Saga Ep II: "Duel of the Fates"- new post and PARTY INSIDE!!!

Nice one So, the two meet. I can understand why it took so long, but hey, it was worth it. I'm also sending you a PM concerning another matter.

Am

 

I think we have another case of GMTA, Tim...

Excellent post. Again, you do a great job with the military scenarios (coming from a semi-sorta-expert ) without being too "Clancy-ish" and the clones' single-mindedness is chilling.

Nice reunion between our favorite couple, too!

 

Am:

Thanks for the PM (again). As for the A/A not showing up until now, I had many, many reasons to do that.

Jae:

RE: GMTA

In preparation for my beta commenting, I sat down for an initial thorough rereading of your fic last night. Ironically, I the subject of our respective fic similarities came up earlier yesterday afternoon when Kirk and I were chatting on AIM. Anyway, I ended up thinking about it, and I'll have to PM you later on the subj, because it's quite amusing-the whole "same but different" thing, LOL.

-Tim

 

Great post as usual Tim. It looks like our heroes get to return to the site of their great victory, Naboo. >>

Thanks, Kitara. Sorry you had to track this down, I think I forgot to send you a PM. Mea culpa.

"Great victory"

Well, "from a certain point of view." Heheh.

Well, for those among you who like my military/action scenes, I think/hope you will enjoy the next post. <evil grin>

-Tim, who thinks this story is a lot like an AT/AT-Sure, it takes awhile to get there, but it's really big and has a lot of firepower, LOL.

 

Okay guys, you want action? Well, this post is nothin' but combat, all the way. Padme and Anakin kick some serious commando butt, and we find out what lovely fellows the clones really are.

Enjoy!

-Tim



The damaged freighter had crash landed on the roof of the Theed Records building. Just before impact, the pilot had managed to reroute all power to the still-functional shields, and the vessel?s occupants, securely strapped into their seats, had survived.

The lieutenant unstrapped himself from the cockpit, which was rapidly filling with suffocating gas from the fire extinguishing system. He balanced on the slanting cabin floor, and bolted through the door to the main cargo hold.

?Grab your gear and heavy weapons,? he ordered the men, who were already rising from their seats and charging blaster carbines. ?We?re going to secure and hold this building.?


The soldiers poured from the freighter into the damaged upper floor of the Records Center, gunning down those who had not already begun to flee in terror.

***

Ten minutes later, the platoon had eliminated those who had not been able to escape.

The lieutenant removed a map of the city from one of his pockets, quickly determining their location from his memory of the chaotic trip down. The Records building stood alone, flanked by wide streets on each side and to front and rear. The shuttle had crashed on the top floor, the sixth, but the structural integrity of the building was not compromised, a tribute to the classically beautiful yet well-engineered Naboo architecture.

His forty-man platoon consisted of four nine man squads and the tiny command staff. Each squad had a repeating blaster team of two men. He paused for a moment, staring at the map, remembering his flash-training lessons on urban combat. He mentally retrieved a lesson entitled ?Defense of an occupied structure.?

?Send one squad to the top floor on each face. Position our repeater teams to cover the streets with riflemen in support.?

?Yes, sir!? the sergeant responded, snapping a parade-ground salute.

The lieutenant felt confident. The wide streets gave his men superb fields of fire and they carried enough blaster packs for the repeaters to hold out for quite some time. His men would eventually be overwhelmed, but not before they had added yet another quota of death and disruption.

Beneath the helmet, his face twisted into a satisfying sneer.

***

The corporal assigned to the South face sighted along the repeater?s barrel, noting the squad of men in Palace Security uniforms hurrying to the crash site. He assumed they would not expect to find the ship's occupants still alive. They were proceeding quickly, intent on speed rather than finding cover. He knew the private beside him thought the same. His assistant gunner stood ready with a bandoleer of blaster packs for the weapon, along with those collected from the riflemen, who each carried two for the repeater.

He grinned in contempt. These Naboo were soft, no match for trained warriors such as himself. He saw them break from the cover of the rubble across the street and advance into the open.

The Corporal lined up the barrel of his weapon and fired a three second burst, sweeping right to left. Four of the Naboo went down hard, a fifth screamed, clutching at a leg which was no longer there. The survivors hit the ground, searching for cover where none was nearby, knowing they could never make it in time. They attempted to retreat towards a large pile of rubble, one of the men firing blindly, a futile gesture to cover the escape of his squadmates. His shots went wide of the corporal?s position, and another short burst cut down the man, a second dispatching his fleeing comrades.

He did not think of himself as an individual, merely a sentient component of a vast machine of destruction. He had no name, merely a numerical designation which identified his unit of other identical men. He had been bombarded with instructions on weapons, tactics, propoganda, military procedure and discipl

 

Great work, Tim! Patiently waiting to recieve the next part.

 

Now if only my eyes would focus properly...

Great work Tim, as I've said before, thos clones... man *shivers*. Awesome job!

 

Wow! That post was huge!



Great post, Darth Tim! Lots of action.

 

Sara: Glad you liked it!! Welcome aboard...

Arna, Mara, thanks!!

-Tim

 

Great post Tim. Lots of action, and I loved the interaction between Anakin and Obi-Wan- yes that kid can certainly be stubborn sometimes!

 

Very gritty, realistic, and grim - a fine portrait of the ugly nature of war - and your warriors (IE - clones) are totally menacing.

Also, nice interraction between Ani and Obi - and my, my, my, Padme is certainly showing her backbone, isn't she?

Very well written, Tim. I hope you keep it up, for - as I believe I've mentioned elsewhere - the AotC novel has left me seriously chilled - and I want a viable alternative. Looks like this might be it.

 

Very gritty, realistic, and grim - a fine portrait of the ugly nature of war - and your warriors (IE - clones) are totally menacing. >>

I love writing evil characters.

Also, nice interraction between Ani and Obi - and my, my, my, Padme is certainly showing her backbone, isn't she? >>

Yes, she is. She doesn't take any crap, and her enemies tend to forget the fact that that tiny little hottie has some teeth when she's angry. She's changed quite a bit in 10 years. But later on we'll get to see her soft, compassionate side too, and eventually she'll get kicked in the teeth by fate a few too many times...she's tough, but not invincible.

Very well written, Tim. I hope you keep it up, for - as I believe I've mentioned elsewhere - the AotC novel has left me seriously chilled - and I want a viable alternative.>>

Tell me about it!

Looks like this might be it. >>

Coming from you, high praise indeed! Glad you enjoyed it.

-Tim

 

WHACK!!

*randomly kicks thread to the top*

-Tim

 

Wonderful post! I see you're well versed in action and military jargon. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Thank you

Am

 

I need to work on my golf swing...

*assumes the position*

FOUR! (or is it FORE, I can never remember)

*thwacks thread to the top*

Oh, that was a beauty...

 

It's "Fore," Mara.

-Tim (admiring the golf swing of his beta goddess)

 

*note to self* Make sure that the windmill is not moving before next putt-putt swing...

I'm actually horrible at golf... My worst record is a 239 stroke 18 hole putt putt... I suck...

 

Well, what better place for my 200th post? (I'm a "2-star general"!! Wohoo)

(Gently puffs one of his Romeo y Julietas into life, lets the thread waft upward with the smoke)

-Tim (noticing that this fic has nearly 100 posts...yay!)

 

*note to self* Make sure that the windmill is not moving before next putt-putt swing...

I'm actually horrible at golf... My worst record is a 239 stroke 18 hole putt putt... I suck... >>

No, I was just...admiring your form, shall we say...(in reference to your swing, of course )

-Tim

 

*Salutes General Tim*

However, I still outrank you, and your commanding officer says "GET WRITING!"

*Dismisses self* Up!

 

*Salutes General Tim*

However, I still outrank you, and your commanding officer says "GET WRITING!"

*Dismisses self* Up! >>

Snaps to attention, gives parade-ground salute. "Yes Ma'am!"

-Tim

 

I should golf more often...

 

The fighting had been hard, room-to-room, but at last the weight of numbers prevailed.

The Jedi and Naboo rested, the bodies of the commandos laid out before them in two rows.

Padme had wanted to capture one of them alive, but they had refused any offer of surrender, forcing the Naboo to kill them.

"I recognize the armor," said Obi-Wan. "Mandalorian, used by their warriors against the Jedi thousands of years ago. They were merciless and ferocious, killing for pleasure. I had thought the Jedi destroyed them."

"Captain Panaka," Padme ordered, "Check the bodies for any intelligence you can find." Perhaps something of importance would be discovered.

***

Panaka and a corporal had gathered weapons, equipment, and gear from the bodies, and removed the helmet of one of them. They went to the next two men, also removing the helmets.

The faces were human, with tanned skin, brown eyes, and closely cropped brown hair.

And they were completely identical.

Panaka stood, shocked, realing with the news.

He spoke only one ominous word.

"Clones."

***

The large Republic transport arrived that afternoon. The Supreme Chancellor stepped out onto the ruined streets of Theed, surrounded by ten blue-uniformed Guards. Behind him walked Jedi Masters Yoda and Mace Windu.

Wisely, the Chancellor chose not to trifle with security.

He approached Padme, Panaka, and the two Jedi.

"My deepest condolences at this terrible time, Senator," he said to Padme. "I rushed here as soon as I could make arrangements for my transportation."

"Thank you for your concern, Chancellor," she answered, voice a mixture of tiredness and anger.

"I can assure you, Senator, that I will do everything I can to help. I have signed into law an executive order authorizing a relief grant to fund the rebuilding, as well as medical personnel and supplies."

"Naboo is indebted to you for your gratitude," she replied.

"And I have also authorized the Jedi to begin an investigation into the attack."

Mace Windu stepped forward, addressing Obi-Wan and Anakin. "Kenobi, you and Skywalker will continue to look after the Senator's security. Now tell us what you've been able to discover."

Kenobi explained all that was known about the attack, and finally broached the topic of the cloned Mandalorian commandos.

"Disturbing, this is," observed Yoda. "More destruction, there will be."

"I agree," said Windu. "There is no reason anyone in possession of cloning technology would limit themselves to the production of a single infantry platoon. This attack was clearly intended to inflict as much damage and terror as possible. Someone was trying to send a message."

"But why Naboo," asked Panaka, angrily. "We are a peaceful society. We maintain political neutrality."

"Perhaps the Senator herself was the target," Windu mused. He paused for a moment in thought. "Senator Naberrie and Aks Moe were both among the Supreme Chancellor's staunches supporters in the Senate. Perhaps the two events are related. Someone is out to destabilize Palpatine's administration."

"But Master," replied Obi-Wan, "such an activity would only makes sense if...they were planning some sort of coup."

"Act quickly, we must. Clouded, the future is. The Dark Side, I sense."

At Yoda's words, the discomfort among the group was palpable.

***

The wounded were everywhere. Set out on the streets and sidewalks near the overflowing medical facilities, lined up for blocks.

Padme had managed to organize teams of police and soldiers to maintain order, clear out onlookers from damaged areas, and distribute food and water to groups of victims. Emergency personnel tended the wounded, and the able-bodied were organized into teams to try to free those trapped inside collapsed structures.

Obi-Wan and Anakin had volunteered to help, using the Force to sense the presence of those still alive.

Obi-Wan paused next to a collapsed home. He sensed great pain and fear inside. He directed his team of men to begin clearing the d

 

I congratulate you for the ending. I always like those little phrases that knit everything to a conclusion. Lovely work, Tim!

Am

 

I am seriously impressed, Tim. You managed to blend a very accurate 'flavor' of the aftermath of battle, with the wounded quality of the human spirit, in Obi-Wan's gentleness with the wounded child.

See? Given enough time, I knew I could convert you into an Obi-liker!

Seriously - great job. Keep it coming.