The two masters turn back to face the battered squad and their new leader. "Akua" master Windu would say in his ever commanding voice. " Take your men to the temple and see what you can do to help Skywalker with the attackers".

"No doubt the droids are on their way if Dooku is there, so be careful" Obi-Wan would add.

"May the force be with you".

Mynock was called away to help with his origional squad, but the Cyclones were not left without transport. It was a long way to the temple, and an Laat/i swoops down from the dark sky, hovering a little way away from the bridge. A short hop across and the squad was able to board the craft, but a look down at the same time would turn the stomach of even the calmest. The drop just never seemed to end. As they enter the red-lit interior of the craft, the squad would once again find themselves alone. The blast doors slide shut, with the last thing they see being the jedi master and knight watching them with serious expressions on their faces.

"Alright fellas, hang on, we're taking a short cut" the pilot would call over the com with a chuckle. "Oh and watch where you stand, Commander Fox wanted you to have a present". Looking down at their feet the clones would notice not one, but two heavy repeating blasters, folded up and ready to go. "You guys must be going into quite a fight!". With that the craft would buck suddenly beneath them as the pilot takes off, ducking and weaving among the buildings and walkways that made the endless city.

The journey was quick, how long exactly it was difficult to tell in the gloom, but it was quick enough for what they needed. "Ok, nearing the L.Z., going green" the pilot would state as the light inside the Laat/i switches, warning the squad of their incoming landing. On the final entry the blast door slides open, buffeting them with a strong gust of air as they see the enormous temple below them. There wasn't much to see, but at a second glance they see something near the entrance. A huge pale man with a red blade trailing behind him rushing up the steps to disappear between the great columns of the entrance. Hot on his heels was a small figure dressed in brown and black robes. They seemed to carry what was recognisable as a blue lightsaber, the Skywalker mentioned perhaps?

The Laat/i drops down hurriedly to hover a little way away from the entrance, just over the steps of the temple. They were given just enough time to disembark and unload before it shot back into the air. "Alright, surveillance has confirmed that most of the droids have been routed in the lower levels. There's only a few large forces left, and the biggest is headed right here. You're objective is to repel the droid attack and protect the temple. You've probably got about five minutes till they arrive, but I don't know what's going on inside the temple. Good luck fellas". This was the final transmission of the pilot before he disappears from view. It was time for Cyclone squad to make this final stand, but how is up to them.

"Four clones and a Jedi walk into a cantina..." Gunslinger takes the time to meet the gaze of each of them, letting the gravity behind the levity sink in.

"This is it. Why we're here. Why we are, period. We're what's left to halt this advance. But this is what we've trained for. Plus, we have the high ground. And Jedi just love that druk, right Commander?!"

"Slugger, you're on a repeater, of course. Give Bertha to Van, here.. I know.. Don't worry- he knows how to treat a lady, don't you, Van? Spanner, I need your gunnery skills on the other one. I'll be rolling grenades down the steps." Turning to the gunship crew, the sergeant beckons with his hands: "Give'em here, boys, any grenades you can spare."

Back to his squad: "We'll decimate them coming up the steps. Decimate the steps, too, for that matter.. If the clankers reach the top, Commander will know what to do. Van and I will engage, while you guys fall back with the repeaters to set a new line."

Gunslinger turns and salutes Commander Serendine. Then.. no time but the present.. he steps forward and plants a kiss right on the surprised officer's lips. "May the Force be with you." Without waiting for a reaction, he pulls his helmet on and readies himself for insertion. If we somehow live through this, she can court-martial me for my presumption...

“ It’s Martha!” Slugger corrects Gunslinger as he hands the gun over to Van. “You better not scratch her! I want Martha back in the same condition I gave her to you in.” He says his grip tight around his gun for a while then breathing deeply he lets go.

"Martha, Martha, Martha!" Spanner says in a mocking tone, like that of a young girl who is frustrated. "You are far too devoted to that one machine brother! You should learn to play the field! Get to know all kinds of diverse machinery, inside and out! Poly-mechanical is the way to go!" He says sagely. He checks his blaster and other equipment, ready for what might be coming.

7472 tilted his head to the side upon hearing the new nickname he has been unceremoniously been given. These just keep getting simpler, don't they? His squad mates are all dead or missing at this point, so he has wordlessly fallen in with this strange, slightly-less-decimated squad. Taking the minigun gingerly, he nods at the trooper named Slugger. "Don't worry, I'll take good care of it - er... her." He then takes up position at the front of their defensive line, gritting his teeth in preparation for the impending assault. "No brainless pile of scrap is gonna take me down today... I don't care how fancy these new models are. I refuse to die here of all places." Getting a feel for the heft of his new weapon, the clone turns to face whatever is coming his way.

Akua’s face blossomed scarlet as she quickly turned away, her hand reaching up to cover her lips.

I...I...

she murmured, her emotions in turmoil.

Before leaving the cockpit of the LAAT/i slides back, and the pilot and co-pilot toss a couple of extra thermal detonators out to the sergeant. "That's all we got" he would say apologetically as he glances at the co-pilot. He nods in confirmation, beyond this, the squad were on their own. The flurry of activity to set up the guns feels as if it rushes past, though it does take several minutes. It's the wait that feels like it lasts an eternity. It's always that way, or so the veterans say. Battles to them take second, but it's the quiet, the calm that gets into your head. They were left with the sound of the rustle of the wind, the hum of the city in the distance. Behind them every so often there is a flicker of coloured light and the sound of a lightsaber crashing into something. Hopefully they wouldn't end up fighting on two fronts, here in front of the temple.

Then they heard it, the tramp of metal against the ground. The droids were coming. Thump thump thump they marched out of view, halting and ominous. Trapper grits his teeth as his gloves squeak against the metal of his gun. He didn't want to be here, he didn't want to die, but he had a duty, and he would be damned if he wasn't going to carry it out. Kneeling beside the others he takes up the firing position, ready to let loos upon the enemy when they came into range.

After a few moments of the sound of marching, the droids finally come into view. Row after row of killing machine advances slowly towards the temple down the main street, right for the clones. The first couple of rows was made up of the regular B1 units, followed a pace behind by the sinister supers. Behind them, the remaining experimental droids march in place. After all, the temple of the jedi is a perfect place to test such jedi killers. The fight would be tough, but the clones and their commander were the only chance left to defeat this enemy, it was down to them now.

Akua steeled herself and clenched her fists.

Don’t worry boys... we’ve got this.

She smiled, putting all her hope and encouragement to the sentence.

As the Cyclones busy themselves with setting up the repeaters, Gunslinger turns one of the grenades over in his hand for a closer look. Should be a way to extend the period prior to detonation..? A quick examination is all he has time for, before the clankers can be heard, clanking inexorably toward them. When they reach the base of the steps, he discards any notion of tampering further with the explosive device. Plenty of better ways to die for the Republic today, if it comes to that...

I kissed a girl! A woman! The thought comes unbidden, and he swiftly pushes it out of his head. Stow that, sergeant. Taking up a strategic vantage between the big guns, he flips down the 'nocs and confirms the range and windage for their firing solutions. "Good luck, fellas, and may the Force be with us." If it's not with us here , we're in trouble... "Fire'em, if you've got 'em!"

7472 plants himself at the foremost position of their defensive line. Need to draw them closer, where it'll be easier to use some of the heavier ordnance. He scans the line of incoming enemies for weak links. Spotting a cluster of B1 Battle Droids, he revs up Slugger's gun and fires a volley at them, letting out a grim chuckle as he does so. "I can see why the big guy is so attached to this thing" he says to no one in particular.

Slugger takes a hold of the massive defensive cannon readying the sights in the little time they had to prepare. As soon as he sees the oncoming waves of droids he takes aim and fires, the blaster bolts fly through the air and tear the B2’s with ease. “ That’s Five more boys, do try to keep up!” He would shout into the comms.

Spanner takes a moment to arm another detonator with a trigger for the upcoming waves, however his aim isn't that great and it goes off of target.

As the droids reach the range of the cannons and rifles of the clones, they instantly find themselves at a disadvantage. The weapons of the super's lack the range of a conventional rifle, and every clone knows that a B1's not exactly a crack shot. However they work through sheer numbers, and will press ahead until they are clones enough to open fire on the enemy. If that doesn't work, they will simply trample them underfoot. Despite their weaknesses as individuals, fighting the separatist army is a chilling thing at times.

The droids surge ahead as some here and there are gunned down, seemingly unphased by the destruction that surrounds them. They are not alone either. There is a whirring sound above alerts the defenders as small metallic droids descend from the sky. They look like the droid that was found int he alleyway, and if that tells them anything, these things are to be taken seriously.

Trapper curses as he glances up to see the new attackers. "Heads up!" He shouts in warning as he aims high and opens fire. The droids duck and dive around the shots as Trapper fails to land a hit, but his efforts make it very difficult for them to return fire on his allies. "I got you guys covered! Focus on the others!"

Akua yells as she leaps into the droids, whirling and slashing them, taking out several droids in the process.

For the Republic!

She yelled as she twirled, seemingly dancing with her saber before she leapt back to safety.

Even as the jedi leaps into the battle, the rest of the droid force marches ever onward. Despite the squads best efforts the force hasn't even broken step. The droids could not fear the enemy thanks to their programming. They simply step over their fallen, crushing them underfoot without so much as a glance down.

The probe droids continue to circle and flit between the gunfire of the clones, and begin to exchange attacks. Red blaster bolts slam into the ground around the squad as the droids dip low to strike.

As soon as the first squad of B1s is in range, Gunslinger hurls one of the thermal detonators he had requisitioned... directly into their midst, destroying them utterly!

7472 redirects his aim at the other group of B1s, letting loose a hail of blasterfire that downs half of their number.

Slugger aims the giant gun at the oncoming swarm of droids. “ Bantha ****, this thing has no control. ” he says firing a volley of blaster bolts he misses his intended target but gives his squad an opening and keeps the droids suppressed.

Spanner takes out his pistol and shoots off a volley of plasma at one of the remaining droids of a specific cluster, dropping it with a glowing hot blast to the torso. He surveys the area for a moment, seeing the telltale sign of a Jedi, namely the giant glowing stick of death twirling around. Spanner fires off several rounds in her general area, aiming at the feet of the droids near her. The ricochet making the droids stumble a bit and glance around, giving her an opening to move.

While the squad aims at the oncoming force, Trapper continues to keep the probe droids swirling around at bay. He fires up into the sky but they move too fast for him to bring any down. He curses under his breath as he glances at the others to see how they are doing. "We holding up ok sir?" he would call out to their jedi commander.

"As the last of the B1 battle droids are torn asunder, the real threat tramps on. They crush the yellow droids underfoot without even glancing down. Sparks burst forth from the fallen droids as they are flattened by the B2's, but the super battle droids have now reached their effective range. Raising their arms in unison the wrist mounted blaster fire as one. Bright red bolts tear into the stonework of the steps and the pillars behind the squad as the droids look to decimate their enemies. CT-7472 is unfortunate enough to be struck hard in the arm by a bolt, almost making him drop his gun through the pain. Is is a well trained soldier of the republic however, it will take more than that to kill him.

Trapper Combat Check : 1eP+2eA+2eD 0 successes

Trapper misses.

B2 Battle Droid Combat Check : 3eP+1eD+1eS 2 successes, 1 threat
Droid squad moves to short range, does 8 base damage to CT-7472, disadvantage causes them to suffer 1 strain.

Of course! We’re doing well!

Akua smiles as she twirls into the droids, dismembering all three with a quick flourish of her saber, spinning and twisting as she did so. Her lightsaber let out a sonorous hum as she swung it, the blade slicing cleanly through all three droids, though the female’s movement’s seemed to be moving from graceful to aggressive. After her waltz of death, the female then jumps back to safety, breathing hard.

As the jedi leaps back from the fallen squad of super battle droids, the second row opens fire on the retreating form while the droids themselves close the range on their targets. Though many of the droids have died, they have now reached the steps of the temple, and are advancing dangerously close to the clones. Their deadly wrist blasters open fire on the young jedi as they try to kill her. The shots burst into the ground with a tremendous bang. They strafe closer and closer to the jedi till she has shards of rock being flung up around her ankles. One of the fragment sinks deep into her calf, causing Akua to stumble and fall to the ground.

As the jedi leader is pinned down, the Cortosis Droids are quick to follow suit with their duel blasters, aiming at the squad leader. As they march up the steps Gunslinger feels a powerful force strike his helmet, another shot passing through his shoulder from one side and through the other. The force of the impact to the helmet throws the sergeant to the floor, his helmet rolling a little way away.

As the attack is continued, the probes take the opportunity to swoop in on the clones, closing the range till they were only a just out of reach from the clones. Firing on Slugger from behind a couple of blaster rounds catch him between the shoulder blades while he tries to fire on the oncoming droids. Being attack on two sides makes it difficult for the gunner to focus, despite his best efforts.

Super Battle Droid Combat Check : 3eP+1eA+1eD+1eS 0 successes, 2 advantage, 1 Triumph

Spends triumph to nock Akua prone, advantage spent to pass boost dice to next ally

Cortosis Battle Droid Combat Check : 3eP+1eA+1eD+1eS 3 successes, 1 advantage, 1 Triumph

Missed Boost Dice : 1eB 1 success
Does 10 base damage to Gunslinger, advantage passes boost to ally, spends triumph to inflict critical hit.

Gunslinger : 1d100 42 activates 'bowled over', Gunslinger is knocked prone and suffers 1 strain.

Probe Dice Combat Check : 3eP+1eB+1eD 2 successes, 2 advantage
Does 8 base damage to Slugger, advantage spent to pass setback dice to slugger.

Observing the Commander in combat is a thing of beauty...

"Of course! We're doin..."

The blow catches Gunslinger unawares, sending him to the ground, helm flying. Then he sees the hole in his pauldron and feels the pain in his shoulder. Through and through, at least, I think...

Struggling to regain his feet, he only makes it to his knees. He's about to call for a medic, until he remembers there isn't one. On you feet, soldier!

The sergeant stands, pulls out the other detonator, and hurls it into the midst of the super battle droids.. or tries to.. it didn't go quite where he wanted it to, but it certainly should slow their advance.

Thermal Detonator vs Squad 2 : 3eP+1eD 0 successes, 4 advantage

maneuver 1: Regain feet

maneuver 2: draw detonator (2 Strain)

action: throw detonator (failure)

3 Advantage: Create difficult terrain?

1 Advantage: pass a Boost

Incidental: 2nd Wind (recovers 3 Strain)

These Cyclone guys know what they're doing, I'll give them that. Better than the last squad I was stuck with, that's for sure. Despite his approval of his new comrades' fighting prowess, he notices both the Jedi commander and the squad leader go down. Hauling Slugger's rotary cannon with him, he plants himself in front of Gunslinger, shielding him from any more oncoming fire. "I trust you can still fight, sergeant? You wouldn't want your men to catch their squad leader resting on the job, would you?" He lets out a chuckle, which, upon turning his wrath onto the incoming droids, becomes a bloodcurdling war-cry as he lets loose on the squad of B2 battle-droids, unleashing a hail of blasterfire that tears through their front ranks.

Akua gasps as she stumbles and falls from the wound, grunting as she hits the ground. Luckily, she managed to hit the ground with her back, minimising the damage. Lookijg up, she gasped as she saw Gunslinger fall.

Gunslinger!

She gasps, before sighing in relief as she saw the male stand up, though she was still slightly worried. She smiles as she sees a clone step forth, his blaster mowing down the droids.

We can do this boys!