Chapter 15: Through the Rain and Mud We Fight
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Under the thick underbrush of the Wroshyr trees, beside a cluster of carnivorous saava plants, a group of battle droids arose from the mud. Emerging were pairs of commando droids, all riding crab droids as they slowly pushed through the inhospitable terrain. All of them were caked with thick layers of mud, leaves, and dirt as they creaked under the cover of foliage and darkness. Only perceivable through their glowing eyes, the commando droids slowly cleaned their weapons, and dismounted from the crab droids, crawling the rest of the way toward their target. Upon reaching a row of bushes, they lie in wait, as a convoy of republic supplies trudged through the forest beyond. The clones, donning the camouflaged armor of the 41st Elite corps trudged forward in a long column. In front of them was a massive machine, which incessantly hacked away at the brush in front of them, carving a path for Imperial supply lines. In the front of the group, clasped in chains, were several Wookies, clearly former warriors now forced to cut their own forest down for the Empire.
As their enemy continued pushing through the forest, large beads of rain began to hit the cold metal of the commando droids. A downpour was incoming. As if on cue, a deafening crack of thunder sounded from overhead, temporarily drawing the attention of the Clone soldiers. The lead commando droid looked toward their arm, where a singular button flashed red, marking the beginning of the operation. They silently nodded to their companions, raised their blasters, and marked their targets—communicating to the others through their wireless connection. Once the targets were marked, they waited for the next crackle of thunder, and began their onslaught.
Caught completely by surprise, the 41st soldiers in front of them did everything biologically possible to respond. They dove for the ground, taking cover in the mud and behind whatever rocks or debris they could find. The clones, always thinking far faster than any ordinary human, fired into the direction of the enemy attack, doing their best to stave off their impossible position with precision and training. To their credit, several commando droids dropped forward from the brush, smoldering from shots to the head. Despite this, it was too little too late. In fact, the fight was about to end. The sudden screams of wookie warriors cascaded throughout the jungle, and dozens of veteran wookies leapt down from their concealed positions in the treetops. Understanding their current predicament, the enslaved wookies at the front of the column began their own rebellion, thrashing against their restraints and grabbing nearby clones. One commando droid threw a thermal detonator at the forest excavator, while several crab droids ominously emerged from the mud beneath the clones. While their position was clearly lost, the clones never showed fear, nor remorse in the face of death. The sergeant of these clones, already fatally wounded but still living, sent out a final message to his superiors before charging at the droids with a primed thermal detonator. He would take several of the enemy down with him.
As the final volley of blaster shots found their mark, the commando droids and wookies surveyed their winnings. The food within the convoy was handed to the wookies, while the electronics and batteries were given to the droid warriors. In this way, a sort of symbiotic relationship had formed between the two groups. Once the winnings had been dispersed, the lead droid and wookie met together to share these events with their leaders. On a holo screen in front of them emerged a scarred and particularly burly wookie, the fearsome chief Tarfful. Beside him stood a super tactical droid, one covered in vines and mud—the elusive specter Droid General Troll.
The lead wookie let out a guttural cry, which was matched by the same energy from the wookie Chieftan. The Droid General nodded at their comments, already fluent in the wookie language. The commando droid had more to report.
"While the victory was indeed decisive, I fear that the rainy season will further damage our electronics storage," commented the commando. "The Empire is incessant. We have heard reports of three more paths being carved on this end of the mountains."
Troll spent a moment pondering these findings, before calculating the ideal response. "BX model. I have prepared further orders for your combat squadron. Report to the location on your mission report and continue your harassment of enemy supply movements. Continue to do so, and the Empire will be forced to retreat from their forward positions east of Kachirho. Then, you may return for repairs at temporary base 4."
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From the secret droid camp deep in the equatorial forests of Kashyyyk, Troll observed as the rain constantly eroded the camouflage he had applied on himself. Even in moments such as these, when he had not had a chance to power down in months, he felt what humans may have described as exhilaration. Having fought this long against impossible odds, suffocated by a never-ending blockade, Troll had come to believe that his sole purpose was to thrive in this inhospitable jungle, to conquer the elements and use them to his advantage. He glanced over at one end of the camp, where several crab droids shuffled into the brush with jaw plants fixed to their tops. Even here, he had found some sort of weapons development. He then pulled up a map of the front lines throughout the planet. Less than front lines, they represented a patch-work of holdouts, secret droid caves, wookie settlements, and republic carveouts. One bright red position was the former wookie capital Kachirho city, which the republic had turned into their main spaceport, and military fortress that was simply insurmountable with Troll's current resources. Nevertheless, the Empire could bring as many resources as they wanted onto this planet, he would make sure that they all degrade beneath the planets surface. Troll's droids had by this point become the perfect enemies for any clones that ventured into the jungle, with individual squads often trekking for dozens of miles just to appear behind enemy lines. Troll had taught his soldiers to camouflage their metallic bodies with anything they could find from the forest floor, and to move slowly once in range of Imperial forces. Often, oncoming droids were more comparable to an innocent swaying sapling, rather than deadly enemy combatants.
Meanwhile, the rain had indeed turned into nothing short of a monsoon, and many B-1 models rushed to cover to avoid damaging their circuitry. Troll himself was impervious to the water, and instead watched as two more giant Wyyyschokk spiders were dragged into holding pens. Their silk had been surprisingly effective in crafting traps for unsuspecting clone squads. Troll then noticed that he had received several more reports from his recon squads across the planet, and decided that break time was over. In a thought that was processed and dismissed in less than a tenth of a second, he pondered whether the Separatist leadership would ever decide to visit this hopeless planet, and end the fighting here once and for all.
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Just one of the many battles during the war being fought on this planet…
Several days after the ambush in the Wroshyr tree forests, the Separatist forces on Kashyyyk, led by the ingenious Droid General Troll, were planning yet another daring strike against the Imperial clone forces. The 41st Elite Battalion had recently set up a communications outpost near a strategic mountain pass, intending to use it to coordinate their movements north of the capital city, and maintain a tight grip on the enslaved Wookie population in the area. Troll reasoned that destroying this outpost would not only disrupt the Empire's communication network, but also provide a much-needed morale boost for the Wookie and droid resistance fighters.
Under the cover of darkness, Troll's forces assembled at the base of the mountain pass. The droid army was comprised of camouflaged B-1 droids, crab droids to be used as mounts in the thick mud, super battle droids acting as heavy infantry, and the elite commando droids leading the charge. The Wookie warriors, armed with their traditional bowcasters and melee weapons, stood alongside their droid allies, ready to strike a blow against their oppressors.
The plan was to use the dense foliage and the darkness of the night to their advantage. The droid forces would move in small, dispersed squads, slowly advancing towards the outpost. The Wookies, with their superior knowledge of the terrain, would serve as scouts and provide support from elevated positions. Once the droid squads were in position, they would launch a coordinated surprise attack, overwhelming the clone defenders before they had a chance to respond.
As the first light of dawn began to break, Troll gave the order to move out through encrypted channels. The droid squads silently made their way through the underbrush, utilizing their camouflage to blend seamlessly into the environment. The Wookies climbed the towering Wroshyr trees, moving stealthily from branch to branch as they took up their positions.
The communications outpost was a hastily constructed prefabricated structure, surrounded by a perimeter of clone troopers and several AT-RT walkers on patrol. As the droid squads neared their target, they activated their short-range cloaking devices, making them nearly invisible to the naked eye.
With the element of surprise on their side, the droids and Wookies launched their assault. The camouflaged B-1 droids opened fire from their concealed positions, their blasters cutting through the ranks of the unsuspecting clone troopers. The Super Battle Droids, armed with wrist-mounted rocket launchers, targeted the AT-RT walkers, causing fiery explosions that lit up the early morning sky.
As the initial shock of the attack set in, the commando droids and Wookie warriors sprang into action. The commando droids expertly scaled the walls of the outpost, taking down the clone troopers manning the perimeter defenses. The Wookies, using their incredible strength and agility, swung down from the trees, engaging the enemy in ferocious hand-to-hand combat.
The 41st Elite Battalion, caught off guard by the guerrilla tactics of their adversaries, struggled to mount a cohesive defense. Despite their superior training and discipline, they were unable to regain control of the situation. As the last of the clone troopers fell, the droids and Wookies overran the outpost, seizing valuable intelligence and equipment.
As Troll surveyed the winnings from the capture of this tower, he noticed a report that the clones had left behind, recently received from the capital city. While the droid was unable to be truly surprised by anything, the news he had received from this information went against his most optimistic calculations. It seemed as if the clones were withdrawing from the northern highlands, clearly fearing the kind of attacks that Troll had just unleashed on them now. Moreover, forces in the capital were supposedly on high alert, in fear of the arrival of a certain Separatist leader. While Troll was unable to smile, he mimicked the expression to the best of his ability through only activating some of the lights on his face. He felt obliged to express joy, for the man they feared was none other than the master of malevolence, General Grievous. It seemed as if their best hope for victory on the planet was still alive and kicking.
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