So it begins.
[
[< Comlink....We've got Jedi casualties requesting immediate...>]
[< Comlink....We need support over here, I've lost contact with...need support>]
" Mass Casualties reported in sector 7."
" Lost contact with company Delta, Fassa, Krig...new info. Confirmed by Jasper squad, 4th battalion is lost."
" Half of 23rd company never made it to the landing site."
" We are losing contact with companies venturing into the hives. "
" Major Casualties among our airborne assets, right over the droid forces. "
" Battalion...."
" Medical supplies requested by Commander CT-2345-56"
" Delay those LAATs, they'll walk right into that mess with little support."
" Lost contact with Commando units 2 to 8 at sector 3, heavy casualties sustained by unit 90, 20 and 13 ".
" Lost contact with the 23rd company, delay those extra reinforcements."
All around were troopers busy, recieving reports from the massive battlefield they currently orbited. The first large scale battle led by their Jedi commanders.
One not so easily forgotten with the astronomical losses sustained by the republic. Losses easily preventable by a competent military strategist even if surrounded by morals.
I was being deployed as the front, yes the front and not a back line. I was equipped for recon and sabotage missions. Not Frontline grunt work, especially under circumstances like this.
01 and 03 were with me as we boarded a LAAT which transported us to our position by which we moved forward along with the hundreds others.
We walked practically across the field, which danced with the light of a thousand beams. Explosions creating craters and bodies, blaster littered the floor as the dead lay still.
You could hear them, the screams for help...the cries and then Silence. You could hear the blaster shots, the confusion...you could see the white armour of our brothers.
Some standing, some...laying upon the dust covered floor. I looked to my left, the sounds of blaster firing emanating from the trooper wielding his blaster at the hip.
He released controlled shots, occasionally swinging or changing positions of his aim. To his own right, another trooper doing a similar thing suddenly fell.
The sounds of a red beam clashing upon his helmet as he fell backward without words. Someone rushed up to him as another trooper pushed even forward.
A few checks and he was left abandoned there....he was dead. 10 years of training gone in a second, 10 years of scrutiny and pain rewarded by a field of dust and blood.
Littered by your face and armour, filled by your screams and pleas. 10 years of life spent for preparation, not a single second seemed even remotely familiar.
I pushed forward not even bothering to fire my blaster. At this range, it'll do nothing. Most likely more harm than good in fact and a waste of ammunition too.
Those spider droids were really doing a number on us, along with those damn missiles costing us precious long range fire capabilities in form of our tanks.
[< Comlink ...Anyone...anyone our there...come in>]
A voice over the general coms came in, seemed to begin when we entered range of whomever was transmitting.
[< Comlink...Trooper state your designation and position...pssh>]
01 replied to it quickly, we'd already decided to simply focus of rescuing as many troopers as possible. Might as well make good use of our time here at the open field.
[< CT-6657-78, my position is somewhere far west...I can't determine the exact position Sir.>]
He responded, his ragged and heavy breathing but lack of background fire suggested a break from the battle.
Perhaps a silent place where the dead kept him company alone. Or just stuck somewhere without any orders.
[< Comlink....and your unit?...pssh>]
[< 23rd company, got several injured with me. Others are KIA or MIA Sir, no contact with them...pssh>]
[
[
" Bloody waters, they must have gotten wiped out " 03 commented with a hint of suprise.
[
Asked 01 though I suspected he already knew the answer to that question...we all knew, at least my squad to the best of my knowledge.
[
[
[< Comlink....Yes Sir....psssh..ting>]
The sounds of the comms disconnecting resounded as 01 looked our way.
" We're breaking off and headed towards them. "
He said as he began tracking the signal from his helmet shortly sending us the data needed to follow him.
[
01 said over the comms channel of the company we had decided to advance with.
[< Comlink...Understood Sir...pssh>]
A short reply came before silence, next we begun our new mission of location whomever that poor trooper was.
It didn't take long really since we were contacted with short range comms. The trooper in question was simply one of the 3 surviving Sergeants to assume command.
They had quite the pack of injured men, still couldn't reach high command or base actual on the planet. 01 decided we should tend to them, the hives and catacombs were suitable.
Not only as a defensive position but also as a temporary base of operation. First off, we set off to go clear it completely of it's infestation.
" Collapse that tunnel." 01 said as he open fire, killing another geonosian he had spotted.
Around us were dead bugs lying on the floor. We cleared some places and simply covered the rest, I'd say he was forming a map in his head.
" This should be deep enough, enough to house a few dozen to hundred soldiers." He said stopping where he was.
" So we collapse the end?" I asked him.
" Yes, got no time to completely clear this place out. Just need one way in, Go back and help transfer the injured here"
" 03 and I will secure here. Next we need to find some supplies. " he ordered me.
" Yes Sir. " I replied.