Cadence stood in the gunship as it took off from the Acclamator, joined by four more. The doors were closed, but the slits were open to allow some view of the world outside. The skies were gray, giving off an aura of death and misery. The ground below did the same. All she could see on the ground were dead trees and charred earth.

This was the planet of Ryloth, a Republic world that was overrun by Separatist forces less than three months ago. Now they were back to retake the planet, and liberate the people.

“Remember why we are here.” General Kenobi said, gaining everyone’s attention. “We’re here to aid the Twi’leks, not destroy their homes.” He then turned to Commander Cody, signalling him to take over. The clone commander nodded and stepped forward.

“That means we’re taking it back the hard way.” He said, looking at some of the troopers who brought heavy weapons. “Minimal destruction with blasters and droid poppers only. No rockets or detonators.” Cadence turned to see one of the rocket troopers lower his rocket launcher with a sigh, trading it for his secondary DC-15a Carbine. He was one of the two not wearing their helmets at the moment, Boil and Waxer if she remembered correctly.

“So check your aim.” Cody continued. “Keep an eye out for the locals, am I understood?”

“Yes sir!” Came the response. Cadence’s ears perked up as she heard a scoff.

“If we’re here to free the Tailheads, the least they could do is get outta our way.” That was definitely Waxer. Cadence sighed. None of the troopers were that used to interacting with civilians, and the few times they encountered them near battlefields were less than ideal situations. Cadence didn’t fully agree with his statement, but she could see where it was coming from.

The sudden loud explosions turned her attention outside. Through the slits, she could see flak explosions all around them. In the distance, she can see one if the Acclamators sinking toward the ground, one of its engines gone and replaced with an ever expanding fireball.

Behind her, General Windu appeared on the holocomms. “Kenobi, those guns are causing significant damage to our fleet. We cannot land the heavy transports until you take out those guns!”

“Pull the ships back, we’ll take them out.” The Jedi bowed slightly before his image disappeared. Kenobi looked to his troops. “Who’s up for a challenge? We’re not getting any reinforcements until those guns are out of commision.”

Dread spread through the gunship as their situation worsened. “Here we go again.” Waxer said. Cadence’s helmet comm went off two of their five gunships were hit and destroyed. It was quickly followed by a third. The flak fire soon lessened, giving a small bit of relief for the remaining troopers.

The side doors opened to reveal the landscape, as barren as it looked from the air. The gunships began their descent, landing in a small wooded area. Cadence could see small creatures scatter into the woodline before burrowing into the ground.

Silently, the troopers their General jumped down from the gunship and made their way through the woods. They were taking no fire, so far. But that was about to change very soon. The ground in front of them was on an incline, which offered some cover from the droid forces ahead.

Scans of the area showed a half destroyed wall which was the main entrance to the village. It was a guarantee that the droids were going to use it as a defensive position.

Cadence and her Ghost Company bobbed and weaved their way through the trees, preparing for whatever the clankers were going to throw at them. While their ROE prevented them from doing anything destructive to the area, the droids had no such problems. Droids could care less if they destroyed a person’s home to get what they want.

It was silent, the only sound that could be heard were the dozens of stomping boots on the ground as they ran through. It was eerie. They hadn’t seen even a single animal. This could be a trap, if they were ready to destroy their transports, what else was awaiting them in that village?

Cadence could now see the village, and the wall fortification that served as its entrance. Atop the two towers on either side of the wall were small squads of droids, along with turrets. She could see the droids panic for a moment before they crewed their turrets and aimed.

“Take cover!” She ordered, ducking behind a tree. Most of the other troopers followed her example, but a few were caught out in the open. They ran for cover further down, but only a couple made it.

Cadence watched as three of her men were cut down by an MG. She aimed her blaster and returned fire, the rest of her squad did the same.

Blade took cover behind a tree to avoid the incoming fire. A trooper to his right was not so lucky. From his position, he could see the turrets and their crews. A look to the wall itself revealed a small fire team lying prone on the wall. He decided to aim for those, firing several shots. One hit, sending a droid toppling to the ground. Another trooper behind him goes down, a blaster bolt striking him in the leg.

The trooper screamed out in pain, attracting the attention of Loop the medic. Loop ran over and immediately dragged the trooper out of harm’s way.

Blade watched him get carried back before firing once more. He was going to trash these droids if it was the last thing he did.

Cadence organized the squads to fire on certain targets. Below the hill, she could see General Kenobi leading Waxer and Boil down to the base of the wall. She needed to keep the droids from firing at them, so she ordered her squads to draw their attention without exposing themselves.

She watched as Waxer threw a popper toward the wall, but it fell short. He threw a second, and this time the device floated up into the right side turret position.

“Concentrate fire on the droids on the wall!” She ordered. The troopers immediately shifted fire to the center of the wall, just as a second popper landed in the left side turret position. Both poppers went off, wiping out the droids inside. A few volleys later, the last droids were taken out.

The alicorn captain immediately ran up to the wall, with her troopers in tow. Now they just had to climb over to get into the village and take out those guns.

TX-20 stood idle as it awaited word from the defensive line. It ran every scenario through his servos a dozen times each in just a few mili-seconds. One of its subordinate B1’s stepped up to him.

“We have lost contact with the outer defenses.”

Scenario #2, the perimeter is overrun and the clones were now moving in to secure the guns. TX-20 just needed information on their attack strategy in order to prepare.

“They have overrun the village perimeter, find out how they next plan to attack.” It ordered, the B1 gave the signature ‘Roger, Roger’ response before turning around and activating a recon droid.

Kenobi and Cadence stared at the large smoke column in the distance, no doubt this was the area where the guns were placed. Cody walked up to them and saluted.

“The wall is secure, sir. Are we moving onto the guns?” The General rubbed his beard in his signature thinking pose.

“We need to know what the droids have in store for us, send your best men to scout ahead.” Cody nodded, then turned to Waxer and Boil.

“Waxer, Boil, come with me.”

The two looked at each other before shrugging. “I guess we’re the best.” They followed Cody and Wally down the road, preparing for the recon mission they’ve been assigned. Obi-Wan then turned to Cadence.

“Set up a temporary HQ in that building over there until they get back.” Cadence nodded and went to work right away.

She walked over to what appeared to be the remnants of a cafe, with a counter covered in smashed plates and tipped over cups. She looked around on the other side to find more of the stuff littered all over the floor.

The alicorn sighed, she could only imagine what the Twi’leks had to suffer while under occupation. She just hoped that they were still alive. She turned to a couple of idle troopers and hailed them over.

“I need you guys to grab one of the portable holo-tables we have in the gunship. Bring it here, I’ll tell you where to set it up.” They saluted and walked off. Cadence laughed as she heard one of them grumble about lifting the damn thing over the wall.

Waxer and Boil were moving cautiously down the desolate street, scanning the area for any movement. It was silent, with only the occasional howl of the wind to echo through the buildings.

“I’m telling ya, Boil, this is creepy.” Waxer stated. The trooper then looked inside an open door to see personal belongings thrown all over the place.

“You think they… killed them all?” He asked. A huge pit was dug into his gut as the thought crossed his mind. Waxer never thought much about civilians, only that he didn’t like seeing innocent people hurt. After all, he was a soldier, his job was to defend the innocent. You have to care about someone if you’re going to defend them.

Boil, however, had a different idea. “No, no, no, there’s no bodies.” he pointed out. “They were driven from their homes.”

That didn’t help much. “I don’t think they had a…” The sound of crumbling dirt drew his attention, forcing the clone to point his blaster into an alleyway. There was nothing there that he could see.

“Didn’t have a what?” Boil asked, scanning the surrounding area.

When nothing appeared, Waxer sighed and finished his thoughts. “... Choice.” The two continued their patrol, unaware of the small pair of eyes watching them from behind a corner.

Cadence was seething in rage. Her troopers made the wise choice of taking a few steps away from her, the alicorn was becoming a hyper fuel tank with the information they had just received.

Cody and Wally had found the guns, surrounded by at least two platoons of droids, an AAT, and the entire village populace chained up to act as shields. Cadence always thought that the droids were scum, but this was a new low. If she ever got her hooves on that Tactical Droid, she was going to use its head as vibroblade practice while it was still active!

General Kenobi glared at the images, then thought out loud. “The hostages will make it difficult, but not impossible. I still have a good plan for taking out those guns.”

“Getting the villagers out of harm’s way is our first priority.” General Windu summarized as he took in all of the information. “I have faith in you, General Kenobi.”

“Cody, we’ll go in with everything we have. Clear those hostages.” Cody nodded and signalled for the others to get ready. Obi-Wan turned to Cadence, who was still glaring lightsabers at the images presented.

A calm hand on her back snapped her out of it. He gave her an understanding smile. “I know how it feels to be angered by these situations, but we need a clear head if we’re going to succeed.” Cadence said nothing, she only nodded and grabbed her blaster.

They had work to do.

TX-20 marched past the rows of prisoners scattered throughout the square. It gave them a once over, noticing a few of the more spirited Twi’leks giving it glares. A few kicks from their security detail made them look down once more.

TX-20 walked down the stairs into the dungeon area, where the subordinate droid was waiting.

“I starved them like you ordered, sir.” It said. Inside the cages were groups of starved, bloodthirsty Gutkurrs. These creatures were native to the area, and proved to be a problem for the local villagers. Now the Tactical Droid planned on making them his newest weapon against the clones.

“Are you sure they will not attack us?”

“I need a test in order to prove my theory.” TX-20 pressed the button that opened the cell, the B1 in front of it was completely oblivious to the creature sneaking up behind it, until it was in the creature’s mouth. After a few seconds of thrashing, the droid was spat out, and the creature was returned to its cell.

“Just as I calculated, the creatures require organic meat.”

The droid that was nearly eaten stood up, covered in the saliva of the gutkurr. “Well that’s a relief.”

“It will not be for the clones. They will provide a most generous supply.”

Back at headquarters, Cadence noticed Cody messing with his wrist comms. She raised an eyebrow, then walked over to see what the problem was. Cody noticed her and knew what she was going to ask.

“Waxer and Boil haven’t reported in yet.” That made Cadence worry. They would’ve reported in by now, even to just notify them that they were late. Something must’ve happened to them.

“Which way did they go?”

Cody pointed to the west of the smoke column. “On the west side of the village, but from there, I have no idea.” Cadence nodded and readied her blaster.

“I’ll go find them, if I’m not back in 20, leave without me.” She was about to turn when one of her forelegs was grabbed by Cody.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea, Captain.”

“I’m not leaving troopers out there, Commander. You know I can’t.” Cody sighed, he did know. He still remembered the last time troopers went missing on patrol. Cadence found them three days later, dead from being eaten by the local wildlife. She took it personally, as she was the one that sent those poor souls out in the first place.

Without a word, Cody let go and allowed Captain Cadence to make her way out into the village alone.

On the west side of the village, Waxer and Boil were still on patrol, never hearing their comms bleeping. Waxer was too deep in thought about the Twi’lek girl they encountered a few minutes ago, and Boil was too annoyed by his brother’s constant worrying.

Waxer looked behind him as he swore he heard the little girl’s footsteps behind him. He saw nothing, but didn’t lose hope.

“I wonder what happened to her family.”

“Probably dead.” Boil answered bluntly. “Hopefully, she’ll survive this mess.” Waxer turned around, this time he knew he heard the girl behind him. But once again, she was gone.

“So, what happens to her, once we leave?”

Boil shrugged. “I don’t know.” He stopped when he immediately realized what Waxer was getting at. “Oh no, we are not taking her with us!” Waxer turned around as the street became silent. He couldn’t see the girl anywhere, despite hearing her just moments ago.

“She’s… gone.” He said somberly. Boil sighed. His brother’s heart was too big sometimes.

“I’m sure the little biter will turn up.” He said, hoping to keep Waxer moving. The troopers turned to continue their patrol, but stopped as the little girl stood in front of them.

Waxer could never describe the relief he felt when he saw the girl standing in front of him. He smiled brightly under the helmet as he knelt down.

“Hey, there you are.” He said happily, poking her on her cute little nose.

Boil, on the other hand, was completely confused. “Wait, how did she get in front of us?”

The girl suddenly grabbed Waxer’s arm and pointed further down the street. “Neera, Neera.” With that, she ran off. Waxer’s eyes widened.

“No no, don’t go that way!” He called out, but the little girl ignored him as she ran around a corner. “That’s where the recon droid went.”

‘Waxer, let her go.” Boil insisted.

“I’m not just going to let the droids get her.” The trooper said before running off after her. Boil growled.

“I’m just trying to keep you alive!” He sighed as Waxer kept on running, and as his brother, he had to follow. “Although I don’t know why.”

Cadence marched down the street, scanning the horizons for any sign of the two missing troopers. She was starting to get worried. She was supposed to report back, but she didn’t want to give up on them.

“Just five more minutes, then I’ll make my way back.” She muttered to herself. Suddenly, the sound of feet stomping the ground caught her attention. She looked down an alleyway to see a little Twi’lek girl running down toward her. The girl didn’t seem to notice her as she turned a corner and disappeared.

“Where’s she going?” Cadence asked herself as she began heading down the alley. A few seconds later, two clone troopers ran down the same alleyway, following the girl’s steps. It was Waxer and Boil, they didn’t notice their captain, who could only watch in surprise as they rounded the same corner. Without a second thought, the alicorn ran forward to follow them. She followed them through another alley way and stopped when they reached a residential area.

Cadence stopped when she saw them catch up to the girl. Unsurprisingly, Waxer rubbed the top of the girl’s head in a comforting manner. He always cared for the civilians, especially kids.

“There you are.” He said, catching his breath. Boil quickly joined them.

“Good, I have binders if we need ‘em.” Waxer glared at the trooper, who only shrugged in response. Cadence chose that moment to reveal herself.

“I don’t think this girl is a threat, trooper.” The two troopers and Twi’lek looked at the alicorn as she marched over to them. The girl hid behind Waxer’s leg, the trooper placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

Cadence smiled and removed her helmet. “It's okay, Sweetie. I’m with these two goofballs.” The girl stared at her, then smiled and pointed.

“Eswok.” She said simply. Cadence laughed.

“No no, I’m Cadence.” She then looked at the two troopers. “So I take it this is why you haven’t reported in yet?” The two looked at each other as they realized how long they’ve been gone.

“I understand, but expect to be polishing R2 units for the rest of the month for not checking in.”

Boil pointed a thumb at his brother. “Blame this guy, he’s the big hearted bloke.” Waxer took offense to that statement. The alicorn turned her attention back to the little girl, who was staring at the remains of a small hut. The soft sniffles she heard made the Captain’s heart melt.

She walked over to the girl, and signalled for her to head inside. The girl grabbed Waxer’s hand, and pointed inside. Waxer simply nodded and walked in with the girl.

The hut was in shambles. The floor was covered in rubble, holes where the roof used to be gave a clear answer as to what happened. This place was openly attacked and the house was hit by explosives.

Cadence and Waxer stared at the girl as she stood in the middle of the room and began to cry. Cadence’s instincts took over and she began comforting the Twi’lek.

“I guess, this was her home.” Waxer said softly. “Poor thing, she’s lost it all.” His eyes fell on a small doll that was left on the floor. He carefully picked it up and dusted it off, the toy made a small squeak as he did so.

The girl still stood there crying, with Cadence rubbing her back in support. Waxer slowly knelt down to her and presented the doll. The Twi’lek grabbed it, and stared before she began crying again. She held the doll close.

“It’s okay now, we’re here to help.” Waxer said. The girl lunged at the trooper and wrapped her arms around him. Without hesitation, he did the same. The captain and the trooper looked at each other in sadness as they let the girl cry between them. Boil then walked over and knelt down in front of the girl.

“Don’t cry, kid, we’ll keep you safe. I… I promise.” The girl looked at Boil, then hugged him. The trooper awkwardly returned it, looking at his captain, who smiled at him.

TX-20 watched General Kenobi ordered his men to move. Now was the time.

“They are on the move.” TX activated the intercom. “Sergeant, the attack is coming. Release the beasts.”

“Roger Roger.”

Down below, the droids opened the Gutkurr cells and used electric prods to move the creatures down through the tunnels and out onto the open streets.

Back at the girl’s home, Cadence stood up and grabbed her helmet. “We have to go, the General and the Commander are about to launch the assault, we need to head back to HQ, now.”

Waxer stood up. “Wait, how are gonna explain this… eh, her?” He gestured to the girl, who had calmed down enough to pay attention to the conversation.

“Don’t worry, I’ll explain everything to the General, and we’ll keep her safe at HQ til we find her family.” She looked at the Twi’le and smiled. “I promise.” Waxer and Boil grabbed their helmets and blasters and stepped outside. They were only a few feet from the door when Cadence felt a chill go up her spine. Something was wrong.

The girl seemed to sense the same thing, as she hid behind Waxer’s leg.

“Gutkurr, Gutkurr!” She warned. Cadence didn’t know what a gutkurr was, but she had a feeling that it wasn’t good.

Loud hissing echoed down the alley they came from and large shadows precluded the arrival of large creatures. The troopers backed up, pushing the girl back into the house. From around the corner, several creatures appeared. Their eyes were filled with hunger and they landed on the organics ahead of them.

“I think I know why the kid never came back here.” Boil said as he aimed at the creatures.

The gutkurrs charged forward, forcing the three troopers to open fire.

‘See what happens… when we don’t follow orders.” Boil said, scolding Waxer.

“Let’s get outta here!” The group ducked back inside, Cadence used her magic to slam the stone door shut and hold it closed as the creatures slammed against it. She grunted and groaned as the strain was getting too much. Waxer and Boil braced themselves against the door as the girl began moving a large stone across the floor.

Cadence watched as the girl then lifted up a secret hatch in the floor. It was an escape door. She turned to the troopers. “Get the girl outta here, I’ll follow, go!” Waxer and Boil didn’t ask twice. Boil jumped down first, with the girl following close behind. Waxer held the door open for Cadence to follow. The captain released the door and shot over to the escape hole. Both troopers jumped down into the darkness, just as the gutkurrs entered the room.

Cadence activated her lights, revealing the dark tunnel around them. The girl pointed in a certain direction, pulling on her leg. The captain looked to Waxer and Boil, who could only shrug. They followed the girl as she led them further down the dark tunnel.

They weren’t sure how long they were in the tunnel, but eventually. The girl stopped and pointed up. Cadence looked to see sunlight peeking through. There was a manhole cover above them. They were close to getting out.

“Waxer, Boil, take point. I’ll carry the girl up.” The two did as they were told and climbed up the ladder. Waxer pushed the cover out, and climbed out. He turned to see the General and the Commander standing there watching him. He climbed out, followed by Boil.

“Waxer, Boil, where have you two slackers been?” Cody demanded. “And where’s Captain Cadence?!”

“I’m right here, sir.” All eyes turned back to the open hole when Cadence flew out and landed softly. Obi-Wan saw a little Twi’lek girl giggling as she sat on the Captain’s back.

“Who’s this?” He asked kindly. Cadence lifted the girl off her back and placed her gently on the ground.

“The reason these two were sidetracked, sir.” Obi-Wan gave them two troopers a knowing smile before turning to the girl. Before he could talk to her, Boil spoke up.

“She managed to get back here through the tunnels, sir. Little biter knows them pretty well.”

“I see.” Kenobi then spoke to the girl in her native language, a conversation that none of the troopers could understand. They were only taught basic. The conversation lasted for a few minutes before Obi-Wan stood up.

“Little Numa here can lead us to the prisoners through the tunnels.” Cadence’s eyes widened, then narrowed into a glare.

“Sir, we are not voluntarily bringing a little girl into a combat zone!”

Kenobi turned to her. “Cadence, she will only lead us to the tunnels. After that, she’ll stay down there until it is safe, I promise.” Cadence stared hard at the Jedi Master, then sighed as she relented.

“Fine, but if she’s hurt....”

“She won’t be, I promise.”

The plan was all set. General Kenobi would follow Numa, with Waxer and Boil in support, and free the prisoners and sabotage the guns. At the same time, Cody and Cadence will lead the assault force to cause a distraction. Hopefully, it would draw the AAT and the Tactical Droid from the area.

Ghost Company readied themselves for the fight, taking cover where they could. Cody took a squad forward to draw the droids in.

Cadence stood behind a building, her blaster at ready. The rest of the troopers did the same as blaster fire suddenly erupted in front of them. It lasted a few minutes before troopers appeared further down the street. Behind them were several squads of battle droids.

“Open fire!” Cadence opened up, careful not to hit the retreating troopers. The droids were quickly being cut down, then the tanks showed up.

Two AATs, one more than Cody reported. Great.

The first tank fired its main cannon, the shot landing a few feet short of the alicorn’s position. She could see the Tactical Droid standing in the turret.

“Aim for the droid in the turret!” She ordered. Several troopers concentrated their fire on the tank turret, but not a single shot managed to hit.

The fireight continued for a few more minutes, until the Tactical Droid pressed some buttons on its control panel. The AAT turned around, heading back to the campsite.

Cadence saw it leave and cursed out loud. The tank disappeared around the corner, leaving only one AAT and half a platoon of droids left. The alicorn had an idea.

“Blade, give me a popper!” The trooper pulled a droid popper from his belt and tossed it toward his captain, who caught it with her magic. “Cover me!” Blade nodded and opened fire on the remaining droids.

Cadence spread her wings and took off toward the droid tank. She dodged incoming fire, bobbing and weaving past the battle droids, then flew onto the tank.

“Hey!” The battle droid standing in the hatch called out before it was flung from the vehicle. Cadence pressed the button on the popper and threw the small device into the tank. She jumped clear just as the EMP grenade went off, shutting down the tank and the crew inside.

It took only seconds to finish off the droids, clearing the way for the troopers to move in on the artillery camp. The loud explosions at that area gave them a pretty good idea of how it went, along with the arrival of the Acclamator Assault Ships.

They did it.

Cadence and the rest of Ghost Company had gathered at the landing site, along with the villagers who wished to thank them for their liberation. Cadence blushed as a few of them gave her special attention.

The one she didn’t mind was little Numa sitting on her back and laughing. Constantly repeating the word “Eswok.” What that meant, she’ll probably never know. She looked over to see Waxer and Boil approaching. With a knowing smile, she let Numa down, allowing the little girl to run up to them. She immediately wrapped her arms around Waxer’s leg, who patted her head in response. Once she let go, the trooper knelt down to her level.

“See you later, little one.” he said cheerfully before walking away. Boil stayed a few feet away, but still called out.

“Hey Numa, stay out of trouble.” The Twi’lek girl ran up and hugged the trooper, who laughed loudly. A few of his squadmates looked at him like he lost his mind. He took no notice.

“Don’t be afraid, we’ll be back.” With that, he walked off to join the others. Numa’s uncle joined her in watching the troopers leave. She waved enthusiastically, shouting all the while.

“Neera! Neera! Neera!”

Waxer and Boil looked to General Kenobi, asking him, “Sir, what is that she keeps calling us?”

Obi-Wan smiled before looking at the troopers. “Neera, it means ‘Brother.’” The two looked back at the girl and waved, then continued their march to free the rest of this world, and keep their promise to their new little sister.

Author's Note

And now we begin the Ryloth Campaign. I'm going to admit. The scene with Numa's bombed out home made me tear up a bit.

Today's Trivia:
What does Eswok mean?

That's it, that's the only question I could think of.