Chapter 2: The Arrogance of the Republic

As the Republic’s clone legions strain to blockade General Grievous’ star fleet, many worlds peel back the Senate’s façade to expose its corrupt core. On Geonosis, Poggle the Lesser—shielded by ray-fields in his foundries—fashions legions of droids, the instruments of liberation against Republic overreach. The Jedi, once protectors of peace and liberty, now serve as the Senate's blunt weapon, launching a massive invasion to crush the will and spirit of Geonosis. But Geonosians—and the armies of the Confederacy under the command of a mysterious new commander—will stand fast, for their people and freedom.

Line Break

Coming out of Hyperspace, the Republic invasion force was a sizable one. As this was to be the second battle for this planet, the Republic High Command, the Jedi Council, and the Senate each wished to ensure it would be the final battle for one reason or another.

For the High Command, it was tactical, as Geonosis not only would serve as a source of additional battle droids, but its position close to Corellian Run would have meant a Separatist stronghold position to pose to planets like Christophsis, Ryloth, and Rodia, two of which had already faced attacks and were nearly completely occupied.

For the Jedi council, it was much the same reason, as if they allowed their enemies to continue to build tens of thousands of battle droids, it would only allow the fighting to continue and spread, adding to the imbalance. However, Obi-Wan would be lying if he didn't suspect at least to some extent that it was a decision partly motivated by their own horrendous losses; 80 Jedi in a single engagement was a terrible number to consider after all.

As for the Senate, it was the politics of it. As it often was, allowing a world that they had believed to be pacified to re-spark its allegiance to traitors to the republic and contribute forces and equipment that would wound and kill republic troops didn't look good, no matter how one explained it.

So, for all that, despite how strained their forces already were, their invasion force was perhaps the biggest one yet fielded in the war proper.

"You seem troubled, Master Obi-Wan." As they approached, someone mentioned another fellow Jedi and member of the council, his senior, Ki-Adi-Mundi. The Cerean was old, his hair having long turned white, but his yellow eyes were far from senile. At 1.98 meters tall, he was perhaps a prime example of how age didn't take away from one's strength or presence.

“It’s just that I can’t believe we’re back here. I had hoped that this chapter was done.” Obi-Wan replied, a hand stroking his beard in thought. He was the shorter of the two, being only 1.82 meters and younger by decades, a fact he didn't have an issue with, as he much enjoyed the fact that his auburn hair, beard, and moustache remained thick and healthy. The same with his gray-blue eyes

“It is unfortunate that the resistance from the natives was stronger than anticipated.” Ki-Adi lamented, as even though they came with more troops and equipment, he wasn't looking forward to this battle and the death it would surely bring. Of course, someone who enjoyed battle had just arrived on the bridge with his Padawan.

"The same can be said for their loyalty to Count Dooku," Obi-Wan noted, a hint of irritation in his words as they've tried several times to capture their fallen Jedi. Still, Dooku proved elusive or lucky and escaped them time after time.

“A fact which is often overlooked.” Ki-Adi agreed, as this planet was where the Separatists were founded in a sense, and where their first battle droids saw battle

“You’re late.” Obi-Wan turned towards his apprentice, turned Jedi Knight, Anakin Skywalker. His former apprentice was younger by over a decade, and he wore that youth on his sleeve. Anakin hardly seemed bothered with his master's slight disapproval, which wouldn't be the first time, and he doubted it would be the last.

“Sorry, master. Ahsoka and I were busy routing the Seppies near Dorin.” Besides, at least this was one of the times he had good reason for his actions, as thanks to them, the Separatists wouldn’t be sending anything to slow them down as they sent Grevious and his droid starfighters packing.

“My squadron alone had 55 kills.” His apprentice, and the youngest member of the order present, Ahsoka Tano, bragged, as the Togruta had taken much from her master, including his more…Anakin quirks.

“And mine had 76.” Anakin bragged.

“Show off.” As Ahsoka rolled her eyes at her master, Ki-Adi watched as the knight and master seemed to get into a childish contest with his Padawan. Quite strange, but he had heard how Anakin was…not the typical Jedi.

“Well, I’m glad you two are enjoying yourselves.” Obi-Wan, far more used to such antics from the two, only made a dry comment about it, to which Anakin learned against his former master, making it all the clearer that despite being younger, he was very much taller.

“Just a little friendly competition, master. Nothing to worry about.” Anakin assured his master, but Obi-Wan didn't care for such things. For all Anakin's antics, he could trust him to take the situation seriously when it called for it.

"I worry about this war, which drags on with no end in sight." Obi-Wan let out a slow breath through his nose, as it had only been raging for a year. Already, millions were dead, tens of millions more displaced by fighting that seemed to touch every corner of the galaxy.

“Which is why our invasion of Geonosis meets with success.” Ki-Adi agreed with his fellow council member. This war was appalling, but that was why they were here: to see it end as soon as possible.

"Agreed, Ahsoka." Anakin turned towards his Padawan. Contact Outer Rim command. We're ready for our briefing."

"They're already waiting for us, " she replied as they all went to the communications room to join the call.

Line break

Within the communications room, a table displayed a hologram of the Grand Master, Yoda. Another member of the Jedi Council was Mace Windu, and finally, the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic was Sheev Palpatine.

“Our ships are in position and we’re ready to begin our campaign against the Geonosians," Obi-Wan reported, as they hadn't faced any Separatist ships or fighters, an oddity considering how difficult it was to land troops during their Christophsis and Ryloth operations. Still, they've been scanning since they arrived and haven't detected any.

It seemed safe to say that the Separatists just weren’t expecting them.

“What about Poggle? Any word on his location?” Mace asked, as they already suspected that it was through him that the planet became an issue again, and as long as he remained free, it would continue to be one.

Obi-Wan pointed towards a large structure on the holo map. "Seems like he's holding up at the primary factory here. The factory is protected by a shield generator. Anakin, Ki-Adi, and I shall attempt a 3 pronged attack through their defence lines to a staging area just short of their shields. Once we meet up, we’ll make a move to neutralise it. That is our primary target.”

As he explained, two arrows formed to represent the 3 attack forces and where they were supposed to meet.

The Chancellor didn’t seem so confident in things, but he didn’t demand anything and turned to his fellow leaders to voice his thoughts. “Isn't it risky committing 3 generals to one battle area? If something went wrong, we could be dealt a serious blow.”

Yoda could understand the fear, as this planet had already seen dozens of Jedi die, and while more had since fallen, it hadn’t been in such numbers. More than that, both Obi-Wan and Anakin had formed reputations around them thanks to their leadership and the victories they've won for the Republic. Should they, too, fall on Geonosis, the people of the republic would only grow disheartened and Dooku emboldened.

“To ensure that rise again, Geonosis does not capture Poggle, we must.” Still, they couldn't leave this place untouched, and outside Masters Ki-Adi and Luminara Unduli, they just didn't have anyone to spare, so they would trust this to their two rising stars.

“Of course, while I always leave the strategy to you, master Jedi, I have concerns over another issue. We've been losing ships and star fighters along important supply lines, including in this sector. Have there been any further developments in the investigation?” Palpatine brought up another issue, which had been on their minds for months.

Obi-Wan sighed, as he didn't have much to report on that. “Unfortunately, not. We believed that the force which Anakin engaged was the culprit, but it was General Grievous.”

“Could he be the culprit?” Palpatine asked, as Grevious had already committed similar acts, even being so depraved as to target a clone medical station to try and destroy it. An act he would have gotten away with if not for daring commanders like Anakin and the faith of his Padawan, Ahsoka.

"It's doubtful that this new Separatist force's tactics don't align with Grievous. More than that, while they’ve slain 3 Jedi, they, along with their crews, died when their ships were destroyed, while their remains were all recovered, along with their lightsabers.” Anakin reported that he hadn't met Grevious in battle yet, but knew the stories.

The head clanker hated the Jedi and made it his business to hunt them. Anakin wouldn’t be surprised if that was the only reason Dooku recruited him and made him the Seppies' highest general. However, Grievous never passes up a chance to duel a Jedi to prove his strength. When he chooses to play dirty, he always retrieves their lightsabers to ‘add to his collection’. For this new force to fight more…clean was a word you could use, and leave the fallen undisturbed, that wasn’t Grievous.

“The reality is that when the Separatists formed, they took with them any formidable and capable commanders of smaller regional conflicts, such as Trench and Loathsom.” Ki-Adi reminded them, as those involved in the Christophsis campaign could recall how difficult it was because of such leadership.

“However, they seem to be the sort that only strike at smaller forces, and thus we've already reorganised supply convoys to be better protected. Last reports put our unknown strike force near Felucia.” Mace stated, which seemed to appease the Chancellor.

“That brings me some comfort to hear, master Jedi. I wish you luck.” He bid them farewell with an old grandfatherly smile before he ended the call.

“May the force be with you." Mace and Yoda bowed their heads to their fellow Jedi before ending the call.

Line Break

On the planet, or more accurately, beneath it, there was a regular and artificial drumbeat as gears moved, machines rolled, and assembly lines continued to operate. The massive droid factory was still being built. However, even with some of it still being carved out of the rock, other portions had already been fitted with the machinery needed to start droid production. This process was already in motion as dozens of battle driods were built up from their starting parts to finished products, ready for combat as soon as they stepped off the assembly line.

The workers were mainly natives, with driods acting as heavy lifters and specialists, programmed to build the machines that would spawn more of them. In such a subterranean space, it seemed as alien as it got, the scent of dirt, steel, and fire thick in the air as overhead lights illuminated the vast and still-growing cavern in warm oranges.

And yet, a figure walked through the uneven, dusty cavern as if he were out for a morning stroll. His dark clothing nearly absorbed the light, his cape hiding his body from view, with only his booted feet regularly seen as he walked along. When he walked into a spot of light, one could make out his very human features, from his smooth, pale skin to his raven dark hair, filled with tickets and random hair accessories.

He didn't walk along as he followed him with 7 BX Droid Commandos, half of the BX assigned to be his personal protection and agents. He walked with confidence. Without hesitation. Without fear. With a destination in mind, he walked by an increasing number of Geonosian guards who gave him side-eyed looks, but didn't hinder him as he approached the central operations room. At its door, another 4 guards allowed him in without issue.

Inside, he found 3 T-series Tactical driods managing the factory's day-to-day operations and communicating with the others being set up or already in operation across the planet. Other driods, mainly B-1s doing the grunt work, B-2s, and another 14 BX droids stationed along the walls, acted as the last line of defence.

Something was warranted, as perhaps the second most important person on the planet frequented this location: Poggle the Lesser.

“You summoned me, Archduke?” The unnamed human spoke, Poggle grunting before he replied. However, the human wouldn't embarrass himself or insult his host by pretending to understand his language.

Which was part of why the driods were present, as a T-series acted as the translator. “He demands to know about your preparations for the coming attack.”

The figure, whose face seemed sleepy, bowed his head before he spoke. "As you wish, Archduke. I have already been informed of the Republic forces: 6 Venator-class Star Destroyers and 10 Acclamator-class cruisers.” He tapped the holo-projector to show what their scouts and long-range sensors had detected.

Poggle didn't seem pleased with the sight of the massive invasion fleet, tapping his cane into the floor and then pointing at the unnamed human. “The Archduke says that this is even larger than the first invasion and asks why you sound so calm when Count Dooku promised us protection for our continued loyalty.” The droid translated.

More a teen, the man didn't flinch at the Archduke's anger. Instead, he switched the projection to their current base, with the ray shield active, showing how far it extended.

"Because this represents an opportunity, Archduke. While it's true the invasion force is large, we will not be caught by surprise like the first. The republic can't bombard us from orbit. Their bombers will be even less effective," He explained, as the projection showed the results of even a sustained orbital bombardment as next to nothing. In contrast, smaller bomber raids could be equated to flies.

He then blew out the projection to showcase a potential Republic landing, which would run smack dab into several laws of defenses, both obvious and hidden. “So, just like their first assault, they'll need to deploy their ground forces, which is what we're counting on. With Grievous and other commanders attacking the Republic on other fronts, this invasion force, large it might be, is not likely to receive any substantial reinforcements."

The Republic had won some major victories, and if the young man was honest, his faith in his fellow commander's abilities wasn't absolute. Still, it didn't need to be, as he was fearsome enough that the Republic treated him like it. Grievous' presence draws more troops, star fighters, and starships to confront him.

In contrast, they were operating out of a drone factory, which had already been supplied with all the parts and equipment they would need to churn out battle drones, even if mainly B-1s, by the thousands. Should they keep the shields up and the Republic out and away from the generators, they could win through sheer weight of numbers.

All this only made the young man smile as he turned his attention to the Archduke, who felt…unnerved by this boy, him and his sister. "In essence, this is their only role at the dice. Should we undercut them, they'll struggle to regain momentum, and that's when we'll strike.” He opened his eyes, revealed them to the gaze of a calm storm. Purple eyes veined with yellow like a broken tulip, beautiful yet dangerous, unstable, and multi-layered, as the Archduke couldn't make heads or tails of what was going through the youth’s mind.

Whipping part of his cape to the side, the young man placed a hand to his heart, a confident, twisted, and lethal smile on his face. “The Count promised you protection, Archduke. I, Lelouch vi Britannia, promise you victory and revenge for your people's humiliation at the hands of the disconnected Jedi and the arrogant Republic."

"One shouldn't speak with such confidence with such a small track record, a failing of youth, the Archduke advises." The T-series relayed for the Archduke, to which Lelouch only laughed as he turned to leave.

“Perhaps, but that just means I have all the more reason to turn my promise into a reality.” With that said, he vanished out the door.

Line Break

It didn’t take him long for Lelouch to arrive at another part of the factory, something of a private space given to him and his allies when they had requested to be stationed. Outside, more droids served as guards, though he sometimes wondered if they were meant to protect intruders, as the collection of people within was some of the most effective fighters in the Separatist ranks.

Stepping in, Nunnally, meditating on her bed, hardly turned to him, but still addressed him. “Was he upset, brother?” Nunnally didn't ask who, for they knew who she was talking about.

Much like with her brother, she had changed in the 6 years since she had last been on her homeworld. The 13-year-old had grown and dressed accordingly, wearing a pale-pink bolero with puffy sleeves over a sleeveless, high-collared pink vest with gold piping. A short black ruffled skirt sits atop four long split black panels edged in pink and gold, cinched by a deep-pink ribbon and crimson sash. Around her neck, she wore an emerald butterfly choker, long, elbow-length black gloves, and white-pink thigh-high boots. Beneath it, she wore white shorts to help cover up her legs.

To the side, seated on a desk close to her bed, sat a beautiful young woman, the same age as Lelouch. Her light blonde hair was long, going halfway down her back with bangs that reached her eyes. Two locks framing her face and light purple eyes. Atop her head, some of her hair was kept in two egg-shaped buns held up with gold braces. 

Her outfit is a high-collared blue coat with gold trim and floor-splitting panels over a puffed-sleeve burgundy bodice. She wears a layered beige skirt with rust bands, a wrapped green sash, and a leather belt with a pouch. She also wears long blue bell sleeves, brown gloves, and sturdy boots—practical, elegant, and travel-ready.

“Of course he was, but he wasn’t unreasonable.” The blonde, Leila Breisgau, reminded him.

Another woman, slim yet strong and of average height, snorted at the comment. Her most prominent features were her big blue eyes and short, naturally spiky red hair. Her outfit was a form-fitting red suit, hugged by a cropped brown coat with long split tails, a wool red crop-top at the midriff, brown leather gloves, and thigh-high boots. Her lightsaber was hanging off her belt.

“I would say it’s amazing he’s tolerated us this long.” Kallen Stadtfeld remarked, as they’ve been here functionally doing nothing for weeks now while their fleet continued minor patrols through Separatist space.

“I am still sceptical of your unruly bunch of glorified infants, " an old, near-ancient droid model remarked as it looked across the space at the humans it had been stuck with since they found and repaired it.

But it beat being outside with the rest, as just the BX didn't annoy him, as those B-1…oh, how far had drones fallen if that was considered battle-ready.

Lelouch chuckled at their droid's comment. His form was clearer now that he was in a space with ample light. He was young, only 16, but he was tall for his age. He was the tallest of the gathered, with only HK-47, the ancient model of droid being slightly taller.

Lelouch had a frame leaning towards the leaner side, then broad and muscular, one cloaked in a regal monochrome attire of a high-collared, fitted black tunic with white insects and angular gold piping, slim black trousers, and tall boots. His black cape flowed from his broad shoulders, down to his shins, and was edged in gold, its interior white as snow, with the last thing of his gear being his black gloves, which had white fingers, his curved lightsaber secured to his side.

“I would imagine you’ll have more faith in us, HK47," Alice stated, returning from a shower and wearing a towel. The 14-year-old girl's red eyes locked on the droid while a tower wrapped around her blonde hair to dry it.

HK14 hummed, reaching for its metallic chin. “I have faith in your capacity to slaughter and leave no trace, despite my reservations.”

"It would have only hurt us if we left survivors to help the Republic build a profile of us. It's because of that they could hunt and sink the Malevolence.” Nunnally spoke up, though she would be lying if she said she hadn't enjoyed all those raids, as it was so much fun getting to do stuff and not just train, train, and train some more.

"Yeah, right," Kallen scoffed, pulling out a lighter and flicking it on and off. “That was Grievous. That cyborg is obsessed with killing Jedi and has undermined entire operations because of it.”

“And yet he still produces some respectable results.” Leila defended the cyborg, but it wasn't as if she liked him any more than Kallen did, just for different reasons, as he…was brutal, needlessly brutal.

“Either way, I’m just happy we’re about to finally have some action. Being stuck on some desert planet is so boring!” A woman with long pink hair and dark skin pouted. Half-dressed in pink and blue armour, she was more focused on her little computer, typing away in her personal diary. What she wrote, they didn't know, and she would likely pull a blaster on them if they pushed.

Lelouch smiled, the yellow in his eyes crackling with energy. "Well, then you'll be going to get your wish." Moments later, the alarms sounded.

“Republic forces have entered the atmosphere. All Battle driods to battle. Republic forces have entered the-” An automated voice called out across the facility, sending everyone into a frenzy—an organized one, as troops had already been put on standby. With the battle mere minutes away, they all went on high alert as they rushed to their positions.

“Sister, Kallen, Alice, I shall leave the front line fighting to.” Lelouch directed his words to the three in question, and Alice quickly rushed behind a curtain to get dressed.

"You handle all the commander stuff, and we'll see those Republic dogs burn." Nunnally smiled, the yellow in her eyes matching her brother's excitement. She reached out with the force, grabbed her two lightsabers from her bedside, and strapped them to her belt before she and Kallen raced out of the room. Alice would need to catch up.

Line Break

Having entered the atmosphere, the Venators started unleashing their Y-Wing bombers. Their role was simple: to eliminate as much of the anti-air defence that the Geonosians had set up as possible, paving the way for the Republic's Gunships carrying their troops and tanks.

With the Y-Wings forming the spearhead, the Gunships took off after them from the Acclamators, and almost immediately, the Geonosians began their attack. Dozens of Sonic cannons and J-1 Proton Cannons took aim and fired, soon filling the air with explosions as they tried to gun down their enemies.

For the first few minutes, it seemed as if the Republic held the advantage. Despite the flak, they were taking a few losses, and their Y-Wings were laying waste to the defences, bombing their cannons, killing their operators, and forcing the rest back, allowing them to progress to their landing point.

But that was merely part of the rouse, as Lelouch, standing along with the Archduke, kept an eye on things. He gave the order once he saw the enemy forces pass the threshold.

“Bring in the 2nd and 3rd Vulture Wings. Order the secondary defence line to fire as they please.” Lelouch ordered.

“Roger Roger.” As the T-series relayed the order from hidden positions and cutouts in the valleys and mountains, Vulture droid units that had been in standby mode activated and took off.

Within seconds of their arrival, they were already causing chaos, flying from low, they fired into the Republic bombers and transports before zipping through them, only to turn hard to side, harder than an living pilot could be expected the handle and dove right back into the Republic ships, acting as sharks swimming through schools of fish, tearing apart any which got in their way.

“What is this?” Anakin asked, as he felt their carrier shaking even harder while the sounds of explosions and blaster fire outside increased.

“Vulture droids, they're flying out of the mountains and targeting us!” Their pilot reported that he tried to keep them from being shot down. At the same time, their pod gunners worked to keep them off, but even though they were shooting some of the Vultures down, their numbers, along with the already present Geonosian fighters, made it impossible to hit all of them as they zipped in and out of the side.

The bombers found they were the preferred target as the Vultures screamed towards them, already having shot down several slower, less agile bombers. “We can’t shake 'em, where did the Seppies have time to-!” One pilot didn't have time to finish his statement before his right engine exploded from a Vulture's shot, the radio filled with his screams as his craft spiralled towards the ground, crashing with a fiery explosion.

"I'm counting over 70 of them. Keep them off us." Another transport pilot, one carrying their valuable tanks, called out, only to curse when another tank transport was blown up, struck by ground fire. With the Y-Wings unable to do their job, the flak could focus on them.

“Vultures, but why send them out now?” Ahsoka asked, as it didn’t make sense. The seppies always would have fought them in space first and then contested for the planet's surface, and those vultures would have attacked them while still in orbit.

Anakin didn’t have time to answer as their win was hit, nearly being blown off. “Just hold on, Snips-men, brace!” Anakin called out, holding onto Ahsoka as they went down, most of his forces joining them if they weren’t blown up.

Aboard the Resolute, Admiral Yularen was being kept up to date on the situation as it rapidly deteriorated. “Commander, can you continue your bombing operations?” He asked about their area's Y-wings, as without them.

“Negative, I repeat, that is a negative,” The clone pilot replied, doing his best to keep from being shot down. At the same time, his tail gunner returned fire to the Vultures that had forced them off their planned bombing route. “Admiral, we're seeing more ground guns moving into place; they had more in hiding!”

Yularen frowned, as they should have expected a species that lived underground to be capable of building buried defence lines for something like this. But they had bigger issues. Because they hadn't expected a fight like this, they had only brought Y-wings, no dedicated interceptors or fighters, such as with Ryloth.

One of his clone officers approached him. "Should we order a temporary retreat?" The admiral was still mid-thought when the bridge shook, and they could hear the faint but familiar sound of an explosion.

“What the devil was that?” He yelled, as they had no reports of Vultures getting this close.

“We’re taking ground fire!” One of his bridge crew called out, as 3 kilometers beneath them, having also just revealed their positions, B-1 droids reloaded their J-1s, while others already loaded and continued to fire on the Republic ships, smashing into their armoured hulls and blasting off chunks of it. One such hit struck a Venator's left engine, causing the vessel to dip to the left as it lost propulsion.

One of their cruisers suffered a worse fate. Three hits, coming in seconds apart, nearly snapped its spine as it was under its own weight. With a groan and explosion, it split in two and fell to the planet in two large pieces.

“Vultures incoming, sensors are picking up over 100!”

“We’re detecting Hyena bombers, counting 20, could be more!”

The admiral was already on the move. If they didn't make an effective move now, they'd all be wiped out, and this invasion would be a brutal failure. “Have the Acclamators ascend back to orbit. All Venators are to provide cover fire! Bring back four of our Y-Wing squadrons to assist in that."

"But, sir, that would leave holes in our landing forces' defenses.” His officer reminded him, but he cut the man off.

"If those ships go down, they'll have an even harder time. Now get those bombers back here." His words seemed punctuated by the arrival of the Vultures, their cannons and point defense kicking up to protect them.

With the landing forces, all three Jedi received the same message from their ships: “All forces, be advised; we're pulling back the transports to orbit.”

“They’re what?” Cody asked. They needed those ships and bombers now more than ever. Why were they pulling out?

On the ground, Anakin had rallied what men he could as they came under attack. The locals had planned for them and had 2 blaster nets laying down suppressive fire, while in the middle of their one path out of their crash site was a Separatist tank firing on them, slowly reducing their cover. “Of course, our luck’s that rotten,” He muttered, as this was turning into a mess. He had already lost a third of his men; at this rate, they won't have any left when they get to the planned meeting spot.

Anakin wouldn’t be the only one forced to crash or land, as Obi-Wan's ship would be shot down while his forces, which had landed, were subjected to concentrated enemy fire. Mundi would be the only one who got most of his forces to the surface, but even they suffered losses and could only watch as most of their gunships and carriers were mauled when they tried to retreat.

Line Break

With Lelouch and the Archduke, they listened to the T-series drone explain things as they stood, as it had been 20 minutes since the first shots were fired. "Initial estimates paint the Republic's losses as high. With a Venator and Acclamator downed, the enemy is 32% less likely to re-enter the atmosphere now that they realise we possess a formidable air defense. Further, we calculate that our forces downed an additional 315 Bombers, 295 Gunships, and 85 of their tank transports.”

Lelouch was pleased with himself, as it wasn't just in this sector alone. Still, throughout the planet, they had either smashed Republic forces or denied them the ability to land troops.

Glancing towards the Archduke, he said as much. “As you can see, Archduke, our in-depth defence has exceeded expectations. They believed that this would be just like their first insult against your people, against the dreams of the Separatists, and they've paid in blood."

The Archduke seemed impressed but also wary, which the droid translated for him: “He is impressed with your tactics; however, he reminds you that the Republic has not been crushed yet. Our intelligence confirmed the presence of Resolute. Can you confirm the death of Skywalker?”

“Of course I can’t, my lord.” Lelouch laughed it off, as he doubted someone like Anakin could be so easily killed. No, he and his 501st were a different breed altogether. "However, with his forces having taken such losses, it's well within our favour to crush him before the Republic can scrape together a counterattack." But it didn't matter how well they fought if they weren't resupplied; meanwhile, they sat on enough fuel, food, and munitions to last a siege, which he doubted the Republic could even afford to instigate.

“Where have the 3 Republic forces landed?” Lelouch had to keep his focus and not get lost in the taste of victory before they had won.

The T-series pointed out the 3 on their map of the current battlefield. "One of them made it to within 3 clicks of their assumed landing zone, though they had taken the brunt of our initial attack and are combat-ineffective. A secondary force landed 12 clicks southeast of them; however, they are in the G-12 quadrant."

“Even with a Jedi, it would take them time to move any armour through there,” Lelouch mused, as that area was filled with anti-vehicle traps designed to force them through pre-selected routes which were mined. Even if they cut through the obstacles, the only means out would take them through some caves. "Besides, Kallen should be blocking the only route out of the area; she'll handle them."

It’ll do the girl some good to stretch her legs, and if she got to fight a Jedi doing it…well, Kallen would be happy about that for a while.

“And the last?” He asked.

“They’re 7 clicks southwest of the second ground, in N-15.” Lelouch looked at what blocked their means to break out of their area.

"Well, what bad luck for them," Lelouch stated, as they'll need to contend with a fortress he had guarded by B1, B2s, and Droidekas.

“Also, we have reports that the Jedi leading the N-15 forces is General Skywalker. While spotters confirm its General Mundi leading the group at G-12.” Lelouch frowned at the device, as if he hated one thing about them: how they delivered information.

"Where is Skywalker? Kenobi is never far behind." He focused his annoyance on the task at hand, recalling what he had heard about the two Jedi from the archives.

With that knowledge in mind, he made a guess and tapped the area in M-8. “Keep the pressure up on that centre force. I want it destroyed. And what of Nunnally’s situation?”

"Our Vulture squadron has chased the Republic Y-Wings from the immediate combat area and has led them into the pre-selected killing fields, " the driod informed him, which helped Lelouch feel a little bit happy again.

“Then give her permission to engage the enemy fleet in orbit. They can’t be allowed the time to think.” He ordered, as they needed to ensure it was either destroyed or at least too cautious to get back involved. It would give them time to continue to hammer their forces already in play and strengthen their defences with additional droids.

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Hmm, we're back with the second chapter of this story, one that, I must admit, wasn't quite how I envisioned it. I intended to do something similar to chapter 1, but decided it would be better to try something different. As you say, Lelouch and Nunnally are both force sensitive, and thanks to circumstance, they are more partial to the dark side than the light, though as the entire opening of chapter one notes, that's neither good nor bad.

Other things will be explored, but much like Star Wars introduces characters when they're important, I thought I would do the same here. No sense giving you the full cast from the start, particularly as one won't have as big a role as others, just because they can't all be A-listers. Well, enough yapping, time to get to the chapter.

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And that is the chapter! The battle of Geonosis has begun, and it's off to a horrible start for the Republic. Lelouch and those from the Code geass world'll be one year younger than they were in R1, so he, Kallen, and Leila are all 16. Catherine is also 16, even though I know she should be 6 or something, since Rose takes place in 2025.

I'm planning on this battle being 2-3 chapters long. With how much has changed, the smaller battles will also change. Some will focus on Nunnally, Catherine, and Kallen, and some on Lelouch and Leila. Those last 2 will take a backseat as they let the others handle the fighting.

As for why they're here…that will be explained as the story goes, as it was weird enough taking time to explain their clothing. The how and why they left Earth, got trained, caught up with Galactic history, and ended up as CIS commanders would just have been fluff, boring fluff at that.