Unification/Act 1

Dodge thought perhaps he had made a poor tactical choice in keeping the tanks aboard the Valiance. They would have been a great help in the long run, and now they were probably on Coruscant, with the rest of any potential forces. The extra firepower would have aided them in gaining an advantage over the Separatists, but Dodge had thought that not deploying them would avoid the risk of losing them in combat.

But if there was anything he was yet to learn, it was that war came at a cost.

They had come originally come to Balmorra to convince the Balmorrans to ally with the Galactic Republic, after breaking off a few years prior. They had not expected a Separatist presence, however, or even indirect involvement, which found them unprepared for a battle of this scale. The 56th Battalion rushed into the battle too quickly, Dodge thought, as they were swiftly grounded by the Separatists. They had played their cards well, and now Dodge wished to counter with his own. The 56th and the Balmorran Defense Force were now surrounded by the Separatists, with only the cover of their circle of about a dozen LAAT/i gunships, their forces spread around the circumference. The outer side of each gunship was scorched by blaster marks, sent from the Separatist forces.

Dodge pulled back behind cover after managing to shoot down a pair of battle droids, and examined the battlefield. He noticed that it was becoming night, as the sun had set beyond the mountains, casting massive shadows over the valley. Rain lightly drizzled from above as dark clouds slowly rolled in. On the ground, Dodge watched as his soldiers, and those of the BDF, fought against the Separatists, relatively safe behind cover; although not for long, he knew. Jedi General Viera Cacete was standing in a gunship across the diameter of their circle, deflecting blaster bolts with her bright blue lightsaber. She seemed to have things well in hand, despite the equal number of Separatist forces spread around them. Off to the left, Dodge could see General Irella Wain firing at the enemy, Balmorrans more than droids.

Irella had a particular hatred for the separatist Balmorrans, ever since they defected to the Confederacy of Independent Systems two years ago, which caused civil war on Balmorra. Since then, she had led a rebel militia, and was driven only by hatred and determination. Irella Wain vowed that soon enough she would be the Governor of Balmorra, and would see to it personally that every separatist was properly dealt with.

Dodge returned his attention to combating the Separatists. He stood up and peaked just around the corner of the gunship blast door, beginning to fire his DC-17 hand blasters at the enemy. Immediately, he shot down a trio of battle droids that had stood up from their cover, but only to be returned blaster fire. He swung himself back around to cover, and glanced across the opening of the gunship, where two clone troopers fought side by side, one crouching low, the other standing. He watched as the one crouching was shot dead, and the other shot in the left shoulder, sending him sprawled on his back on the ground.

The commander knew that this man was still alive, and so he rushed to his aid. He performed a tactical roll across the opening, landing beside the injured clone, and provided cover fire as a medic approached them and began dragging the clone to safety. Once he had been laid up against the blast door of the gunship, Dodge took a peak at them, and was met by a blaster bolt to the left shoulder. He fell back, but quickly rolled out of the way of blaster fire and into cover, realizing the shot hit his pauldron. The only pain he felt was from the force of the hit, and his breath being knocked out of him when he landed.

"Commander?" the medic asked, watching as Dodge gave his pauldron a rather forceful pat.

"I'm alright, trooper. How is he?" the commander responded, gesturing to the injured clone.

The medic lifted his head up, as if proud, and replied, "No worries, sir. He'll make it, just a shot to the shoulder was all."

Dodge nodded, "Good."

Suddenly, the clone commander noticed that the Separatist forces were slowly beginning to move out of their cover, advancing toward the gunships. They were closing in on the Republic forces, and soon enough they would be all over them. They had to make their move now, whether it affected the Separatists or not. Dodge lifted his arm and activated his wristcom, "General Cacete? General, do you copy?"

A moment passed before Viera could respond: "I'm here, commander."

"General, the enemy forces are beginning to close in on us. If we don't do something, we'll be overrun," Dodge informed her, crouching behind the cover beside the wounded clone.

"What do you propose?" she asked him.

Dodge weighed their options. Perhaps they could focus all their fire on one area and make an opening to--no, that would only leave them vulnerable from behind. It seemed all they could potentially do was--

"Fall back. We must retreat," Dodge finally said. He looked across the circle and saw the Asheran Jedi, leaning against a gunship blast door, lightsaber active. He saw her head look up and at him; she appeared to be in thought.

Then the response came.

"Do it."

Dodge gazed at her for a moment, then nodded. He lowered his arm and stood up, exclaiming to their forces, "Fifty-sixth, retreat! Pilots, get those gunships in the air, we're leaving! I repeat, fall back!"