» Zero Hour

~ by

Dramatis Personae:

Aurek Squad, 3rd Platoon, Alpha Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Special Commando Trooper Regiment:
- Sargent CT-059/1449 "Hawk", Squad leader. Aurek squad
- Corporal CT-059/1450 "Parr", Second-in-command, Aurek squad
- Private CT-159/1400 "Sarc", Medical corpsman
- Private CT-059/1499 "Ne'tra", Sniper/spotter
- Private CT-059/1500 "Katar", Sniper/spotter
- Private CT-059/1444 "Forty", Communications operator
- Private CT-059/1423 "Jast", Support gunner
- Private CT-059/1424 "Plex", Heavy weapons
- Private CT-059/1411 "A'den", Engineering/demolitions

Other:
- Junior Commander CC-2443 "Cole", Commander of 1st Special Commando Trooper Regiment
- 2nd Lieutenant CT-141/2016 "Crash", commander of 3rd Platoon
- Captain CT-066/9875 "Ket", Commander of 2nd Battalion
- Sargent CT-060/1536 "Killer", Cresh Squad Leader
- Sargent CT-056/1602 "Swift", Dorn Squad Leader
- Corporal CT-988/1452 "Talyc", former second-in-command of Beta Squad, 1st Platoon
- Supreme General Mace Windu, Jedi council member and supreme commander of the 1st Special Commando Trooper regiment


0710 Hours, Geonosis Execution Arena

Zero Hour, Clone Wars:

Sargent Hawk jumped out of the gunship before it even touched down on the ground, DC-15a blaster rifle blazing. He took down a unshielded destroyer droid with a quick burst of accurate plasma bolts, and then a security droid with his next burst. The other eight clone troopers of Aurek Squad jumped off the LAAT/i and onto the orange, sandy ground of the Geonosian execution arena. General Yoda had set up a perimeter of gunships around the few Jedi who had survived the rescue mission, and the Jedi were quickly rushing towards the four gunships.

As soon as three Jedi– a Cerean, a Nautolan, and a dark-skinned human male –had jumped into his gunship, Hawk motioned for the rest of his squad to get into the gunship. Hawk was the last one to get onto the gunship, and he continued to fire plasma rounds into the droid forces below him unto the gunship was on the move.

As Hawk stood up, he heard General Yoda, the diminutive, large-eared Jedi master, talking to the dark-skinned Jedi.

"...scapes, rally more systems to his cause he will."

The other Jedi nodded, but before he could respond, the gunship swerved to avoid anti-aircraft fire that rose to meet them as they neared the Regiment command post that Commander Cole had established at the front lines.

Hawk grabbed onto the safety grips to keep himself from falling, as the gunship continued to avoid AA fire. One of the gunships next to them, the one carrying Besh Squad, was caught in intense AA fire, stalled, exploded and then plummeted to the ground below. Behind Hawk's visor he winced. Even though the troopers were supposed to be brainwashed and emotionless, basically organic droids, the sargent felt remorse, and pain, and fear.

"Pilot! Land in that assembly area!"

"Yes sir!"

The dark skinned Jedi's command to the pilot shook Hawk out of his thoughts and back to the task at hand. The LAAT/i gunship gracefully glided down to the Special Commando Trooper's regimental CP, or Command Post, and Aurek Squad and the three Jedi rushed out.

"Sir, I have four special commando units awaiting your orders, sir." Commander Cole, the Special Commando Trooper's commanding officer, said to the dark Jedi.

Although not exactly true, the four battalions of elite clone troops that made up the 1st Special Commando Trooper regiment weren't exactly clone commandos, they could carry out a variety of missions, making them, in effect, commandos.

Hawk turned to the other squad sargents. Aurek Squad had gotten through the arena without casualties, but it appeared that Cresh and Dorn squads had suffered some fatalities, and Besh Squad had been destroyed a few minutes before. He walked over to talk with Sargents Swift and Killer.

"How'd it go for you, Vode?" He asked as he walked up to the two squad leaders.

"Eh," Said Swift as he grasped Hawk's shoulder in traditional Mandalorian greeting. "Could of been worse, Vod. One of my men got hit by a stray blast from a super battle droid tri-cannon, but he'll be ok." He glanced over to where a medic was bandaging up a injured clone trooper.

"It wasn't that easy for us." Killer said. Killer was a sargent who earned his nickname for being a fierce combat. His voice was deeper and more intimidating then the other clones', and his face (when un-helmeted) was etched with scars. "Three of my men are out of the battle, and another one went down when we were extracting. I'm down by four troopers."

Just then the commander of the 3rd Platoon, Lieutenant Crash, walked up and interrupted the sargents' conversation.

"Sorry to interrupt, boys, but we got a battle to win here. The Separatists are holding their own, despite the element of surprise we incorporated in our strike, and the battle is not going as good as it could be." He paused for a second before continuing. "The Seppies' counterattacked on our left flank, and the commander over there has called for reinforcements. Our regiment has been assigned to drive the Seppies back and possibly launch an advance from the left, but that's not what we need you for."

Lieutenant Crash pulled a small map reader from his utility belt and activated it, and a blue transparent map of the battlefield appeared. "There is a single complication. The left flank is being covered by a Separatist artillery battery, and if we launch an attack, their artillery will chew us to pieces. I just received orders, and we've been chosen for this operation because we're the only unit ‘not required' for the retaking of the left flank. The battery is here–" He pointed to a small mountain on the holo map. "–we can't call in an air strike because the artillery is housed in a bunker in a cave, and the Separatists have added supports to the cave, so it would be ineffective to do things that way. You'll have to get there on foot, because are Larty's can't get close enough for you to fast-rope in safely. We don't know how well the bunker is defended, besides the fact that nearby anti-air batteries keep any gunships from coming in close enough to drop us off, so the gunships will take us within four klicks of the battery's position, and from there we'll have to go out on foot. Understood?"

"Sir yes sir!" The three sargents replied in unison.

"Excellent. Brief your squads and be ready to move out in five minutes. Dismissed."


Once again, Hawk and the rest of Aurek Squad were in a Larty gunship and on their way back into action. Hawk had briefed his men, and now the eight other clone soldiers were sitting around the troop bay readying their weapons.

Corporal Parr, Hawk's second-in-command, sat on the edge of the Larty, the nickname they had given the LAAT/i gunships, troop bay, with his rifle in his arms and his legs dangling above the orange landscape hundred's of feet below. Katar and Ne'tra, the squad's two sniper/spotters, were cleaning their specialized DC-15x sniper rifles. When the touched down, Hawk planned to deploy them to lay down cover fire for the rest of the squad. Private Jast and Private Plex sat with their two heavy weapons, Jast carrying the Z-6 rotating repeating blaster, and Plex his PLX-1 missile launcher. Hawk thought that the PLX would come in handy, especially against any Separatist armored units, such as the DSD, or dwarf spider droid. Private Sarc, the squad's medic, was checking and rechecking his supplies. Though all clones were trained in basic medical procedures, Sarc was one of those who received more advanced and specialized training in it. Private Forty was the communications operator of the squad, and he would usually, with Katar and Ne'tra operating as spotters, be the one who would call in air and orbital strikes on targets, as well as call in for extractions, reinforcements, etcetera. And lastly A'den, a clone trooper who was known for collecting scars, as well as being a fierce hand-to-hand fighter and a exceptional shot. Each member of Aurek Squad carried a DC-15a blaster, with the exception of Katar and Ne'tra, who just carried carbines, which they would use as a backup weapon. Each DC-15a was equipped with a miniature grenade launcher that was effective against densely-packed infantry and thinly-armored vehicles. Aurek Squad did not usually employ these weapons, but Hawk had a feeling that they would be helpful in the upcoming mission. Dorn and Cresh squads, each in their own gunships next to Hawk's, were similarly armed for the mission.

"We're approaching the LZ now sir!" The pilot yelled back to Hawk.

"Roger that." He replied before turning back to look at the rest of his squad. "You heard him! Up and at ‘em boys! Get ready!"

The eight other clone troopers loaded and armed their weapons, and then stood up and lined up next to the open troop bay doors.

The three LAAT/is roared over the landing zone, each one's gun turrets scanning for enemies. Hawk's gunship was the first to touch down, and the clone troops poured out. On either side of Aurek Squad, Dorn and Cresh squads were similarly deploying. As soon as the whole twenty-three soldiers were on the ground, the LAAT/i's flew away, wagging their wings in a traditional salute to the platoon.

Hawk commed Lieutenant Crash, who had come down with Cresh squad.

"Sir, Aurek Squad is ready and awaiting your orders." He said into the commlink.

"Sir, Dorn Squad is ready and awaiting your orders." Reported Swift.

"Roger that. Platoon, move out!" Replied the blue-marked lieutenant.


"Target spotted, sir. At .229"

Katar's report was not unexpected. Lieutenant Crash had ordered Sargent Hawk to have one of his men reconnoiter ahead of the three squads. They had been walking for ten minutes, moving in a loose formation that would make them a harder target for super battle droids and dwarf spider droids.

"Roger that." Replied Hawk quietly. He motioned for Crash. "Sir, my scout has found our target, sir."

"Ok." Replied the lieutenant. "Have him get back here as quickly and quietly as you can."

"Yes sir." Said Hawk as he motioned for Forty to relay the order to Katar. "How are we going to do this, sir?"

"You're squad," Crash said. "Is going to come up from the top entrance and move downwards through the bunker. Dorn squad will go in through the bottom entrance, and Cresh will stay in as reserve, with me coordinating the attack." The lieutenant pointed to the holo map of the area, showing where the top of the bunker. "You'll have to climb up there. Cresh squad will cover you from up here."

Hawk chuckled. "So Dorn get's it easy, eh?"

"Pretty much." Said Swift as he walked up to the two clones. "We get to go in from the area where the droids are playing sabaac and drinking caf."

"Yeah." Said Hawk sarcastically.

"Sargents, you know what to do. Deploy your squads as you see fit and assault the bunker." Said Crash. "And may the Force be with you."

The two squad leaders saluted and walked off to begin their difficult tasks.

"Fire in the hole!"

The once strong blast door caved in under the might of the detonite charges Aurek Squad had planted on it. Quickly Jast rushed into the hole the troopers had made, his repeating blaster cannon sweeping in a wide arc that mowed through the enemy battle droids. The droids that were not destroyed by the entry were destroyed when the soldiers of Aurek Squad rushed in with their blaster rifles on full-automatic. Quickly the remaining super battle droids were reduced to smoking hulks on the bunker floor. The bunker was not lit very well, requiring Sargent Hawk to activate his low-light vision, and order his troopers to do the same.

As the troopers of Aurek Squad systematically destroyed the Separatist defenses as they moved down towards where the artillery were being housed. It appeared that the Special Commando Trooper's two-pronged simultaneous attack at the bunker had disoriented the artillery commander, and was apparently calling all the other droid units down to the artillery housing.

Ten minutes after they had entered the bunker, Hawk called their squad to a stop. As the other troopers sat down and checked their weapons, Hawk called in a SITREP, or Situation Report, to Crash.

"Sir, we successfully entered the bunker and are moving down to the lower levels. Limited resistance. Zero casualties."

"Roger that, Hawk. Keep it moving. Crash out."

"Affirmative, sir. Hawk out." Hawk shut down the commlink and handed it back Forty. "All right boys, let's keep it moving! Move out!" He motioned his squad forward and they continued on.

The squad moved along for a little while longer until they entered a massive artificially-made cave. The cave was about thirty yards tall by a hundred wide. The cave had been reinforced with durasteel plating and pillars, making any attack on the bunker from the outside futile. In the center of the cave were four hypervelocity artillery cannons, the cannons that Commander Cole and General Windu feared so much. Hawk once again called a stop and examined the cave. It appeared that Cole had underestimated how much the Seppies' wanted to keep these well-placed cannons. Each cannon was guarded by at least a platoon of super battle droids and a single dwarf spider droid, making it sixty super battle droids and four dwarf spider droids against nine clone troopers, a very, very unfair fight. Hawk motioned for Forty to give him the comm and called his superior.

"Sir, we are within sight of the batteries. It appears that the Seps plan on holding onto this bunker for a long time sir. We count sixty super battle droids and four dwarf spider droids, plus an unknown number of droidkas and B1 battle droids."

"Roger that." He heard the reply from Crash. "Sargent Hawk, you are on your own."

"What was that sir?" Asked Hawk.

"We lost contact with Dorn squad Hawk. Your on your own."

Hawk thought for a second before replying. "What about Cresh squad?"

"Sorry Sargent. We're pinned down outside the bunker by a several dwarf spider droids. I don't think we'll be able to reinforce you. You are on your own.

"Roger that sir. Aurek Squad out." Hawk shut down the commlink and turned to his troops. "We've lost contact with Sargent Swift and his squad, Aureks." He said bitterly, thinking about his old friend. "We're on our own. Cresh is pinned down by a squad of dwarf spider droids. So let's take these di'kuts out!" He yelled. "Plex, I want you to take out the nearest super battle droid platoon and dwarf spider droid. They should be closely packed enough for you," The private nodded in response and loaded a warhead into his PLX-1. "Katar, Ne'tra" Continued Hawk, "I want you guys to snipe as many droids as you can," The two snipers we're getting into good cross-fire positions. "Jast, I want you to lay down a good blanket of support fire as we go in. Everyone understand?" All the troopers nodded. "Ok. Get ready!" Hawk raised his hand as he waited for the other eight men to get into position. When they were, he brought down his hand and rushed towards the droids from the entrance.

Simultaneously Plex fired his PLX-1 rocket into the nearest droid platoon, hitting the spider droid right on and knocking the nearby super battle droids to the ground, shredded by shrapnel. At the same time, Katar and Ne'tra picked off droids in the two other platoons, dropping droids with each shot. Also at the same time, Jast swept his Z-6 from side to side, sending a lethal blanket of fire into the same unit that Plex had targeted, wiping out the surviving droids as the struggled to their to get back on their feet. And then the four other clones, Sarc, Parr, Forty, and A'den charged the remaining droids, their blaster rifles blazing, swerving to avoid the return fire coming from the battle droids.

Sargent Hawk pumped his small grenade launcher as he rushed the droids, sending explosive shells into one of the dwarf spider droids, obliterating it in a bright explosion. One of the other dwarf spider droids saw him and opened fire with it's blaster cannon, trying to hit the soldier. But Hawk shoulder rolled to the side, evading the plasma bolt completely, and brought up his rifle and pulled the trigger quickly three times.

His shots hit the large droid in both of it's red photoceptor eyes, blinding it. But the droid continued to fire, which surprised Hawk. He fired again, once again into the droid's eye. The bolts punched through the thin armor behind the eye and into the droid's electronic brain, disabling it completely. Satisfied, Hawk turned and targeted a super battle droid. His first few bolts smashed into it's shoulder, but the droid's armor was heavy enough to protect the droid's arm from being decapitated, and the droid shrugged off the injury and continued to fire at the sargent. One of the red plasma bolts missed Hawk by a centimeter, grazing the side of his green-marked helmet and leaving a burn mark as it flew past. Hawk rolled out of the way of one of the droids bolts and brought his rifle up and pulled the trigger. This time, the bolts flew true, connecting with the droid's head and lightly armored "belly", knocking the destroying the battle droid.

Hawk continued to mow through the battle droids, taking down a single heavily armored droid in a small three-shot burst. Within a few minutes, the battle droids were destroyed and the remaining battle droids had been turned into hulking pieces of scrap metal.

The Aureks, with the exception of the two snipers, began to place the demolitions charges on the cannons. Though they had ceased firing, because their battle droid operators had been reduced to scrap, they were still a potential threat. Within a few moments the charges had been set, and Hawk motioned for his squad to move out– just when a squad of destroyer droids deployed outside of the cave's exit.

"Take cover!" Barked Hawk, and he dived behind the ruined hulk of a dwarf spider droid, with A'den and Jast by his side. He turned to see the rest of his squad following suit, attempting to return fire at the shielded, and nearly invincible, destroyers.

With a few quick hand signals, Hawk motioned for A'den and Jast to arm a couple of electro-static grenades, and the two troopers nodded and quickly pulled the cylindrical charges from their utility belts. Hawk did likewise, pulling the thin durasteel pin loose and holding down the trigger that, when released, would detonate the grenade.

The Kaminoans had planned for just this situation, and had mass-ordered the EC grenades from Merr-Sonn. The ECs emitted a high-energy electro-static pulse that would fry droid circuitry and disable the light shields used by the destroyers.

With a quick hand signal to Jast and A'den, the three clone troopers threw the grenades over their cover towards the squad of destroyer droids. The grenades landed at the feet of the droids and just sat there. Then they blew up.

The grenades released their electro-static payload in an radius twelve feet wide, encasing the destroyers in a field of highly electric energy. The droids' shields sputtered, held for a second, and then went out.

"Die scumbags!" Yelled A'den, in the language of the Mandalorians, as the grenades detonated. "Ke nu jrkad sha Mando'ad, brc'ya!"

Hawk stuck his head over his cover and held down on his blaster rifle's trigger, and the other troopers did the same. With their shields disabled, the once-threatening destroyers were caught by the accurate blaster bolts of the clone troops, and were very quickly reduced to the same state as their other brethren. In other words, smoking piles.

The troopers stayed behind cover for a few seconds, rifles trained on the door from which the destroyers had come from, waiting to make sure no more arrived. Satisfied, Hawk stood up and motioned for his squad.

"Okay boys. We've followed our orders and now it's time to get our kamas out of here." Hawk glanced out to the cave's opening, the opening where the artillery cannons were supposed to be firing. "We'll rappel down the spire's wall until we reach the bottom, and there I'll blow the cannons. Get ready vode'an!"

The eight other clones rushed over to the cave's opening and began to set up their rappel lines, while Hawk called Crash over the commlink.

"Sir, we've planted the charges on the guns and eliminated all hostiles. Preparing to evacuate the spire now, sir."

There was a pause over the commlink.

"Excellent, sargent. I will relay your report to the Commander. Get out of there and meet us at RV Alpha."

"Roger that, sir. Aurek Squad out." Hawk replied before shutting down the commlink and walking over to the rest of his troops, who all had their lines and clamps set up and were ready and awaiting his next order.

Quickly, Hawk pulled the small clamp and cable from the small pack on his back and secured the clamp on the lip of the cave's mouth, and then tied the cable to his utility harness. He tugged it a few times to make sure it was secure, before giving the order to move out.

The clones made it to the bottom of the spire in a few minutes, and the rappel was uneventful. As the nine white-armored troops slowly moved down the side of the spire, Hawk looked towards where the main battle was going on. Apparently, now that their artillery had been taken out, the Separatists were rapidly losing hold of the left flank, and it appeared that the Special Commando Troopers would recapture the Left quickly. Hawk gave the order to double-time it down the face of the spire, so that they could get to the rendevous point and link up with Cresh Squad.

When the troops reached the bottom, they quickly detached their jump cables and dropped into a combat maneuver known as a "tight three-sixty", with a clone covering each vector.

"Sir, no sign of enemy hostiles, sir." Said Parr.

Suddenly there was a loud crack, and a blaster bolt flew at the troopers, hitting Plex in the chest. The clone trooper fell with a smoking hole in his chest.

"Snipers! Scatter!" Barked Hawk.

The surviving troops dived behind the orange rock, out of sight of the droid sniper.

"Katar, Ne'tra, did you see where the shot came from?" Said Hawk over the commlink.

"Affirmative, sir." Replied Ne'tra. "It came from over there, sir." The sniper pointed towards a small cliff on the side of another spire. Hawk pulled out his electrobinoculars and quickly poked his head out of cover, scanning the area which his sniper had directed his attention to. Finally he saw what he was looking for. A small, skeletal, B1-series battle droid armed with a E-5s sniper rifle, laying prone on an outcropping with a perfect fire arc. Hawk saw the droid for only a millisecond before ducking his head under the protective cover of the rock. He turned to look at two soldiers next to him, Parr and A'den.

"You two, cover me. I'm going to take that chakaar out." He said.

The soldiers nodded, and then dived out from behind their cover, their blaster rifles spraying the area where the sniper had been spotted, all the while maneuvering to keep the sniper from being able to get an accurate fix on them.

While the two other clones covered him, Hawk dived for the corpse of the now-dead member of his squad, the only one that carried a PLX-1 missile launcher. Just as he neared the body, however, he heard a loud crack and saw a blaster bolt hit the ground next to where his head had been. The sniper had seen what the clone was attempting to reach and had taken a desperate, yet inaccurate, shot at the clone sargent. This didn't stop Hawk. He reached the missile launcher just as the sniper took a second shot. This one grazed his hip, and though it didn't injure him because of his armor, the force of the bolt did send him spinning to the ground. But even as he hit the ground, he'd shouldered the rocket launcher, aimed towards the outcropping, and pulled the firing stud.

The missile screamed toward the sniper's position and smacked into the cliff face, detonating with a roar and sending the outcropping– and the droid on it –plummeting to the ground hundreds of meters below.

Hawk sighed in relief and placed the missile launcher on the ground, and rushed over to where Sarc was kneeling, checking on Plex.

"Is he dead, doc?" He asked, even though he knew the answer.

The medic stood up. "Yes sir. No one could have survived that."

Hawk turned to see Private Jast, Plex's closest companion, standing next to him, his head hanging.

"Udesii, ner vod." Take it easy, my brother. Said Hawk. "Now is not the time." Hawk turned to the rest of his unit. "Okay boys, double time to RV Alpha. Let's move!"

The clones got out from behind their cover and all of them, including Jast, started jogging towards the general direction of the RV point. Hawk followed.

When they were a hundred meters away, Hawk pressed the stud on the detonator remote.

And then his ears were filled with the roar of the exploding cannons as the charges blew up.


0758 Hours, RV Point Alpha

Zero Plus Fifty:

"Su'cuy, Sargent!" Yelled Lieutenant Crash as the tired soldiers of Aurek Squad jogged into view. "We were beginning to wonder if you were going to join us."

"Su'cuy, sir." Sargent Hawk returned the traditional Mandalorian greeting. "How goes the battle, sir?"

"Excellently, Hawk. We recaptured the Left flank and the Commander and General Windu are preparing to advance. Our battalion is preparing to lead the attack."

The rest of Aurek Squad began to sit down on the sand and stretch their muscles. They had just jogged the five kilometers to the RV point wearing bulky armor.

"How did it go?" Asked Crash.

"It went well, sir." Replied Hawk. "We did get pinned down by a sniper outside of the artillery spire." Hawk glanced at Jast, who was checking his Z-6 blaster. "He took out one of my men sir, but besides that we're ready at hundred percent, sir."

"Excellent. Sorry about you're loss, Hawk, but you're in luck. We don't have any more 'specialized' missions, just kill as many shabla droids as you can." Crash gripped his inferior's soldier. "Good work, sargent. Good work." He stepped back and turned towards the area where Cresh squad was gathered. "Have you're men up and moving for the front at 08:00, sargent. Dismissed!"

Hawk saluted and marched back to his squad.

Hawk got his men moving on time, and they made it to the front lines. They could see the nine thousand other clones on the field, beginning to engage the droids in close-quarters. He motioned for his squad to double time it and led them back to the regimental CP. When they reached the post, Hawk ran up to a red-marked captain, who was conversing with another clone trooper and a white-dressed human female.

"Sir, Sargent CT-059/1449 reporting for duty, sir." Hawk said, saluting. "Aurek Squad is awaiting your orders, sir."

"Welcome to the front, Sargent." The captain turned to the sargent, returning his salute. "At ease. I'm Captain Ket."

"I was ordered to report in here, Captain Ket sir!" Replied Hawk. "My squad is awaiting your orders."

"Excellent." Replied the captain. "Corporal Talyc here is the last one left of Beta Squad. They were pursuing Count Dooku, the Separatist leader, when his gunship was hit and he and the senator" The captain nodded towards the female. "We're both knocked out of the Larty. Your squad is to accompany Talyc and the senator and attempt to capture the Count, understood?"

Hawk glanced quickly at the senator, before returning his attention to the captain. "Sir yes sir!"

"Good. Get moving. You're ride's already here."

"Move, Move, Move!" Hawk said to his squad as they poured out of the gunship and onto the hangar ramp. No sooner had his squad and the senator poured out of the gunship when they heard the sound of revving engines. Two of his men looked around confused, just as a strange-looking Geonosian craft raced out of the hangar exist on their left. The clones and the senator fired a few rounds, attempting to hit the ship, but the craft was able to get out of range and rise into the atmosphere.

"Secure the area!" Barked Hawk after the gunship was out of range. His troops rushed into the hangar, guns raised. However, all they found was two incapacitated men laying on the ground, and the diminutive green form of General Yoda.

"Anakin!" Said the senator, running towards one of the Jedi and helping him to his feet. Hawk noticed he was missing his right arm.

"Area secured, sir." Said Corporal Parr, turning to his superior.

"Excellent. Forty!" Yelled Hawk, and his communications man trotted up to him. "Call in a medical team, and tell them to get here ASAP." Said Hawk, glancing towards

"Yes sir."


0815 Geonosis Battlefield

Zero Plus Seventy:

Hawk and his squad stood in line, waiting for extraction. Gunship after gunship landed and took off, each time extracting a different squad of the 1st Special Commando Trooper regiment. He'd removed his helmet for the first time while planetside on Geonosis, running his hands through his dark hair.

"We did good sarge." Said Sarc, who had also removed his helmet, his face identical to Hawk's. "A single casualty, while the rest of our platoon took it heavy. Pretty good, eh?"

Another gunship rose into the bright Geonosian sky.

"Yeah, Sarc." Said Hawk. "Pretty good."