The sudden attack left the two Avengers momentarily stunned, until Captain America and Falcon spotted a civilian struggling on the ground amidst the chaos. Acting on instinct, Captain America quickly moved to the man's side to help him escape the battle zone.
"What's our play, Cap?" Falcon asked, now fully alert, his eyes scanning the sky. He could see a massive warship looming in the distance, while smaller craft descended rapidly toward the ground.
"We need to help these civilians reach safety," Captain America replied instinctively.
The two heroes began running, following the clone troopers they'd just been speaking with. Hearing an explosion ahead, they quickened their pace.
As they rounded a corner, a scene of complete chaos unfolded before them.
Droids of various designs were everywhere, firing relentlessly at Naboo's white-armored defenders while civilians fled in panic.
They spotted Sergeant Buck and his squad using a pile of rubble and a nearby storefront as cover. Jolly was bandaging a wound on his arm as the others returned fire.
They were facing a large contingent of battle droids slowly advancing on their position.
"Falcon, move!" Captain America commanded upon seeing the situation, grabbing his shield and springing into action.
Falcon deployed his metal wings and soared into the sky, strafing the droids below with his twin Steyr submachine guns.
Captain America sprinted at full speed, hurling his shield with tremendous force. The spinning vibranium disc easily sliced through a battle droid, cutting it cleanly in half.
"What was that?" These were the last words uttered by one of the droids before being decapitated by the returning shield.
Falcon quickly realized his submachine guns lacked sufficient stopping power against the droids. He changed tactics, swooping down from above to smash the mechanical soldiers with his reinforced metal wings. Several droids were sent crashing into nearby walls, shattering into pieces.
Without pausing, Falcon snatched up two discarded blasters from the ground, reasoning they would be more effective than his Earth weapons. He immediately began firing at the droids while soaring skyward, preparing for another diving attack.
Meanwhile, Sergeant Buck, his squad members, and other clone troopers witnessed this display with wide-eyed amazement.
"By the Force, who are these guys?!" Clone trooper Chuck shouted in astonishment.
"I don't know, but right now I don't care who they are—they're tearing through those clankers like a hurricane!" Rook exclaimed excitedly.
Buck emerged from their cover and bellowed, "Brothers, advance!"
The nearby clones rallied and began a coordinated counterattack against the droid army.
Captain America fought alongside Falcon, destroying countless battle droids in their path.
"Hey, who are those two?" asked one battle droid to another.
"Unknown. They're definitely not clones," replied the second droid.
"Are they Jedi?"
"Negative. I've never seen Jedi with these moves."
The droids' conversation was abruptly terminated by Cap's shield spinning through them before returning to his hand. Cap immediately rushed forward, seized a droid by its mechanical neck, and hurled it effortlessly into another group of approaching droids. Falcon swooped overhead, using his momentum to smash the clustered droids into scrap.
Buck and his squad joined Captain America's offensive. They and many other clone troopers in the area spontaneously united under the leadership of the two Avengers to repel the droid assault.
"This area's secure for now," Falcon reported after an aerial survey.
"That was incredible! How did you do all that?" Jolly asked, clearly awestruck.
Parker was equally enthusiastic. "I don't think even a Jedi Knight could move like that!"
"We don't have time to discuss this now," Captain America interrupted, his commanding presence silencing the excited clones. He continued in a serious, steady voice: "These droids are invading the city, and we can't allow civilians to be caught in the crossfire. We need to split up—half of us will engage the droids, while the rest evacuate civilians to safety."
The clone troopers hesitated until Buck spoke up. "You heard Captain Rogers. Follow his orders." He turned to his squad members. "Move out—we have a city to defend and a battle to win."
The clones snapped out of their momentary hesitation. Regardless of who was in command, their duty was clear—victory was the only acceptable outcome. They divided into two groups: one remained with Captain America and Falcon to continue the fight, while the others departed to protect Naboo's civilians.
"What's our next objective, Sergeant?" Captain America asked promptly.
"We need to neutralize the droid transports and their command stations," Buck outlined their priorities.
"We've spotted Vulture fighters and gunships in the airspace," Chuck added.
"Why would they attack Naboo in the first place? From what we've seen, this doesn't appear to be a military target—just a civilian population center," Falcon inquired, puzzled.
"There are several reasons..." Jolly began.
"We'll discuss that later," Captain America interrupted firmly. "Right now, we need to determine their primary objective."
Buck gazed toward the Royal Palace of Theed and said thoughtfully, "I believe I know. Senator Padmé Amidala of the Republic returned to Naboo a few days ago. She's likely the Separatists' and Trade Federation's target."
The name sounded vaguely familiar to Captain America—he recalled hearing it recently but couldn't immediately place it.
"So this person is the reason they're attacking an entire planet?" Falcon asked incredulously.
"It's just my theory, sir," Buck replied respectfully.
The sound of Vulture droids being pursued by ARC-170 starfighters overhead interrupted their speculation about the Separatists' motives.
"Let's move out. Maintain tight formation," Captain America ordered.
He added: "Watch our backs. Falcon will be our eye in the sky. Stay close and check every corner."
"Yes, sir!" the clone troopers responded in unison. Despite their uncertainty about these strange newcomers, the combat effectiveness, tactical awareness, and leadership they'd demonstrated in this short time had exceeded all expectations.
Of the two, the one wielding the shield was particularly impressive.
The group formed up with Captain America and Falcon taking point. Falcon deployed Redwing for aerial reconnaissance while Buck positioned himself on Cap's other flank.
"Cap, we've got civilians trapped ahead," Falcon reported, reviewing the real-time data from Redwing. "We've cleared out dozens of the skinny droids, but there are larger, bulkier black ones moving in."
"The thin ones are standard B1 battle droids. The larger units must be B2 super battle droids," Buck interjected.
"Super battle droids?" Captain America echoed thoughtfully.
"Why so worried, Cap?" Falcon quipped. "You're already a super soldier—this should be a walk in the park."
"Super soldier?!" The clone troopers exchanged amazed glances.
Captain America merely shot Falcon a look before quickening his pace. "Everyone move out. We have civilians to rescue."
The clone troopers followed his command, hurrying after Captain America and Falcon until Cap raised his arm, signaling them to halt and take cover against a wall. He then pointed to Buck, Rick, and a clone carrying a sniper rifle, directing them to advance with Falcon.
Peering around the corner, they observed a large contingent of battle droids surrounding Naboo civilians, Gungans, and even several disarmed clone troopers and uniformed officials. The captured military personnel positioned themselves in front of the civilians, drawing the droids' attention away from the unarmed people behind them.