With every step he took, Master Krik could feel the Force growing stronger around him. Commander Blue had rallied his men and the 117th was advancing, and the AT-TE walkers were finally in position atop the towers. The only piece of the puzzle yet to fall into place was Zeta's men bringing down the shields. The 117th were making surprisingly good progress, apart from one unexpected obstacle. In all honesty Krik had expected the Separatists would be smart and stay entrenched in their stronghold. Instead, the 117th was in severe danger of being outflanked. Super battle droids were baring down on the clone forces, while groups of B1 battle droids swept down the streets on either side of the clones, taking up offensive positions in the surrounding buildings.

The droids were getting ever closer, and the clone front line was scattered among the rubble and debris, their only hope f avoiding the laser fire. Commander Blue had taken cover in a nearby building, issuing commands to his officers. General Krik was fighting among the clones, willing their battle line forward at an agonizingly slow pace. While the shields were still active, the AT-TEs could not target the anti-air cannons within the facility, and so were instead focusing on the super battle droids advancing on the clone army. Krik sheltered behind a low piece of concrete embedded into the ground, looking back on his army. The AT-TEs supporting his forces from the ground had moved up but were struggling with the difficult terrain. Still, the four laser cannons on the front of each walker and their mass-driver cannons made short work of the droids advancing on their forces. 

His attention snapped back to the battle at hand when the clone to his left took a volley of laser fire as he stood to shoot, falling to the ground with his armor smoldering. Krik brought his lightsaber up near to his face and stood, standing defiant against the metal tide before him. Less than gracefully, the Jedi vaulted over his cover, hurtling into the nearest droid and sending it crashing into several others. He swung left, and a droid fell in half. He swung right, and another was without its blaster arm. Reaching out with the force, Master Krik grabbed hold of the disarmed droid and hurled it into the crowd, knocking over and pinning down a couple more. A cannon shot from an AT-TE zipped over his head, sending up a cloud of dust and twisted metal about 15 metres ahead. The Ongree Jedi continued his hacking and slashing, carving his way through droid after droid, trying to force his way through their ranks and create an opening for his men. 

Just as Krik sliced one droid in half down the middle, and the one to his left went down in a hail of blue laser fire, the first anti-air gun went up. The explosion shook the ground, and the debris tumbled down to the street, kicking up a wicked storm of dust and shrapnel that engulfed the street for a few minutes. The AT-TEs mounted on the sides of the buildings had begun to target the anti-air towers as well now that the main push was finally making progress. Still, Krik was relying on Commander Blue's leadership to organize a way to prevent the droid flank. 

Fighting in the dust was near impossible. The Ongree were amphibious and tended to stay in the water; the dust stung his eyes and throat, not to mention reducing visibility. Krik felt as though he might choke. In the dust, every laser seemed brighter, and it became eerily reminiscent of the combat that Krik had part-taken in on Geonosis. Soon enough however, the dust cleared, the intensity of the fighting increased. But the main change was that the faint red glow over the core of the facility was gone. Zeta's men had done it.

Krik cut down another droid, taking a strange delight in the way his blade seared through the metal, before turning and trying to locate Commander Blue. He found the Commander among the rubble, fighting on and pushing up alongside his men. The Jedi General crouched down beside him. [color=f7941d]"Commander. We are making good progress. The shields are down. Order all AT-TEs to target the enemy defences. If we carry on the way we are going, this won't last much longer."[/color] And just like that, he was gone again, back into the fray. 

Sure enough, almost the instant that Krik returned to the thick of the fighting, the earth began to shake as dozens of mass-driver cannons began to bombard the facility. Krik was concerned that they would reduce the facility to something they could not defend, but if that did indeed end up being the case then they could fall back to Fort Garrick until they found a solution. That was assuming, of course, that General Lencer's assault had been successful. The crowd of super battle droids was beginning t thin out now, and as Krik slashed down yet another, he turned, roaring at his men to advance and spurring them into a charge. The 117th Battalion rushed forth, making short work of the remaining droid forces and pushing hard onto the complex. The vice was closing. Krik turned to the clone Captain at his side, one of Blue's officers. [color=f7941d]"Contact Blue and get a sitrep from the other Battalion Commanders. We must squeeze this stronghold together if we are to succeed."[/color] The Captain nodded, and did as he was bid. That seemed to be the way with these clone troopers.

Krik admired their ferocity, their loyalty, their courage, but most of all he admired their spirit. Even when things had been at their very bleakest, not a single man would dare think of anything but victory. It was in their blood. These soldiers were born and bred for war, and now, Krik realized, he was at the head of one of the most fearsome forces in the galaxy. Each of his clones had proven their worth today. The General was proud. They had pushed on the facility with incredible speed and flexibility, demonstrated clearly by Zeta's men's impromptu plan to lower the unexpected shield. Now, they had punched through the Separatist defences, and the first phase of their campaign on Ord Mantell was almost complete. Indeed, the Force was with them.