The Clone Wars: Changing Tide -- Volume 4 --

                                   Star Wars: The Clone Wars

                                    Shifting Tides: Volume 4

           "For a plan to succeed, you must dedicate yourself fully, or it will falter."

      The blue, white of hyperspace brought a silent calm as time and distance became fused. Vallen enjoyed the darkness of space, but this brightly lit chaos blasting past the Acclamator made him leery. Uncertainty lied in wait on the other end of that hyperspace lane. Throughout the Clone Wars, a poor or unlucky exit from a hyperspace lane allowed the Separatists to get the jump on Republic forces, smashing them to oblivion.

Space or ground, Vallen and Rex were ready to take the fight upon the enemy.

      Standing at the viewing platform only several windows from one another, Captain Meritus turn to Vallen, "I have taken a gander at the notes you sent me. Wide ranging in tact, but demonstrate far higher detail than a standard clone is capable of following." Raising an eyebrow in response, Vallen was not eager to hear his orders nitpicked apart. He determined they were sound and set the standard high for his troops to follow. "I hold republic troopers to high levels Captain. An esteemed unit such as the 501 won't have any problem, besides, the orders are not to be given in they're entirety."


"Sirs! We are approaching Ator. Exiting hyperspace in 2 minutes. The countdown has begun."

"Captain Meritus, open comm channels. I want the planetary scan begun immediately and initial reports from the Conciliation upon their arrival."

      Vallen walked along the thin metallic floor separating the gunnery and bridge technicians to the situation table. "Halifax, put the 501 on standby" he stated, motioning in a two fingered gesture. As the standby alert was issued cruiser wide, the bridge underwent a metamorphosis from previously being a calm room to the hustle as the necessary guns were manned and systems were raised.

      Vallen's gloved hands gripped the edges of the table; his eyes looked before him as his head raised, peering through the windows as the blue, white blur quickly dissipated to the familiar black void with speckles of far away star systems.

      Directly ahead, Ator, an ecunopolis of tremendous proportions. A planetary city much like a younger version Coruscant was single large city, however, the main difference was it had a few patches of sprawling fields and lacked the numerous level upon level construction which Coruscant had undergone for centuries. Looking closely the planet almost seemed to be a metallic sphere with portions emitting glows of light from various districts shown blues, violets, greens, and gold.

      The thuds of the following escort ships could be heard as they too emerged from hyperspace. "As thought Major, the space surrounding Ator is clear of Separatist signals" reported Meritus hinting his reservations were correct prior to launching, snidely adding, "Will your armor still be necessary?"

Bweep Bweep--- Click*

       A small hologram of rose from the center of the command table. The clone captain of the consular ship, Conciliation, snapped to attention, then saluting. "Sir, though we have yet to find obvious signs of the Seppies, upon closer examination..there are a few..peculiarities."

       "What have you found?" The hologram continued.

"As we arrived I powered up our planetary scans immediately before coming out of light speed to get a jump on any possible Seps. Forwarding what we have seen."

       On the table a blue version of the planet rose. "We began with the capital where the Jedi are supposed to be and saw this." For a few seconds a large red blur could be seen before immediately disappearing. Rex approached the table, "Now, that is odd." Adding in his thoughts, "Could be a trap.." Halifax murmured roughly.

"This is nothing more than a technical flaw. This happens from time to time as the scanners cycle from planet to planet leaving residual "ghosts." Nothing to be frightened of and certainly nothing to mobilize for."

"Upon contacting the planet we also noticed a bad sign. For a planetary city civilian communication is normal, but military and government channels are filled with chatter. The chatter is just repeating though, it isn't filled with anything."

Rex, standing tall next to Meritus, turned his attention from the report. "Well Major, the call is yours."

Taking a moment to contemplate the evidence and consequences to his next move before speaking…. "Call Salvo Batallion to arms. Raise combat status to full alert! I am deploying with A company, Halifax with C, Rex with Company B- Platoons 1 ta 3. You'll have your orders on the ride down..Steadfast til the last nail!" The two saluting, harkening back at Vallen, "To the last nail!" as they hurried from the bridge using their comlink gauntlets to organize the departure.

Meritus' eyes rolled. "A flair for the dramatic, but I've seen army groups deploy after such ghosts. A full planetary scan will sort this out. Then we'll aid them in cleaning up the chatter." "No Captain. You will continue to hold orbit here, monitoring the planet. Complete that scan, but I want this convoy holding its position!" He finished as the blast door closed behind him, Vallen running to deploy on his gunship.

      Boots echoed as their heels pounded the floor. Every trooper throwing their helmet on. Indication lights in each hall throbbed red. Vallen hit the flight deck and jogged to his companies section of the hangar.

"Flying amongst the Thunder today major?!" Flak shouted as he climbed into his cockpit. Valkier saluted, "Sir, I can guarantee the right down will be smooth, but once on the tarmac…well anytime you need help, just make a call for us!" His voice was barely audible over the loud rumbling of all the LAAT Gunships as they powered up.

      The rumbling vibrated Vallen's very chest. Lifting his helmet, shouldering his rifle, the Major was the last to step aboard the gunship. His left hand raising to grasp the hand rail, saluting the ground crews while the ship raised from the ground, the heavy door closing, the blast doors sliding shut over the thin vertical view ports.

       A flurry of gunships burst from the haul of the cruiser, Formidable. Gunships carrying both troops and ATTE's approached the planet's capital, the known position of the negotiations between Jedi Master, A Sharad Hett, Saikiko, and Ator's representatives. The gunships grew smaller and smaller from the Formidable's Bridge. Meritus smiled. "Disperse the fleet for optimum scan yield."

A clone officer paused, "But sir, the Maj.." The Captain sharply cut into the sentence before he could finish. "I am the commanding Navy officer here! I will place these ships as I deem fit. I don't care if you have to send each ship to a polar end of the planet..make it happen!"

The fleet began to split apart as orders were received. One light assault cruiser and two Arquinten light cruisers were in each of the two groups dispatched...

(See 4.5)