Sentience comes with a set of packaged strings that are unavoidable. From a need to produce an easier lifestyle, there comes agricultural. From agriculture comes a need for social organisation so then comes civilisations. from civilization comes a need for identity so culture and art are a must. Finally the most prevalent aspect of sentience, a need to protect and expand that culture, comes warfare.

Anakin Skywalker, a seasoned general in the army of the grand republic, and a proven knight of the Jedi order, stood in the passenger section of a gunship. Beside him was his former master Obi Wan kenobi and his padawan Ahsoka Tano. Accompanying them were a platoon of 501st, lead by Captain Rex.

Their Mission was to secure an outpost in the Selene system in the outer rim. Republic intelligence reported a mass of Separatist forces occupying the planet for unknown reasons. There were rumors of the existence of a black research facility that was funded by the banking clans. Count Dooku was spotted visiting the facility, so with luck Anikin and his taskforce could potentially capture Dooku and stop whatever separatist plot he had going on.

The atmosphere was thick and made decent a tedious and peralis operation. Turbulence made the craft jostle and shake the further it descended

.

" Hang on General, things are gonna get choppy." Said the clone pilot over the incraft com system.

" Things are already choppy if you ask me?" Ahsoka snarked.

" Snips, don't tell me you're not enjoying this." Anakin smirked.

" This is ridiculous, we're not even under fire but this bucket of bolts is shaking so much im about to loose my lunch." Ahsoka said while pointing a finger at her open mouth to signal her onset of nausea.

" You're starting to sound like Obi Wan." Anikin remarked.

" I'm right here you know." Obi Wan kenobi said with a scowl. The craft then began to shake even more. Ahsoka lost her grip and fell into Captain Rex.

" whoa, Ugh!" Captain Rex caught Ahsoka with his left arm while holding on to the had hold that dangled from the ceiling of the craft.

" You Ok there Commander?" Rex asked.

" Sorry Rex, thanks!" Ahsoka replied. she grabbed onto her hand hold again.

" 2 minutes till landing cycle." The Pilot said over the coms.

" OK, here we go troopers, get ready!" Anakin turned and yelled to his platoon. Each trooper began final checks of his equipment, reinserting full energy packs into his blaster rifle, checking his coms and double checking his battle buddy next to him. Rex adjusted the armor on a shinny next to him and patted his helmet as an all go signal.

" Sargent, How are you doing down there?" Ahsoka asked over her com. Below the passenger compartment, attached to the belly of the craft was a clone AT-TE walker with it's crew of gunners and driver.

" All green Commander!" sounded a clone voice over the com.

2 mins later, the gunship dropped the AT-TE on the deck and then proceeded to land. Around them other gunships were doing the same.

The planet had a diverse ecosystem with various regions that had differing tundras. Their particular section was planes with tall grass and sparse trees.

Blaster fire erupted around Anakin and his platoon as blaster bolts shot out from the tall grass beyond their vision. some of the clones took hits .

" We're being ambushed! take cover behind the walker!" Anakin Ordered his platoon of clones. Turning to his padawan he said, " Snips, provide cover for the clones!"

" I'm on it!" Ahsoka said as she ignited her lightsaber and sprinted ahead of the formation. Anakin turned to Obi Wan with a look of concern.

" We need to take out whoever is shooting at us!" Obi Wan said as he deflected a blaster bolt with his lightsaber

.

" we can use to Walker to lay down cover fire and I can take Rex and a squad around to flank from the right!" Anakin said as he pointed to the west side of the tall grass.

" Well that plan is as good as any. I and Ashoka will provide a distraction." Obi Wan said.

Anakin didn't say anything but sprinted over to Rex to tell him the plan. Obiwan started moving forward to help Ahsoka.

" Ok you heard the General! Squad two on me!" Rex ordered through his coms. He was currently wielding his two blasters. Acknowledging his command, a group of seven clones, one with a heavy repeater, stood up and formed up next to Rex. The rest of the clones continued to fire back at the tall grass, being careful not to hit Obi Wan or Ahsoka. Anakin proceeded to sneak around several trees to his right with his clones in tow. It wasn't long before he was to the west of a group of droideka snippers set up in the tall grass. Anakin ordered his squad into position to fire on the droids.

" Hold your fire on my command." He ordered. it was crucial that the clones executed their counter attack at the same time as the droids were vulnerable on their sides. he wanted to take them all out at once. The clones finished getting in position.

" Ok on my command open fire." Anakin said. He raised his hand to signal the clones to aim. Each one took aim at a different droid. Then Anakin lowered his hand quickly as a signal.

" Open Fire!" Anakin ordered his troops. The squad began to let out a volley of accurate blaster fire. Many of the droids fell over. Two droids slowly turned their blasters at the squad. Anakin leaped up from his cover and ignited his lightsaber, deflecting a shot aimed at him. He charged at the droids as the heavy gunner was laying down cover for him.

The battle could be heard off in the distance as Count Dooku made his way through the entrance of the research facility. Accompanying him was a group of magnaguards and a very fidgety research scientist.

" I assure you Count, that the experiment will yield much! We just need time!" Dr. Zeil Nal said trying to keep up with Duku.

" My Patients is growing thin, Doctor. The Republic forces are advancing faster than we anticipated. We need you to perform now, or i'm withdrawing my forces." Duku said with a hint of anger.

" But we don't even know what this facility is capable of and we haven't even figured out what sort of " Reclaimer" it needs!" Zeil insisted.

" It's requiring a specific species." Zeil added. His twi'lek tails swished around his body as he kept up his pace.

" Who have you tried?" Duku asked.

"Currently we have three different varieties of species in our staff. We've tried my self, a togruta and a rodian. We've yet to try a human." Zeil said. Duku continued to walk with Zeil beside him.

" Then i will try it. " Duku added. just then Dooku's communicator beeped. He retrieved it from his side and turned it on. The hologram of General Grievous appeared.

" Count Dooku, our first line of defense is being over run. We cannot hold off the Republic for much longer ." he said in his raspy voice.

" I need you to hold out a little longer, General. You will continue to hold the line till I've completed my business here." Dooku ordered Grievous.

" I hope What you are looking for here is worth it Count. I will hold the line as long as I can. It would behoove you to order a counter attack on the republic fleet in orbit to stop them from resupplying their ground forces."

" We don't have the ships to perform a proper counter attack, but there are other options. I've already sent one in lieu of our limited ships." Duku said with a sly grin.

The 501st had received their first resupply shipment just behind the front lines. Master luminara and her padawan were in charge of resupplying Anakin and obiwan from their outpost and providing a medical relief zone for the wounded. the site was in a clearing that was out in the open , save for an unavoidable line of bushes and trees to the south of it, a perfect spot for someone to hide.

A lone gun ship landed just a few meters from the line where it deployed its load of clone troopers. No one noticed the fast and agile sith assassin who hid among the bushes. the clones ran to their rendezvous not bothering to look back. It wasn't long before the dark blur of Asajj Ventress streaked across the clearing to the republic drop ship that was now closing its side doors, preparing to take off into space back to the ship.

Ventress had made it in as the doors finished closing, shrouding her in darkness.

All too easy, she thought to herself. It wouldn't be long before she could complete her mission of disrupting orbital operations for the Republic forces.

Anakin and Obi Wan continued to lead their forces as they rendezvoused with the rest of their battalion. Each hill, each line of trees and each river they took marked more losses. the area around the facility was covered in traps and ambush points along with areas zeroed in by CCS Artillery. Ahsoka broke off with a company of clones to attack the facility from another angle.

" If this keeps up, We won't be able to sustain this operation. We're losing too many clones." Obi Wan said with concern. his own armor showcased new char marks and scratches.

" We'll make it master, We just need to push a little further. Ahsoka will cause a distraction from the east causing the seps to focus their attention on her while we approche from the south. She'll have sufficient cover among the large pillars and rocks." Anakin reassured Obiwan.

" Speaking of pillars, Do you recognise any of the architectural elements of the facility. it's very grandiose for a research facility, even if it's funded by the banking clans." Obiwan pointed out.

" No It's all so different from what i'm used to. This place looks like it belongs on coruscant but it looks alien." Anakin said.

" We'll have to ask Duku when we get inside I guess." Anakin jested.

" Indeed. That's if we can." Obiwan added.

" Master, I'm in position. can you read me?" Ahsoka tried communicated through their communicators. Her staticy voice was hard to hear clearly.

" Yeah i hear you snips. We'll start our advancement now." Anakin responded.

" Those tinies won't stand a chance." Ahsoka gloated.

Ahsoka lowered her arm that her communicator was attacked to. She turned to Rex who was kneeling next to her.

" Alright, let's start engaging the facility. Pick your targets. " Asoka ordered.

" Yes sir! Squads five and six start taking out the guard posts near the facility wall. All other clones follow up with suppressive fire when more droids come to meet us. Let's make some noise!"

Wth those orders the clones began firing and hitting droids off in the distance. Rex ushered his brothers along, taking pop shots with his blaster pistols. However, Ahsoka could tell something was wrong. Not only could she sense his emotions through the force, but she could see him wiping his head around, and his visor would linger in the direction of the many pillars that stood around the facility.

" Rex, is something wrong?" She asked him.

" Uhm. I'm not sure Commander. this place gives me the creeps, almost like... we shouldn't be here." he said ominously.

" What do you mean?" Ahsoka asked with concern. Rex lingered on his words before he replied.

" It's probably nothing sir. " Rex replied.

Duku traveled the many long halls of the facility that honeycombed throughout the land. It was strange, he could feel the oldness of the structures; They felt ancient. He could sense through the force all the ghosts that walked the halls.

" Unfortunately we'll only have one more chance at a test but we've run out of options at this point." Dr. Zeil said. He was still struggling to keep pace with Duku.

" One is All We'll need doctor. I Hope this venture is as fruitful as you said it would be in the beginning." Duku said as he swished his red curve hilted saber around as a light source.

" It will be Count, I promise." Zeil reassured, more to himself. " We're almost there Count." He said as they came to a corridor of a large room. As they walked up to the large doors. They opened to reveal a large spherical room with a walk way that encircled a large hologram floating in the center.

" What am I looking at?" Dooku asked in a demanding tone. The Doctor opened his mouth to explain but a distant humming stopped him in his tracks. Duku heard it too and he directed his gaze up to see a shiny floating metal ball. As the ball got closer, Duku could make out a prominent camera or eye on it's front face. Soon the ball had descended to his level and spoke.

" Perhaps i can explain Re claimer." It said in a droid like voice. At that, the Doctor looked shocked. Perhaps he wasn't going to be killed today.

" Doctor, what is this? Is it some sort of protocol droid?" Duku demanded.

" Oh, allow me to introduce myself. I am Guilty Spark 373, I am the monitor of this installation."