Chapter Text
The moon, Dorn 3792-04-01, was largely unremarkable, with only three main features of note.
First was the Jedi temple, abandoned for centuries at least. Even General Kenobi hadn’t found any information on why it had been built or why it had been later abandoned, and could only advise that some temples were booby-trapped when the last Jedi left, to protect them from the Sith, and thus actually entering the temple should be a last resort until such time as a dedicated team could properly investigate and disarm anything dangerous.
The second unique feature was the weather, with periodic massive storms that would buffet the moon’s surface. They weren’t that devastating in terms of rain or wind; instead, their main feature was an effect dangerously similar to ion blasts. In space combat ion weapons were used to capture enemy ships intact by temporarily frying their weaponry, shields, and control systems. In the atmosphere, however, the effect would be rather more lethal as gravity would introduce a ship to the surface long before its engines could reboot and arrest its fall. Any other unshielded electronics (and a fair number of shielded ones) would fare little better during the stormy season.
The best weather analysis software of the GAR (which wasn’t saying that much) predicted the start of said stormy season in 1-2 more tendays, but there was enough uncertainty in the model that the first storm of the season could hit tomorrow - or two months from now. Cody couldn’t honestly decide which he was hoping for, given feature number three. Namely, the giant droid army currently overrunning the moon.
No one knew what the droids were after on this random, deserted moon. Perhaps it was the temple, perhaps there was some useful droid-building mineral source hiding in the mountains which scans hadn’t picked up on. Perhaps it was to be a staging area for the next major assault. Perhaps Grievous had just stuck a pin in a map - not that there was any sign that he had bothered to show up here himself. Whatever the reason, the droids were here in force, and that meant the GAR needed to be here, too.
Cody privately wondered whether the 212th and 501st might be better served focusing on battlefields that they *knew* had strategic value, rather than a place like this where there weren’t even any civilians at risk, but the Chancellor had ordered and so they went. At least this meant that the GAR didn’t have to split their attention between defending against droid attacks and evacuating civilians, but it also meant they didn’t have any local intel on weather patterns. An ion storm would no doubt fry some or all of the droid army, but it would also leave the 212th and 501st without comms, datapads, or even HUDs. Not to mention what it would do to their support ships. The clones had all been trained to be able to work dark, but it wasn’t a situation any sane commander would actually look forward to - particularly not without warning.
But regardless of how inexplicable their orders were, they were soldiers of the Republic, and they would do their duty.
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Landing on the moon hadn’t been quite as bad as Geonosis, but it hadn’t been that much better, either. The droids had been on-planet long enough to set up some heavy artillery, which had nearly prevented the two battalions from landing at all. Cody had been about to order the landing ships to retreat and regroup when General Skywalker and Commander Ahsoka had pulled one of their crazy stunts, dropping in behind enemy lines with a bare handful of the 501st to distract the artillery long enough to get the larties landed. It had worked, at least enough to get all the rest of the members of the 212th and the 501st to the ground in one piece, but several of the ships would never fly again and the rest would no doubt be shot out of the sky if they tried.
Now was the long, slow, slog of battle, as the 501st fought their way towards the artillery to get it taken out for good, while the 212th held the line against the main bulk of the droids.
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The battle was going reasonably well, right up until it wasn’t. General Kenobi had just finished dismembering two SBDs when he looked up, shouted, “The temple!”, and took off running across the battlefield.
What could Cody do but shout: “Form up on me!” and follow?
Out of the corner of his eye, Cody spotted Waxer and Boil breaking off from their current engagements to flank him, and a moment later Crys and Longshot were on their heels. Helix slapped one final bacta patch on a slumped trooper, shoved him in the direction of the med tent, and joined them. Then they were past the 212th’s line, and into the thick of the droids. The general’s ‘saber was little more than a blur as he kept Cody and the rest of the squad from running into any bolts head-first, but that didn’t give them any protection from the droids on either side, and Cody heard Waxer give a strangled cry as a bolt connected with enough force to go straight through his armor. He wavered, but didn’t fall, so Cody kept going, hoping there would be some measure of cover wherever the General was leading them.
As the impromptu squad approached the temple doors, Cody finally saw what had caught General Kenobi’s attention: three drill droids were attempting to drill their way through the solid outer doors of the temple and get inside. Perhaps that meant there was something inside worth protecting - or stealing - that just hadn’t been in the briefing packet, or perhaps General Kenobi just didn’t like the thought of a Jedi temple being desecrated. Regardless, the exact reason didn’t matter - just picking off the drill-droids before they achieved their aim.
The General got the first one with his lightsaber, and someone, maybe Boil, finally managed to hit something vital enough to deactivate the second. Helix and Waxer had set themselves to picking off the squad of B1s acting as guards.
The General was dismembering the third drill-droid, aided by potshots from Crys and Longshot, and Cody was taking a moment to survey the battlefield, when he saw it: a frag grenade, arcing toward them. “Get down!” he screamed, and threw himself over the General’s lightly-armored body. Then the explosion hit, and Cody knew nothing more.