The first two waves of the massive droid battalion was successfully taken care of. Thire stated a full battalion contained 567 of these droids, potentially more depending on how many heavy armored ones they had. Getting rid around thirty-five to forty of these guys in these first two waves alone, we already took care of about 7% of the entire army. Of what they brought here, at least. It was a mere single carrier, and the Separatists likely have millions upon millions of droids scattered throughout the galaxies.
The Coral Moon of Rugosa was just one operation among the many that happened in the entirety of the Clone Wars. It spanned across several seasons, for a good reason. They went into so much detail across a span of three years in the entirety of Star Wars history. I didn't think I'd be up to entering a military campaign like this, but I'll be able to pick and choose my missions like this. It'll let me secure a good foothold of the true chaos that is to come. The rise of the Empire.
I saw the destruction we caused in these two battles, jumping back down from the coral tree I resided on.
"Trouble, your mind seems. But worry not, Shooter. Overcome this trial, we will. For the Force is on our side.", Yoda said, acting as if he had sensed my wandering mind. It's probably best not to think of these fleeting thoughts with a Jedi Master floating around here. They love to probe minds, and even use it forcefully with enemies they capture. Thankfully, I'm not an enemy, haha!
"That was some mighty fine shooting, Shooter. How about you join our corp for real? I'm sure the boys and I can put in a good word for you.", Thire said, suddenly distracting me with an offer to join the Republic Army.
"I'll stop you there. I enjoy freedom too much to be tied down to any one organization. I don't mind coming back with you to regroup, but I likely won't stick around. Not unless you got another job lined up for me.", I replied, doing a stopping motion of my hand.
"I see. We'll see what the higher-ups say once we do get out of this barren rock. We need to make it out alive, and our chances significantly rose with you joining us, Shooter. But until then, you're one of us.", Thire said, placing his hand on my shoulder. I could see disappointment in his eyes. Was he already considering me one of them, even though we just cleared out two waves of those droids?
"Not like we can say much to begin with. But we can at least put in a good word for ya.", Rys said, nodding his head.
"Leave it up to fate, we will. Join the Republic, or not. The decision will be yours to make.", Yoda said, sheathing his lightsaber. "For now, regroup, we must. The third wave, come it will."
"You're right, General.", Thire said, retracting his hand. "There's a trench of rocks nearby. We can lure those Clankers inside. We'll head in close and draw them back over here. There should be some rocks to take cover.", Thire continued. "And Shooter, you good with taking the high ground?"
"Of course. Leave the sniping to me. I'll leave it to you to draw in those droids. Expect double this time. That seems to be an ongoing pattern. If one size isn't enough, they'll send in more. And keep sending in more until they wear us out. They don't have the stamina to waste, unlike us.", I said.
"Your logic, sound it is. A common attack pattern. Beyond the trench, caves there are. Nightfall soon approaches. Rest there, we will.", Yoda said, drawing our interest.
"Some caves eh? We could use a break. And I'm sure we'll grow even more tired after taking this third wave out. They can only send in so many troops before the end of the day comes. I'm feeling we'll see fifty or more of those Clankers this time.", Thire said, nodding to Yoda's suggestion. "You heard the General. Let's move out.", Thire issued.
And so, after resting for a bit, we made our next move. The scenery began to change, and so did we. We crisscrossed through several coral trees, and arrived at said trench. I didn't join up with the clones this time. I saw them jump down.
Sure enough, several of the big ones started to come into view, and began firing off red lasers one after another. The trench was quite narrow, but it allowed the three clones to swiftly run around, dodging them one after another.
Enough time had passed where my missiles fully replenished, but the clones don't need to know that.
'I'll wait and see how the clones do. They're putting up a good fight. I've seen the power of the Seeker Missiles and Super Missiles. It's time to test the Power Beam.', I thought to myself, seeing the clones respond back by shooting blue lasers at the bigger droids.
After some time of crossing through the trench, I saw one droid in particular take a shot directly aimed at Thire.
"Oh no you don't.", I said. A decisive look in my eyes appeared, and I allowed the Power Beam to do its thing. Charging up all the way, a slick yellow hue surrounded the cannon. Bang!
A large yellow ball of energy shot out at a rapid pace. It was made of pure plasma, but its intensity is quite low. Not on the frequency level you'd see that a lightsaber is made of. A blade of that caliber can easily sunder this Power Beam. Not unless I used a fully powered up Plasma Beam. I hadn't seen that one go online yet, so I think I'm only stuck with the Power Beam for now. But that, and together with the two types of missiles, should be enough for this mission.
The yellow ball of energy continued its path, destroying the red laser altogether.
"What the...", Thire uttered, seeing this ball shoot directly at the large droid that tried to shoot him down. "Shooter?", Thire questioned, glancing upward at me. He could still see a yellow glow surrounding my cannon. "Jeez, how many weapons do you have stored in that thing?", Thire retorted to himself.
"I've got your six. I can fire this off as long as you give me enough of a window.", I said. The ball tore through the red laser altogether, and found its target, blasting the large droid into rusted dust in a single move.
"Sniper shot confirmed. Position found. Changing targets.", One of the armored droids said. Part of the patrol it was assigned to shifted its body, and pointed upward toward the right. It spotted an amber-colored figure poised near some coral trees. It didn't matter where I was, the couple of droids just began to fire randomly in my direction.
"Oh no you don't.", Jek replied, jumping out near Thire. He remained behind the pile of rocks, and recharged his blaster cannon. He was the heavy infantry of the squad we were in. Rys and Thire protected Jek's position, and also fired at the droids. Letting it power up, Jek took aim, and ripped blue lasers one after another. PEW!
"Keep going guys. We're pushing them back!", Thire exclaimed, taking shots as well. One after another, the armored droids fell, or stopped existing altogether. The sounds of warfare echoed around the trench, and it was loud enough to where it can be heard from the gigantic coral tree from the far distance.
Initially, Thire would get injured here, but I blocked any shots that found his direct line of sight with my Power Beam. One beam was enough to take one of these droids down. A fully charged shot that was. I could fire off smaller beams, but I don't think that would suit well here. Not unless I wanted to attract the droids' attention back up my way. I could do that, but we've gained enough headway that we were countering back, and not being on the run anymore. What was once twenty or so armored droids became fifteen, then ten, then five.
On top of that, the three clones would also protect Yoda so he could use the Force and control one of the armored droids. That didn't happen here. Yoda simply ignited his lightsaber once again, and swiftly moved around, dodging the blaster fire. One strike after another, the last five blew up.
"Third wave is down.", I said, declaring us another victory. We blasted our way through this trench, and secured a pathway for us, allowing us to retreat. Before I knew it, sundown was approaching. Some time had passed since I initially came here, huh? Maybe it was already afternoon?
Sadly that moment of victory only lasted for a brief moment. Thire frowned, hearing the nearby dirt rumble.
"Rollies inbound. They're the dangerous ones, Shooter. They can erect shields. Its defenses can even outperform those tanks we saw lurking in the distance. We should retreat and regroup.", Thire issued.
"Got it.", I said, swiftly jumping down from the top of the trench. I soon arrived next to the clones while Yoda jumped out in front. The droids were relentless, and didn't offer us any rest. They unfolded, and sure enough, blue shields erected around them. They began firing, causing Yoda to swing his lightsaber around.
"Cover you, I shall.", Yoda said, beginning to deflect the fourth wave of attacks. It wasn't as big as the previous one was, but Thire said these particular droids were nasty, and I'll believe his words. It's annoying having to deal with them.
[Grapple Beam is now online.] Adam issued, causing me to pause. Hearing that, I smiled.
"I can at least take one of these droids down with us.", I exclaimed. "Cover me."
"You heard the lady.", Thire said to the two clones. Continuing the attack, I did a swinging motion of my Power Beam. Before long, its grapple energy began to unleash itself, reaching toward the nearest roller...