Intergalactic Empire Productions

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Eight hours in game prior to the previous game night, Episode 1 invasion of Naboo, the Trade Federation began making their move! Slowly the ships in system began drift closer to Naboo. One in particular launched a few troop transports. In command, OOM-9 and his subordinate EEK-176 began their descent to the surface.

The plan was to quietly remove any chance of communication so the blockade could be put in place without the pesky annoyance of the law, politics, or Jedi. Naboo had an old and flawed planetary communication system. Its point of failure was located in three cities on the surface. If the arrays in Vis, New Centriff, and Parrlay could be silenced, the planet would have no chance of breaking the jamming frequencies and calling for aid. Securing the stations would provide an even greater asset for the Trade Federation.

OOM-9 took EEK-176 to strike New Centriff, while a specialist unit of experimental autonomous droids took on Vis. The future of the Trade Federation’s commando droid program depended on the success of these experimental droids. 

The specialist droids consisted of a pilot and gunner for the AAT, Anti-Air Tank, a command unit with twelve B1 Battle Droid followers, a Destroyer Droid, and a pair of enhanced B1 Battle Droids, one as a sniper with a Beam Rifle and the other with a Rocket Launcher. (But not to be confused with a Rocket Droid, because that is what jetpack B1 Battle Droids are called for some reason.)

They deployed in the dark early morning hours. Sneaking up to the gate, the command unit surveyed what it was facing. A gate had been hastily erected on the main highway going in, but it lacked any walls. All it did was prevent a large vehicle from easily driving in or around the buildings. A pair of guards were leaning on their emplaced weapons, chatting and not looking around much. With the Trade Federation presence in effect for almost a month it was intended to make everyone relax their guard. And it had succeeded.

Some additional guards wandered the yards and side streets nearby, but they were not alert. The commander signaled for their sniper to rig up the localized jamming tower on the hill they were hiding behind. It was strong enough to jam handheld devices, but the interplanetary comm station could still punch right through it. A runner would have to deliver word before it could be broadcasted.

The sniper crawled up the hill, dragging the cargo net and jamming tower behind it. Spending several minutes carefully getting it set up and online, the sniper raised it into position. Immediately, two guards started pointing at it and talking to each other. Without realizing it (natural 1 on the stealth check), the jamming tower was clearly silhouetted against the background!

One tapped his communicator against his hand with a frown, while the other pointed and speculated. The sniper took careful aim and took its shot when the first guard with the comms ducked back behind his comrade to call down for aid! The plasma bolt pierced the two guards with a solid shot, taking both out relatively quietly. The only problem is another terrible stealth roll meant one of the bodies landed directly in front of the foot patrol meandering its way through the street!

With a faint shout of alarm, the droid commander unit realized the back route it was planning to use was foiled. Quickly, it ordered all of its B1 Battle Droid followers to assault and open the gate. The use of heavy ordnance would alert the whole city, so small arms was the weapon of choice.

The sniper took another shot, nailing the engine of a Flash Speeder that came up to the gate. It did not destroy it, but it did damage it. The rest of the characters moved up as well, with the destroyer droid rolling fast and furious past the gate and running over a guard trying to get to the Flash Speeder. As he jumped in surprise from the beam rifle, a large combat droid in a ball form crushed the back of his legs. He fell back on his face with a sharp cry of pain.

The battle droids had already swept the two gunners from the makeshift gate and opened the doors by the time the AAT had arrived. The Flash Speeder slapped the imposing tank with a heavy energy bolt and then took off down the street, skewing slightly as the pilot tried to compensate for the failing engine. Wasting no time, the AAT driver shifted gears and drifted the tank in a high speed pursuit! The gunner fired the medium repeating blasters, but missed horribly. Instead of reducing the light craft into a pile of wreckage, it raked the house in front of it with a barrage of laser bolts.

The Droidika blew past the guards, rolling rapidly onto the main street. Several blaster bolts spattered behind it, with one finding its mark. The automated repair function mitigated the damage.

The B1 commando with the rocket launcher tried to bonk one of the guards, but critically fumbled. It managed to avoid shooting the rocket straight into the air or into the ground at least. Its kill was stolen by the swarm of battle droid followers.

The sniper saw a second Flash Speeder sneaking up after the AAT. A quick reload and well placed shot took out the driver, causing it to skew sideways into an ally and wedge itself tight! It returned fire, missing the sniper by mere millimeters with its heavy cannon.

Meanwhile, the AAT pilot continued to masterfully pursue the Flash Speeder. The speeder missed its shot, but the droid gunner hammered the Naboo speeder instead of a house this time! On fire, it handled even worse and began to drastically lose speed.

The Droidika had covered quite a bit of distance thanks to its ball mode. It came across a Flash Speeder idling by a fuel station. The crew were busy listening to the latest Boonta Eve Pod Race and were not actively patrolling. Or watching anything. The Destroyer droid unfolded into walking mode and lived up to its name. A short burst of fire blew the fuel station and everything in its proximity to smithereens. Satisfied, it rolled back up and moved on as a guard ran over with a fire extinguisher as he critically failed his perception check and assumed it was an accident.

Getting a vantage point by climbing a building to get above the street level, the rocket launcher droid began running along the rooftops to get to the communication array. Using a powerful set of servos, it covered ground quickly.

As the stuck Flash Speeder gunner tried to correct the cannon for another shot, the sniper took him out as well. Clanking to its feel, the sniper reloaded and headed into town.

The burning Flash Speeder brutally skittered across a paved road barrier, then the road, then got air again. It managed a second hefty shot into the AAT, but was ran over moments later as the driver gunned the engines to full throttle. Burning bits of wreckage dragged and scraped on the ground as the tank turned around and began pushing for the communication center.

The Droidika was near the comms station well ahead of anyone else. The pair of guards seemed quite surprised to see it, but the one who got run over was arguably more surprised! The other one got off a quick shot, damaging the murder wheel, but was crushed a moment later as it rebounded off the wall skillfully and pancaked him into the concrete.

Everyone was working on closing in, so the Droidika decided to deploy into its combat form while they caught up. A pair of guards came around the corner, but the twin sets of arm blasters wiped them both out. Panic began to spread among the guards, and their shots were absorbed by the shield the destroyer droid had deployed.

Another pair of guards were quickly gunned down. The AAT steamed in from another direction, smashing another patrol pair. The gunner decided to aim for another team getting ready to attack the destroyer droid, but critically failed and sprayed the comm tower they were supposed to secure instead. It listed heavily with one of its anchoring cables snapping loose with a terrifying whipping motion and sound, but it did not fall over.

The rest arrived, in short order. The rocket droid launched itself off a roof and successfully bonked a guard to death with its rocket launcher! B1s poured into the streets, taking out the last of the guards on the outside as well.

Inside, the IT personnel were having a quiet night with their noise cancelling headsets. One was listening to an interesting new groovy jizz he had just found. He wasn’t sure if he liked it, but he didn’t dislike it. As he got up for a glass of water, he looked up just in time to see a massive AAT sitting out in the street with its plasma cannon less than a foot from the window. Which was the last thing he saw. The whole IT room was blown away from the powerful shell, and with it, the ability to signal Theed!

Rapidly, the city surrendered to the Trade Federation Occupation. OOM-9 was highly pleased with his operatives and gave his official recommendation to proceed with the experimental commando development.