Author's Note: Hello guys! It has been a while since the last update, been a little busy lately, but I will try to update faster! Anyway, don't forget to leave a review! Questions, comments and anything else are all welcomed! Enjoy!

"Sector 23B was overran a few moments ago!" Shouted a clone seated in front of a console in the command AT-TE, "We are detecting a lot of movement in that area. The Separatists are most likely preparing to push into the city."

"WHAT!?" Rudely pushing the reporting clone aside commander Buzz stared at the tactical display, "where are the reinforcements I sent?"

Recovering from the push the comm officer replied, "they are engaging the Imperials sir. But the Imperials had dug in."

"It shouldn't take that long to force a retreat! And reports said the Imperials lack any armor. Our troops had armor and artillery support for force sake!"

"What's happening here commander?" Came the voice of Neimoxin.

"Ahhh! You scared me," said a startled Buzz before jumping up in a salute, "we just lost a critical sector and the Separatist are going to use it to break our defense line in quadrant two sir."

"That is not good, but no matter, you should keep your anger under control and be more patient."

"Understood sir, sorry sir."

"So... I heard our troops engaged the Imperials."

"Yes general, its the only way to get reinforcement to that sector."

"I can't blame you on that, lets hope that the Imperials are forgiving or was making empty threats. Call the troops engaging the Imperials back, and prepare those in quadrant 2 to fall back systematically. We will hold the Separatist at our secondary defense line."

"I'm on it general," said Buzz before he activated a comm unit. "Major Fang, do you read me?"

"Loud and clear commander," came the reply.

"Disengage the Imperials, pull back to sector 37A."

"But we have almost won commander! The Imperials had fell back into their crashed ship, a few more minutes and we can pass."

"Sector 23B had been lost major, fall back and prepare for imminent Separatist attack."

"Sir, yes si-EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-"

"What the kriff was that!?" Shouted Buzz, quickly slamming his hand down to cut the comm.

"Commander what is happening?" Asked Neimoxin as he raised his head from a data pad he was reading.

Commander Buzz open his mouth to speak, but before any sound come out the entire AT-TE vibrated. The both of them look around and back at each other worriedly, this sort of vibration could only mean two things, an earthquake or a really big explosion, , and the planet they were on was not known to have earthquakes.

"I do not know general, but I fear orbital..." Before Buzz could finish he was interrupted again. This time a clone trooper opened the hatch of the AT-TE violently.

"General, commander! You need to see this," the worried voice of the trooper echoed throughout the command compartment. The two immediately moved toward the hatch and climbed out into the open. Both turned their heads around, trying to locate anything out of the ordinary. Everything looked normal until they turned their sight towards the crash site of the fallen Imperial ship. Instead of small plumes of smoke seen normally in a battlefield there was one big cloud of fire and smoke. A cloud shaped like a mushroom, big as a mountain and was rising into the sky. It was not long before a shock wave hit them, almost blasting everyone present off their feet.

"What was THAT?" A very annoyed Box Head shouted, who stood beside an overturned table with its content spilled all over the ground and his face covered by dust.

"Is that..." Said Buzz quietly, still observing the rising mushroom cloud.

"I'm afraid so commander, that is a nuclear detonation," Neimoxin replied, equally shocked and disturbed.

"Who would do such a thing? Detonating nuclear weapons in a city," asked a clone nearby.

"It must be the Imperials, that's where their ship crashed," said Buzz pointing towards the mushroom cloud. "Alright soldiers, standing here staring won't help with anything. The Separatist had taken enough advantage already, lets not give them more. Get back to work! Helmets on and activate air filters, those radioactive particles are going to get everywhere soon. Move it!"

Turning to face Neimoxin the commander addressed him, "general, I will see if I can get you a protective gear. You can stay in the walker first."

"Thanks for the concern, but there is no need. I can deal with the radioactive particles easily enough. But not the civilians though, ask your troops to find all those who remain and bring them into underground bunkers if they are not there already."

"But general, there is an imminent Separatist attack!"

"We fight this war for the Republic commander, and the Republic exist for the people. If we neglect them then we have lost."

"Yes general, I will make sure they are safe."

"Oh and commander, prepare a report on the engagement with the Imperials. I want to know as much about them as possible."

After the commander turned away to issue orders Neimoxin muttered under his breath, "If I ever meet that Inquisitor I'm going to have a good talk with him." Not wanting to waste time he quickly turned and walked towards the command AT-TE. Before he enters a siren started to shrill, its ear piercing sound saturated the area, alerting everyone. Knowing what it meant Neimoxin quickened his entry and asked the comm officer, "where are we under attack?"

"Sector 50 to 54 and 57 general," replied the officer, who was furiously typing into the console, "our defenses are holding, but they will need reinforcement soon."

"Divert forces from sector 46A through E and 47A B to reinforce first, the commander will handle the rest."

Receiving a yes sir from the officer Neimoxin jumped back out and sprinted towards the sectors under attack. That's where I came from Neimoxin thought, did the Imperials fail to stop the Separatist army?

"Two Seven is down! We need to fall back!" Shouted a clone taking cover under a window. The air was filled with deadly bolts of plasma, both red and blue flew in all directions. Chunks of ferrocrete got blown off as blaster round hit them while others found their target on clones or droids. The area was filled with rubble and half destroyed building, result of the recent conflict. Swift and his platoon of 50 was reinforcing this area. He was shooting from his position on the first floor of what used to be a school. The current Separatist assault had been brutal, the droids had not been acting 'normally', instead of slowly marching they were charging the Republic line. Somehow they managed to show even less self preservation than before. Dozens of droids were gun down every second, the clone troopers were not faring any better. The intense attack had pushed them back several city blocks. Losses were high on both sides, it was as if the Separatist were seeking mutual destruction.

"Trooper! Cover our retreat!" Ordered Swift as he lobbed a thermal detonator towards an advancing group of B2s. The clone in question acknowledged and lay down a devastating spray of fire using his heavy repeating blaster from his encampment on the second floor, mowing down a large number of droids.

"Move move move!" Shouted Swift, "Fall back to the next street!" Swift poke his head out of cover and fired at another group of B2s that was too close for comfort. Before he could gun them all down a B2 raised its arms and fired a rocket at the machine gunner.

"Rocket!" Shouted Swift, but it was too late. Fire, debris and body parts erupted from the gunner's encampment, the explosion had ripped the unfortunate clone apart. With the suppressing fire gone the remaining droids was able concentrate their fire upon the retreating clones. Three clones who were running down the street was killed almost immediately, their charred body dropping to the ground.

"We are pinned down! Hold your ground, we can't retreat like this!" Switching on his comm to command he quickly requested, "command! Sector 52C needs reinforcements! My platoon is down to a little over half strength, I don't know about the others but they can't fare any better!"

"Acknowledged, reinforcement will arrive in 10 minutes."

"We can't hold for 10 minutes! We need them now."

"All forces are tied down, 10 is the best we can do. You need to hold your ground, we can't have our defense line broken."

It was then Swift realized how dire the situation was, the entire defense line was besieged, and no force could be spared. He also knew that there could be no gaps in the defense line, else the Separatist could use the gap to flank the rest of the Republic forces. He knows that if his men tried to hold the line it will be their death, but they are clones, and it is their duty to do what must be done. Even if it means death.

"Understood command, Swift out," cutting the transmission he turned his external speaker back on, "Alright people! Reinforcement will only arrive in ten minutes, and we WILL hold the seppies back for ten minutes! We will not fail the Republic!"

Satisfied with the war cries in response Swift returned his focus to the battle and risked a peak out of cover. Droids, too many droids. Noticing a group of 5 B1s which were trying to flank a group of clones to his right he quickly took aim. Steadying his breath he pulled the trigger, and the shot decapitated the closest droid. Pointing his blaster to the next he fired another shot, this time it burned a hole right into the droid's chest, felling it. Before he could take a third shot a rocket hit his cover and sent him flying backward. He tried to get back up but fell again, planting his helmet right into the ground. Red blaster rounds flew past and punched holes into the wall behind him, had he not fell he would had been dead. Swift shook his head to clear his mind, soon he located his blaster and crawled towards it as fast and staying as low as possible. With a final grunt he reached out and grabbed his blaster. Turning his head immediately to face the droids his eyes widened with surprise. A red bolt of superheated plasma was headed right towards his face, and not even his helmet could save him. Time slowed as large amounts of adrenaline was released into his system. Just when he thought his death was imminent a green shaft of light entered his field of vision directly between him and the blaster bolt, deflecting it.

"Need a hand?" Came the voice of thee general. Looking up Swift saw Neimoxin standing in front of him, left hand stretched out while the right hand was busy swinging the general's green light saber to deflect incoming shots.

"Yeah," Swift replied before grabbing the helping hand and stood up with some help.

"Carry on Swift," said Neimoxin before he ran towards the advancing droids. Not wanting to fail the general Swift immediately returned to attacking the droids.

Neimoxin ran across the dirt field towards the Separatist all the while deflecting blaster shots back towards their owner. Something was off, and Neimoxin could see it. All across the battlefield the droids were running towards the Republic line, and being gunned down in droves. The droids were desperate, they were trying to break the Republic line as fast as possible. This could merely be a new tactic that the Separatist were trying. The chaos and disorderliness among the Separatist front suggest otherwise. The droids are desperate, no, droids cannot be desperate, their cheap processing core could barely handle aiming as it is, it was their commander. But what could cause a Separatist commander to be so panicked? In this case the answer is pretty obvious, Imperials.

"Commander Buzz," said Neimoxin into his comm unit, "do you read me?"

"Yes general," the commander's reply came almost immediately.

"I want you to send all back up units to reinforce the southern defense line, and route half of all forces stationed in areas that are not engaged in combat here too."

"Are you sure that is wise general? The Separatist may take this chance to break our line bordering quadrant two."

"Yes commander, the Imperials are coming, and they might not like what we had done to their soldiers."

"Alright sir, I will send the reinforcement as soon as possible."

Observing the battlefield Neimoxin could not find any tanks or droidekas, weird, with those the Separatist could definitely break through the Republic line much faster. So where are those? Without heavy fire support the droid army crumble before the jedi, mere B1s and B2s pose no challenge to a well trained and well experienced jedi like Neimoxin. Dozens were sliced apart by the superheated plasma of the jedi's lightsaber. Soon enough the Separatist forces were pushed back. As Neimoxin neared the edge of the city he could make out the sounds of explosions coming from far behind the Separatist front.

"Swift?" Neimoxin called, "you hear those?"

Dashing forward from his previous cover the clone in question slid behind a half destroyed wall beside the jedi before answering, "yes general?"

"Do you hear those explosions? In the background."

"I do not hear... Wait, I think I heard something... Yes explosions," replied Swift, "you think the Separatist are under attack from the back?"

"Almost certainly, and by the Imperials if I am not wrong," said Neimoxin as he too slid into cover and deactivate his lightsaber. Activating his comm unit Neimoxin announced, "this is general Neimoxin to all Republic units, do NOT open fire on anything that is not confirmed Separatist unless fired upon. I repeat, do NOT open fire on anything that is not confirmed Separatist."

Turning back to Swift Neimoxin said, "I believe you can keep the droids at bay?"

"You can trust us to hold the line general," said Swift as he tapped into the local comm channel, "alright troopers, hold your current position, the general will be leaving soon."

"Oh I won't be leaving alright, I am staying right here."

"Then..." Not wanting to disturb Neimoxin Swift returned his focus on the battle. Meanwhile Neimoxin had sat down in a meditative position. He reached out with his mind and sense his surrounding. The force was turbulent here, more than usual, yes there is the death screams of dying soldiers but this is different. Something else is causing the turbulence, this was not what Neimoxin was finding however. Reaching out even more he could sense the commander of this particular Separatist army. The Neimoidian was panicking, he could sense fear bleeding out of him like blood out of a ruptured artery. The Separatist was fleeing, he will reach here soon. Reaching further out he found the missing heavy fire support. Droidekas and tanks, they were all at the back of the Separatist army, broken and destroyed. Reaching even further out he could sense... Nothing... No, not nothing, there are faint, extremely faint force presences. Hundreds, thousands of humans, they are human. So the Imperials are humans after all. But why are their force presence so faint? Almost non-existent even. Focusing more he could feel their emotion, hate, so much hate. Had they fallen to the dark side? That could explain the inquisitor's genocidal desire. No, there is no taint of the dark side. Then why the hate? Not important, things to consider later. The last of the droidekas and tanks had fallen, the Imperials are advancing.

Opening his eyes Neimoxin reactivated his lightsaber and stood up. He turned and walked out into the open. The Separatist forces were dwindling, some droids were even falling back, no doubt to delay the Imperials. What could the Imperials do to scared the Separatist commander into such desperation? Of course it might just be the Separatist commander being a coward, which was most certainly the case. After a few more second of deflecting incoming blaster bolts all the battle droids stopped. They simply deactivated. Soon enough fire from the Republic line also stopped, no battle droid was left standing, but all the clones were still on their guard.

After a few minutes a single Separatist AAT battle tank emerge from the forest just in front of Neimoxin . A single figure could be seen on the top hatch, the Neimoidian commander.

"I surrender! Don't shoot! I surrender to the Republic! I had deactivated all the droids!" Shouted the commander, whose voice was amplified by loudspeakers. Fear and panic evident in his voice.

Neimoxin looked back and saw a AT-TE column arriving and even a juggernaut. The juggernaut was an awe inspiring sight to see on any battlefield. An armored giant 30 meters tall, 20 wide and 50 meters long, it was a beast true to its name, a nigh unstoppable war machine. Right on time, thought Neimoxin, that thing will give anyone a second thought about attacking the Republic.

"Reporting in general," said Box Head over the comm, "how do you like the Juggernaut I brought?"

"You are commanding that thing?"

"Yep, the original commander was taken out by shrapnel during his down time, unlucky fella."

"Alright then, move up and hold position."

"Yes sir!"

Returning his attention to the approaching Separatist tank Neimoxin commanded, "stop your tank fifty meters from my location and step out of it, or you will be considered hostile."

"Alright alright, please arrest me, quick!" Replied the Neimoidian whose tank came to a stop at the specified location. Walking forward Neimoxin prepared to take the enemy commander prisoner, but not before catching a glance of something moving in the forest. Something that was rapidly approaching. He was not the only person who caught sight of it either.

"General, potential hostile closing in permission to fire a warning shot?" Asked Box Head over the comm.

"Negative, do not do anything until I say so, ask everyone to lower their weapons, do not appear threatening. But remain on guard," turning to the Neimoidian Neimoxin said, "now step out of your tank slowly, hands on your head. Don't try any tricks."

"Okay okay."

When the Separatist commander was halfway out of his tank the figure Neimoxin saw emerged from the forest and walked into the open. It was tall and bulky, towering any normal man. The figure was no doubt clad in massive armor, but it didn't look like one. Artwork adorned the black armor, making it look more suitable for display than actual combat. Surprisingly the armor lack a helmet, leaving the wearer's face exposed, but it was still too far away to make out who it was. On the massive pauldrons were lines after lines of tiny writing in what appeared to be gold. Hanging from the bottom of those shoulder piece were pieces of half torn paper, filled with even more writing. On the armor's chest plate were the same symbol seen on the clothing of the inquisitor, a massive gold plated double headed eagle. Below that was a utility belt, massive leather tomes hung on chains along with a multitude of other trinkets from inquisitorial rosettes to grenades. A finely crafted sword that appeared surprisingly familiar was held on the figure's right hand. Its blade was sheathed in a pulsing field of electric blue energy. On the figure's other hand a massive gun was held, its muzzle still smoking slightly. The gun itself could be called a great piece of art. Golden in color it was covered with sigils and holy symbols. The familiar symbol of a stylized 'I' was seen on the armor plate covering the lower leg. One last eye catching detail was the skulls, skulls of different designs were seen on various places on the armor, from the knee plate to the knuckles. At last the figure was close enough, Neimoxin looked upon the exposed face and instantly recognized who it belongs to. It was the inquisitor.

"Inquisitor! I am general Neimoxin! We had talked!"

The inquisitor did not replied. He just strode across the field with long powerful steps.

Neimoxin's comm link chirped as Box Head contacted him, "general, I am detecting a lot of heat signatures in the forest. They are holding position... Wait, a few are still moving forward. They will emerge soon."

"Acknowledged Box Head," whispered Neimoxin, barely audible but it was enough for the comm unit to pick up.

The inquisitor came to a stop a few steps away and spoke in an even tone, "jedi general, ask your men to stop and hand the xeno over."

Turning his head back Neimoxin saw two clone troopers had came to escort the Separatist commander to his temporary cell. They were about to search the commander who was now visibly trembling and avoiding all eye contact with the inquisitor. Neimoxin hold his hand up to signal the two troopers to stop, and they did. The situation is tricky, on one hand the Neimoidian had willingly surrendered to the Republic, so he is now a prisoner of war. On the other hand a foreign faction had demanded the Separatist to be handed over, a faction that was likely not on any Republic record. They were pretty extreme too, if the inquisitor's words and the action of the troops on their crashed ship was any indication. Neimoxin was not sure what will the inquisitor do if he don't hand the prisoner over, but he got a gut feeling that there will be lots of death. Then why are their troops retreating? If he hand the prisoner over now it may help ease potential tension between the two factions over the fate of the fallen Imperial dropship. The Imperials did initiate hostility first though, and we tried to talk. But it would be for the best if future conflict could be avoided, any lost of life is undesirable. However handing the prisoner over now might give them the impression that the Republic is weak, also an undesirable outcome. Deciding to check for the inquisitor's response first Neimoxin asked.

"Xeno? You mean the Neimoidian, he had surrendered to the Republic moments before your arrival. I..."

Before Neimoxin could finish Anzio cut him off, "it does not matter general, we are the ones who destroyed the bulk of his army. Hand the xeno over or you will be interfering with inquisitorial work. The result of such actions will be severe."

Threats again huh? These people are aggressive. Looking past the inquisitor Neimoxin saw lone figures nearing the edge of the forest, they were spaced out quite healthily, one was close to his location and two more at each edge of his visual range. Similar to the clone troopers of the Republic they were clad in full body armor, although it is colored in a light shade of brown similar to the color of dirt found in arid wastelands. Each one held a long tubular weapon in their hand, aside from the repeatedly seen symbol of a double headed eagle another symbol was visible at the side of the weapon. It was a circle divided into 6 equally sized sections, with 3 colored black and the rest yellow. Naturally Neimoxin had no idea what that meant, it may simply be a mark for identification. A more concerning fact was what the figures were doing. They stopped just before leaving the foliage and knelt on a knee before shouldering their weapon like one would a rocket launcher. Their action caused the clones to tense and some even lifted their weapon and took aim. Is he trying to threaten me using a few rocket launchers? No something else must be going on and it can't be good. Not wanting to escalate the situation out of control Neimoxin raised his hand and signal the clones to lower their weapons.

"Inquisitor there is no need to be hostile, it would be preferable if your men lower their weapons. We can talk this out."

"I too do not wish to be delayed by yet another force and fight fellow human beings. Be grateful that nothing of high value was on a transport that miraculously survived heavy damaged and a crash landing, so I can oversee its lost."

So he knew about the transport, thought Neimoxin. As much as Neimoxin dislike it, the inquisitor's disregard of life and humanocentric views were preventing the situation to further escalate, at least he tried to talk, better not to try my luck. Just before the jedi could respond Anzio continued.

"Know that doing anything that hinders the servants of the Emperor's holy Imperium from performing their duty is heresy. And those who commit heresy can be punished by the Emperor's cleansing flame."

"Cleansing flame?"

"Some of your men had already experienced it."

It was only then that realization hit Neimoxin. Those rocket launchers are not normal rocket launchers. It all match up, the large spacing, the Imperial troops holding position and the inquisitor's choice of words. Those rocket launchers must be able to launch nuclear devices, and if they were to be fired the result would be devastating.

"Alright inquisitor, you can ha..." Suddenly Neimoxin felt the force screaming out in warning, acting on instinct he draw and activated his lightsaber faster than any normal human could. Letting the force guide him he spun around and dropped into a defensive position. Neimoxin's perception of time slowed dramatically, at his back the Neimoidian was priming a thermal detonator. The two clones just noticed the attempt and moved to stop the Neimoidian. Neimoxin was about to pull the detonator away with the force when he heard a thunderous BOOM!

The battle between the Separatist and the inquisitor's man was chaotic, as were all battles. Deafening explosions of Imperial artillery, unique zap of blaster discharge and the screams of the dying, out of all these sounds one stood out. It was a voice powered by hate and full of conviction. Its source was a man standing out in the open above a ridge.

"The soulless machines are abominations in the Emperor's eyes! Kill them! Kill them all!" Screamed Jusmo, priest of the Ecclessiarchy. A massive glob of burning promethium was spat out of the flamer held on his hands. It was a unique piece of equipment, not only was it of a rare variant that had unusually long range, it was also blessed and consecrated. The unfortunate target of Jusmo's holy flamer was a droideka, its shield up and weapons blazing. The speeding glob raced towards its victim, threatening to knock it off its feet. But it was not to be, a thin veil of blue energy stopped the glob dead in its track. The viscous liquid splattered over the shield protecting the droideka, who will be laughing with glee at the futile attempt to harm it if it was capable of such emotions. However, the survival of the Emperor's enemy was not meant to be. As soon as the promethium lost its speed, it dropped, straight through the thin blue veil that had just protected the droideka moments ago. The flaming fluid covered the droid, seeping into cracks and joints, the intense heat destroyed the droid's delicate machineries. Soon the once deadly droideka was but a pile of scrap laying under a blanket of the still burning promethium.

"None shall stand against the wrath of the Emperor!" Jusmo's voice boomed across the battlefield as he fired another glob at a droideka. Those dammed machines were causing the Imperials lots of trouble. Their shield held firm against las fire like ceramite against stubber fire. Only concentrated sustained las fire could hope to overwhelm the powerful shield. -BOOM- Thunderous explosions rocked the battlefield as Imperial artillery fired another barrage. The droideka's impressive shields could not protect them against such powerful shells, even the AATs were blown apart. The intensity of enemy fire dropped sharply as the barrage continued. Massive explosions blew columns of dirt into the air and leave behind rising clouds of black smoke, obscuring the battlefield.

"The enemy line had been broken," announced the inquisitor who was standing a few meters away from the priest. The advance sensors built into his power armor providing data on the enemy even when dust and smoke obstructed the view. Opening a vox channel to all Imperial forces Anzio gave a simple command, "All forces advance cautiously. Artillery units begin leapfrogging forward."

As soon as the command was received the imperial troops started moving. Guardsmen climbed over the ridge and moved down the slope, all the while trying to avoid stepping on their fallen brethren. Half burnt corpse of fallen guardsmen littered the forest floor, filling the air with the repulsing smell of charred flesh. At least there is little to no blood, thought Anzio, these xenotech weapons are clean... Taking another look around the battlefield he added a mental note, and very deadly. All these dead guardsmen were the result of a disastrous head on charge, droidekas are very good at mowing down infantry.

As Anzio stride along the forest floor his vox chimed, "Craig, report."

"Scouts reported sighting of a xeno in one of their tanks my lord."

"Species?"

"Not of our target."

"He may still possess useful information, send me all information regarding the xeno's position."

"Yes my lord."

Satisfied with the response he gave a command to all nearby Imperial units, "hasten our advance! A xeno commander may be hiding in the fleeing enemy. We will not allow it to escape!"

Just as he finished his sentence rays of blinding light penetrated the forest canopy, catching everyone's attention. His armor feed warnings directly into his brain, even without a space marine's black carapace he could interact with the armor directly thanks to the mind impulse unit implanted at the base of his head by the Mechanicus. Radiation levels were spiking, which could only meant one thing.

"Craig, where did the nuclear explosion came from? I told you that mini-nukes are not to be used without my permission."

"It was not our doing my lord, the explosion happened quite far away, at least two dozen kilometers away."

"We do not have forces that far away."

"It is most likely one of our downed transport, we have not located every one of them."

"This is unfortunate... Regardless, proceed forward."

"Yes my lord."

The Magos is not going to be happy about this, thought Anzio, producing this many RadAways for the troops here may hinder his research. But taking an alternative route would waste a lot of precious time.

"Move faster!" Shouted the Separatist commander, "or they will catch up!"

"We can't commander," the B1 droid driver replied in a sharp monotonous voice, "there are too many trees around."

"I don't care! How long before we reach the Republic line?"

"In about 10 minutes sir, but we still haven't break their defense."

"Useless droids," the commander complained. Tapping into the command console the Neimoidian issued the order for all droids to charge the Republic line while sending small groups to the rear to slow down the advance of those crazy humans. He was suppose to link up with a Ssi-ruuk force and lay siege to the Republic city, but these humans came out of nowhere and destroyed most of his forces. Just moments ago the last of his tanks and droidekas were wiped out. He only have two option left, either to break the Republic line and bunker down, or to surrender to the Republic and hope they can deal with those humans. Now the first option seems almost impossible. Surrendering can't be that bad right? The Neimoidian thought, at least it would be much more pleasant than being captured by those crazy humans. All those who are assigned to work with the Ssi-ruuk had heard stories, stories of genocide and torture, much worst than anything he had ever heard. He had not believed any of the stories until he saw the atrocities himself. It was months ago, on a distant world. These crazy humans, or Imperials as they call themselves, had chased a group of Ssi-ruuk refugees there and forced them to land. The Imperials then proceed to deploy ground forces and exterminate those refugees. It was only due to the timely intervention of Separatist forces that saved some of the Ssi-ruuk. The Neimoidian shuddered as he recall the scene after they drove the Imperials away.

-BOOM- An explosion shocked the commander out of his thoughts, he turned and asked, "what is happening?"

"Errrr the Imperials had caught up with our forces," came the monotonous reply.

"Continue driving forward, route all infantry units behind the treeline to engage the Imperials and shut down all units that had left the treeline when we are approaching it."

"Shut down sir?"

"Just do it!"

"Roger roger."

Anzio swung his right hand backwards, smashing the pommel of his sword into the tiny head of a B2 super battle droid. Its duranium frame crumpled under the inquisitor's enhanced strength. His holy bolter thundered as three mass reactive shells flew into an offending B2, blowing it apart in a shower of twisted metal. Whipping around he thrust his power sword straight into yet another B2's red sensor and sliced downwards, almost cutting it in half. A wall of red bolts was sent his way as another rather large group of droids approach to eliminate the threat. The super heated plasma impacted the inquisitor's bulky form, burning scorch marks into his majestic armor.

Anzio quickly ducked and slid behind a boulder protruding from the forest soil, even though the blaster rounds could not hope to damage the adamantium and ceramite layers of his power armor, there are several weak points where damage could be dealt. Plus it is uncalled for to bring unnecessary harm to those masterfully crafted artworks on his armor.

He waited several seconds for the droids to get distracted by the constant stream of lasfire before jumping out of cover, Holy bolter barking and power sword swinging. Three B1s were immediately blown apart by .75 caliber bolt rounds and another two lost their upper torso as the power sword cleave through their body. Anzio stepped forward to engage the 3 remaining droids, one B1 and two B2s. Anzio was upon them as the droids took aim. The B1 met its end as Anzio backhanded it, sending its head flying away from its body. The remaining B2s opened fire before Anzio could destroy them, their dual wrist blaster sending a torrent of blaster bolts towards the inquisitor. Diving into a roll the inquisitor managed to evade most of the incoming fire, the rest impacted his armor and burnt even more scorch marks into the massive armor. He thrust his sword up as his roll came to an end, impaling the offending B2. Not wasting any time he yanked his power sword out and kicked the other B2 in the knee. The power armor enhanced kick made contact and bent the droid's knee in the opposite direction to where it was suppose to bend. The droid fell face first into the soil as Anzio delivered a powerful stomp, duranium armor bent and gave in, leaving the droid as a partially crushed heap of junk.

"Forward men! Victory awaits!" Shouted Anzio with his power sword pointed forward. A chorus of war cries rang through the forest in response as the guardsmen surge forward, destroying the last of the Separatist army. As the last droid was fell by a bayonet thrust from a brave guardsmen cheers rang out through the forest, for this particular army of abominable intelligence was crushed.

"Craig, where is the location of the xeno?" Asked Anzio as he observed the area, most guardsmen were sitting down and resting after the long battle. Field medicus were tending to the wounded and the dead are piled up and burnt, there was no time for a burial. Imperial priests were giving prayers to those brave men and women who gave their live in service of the Emperor. Tech-priests were few and far between, most followed the armored units who took a different route.

"Unknown my lord, servo-skulls are searching. We are near the edge of the forest though, maps created from orbital scans indicate a city to be present just beyond. The xeno might be hiding there. The nuclear blast earlier should originate from within the city."

"This complicates things, a city must have a guarding or occupying force. Station the artillery in range of the city when they arrive. I will scout ahead."

"It shall be done my lord, should I send a guard detail for you?"

"That won't be necessary."

"Very well."

As Anzio stride forward with powerful steps he noticed a servo-skull matching speed with him, must be Craig's doing, thought the inquisitor. A more comprehensive set of data flooded his mind as he established a link with the servo-skull, what he saw was not encouraging.

"Craig, are you monitoring the auspex data?"

"Yes, titan level power signatures are popping up."

"Then you should know what to do, prepare the nuclear strike teams. All other units are not to advance."

"Yes my lord," came the lieutenant's reply. Anzio was only able to take a few steps before Craig voxed him in a concerned tone, "my lord, should we just send the servo-skulls to scout?"

"No"

"B..." Craig stopped himself immediately, for he knew better than to question the inquisitor.

Undisrupted, Anzio continued down the path at a brisk pace, evading trunks and brushing low branches aside. After a minute or so of traveling the inquisitor stumbled upon a track of half crushed plant life, the signature trail of hover vehicles of any kind. In this case, it was most likely the trail of the tank the xeno was last sighted in. He followed the obvious trail and soon enough he was nearing the edge of the forest. Anzio quickly moving back into the untouched undergrowth to avoid being a simple target for whatever sniper that might be present. Gazing out of the forest Anzio could see the city that stretched across the horizon in the distance. White humanoid forms filled the city, alongside six legged machines and of course the titan, a massive tank like monstrosity ten stories tall.

"Craig, send a nuclear strike team to my location, I confirmed the presence of a titan. Dispatch more teams with one point five kilometers spacing."

"Strike teams are moving out, Jeff is moving towards your position, should be there in a moment."

"Good," replied Anzio as he continued to observe. The clearing between the city and the forest was ridden with the broken body of battle droids. These people must be at war with the droids, part of the so called Republic then. Zooming in to the area around the titan Anzio noticed something, a hover tank, just like those the damned droids employ. A xeno with gray could be seen on the top hatch of the tank, wearing a robe and a three pronged hat. Beyond the xeno he could see another figure, a human man in plain brown robes. As he zoomed in the face became recognizable, the man standing there was the jedi general that he spoke to while he was still on broad the Eternal Trader, what ever that rank means. These people must be from yet another colony lost during the age of strife, time to establish contact then. He took off his helmet and walked towards the jedi.

Neimoxin recoiled as the lower half of the Separatist commander exploded in a shower of flesh and blood. Only his fast reflex allowed him to erect a force shield in time to prevent being drenched in the vile substance. The same could not be said for the two clones whose armor would need some good cleaning later. The Neimoidian screamed and flail his hands as his broken body dropped on two stumps that used to be his feet, while his intestines spilled out the gaping wound. Not forgetting the threat Neimoxin flung the thermal detonator far away into the plain, allowing it to detonate harmlessly a split second later.

Looking back up he could see the two blood covered clones leveling their blasters against the inquisitor, who was looking at the Separatist with an emotionless face, unfazed by the clone troopers.

"Send Alyssa here now," Neimoxin heard the inquisitor, "it won't stay alive for long."

"Lower your weapon troopers," commanded the jedi before turning to face the inquisitor, "I appreciate your help inquisitor, but next time..." He paused for a second to look at the still thrashing Separatist, "let me handle this sort of situation."

"I assumed you were just an unarmed jedi general, and you troops are slow", said Anzio. I'm also too slow, he contemplated, and now I have to deal with an unsanctioned psyker, Alyssa better come faster to determine his psionic level. He lowered his holy bolter but this time, he was even more prepared to raise it up in case the unsanctioned psyker gets any funny idea or show any sign of Chaos corruption.

Realizing his lightsaber is still active, Neimoxin quickly deactivated it with a flick and attach it back on his belt in one fluid motion.

"They were ordered to not move at your request after all," defended Neimoxin, "A medical team is on the way, but I don't think he will survive."

"That won't be necessary, I will take it from here," said Anzio as he walked towards to now mostly unconscious xeno. A compartment in his pauldron opened up at his mental command, from within he took out an injector that contained a green liquid within. The inquisitor stood beside the grievously injured xeno and positioned the injector above the gaping wound. With a light press, he released a few drops of the green liquid onto the dying alien, but nothing happened. At the same time Neimoxin had crouched down beside the Separatist and was inspecting the wound.

Giving out a small snort Anzio said, "as expected, it don't work on xenos." Who then proceed to place the injector back into its compartment.

"What is that thing?" Asked Neimoxin, "I will try to stop the bleeding, but force healing isn't my specialty." Directing the force through his hand he attempted to stop the bleeding, but there isn't much blood left to stop. The fact that the Neimoidian was still breathing shallowly could be considered a small miracle.

"Medigel," answered the inquisitor. Neimoxin quickly made a mental note to ask more about this substance in the future, it could be beneficial to the Republic's clone army after all. Through the force Neimoxin could feel the Separatist commander slipping away, even after he stopped the bleeding, the wound was simply too big and too much blood had been lost.

Shaking his head Neimoxin reported, "he's dead."

"Useless xeno," spat Anzio, "back to business shall we?"

Such disregard of a life, thought Neimoxin before answering, "yes." As he stood up he continued, "what exactly are you doing here?"

"Hunting down the Ssi-ruuk, I've made that clear when we first talked."

"Ah, yes, something concerning warp sorcery. The Republic have no record on the Ssi-ruuk, this is our first prolonged contact. But even now we still do not have much information on them."

"You just need to know that they are a threat to the Imperium and humanity. We are here to hunt them down, now, allow us passage through this city and we will leave you alone."

"First I need much more detail than that, and second why do you need passage? Where are you going?"

"The details are classified by the inquisition. So is the details of this mission. I do not wish to fight fellow humans who are simply ignorant of the light of the Emperor, but I will if I must."

"No, I will..." Neimoxin was cut off as his comm unit beeped frantically, indicating a high priority call. Quickly erecting a shield around himself to prevent any sound from leaving he answered the call.

"General!" The voice of commander Buzz came through, "The city of Ancouvos is under siege! Half of the suburb region had already fallen into Separatist and Ssi-ruuk control."

"What!? How is that possible?"

"The outer defenses are taken out by an orbital bombardment, and Separatist jamming prevent any comm signal from coming out. Your orders sir?"

"Mobilize all of our forces in this city, we are going north."

"Are we going to abandon this city sir?"

"Defending this city is useless if we allow Ancouvos to fall, there are millions of civilians there. I want the army to be ready to move out in one hour is that clear?"

"Crystal sir!"

General Neimoxin terminated the comm link and dropped the specialized force shield. He looked at the inquisitor and said, "one of our city is under attack by the Ssi-ruuk, if you promise to not harm any Republic force and help us to fight the Ssi-ruuk then we can come to an agreement."

"Which city are you talking about?" Asked Anzio.

"The city of Ancouvos, its located just north of our current position."

Anzio stayed quiet for a few tense moment before breaking into a smile rarely seen on his face, "well general, we have an agreement. Be glad that you could fight alongside the Emperor's servant against his enemies."

Neimoxin smiled in return and replied, "and I'm glad that we won't be shooting at each other." He tapped his comm unit and established a link with Buzz. "Commander," he said in a cheerful tone, "we just found some new friends."