Project Ares Gold Edition

Chapter 6 - Orange Wasteland

The Resolute - Open Circle Fleet Command

In the lead up to the mission, the newly christened Blue Team was fairly nervous to say the least. After Chief, Cody, Rex, and the ARC twins came in and briefed them on the task, most of the clones did not feel like they could do it. This was only their second mission after all and it was something so daring that most thought it was a suicide mission for men of their experience. But Chief was quick to see this, moving to the middle of the group and gaining their undivided attention. "I cannot promise any of you that we'll make it back, but I can tell you a few other things for a fact. You have all been training for the last 10 years to be the best soldiers this galaxy has ever seen, we are a unit, we draw strength from one another. So as long as you have a man next to you in the fight, you'll make it out."

"That's right boys, if we stay together, we can't fail. C'mon men, the rest of the fleet is counting on us to take out that array and clear an LZ. So what are you, a soldier, or are you a CLONE TROOPER!" Fives finished off, giving the men a great morale boost. Soon the sound of rifles loading, boots shuffling and disciplined orders could be heard as Blue Team geared up and moved out towards the shuttle.

Time skip

Blood Rocks - Geonosis

After the quick pep-talk on the Resolute, the men were ready for a fight. Their rifles loaded and armours strapped tight. As the rigged shuttle broke atmosphere following a very close exit out of hyperspace, Blitz informed Chief that they will be jumping out in 5-minutes. Walking back into the cargo hold, 117 looked across the shuttle. Thermos and Shrapnel were making the final adjustments to the massive bomb that was occupying most of the cargo space while the rest o the clones were eagerly waiting in their seats.

Once the lights dimmed, the men knew that it was showtime. Putting on their jump packs, these were not necessarily jetpacks but had enough power to slow down their descent. Hitting the release button on the door, Chief gave them a countdown before signalling everyone to abandon the shuttle. As Blitz and Streak run out from the cockpit and jumped out as well, Chief was the last to leave, watching the shuttle crash into the massive sensor array, detonating with a furious blast. A great fireball soon covered the sky followed by a massive cloud of black smoke that blanketed the area.

Meanwhile Blue Team was safely making their landing in an open bit of desert that was just short of a massive canyon littered with tunnels and hidden passageways. Following their landing, they had to move fast, the Separatist ground forces were probably on high alert for the moment, given that something just blew up unexpectantly. However, Chief's plan took that into account; after a few hours of canvasing cameras and sensors, the droid forces will see that it was just a 'shuttle malfunction' and not a sabotage. Meaning that they will lower their guard enough for the GAR fleet to still have the element of surprise.

But for now, the Republic strike team had to bury their jump packs in the dirt and disappear into the canyon. The designated Landing Zone that they had to clear was located 50km across on the other side, just shy of the main foundry. Given that the fleet would be arriving in 24 hours, they had to move quickly. Moving into the canyon, they came across a demoralizing sight...

During the first battle of the war, two gunships loaded with troopers had been shot down in these mountains while carrying medical supplies to the front lines. Though trillions of grains of sand had swept through these rocks since that first battle, small amounts of first-generation GAR gear could still be seen hidden beneath the sandstone dunes. Every now and then, a Blue Team member would find an old piece of armour that had long been grinded down by the harsh elements of Geonosis, tainted the same orange as the desert sand and rough to the touch.

Giving the order to continue on with the mission, Blue Team marched forwards deeper into the canyon. As night began to fall, they kept going for a few more kilometres before Chief stopped the group. "Sir, why are we stopping? Shouldn't we be moving towards the objective?"

"The enemy positions become increasingly more numerous past this point, we make camp here tonight. Once we start to move out tomorrow, we will be fighting every step of the way to the LZ." Chief explained to Thermos while the rest listened closely. The terrain did offer good protection from airborne patrols and the nature of the canyon made it easy to hear the sound of marching battle droids approaching. Setting up some simple mattresses inside the entrance of one of the tunnels, Blue Team started going to sleep as Chief and the ARC twins stayed up for a bit longer.

"Sir, I just wanted to say, Fives and I, we've served under many commanders and fought dozens of battles. But it is truly and honour to be serving alongside you sir." Echo spoke lightly after removing his helmet as to not wake the men. Fives nodded his head in agreement, because unlike most of their previous commanding officers, Chief actually cared about the men under him and their needs. Telling the twins to get some shuteye, Chief maintained watch over his team as he thought about what Echo had said.

The next few hours were nothing special, well for 117 anyways. A couple of Geonosian patrols had come a little bit too close to the sleeping clones, so the Spartan silently eliminated them with a few well placed stabs, slices and cuts. When the men were woken up, they quickly noticed the bloodstains on the rocks that were definitely not there the night before, realising that their commander had been busy through the night.

Getting to work, the clones packed up their gear and started to get going again, this time with even more vigilance than the day before. There could be Geonosian or droid emplacements or traps anywhere from this point on. It wasn't long before everyone heard the deadly click of a landmine. Looking around frantically at who had stepped on the trap, everyone's eyes locked on to Jester. Calling Thermos and Shrapnel up, Chief directed the EOD experts to the bomb while he and the rest of the men kept watch.

This was definitely eating into their mission time, but they were not just going to leave the medic behind. As the two clones worked on the mine, Romeo called out, saying that he spotted a patrol coming for the team. Telling the EOD guys that it was now or never, Fives managed to definitely piss off Shrapnel who told him to; "Shut up Fives, we'll get there when we get there!"

But before Fives could talk back, Chief put his large hand on the ARC trooper's shoulder and directed him to the decently sized droid force that was about to start blasting at them. Made up of three dozen B1s and a tank, they were packing some serious firepower. Giving the signal to target the droids while he dealt with the tank, Chief started climbing up the side of the canyon. Letting the armoured vehicle hover past him, Chief let go of the ledge and dropped straight on to the gunner's hatch. Ripping the hatch open and yanking the droid out from inside, Chief poked his head through the bottom before taking out the two droid drivers with his pistol.

Blue Team had also made short work of the infantry forces and were ready to keep moving. Getting off the turret, 117 directed Blitz and Streak to drive the tank whilst getting Romeo on the gun. As for the rest of them, they would keep moving on foot, once they reached the LZ, the tank would provide covering fire whilst they seized the area. Agreeing with the plan, the three clones got in the tank just as the other three came up from the landmine. Telling them what the plan was, the three clones nodded their heads before moving out alongside their fellow team mates to the objective.