The Clone Wars: Containment
| Author: | ZangZip |
|---|---|
| Length: | 64.3k words |
| Source: | AO3 |
| Publication Date: | 9/5/2021 |
| Timeline Placement: | 19 BBY, 32 months ABG |
The Clone Wars: Containment is a novella by ZangZip set during the Siege of Saleucami.
Back Cover
In the final months of the Clone Wars, the Republic faces its greatest challenge yet as its forces become enmeshed in a series of costly sieges across the Outer Rim. Most critical of all is the planet Saleucami, where the Separatists have grown a clone army of their own, one capable of tipping the balance toward the Confederacy's favor. Outnumbered and running low on supplies, the Republic forces on planet are in dire need of reinforcements. In order to breach the enemy defenses and bring in fresh troops, the Republic turns once again to the elite clones of the Special Operations Brigade.
ARC Captain Maze has spent most of the war fighting from behind a desk, but as a man who was hand-trained by Jango Fett, he relishes the chance to put his hard-won skills to the test and plans a daring raid. But even with the help of a fellow ARC Trooper, two squads of Republic Commandos and a company of battle-hardened troopers, the odds are stacked against him. Behind enemy lines and without backup, it's win or die for Maze and his team. And lying in wait on the other side are the deadly clones of the Shadow Army and their leader, an unstable, power-hungry Dark Jedi...
Plot Summary
By 32 ABG, Rancisis had lost over half of the 1700 Clone Troopers that he had started with in the Siege of Saleucami, so Ausar Auset and Maze planned an operation to insert reinforcements. They briefed aboard the Acclamator-class Assault Ship Judicious.
The clones boarded a modified CR25 Troop Carrier with advanced cloaking technology and two gunships attached on its wings, while, Ausar Auset, A'Sharad Hett, Sian Jeisel, T'Bolton, Durnar, and Quinlan Vos flew Eta-2 Actis-class Interceptors in a diversionary strafing run alongside 17 ARC-170 Starfighters and 22 V-Wing Starfighters.
Tol Skorr responded by launching his entire starfighter complement in the air base in Sagujeru, going against the advice of Major Ravaal. While he turned off his shield to let out the fighters, the cloaked transport and attached gunships snuck inside. However, at least one Jedi, likely T'Bolton or Durnar, was killed in this attack.
Skorr blamed Ravaal for not scanning thoroughly enough before deactivating the shield, and he thus demoted Ravaal to Private, promoting the Morgukai Ogdai.
Although the four Republic gunships got into Sagujeru, they were met with heavy resistance, and the gunship of Cobalt Team Larty Crew was flown into an ambush, causing a crash landing that they barely survived. The clones were able to evacuate the scene using a hijacked MTT and head for the municipal power substation that was their target.
The second party, including Maze himself, landed successfully, but their gunship was destroyed by Tol Skorr after they disembarked. Their troops were then forced into various retreats by the Morgukai warriors, who repelled assaults at both the main shield generator, the ion cannons, and the magma reactor. Maze used deliberately sloppy evasive maneuvers to let the Morgukai find them all together and prepare for a frontal assault against the bulk of his forces.
However, the real focus was at the municipal substations, where Heke intended to slice into the system and introduce a bug that would overload the reactors. This almost worked, but recently demoted Hajir Ravaal recognized it just in time and issued a reboot command to prevent the bug from damaging the main reactor, although it required losing the shield for about one minute.
Once his shield was back up, Skorr surrounded the bulk of the clone forces in an amphitheater, where he found the CR25 Troop Carrier inside that had been modified for stealth, which he began to see as the true prize, hoping to steal it in order to get around the Republic siege. He attempted to send droids into the amphitheater, but their assault was devastated by mines that collapsed a large part of the building onto them. Skorr then received word that the magma reactor was under assault, but felt that he'd spend too much on trying to get the troop carrier to give up on it, so he only sent a few Morgukai on speeder bikes to reinforce the reactor.
Heke and Tihaar Squad had infiltrated the reactor using the same hijacked MTT as before, and they had already made their way inside when the Morgukai arrived. Ogdai led a team that fought valiantly against the clone infiltrators at the magma reactor, but they were ultimately outmatched, and most were killed in combat in the clones, though they did inflict heavy losses on the commandos. Ogdai was was the lone survivor, having narrowly defeated one commando in combat, though wounding himself.
Ogdai knew that he could not stop the remainder of the clones, so he sacrificed himself by destroying the reactor he was at, causing a flood of lava in that room. This would trigger a lockdown, preventing the clones from accessing the other reactors. However, a wounded clone commando wedged his body into the door, preventing it from sealing. Lava leaked into the entire facility, killing Ogdai, the commandos, and also destroying the generators.
Maze and Totten Squad, meanwhile hijacked three of the five ion cannons on the northern ridge, taking out HMP Droid Gunships until it became a dogfight. Then they turned their focus on aiding the besieged clones inside the amphitheater.
Skorr and 30 remaining Morgukai remained at the amphitheater attempting to finish off the clones led by Commander Reach, and he stayed there even after the shield went down. At that point, he knew that the city was indefensible, and his only hope of survival would be to take the stealth ship. Despite the losses that he took, he found hope in plans indicating a series of ancient magma tubes. Though they were barricaded off by duracrete, he found the opens via the Force and set his forces to work on digging. However, this was rendered moot when Reach and his team escaped in the CR25.
At that point, Skorr was ambushed by Maze and Totten Squad, who attempted to snipe at him. Skorr was hit by two glancing blows, but he survived the attack because Morgukai warriors dove on top of him, shielding him with their bodies. Eventually Skorr was able to get away and move in closer to the clones. However, he was unable to kill them due to an airstrike by a gunship, which was then destroyed with Skorr's starfighter, piloted by a droid. Skorr and five Morgukai then boarded a Sheathipede-class Shuttle, while one Morgukai when out as a decoy aboard Skorr's fighter.
Skorr and his shuttle made it back to rendezvous with Sora Bulq, while the decoy was destroyed by Lock's gunship. Major Hajir Ravaal surrended Sagujeru to K'Kruhk's ground forces shortly thereafter. While the landing was a victory for the Republic, it was a costly one, particularly in the fact that Ogdai's attempt to save the reactor ended up completely annihilating it, wiping out power. The ion cannons and shield would remain inoperable.
Lock said his goodbyes to Solus and Resol, the two surviving members of Tihaar Squad, who mourned Ge'verd and Jatne. Totten Squad remarked that they had learned a few things from Maze, who in turn got some perspective on how things work on the front lines. Maze also arranged for the wounded Wake and Frost to get moved to a premier rehab center on Coruscant, and he promised to send reports to their former crewmates on their recovery process.