The clones, Pyrrhic victory

It was the superior skill and determination of the clones that shifted the battle in their favor. Every shot counted, Trace and her sisters got so many kills that they were at risk of their vibrators setting them off before the battle was won. The stunners were almost a relief to those who were shot as they sent them over the edge. The hall was filled with droids damaged beyond repair and Trace's lust drunk mind almost didn't notice that no more were coming. She put together teams to help out the remainder of her sisters in the neighboring buildings and eventually managed to destroy the last droid.

It was a bittersweet victory. Only her and twelve other clones were still standing. They were almost completely out of ammunition, only having what they'd been able to gather from the stunned. Of the stunned the droids hadn't waited to start taking them away. It would take time to get a full count but over half of her troops had been taken in such a manner. In addition one of her downed sisters had been hit by a stray shot, her armor had protected her from the worst of it but she would still need medical attention. Those who were stunned would be out of action for far too long as well. If the droids sent another attack there was no way Trace could hold them off.

Her communication officer hadn't been one of those dragged away and she took her gear to try and get a call out to the captain. It took longer than she would have liked but eventually she got a response.

"Trace, what is it? We've got a separatist **** attacking along our eastern flank. I want you to prepare a platoon to go and assist if necessary."

"Ma'am I don't have a platoon. They attacked our position in **** and took out our comm officer. We've managed to hold but I've got thirteen combat effective including myself. Half of my unit is missing. The other half is stunned. We cannot hold this position if we are attacked again." Trace informed the hologram whose eyes widened as she heard of the dire situation Trace was in.

"Understood. I can't send much to help but-" Something cut into her transmission, someone was entering the call.

"This is Padawan Elayne Menaraev. We've come as fast as we could and we'll deploy to Lieutenant Trace's position." Trace's eyes widened in surprise under her helmet. Padawans weren't Generals like the knights and masters were but they still outranked both Trace and captain Silvana. It was then Trace heard a humming and looked up to see gunships coming down to deploy reinforcements. When they touched down and clones deployed to help secure the area and gather up the stunned Trace was profoundly grateful. Even more when the padawan herself came over to continue her discussion with her and the captain.

"Thank you for your help commander Menaraev. Is it possible for some of your gunships to provide air support?" The captain asked

"I'm afraid we don't have that luxury, the separatist fleet has only backed off for the moment. We managed to intercept and seize a droid transport full of clone prisoners. The gunships are off to go carry them back into friendly hands for medical evaluation." The padawan tensed up, obviously expecting for Silvana to argue, Trace didn't blame her considering how some of the other human commanders would have reacted to that statement but when Silvana just nodded the padawan relaxed. "My master is managing the battle in space. The separatists have decided to make this a major push, they've managed to land more transports of their own. I've been ordered to take command of defending this sector until the Republic can send help. If you could please be so kind to give vibrator control to me that would be appreciated."

"Of course commander. I'll also get a full briefing prepared for you on our situation. Will you be coming to the command post?" Silvana asked, already knowing the answer.

"No, I'll leave the coordination of our forces to you captain." That was only to be expected, Jedi and their padawans had a tradition of leading from the front. While there was merit to that they still needed someone back at the base to maintain the bigger picture. "I'll be moving to the east to assist there. Good luck and may the **** be with you."

"And with you." Both Trace and Silvana replied before the padawan went to hitch a ride on one of the departing gunships. They would just jump off when their path and the ships diverged.

"Good luck Lieutenant, Silvana out."

Trace saluted before going to attend to her duties. The new clones didn't have an officer higher than Trace with them meaning she was still in command of her area. The extra womanpower would come in handy for helping to hold if the clankers came back.