Star Wars

Clone Wars Tales

Chapter 2: A New Kind of Warfare

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars or any of its characters. All copyrights belong to George Lucas and his affiliates

Over the planet Alderaan, a peaceful planet of the Republic, a squad of droid starfighters was vaporized by a pursuing Arc-170 Star Fighter. Three republic cruisers were slowly flying over the planet. On the bridge of the cruiser in the center, Admiral Conessey viewed the Separatist ships in front of him. The admiral had a number of medals and ribbons on his uniform. He was one of the few people on the ship that wasn't a clone of a bounty hunter. A young clone officer approached the admiral.

"Admiral, their ships outnumber ours 4:1. What are your orders sir?" the clone asked him.

"If the odds are that bad, then we should retreat" the admiral said with a heavy heart.

"Bad odds? If the odds are 4:1, then it sounds like those Separatists is at a disadvantage" they heard someone say from behind them. They turned around to see Obi Wan Kenobi smiling.

"General Kenobi, they have eight Separatist cruisers and four banking clan frigates, there's no way we could defeat them" the admiral said.

"My friend, you have yet to learn the ways of the force" Kenobi said. The Jedi turned to the clone.

"Regroup with your squad and follow me" Kenobi ordered.

"Yes sir!" the clone said obediently. He followed the Jedi out of the bridge, leaving the admiral to continue watching the battle. Despite what Kenobi said, the admiral still had a sinking feeling that something horrible was going to happen.

In the hangar, ten clones entered five Arc-170 Starfighters as Kenobi entered his Jedi Starfighter. The ships' engines ignited, and the clones followed the general as he flew out of the hangar. They flew towards the closest two cruisers that were a short distance apart. The ships shot down a wave of droid starfighters flying towards them. They entered the range of the Separatist cruisers.

"Stay in evasive formation. Divert all power to your shields" Kenobi ordered. The clones did as ordered, and followed in a zigzag pattern behind Kenobi. The cruisers' turrets began to fire at them, but the blasts were missing the small ships. Kenobi smiled as he saw the cruisers accidentally shoot each other. Kenobi flew near the bridge of one of the cruisers, and the other one fired its heavy turret at him. The blast hit the bridge, while Kenobi remained unharmed. Kenobi then flew down near the engines of the same cruiser, and the other one shot at him again. It hit one of the engines, causing the ship to destabilize. The damaged cruiser shot everything it had at Kenobi, but all the shots missed and it the cruiser next to it, making it explode in a fiery fashion. The ship began to tilt towards a banking clan frigate, and crushed it with its uncontrollable hull. The reactors of the ship were crushed and a massive explosion followed.

"That's going to leave a mark" Kenobi aid happily. He saw a Republic reinforcement of five cruisers and seven frigates come out of hyperspace.

"Don't worry about this, Master. My ships can clean it up" Anakin said over his communicator.

"Thank you Anakin" Kenobi replied. He flew back towards the Republic cruiser with his clones following him. They were about to land when they suddenly saw a huge wave of at least fifty droid starfighters fly towards it.

"What are they doing?" Kenobi muttered. He looked in shock as one of the ships flew into the cruiser and exploded in flames that were five times the size of the ship. The other ones did the same, and they hit every area of the ship. The ship couldn't hold up, and exploded violently. The flames hit most of Kenobi's clone fighters, destroying them immediately. Kenobi flew away at full speed from the blast, and slowed down as he approached Anakin's cruiser. He landed inside, and took another glance at the now destroyed cruiser whose destruction he had just escaped.

In the bridge of the ship, Kenobi and Anakin were speaking to the holographic images of Master Yoda and Master Windu.

"It was unlike anything I have ever seen before" Obi Wan said.

"These destruction fighters of which you speak, dangerous they are. A new tactic of the Separatist to put their extra droids to good use it is" Yoda explained.

"Droids are certainly more dangerous now if the CIS is using them as bombs ready to explode on contact" Windu added.

"What should we do, Master?" Kenobi asked Yoda.

"Stay at Alderaan you should. Look into these new destruction droids I will" Yoda said.

"Why would the CIS attack here? This planet has no weapons, nor does it have a majority of supporters for the Separatists' cause" Obi Wan asked them.

"I'm guessing that this is a diversion for something bigger. I'm going to Manaan in the meanwhile to convince the Selkath and other inhabitants to join us. With their kolto supplies, our soldiers can be healed of their wounds in faster and better ways. I'll probably be out of contact for a while." Windu explained.

"I see then. May the force be with you, Master" Kenobi said.

"The same to you, Master Kenobi" Windu said. The holograms disappeared, and Anakin turned to Obi Wan.

"Master, what do you think this diversion is about?" Anakin asked him.

"I honestly don't know" Kenobi replied. The two Jedi looked out of the observation window at the remaining Separatist ships waiting for them. Although they didn't know what it meant, both Jedi could strongly sense the dark side casting its malicious shadow.