The fall of House Dredd 3

Lan Dredd fired his blaster rifle point blank into the helmet of a republic marine who had popped out of a side hatch to try and ambush him.

The marine crumbled to the ground his blaster falling uselessly before he had a chance to use it. Lan then threw a grenade into the hatch in case any other enemies were hiding in there and was rewarded by shouts of alarm and a panicked marine throwing himself out into the corridor.

One of the Warriors of house Dredd following Lan sent a pair of blaster bolts into the marines side killing the man before he even hit the floor. Fire and shrapnel exploded out of the hatch as the grenade detonated, scorching the dead marine.

Lan stepped past the wreckage to check the compartment behind the hatch and was met by the burned and bloody bodies of two more republic marines. He moved on once he confirmed there wasn't anything left that could harm him or his men and continued up the corridor.

Lan was currently leading a group of warriors deep into the heart of the republic battleship 'Sand Eater' and so far, they had cut through any opposition they had faced like a hot knife through butter. They were one of several groups that had boarded the Sand Eater and the battleships crew was scrambling to try and organise a defence.

"I've hacked into the ships systems and managed to disrupt internal comms. Can't do anything about external comms though, they're on a separate frequency and this ship hasn't centralised its computer systems.

I have managed to trick a few squads of marines and crew members into repelling an 'enemy' force in one of the cargo bays. They seem a bit confused that they are the only ones there. And, oh no, the cargo bay doors just opened and vented them into space. Who could have predicted that." Wally said from inside Lan's helmet and the man grinned at his A.I. friend's sense of humour.

"Don't worry about the external comms, they can squawk for help as much as they want we'll have control of this bucket of bolts before they can ever get here. Just focus on the internal ones, disrupt the defenders as much as possible and sew confusion. We'll do the rest and kill the fools." Lan said to the A.I. as the group of warriors approached a bend in the corridor.

"Comm traffic indicates a squad of defenders is on the other side of that bend waiting for you. I believe they have a heavy automatic blaster set up to stop you as well." Wally said as they reached the bend.

"Good to know pal." Lan said and pulled out a flash bang grenade and gestured to one of the other warriors to do the same and pointed at two others to pull out thermal detonators. "We'll charge them when the grenades detonate, blast anything that looks like it might be unfriendly."

Lan and the other warriors paused for a moment as they prepared to charge the enemy defences. This was one of many roadblocks the republic crew had tried to put in the path of the boarders and so far all had failed to stop the onslaught, it was unlikely that this one would be any different.

Lan primed the grenade in his hand and tossed it round the corner, it was followed immediately by three others thrown by other warriors. The sounds of four explosions sounded from round the bend followed by cries of alarm and screams of pain.

The warriors of house Dredd turned the corner and began firing well aimed blaster bolts into any surviving members of the republic ambush. Soon the only living beings in the corridor were the warriors of house Dredd and Lan moved on ahead, leading his warriors towards the battleships bridge.

-

On the ground things weren't going well for the republic.

A convoy of republic armoured vehicles had tried to cut around to flank House Dredd's defensive positions but they had been ambushed by a large force of droids while they were passing through a narrow back street.

The droids were pouring blaster fire onto the convoy from all sides. The Republic soldiers and the five jedi knights leading them had dismounted from the vehicles and were now engaged in an all-round defence.

The republic soldiers were taking heavy losses and though they were managing to inflict some damage to their attackers it was clear they were coming of worse in the fight. A jedi knight was riddled with blaster bolts as she tried to charge into a building the droids were firing from.

Republic soldiers sent grenades and rockets into the buildings on either side of the street in the hopes of scrapping some of their droid attackers and were rewarded by a shower of rubble and bits of droid falling to the street below.

There were still plenty of droids left in the building however and the republic soldiers were seen retreating back to try and shelter behind their vehicles, while the remaining jedi twirled their lightsabres rapidly in an attempt to deflect the incoming blaster fire.

The side street was only a few hundred meters from the main battle in the city's central square which was also turning into a bad direction for the republic.

Most of the republic tanks had been destroyed and only fifty of the warriors of house Dredd along with a hundred droids had been killed. Compared to the thousands of dead on the republics side including five of the twelve jedi fighting in the main battle.

Diz Dredd, the lord of house Dredd, stalked through the chaotic battlefield and swung his lightsabre to cut two republic soldiers clean in half with a single strike.

Not all Warriors of house Dredd chose to wield a light sabre and those that did created ones that bore very little resemblance to the ones used by the jedi.

The lightsabre that Diz had made could barely be called a lightsabre in fact as its core was a long straight, single bladed sword that came to a sharp point. Glowing blue energy expanded around the blade to enhance its size and sharpness.

Diz carved his way through the republic forces trying to turn the tide of the battle personally. He had accepted that the central battle had gone beyond anyone's control and had turned into a massive melee between both sides and was now focused on killing as many of the enemy as he could.

That wasn't to say he wasn't keeping an eye on his own troops, he could multi-task after all. He was watching to see if any area of the defence was in danger of being over run and would direct troops being held in reserve to reinforce those positions.

He was also watching to rotate any troops stuck in heavy fighting with fresh ones to try and minimise the fatigue they were feeling. Warriors of house Dredd might have superior conditioning and physical abilities to most beings in the galaxy but they were still human. They still needed to rest.

And while they could fight ferociously even while tired, part of their training was to overcome their physical limits and to keep fighting no matter what, they would become less effective. And with the seemingly endless amount of soldiers the republic was throwing against house Dredd Diz needed every one of his warriors preforming to the best of their abilities.

"Lord Dredd!" Diz's second in command Rus yelled as he ran towards the clan leader. One hand clutched a data-pad with a tactical overview of the battle and the other held a blaster pistol, its barrel still smoking. Rus might have been focusing more on the wider overview of the battle but he was still very much in the fight.

"The Ambush on the second prong of the republic assault was successful. The droids we sent to attack the column have inflicted heavy casualties on the republic forces and are successfully pinning them down in the back alleys.

The Republic armies main force has committed to our position. They seem to have sent most of their reserve troops forward into the fight as well and are probably hoping to overwhelm us with sheer numbers.

However, a smaller force has gotten past us, it is made up of approximately two battalions and seems to have three jedi leading it. They aren't in any position to threaten us or the civilians in the space port… but their course suggests that they are headed towards the palace." Rus paused before telling Diz the last part. They both new who as currently at the palace.

Fear filled Diz as a knot formed in his stomach. Though the warriors with Lilk were skilled they were still vastly outnumbered. He wanted to leave, to rush back to the palace and protect his daughter but he couldn't, and that fact was tearing at his soul.

He was the leader of his people and they needed him. He couldn't abandon them to go his daughter, he had a duty to his people and that had to come first. Diz also knew that he didn't have a large amount of spare forces to send to support the palace as every able bodied warrior was needed in the fight in the city centre.

"Do we have any spare troops in that area that can support the people at the palace?" Diz asked hopefully, and although he couldn't see Rus's face behind his helmet he could tell the man was looking grim at the news he was about to deliver.

"We have two squads of droids that were helping to defend Anti-air positions on the far side of the city. I have already sent them the order to head to the palace. But there are no other forces available in the area.

….. I'm sorry my Lord, there isn't much we can do." Rus said sympathetically. He knew how much Diz cared about his daughter and so was aware how much the man must be hurting to know the danger she was about to face without being able to do anything about it.

Diz gritted his teeth and grimaced, "Give the people at the palace an order to retreat to the palace hangar and tell them to evacuate as soon as the skies are clear." He ordered Rus.

There was a ship docked in the palace hangar big enough to evacuate everyone there but it didn't have much in terms of armour or weapons when compared to the fleets slugging it out in orbit so it would be better for them to wait, like the civilians in the ships in the space port and hope that the defence fleet would secure them an opening to escape.

Diz would just have to trust that the warriors with Lilk and the two squads of droids would be enough to hold the republic forces at bay long enough for the defence fleet to win the battle in space.

A blaster bolt from a republic sniper sored past Diz's helmet to impact a building behind him. He couldn't help worrying about his daughter but he needed to focus on the battle being fought around him.

He wouldn't be of any use to his daughter or his people if he was killed by some republic soldier because he wasn't paying attention to his surroundings.