The Maridun night was shrouded in darkness, with only a few scattered lights flickering weakly across the valley floor. Hidden in the tall grass surrounding the Separatist base, the Jedi Knights, clone troopers, and Avengers prepared for their most dangerous mission yet.
Their tactical plan for tonight was straightforward but high-risk: infiltrate the base, destroy the Separatists' long-range communications equipment, capture their shuttle craft, and seize any valuable intelligence or weapons they could carry. If they managed to acquire some of the new CIS weapon technology, that would be an additional strategic bonus.
The strike team had divided into three coordinated assault groups. Anakin, Steve Rogers, Commander Bly, and Captain Rex were positioned on the left flank of the base perimeter. Aayla and Ahsoka had taken up positions on the right side, ready to exploit any opening created by the main assault. High above the installation, Hope and Scott maintained aerial reconnaissance, using their miniaturized forms to monitor enemy patrol patterns and provide real-time intelligence.
After Hope and Scott confirmed that the immediate area was temporarily clear of hostile patrols, Aayla and Ahsoka began their stealthy approach toward the base walls. They moved with the fluid grace of trained Jedi, carefully timing their movements to avoid the sweeping searchlights that methodically scanned the perimeter for intruders.
Meanwhile, Anakin extended his consciousness through the Force, focusing on a loose rock positioned near one of the sentry droids. With subtle manipulation, he caused the stone to begin moving in erratic, unnatural patterns designed to capture the droid's attention.
"Anomaly detected," the battle droid announced, immediately lowering its photoreceptors to investigate the strange phenomenon.
"Query: What is the nature of this disturbance?"
The other sentry droids noticed their companion pursuing the mysteriously animated stone into the nearby vegetation, and their primitive curiosity subroutines drove them to investigate this impossible occurrence.
In the concealing bushes, Steve had been lying in ambush for the perfect opportunity. As the lead droid entered the vegetation, he swept its legs with a powerful strike, sending it crashing to the ground where Anakin, lightsaber ignited, delivered a precise thrust through its central processor, deactivating it instantly.
Aayla and Ahsoka seized this distraction to scale the base wall with remarkable agility, their Force-enhanced physicality allowing them to clear the barrier silently and land inside the compound without alerting additional sentries. Hope and Scott had already positioned themselves strategically throughout the base, ready to neutralize any droids that might discover the infiltration.
Although several battle droids detected signs of the unknown attackers, their response came too late—the entire strike force had already initiated their coordinated assault.
The miniaturized Scott and Hope immediately targeted the base's searchlight array, systematically destroying the illumination systems and plunging the installation into tactical darkness that would favor the infiltrators' continued operations.
Steve burst from his concealment, hurling his vibranium shield with devastating precision at a cluster of remaining battle droids. The shield's aerodynamic design allowed it to strike multiple targets in a single throw, and each droid that took a direct hit collapsed with sparking circuitry and deactivated systems.
Hope, Scott, Aayla, and Ahsoka worked systematically through the base interior, eliminating any remaining droid resistance with coordinated efficiency. Ahsoka managed to breach the main armory and conducted a rapid assessment of its contents before reporting with obvious disappointment: "The cannon and its ammunition aren't stored here."
Rex's voice carried frustration as he analyzed the tactical situation: "The Separatists must have relocated their primary weapons to a more secure location. That corpulent Neimoidian is more cunning than we initially estimated. This complicates our mission significantly."
"I understand the setback, but we have to do everything in our power to prevent what's coming," Steve replied with determined resolve.
Steve's tactical instincts kicked in as he assessed their situation: "The Separatists have almost certainly detected our presence by now. We need to evacuate via their shuttle immediately and extract whatever intelligence and equipment we can carry."
"Should we completely destroy this base?" Hope asked, producing several compact explosive devices from her utility belt. When Steve nodded his approval, the team quickly dispersed throughout the installation, strategically placing charges at critical structural and operational points.
Aboard the captured Separatist shuttle, Scott assisted Anakin with the pre-flight systems while asking with genuine curiosity: "Anakin, after we complete this mission successfully, would it be possible for us to keep this shuttle for the Avengers' use?"
Anakin paused his system checks, looking puzzled by the request: "Why would you want a Separatist vessel? If you need transportation, the Republic can easily provide you with proper starships."
"Yes, but accepting Republic ships would make us Avengers appear as if we're repaying debts or accepting charity," Scott explained. "However, a captured Separatist vessel represents legitimate spoils of war, which carries completely different implications for our independence."
Anakin continued studying the shuttle's control systems while asking with growing interest: "What exactly do you and Hope mean when you talk about 'collectibles'?"
Scott's expression lit up with obvious satisfaction as he explained their opportunistic acquisitions. During the base infiltration, he and Hope had systematically miniaturized and collected virtually everything of potential value they had encountered throughout the installation. The captured supplies and equipment, when returned to normal size, would create a substantial mountain of enemy materiel.
After hearing this explanation, Anakin's face broke into an enormous grin of excitement: "That's incredible! I can't wait to see what kind of intelligence and equipment you've managed to acquire."
Once everyone had successfully boarded the shuttle, Anakin immediately fired the engines and lifted the stolen craft off the ground, ascending rapidly into the night sky. When they had achieved a safe distance from the target, Hope activated the detonation sequence for their strategically placed explosives.
A series of thunderous explosions erupted throughout the Separatist base, sending brilliant flashes of light across the darkened landscape as critical systems and structures were systematically destroyed.
Anakin maintained control of the shuttle while issuing tactical orders: "Contact Domino Squad and the other teams immediately. Tell them to prepare for imminent combat operations. We're about to face a significant battle."
The Lurmen villagers had risen exceptionally early this morning—or more accurately, most of them had been unable to sleep at all. Wag Too had returned during the night with devastating news: the Separatists were planning to return very soon, and this time they intended to use the entire Lurmen population as test subjects for their new weapon system.
The village leader, Tee Watt Kaa, found himself struggling with unprecedented internal conflict. The situation became even more dire when scouts reported seeing a Separatist shuttle approaching their village through the pre-dawn darkness.
The clone trooper teams that had been positioned in concealed defensive positions around the village immediately sprang into action, quickly occupying advantageous terrain and training their weapons on the slowly descending spacecraft, ready to engage hostile forces the moment they emerged.
However, when they saw Jedi commanders, clone officers, and the Avengers disembarking from the shuttle instead of Separatist forces, they immediately lowered their weapons and breathed sighs of collective relief.
When Tee Watt Kaa realized that the approaching vessel did not contain Separatist troops, his conflicted emotions instantly transformed into pure anger. He strode forward aggressively, shouting with uncontrolled fury: "Why have you returned here? Did I not make it absolutely clear that I never wanted to see any of you in our village again?"
Wag Too attempted to defend the returning warriors, but Aayla gestured for him to remain silent and addressed the village leader directly: "I apologize for our return, leader, but we cannot abandon this place." She then raised her voice so that all the gathered Lurmen could hear her urgent message: "Everyone must listen to me carefully! We have to evacuate you to safety immediately. The Separatists are coming to destroy this village completely, and all of your lives are in mortal danger. You must leave with us right now if you want to survive."
Tee Watt Kaa responded with stubborn defiance: "We will never abandon our ancestral homeland, regardless of the consequences."
"But if you remain here, you will face certain death."
"If it is our destiny to perish in your war with the Separatists, then we accept that fate with dignity."
Aayla felt completely frustrated by the elderly leader's inflexible stubbornness. She exchanged a meaningful look with Steve, and both of them immediately understood that they would have to take direct action, coordinating with their entire team to defend the village against the approaching assault whether the Lurmen wanted their protection or not.
General Lok Durd was in an exceptionally foul mood this morning. He had been enjoying peaceful sleep aboard his private command vessel when his chief aide rudely awakened him with news that struck like a lightning bolt—their primary base had been completely destroyed during the night by unknown attackers.
Because the communications array had been systematically destroyed during the assault, no intelligence about the attack had been transmitted to his command ship, leaving him completely unaware of the disaster until morning reconnaissance confirmed the devastation.
Lok Durd's corpulent features trembled with rage as he turned to face his subordinates. He deeply regretted not executing those pathetic Lurmen yesterday instead of preserving them for weapon testing with the Defoliator cannon. Fortunately, he had moved the experimental weapon to a secure hidden location before departing from the base, otherwise he would have no way to explain the loss to Count Dooku.
In his mind, there was absolutely no doubt that this attack was connected to those Lurmen who claimed to embrace peace and non-violence. Even if they had not directly participated in the assault on his base, something hidden within their village had certainly contributed to the destruction of his installation.
The furious Neimoidian general angrily ordered his remaining forces to assemble for immediate march toward the Lurmen settlement. Today, he intended not only to conduct field testing of the Defoliator weapon, but also to exact terrible vengeance upon the Lurmen people for their perceived betrayal. He would sacrifice every life in their village as payment for the destruction of his Maridun base.
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