I got nothing to really say for the first chapter, the only important thing to know is that the M rating is for some language and scenes, but nothing to serious to worry about. Anyway, enjoy the first chapter, everyone!

Italic for communications

Bold for titles

Remnant's Clone Wars

Chapter 1: Planetary Defense and Retreat

Remnant, Kingdom of Atlas

21:00 PM, Atlas Standard Time

A young woman known by the name of Ruby Rose laid down on the ground outside of Atlas Academy, looking up at the night sky. It's been one Hell of a day as she and her friends helped General Ironwood's Ace-Ops clear out the Grimm across several locations in Atlas. Ruby couldn't help but think of all the journeys she and her friends have gone through, they made it this far, but yet, defeating Salem and her minions made their journey look like it was so far away to achieving. The memories of her journeys as a Huntress with her friends clouded her mind until a familiar blonde sat down right next to her.

"Hey sis, what's up?" Her half-sister, Yang asked.

"Nothing." Ruby answered as she just stared at the stars.

"Really? Then why are you here just staring at the night sky?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Ruby… I don't care what it is, you can tell me anything. I'm your sister."

Ruby sighed. "I still can't believe we've made it this far."

"What do you mean?" Yang sat down next to Ruby, looking at her sister.

"From our beginning as first year students at Beacon, to fighting Torchwick, the Fall of Beacon, the attack on Haven, to Argus, and now here we are, in the most powerful Remnant Kingdom, Atlas. It's been so long, and we've made it this far, yet there's so much that needs to be done to make the world a better place. I feel like we're not trying a hard enough job to stop Salem, Cinder, and the others." Ruby told her sister everything she was thinking about. Yang put her hand on her sister's left shoulder and cheered her up.

"I know, Ruby, that the real world is not always a nice place. But after all the adventures we've been through together, you should be proud of what you, me, and our friends have done and survived together. Beacon may have fallen a long time ago, but we're still in this together." Ruby sat up and hugged her.

"Thanks, Yang."

"No problem, sis. I'm always here for you." Ruby laid on her back again with Yang doing so as well, looking at the night sky.

"Beautiful ain't it?" Yang stared at the night sky.

"Yeah, it really is." Ruby agreed. "Hey Yang?" She asked.

"Yeah?"

"Do you… do you think there's something out there?" Ruby wondered, curiously.

"What do you mean?" Yang raised an eyebrow.

"Well… Do you think there's life out there in the rest of the galaxy? Civilizations like Remnant or more advanced ones like from a sci-fi show?"

"You mean aliens?"

"Yeah, I guess." Ruby answered.

"Well… I don't know." Yang put her hands behind her head. "The universe is limitless, so who knows if there's indeed life out there besides us? What do you think?"

"I think that if there is an alien civilization out there, who knows what they're like? They probably have it better than we do on Remnant. Free of war, monsters, and suffering that Remnant has to deal with right now. Most likely they are enjoying an era of peace and prosperity." Ruby guessed.

But, as it turns out, she was dead wrong. In another far, far away part of the galaxy, one of, if not, the most important war in the Galactic Republic's history, the Clone Wars, was currently raging on between the brave, heroic Clone Troopers and Jedi Knights of the Grand Army of the Republic versus the cold, metallic and calculating Droid Armies of the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Little does Remnant know that it's history is going to be severely impacted for generations to come with the outcome of a single battle from the Republic...

Early 20 BBY

Mid Rim planet of Haidoral Prime, Disputed Republic/Separatist Space

"INCOMING!" A Clone Commander yelled to his troops as Separatist Hyena-class bombers began descending down on their location. He and his brothers took cover as the two bombers bombarded the Clones' positions with their payloads, taking out some of the Clones and two of their four AT-TEs. Two Clones quickly mounted their RPS-6 rocket launchers and fired at the bombers after they dropped their payload, scoring direct hits as the droid bombers came crashing down in the distance.

The Battle for Haidoral Prime was currently going on, a tug of war skirmish battleground for the Separatists and Republic. Haidoral Prime was considered as a target for the Separatist Alliance due to its abundance of natural resources and raw materials that would be a huge boost to further the CIS war effort against the Galactic Republic. It was a constant battle as the GAR and civilian militias were continuously fending off countless swarms of battle droids. To say that things were going down south for GAR forces was a big understatement, the Battle for Haidoral Prime was, to put it, a fast loosing battle as Republic forces were fighting all over the planet. For over two days the Republic lost plenty of military and civilian lives in the chaos. For a time, the GAR held its ground and tried to call for reinforcements from the Core and nearby systems, but unfortunately the GAR didn't have any sizeable forces to repeal the Separatists on Haidoral Prime in the meantime. And with the continuing waves of Seperatist troops at them, the Republic called the battle a loss and did the best they could to evacuate the remaining populace and military units units. But the Clones sure as Hell weren't giving up Haidoral Prime to the Separatists without a fight, that's for damn sure.

"Everyone, take positions!" The Commander ordered his troops as they began firing back. The Clone was Marshall Commander Arch of the 178th Corps, scoring his Corps' color of matte black on his armor. His helmet had a visor improver, a reinforced com-link antenna, and a floodlight, with a pauldron across his chest and a black ammo pouch on the right chestplate. He also had a kama with two DC-17 hand blaster holsters with the pistols in them.

Arch and his men defended their positions at the end of the forest near a mountain as the Droid Army marched towards them. There were dozens of B1's along with B2's advancing forward as Arch's men took cover behind their man-made barricades, giant rocks, and fallen AT-TEs and AT-RTs as cover. The Clones were determined to hold their position as the droids kept trying to break their lines.

"Hold the line! We've got to defend this position until reinforcements arrive!" Arch commanded his troops while he used his DC-15S blaster carbine against the oncoming droids. One of the B2-HA super battle droids aimed at Arch's position and fired. Arch almost fell victim to the explosive until he heard the voice of one of his brothers yell at him.

"Commander, look out!" Arch heard as a Clone tackled him out of the way of the droid's missile.

"Thanks Bolt!" Arch thanked the Clone who just saved his life. The Clone named Bolt who helped him was a Sergeant in the 178th, he had a thunderbolt on the front of his helmet and shoulder pads, painted in the Corps' matte black color.

"No problem, Commander!" Bolt replied as he raised his DC-15S blaster carbine and fired it after he helped Arch get back up.

The droids were still advancing on the Clones as their numbers grew and grew. The Clones fairly held their ground with their two remaining AT-TEs and EWHB-12 heavy repeating blasters providing a thick rain of fire on the droids. As the Clones bravely fought on the droids, more of them kept coming and it looked like the Clones would need to fall back to a secondary position. Arch knew that his men needed reinforcements right now or their defense was done for. He took cover behind a man-made barricade he was at with Bolt and contacted one of his best men.

"Stomper, give me a status update!"

Two Klicks South of Arch's position

"Commander, we're holding on our own against the droids! We're evacuating the last civilians as we speak." A Clone Sergeant by the name of Stomper answered as he rained fire his Z-6 rotary cannon at the oncoming battle droids. His armor had its legs and arms painted with the Corps' color and had the outline of his visor and ventilation system painted in matte black as well. He also had his shoulder pads have the image of a Clone's boot stomping down on a B1's head, hence where his name comes from.

"Roger that, make sure they get out of there safely!"

"On it, sir!"

"And what about the General?" Arch asked.

"He's currently helping us fight our battle!" Stomper answered. "We'll come to your location once we're finished here."

"Copy that, keep me updated on any major events."

"Got it, sir! Let's go! Get on the ship!" Stomper told the remaining civilians as they boarded their ship as he continued to rain fire upon the Separatist droids. He and his team were currently defending the last civilian transports evacuating the remaining civilian personnel, as the Separatists caught them in a surprise invasion of Haidoral Prime. The Republic knew that Separatists reinforcements would come and outnumber the Republic 20 to 1, as they really wanted this planet. The Grand Army of the Republic knew that they couldn't keep the planet, so they did the best thing they could do which was evacuate the planet of Republic civilians and troops before Separatist reinforcements arrived.

The amount of droids attacking Stomper and the rest of the troopers dwindled as they took heavy casualties from the Clones and their Jedi General. After a while, they evacuated the last of the civilians at their location with the shuttles taking off. The last remaining droids were dealt with as the troopers gunned them down, mostly by their ARC Trooper, Vynch, who was going on the offensive. He fired his DC-17 blaster pistols at a rapid speed and gunned down several B1s and B2s with ease. His armor was standard-issued ARC Trooper armor with his own custom markings painted in matte black.

"Come on you buckets of bolts!" Vynch let out a battle cry as he tore off a super battle droid's right arm and flung it at a nearby B1, making it collapse. He quickly drew his DC-17 blaster pistols out again and fired them in rapid succession at the super battle droid until it collapsed. He and the rest gunned down the last few remaining B1's until they were all gone.

"Looks like that's all of them." Stomper announced as lowered his Z-6.

"Alert! We are losing ground on sector four! Repeat: We are losing ground on sector four!" Arch announced to any nearby units from his comlink.

"We've got to get to the Commander's position ASAP!" Vynch advised.

"I agree, let's get moving." Stomper and the rest of the troopers moved out with their Jedi General to Arch's position.

Commander Arch's Position

"Sector Four needs reinforcements. We are being overrun!" Arch announced to all nearby units on his comlink. He saw one of the troopers next to him fall from blaster fire as a B2 over the dead trooper. Arch shot at the droid with his DC-15S before kicking another B2 onto the ground with force and shooting at it. He then tossed his carbine at B1 to his right and quickly drew his DC-17 pistols out and blasted the droid and another one to his left.

"Fall back to secondary positions!" Arch commanded As he ran with Bolt to find cover with the rest of their brothers.

"There's too many of 'em!" One of the many Clones shouted as the Separatists brought a greater number of droids to the battle. More and more B1 and B2 battle droids joined the battle, this time with DSD1 dwarf spider droids and AATs to counter the Clones' two AT-TEs.

"Man down!" Bolt announced as one of their brothers was knocked back by an explosion.

With the fight continuing, the Clones lost one of their last two AT-TEs thanks to the Separatist AATs, with the droids getting closer. The Clones fought on bravely as they were prepared to make a final stand where they stood. Arch fired his DC-17 blaster pistols in rapid succession at a super battle droid, making it collapse as he saved a Clone from being strangled by it. He knew that they were about to be overrun, and were ready to die for the Republic. He contacted Hyxx and Vynch as they should have been at his location by now.

"Vynch! Stomper! Where are you guys?!" Arch asked as he killed three B1s.

"We're nearly there, Commander! And we brought some backup with us!"

"And what about the General?"

"I'm right here, Arch." He heard his General's voice speak over the comms.

"General! We need your team's help, sir! We need our reinforcements now, or we're done here!" Arch pleaded for help as the droids kept coming closer.

Meanwhile on an elevated cliff above, Stomper, Vynch, and two squadrons of troopers were looking at the battle from above with their Jedi General looking over the battlefield.

"Sir, what's our plan of attack?" Vynch asked his General.

Their Jedi General, Natzer Charliss, was a Human male in his early twenties standing at 6 feet (1.83 meters), had dark brown hair, blue-green eyes, fair skin, and wore classic traditional light brown Jedi robes. Natzer was a new Knight of the Order, being promoted right before the start of the Clone Wars. While he may seem to be young and inexperienced to most on paper, Natzer was a brave and fearless Knight of the Jedi Order, and a brilliant fighter. Although hesitant to lead the Clone Army at first, much like a lot of his Jedi brothers and sisters, he ultimately became a General for the Grand Army of the Republic and quickly grew fond of the Clones of the 178th Corps that served under him.

He quickly learned at the beginning of the war that the Clones were not just organic battle droids and cannon fodder like some Jedi believed, he saw the Clones as real, organic beings, fighting for the Galactic Republic, a righteous cause they devoutly believed in. Throughout the Clone Wars, his soldiers grew to admire him as Natzer did everything to ensure their safety during battle and openly listened to what the Clones had to say, ranging from the amount of possible danger to his troops to strategies and grand battleplans. Natzer also used the Shiev Variant of Form V of lightsaber combat and utilized the method of Jar'Kai, using two lightsabers during battle. He finally turned around towards Vynch and gave him an answer.

"Follow my lead!" Natzer ordered. He ignited his two lightsabers, a normal one and a shoto blade, as he did a Force Jump toward the droids, both of his sabers glowing with the classic, well-known shining blue-colored blade of the Jedi Order. As he did his Force Jump, one the B1s noticed him coming toward them.

"Look! A Jedi!" The droid alarmed his teammates by pointing at Natzer until it was too late. Natzer landed on the ground and made a massive shockwave with the Force, causing the entire group of droids around him to fly in the opposite direction. He stood up and saw that he got the droids' attention and were now focused on him as their commander gave the order to shoot at him from the main cannon's gunner seat of his AAT.

"Blast him!" The B1 ordered as Natzer began reflecting their blaster bolts with his sabers and started attacking the horde of droids that were facing his troopers. The Jedi swung and slashed at several B1s, cutting their numbers down significantly. He then attacked the enemy B2s, taking care of the droids easily as he sliced and diced them with his two lightsabers. Natzer rushed against one of the spider droids by running towards it and sliced its laser cannon off and stabbed its two lightsabers through its eyes as it's power source was destroyed by him. The Clones above him made their entrance by rushing down the cliff and jumping onto the battlefield with Stomper and Vynch leading the charge with Natzer.

"For the Republic!" Stomper shouted as he began firing his Z-6.

"Looks like the cavalry has arrived!" Bolt cheered as their brothers and general faced the droids.

"What are you boys waiting for?! Blast 'em!" Arch ordered his men as they ran towards their brothers ahead and began pushing the droids back. Their morale now soared with their Jedi General leading the charge.

"You heard him boys, let's go!" Bolt yelled as he began firing his DC-15S at a pair of super battle droids.

Vynch ran past General Charliss and towards an enemy AAT as he shot two B1s with his DC-17s, barely dodging the AAT's main cannon fire and jumped onto the front of it. He opened the front hatch to where the droid driver was and shot the droid before throwing a thermal detonator inside, and closed the hatch. Vynch then climbed up to the top where he blasted the droid gunner and threw another detonator inside before jumping off the tank as it exploded.

Charliss was leading the assault in the front as he and his men pushed back the droids. Arch eventually joined up with the general after he sliced a spider droid's legs off and stabbed it in the head with his shoto blade.

"General Charliss, sir! It's good to see you again!" Arch said as he continued firing his DC-17 blaster pistols.

"Arch! Glad to see you're still in one piece!" Charliss blocked a blaster bolt from hitting Arch.

"How's the civilian evacuation going?" Arch asked.

"The rest of the major cities planetside are done evacuating. The rest of our forces are currently trying to get off this rock. The Republic knows this planet is soon to be lost anyways."

"Couldn't agree more with you, sir."

After intense fighting between the two sides, the Clones and Jedi managed to destroy the Separatist army sent after them, cutting their casualties drastically once General Charliss arrived. The droids laid in ruins as the Clones were triumphant, for now at least. In the meantime, the whole planet was still under attack with the space battle above taking place.

"All clear!" Arch announced.

"I thought they would throw more at us." Vynch commented as he kicked a super battle droid's lower half.

"Yeah, looks like they're focused on the rest of our boys elsewhere. Or they're engaging with the 246th near us most likely."

"I don't know, it could be fun to scrap more clankers, guys!" Stomper raised his Z-6.

"Yeah, always expect Stomper to charge head-on in a human wave offensive." Vynch joked as he lightly punched Stomper's right shoulder.

"Let's not get too comfortable, we still got a job to do." Natzer informed his troops as Arch set up a hologram of the battlefield.

"Sir, our battlefront is currently secure for now. We've got the Separatists on the run, but they will most likely be back." Arch pointed at their position on the map.

"If they'll be back, we're going to need a better plan of defense than our previous one. Seeing how much the Separatists are throwing at the planet with more and more waves of droids. Our men can't hold out on this planet forever, and I deeply worry about their safety." Natzer and Arch were joined by Vynch, coming up with a new battleplan before they were contacted by the only other Jedi on the planet.

"Excuse me General Charliss, but we've got an incoming transmission from General Pippar." Arch informed him.

"Put her through." Natzer said as Arch put the General through. The figure who appeared from the hologram was a Mirialan woman around the same age as Natzer. She had light green skin with blue eyes, wavy long black hair, stood at 5' 10, and wore light brown Jedi robes. She also had Mirialan tattoos right below her eyes, on her forehead, and her hands. She was a lot like Charliss toward the troops under her command, and they were both friends since they were younglings in the Jedi Order.

"Hello, Natzer. I guess your front is going well?" She asked.

"Yes, we've just finished the last droids at our location." He answered.

"Good, we've just finished as well, but we got another problem." She then pointed on a certain part of the map.

"There is a massive droid column heading in this part of the valley between these two elevated cliffs. This valley leads to our troops evacuating offworld, they will be a huge threat to them if we don't halt their advance. Our fighters still have air superiority and have prevented any Separatist air strike against them. Each of our units won't be enough to take them on alone, but if we combine our forces and ambush their forces in this valley, we will be taking a lot of pressure off our troopers' backs." Kaiaala suggested.

"Not a bad idea, General Pippar." Arch agreed with her. "I can send some of my men ahead of that column and plant some explosives here. From there, we can take out a large chunk of them and any heavy vehicles they might bring." he pointed at the middle of the valley.

"Our forces will prove as a distraction to get their attention, after that your forces will ambush them when they least expect it, Kaiaala." Natzer said.

"Sounds good, the less clankers our boys have to worry about while they get off this rock safely to our Acclamators, the better." Vynch agreed with the plan.

"Alright then, let's get moving while we still can. We'll see you on the battlefield, Kaiaala." Natzer said.

"You too, Natzer." Her transmission ended.

Minutes Later

General Charliss and his Clones made it to their location above where the droids would be coming. Natzer, Arch, and Vynch overlooked the valley as they discussed their battleplan. Arch spotted the droids exactly ten clicks away from them, marching in their infamous line formation.

"General, the column is exactly ten clicks away from us. It won't be long until they make it here." Arch informed Natzer.

"Good, that means we've got plenty of time to get set up. We'll plant explosives along here, and wait until the droids are right on top of them." Natzer pointed at the valley.

"Sir, I'm willing to volunteer to set up our explosives." Vynch announced.

"Go right ahead, Vynch. Take some of our best men with you and quickly set them up. We don't know how long it'll be until those droids come here."

"On it, sir!" Vynch nodded and gathered some of their best soldiers with him.

"Any word on when the 246th will be here?" Natzer asked Arch.

"I don't know, sir. Haven't received a transmission from them since." He gave an answer.

"Let's just hope they make it on time."

"I agree, General. I heard they've been getting the worst of the Separatists during the invasion."

As Natzer and Arch were overlooking the battlefield for the time being, Vynch gathered some of the best men they had with them. He got Stomper, Bolt, and three others to go with him. They climbed down a rockslide that led to the valley, and got started to their work.

"Alright men, listen up! We don't know how long we've got until the droids are on top of us, so let's be quick about this. Get to work!" Vynch ordered as he started to place a V-1 thermal detonator on the ground, covering it up with some dirt so it could remain hidden for the clankers ahead.

"I wish we could just engage the enemy already instead of waiting for them." Stomper spoke as he placed a detonator.

"Cheer up, Stomper. There's enough buckets of bolts for all of us." Bolt said.

"Cut the chatter you two, we've got a job to do." Vynch reminded them as he placed two more detonators.

Ten Minutes Later...

General Kaiaala Pippar and the 246th Legion reached the location for their ambush as they contacted General Charliss and the 178th Corps. Kaiaala walked on top of a rock and looked over the valley, seeing Vynch and his men climb up back to their locations. The explosives were all set and ready for the Separatist forces. She then proceeded to contact Natzer as her forces got into position.

"Natzer this is Kaiaala, we're in position." She informed him. She spotted him across the gap and turned towards her.

"Good, the show is about to begin. Wait for our moment of attack." He said before running back to his spot. Kaiaala saw the droid army march through the entrance to the valley, their footsteps echoing in unison. She ran back to her troops and quickly debriefed them of the situation. Right beside her was Commander Burn and ARC Trooper Hyxx of the 246th.

Burn has his armor colored with burgundy red, the 246th's standard color. His helmet had a visor improver, a reinforced com-link antenna, and a floodlight, along with flames on the side of his visor improver. He also had another reinforced com-link antenna on his right shoulder pad, a veteran badge on his left chestplate, and a kama with two DC-17 hand blasters holsters with the pistols in them. His shoulder pads, arms, legs, visor improver, helmet, and the edges of his kama were colored in burgundy red.

ARC Trooper Hyxx wore the same standard-issued ARC Trooper armor, and colored his armor with the 246th burgundy red color and did some markings on his helmet. Both troopers were beside General Pippar as she got all the Clones' attention.

"Alright men, listen up! The Separatists will be here any minute now. Once General Charliss and the 178th engage the enemy and give off their moment of attack, we'll ambush them once they're distracted by General Charliss' forces, and proceed to destroy them. Any questions?" One of her troopers spoke up after she asked.

"Just tell us when we'll be scrapping those clankers, General!" A Clone by the name of Drifter spoke as he cracked his knuckles. Drifter had his armor colored the same like the rest of his brothers. His arms and legs had a stripe down them with his shoulder pads painted the same color, along with outlining the edge of his visor and ventilation system of his helmet.

"Okay Drifter, you and the boys will get your chance to. Anyone else?" Kaiaala asked again.

"Yes, General." A Clone named Draft responded. Draft had his helmet painted burgundy red along with his shoulder pads, arms, legs, and utility belt colored the same. He also had writing on the side of his helmet in Galactic Basic spelling: "The only good clanker is a wrecked clanker!" on both sides.

"How are we supposed to know what the "signal" will be from General Charliss and his forces?" He asked.

"Good question, Draft." Kaiaala responded. "Their moment of attack should be about..." She stopped talking just before multiple explosions were heard from behind her. "Now."

Kaiaala, Burn, Hyxx, Draft, and Drifter went to the edge of the cliff and looked over, they saw the multiple explosives that the 178th placed, blowing up the droids to hell. Multiple B1s, B2s, spider droids, and AATs blew up from the explosives. The 178th then fired at the droids from their positions, getting the droids' full attention.

"Republic troopers! Blast 'em!" A B1 commander ordered his troops. They all shot at the Clones who got their attention as the 246th was prepared to attack.

Kaiaala got in front of her soldiers and ignited her lightsaber, glowing a green blade. She was an expert with the third form of lightsaber combat, perfect for defending herself and her troopers from harm. Kaiaala then lifted her saber and pointed it forward and shouted at her men.

"Forward, men!" She ordered. She ran and jumped off their elevated cliff with her soldiers behind her, yelling at the droids as they started their attack. Kaiaala landed on the ground with her troops and ran forward with them, putting pressure on their attack. She sliced multiple droids apart and used the best of her abilities to block all the blaster bolts she could from her soldiers.

Burn and Hyxx both had their weapons out and took out multiple droids together. Burn ran past Hyxx with his DC-17 blaster pistols in hand and tackled a B1, knocking it down and threw it at a super battle droid. The B2 stopped for a second and grabbed his fellow droid, moving him out of the way before Burn repeatedly shot him with his blaster pistols. Burn destroyed the B2 along with a few more B1s around him as Hyxx ran past him.

Hyxx ran past Burn with his DC-15A blaster rifle and slid towards a spider droid, placing a thermal detonator under its head, which proceeded to explode and kill it. He then ripped a B1's head off and swung it at another droid, causing it to fall onto the ground and blasted it with his rifle. Hyxx ran towards Draft and Drifter who were behind a fallen rock, using it as cover as they fired their blasters away.

"How are you guys doing?" Hyxx asked as he fired off a few shots.

"Doing good so far, Hyxx!" Draft answered as he fired his DC-15S away.

"We got these buckets of bolts!" Drifter yelled as he took down a super battle droid.

Kaiaala swung her lightsaber at a duo of super battle droids, cutting them in half. After the droids fell to the ground, an entire group of B1s and B2s marched right towards her, ready to fire their weapons. She tightly held her lightsaber in a defensive stance before attacking them, until a familiar Jedi came to help her.

Natzer jumped from the top of the cliff and did another shockwave with the Force which sent the droids flying in the opposite direction. He then threw his sabers at the group as they were on the ground, slicing them as he retracted them back with the Force. Natzer looked back at Kaiaala with an unamused smirk on her face towards him.

"You never cease to amuse others, Natzer." She said.

"Hey, I always arrive at the right time when you and the Clones need my help!" He joked as he deflected a blaster bolt from hitting him.

The rest of Natzer's forces jumped down into the valley and joined their brothers of the 246th in the battle. Arch joined Natzer as they led the battle up front with Kaiaala and Burn.

"We can win this one!" Vynch spoke as he kicked a B1 down onto the ground and shot it in the head.

"I agree with you, Vynch!" Hyxx said before throwing a detonator at a group of B1s. He and Vynch fought side by side together as brothers. Both the 178th Corps and 246th Legion worked closely together on multiple missions and campaigns with each other, making the Clones fond of each unit as they fought the same battles together. Their Commanders and Jedi Generals eventually discovered of their favorable attitude toward each unit, and knew that with each battle fought together, the 178th and 212th would pull through together and claim victories for the Republic, even against unwinnable odds. Their superior officers' decisions improved the Clones' morale during battle and increased their opinion of the Jedi Generals they served under, much like with the 501st and 212th across the galaxy.

Bolt was firing his DC-15S blaster carbine behind a rock with another fellow trooper as a spider droid came up and blasted him away. Bolt signaled Drifter with his hands to distract it as he was going to make a run for it. Drifter fired a few shots at the spider droid's dome, getting its attention as he took cover with the droid firing at him. Bolt used the opportunity to run up to the spider droid and climbed on top of it. He held onto its antenna on its dome and put a few well placed blaster shots through its head, making it collapse. Bolt and Drifter took out another two spider droids with the help of Stomper and Draft as they teamed up.

"We got this boys!" Drifter cheered on as he shot a spider droid in the eyes.

"Make them eat plasma!" Stomper yelled as he fired his Z-6. Across the battlefield, a super battle droid in the distance fired a missile and blew near their position, taking out three Clones of the 178th and injuring another from the 246th.

"Uh oh! You shouldn't have pissed them off, Stomper!" Draft yelled as Separatist reinforcements arrived to reinforce the column.

"We're going to need some air support!" Natzer informed Kaiaala as she cut through a super battle droid.

"We haven't been able to make contact with Admiral Hawkens!" She told him.

"Let's hope Hawkens and the fleet make it through this! We've got three Acclamators filled with troopers that the Republic can't afford to lose!" Natzer reflected a blaster bolt from hitting one of his Clones.

The Space Battle above Haidoral Prime

While the Republic's ground troops were fighting on the surface, the space battle above the Haidoral Prime continued on. The Republic fleet consisted of six Venator-class Star Destroyers, several Arquitens-class light cruisers, and two dozen of Charger c70 retrofit Consular-class cruisers. On the other hand, the Separatist fleet consisted of multiple Munificent-class frigates, Recusant-class light destroyers, three Providence-class dreadnoughts, and a few DH-Omni Support Vessels supplying their ground forces below. The Republic were desperately defending their position with the Separatists relentlessly attacking them. As the two sides fought, their starfighters and bombers were battling it out between each other in space.

On the Republic fleet's flagship, the Venator-class Star Destroyer Guardian, Admiral Zan Hawkens of the Republic was monitoring the battle from the bridge of his ship. Zan Hawkens was a seasoned Republic Naval Officer who was in his early fifties and had dark brown skin, brown eyes, black hair, and stood at 6 feet (1.83 meters). The entire bridge was filled with Clone officers and troopers hastily doing their jobs as communications filled the air.

"Two new targets! At point three-five!"

"Nice work, Red 3!"

"Enemy fighters incoming!"

"I got your Six!"

"Cover me!"

"Admiral, we're receiving a transmission from General Charliss." One of the Clone Officers informed him.

"Thanks, Lieutenant. Put him through." Hawkens arrived at the holotable with Natzer's projection of him and Kaiaala fighting off waves of battle droids as he communicated with the Admiral.

"Admiral, we're under heavy fire down here! You've got to give us some gunships now, ASAP!" Natzer requested while an explosion and blaster fire were heard in the distance.

"I'll try to give you some as soon as I can, General. But we've got our hands a bit full up here right now!" Hawkens replied as the bridge shook heavily.

"Alright, we'll hold out as long as we can down here!"

"Good luck, General Charliss!" the transmission from Natzer stopped as the space battle continued.

Bridge of the Separatist Providence-class dreadnought fleet flagship "Bulwark"

"What is the status of the battle on the surface below?" The super tactical droid in metallic gray asked one of the B1's on the bridge.

"Republic troops are currently losing on all fronts, they're trying to evacuate the rest of their forces off Haidoral Prime in a hurry." He answered.

"What about their evacuation?"

"They have three Acclamators in low orbit loading their remaining forces. Our fighters so far have been unsuccessful in attacking them due to the Republic's air superiority and their fleet is putting up a good fight." The super tactical droid got out of his chair.

"Foolish Republic dogs. They know that we will have this planet and annihilate their forces in a matter of time. If we are to destroy their Acclamators while they're in the middle of evacuating their troops, we will deal a severe blow to the Republic with tens of thousands of Clone deaths. Have the rest of the fleet target the weakest Republic capital ship with everything we've got, and once that's complete, send in the Hyena bombers with escorts to go after the Republic's Acclamators, and then finish off their ground forces." The droid ordered in his robotic voice.

"Roger roger!" The B1 said as the fleet began targeting the Republic fleet's weakest Venator.

Bridge of the Venator-class Star Destroyer "Guardian"

Admiral Hawkens was overlooking the battle through the Guardian's viewport just as the Venator right next to them, the "Defiance'', was getting hammered by the Separatist fleet. Waves of Separatist bombers descended upon the ship as they released their payloads onto the ship. Explosion by explosion, the Defiance was no more as the ship's hull was ripped apart and it's two bridges exploded into pieces. The Venator, along with her two Arquitens-class light cruiser escorts, were now nothing but space debris, taking thousands of Clone lives.

"Sir, we've just lost the Defiance! And a massive wave of droid bombers along with escorts are coming through, most likely us, sir!" One of the officers told the Admiral.

"They're not heading toward us, they're heading towards our Acclamators! They have a clear opening to our transports!" Hawkens announced as the Hyena bombers approached. "Get me in contact with all available fighter squadrons we have!" Hawkens ordered.

"Sir, all fighter squadrons are currently occupied, except for one." One of the naval officers informed him.

"Well, which squadron is it?" the Admiral asked.

"Black Squadron, sir."

"Excellent! Get me in contact with Black Leader immediately!"

"Yes, sir!"

Out in the middle of the space battle, a Clone pilot by the name of "Blackjack", leader of Black Squadron, flew his Clone Z-95 Headhunter by one of the Separatist dreadnoughts. He chased down three Droid tri-fighters that were pursuing a damaged BTL-B Y-wing bomber, trying to shoot two of his brothers down. Blackjack went as fast as he could, dodging enemy fire from nearby Separatist capital ships as he tried to shoot them down.

"I can't shake them off me!" The Y-wing pilot announced over the comms as he tried to get the three tri-fighters off him.

"I got 'em!" Blackjack said as he shot down two of the tri-fighters, with one of them disengaging. He followed the last fighter and managed to shoot it down as he flew by a Munificent-class frigate.

"Thanks, Blackjack!" The pilot thanked him

"Get back to the Guardian, ASAP! I'll keep them off your tail!" Blackjack told him as he regrouped.

"Got it!" they both flew back to the Guardian as debris from the former Defiance was now floating. The Y-wing entered the ship's forward hangar bay as the bridge contacted him, it was the Admiral who spoke to him as he answered the call.

"Black Leader, this is Admiral Hawkens. Do you copy?" The Admiral asked him.

"This is Black Leader, I hear you, Admiral!" He responded.

"Multiple waves of enemy bombers are going to try and destroy our Acclamators. Get your squadron out there and stop them immediately! Before it's too late!"

"You can count on us, sir! Black Squadron, regroup on me!" Blackjack ordered as other Clone Z-95s grouped up on him. They saw the waves of Hyena bombers fly past the wreck of the Defiance as Blackjack gave his squad new orders.

"Black 2 through 4, you're with me. The rest of you, split up and take down the bombers on the left and right, we'll take the center!" Blackjack ordered as he sped up.

"We're on it, sir!" One of the pilots responded as he broke off from the group.

Blackjack and three other pilots chased after their selected bombers, destroying their Vulture Droid fighter escorts as they neared the planet's atmosphere. The other pilots picked their targets as Blackjack went in at full speed. He shot down two of the bombers before the Hyenas noticed this and tried to shake him off their tail by flying through a narrow canyon.

The bombers made extremely tight turns as Blackjack relentlessly followed them. Blackjack narrowly made it through a thin gap as he rolled his fighter sideways, barely surviving from a near-crash. He continued to pursue the Hyenas as they tried to lose him, but Blackjack, with his excellent flying skills, shot them all down in a second. He then rejoined with the rest of his wingmen and continued to take down the bombers and their escorts.

A detachment of the remaining Hyenas were closing in on the lead Acclamator and her two Arquitens escorts, making for their attack run. Blackjack pulled away from chasing the bombers as they closed in on their target and sped past them. He then made a hard turn left and was now face-to-face with the Hyenas and fired, shooting all of them down just as they were about to finally release their payload, zooming past the bomber's debris as the rest of his squadron shot down the remaining Vultures and Hyenas.

"Nice work, Black Leader!" Admiral Hawkens congratulated him.

"There's no problem Black Squadron can't handle, sir!" Blackjack said with confidence.

"We're sending gunships to pick up the Generals and their remaining forces on this side of the planet. Protect them at all cost while they go get your brothers."

"On it, sir!" Blackjack replied.

"This is Black 6, I got three bogies on my tail! I can't shake them." Black 6 cried for help as three Vulture Droids were on his tail and managed to just scratch his left wing with blaster fire.

"Hold on Black 6! I'm coming!" Blackjack dove his fighter towards his squadmate as he was being chased.

"Blackjack! Need some help here!" Black 6 yelled as the droids were closer to killing him. That was until Blackjack swooped in and shot two of the fighters down. He then shot down the last droid fighter over Generals Charliss and Pippar's position as they flew over them.

"Thanks, Blackjack!"

"No problem, Six!"

On the ground with Generals Charliss and Pippar, along with the 178th and 246th

"Look out!" Vynch alarmed as the Vulture Droid's body came down past the Clones and Jedi, crashing right into the Separatist forces and exploded in a fiery ball.

"That was too close!" Arch commented.

"If our fighters are achieving air superiority here, then our gunships aren't that far behind!" Natzer announced while over the horizon it looked like thousands upon thousands of battle droids marching towards their position.

"Prepare the troops to evacuate!" Kaiaala ordered as a squadron of Y-wings above zoomed past their position and dropped their proton bombs onto the droid army, annihilating them.

"There go our flyboys!" Burn cheered with the rest of his Clone brothers.

Just after the Y-wings finished their bombing run, six LAAT/i Gunships descended to the Clones and Jedi's location. The gunships fired their chin-mounted laser cannons, two pairs of laser-beam turrets on the side and wings of the aircraft, and their mass-driver missile launchers at the remaining droid stragglers. Just as the first gunship landed, Arch and Burn ordered their troops to start boarding the craft.

"Come on, men! Let's go!" Arch ordered.

"Generals, I sent you your starfighters with the gunships, we'll need to smash through this blockade if we want to get out of here! The rest of our fighters from other battlefronts will regroup with you and Black Squadron to punch a hole through the fleet!" Hawkens told them.

"Thanks, Admiral. We'll be up there ASAP!" Natzer replied as he saw two Eta-2 Actis-class Light Interceptor Jedi starfighters come to him and Kaiaala, colored blue and green respectively. Both Jedi saw their starfighters park in front of them with their R2 series astromechs piloting the aircraft.

"Thanks Deefive!" Natzer thanked his astromech, D5-B7, who had predominantly blue plating with white accents, and a blue dome with his sensor color being white. Natzer climbed into his starfighter with Kaiaala getting in hers. The rest of the Clones finished getting onboard the gunships as they were now ready for takeoff.

"Let's get out of here!" Natzer ordered.

"Ready to see some action, Ceeseven?" Kaiaala asked her droid, C7-FD, who had green plating with black accents, and a green dome with her sensor color being purple. C7 beeped in agreement to Kaiaala.

"We'll see you back on the Guardian, Generals!" Arch said to both Jedi as he and Burn were the last ones to board a gunship.

The Jedi and gunships took off from their position and headed to space with Black Squadron grouping up with them. The gunships split off and headed toward the Guardian while other squadrons of other Clone Z-95s, Y-wings, and ARC-170s from the other fronts of Haidoral Prime grouped up with the Jedi and Black Squadron for one last counterattack towards the Separatist fleet.

Bridge of the Separatist Providence-class dreadnought fleet flagship "Bulwark"

"Sir, the bombers have failed their objective and have been destroyed." A B1 told the super tactical droid.

"That is… unfortunate. It seems that luck is on the Republic's side today." The droid paused. "What about our ground forces? Have they successfully captured the rest of the planet?"

"Yes, sir. The planet is ours and the Republic is on the run!"

"Just as I have calculated. The Republic knows that this is a losing fight, and that this planet now belongs to the Confederacy of Independent Systems."

"Sir, it appears that Republic starfighters across the rest of the planet are regrouping with their fleet and are preparing for a counterattack on our fleet. They will most likely try to break our fleet's formation and escape."

"We will not let them have the opportunity to escape from our wrath. Our reinforcements will shortly arrive and we will finish what we started here. Keep up the attack and divert our fighters to intercept the incoming Republic attack."

"Roger roger!

Meanwhile across the battlefield, the Republic starfighters from the surface have joined up with the Republic's fleet and now began their counterattack.

"Good to see you, Generals! Ready to have some fun with the boys up here?" Blackjack asked Kaiaala and Natzer.

"You bet we are, Blackjack!" Natzer answered.

"It's a breeze to be up here than down on the surface." Kaiaala responded.

"Well get ready, Generals. It's about to be a whole lot rougher up here!" Blackjack said as they entered the battle with the Jedi and ARC-170s opening their S-foils into attack position.

"Kaiaala, both of us and Black Squadron need to keep those fighters off our bombers so they can strike the enemy's capital ship!" Natzer informed her as Vulture Droids and tri-fighters were heading right towards them

"I know the drill, Natzer! Kaiaala said as the droid starfighters were now right in front of them. The Jedi and Clones fired their starfighter's laser cannons at the droid fighters as both sides now engaged each other. Several droid starfighters zoomed past them as the Jedi and Clones were now in the thickness of the space battle.

Bridge of the Guardian

Admiral Hawkens was at the holotable looking at the projection of Haidoral Prime and the space battle above the planet. By this point in the battle, the Republic fleet lost three Venators, several Arquitens, a dozen Consulars, and several starfighters. But on the other hand, the Separatists lost most of their Munificents, all of their Recusants, and one Providence, along with a huge complement of their starfighters as well. Admiral Hawkens knew that his fleet's counterattack was their only chance to escape from the Separatists before any more of their reinforcements could arrive and wipe them out. He quickly looked at several star systems to safely escape to without the Separatists noticing them nearby. Unfortunately, all available hyperspace routes from Haidoral Prime led to occupied Separatist planets where they were waiting for the Republic to exit out of hyperspace and engage them. Thinking of any ideas on how to escape the battle, Hawkens thought of everything until the Lieutenant came in and informed him of the battle.

"Sir, we're beginning to punch through the rest of the Separatist fleet!" The Lieutenant on the bridge informed the Admiral.

"We're doing good so far, Lieutenant. But we have nowhere to escape to. All known hyperspace routes would just lead us to another Separatist fleet waiting for us on the other side. They would just destroy once we exit on the other side if we were to escape right now. I will NOT let tens of thousands of lives be wasted for nothing." the Admiral told him.

"So what do we do now to escape this battle, Admiral?" Hawkens paused for a second.

"I have an idea, a very risky one at that…" Hawkens began typing the coordinates into the holotable which showed up on the star chart, which went past the Mid Rim and Wild Space, and into the Unknown Regions. He began to upload the coordinates onto a datapad as the Lieutenant was shocked to where the coordinates go and began to question his superior.

"Admiral, sir. With all due respect, but are you suggesting that the fleet goes into the Unknown Regions?!" The Lieutenant asked him as if he was mad.

"Why yes, Lieutenant. I have the location of a secret area in the Unknown Regions that Republic scouts have found not too long ago where we could safely escape to. This area is a highly kept secret between me and some members of Admiralty. It's completely safe, and from there we can reorganize ourselves and try to contact the Republic for help once we reestablish contact. You might think I'm probably crazy, but this might just work." he answered.

"Sir, the Unknown Regions is, well... unknown. And we have no idea what we could possibly face out there! What if we crash into a star? Or find something much worse like an unknown alien species?"

"Do you have any better ideas on where to run to, Lieutenant?" The Admiral asked him.

"Uh… no, sir!"

"Good. Then upload these coordinates to the ship's navicomputer and give them to the rest of the fleet. We're getting out of this battle alive!" Hawkens ordered the Clone as he handed him the datapad.

"Yes, sir!" The Lieutenant saluted at him and proceeded to do his task as the Admiral ordered him.

"Or I hope so, at least." Hawkens said to himself as he walked to the front of the bridge as the battle raged on. "We need to get the fleet out of here ASAP. Focus the fleet's fire on that Dreadnought, and then we're making a run for it!" Hawkens ordered the crew as they focused on the weakest dreadnought.

Natzer and Kaiaala were currently chasing down enemy droid starfighters to keep them off their Y-wings and ARC-170s tails as they were taking down an enemy Munificent-class frigate which proceeded to explode into several chunks. Both Jedi flew past the debris as two tri-fighters fired missiles at them.

"Missiles, pull up!" Kaiaala warned Natzer as they narrowly dodged them. The missiles then hatched open and revealed a swarm of buzz droids.

"Look out! Buzz droids!" Natzer steered his fighter away from the little buggers as Kaiaala followed suit. Unfortunately one of the buzz droids managed to latch onto Natzer's starfighter, right in front of D5 on the left wing. The buzz droid laughed mechanically as it approached D5's left and prepared to cut him apart, but the astromech crushed the buzz droid by closing the ship's wing and opened, killing the droid as its body flew off the ship.

"Nice work, Deefive!" Natzer congratulated his astromech, who beeped at him.

"Blackjack, you got three Vulture Droids on your tail! Hang on, we're coming to you!" Kaiaala informed him as she was about to help him before he spoke to her.

"No thanks, general Pippar. I got this under control!" He replied.

"Under control?"

"Just watch!" Blackjack said as he came around with the fighters still on his tail. He then immediately did some crazy evasive maneuvers and got behind the Vulture Droids, shooting them all down down in rapid succession.

"Told you!" He said to Kaiaala.

"Their shields are down! All fighters attack that dreadnought so we can get out of here!" Admiral Hawkens ordered all Republic fighters as the fleet began sending down a barrage of turbolaser fire towards the enemy dreadnought.

"Black Squadron, regroup on us and Blackjack! Let's teach these clankers a lesson!" Natzer ordered them.

"Let's go get 'em, boys!" Blackjack cheered with his squadmates.

"Yeah!"

"Let's scrap these rust buckets!"

While Natzer and Kaiaala were off busy targeting the dreadnought with other Y-wings and ARC-170s, Blackjack flew to the dreadnought's main hangar as it's shields were down. And just like the mad lad he is, he flew right into the enemy ship's hangar and blasted away at enemy starfighters preparing to take off as he flew through the hangar and out. Blackjack then destroyed multiple Hyena bombers near a massive stockpile of explosives, which erupted in the hangar into a massive fireball as he just barely flew out there in the nick of time.

"Woo-hoo!" Blackjack cheered as the dreadnought's hangar erupted in flames, causing severe damage to the ship.

"Hey, leave some for us, Blackjack!" Natzer joked at him.

"Sorry, sir! But the early bird gets the worm, first!" He joked to Natzer as well.

With wave after wave of attack by the Republic's starfighters and the barrage of turbolaser fire from their Venators, the dreadnought was eventually destroyed along with a few more Munificent frigates as they exploded into fireballs. With the Separatist fleet severely damaged and weakened, the Republic fleet, now with it's Acclamators grouped up with them, steered away from the Separatist fleet and recalled their fighters.

"All fighters return! We're preparing to jump to hyperspace!" A Clone Officer from the Guardian informed all Republic starfighters.

"Let's get onboard before the Separatists get any new ideas!" Natzer ordered as he sped up to the Guardian.

"Right away, sir!" Blackjack said as he and Black Squadron raced to the Vanator with several other squadrons of Y-wings, Clone Z-95s, and ARC-170s entering the three Venators and Acclamators' hangar bays. Natzer and Kaiaala were right behind everyone else as they shot down any remaining droid starfighters from attacking them.

Onboard the bridge of the Guardian, Hawkens and the rest of the crew had the coordinated put into the ship's navicomputer and gave them to the rest of the fleet. They were just about finished with their fighters returning to their ship as they detected multiple ships coming out of hyperspace. It was an entire Separatist fleet much larger than the previous one, and were ready to finish the job they created.

"Sir! More enemy ships have just come out of hyperspace!" The Lieutenant announced to him.

Just as Natzer and Kaiaala were the last ones to board the Guardian, the Separatist fleet began sending out their fighters and were about to fire on the Republic fleet's position. Both Jedi quickly landed their fighters next to each other just as the Guardian's hangar doors closed.

"We're all ready, Admiral!" Natzer spoke to Hawkens over his comlink. Hawkens then nodded back at the crew behind him and turned around towards the viewport and saw the entire fleet consisting of the remaining three Venators, six Arquitens, and a dozen Charger c70 Consulars along with the three Acclamators, loaded to the hull with troopers, ground vehicles, aircraft, and supplies, and six Pelta-class frigates as well, jump into hyperspace, escaping the Separatist fleet.

Bridge of the Separatist Providence-class dreadnought fleet flagship "Bulwark"

"Uh, they got away, sir!" The B1 informed the super tactical droid as he stared at where the Republic fleet was.

"They don't matter. This planet and its resources now belong to the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Get me in contact with Count Dooku, for we have fulfilled our mission objectives." The droid ordered the B1.

"Yes, sir!"

With Haidoral Prime now under Separatist control, the planet will now give them a huge increase of war materials needed for the Droid Army, and a perfect staging area in the Mid Rim of the galaxy. But for where the Republic fleet and it's forces will end up is certainly unknown, for only they will know once they exit their jump from hyperspace...