As the CRS Air Forces began their tactical retreat to the Fleet for a better defensive chance, (Y/n) made sure to shoot down any fighters that tried to follow. Some of the Vulture Fighters dove towards the Dropships but engaged the Gunships defending them. The bombers were the ones he was trying to protect and was succeeding as the enemy was rushing down towards their dropships resulting in the Dogfight to merge with the Dropship Squadrons. A few dropships were taken out by fighters, and one was taken out by friendly fire thanks to a stray missile. (Y/n) didn't join this dogfight as it was getting closer and closer to the Fleet that was still shooting at the Energy Field. He flew towards the fleet. He had faith that Obi Wan could at least hold the line and prevent the Union from harming the civilians that had left the city. He's just hoping they don't know.

On the ground, Obi Wan watches as the enemy Dropships get closer and closer. White Fang Soldiers were ready for them as were the Battle Droids. He watched the dropships begin to come in for a landing, so he grabbed his lightsaber hilt. One of the gunships flew right for them and fired at his position. He ignited his lightsaber and managed to deflect a few bullets and dodged the rest. The two Soldiers near him weren't so lucky as they were gunned down. He then began to move back away from the coast as did the others. A pair of Dropships came in and landed in the biggest clearing. The side hatch opened and UF Soldiers came running out of the dropship and began shooting at the defenders.

The White Fang Soldiers returned fire with either Blasters, or with Earth Weapons. Obi Wan managed to deflect bullets here and there but he saw the dropships begin to leave. So, he used the force and caused them to stall. As he did that, a Super Battle Droid fired a rocket at them and took out the engines on one causing it to suddenly explode and crash into the open area by a building. Bringing down a portion of the building in the process. The other dropship made haste to escape but was shot down by a Vulture Droid that flew past it. The dropship's right engine explodes, and it came crashing down into the water. AA Guns lit up the sky as they took out both Fighters and Gunships. The soldiers that were deployed in front of them were killed quit quickly due to them not having much cover. Only a few remained while the rest were gunned down by Droids. It was clear that landing by the coast was a bad idea. Obi Wan looked up and saw many Dropships taking risks and attempting to land troops deeper into Kuo Kuana despite the air defenses.

He also saw an F-22E fly by and blow up one of the AA Guns. But that fighter was quickly shot down by either a fighter or an AA Gun. He looked around and saw that barely enough dropships landed in Kuo Kuana, but he figured it was only the first wave despite so many of them being shot down. He couldn't understand the logic behind this tactic. It's like they're just throwing their own soldiers at them until they're weakened. It's like what the Droids did during the Clone Wars. What is their endgame? As more and more Dropships begin deploying their troops in or around Kuo Kuana in areas by the coast, Obi Wan begins to think about what their strategy could possibly be. Then it hits him.

Their target isn't the city, it's the Civilians! He quickly gets on coms.

Obi Wan: "(Y/n)! I think I know why they began their invasion so early!!" he calls.

(Y/n)(COMS): "That is?"

Obi Wan: "They know about the Civilians!! They're the target!! They must be trying to separate our forces and turn our attention away from them!" he warns.

(Y/n)(COMS): "Are you certain?" he asks, with concern in his tone.

Obi Wan: "No doubt about it." he replies who deflecting a bullet with his lightsaber while getting behind cover.

A pair of Vulture Fighters fly overhead while chasing down a Gunship, inevitably destroying it and bringing it down. A large bullet flew past him and hit a UF Soldier. Confusedly, Obi Wan looked at the dead soldier and then in the direction the bullet came from to see Mine with her Imperial Arms.

Mine: "What?" she asks, before bullets zip past her.

She quickly gets behind some cover with two White Fang Soldiers who were looking at her weapon and then at her before looking at each other.

(Y/n)(COMS): "Can you reach them in time?" he asks, concern evident in his voice.

Obi Wan: "There's too much chaos here to reach them. But I'll try." he informs.

Obi Wan doesn't realize that Najenda was behind the same piece of cover, listening to this.

{Outskirts of Kuo Kuana, Menagerie}

Jackson watched as the large crowd of people continue to walk away from Kuo Kuana. They're a good distance away from the city, but Jackson and the others have been on high alert since they noticed the United Forces have begun their landing operations. They were informed by Altus about the battle now reaching the city. He had his hands hovering over his gun as everyone else was one guard. Jackson hears a beeping sound and turns to Nura who pulls out a holographic projector. The hologram of (Y/n) appears.

(Y/n)(HOLOGRAM): "Nura! Union knows about the civilians!" he warns.

Nura: "What how?" she asks.

(Y/n)(HOLOGRAM): "I don't know. But I'm on my way, or well, I'll try to reach you. Enemy Fighters might delay me." he informs. "Just do what you can to keep the civilians safe!" he orders urgently before cutting the transmission.

Luna was looking at the transmission as was Jackson. Jackson's gaze hardened before he whistled towards Saber who heard and walked over. Hawks and Fumikage walked over to see what was going on.

Saber: "Something wrong?" he asks.

Jackson: "We've compromised. We need to prepare for battle." he orders.

Hawks: "There are still civilians in the way. If Union attacks, we'll have to be careful about collateral damage." he said, making their situation a little harder to deal with.

Jackson: "Considering Union won't give half a damn." he mumbles. "Send All noncombatants as far as possible. Anyone who can fight, give them a weapon." he orders.

Saber: "I'm sorry, who put you in charge?" he asks.

Jackson: "The Admiral." he said while glaring at Saber who backed up form his gaze.

Luna noticed that Jackson's eyes briefly caught of fire. she was shocked as this meant that Jackson had a power. But whether or not it's a Quirk, Semblance, Sacred Gear or Imperial Arms is another story.

{The Battlefield, Kuo Kuana, Menagerie}

In the skies off the coast of Menagerie, Altus had managed to maintain formation despite how close the enemy fleet was getting. There was still some distance between them. He had done his best to focus attention on the shield ship but knew he had to deal with present fighters around the fleet and above Kuo Kuana. He doesn't want to leave anyone exposed. He had sent word to the Fleet for Starfighter reinforcements. He was about to give another order, but a droid caught his attention.

Droid: "Uh sir, we have an unknown ship incoming." he informs.

Altus: "What kind?" he asked as he walked over.

Droid: "It's a starship. But not one of ours." he replies.

Altus reached the droid and looked at the console. The outline of a familiar ship is seen.

Altus: "That should be impossible. Our scanners never picked up a Republic Vessel." he said, voicing his confusion.

This caused him to look up to try and see if he could find the ship. But he couldn't.

High above the fleet's, the glowing engines of a specific ship were seen through the clouds. It's yellow and white paint job scratched and ruined. But the emblem of the Galactic Republic is seen on it. From the clouds, a Y-Wing Bomber breaks through at top speeds, diving for the Shield Ship. As it sped towards the shield ship. AA Guns turned their attention towards it an open fire. The pilot of the craft dodged and weaved before taking aim at the Energy Field Projector at the bow of the ship. The Pilot put their thumb on the button to fire.

Nomad: "Let's see just how powerful your ship is, Union!" he shouts before he fires two Proton Torpedoes.

He then pulled up and ascended into the sky as the Torpedoes hit their target. The unshielded projectors take intense damage as the resulting explosions cause an overload. The projector explodes from the well-placed shot causing the energy Field to flicker. Explosions crawl from the nose of the vessel towards the bridge from the top and bottom of the ship. Before a large explosion erupted near the front where the Energy Field Projector was. This destroys the Shield Ship and the Energy Field. As he flew past it, Nomad chuckled at his success.

Nomad: "Hope you like the gift!" he jokes.

On her ship, Esdeath's eyes widened seeing the ship explode. But with the Energy Field down, her fleet began to be barraged with red laser bolts from the CRS Fleet. The York Class Frigates were being torn to shreds. One in the front of the formation was blown to smithereens. Esdeath's wide eyes turned into one's of anger, but she calmed herself down. She got up from her commander chair and turned to walk out of the bridge. One of the crew noticed and turned to her.

Crew: "General?"

Esdeath: "handle the enemy Fleet, I'm going to deal with the Rebel Leader." she said with a stern look on her face.

She leaves the bridge with everyone looking confused. She normally stays on the bridge for things like this. She must be pissed about this unknown factor that showed up.

In the skies, (Y/n) saw the Y-Wing do its thing and he was surprised.

(Y/n): "Don't see that every day." he said in surprise.

He then heard something or someone trying to contact him. So, he accepts the transmission and sees the hologram of Nomad.

(Y/n): "Nomad?" he asks in surprise.

Nomad(HOLOGRAM): "I know we've had our differences. But I'm pretty sure The Clone Wars is over, and well. It won't do me good to hold a grudge forever." he replies calmly.

(Y/n): "You don't have to fight with us Nomad." he said.

Nomad(HOLOGRAM): "I know. But I will anyway."

(Y/n): "Why?"

Nomad(HOLOGRAM): "because. You gave me a choice; the Republic never did." he replies.

(Y/n)'s eyes widen a little. He knew all about the whole Clones are Slave issue. Hell, he was aware of the Clone named Slick back on Christophsis. He didn't approve of what Asajj Ventress did at first as he didn't like the idea of having a Clone cause the death of his brothers. The Psychological effects would've been critical. A part of him was glad it failed. Though he fought them, he didn't like how the Clones were treated by the Republic as simply War Slaves. If the CIS Won, he would've pushed for Clones to be given an actual choice to live a life they want. He didn't kill Clones because he wanted to, he did it because he had to. He smiled as it was a nice change of pace.

(Y/n): "I appreciate it." he said. "Could use your help in the skies."

Nomad(HOLOGRAM): "Consider it done." he said before ending the transmission.

After this, the smile on his face faded away as he was about to make his way towards the Civilians until he noticed a single Dropship was a unique color scheme. It was Grey with black decals. He narrowed his eyes as it was a little suspicious since it was faster than most UH-70's. So, he decided to follow it.

On that dropship was Esdeath. She got in contact with Liver.

Esdeath: "Liver, change of plans. I'm going to the civilians. I'll draw the Rebel Leader out of hiding. You meet up with our forces in Kuo Kuana. Push these Rebels back." she orders.

Liver(COMS): "As you wish, Esdeath." he replies. 

The Fated duel between Esdeath and (Y/n) grows closer as The Echoes of War Arc grows closer to conclusion.