21 Bby
Kardonja Sector
Katrina System
The separatist forces were on the run, the fleets pulling back to consolidate within the far outer rims yet the Republic - high on its momentum - pushed after them.
While no battle on the scale of the Battle of Coruscant happened again, there were smaller intense battles still happening all over the galaxy.
One such battle was the last major naval battle of the 91st Regiment. Their maneuver to cut off the separatist retreat route had backfired and now they were outnumbered 5 to one.
Luckily for them, most of the droids were following their primary directive of fleeing. Unluckily for them, there was a tactical droid within the fleet that decided to suicide run them with what forces it could command.
The main command ship, The Venerator - Venator Class Star Destroyer was dueling two different Munificent at the same time.
Its guns had trouble keeping up with the firepower that had been set against it, each passing second saw the ships maneuver closer to the sides of the Venator making any hopes of retreat futile.
Underneath it snuck a singular separatist destroyer that released a surprising amount of firepower in multiple volleys that wrecked the hall of the Venerator.
Officers screamed commands as engineers raced to repair what damage they could.
"Seal off Level 1, refocus gun deck 2 and 4 on the destroyer."
" Multiple Vultures approaching from vector...."
"Sir, Munificent closing the distance in growing speed. "
"We're going to get rammed"
" Brace! Brace! Brace! "
A single Munificent crashed itself unto the Venator destroying itself and causing untold damage to the Venator.
How it was still standing was beyond the crews and they were too grateful to begin questioning it.
Below, on gunner deck 2 was CT - 3434 taking command of the gunners as they switched their aim towards the small and nimble destroyer.
Their first two shots missed completely with gun deck 4 having similar luck with only a single hit and another 2 miss.
He turned, watching through his scope as the destroyer swerved and turned around for another attack run.
" Hold your fire, align your aim on elevation 45°. 345.92. " He ordered, quickly activating his comms to contact the other gunner deck.
[< Gun Deck 4, this is gunner deck 2 - focus your fire on elevations 40° - 60°, our guns are primed for elevations 45° with a linear line towards the bridge. We just need them to focus on you >]
[< Copy Gun deck 2, we'll prime the target for you. Over >]
"See what I see Bunny boy?" CT-3434 said to his gunner.
" Yeah, aiming for the sides of that bloodthirsty thing "
" Bingo, train your line of fire 2 degrees between each shot. That things going to scale up and we will lead it "
" Copy "
The gunner responded as he released his first shot, the nimbleness of the destroyer allowed it swiftly dodge the incoming shots
Gun deck 4 could be seen, releasing volleys of fire that seemed to mostly miss. Each shot seemed to only trade positions, either being too upwards, downwards or just a bit more to the right.
The destroyer was well known for its reckless push, it would soon feel comfortable enough to rush straight forward into their bridge.
" Retrain guns at elevation 54° "
" Breach Breach Breach " A voice called out as the vacuum of space drew out the clones who were caught off guard.
The ship had been breached by some shot and while it lasted no more than a few seconds as the emergency doors quickly rushed shut, droids had breached into the gunning decks.
It had turned into a desperate fight to repel them, clones quickly rushed into the decks as B2 battle droids held the front with numerous B1s accompanying them behind.
" It's closing in fast "
" Close it bunny boy, hit the hull " CT-3434 called as their shots began hitting the destroyer.
But suddenly it began to move and swerve, uncontained by the shells from gunner deck 4.
[
CT 3434 screamed over the comms but there was no reply, suddenly blaster fire arch over his head as he quick crouched and turned.
Droids, multiple of them were pushing him. Quickly he assumed that deck 4 had been lost and he turned to his gunner.
" Get that ship! " He said before rushing forward, he dived for the gun of a downed trooper and began returning fire.
'Bunny boy' restrained his sights to focus on the engines of the destroyer. He knew they didn't have time to spare.
Closer it came as the first shell missed, again he fired as the shell grazed the sleek tail of the destroyer.
The destroyer in turn had began firing its weapons, its head spearheading its reckless rush aimed at the command bridge of the Venerator.
Its engines overheating from being pushed to their very edges as they burned hot with energy.
A miss and another miss.
Bunny Boy pause, moved his gun slightly upwards then fired. The destroyer, already too focused on its goals got hit in one of its engines which caused it to suddenly move off course.
Its upper right engine blew right off and pushed it way off course but as in que with their behavior, the destroyer aimed rather at the body of the ship and rammed straight into it.
The sudden change in direction and the uneven angle broke the ship in half as whatever gun decks were still online released volleys that turned what ever was left of it to scraps.
Platoon 3 of the 4th assault Battalion was currently holding off a horde of droids marching towards their position.
One of the passing ships, no doubt under the command of the tactical droid, had launched multiple docking ships filled to the brim with droids.
While their gunners had managed to down a few, enough of them made it through to cause problems for the crew and ships occupants.
They burrowed into the ships hull at multiple points, according to protocols - they quickly identified and isolated those areas before dispatching response teams.
One such team was 3rd platoon of the 4th battalion or as they liked to call themselves, the 34th Batta Squad. An odd name , especially the designation which would no doubt pose issues for command operations.
Still their name had reasoning which they held proudly, they saw themselves as the healing part of their Battalion even if they were designated an assault platoon.
"Hull breaches at sectors 23 through 28, another two at quadrant 3 of the lower bridge though we are unsure on the specifications.
We....lost contact with the troopers in that area. We have a few more breaches on the gun decks and the hanger bays but those are being responded to "
A trooper reported with a salute, his hands gripped his carbine tightly as more troopers from their squad took positions in the hall.
" You take squad 3 and move towards sector 28, we can't let them reach our reactors"
" Yes Sir" the trooper responded to the command as he hurried away.
CT - 8000 was the Lieutenant of platoon 3, one of the main clones who came up with their iconic name even if he didn't fully stand with the idea behind it.
He was more forward and aggressive, believing that an assault squad should be...an assault squad but he understood and enjoyed his brothers ideas.
" Cutle, take squad 4 and set up a position 4 doors behind us, the droids will push forward and they should end up meeting at that cross section " He ordered as he pointed towards one of his brothers who stood ready for him.
" Hmm, wouldn't it be better to defend against them here Tault? " Cutle asked.
" Too tight, I plan to have a gradual retreat where we'll whittle down their numbers. No doubt they'll have supers in their ranks and they'll tear through us if we stubbornly try to hold them here " Tault replied as he shook his head in a disapproving motion.
Just then a clone turned around and screamed at Tault as he recieved some news from his comms.
"Droids incoming commander! No less than two doors away " the clone reported.
" They'll be through that thing in no time if they've made it this far already "
" Then that's your cue Cutler, don't want to steal some of my action before you get yours" Tault said with a smirk as he rested his helmet properly on his head.
" Might just be tempted to do so Sir " Cutler replied as him, Tault and 3 other clones gave a short laughter in unison.
" Alright, 4th squad on me " Cutler ordered as he withdrew to take up his new positioning.
" Positions brothers, remember- we want more of them down than us. It's a tight hallway so we can whittle them down "
Tault said as soon the sounds of cutting could be heard through the door.
Clones hurried to take position as Tault himself crouched and raised his carbine.
" Come to me you damn clunkers "
________________________________________
Note
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The Clone Army took 10 years to build and fought for three bloody years with its initial year possibly being its most devastating.
For Logical purposes and applicable to only this situation [FLPAATOTS]
A unit = A squad of Clone troopers
As such
There were at least 10,000,000 clone troopers during the first year of the war alone.