid of them." Poggle ordered. "
BZ-KG, stay here and coordinate the defense."
Both of them walked away, leaving me, H1 and P3 alone. I looked over at H1 and P3, and they nodded. Both of them took up positions at the door while I downloaded classified data from the servers.
Interestingly, there was some data about massive reserves of droids, something that I filed into another one of Palpatine's backup plans. Probably one where the Jedi discover he's a Sith Lord and he has to escape to Confederate lines.
"General, we have Geonosians moving this way." P3 whispered.
"It's alright, I'm done anyway." I replied, disconnecting from the console. "Let's get out of here before those Jedi blow up the whole factory or something."
Suddenly, what felt like the entire factory shuddered, and we all exchanged a glance. It shuddered again, and all of us sprinted out of the control room. We passed by rooms filled with machinery and conveyor belts of droid parts as we ran. The factory started shaking more and more as we made our way to the hangar.
"What's going on!?" P3 exclaimed as we jumped over a fallen column.
"The Republic must be bombarding the factory. The Jedi in the power generator must have failed whatever sabotage they had planned or gave up and escaped." I replied, ducking under a flying piece of debris.
After dodging collapsing rooms, jumping over more fallen rocks, and even cutting a hole through a wall after a hallway collapsed, we finally ran out into the hangar.
"Kriff, there's no ships!" P3 screamed.
He was right. All of the transport ships were either gone, or crushed under rubble, including the damaged LAAT we flew in on.
"Intercepted transmission: General, there is a LAAT approaching with your fleet's clearance codes." H1 reported.
"How the frag did they manage to get past whatever's going on in space?" I wondered. "Never mind, just be ready to get onboard it as soon as its doors open."
I jumped to the side and narrowly dodged a large boulder.
"Observation: This place is falling apart under what sounds like a sustained bombardment." H1 said.
"I noticed."
"Look there!" P3 exclaimed.
I spun around just in time to see a CIS blue LAAT come screaming into the hangar, doors open. Lona was inside.
"General! You need to get in, now!" She shouted over the collapsing roof.
I dodged backwards, avoiding another falling boulder, then sprinted towards the ship. H1 and P3 were already halfway there. Another boulder tried to crush me, and I had to vault over a broken column. Suddenly, the ground cracked and started to create a ravine between me and the ship.
I ran harder, servos whirring, cooling fans spinning faster than they've ever gone.
A chunk of ground crumbled away, and once I reached the crevice, I leaped with all my might at the LAAT. I fell short, I knew I would. Lona's expression went from partial relief to horror as my jump reached its peak, too far back to land on the ship.
I thought I would fall to the bottom of the chasm and die. My parts would never be recovered, and would probably be discovered years from now by a construction crew, who would not think anything of me and just melt me down. Thankfully, Lona proved her ability in the force, and grabbed me in a telekinetic grip, pulling me out of my mental spiral and back into the present.
"C'mon!" Lona hissed, no doubt straining herself just to hold me in the air.
I slowly started moving back up as small rocks banged on the top of the LAAT.
"Grab him, hurry!" Lona exclaimed.
H1 dropped down and reached out at me. I strained to reach him, briefly flailing when a rock hit me square in the central optic. With a stained noise coming out of my vocalizer, I grabbed onto his outstretched hands just as Lona's grip slipped. I swung dangerously as H1 pulled me onto the ship.
"Get us the kriff out of here!" I shouted at the pilot.
The ship accelerated out of the hangar, dodging the collapsing roof almost elegantly, and we shot out of the factory just as the roof fully collapsed. We looked back and watched as the factory fell apart, and out over on the other side of the ravine, I could see the clones and Jedi celebrating, including Barris, who was still missing a hand, with it wrapped in bacta patches. The doors closed as we sped off towards the fleet, and I leaned against the door with my optics off.
Suddenly, a pair of blue arms wrapped around me, lifted me off the ground, and squeezed me to the point my plating creaked.
"
Blitzkrieg if you ever do something like that again I'll kill you myself!" Lona exclaimed, tears at the corner of her eyes.
"Alright, alright, I won't! Let me down!"
After a few moments, Lona released me, and I staggered for a moment.
"Do you have any idea how worried I've been about you? I nearly pulled 25's head off when he said I shouldn't come down here to try and rescue you. I just started worrying about you and if you were captured by the Republic and what if they didn't even bother and just tried to kill you! Not to mention that my old master was here and that brought back some memories that I
really didn't want to revisit-"
I placed a hand over her mouth.
"Lona,
breathe. In and out. Calm yourself." I said.
Lona closed her eyes and breathed deeply a few times, her montrals and lekku twitching as she got her emotions under control. Once she opened her eyes again, I placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Are you alright now?" I asked.
"Yes. …I'm okay." She replied.
"Good. Now Lona, I'm glad you came to our rescue, even if you did disobey a direct order from me not to come to the surface. But I think I'll let that slide, all things considered."
"I'm sorry, I wasn't really thinking at the time. Your radio was down, and I was starting to spiral once one of the bridge crew said that there was an LAAT heading towards you."
"Well, it's alright now. But I think you need to rest once we get back to the ship. You look extremely stressed."
Lona looked down at her feet, montrals twitching.
"Okay." She replied in a small voice.
--
Once we arrived in the hangar of the Finest Hour, I sent Lona straight to her quarters to rest, and made my way up to the bridge.
"Good to have you back, General." 25 greeted me once I walked onto the bridge.
"Glad to be back, 25." I replied. "What's the status of the docked ships?"
"The additions to our fleet broke orbit a few minutes ago. Right now, were moving to their location to link up for the next leg of the journey."
"Good to know. How's the ship holding?"
"Well, we sustained some minor damage from fighting off General Ki Adi Mundi's fleet, but the surprise you had ordered built into the Finest Hour last month came in handy. Cracked the tower right off the ship, just like you calculated it would. We should be fully repaired by the time we arrive at the Pantoran system."
"Good."
The conversation drifted to a few other topics, then into silence as we waited. I returned to my command chair and sat down, a few simulations running through my head as I looked over a few new project files. Eventually, I walked off the bridge and to my quarters, where my repair bay did some maintenance on my frame, repainted my chassis, and fixed up the damage to my vocalizer, my internal radio, and a few tears in my cloak.
After a few minutes reading over the additions to the fleet at my desk, I received a call. It was Count Dooku.
"
General Blitzkrieg. I see you've survived." The Count greeted. "
What happened during your time on Geonosis?"
"My ship was shot down before I could make it to my fleet, and I was forced to return to the hive factory in order to procure transportation away from the planet. My HK guard did manage to injure a Jedi during a brief fight in the desert, however. The factory producing the HAATs is gone, as are the plans for the design, and for that I apologize. I am also unsure as to the whereabouts of Duke Poggle, due to being occupied with escaping the collapsing factory. It is possible he is still on the planet, but there are fierce sandstorms kicking up on the surface now. Too fierce for any of my landing craft to penetrate it."
"
This is troubling news. But you have your previous orders. The Pantora system must fall to the Confederacy before Senator Chuchi is able to leave for Coruscant."
"It will be done, my lord. General Blitzkrieg, out."
Dooku nodded, and the connection closed. After a few moments, I leaned back in my chair, and cycled air through my idling systems. Lying directly to Count Dooku's face was hard, even though I have an
amazing poker face now.
"
Sir, the fleet has just linked up with us and repairs are almost finished, what are your orders?" 25 radioed.
I steepled my fingers and gazed out at the inky blackness outside the window in my quarters. I brought up my orders from Count Dooku again, looked over them for a few moments, then spoke.
"Set a course for the Pantora system."
