Across the Stars : A Star Wars Story

Chapter Two

"Paratroopers, board the gunboats. Get ready for immediate deployment." Was said over the speakers on the Venator stationed above Christophsis's atmosphere. The Republic needed to have control of Christophsis's resources but the Separatists were on the planet for similar reasons. The Separatists constant struggle to hold its control over the planet was the reason the 442nd Siege Battalion was deployed to the planet. Jedi Knight Bultar Swan was also sent with the battalion to aid in the operation. Paratrooper Vortex was still getting his new armor on when the call was sent.

At the time, new armor was being developed for multiple specialized units in the clone army, such as the paratrooper design along with redesigns for the galactic marines and vehicle operators. Vortex was in the barracks with the other selected paratrooper units getting their armor on. He chose not to speak with them as the amount of time between deployment and now was shortened. He got done putting the chest plating on when he saw that the only piece of armor left was the helmet. It was round and quite different than the Phase One helmet he remembered wearing. He picked it up and lifted it over his head to put it on and felt that the armor was not as restricting as the prior mentioned Phase One.

Vortex left the barracks with his DC-15LE in hand and was rushing down hallways past other clones and made a sharp right and also saw that the Jedi Knight was also rushing to the hangar bay to join the clones in battle. He found it interesting that this Jedi was not staying in the commander center like that of certain others. He didn't have time to question that however as he reached one of the hangar bays.

In the hangar was one of the newer Republic ships known as the HAET-221/High Altitude Entry Transport 221 that was built as a durable immediate transport to get down to surfaces quickly. The ship was also fitted with a top turret like that of the AT-TE and small anti personnel turrets on the sides of the body frame. "Get in! Get in!" A paratrooper sergeant was shouting for the clones to get on board quickly as Vortex sped up and hopped into the ship. He saw that there was about 31 other clones in the ship besides himself in the ship as he felt it lift off of the ground and begin its descent.

"Alright, we are heading to one of the tallest crystal towers in the same area of the current sieges going on. We have reports of a battle between our ground forces and 3 Octuparra tri-droids, so our goal is to provide enough support to overwhelm the CIS ground forces and take their territory. As for how we are getting into the building," the sergeant placed down a hologram projector and turned it on to display its projection of the tower, "we will be deploying from the air and landing on this building's roof. LAAT gunships have strafed and destroyed any AA turrets that are in our way, and this building is empty. I'll start handing out our jetpacks now, but keep in mind that there is a limited amount of fuel in each one, so focus on just getting to that tower."

The sergeant began taking jetpacks out of one of the crates inside of the gunboat and handed them out. As Vortex grabbed his, he saw that the jetpacks were extremely thin, only about a foot wide with some plastoid covering the fuel cartridges and a thin metal rod running down the center. He connected it onto his back and felt the additional pound add onto him. He looked around to see the other troopers put on theirs but felt a rock in the ship. He looked back to hear the sound of the side door's opening to reveal the grounds of Christophsis and the hellscape battle that was happening on the ground. Large, three legged Octuparra tri droids stood large over the Republic ground forces as TX-130 tanks attempted to fire back at the towering droids. He also saw a green hue at the forefront of the battle and saw that General Swan was directly on the ground fighting with the clones. Vortex only continued to be surprised as the gunboat was rushing closer and closer to the destination.

"Everyone, get ready to deploy!" The sergeant shouted. Vortex looked around to the other clones for one last time, seeing that everyone began to stand up and grasp their rifles tightly. "Lets G-" The sergeant was about to say but the gunboat violently jerked to the right and knocked all of the clones around in the ship as one of the Octuparra droids had shot the side of the gunboat. The alarms in the ship went off as the pilot struggled to regain direction. Vortex still had his DC-15LE in his hand as he made a quick rush towards the open exits along with the other troopers and made a quick split second jump out of the ship.