The Clone Wars: Rescue Mission/Chapter 1

Boomdodger looked beside him at clone commander Trigg as the gunship landed aboard the Valiant, which was just about to make the jump towards Trandosha. They had both been assigned to the other to aid in the rescue of the Jedi Master Veru Darr on Trandosha, but they needed more details. That was why they were on the Valiant, to be briefed. Right now, most of the others were already waiting on them. Once they had landed, Boomdodger was followed by CT-0795, nicknamed Burster.

Once they had both arrived in the briefing room, Boomdodger saw Viera waiting with Eagle Squad and another clone of the 56th, CT-7324, "Uran," whom Boomdodger remembered from Umbara months ago. Trigg joined the members of the 30th that were assigned to this mission. Once they were all prepared, the holotable in front of them activated and a hologram of the Jedi Master Mace Windu appeared, his hands behind his back.

"I want to thank you all for undergoing this risky assignment. If we follow the plan correctly, you may all be able to make it back alive, but the Iron Gauntlet is a prison similar to that of the Citadel, on Lola Sayu - but thankfully not as well protected. Its defenses are still strong, however." He took a moment to take a breath, then began, "We managed to receive a distress signal from General Veru Darr, who was transporting a holocron from Devaron to the Jedi Temple. Unexpectedly, his cruiser was attacked by a Separatist fleet, and they were captured and imprisoned at the Iron Gauntlet prison on Trandosha. We believe that they are now trying to use Master Darr, trying to make him open that holocron. We need him and his men out of there, or else. That is why you have been hand-picked for this mission. Know that if you fall, the Republic may fail this war."

Viera nodded, "We understand our duties. Thank you, Master Windu."

"Good luck," Windu finished. "And may the Force be with you." The transmission ended and Mace Windu's projection disappeared. Immediately, Viera turned to Trigg and examined the 30th for a moment, then asked the clone commander a question.

"Aren't you led by a Jedi? Zay Arlenn, if I remember correctly?"

Trigg approached Viera and nodded, "Yes, general. General Arlenn has been missing for a little while now, but my men and I are sure he's alright." He gestured to the soldiers of the 30th, an elite squadron of clones if Boomdodger remembered correctly. "Are you and Eagle Squad ready?"

"Yes." Viera turned to the holotable and pressed a button, and suddenly the Iron Gauntlet prison on Trandosha appeared. "This is the Iron Gauntlet, a Separatist prison built to hold Jedi Masters." She pressed the button again, and the Valiant appeared, "Here we are, the Valiant. In case you did not know, Commander Trigg, our cruiser just recently had a prototype cloaking device attached to it, and it does work, however only for an hour at most. Inside our hangar, we have a stealth ship waiting to be used, which will take us down to Trandosha's surface. From there, we will silently break into the Iron Gauntlet and rescue Veru Darr and his men. We should be able to carefully escape after that."

Droidpopper stepped up beside her, holding his DC-15A blaster rifle up, "What about scanners? They are bound to have those. And they wouldn't be stupid enough to scan the jungles, they'd be picking up all sorts of things with the wildlife and whatnot, so they'd be sure to scan the sky instead, where they are less sure to find lifeforms, or metallic objects. They would surely pick us up."

"We believe they will not know where to find us with the stealth ship, which is why we also picked the modified one called the Secrecy. Assuming the fleet above Trandosha doesn't find us, we should be fine - because it is also with their aid that the Iron Gauntlet would be alerted of our presence."

"If the Iron Gauntlet were to find us, would they alert the fleet?" Boomdodger asked.

Viera shook her head, "No, unless they knew we were trying to escape the planet, but again - that's why we have the Secrecy. Now, let's board that stealth ship and get moving. We don't have much time before we leave hyperspace." Suddenly Viera's wristcom beeped, and she was informed that they were activating their stealth device. "Let's move, and quick."

The hangar was not far. Once they had boarded the Secrecy, they used its cloaking device to conceal themselves. Once they left hyperspace, Trandosha appeared before them, the Separatist fleet clearly oblivious of the fact that there was an Acclamator-class assault ship in front of them. The cloaking device was working, and now they just had to get past the fleet and successfully land on Trandosha. While it was easy to get past the fleet, they soon arrived in the atmosphere of Trandosha, which began to worry Viera. Droidpopper made a good point about the scanners, what if they were picked up?

Viera's questions were answered when heatseeking missiles suddenly appeared below them, clearly looking for them. Uran, who was piloting the stealth ship, attempted to avoid being shot down, but failed once one of the heatseeking missiles hit the back of their engines. Smoke rose from the stealth ship, giving away their position further, and they began to fall to the planet's surface. After a short time, they had crash landed a bit outside the Iron Gauntlet - a large tower with courtyards around it - and thankfully they had no casualties.

"Kriffing Separatists," one of the 30th members, Jaing, muttered.