Civil War/Act 1

As she stood on the bridge of the Valiance, Viera could only think of the consequences of her likely failure. She knew that she had to set an example for those in the 56th Battalion, which was why she stood with her hands behind her back,  a serious expression set upon her face. But beneath the mask she wore was only Viera Cacete, a fresh Jedi Knight from Coruscant who had just been assigned to this particular clone unit. Leading was not new to her, but leading a military force was. And whenever she thought of being a leader, dark memories returned to her - memories of those she had lost to those lizards nearly ten years ago.

No, she thought, shaking her head. This is the path to the dark side. She remembered Master Yoda's words clearly, back from when she returned from that forsaken jungle: "Lead to the dark side, emotion does. Lead to the dark side, the past can. Control yourself, you must. To your future, look ahead." And perhaps he was right; but regardless she would not let that get in her way. Only the most essential rules needed to be obeyed, and this one was not essential.

Viera certainly looked like a Jedi in her bright brown armor, above this a dark brown Jedi torso. She wore long black gloves on her arms that went up to her shoulders, and clone trooper gauntlets and elbow padding made of plastoid; over her shoulders she wore shoulderpads that were strapped around her upper arm. Around her waist she wore a leather belt, equipped with pouches of minor explosives, and her elegantly-designed lightsaber, clipped to it. On her legs she had clone trooper boots equipped, offering extra protection below. But her most prominent feature was her actual physical appearance as an Asheran, one of the rarest species in the galaxy, with their long ears and gleaming silver eyes. Her face was calm, and clearly leaving adolescence. Her long, dark brown hair seemed to flow, falling down to below her shoulders.

Among the Asherans in the galaxy, there had only been two Force-sensitives in galactic history. The first lived during the Old Republic, over three thousand years ago, and the second was Viera herself. The chances of a Force-sensitive were considered impossible, and the births of both were called miracles from the Force.

All she could think was, Toras shiran mi'vil. In her native language, this meant "The Force guide my path." The Asherans were extremely reverent to the Force, almost considering a type of god from another galaxy. And now that Viera was a Jedi, she fully understood what it was.

Behind her, across the bridge, the blast doors separating the bridge itself from the command center opened up. A naval officer looked over and calmly stated, "Commander on the bridge." She then heard footsteps that grew louder as the 56th Battalion's clone commander approached her. She turned around to meet him as he stood up straight, holding his T-visor helmet his side, an arm moving up to salute to her.

This clone trooper was different from the others as he wore armor accessories that were exclusive to the most experienced clone officers. His T-visor helmet had an equipped rangefinder and dark blue markings, and over his normal clone chestplate and leggings, he wore a pauldron and kama. Two pistols were holstered at his side, and around his waist he wore a belt with explosives and other essential supplies. Blue markings that differentiated him from other units and as a member of the 56th Battalion were all over his armor in designs that were very clearly painted with care. His skin was tan, and his brown eyes watched Viera as she faced him. His black hair was shaved shorter than the typical clone crew cut, and hair was beginning to appear around his chin and above his mouth. A single faded scar was seen on his left temple, which he must have gained back on Geonosis.

"General," he stated in a voice that sounded as though he was a veteran.

Viera nodded to him, "At ease. Are the platoons prepared for arrival?"

"Affirmative, General Cacete. Everyone is ready to arrive in Bin Prime," he replied as he lowered his hand and relaxed himself.

"Good work, Dodge. Get rested, we'll be arriving within the next quarter hour."

It took him a moment to respond, and very clearly showed it, "Apologies, general. It's just - I'm not that used to being referred to as... 'Dodge' yet."

She smiled, "It's no problem. You ought to get used to it though, I won't be referring to you as 'Commander' all the time."

"Of course, general," said Dodge, nodding. "So, do you know how we will get into Bin Prime? I don't think we'll be that welcome if the Separatist Balmorrans are in control of it."

As she turned around to face the view-port windows, she spoke. "We need to find out how thick their defenses are. My goal is to achieve success through the least force possible, preferably none. We need to convince them that the Republic is worth allying with."

"We need those weaponry exports if we're going to have an advantage in this war," he noted.

She shut her eyes and nodded, "Yes..."

Dodge examined her face, noticing the obvious worry on it. "Pardon me for asking this, general, but is there a problem?"

In a quick attempt to hide her concern, she opened her eyes and turned to him, "What? No, no. It's just..." She sighed. Some of the naval officers on the bridge looked up at her from their terminals, but after a quick glance immediately returned to their work. "To tell you the truth, Dodge, I haven't led a military unit before. I'm no leader. You'd be better off without me."

Dodge completely turned to her and stood up straight, saying, "With all due respect, I disagree. We're going to need a Jedi like you if we're going to win this war for the Republic. Besides," he placed a fist on his chest, "you've got me to help you out there."

Viera grinned, "You act like a veteran, Dodge, yet this war is just beginning."

"Yeah, well... ten years of training turned us into soldiers." He faced the windows again and said, "And the ARC program turned the best of us into, as you say, veterans."

He thought back to the ARC Training Program, not two weeks prior. He had been recalled to Kamino directly after the Battle of Geonosis to participate in the program alongside several other clone commanders who had survived the encounter. Many of the brothers he knew now he had met there, such as Tricks, Rex, Bly, and Trigg. He remembered it clearly: a series of intense simulators and tests thrown at them from the Advanced Recon Commandos. Sometimes he considered himself one of the few lucky enough to become early graduates.

"I've only heard about that, what was it?" Viera asked him.

After she said this, the blast doors to the bridge opened yet again, and this time a clone trooper with blue markings that seemed to show lightning bolts on his helmet approached them. He saluted and told Dodge, "Pardon me for the interruption. I came to inform you that Crow Squadron is ready to go, sir."

"Very good," Dodge nodded.

Moments later, a naval officer looked up from his terminal and said to them, "We're dropping out of hyperspace now."

The three of them turned to the view-port windows and watched as the blue lines of hyperspace appeared as they slowed down and exited. Balmorra was now in sight, and just in orbit was what everyone there was least expecting. Before them they saw a Munificent-class star frigate, a Separatist warship.

"What's happening?" Viera muttered as she tried to make out why there was a Confederate warship above Balmorra.

They moved from the bridge and to the command center behind them, where the holoterminal activated, showing the surface of the planet Balmorra. On one side was a range of mountains, and on the other was the capital city Bin Prime, just at the foothills of the mountains.

"This mission to Balmorra doesn't seem like it will be as easy as we thought, now that we have knowledge of the Separatists being here," Dodge stated. He pointed to Bin Prime and explained, "We don't know how thick their defenses are, but I think we should now have a pretty good idea that they'll have Separatist cannons that could easily shoot down our gunships."

Viera, with her arms crossed, examined the projection before asking, "Where?"

"That's the problem - we don't know. They could be anywhere, even in these mountains," Dodge moved his hand over the mountain range. "Who knows how much time they've had to set up defenses? They may have been here for days now, providing plenty of time for them to plan for our arrival."

Looking up at the other clone with them, Viera asked, "Do you have an assessment, Droidpopper?"

Two pairs of eyes turned to the clone, Droidpopper, who shook his head. "Nothing that will really work. We could try and send Crow Squadron to bomb their defenses, but as we said we don't know their locations, so that could be futile."

"Our best bet may be to send in fighters to investigate Bin Prime and the surrounding area, and then land just outside their defensive radius and set up a garrison," Dodge said. He looked up at Viera and asked, "Aren't there Republic Balmorrans on the planet?"

She nodded, "Yes, but we are unsure as to where. That is a problem."

The holoprojection changed, this time showing the planet itself, and the Separatist frigate in its orbit. The three examined it before Viera asked, "As long as they don't attack us, we may be able to send down those fighters, and then bring them back."

Dodge nodded to Droidpopper, who pressed a button his wrist gauntlet. He spoke orders into it, and he was given the response, "Yes, sir." Outside the Valiance, the hangar doors opened up, and a small squadron of V-19 torrent starfighters flew out and soared toward Balmorra. They watched as they flew past the frigate successfully, without being shot down.

"Now we wait for a response..." Droidpopper muttered, rather anxiously.

"This is Torrent 56-23, Osprey, reporting," the clone pilot said from the cockpit of his V-19 torrent starfighter. The squadron that Sergeant Droidpopper had sent to investigate Bin Prime neared their destination, Balmorra's capital city just ahead of them. "We are now nearing Bin Prime, so far nothing is amiss."

The fighters flew closer to the city, as Osprey told the pilots to be prepared to take evasive actions. He looked down at the city, taking notice of the large tower in the center of the city, a large spire extending from the top. A thick wall was along the city's outskirts. Along the wall were many Separatist cannons, and in towers along it were anti-aircraft cannons that appeared to be pointed at them. Osprey was unable to tell whether or not they were.

"I see a thick wall around the city, with eastern and western gates. Infantry cannons are lined along them, as well as anti-aircraft cann - evasive maneuvers!"

Missiles were suddenly fired from the cannons. The heat-seeking missiles tracked their torrent starfighters, and two were immediately blown up.

"Torrents 56-27 and 30 are down, sir!" another pilot called out, before being shot down himself.

"This is Osprey reporting - we are returning to the Valiance! I repeat, we are returning to the Valiance!"

Just as Osprey's transmission ended, a naval officer called out from the bridge, "Two Separatist frigates are dropping out of hyperspace!" Mere moments after, two Munificent-class frigates appeared behind the one in orbit, and they immediately opened fire on the Valiance.

"Raise the shields!" Viera cried out as naval officers frantically worked to keep the ship's defenses up and running. She turned to Dodge and Droidpopper, saying, "I hope you boys are ready for a fight."

They began to make their way to the docking bay as the members of the 56th's Crow Squadron left the hangar and engaged in combat against swarms of vulture droids.

As they ran down corridors to the hangar, Dodge spoke into his wrist comm, "Lieutenant! Lieutenant!"

"I'm here, sir," a reply came through, followed by the sound of an explosion.

"Eagle, I need you and your men to clear a path for the gunships. Got it?"

Eagle's reply was quick, "Yes, sir!"

The trio ran into the docking bay where gunships were being loaded with members of the 56th Battalion, each with dark blue markings on their armor, and several with AT-RT walkers. A clone pilot approached them as they ran in and frantically asked, "Commander! Do we load the tanks?"

Referring to the AT-TEs provided to the 56th, Dodge looked at the tanks. His reply came not long after, "No. Wait for our signal before sending them down. We need to be sure that we don't lose all of our heavy firepower before this battle even begins." In his head he hoped that this decision would not end up being a poor one.

The group continued along until they reached a gunship with several clone troopers stationed around it. Each had unique, dark blue markings on their armor, and were all armed with DC-15A and DC-15s blasters. Upon the arrival of the trio, they all stood straight, saluting to their officers.

"Siege Platoon, let's get loaded up!" Dodge called out to them. In a quick response, the members of this unit, Siege Platoon, nodded and stepped onto the gunship. Viera examined each one of them as they did this. "This is Siege Platoon. They make up the backbone of the fifty-sixth. You won't find a better unit in this galaxy."

Droidpopper raised an eyebrow beneath his helmet as they stepped onto the gunship, "You should have seen them on Dirahn."

Once they had all entered the gunship, Dodge said to them in a harsh tone, "Listen up, boys! We are headed into the heat of battle, and I'm expecting you to not be shooting each other down or joking around on the battlefield. We're being led by General Cacete," he gestured to the Jedi Knight, who nodded to them, "and she will be determining our every move. Understood?"

"Sir, yes, sir!" they all said in perfect synchronization.