Luna could only describe Felucia with one word. Hell, pure hell. It had been three weeks since they were deployed onto the planet and she regretted every minute of it. The terrain was a pain to fight in, with narrow pathways, swamps, and thick jungles, it was impossible to move armor through. On top of that were the diseases they had to deal with.

Half of her company was laid up with every type known to their medics. Some of them flesh eating, all of them fatal. She was glad that General Plo Koon and the Wolffe were taking over. Hopefully, they were better prepared than they were.

But she still had a job to do, and that job was to patrol the area for droid guns that were reported in the area. That was the easy part, the hard part was the Commander. General Skywalker insisted on Commander Tano coming with them. Normally, she wouldn’t mind, but the padawan was getting a little too enthusiastic about this patrol.

She was far ahead of the company, scouting for droids to slice up to add to her kill count. So that left Luna in charge of the patrol and right now it was a mess. Her forward platoon reported that their AT-TE broke down and they were stuck along the stream. So now, she had to wait for engineers to show up and repair the damn thing.

She activated her comms. “Knave, how’s it going down there?”

Knave pressed his wrist communicator. “Quiet, Captain, too quiet.” He looked around at the jungle around him. He couldn’t hear anything and it frightened him. He turned to Razorwolf, who was relaxing on top of the walker. It broke down half an hour ago and they had to sit tight and protect it until the engineers got here.

The corporal leaned against the turret, whistling a small tune to himself. He looked out at the alien forestry and admired its beauty. Sure, it was a swamp that seemed to be designed to kill them, but beauty was beauty in his mind. He turned his eyes and saw movement in the treeline. Razor grabbed a pair of binoculars and scanned the area. He couldn’t see what was out there, as the thing had disappeared.

Okay, now he was freaking out a bit.

Dek sat and stared at the motion sensor inside the busted AT-TE. His frustration was obvious, these tanks rarely broke down and the one time it does is in the middle of this disgusting swamp. He didn’t know why the Jedi just vaporize this planet and be done with it.

He sighed. That kind of thinking is why he isn’t a Jedi. He was a trooper and troopers had to follow orders.

The sudden shrill beeping from the computer broke him from his thoughts as six large red dots appeared on the screen. Dek activated the comms of the AT-TE. “Lieutenant, we got six massive objects moving in our position!”

The clones outside scattered, forming a small circle around the crippled vehicle. Knave stared at the incline ahead of him. It was high ground that was walled off by trees. Very few troopers could fit in there, but it was very good ground for an ambush. He ordered the tank crew to aim the top turret in that direction, hoping to blast whatever is coming from there.

“Knave, what’s going on out there?!” Luna demanded. Knave knew he had to respond.

“Unsure, Captain. We got movement all around us.”

“Understood, we’ll reinforce-” A loud screech made the officer snap his head around. On the other side of the AT-TE was something tall, with spiked legs. He could see troopers panic firing at the creature.

One trooper was unfortunate enough to trip and fall onto his back. The creature made him pay for his mistake by impaling one of its legs into his chest. Another trooper tried to run away, but he was picked up by the creature with its teeth. He screamed as the teeth ripped him in two and his top half was swallowed whole.

The remaining troopers tried to move away. One trooper attempted to take cover behind a large floral. He took a moment to catch his breath, but a loud screech made him lose it. His eyes fell on a second creature charging at him. He had no chance to scream before he was sliced in two by the rows of sharp teeth. A second trooper was impaled from behind by the first creature and flung against the tank. A line of blood marked his trail down to the ground.

Razorwolf watched the trooper slide down the side of the walker and felt sick. “That’s not right.” He aimed and fired at the creature, which seemed unaffected by the bolts. It grabbed another trooper and threw him into its mouth, then impaled another. The second creature stormed into the perimeter and went to work, killing three troopers in a number of horrific ways.

“We’re under attack by some sorta creatures! I’m taking casualties!” Knave shouted. He aimed at a third creature approaching. He jumped clear of the charging beast, the impact shaking the tank.

The turret gunner was shaken from his seat and he began falling off the tank.

Razorwolf saw this and ran to catch him. He grabbed the trooper’s arm and began pulling him up. The third creature wanted that trooper more, as he impaled the gunner with a leg and flung him into the air. The gunner screamed as he fell into the creature’s mouth.

Razorwolf stared in horror as the event unfurled, then reached back to grab his blaster.

A fourth creature appeared, snatching a trooper and throwing him into a cloud of red mist. The trooper attempted to get up, but couldn’t. He tried to look around, but all he could see was red, and all he could feel was pain. Burning pain. His armor eroded first, then his flesh, and finally, his bones.

The fourth creature attempted to bite the tank, but a blaster bolt to the eye swayed it away. Razorwolf held down the trigger and hip fired at the creature as it turned away from the tank.

Knave fired on the fifth creature that appeared from the floral. He fired at its neck, hoping to find some weakness on these things. He focused so much on the fifth creature, that he never noticed the sixth going for the bite. But Razorwolf did and aimed.

Luna could hear the screams of terror and pain in the radio and the screeching of demons in the distance. She ran with her company toward the site, trying to keep in contact with Knave. The moment his radio went out was the moment her panic grew tenfold. That panic quickly led to rage, rage at a certain Youngling.

Where was Ahsoka? She should’ve been with those men! Damn that Padawan! If Luna had the chance, she was going to kill her and inform the General of her demise with a smile on her face.

She arrived at the site and all she saw was carnage. Dozens of bodies lay everywhere. The stream was red with blood, and six spider-like creatures stood over it all. A few troopers were still alive, using the top of the tank as their hold out point. Luna felt like she was going to throw up, but she forced it down and went to work. She motioned for her troopers to form ranks. They quickly complied, forming two rows. One kneeling, one standing. All of them aiming their blasters at the creatures.

“Fire!” A storm of blue bolts filled the air, striking hard against the creatures. Two collapsed immediately under the fire. A third attempted to charge before going down. The remaining three retreated into the treeline and disappeared.

“Cease fire!” It was over in seconds. Silence reigned. There were no cries of wounded, no cheering, not even the annoying chirp of local wildlife could be heard.

It was a bloodbath. That much was obvious.

12 Dead, 8 Missing, but those could be assumed dead as well. No wounded. Those creatures never left wounded behind. Knave was sitting inside the AT-TE, trying not to let her see his pain. His men were slaughtered and there was nothing he could’ve done to prevent that. She understood, more than anyone, what it’s like to lose men in such vicious ways. She still remembered the squad that drowned in a swamp after falling into sinking mud, or the troopers that were cut down during their assault on the monastery.

This war was brutal, and it had no end in sight. But she was going to save as many troopers as she could until they reached it.

Knave was going over the scenarios over and over again. He lost troopers to monsters. They were expected to fight droids, not those things that ripped them apart. He had to get himself together. He still had men that needed their lieutenant. The clone stood up and placed his filthy helmet on his head.

A loud beeping drew his attention to the screen. The screen displayed dozens of smaller dots. Dek didn’t need to inform him, he knew what they were. He activated his comms. “We got droids!”

Luna scattered the troopers to find cover, which wasn’t much. The engineers continued their work on the tank, making sure the turret was online. Razorwolf powered up the gun and aimed into the floral to his 3 o’clock. Speed aimed his rifle in the same direction, taking cover behind one of the legs.

“Here we go.” He whispered excitedly. His squad leader, Sgt. Launch, heard him and smacked his helmet.

“Keep your excitement down, kid. Otherwise, you’re gonna eat dirt fast.” He said quietly before hiding behind the other leg of the tank. The battlefield grew silent, even the local wildlife silenced themselves, as if knowing how much destruction was about to befall the area.

The sound of clanking grew in the distance. The troopers tightened their grips on their rifles.

Luna readied her blaster and aimed into the floral. She spotted a B1 marching forward. She fired and down it went. The clanking stopped. There was a loud pop and a rocket appeared from the floral.

“Incoming!” The troopers near the tank ran for cover as the rocket appeared. Speed managed to get away and dive to the ground as the rocket landed. It slammed on the ground next to the tank, the concussion sending an engineer flying. Razorwolf held on tight as the AT-TE shook violently.

“Hold the line!” Luna bellowed as she fired into the floral. The other troopers followed her example and fired into the trees. Droids marched out, returning the incoming fire.

Launch ran over to Speed and helped him. “Come on, Shiny, we got work to do!” A bolt slammed into his head, sending his helmet flying and his corpse to the ground. Speed stared in horror at the body before shooting up and running for cover.

Razorwolf aimed at a small clump exiting the floral. The explosion sent the droids into the air in pieces and some of the floral tumbling to the ground, crushing more droids in the process. He let out a small cheer. He was going to earn his stripes today. He aimed at another group and fired.

Luna lifted a droid into the air and flung it back into the treeline. She then tossed a thermal to go with it. But the droids do not stop coming. If anything, more of them were coming. A trooper to her right drops, followed by another, and another, and another. The alicorn threw up a shield to block the incoming volleys as medics ran over and pulled the wounded from the disease filled swamp water. The AT-TE continued to fire as the engineers put the finishing touches on their repairs.

Circuit muttered to himself as he used the welding tool to close the circuit together. It took several agonizing seconds before the engine roared to life. “Yes!” He exclaimed before running back out, shotgun in hand. He ran up to Luna and gave her a thumbs up. She looked at him and nodded.

“Good work, trooper. Now take cover in the tank.” Circuit saluted and ran back into the AT-TE. One of the crew members climbed inside the cockpit and activated the main walker controls. Luna activated her comms.

“All troopers, prepare to fall back, Osprey, I need your platoon to cover the retreat-” The sudden sight of two long, green sticks of light appearing behind the droids made the captain pause. She watched as a figure cut her way through the droids advancing on their position.

It was Commander Tano. The troopers watched as she swiftly took out most of the remaining droids. Funny, they could’ve sworn there were more. She flung the last battle droid into the air, then turned to see the clones staring at her.

She gave a smug two finger salute before turning to the alicorn. Ahsoka couldn’t see Luna’s face under her helmet, but she could feel the anger radiating off of her.

“Where. Were. You?” She growled. The troopers that stood nearby backed away. Everyone knew about Luna’s temper, from the few that lived to see it first hand, they could tell you how deadly it was to stand next to her. Ahsoka took a step back, suddenly very afraid for her life.

“I… was scouting ahead. I told you where I was going-”

“Commander’s don’t scout ahead, we have regular scouts for that. This patrol was one giant scouting mission!” Luna would have normally been more tactful with those who went off mission, especially if they accomplished something. But Ahsoka was a Jedi, a Commander who needed to lead men.

“Your job is to be here, with your men, Commander Tano!” She spat. Ahsoka flinched. She had grown used to troopers calling her Ahsoka when not in formal meetings, Luna included. For the alicorn to call her Commander Tano in such a spiteful way hurt more than she was prepared for.

Luna turned to one of the troopers. “Assess the casualties and load the wounded into the AT-TE, we’ll link up with the rest of the armoured patrol and head back to base.” The trooper saluted and went to perform his duty. Other troopers spread out to assist the wounded and gather the dead.

“And as for you, Commander.” Luna growled. “The General will hear about this, once we return.” Ahsoka’s face fell. There was no doubt in her mind that her master was going to punish her for this, and she knew she deserved it. The alicorn turned and left to assist where she could, seething the entire way.

Was she harsh? Probably. Was it justified? Wholeheartedly. Men’s lives were wasted because of this. Could Ahsoka have prevented this? Probably not. But that’s not the point. A Commander is supposed to be there with their men, not off on some personal hunt for kills.

Unfortunately, she would never get the chance to report to General Skywalker about the incident, as on their way back, they were ambushed and the 501st was forced to evacuate from Felucia.

Author's Note

And we hit Felucia. Screw that planet, I say we just nuke it from orbit!

What do you guys think? Was Luna justified? Or was she a bit too harsh?