Defense of Rishi Station

The **Defense of Rishi Station** was a small scale skirmish at a Republic station on the Rishi Moon. The Separatists conducted a droid attack on the base in an attempt to allow them to pass through the sector without detection, requiring them to take command of the station. The clones inside the station were aided by the arrival of Commander Cody and Captain Rex. Together with them, the clones retook the station and fended off the larger Separatist attack in the works.

## Prelude

#### Previous: ...

##### Training Domino Squad

Domino Squad: Hevy, Fives, Echo, Cutup, and Droidbait, encountered an unusual amount of trouble during their early years of training. They had habits of arguing among themselves within the training programs, leading to their failure of the simulated trials. The hired bounty hunter Master Chief Bric lost patience with the group, suggesting they be sent to work in maintenance alongside "99". Even Jedi Master Shaak Ti could see their lack of readiness for combat. It was bounty hunter El-Les who held out hope for the group. Echo notably never adapted to the combat situation while Hevy would charge ahead alone, leaving him vulnerable. The others would argue and fail to face the challenges set for their training. Clone 99 would clean up Domino Squad's training ground after their repeated failures, always giving the group words of encouragement as they left. When the time came for Domino Squad to take their final test overseen by Rancor Battalion's ARC Trooper Clone Commander Colt, they suffered an automatic failure as a result of leaving behind Droidbait after he sustained an injury. Following the failure, El-Les made a request to General Shaak-Ti to allow the Squad to retake the test, while Bric placed in a request to send them to maintenance. Shaak Ti allowed them a second chance. When Echo and Fives came to the Jedi to request a transfer to another squad, she ushered them to solve their issue together as a group. Cutup earned his name from Bric after he was summoned to meet the Master Chief at a landing zone. Once there Bric assaulted Cutup and accused him of being responsible for his team's failure. CT-4040 took the name "Cutup" during Bric's assault. The same night, Hevy attempted to go AWOL, but was talking into staying by 99. Prior to the retaking of the trial, Bric attempted to sabotage the group by stealing their ascension cables that were required for the final stage of the simulation. His actions however only served to make the success of Domino Squad on their second test more impressive to Shaak Ti, passing the trail without their cables. They graduated their training. Hevy gave his graduation medallion to 99, telling him that he will take it back when they see each other again.

Domino Squad was sent to the desolate Rishi Moon outpost under the command of combat veteran Sergeant O'Niner, one of the many outposts that had been established by the Republic to be a first line of defense for the valuable world of Kamino. CT-327 and Nub were also present at the base. Their time spent at the outpost was mostly dull guarding post work, something that bothered Hevy. They sat listening to the Grand Army of the Republic radio broadcast and entertained themselves with friendly competitions. Unknown to the clones, the Separatists had been plotting an attack on Kamino to disrupt the production of clones. General Grievous planned to dispatch forces to capture Rishi Station and hard-wire the all-clear signal which would allow him to pass through the system undetected by the Republic on his journey to Kamino. However, at the same time, two clone trooper officers, Commander Cody and Captain Rex, were conducting an inspection tour of various remote Republic military outposts, and after visiting the tracking station at Pastil, the Rishi moon was their next stop.

## Recount

#### The Infiltration

Under the cover of a heavy meteor shower, several *Droch*-class boarding ships landed on the moon. The ships had carried BX-series droid commandos lead by "Sparky". The droids disembarked their ships and walked over to the station, able to pass through their deflector shields. One of their vessels was spotted by CT-327, however the clone was found and killed by Sparky before he could alert the others. Very quickly the other clones noticed the absence of CT-327. Droidbait and Nub went to search for their brother, finding the BX droids just as they broke their way into the station. A blaster fight broke out, alerting the other clones to the attack underway. Sergeant O'Niner called for a sounding of their alarm. Both Droidbait and Nub were taken by surprise, shot and killed by the BX droids. Sergeant O'Niner soon followed, shot in the knee which caused him to collapse in the eyesight of the droids. Three of them surrounded O'Niner and executed him from close range. Echo, Fives, Hey and Cutup were the only remaining clones. They retreated into the command center of the station where they locked and sealed the doors. As the commando droids cut their way into the room the clones escaped into the ventilation. They had successfully escaped by the time the droids entered the command center. Sparky determined that the four escaped clones were not important. They began the process of hard-wiring the all-clear signal for General Grievous.

Commander Cody and Captain Rex approached Rishi Station aboard the *Nu*-class attack/transport shuttle *Obex.* They tried contacting the station, met by static until one of the BX droids donned a deceased clone trooper's helmet and altered his vocals to imitate a clone, answering the call with a feeble attempt to call off the inspection team. Rex and Cody persisted and landed at the landing platform of the station. Meanwhile, the surviving clones had exited the ventilation down from the station itself. As they attempted to come up with a strategy for their next steps Cutup was grabbed and devoured by a passing Rishi Eel. The clones could see as the inspection team arrived at the station above. They were able to use their droid attack flares to alert Rex and Cody to the situation. The pair saw the flare in the middle of a conversation with a BX droid attempting poorly to impersonate a clone trooper. Rex shot and executed the BX droid, revealing the station was overtaken by the enemy. With the illusion destroyed the other droids leapt from cover and ambushed Rex and Cody. They threw thermal detonators which both destroyed the *Obex* but covered Rex and Cody in the explosion as they leapt from the landing station, leading the droids to believe them destroyed by the blast. They rappelled down to where they ship was destroyed far below the station. They were approached by Echo, Fives and Hevy who took of their helmets to prove themselves not to be undercover BX droids. They informed Cody and Rex that their Sergeant was dead and that they were all that remained. Rex and Cody took command of the squad. Rex impressed the squad as the Rishi Eel reemerged and the clone captain killed the creature in a single blast to the eye. Rex touched the wound with his gloved hand, covering it in blood. As Rex spoke to the remaining squad members of their status as "shinies", he placed his hand on Echo's chest, giving him a blue blood hand-print on his armour. The clones then began their mission to retake the station.

The clones scaled the stone surface that lead them back up to the station. They approached the main entrance where they had to get through a TT-8L/Y7 gatekeeper droid. Rex attempted to adopt a similar tactic to the droids, posing as a BX droid within a clone troopers armour. When asked to show his face-plate, Rex ducked below the camera and lifted a decapitated head of a BX droid to face the camera. The plan worked and got the door open. The three BX droids at the door were quickly gunned down by the clones who stormed back in to retake their base. They stormed the command center, firing on the droid inside. During the firefight Fives was shot in the shoulder and forced to duck for cover momentarily. Rex took on Sparky alone, using his bare hands to engage the droid, break its neck and destroy it. Once the command center had been retaken they could take command of the sensors which revealed the entire Separatist fleet moving past in an attack plan for Kamino. This revealed to the clones the Separatist plot. Above the moon, Grievous grew concerned as the BX commando droids were not responding. He sent down a C-9979 landing craft filled with battle droids to ensure the station remained under Separatist control. The clones quickly forged a plan to use all the thermal detonators within the armory and ignite the tibanna gas that would create an explosion capable of destroying the station, the only way they could think to stop the all-clear signal and warn the Republic of the coming invasion.

The clones got to work rigging the station to blow up while Hevy, Cody and Fives went to the armory to gear up for the attack. Hevy took charge of a Z-6 rotary blaster cannon and positioned himself by the door. The B1-series battle droids reached the door. Hevy opened the door for them, allowing him to begin attacking them with his blaster cannon, starting the firefight. His clone allies soon came to his aid, also firing on the droids with their own blasters. Eventually the clones were overrun and forced to retreat to the operational command center. Rex could not get the PLNK-series power droids to link to the data-pad that was to double as a detonator. Hevy took the pad from Rex and insisted the rest of them get out of there while he remained behind to set up the explosives. The clones did so, reentering the ventilation to escape the station, sure to be followed by Hevy. Hevy quickly learnt that their makeshift detonator was not going to work. He made the choice to make the ultimate sacrifice, staying behind to detonate the explosives along with himself and the enemies. Hevy fought off the advancing droids until his blaster ran out of ammunition, taking shots in the back but refusing to stop. When he was truly surrounded, Hevy made a dash for the detonator, however was shot down before he could reach it. He used the remnants of his strength to press the detonator. The station erupted in fire, destroying it completely alongside the C-9979 landing craft, all the enemy droids and disabling the all-clear signal. Within moments Jedi General Obi-Wan Kenobi and his fleet picked up on the ending signal and rushed into the Rishi system where they found Grievous' fleet attempting to sneak through to Kamino. Obi-Wan's fleet opened fire and quickly forced Grievous into a retreat, ending the threat to Kamino.

## Aftermath

#### Next: ...

The clones were picked up from the remnants of the station in LAAT gunships, taken up to the *Venator-*class star destroyers above the moon. They were commended by the Jedi for their effort and recognized the sacrifice made by Hevy and the others. Rex congratulated Fives and Echo on not being shinies anymore, welcoming them into the 501st.

## Event Chronology

* The Separatists use the ruse of a meteor shower to land on the Rishi Moon and begin their attack on the station, hoping to disable it, allowing an attack on Kamino.
* CT-327 is killed.
* Domino Squad begins their defense of the Rishi base.
* Nub and Droidbait are killed.
* O'Niner is killed.
* Cutup is killed.
* Captain Rex and Commander Cody land at the Rishi base for inspection. They quickly discover that the base has been overrun by Commando Droids.
* Rex and Cody meet with Fives, Hevy and Echo, the last remaining of Domino Squad.
* The clones retake the Rishi base. They plan to blow it up, stopping the all-clear signal and bringing Republic forces .
* Hevy is killed blowing up the station.
* Republic forces are alerted to the Separatist invasion.
* The Separatist fleet retreats.

## Appearances

1. Star Wars: The Clone Wars S3.E1 - "Clone Cadets" (Prelude)
2. Star Wars: The Clone Wars S1.E5 - "Rookies"