**Chapter 723: Shadows and Thunder**
**Umbara – Northern Highlands**
**Clone Wars: Year 2, Month 10, Week 1**
**Scene 1: Forward Push**
Dagon Marek stood atop the captured ridge, durasteel mask reflecting the pale Umbaran sunlight. Two days on the planet. They had destroyed the orbital blockade, seized this vital high ground for the forward command base, and successfully repelled three major counterattacks. The Umbarans were proving to be cunning adversaries — less fanatical than the fighters on Jabiim, but far more innovative. Their technology and tactical adaptability made every meter of ground costly.
"Twelve Juggernauts disabled during that cavalry-style charge," Dagon noted quietly. The electromagnetic plasma cannons on the Umbaran hover tanks had shredded the massive wheels of the heavy vehicles. The troops inside survived with only minor injuries, but the tanks themselves were now immobilized hulks — sitting ducks for follow-up strikes.
Bacara approached, his white-and-blue Galactic Marine armor scarred from recent fighting. "A forward assault along the main route to the city seems risky, sir. They've had days to fortify it."
"Not an assault," Dagon replied, voice distorted by the mask. "Just a scout. I want to test their range and response time. One platoon on speeder bikes and AT-RTs. Follow me."
A mixed force of clone troopers and Mandalorian scouts mounted up. Dagon led from the front on a heavily modified AT-RT, Wrath Shield armor in its balanced Strength configuration. As they advanced down the shadowed road toward the capital, he reached out with the Force, sensing the ground beneath them.
Mines. Dozens of them — buried electromagnetic and plasma charges designed to cripple armor columns.
"Looks like the whole road's been booby-trapped," ARC Trooper Oz muttered over comms, scanning ahead.
"Yeah, good thing the General's here gathering them," ARC Captain Ringo replied with dark humor. "I'd rather not lose another Juggernaut today."
Dagon's hands moved in subtle gestures. One by one, the mines rose from the dirt, hovering in the air around him like deadly metal fruit. The platoon kept moving, careful to stay in his cleared path.
They had advanced nearly three kilometers when Dagon sensed the ambush. Umbaran militia in gas-pressurized armor waited in concealed positions along the ridges, ready to spring the trap once the Republic force was deep enough into the kill zone.
"All troops — retreat now!" Dagon shouted.
He spun, flinging the collected mines like grenades toward the hidden Umbaran positions. The explosions rippled across the hills in a chain of brilliant blue-white blasts. Concealed hover tanks and infantry squads were thrown into the air as secondary detonations tore through their ranks. Screams and panicked orders in the Umbaran tongue echoed across the battlefield.
The scout platoon fell back in good order, covering each other with precise blaster fire. Dagon remained at the rear, using the Force to hurl debris and remaining mines at any pursuers. Within minutes, the road behind them was a smoking crater field littered with destroyed Umbaran equipment.
**Scene 2: Forward Command Post**
Back at the ridge command post, the situation had grown hotter. Umbaran air support had arrived in force.
"Heavy gunners, take to the air!" Dagon ordered. "Keep up the barrage!"
E-Web heavy repeating blasters mounted on elevated platforms opened up, filling the sky with a storm of crimson bolts. Clone crews worked in coordinated teams, pouring sustained fire into the approaching wave of enemy craft.
Dagon stepped out into the open, Wrath Shield humming. Several Zenuas 33 Umbaran starfighters broke through the outer screen, diving toward the command post with electromagnetic plasma cannons glowing.
He raised both hands. Blue-white Force lightning crackled between his fingers before lancing upward in jagged arcs. The first starfighter took a direct hit — its systems overloaded, it spiraled out of control and slammed into a hillside. Two more followed, their sleek frames disintegrating under the raw power of the dark-augmented lightning.
"General's lighting them up!" a clone gunner cheered. "Keep those E-Webs hot, boys!"
From the command trench, Bacara coordinated the defense. "All batteries focus on the starfighters! Do not let them reach the artillery positions!"
Dagon continued channeling lightning, picking off stragglers while clone pilots in T-70 X-wings and TIE Defenders engaged the main fighter screen above. The ridge held firm, but the cost in ammunition and manpower was climbing.
**Scene 3: Strategic Assessment**
Inside the reinforced command tent, Admiral Pellaeon's hologram flickered above the holotable. The veteran officer looked grim.
"The CIS fleet has returned as predicted," Pellaeon reported. "They've gathered at what we assume is the edge of the local planetary shield directly over the capital. Long-range missiles are keeping our ships at bay. We've already lost one Venator and two light cruisers. Their positioning is excellent for defense."
Admiral Brom Titus, commanding the surface support fleet, added his assessment. "The fleet is prevented from providing close orbital support by those missiles. However, there is an air base not far from your current position. If you can capture and control it, I believe they lose their primary missile guidance and resupply network. That would open the capital to direct bombardment."
Dagon studied the tactical map, arms crossed. The durasteel mask gave nothing away, but his mind was already calculating multiple paths forward.
"Understood," he said finally. "We'll take the air base. Prepare the fleet for renewed bombardment once we neutralize their missile advantage. Coordinate with the *Devastation* — I want its XX-9 batteries ready to strike the moment the shield weakens."
Bacara stepped forward. "The 21st Nova Corps will lead the push on the air base, sir. After what they did to us at Mygeeto, it's personal."
Dagon placed a gloved hand on the commander's shoulder. "Make it count, Bacara. We end this quickly. The longer we're tied down here, the less prepared we are for *Spear of Light* in the Core."
As the meeting ended, Dagon stepped outside the command tent. The blue-tinted northern lights of Umbara shimmered faintly in the distance — a strange beauty over a brutal battlefield. Two days in, and they had already broken the outer defenses. The air base would be the next key.
He activated a private comm channel to the *Annihilator*, still hidden near Endor. "Stay on standby. If this drags on, I may need you for a decapitation strike."
The war on Umbara was entering its critical phase. Innovative enemies. Advanced technology. A shielded capital bristling with long-range weapons.
Dagon clenched his fist, blue spikes briefly flickering across his Wrath Shield gauntlet.
They would break Umbara. They would claim its shadow technology and industrial output.
And the Dragon would add another world to the Republic's growing strength — just in time for the storm coming to the world.