[b]Baptism by fire - The invasion of Geonosis[/b]

The loud noises of the hydraulics opening the massive bay doors on the Acclamator-class assault ship thundered through the air as the eighty LAAT/i's and LAAT/c's on this cruiser prepared for take-off. The 67th would deploy mostly infantry in this battle, it's combat role already decided for the future, and would serve to ensure the evacuation of the jedi infiltrating the arena of the Geonosian capital. The relatively limited space in that sector denied the deployment of heavy vehicles, and as a result the robust soldiers of the 67th were chosen for that job. The time was there. Everyone had his briefing and knew what to do. A short order was blasted through the communication devices in all clone's helmets and they started mounting the inspiring-looking LAAT/i gunships all around them, while the LAAT/c vehicle carriers were still being prepared for take-ff and delivery. The massive AT-TE tanks were their back-up once they'd be redeployed to the real battlefield where they would flank Separatist forces and slice through their flanks, to establish a forward firing position from were the 41st legion's SPHA artillery guns could fire onto the enemy Lucrehulk core ships still landed. [b]"Alright lads! Mount the Larty!"[/b] Falcon blasted through the intercom as he gave the example by mounting the untested vehicle in front of him. Prototypes and predecessors of the LAAT/i had proven their effectiveness so far, but this model had never before been tested in real combat. The two other squads mounting this LAAT/i would be a part of the six LAAT/i gunships to be deployed to evacuate the jedi from the arena, a total of about 180 troopers to evacuate the remainder of the 212 jedi that had infiltrated there.Their operation would be led by Jedi General Yoda in person, a great honour for the new 67th legion.

As the LAAT/i's engines started roaring, the men got increasingly nervous for their first battle ever. They had all been through a gruelling training, but this time, it was for real. [b]"Alright! our job is to deploy and assault any resistance, be it droids or Geonosians while the jedi are evacuated. Every Larty has three squads. Squad Alpha and Beta woll give covering fire and engage the enemy, while squad Gamma will evacuate the jedi. Is that understood?!"[/b] The vehicle rocked into movement as the signal was given to depart, and CT-1378 grabbed hold of the cables hanging from the ceiling in order not to fall over. Once the vehicle was well underway the Jedi master who had unnoticed climbed on board gave them a small amount of words of advice and courage before the battle which would mark the begin of their careers as soldiers, but also the end for many of them. [b]"May the Force be with you."[/b] CT-1378 nodded and added some pep-talk to that. [b]"We are the 1st Squad of the 1st Platoon! We are the elite of the 3rd Regiment of the 67th! Let's prove those sabre-swinging gentleman what we're worth!"[/b]

As they soared through the Geonosis skies the distant sounds of cheering reached them, carried towards them by a favourable wind. However, as suddenly as a blaster bolt, the cheering stopped, and slowly transformed into the sounds of a large conflict. All the noise was assaulting CT-1512´s ears relentlessly, making him feel nervous for the first time in his life. All those years in the simulators or live ammunition training, he never felt anything like this. He looked around, at his brothers and found the steady point he was used to seeing - CT-1378, or Falcon. A man he respected as a Father figure in his life.[b]" Understood, Sarge. It´s not like the Jedi Masters and Knights would do anything less than a total overkill on the situation. We´ll show them what we are worth. Isn´t that right, brothers?"[/b] He asked his entire squad, trying to motivate them even further. He always found the presence of Falcon to be highly motivating, and this was the time he really wanted to prove himself. As he waited for his brothers to reply, another voice cut in in their commlinks.[b]" Alright boys, welcome aboard Striker Eureka! All men are forced to hold on for their dear life, please place your dining tables on a horizontal position, lock and load your weapons. We are on our way, ETA to the arena under two minutes. As soon as we arrive to the arena, I will hover just above ground, so watch your heads. Striker Eureka and the rest of the gunships will create a safe perimeter with our weapons. Stay close to yourselves, we want to avoid any friendly fire. Starting final approach, THIS IS IT BOYS! Striker Eureka, starting descent! Good luck, brothers!"[/b]

Suddenly an explosion near the ship made the Larty unstabilize, and the men inside could suddenly hear the engines reverse power to slow their approach as the laser turrets and missilesof the Larty opened fire on the droids down below. The two side doors opened allowing for the clones to disembark while showing the carnage of the battle that had raged there so far. A collective warcry was stemmed by the shrieking of laser bolts and the firing of blasters as CT-1378 or Falcon led his squad outside of the gunship. Right next to him CT-8912 took a shot in his mid-section and was downed immediately. [b]"Open fire!"[/b] Falcon roared as he jumped off the undercarriage and unleashed a volley of bolts into the sea of enemies surrounding the few remaining jedi. To his surprise there were at best 20 of the previous 212 still standing, surrounded by a vast mob of droids. He rushed towards the exhausted and battered remains of the jedi and started forming Squad Alpha and Beta as human shields for the jedi to evacuate. In total some 120 troopers now formed a living wall shooting lasers while another 60 protected the jedi more in detail.

This was what they were trained for. They had landed about in the immediate range of the droids, and they stood no chance against numbers as uneven as these, but they'd give them a bloody nose they'd remember, if only droids could remember things. Using the lenght of his rifle to his advantage he decapitated a B1 battle droid and ducked underneath the swing of a super battle droid engaging him, ramming his rifle butt in it's rather vulnerable belly, right before grabbing the droid around the middle and using his shoulder to throw it to the ground. Once it toppled to the ground he unloaded a volley of max-damage setting lasers into the droid's face, making it shake violently before shutting down. Looking around again he saw their troopers drop like flies, but the droids were going down even faster. Luckily for them. However, Squad Gamma had been penetrated by a destroyer droid which was wreaking havoc amongst the confused jedi and the overrun troopers, and he quickly made a decision that would change all of their lives forever. [b]"Squad Alpha redeploy into evecuating jedi!"[/b] He yelled, and ran over to the destroyer droid. He was already halfway the droid before it noticed him, and running around it in a circular fashion he managed to out-turn it. Knowing that droideka deflector shields stopped anything going inside at a velocity higher than a mostly immobile object, he slid to a halt, nearly triiping over a droid's remains, and casually stepped inside the force shield. [b]"Mind if I swoop in?!"[/b] He yelled before unloading several volleys in the droid's center, causing it to collapse in a cloud of sparks. [b]"Get those jedi into the Larties ASAP!"[/b]

As soon as they stepped out, the world seemed to stop for CT-1512. Explosions, shouts, noises of war. Despite training ten years for this, he still felt overwhelmed by it. That is unter the voice of Falcon returned him to reality. As soon as their first comrade fell, he opened fire simoultaneously with the rest of his squad. Unlike them, he went for precision shots, carefully placing his shots to the critical parts of the battle droids. Gunning down his first one with a clean headshot, he realized this will not work in this situation. Deciding to drop aim in favor of cadency as they formed the protective wall around the battered remains of the Jedi. His shots hit droids left and right, but most of the time only seriously damaging them. As the walls of both the protectors and assailants got cloaser, Fox took a few steps forward and by placing a shot in a droids shoulder and the next to his chest, he got him. As he fell over, two more approached him. Dropping one more with a well placed shot to the upper chest part, the second got too close to use his rifle - and luckily, the same applied to the droid. Raising his rifle above his head, he placed it to the droids neck and delivered a kick to the chest, decapitating him. Following the next set of Falcon´s orders, he focused more on protecting the Jedi then gunning them down. He achieved a perfect headshot as they started to retreat. A large shadow appeared above him and he felt a tiny relief that they had the Laarties.

[b]" Holy jeez! All gunners, pick your targets at your own disposion!"[/b] With that order, he pulled the trigger for the first time, and the explosion from Striker´s twin blasters took down at least six droids. He kept on gunning them, his crew doing the same. They created an oily swath in their ranks, but more and more just kept coming.[b]" Going to make one circle to create a more solid perimeter! Go!"[/b] With that, all gunships made a quick paced round above the survivors, taking down dozens upon dozens of battle droids with all the weaponry they had. They were noticed pretty quickly, but none of the droids posessed enough firepower to do any damage to Striker or the other gunships. After finishin the round, he returned his craft to its starting position and started to hover just above the ground.[b]" Striker Eureka ready for immediate extraction!"[/b] Even now, he kept shooting whenever there was no threat of friendly fire.

The clone wars had begun.