The clones in the corridor were silent for a moment, and then one slowly raised his head to look above. He would reach for his rifle in a careful motion, as if worried he'd startle the long metal rectangle. As his fingers reach the trigger, he would snap into action, shouting to his brothers, 'they're in the vents! Blast them!' The other squads would not need telling twice. Raising their weapons as one they would unleash a hail of blue bolts at the ceiling where the invading team were essentially trapped. They weren't firing lethal shots, so the bolts didn't punch through the vent, but the metal acted as an excellent conductor to fry those inside. The best they coul do was squirm from one side to the other in an attempt to avoid the worst of the blaster fire pounding against their protective tunnel.

Unfortunately the vents were not meant to take this amount of wait, they were only designed for one, maybe two service droids. Now it was being beaten with laser fire, and it was simply too much. With a terrible screeching noise the log section of the vents the clones and jedi were housed in tore itself from the licencing, his the floor with a loud bang.

The clones below cried out as it fell, doing the best they could to scramble to safety, but many of them were not that lucky. The debris and vent landed on top of their squad, effectively putting them out of the fight. There was going to be a packed infirmary after this training session. Those that had managed to doge this fate by the skin of their teeth would scramble to their feet, helping up squad mates as they search for their guns and wipe the dust from their visors. 'Did we get them?' one clone would ask as they back carefully away from the site.

As he was only the second from the front of the group crawling inside the vents, Anler manages to slide fairly gracefully from the collapsing structure, unlike some of his companions. Ignoring the enemy clones struck by the debris, he ignites his lightsaber and propels himself forward, towards a group of clones that have lost several members from the collapse. There is little finesse in his maneuvers, but he swings his lightsaber too fast for the clone closest to him to dodge, striking the trooper in his leg. Stunned from the blow, the clone has no chance of getting out of the way when the lightsaber descends on his helmet, knocking him out.

Anler immediately spins around, swinging wide at another enemy clone. He manages to step back, but the Padawan follows up his attack just like his master had taught him and thrusts at the trooper's chest. The blow would have impaled the man had it been struck with an actual lightsaber, but he gets a nasty shock from the blow and falls down.

As the dust begins to clear, Anler would leap forwards, striking at the squad closest to him. One of the clones in the second squad would swivel to aim at him, but his squad leader would grab the gun, changing the aim towards the battered clones. 'Forget him, cut off his support!' With that, a withering hail of blue would envelop their enemies. As they fire they would fall back down the corridor, putting themselves between the command centre and the attackers. 'Take them out! Get the gunner!' The squad leader would shout, managing to just about keep his cool under the attack. 'We've got this lot, you deal with that blasted jedi!' the squad leader would shout across the other squad as they do what they can to defend themselves. As the second squad was keeping the clones occupied, it would at least give their allies a fighting chance.

Under the withering fire, Acklay squad would scramble desperately to duck behind the fallen ventilation, clinging to it for cover as they lie prone. 'Keep down, stay down!' Kee would bellow at his squad while roughly shoving Cloud's head back down behind cover as he peers up, narrowly avoiding a shot to the dome. Unfortunately not all of the Acklay squad had made it. Gyo and Xym had taken a beating in the initial attack, and were well and truly out of the fight now. Bonus was also nursing his shoulder where he had taken a pretty nasty hit. 'Return fire!' Kee would order, Acklay squad obeying. Soon the corridor was bathed in blue light as both parties fought furiously, both for their survival. One of the defenders would fall from a shot to the neck by Songbird, another would drop to his knee as he takes a few glancing blows to the stomach. 'Hey Cyclone squad, you want to get stuck in here or shall we do all the work?' Songbird would say sarcastically as he squints down the sight of his gun.

"It's you guys who are dropping like flies not us", Data teases Acklay Squad as he takes cover next to Acklay and opens fire. "And I think I alone do as much damage as you lot."

Jackpot hit the ground and quickly rolled behind one of the barricades before popping up, and leaping over it, and shooting the trooper who had been behind it. The clone dropped and Jackpot ducked behind the closest barricade. He fired repeatedly at the remaining troopers, opening up a shot for whomever attacked next.

Lana summers takes the shot, that's what she's there for.

But she mosses luckily they are in a BAAAAAAAAAAAAAD position

Doc moves to cover as soon as the firing starts, snagging a part of his leg on one of the fallen vent sections while bounding over it.

The pain stings, but Doc has more important things to do than to tend to it. He takes aim and fires at the second group, hitting some of them nicely.

As his men are struck down to his left and right by the viscous Jedi attack, the squad leader would stumble backwards in shock. He'd never seen a jedi in action, only heard rumours. This jedi certainly lived up to the reputations he had heard. His men would falter, unsure of how to proceed. Glancing at the others the squad leader would raise his carbine, gritting his teeth as he does. 'Fall back! Gun him down!' This squad would begin to fall back down the corridor as they fire their carbines at the commander, heading in the opposite direction to their comrades. The rate of fire would be intense, as the cadets fight desperately to stay in the game. They would land a couple of good shots, nothing fatal but they would certainly sting. One cadet would even cheer out at this, picturing a chance for survival.

Enemy Clone Squad Combat Check : 3eP+1eD 3 successes

Maneuver to move to short range, does 12 base damage to Anler.

Slugger took a good amount of fire when they fell out of the vents, one Squad had focused him down after the dust had settled Identifying his weapon as the most dangerous on the battlefield. " Gunslinger watch my six I'm going to see if I can cause some havoc. " Slugger closed the distance between him and the two squads and began to fire on the squad that had focused him down earlier, he fired and they took cover almost immediately luckily dodging all his fire. However the cover they took was exposed to Gunsliger who had a clear shot on them.

Ranged Heavy : 2eP+2eA+2eD 0 successes, 4 advantage

"Your six is clear, Slugger ," he informs the gunner, checking first to be certain. CT-5472 weaves his way forward, blasters blazing. When Slugger opens up with the cannon, the Gunslinger spies where their opponents have ducked behind cover, and waits for them to reemerge.

Whenever the enemy clones pop out to fire, he is ready for them, keeping them pinned down with well-placed shots. The tactic appears to be working- too well, as they are not presenting a target, and he can't land any solid hits.

Engaging so many armed clones frontally isn't the best strategy, as Anler finds out first hand, but with the vents collapsing they don't have a choice. He manages to block several shots with his lightsaber, but one gets past his guard, singing his robes and burning his side. I'm going down if I stay here , he thinks to himself as he closes the gap and swings at the clones. As they attempt to pull back, blastr shots from Cyclone squad pin them down for a moent, allowing Anler to close in. He swings his weapon at the helmet of the one he stunned before, downing him, taking a second with the back swing and winging one of the two clones still standing as he twirls his weapon moving through the squad.

The squad facing the attacking clones only had four out of the original ten cadets remaining. With the firepower the jedi had brought on his mission, their survival was not looking likely, and their squad leader knew it. 'Call for reinforcements! Hurry it up!' he would bellow in the ear of on of the few remaining cadets ear, blue bolts of energy scorching the wall around him. The squad had been force to use the regular protrusions that lined the corridor for cover, but it had still left them open to attack. One cadet would crouch down, tapping the comlink on his wrist desperately as a shot bounces off the top of his helmet. 'Major, major! Come in! This is defense line two! We're under heavy fire! The jedi's broken our line using the vents, we need reinforcements!' There would be a garbled response that the attackers would not be able to hear, not as it is send by the comlink or when he informs his leader. The squad leader would nod, raising his gun once more with a look of determination.

'Alright boys, take out that gunner! They will pay for every step they take here!' With an impressive battle cry, the squad would open fire on the heavy gunner. Their aim would be true as the clone takes a pummeling from the stun rounds. 'Down goes the big guy!' one clone would shout, grin on his face.

Acklay squad would remain in cover as all this goes on, staying relatively safe from the gunfire. As Slugger is attacked, Songbird would visibly scowl, firing a barrage of shots into the chest of the squad leader who had ordered the attack. The others would follow suite and the cadet would be thrown back into the wall before slumping to the ground unconscious. A second cadet would fall just as fast as he moves up to take his leaders position. 'Don't think you can mess with our lot without getting some hurt!' Songbird would shout over the battlefield.

As he exchanges fire with the enemy clone squad, Data notices how the enemy sergeant directs his men to concentrate their fire on Slugger, who is standing in the middle of the corridor shooting a barrage of blaster bolts from his Z-6. "That's not gonna end well", Data thinks, as he fires a quick salvo to hold the enemy down while he jumps up and drags Slugger, who already got hit by a couple of shots, into cover. "I know it's just stun rounds but it would still be clever to you keep your head down when everbody is aiming for you."

Jackpot leaps through the firestorm of laser blasts as he returns fire every one of his shots at least scrape the armor of his enemies. As one stands up to throw a grenade, Jackpot hits him in the face and drops him before he can pull the pin. With at least one trooper down, and probably more, Jackpot yells encouragement to his comrades, "Come on, let's pummel 'em Cyclone's."

Doc pops out of cover, and aims at the last two clones in the squad not engaged with Anler. A storm of fire whizzes a bit too close for comfort a second before he pulls the trigger, throwing Doc back into cover and throwing off his shot. A moment later, the sound of something crashing down thunders in the hall.

Doc takes a peek out of cover and sees that another section of the vents is now on top of the last two clones, who are now down on the floor.

"...Okay. That just happened."

"Hostile infantry group neutralized." Doc said on the comms. "Still got one more to go."

The lone survivor of the hectic attack was now facing off against the Jedi. It could be seen on his face that he know that he wasn't going to make it, he looked scared. But clones were never ones to just roll over and die. Instead the cadet maintained a steady retreat as he fired off every round of ammunition that he could. 'Come and get me jedi!' he'd shout as he does.

Enemy Clone Squad Combat Check : 3eA+1eD 3 successes

Maneuver to short range, does 12 base damage to Anler.

Slugger gets back up and walks toward the one remaining Clone Trooper, as he sees Anler be shot down he screams " Commander Down! " Spinning up his cannon he aims fires and hits everything that's not Anler or the retreating Clone Trooper. " Doc can you get the Commander back up? I'll keep this guy busy. "

: 1eP+3eA+3eD 0 successes

Gunslinger takes his time lining up the shot, and indeed shoots the rifle right from the remaining trooper's hands. The jarring shot knocks the clone into the the wreckage of the ventilation system, however, covering his retreat. Subsequent fire from his DC-17s ricochets harmlessly down the passageway.

Doc. See what you can do with our Commander. Slugger keep watch. The rest, with me.

CT-5472 takes off after the lone clone, with the rest of the Cyclones at his heels.

Doc looks over at Anler's now unconscious body. For this exercise, anybody that was considered a medic was equipped with a packs that would simulate the backpacks used by actual medics on the field. And since everyone was on stun, it would just give them quite the tingle when they woke up. However, they were usually powered by cells that needed recharging...and Doc soon realizes that his pack isn't charged.

"Blast it all..." he muttered. Panicking a bit, Doc decides to search the unconscious clones, hoping that there would be one good pack on them. As luck have it, there was.

He quickly takes one set off of an unconscious clone, and checks the charge. "Still good."

The settings are quick to enter, and Doc gets ready to give Anler a rather rude awakening.

"Sorry, Commander, if you're having sweet dreams." he says before the pack activates.

Anler groans as he opens his eyes. "Frakk, that hurt ," he says quietly. He then sits up and looks around. "Are the rest of them down? How many did we lose?" he asks Doc as he tries to take in the situation.

He then pulls out the datapad he borrowed with the map. "Where are we on this map? I think any chance of a surprise is out, our best chance now might be to push on for the HQ if we are close enough, or to try to link up with the main assault if we are too far away. We will be picked off quickly if we stay here without support."

Jackpot takes off after Gunslinger, "we need to move fast we're runnign out of time." He says.

"Everyone's good on Cyclone Squad, Commander." Doc replies to Anler. "They're pursuing the last hostile at this moment."

"However, Acklay's taken casualties. Gyo and Xim are down, and Bonus is considered heavily wounded. Still, things could have gone worse had you stayed back."

"Still, I heard Jedi were able to block blaster bolts and even reflect them." Doc said, curiously. "Was taking the shots part of your master strategy. sir?"

Anler nods as Doc gives him an update on the situation but glares at the clone when he mentions Anler's lack of skill blocking blaster bolts. "I think you'll find I blocked more than a few. I may have been expecting you guys to blast them rather than waiting for me to finish them off, blocking shots at such short range isn't as easy as it looks," he says in an annoyed tone. "I will have to adjust my expectation of the markmanship of the squad."

He then busies himself with the map, trying to figure out where they are, and what the best way to get to the HQ fast might be.

Acklay squad would struggle to their feet, helping each other up as they shake the dust and rubble from their armour. They had taken quite a beating in the fall and the ensuing combat. With a sigh Kee would move to help the fallen comrades out of pile. They may be out of the fight, but they were still alive, and shouldn't be left trapped. They would begin to do the same for their attackers, doing what they can to leave them all as comfortable as possible. 'Who dumb idea was this anyway?' Songbird would mutter under his breath, sour from the losses they had taken. Having finished their work, Kee would straighten up, turning towards the Jedi. 'Alright Commander, what's the plan now?'

The data pad int he commanders hand would provide a good indicator of where they were, and their next set of options. The long corridor that the lone Clone and most of Cyclone squad were barreling down lead back towards the entrance, and most likely another barricade lined with squads of cadets around the corner.

The other direction where the downed squad of cadets lay lead around another corner, towards the command centre. The shortcut may have not worked out according to plan, but it had saved them a large amount of time. It was a short run to the front door of the centre where Drummer was, though it was difficult to tell how many men lay between that and them.

There was another option though, if the team was quick, and avoided detection, they could follow the mess of corridors through the building to arrive at the other side of the command centre. This could cost valuable time though, but is the element of surprise worth it?

Looking up, the commander could see that a tricky climb could get the men back into the vents, but the question was how much time they had left if they did? Zombie and his men were still taking a thorough beating according to their last transmission.

With perfect timing, there would be a mighty crash near by in the direction of the entrance, and the commanders com would spring to life. 'Commander? It's Zombie. I don't know what you did, but the defensive force is in total disarray! Drummers men are falling back towards the command centre, and we are hot on their heels! If you want to get drummer before we get there, you don't have long!' He would sound more confident at this point, perhaps smelling the scent of victory.

Mass Combat :

3eP+2eA+2eB+3eC+2eD 3 successes, 1 advantage, 1 Triumph

Reduces Drummers men to 2 purple dice, advantage spent to let Anler's team recover 1 strain each due to successes, triumph spent on heroic act from Zombie to remove set back dice from future rolls.

As the other troopers reorganize after the unexpected combat, Data spots one who is trying to get away after stunning Anler. "There's no point in letting one get away" , he thinks as he runs past Doc and Anler, taking the Clone out with a couple of precise shots.