February 2005 | |||||
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CHAPTER 2
Obi-Wan informs the soldiers that they were selected because they're the best suited for the task at hand.
Here's one of the best clips out of all the chapters in Clone Wars, Season 1. Just look at how smooth that ARC Trooper captain looks there holding his belt, with the blue ARC Trooper in the middle of the shot locked and loaded.
Check out all the Republic Gunships in the hangar area. This scene reminds me of how TIE Fighters hang from these same devices in the original Star Wars movies. So many different ships to choose from.
Down on the main level we see Anakin Skywalker putting his great mechanical skills to good use, by working on his highly modified Jedi Starfighter. It looks like a Starfighter on steroids or something, but I do like how he merged the Pod Racer type body style into this Starfighter. Very cool.
In this scene, Obi-Wan walks over to speak briefly with Anakin. I'm not really sure what Obi-Wan's true intentions were, since their conversation turned somewhat ugly, after Anakin became upset at the fact that Obi-Wan doesn't trust or believe in Anakin's ability to lead a Clone Army. Obi-Wan states that Anakin has the talent and skills of a Jedi, but isn't mature enough to handle this type of responsibility.
Before the conversation gets ugly Obi-Wan says, "May the Force be with you... Commander."
The very next scene we see a very large group of Republic Assault Ships coming out of hyperspace. We are going to be looking at a huge battle in the next couple of minutes.
The Republic Assault Ships have spotted their targets, and are preparing to begin the battle against the Separatist Army. With all the ships in this fleet the battle shouldn't last too long.
Coming out of the towering space ships are hundreds of Geonosian Fighters, whose pilots are ready to die for the cause of the Separatist movement. It almost looks like a bunch of killer bees leaving their hive to protect their queen. I'm curious to know what kind of ships are these (the big vertical ones)? They certainly don't look like anything ever done in the Star Wars universe. I think there could have been something better designed than these, especially when this cartoon has anything to do with George Lucas and Star Wars.
And in return we have the Clone Trooper Pilots in their V-19 Torrent Starfighters swarming out of the hangar bay of one of the many Republic Assault Ships. In the crowd of fighters we see Anakin in his Jedi Starfighter. I'm trying to figure out what it would be like working in that hangar trying to direct traffic? It has to be crazy in there with the amount of ships flying out at one time.
Anakin gives the command, "All squadrons to me." For the first time in his life and his career with the Republic, he is command. He isn't taking orders from Obi-Wan or anyone else. This is his moment to show what he is made of, and how he can prove to Obi-Wan how worthy he is to the Republic.
And we now have a massive space battle, reminiscent of the space battle that took place over Endor in Return of the Jedi. How the hell could you possibly see where you're going in this mess of dog-fighting?
Not too far away we have more Republic Assault Ships hovering over the planet below, and hundreds if not thousands of Republic Gunships make their way down toward the planet's surface.
Here they come in full force!
Obi-Wan gives the command to one of the Republic Gunships in the distance, "ARC Troopers, deploy!" You then see one of those Gunships break out of formation, to head on out to tackle the mission that had been assigned to them. The Clone Trooper to the left of Obi-Wan is probably thinking to himself, "Now why can't I be as cool as him? Why can't I have a name instead of just 'Clone Trooper?'"
Coming from the city they're heading toward are several missiles, which are on their way to meet up with the Gunships. What kind of a welcome do you call this?
Responding as quickly as he could, Obi-Wan orders for an "evasive action" to his squad of Gunships.
And with only fractions of a second to spare, the Gunships veered away from the destructive missiles that were just about to intercept them. That's what I call some talented flying abilities. Luckily I don't believe that any of the ships were damaged from the launched missiles. One thing's for sure here... these missiles sure weren't made very well if they completely missed all these Gunships.
That didn't matter though, since the Separatists were coming in full force with their ground units. Missiles and blaster fire were flying through the air.
The Gunships landed in a grassy field, with explosions all around them, and Clone Troopers galore jumped out of their ships to face their destiny. Obi-Wan here jumps out and is greeted with blaster fire, but using the Force he was able to deflect the blaster fire. Some of the Clone Troopers that are still in this Gunship look like they don't want to come out and face the battle, but unfortunately for them they don't have much of a choice.
It's now just an all-out war, fire at will, with the Clone Troopers and Battle Droids just about to run right into each other. This scene is similar to the Battle of Geonosis.
Meanwhile, the ARC Troopers are on their way to the heart of the city. So far it is not known what their mission is, but we will soon find out.
Armed and ready for battle, the Clone Troopers and ARC Troopers are as calm as can be. These men are ready to fight to the death. The Clone Troopers in the background are the same exact image for all four. Couldn't the artists have changed it up a little bit, so that it wasn't so obvious?
Unfortunately, these brave soldiers are not going into the city unnoticed. They've been spotted by the Separatists, and a lone Battle Droid armed with a rocket launcher is scene here running up a flight of stairs in order to get the best shot possible.
With only the two words coming out of the droid's mouth, "Roger roger," the rocket launcher fires a single rocket, which of course is heat-seeking, toward the lone Gunship. Funny how the rocket launcher is almost as big as the entire Battle Droid's body.
Seconds later the rocket met up with the Gunship, causing the ship to go out of control.
The crew inside the ship are still cool, calm and collective, and aren't in any fear of what could happen to their ship. They don't react at all to what has just happened to them.
Even the pilot of the ship calm as can be. Must be nice to handle that kind of pressure without feeling all stressed out.
The pilot now has to try his hardest to bring the ship down, without hurting the crew inside.
We now have impact.
After sliding on the ground for several hundred feet the ship comes to a halt.
As if nothing happened, the crew surfaces from the wreck, knowing they were still on a mission. The ARC Trooper captain silently orders his squad out of the downed Gunship.
Once on the ground and all looks well, the ARC Trooper captain commands his unit to move away from the Gunship.
Even though the coast is clear, that doesn't mean they aren't being watched. In the scopes of an unknown person, you see here the Clone Troopers moving away from the Gunship.
And in just a matter of seconds the sniper has his scopes set on one of the ARC Troopers.
What will happen next? Will this ARC Trooper be shot to death by this sniper, or does this ARC Trooper know that he's under the scope of a sniper rifle? Stay tuned for Chapter 3 of the exciting animated Clone Wars, Season 1.
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