Luna raised a shield as an Umbaran fighter raced toward her position. It launched two plasma balls toward her men, who ran under the shield for cover. The balls slammed into an AT-RT nearby, sending the walker flying into a group of unfortunate clones. She lowered her shield and used her magic to lift the walker off of one of the clones. Radar immediately runs over and drags the half crushed trooper away.

The fighter came back and hovered over another squad of troopers. It quickly spins around several times, smacking away the men before they could move. It then flew off and disappeared into the sky once more.

Luna watched the fighter go and ran over to Captain Rex’s position. The clone captain was leaning against a tree, doing his best to coordinate the defense, since General Krell was further back from the action.

“We’ve got to move before those fighters come back!” She shouted as she kneeled down next to Rex.

Before he could reply, Rex was hailed over by Jesse. He ran over to them, leaving Luna behind. She growled before returning to her men. She found Knave, Gallus, and Steele already gathered up.

“Have the rest of the men ready to move, those fighters will be back and we need to get out of the open!” She explained, ducking down as more blaster fire ripped through the air.

“And where exactly do we go, Captain?” Steele asked, firing into the trees.

“Somewhere with more cover, we need to widen our frontline and space our squads out.” She turned to Knave. “Take your platoon to the right and push past that small hill.” He nodded and left to lead the attack. She then turned to Gallus. “Gather up what men you can for a center defense here, I need the medics covered while they move the wounded out.

“Copy that!” Gallus turned and left to follow his orders. Luna then turned to Steele. “Steele, I need your men to shift left and try to push the Umbarans back. We need breathing room.”

Instead of turning and following his given order, he cocked his head to the side. “Is that a good idea, Captain?” Luna glared, she did not have time for this.

“Unless a better plan comes along, then yes. Now get to it!” Steele nodded and ran to gather up his men. Luna watched his go with a forlorn expression. She knew why he was acting like this. The past week has been nothing but one botched plan after another. The men were tired. She was tired. But until that capital was seized, General Krell would not let them rest.

‘Would he let us rest even after we took the city?’ She thought for a moment, but it passed when she remembered that she had a job to do, which was to make sure her men made it out safely through this campaign.

A few yards away, Radar and Junior were working overtime to patch up the wounded. They gave minor wounds a quick check up and some pain relievers before sending them back into the fight, while the more heavily injured were patched up and given bacta before being taken back to the medical area in the rear.

The Umbaran weapons left wounds that were much more severe than they were used to. The burns were worse, the wounds were vastly different than the ones in the past, and General Krell’s tactics left too many of them to be treated in a timely fashion.

Radar made his grievances known to the General, but the Jedi simply scoffed and made him go back to work without a second thought. Now, Radar was not one to question his leaders. But Krell was something else.

Razorwolf charged up the hill, throwing a bundle of thermal detonators into an enemy foxhole and blasting it. The explosion sent bits of Umbarans into the air. Some blood and a chunk of flesh landed on his armor. But, he could care less, he simply brushed it off his visor and continued his assault. His anger was something to behold. He saw that bruise on Captain Luna’s cheek after the engagement on the road last week. While it had faded within that time, he knew where she got it from.

General Krell. Razorwolf swore that if he survived and escaped this hellspawn planet, he was going to end Krell’s like himself. A trooper to his left falls dead, his buddy drags him back and moves on.

Razorwolf shook his head. This was worse than anything he had seen before, and he fought on Geonosis.

Luna helped drag some wounded men into the medical area, which was already overflowing. Her heart stopped at the sight of half burnt and ripped open men laying in stretchers on the floor. Krell gave them no time to set up proper medical facilities. He always kept them moving, with only enough time to eat one ration bar a day and get only about an hour’s worth of sleep.

The alicorn was sure that this was in violation of several Republic Military Laws. But what she did not know was if the law applied to her and her brothers. After all, they were just clones, not citizens of the Republic.

“All units, prepare to move out, head to coordinates 772, 992, 00.34215, over.” Luna growled as the message came through. Once again, the 501st was moving out, without a doubt, into another hell storm.

Once they were able to drive the enemy back, the 501st marched toward the coordinates of the airbase. Luna’s Company was once again at the front of the column. Normally, the quietness would be a welcome sound for the clones after a major battle. But Umbara robbed them of that joy. Their heads and weapons were on swivels as they marched through the flora.

Luna marched behind Steele’s platoon, who were at the very front of the formation. Steele took a few quick glances at the alicorn, his face unreadable behind the helmet. He was not sure how to feel about Captain Luna, there were moments where she genuinely cared about her men, then there were times where she did not. It was hard for him to understand. He cared about his men, and had disobeyed orders in the past to make sure they were safe.

The Captain never disobeyed orders. Were it General Skywalker’s orders, that was understandable. But she followed Krell’s orders to the letter. Why? His orders would get more men killed, and half the time for nothing.

Did Dek die for nothing? Of course not. Did he have to die? He had no idea. But with the way Captain Luna acted, it felt like it didn't matter to her.

A palm to the chest shoved him out of his thoughts. Spark stood in front of him with an arm extended. The lieutenant was about to reprimand him when he saw what was ahead.

It was a deep ravine, with thick flora running down the middle. In the distance, the lights of the airbase can be seen. It was a massive tower surrounded by flat lands and hangars. It was the only thing bright in this shadowed world.

Luna approached the two troopers and looked at the sight. She was silent, her eyes checked every rock and flora of that ravine. This was going to be a kill box.

“Rex, we have a problem.”

Steele and Spark looked at each other.

--

Krell and Rex approached the edge of the cliff to look at the ravine. Luna handed her fellow captain the binoculars. Rex looked toward the base and scanned everything.

“Looks like the base, alright.” He confirmed. “And heavily guarded.”

“Zombie and the scouts report three units of tanks, plus heavy artillery.” Luna added, pulling up a map of the area. “They’re surrounding the base and are guarding all approaches.”

Krell wasted no time coming up with a plan. “We shall push through the gorge and engage the enemy in a full frontal assault.” Luna looked at him with widened eyes and nearly spoke out. But she stopped. The bruise on her cheek has faded, but the pain still lingered. Rex scanned the gorge, and he formed his own opinion.

“The gorge is too narrow, sir. We’ll only be able to move our platoons in single squads.” He stood up and looked at the Jedi. “Perhaps a closer recon could find a better route.”

Luna prayed to whatever would listen to make Krell see sense. The General rubbed his chin in thought for a few moments. Her hope had risen, but was quickly dashed.

“Obi-Wan and the other battalions are holding off the enemy, right now. While they wait for us to take out this base. We don’t have time to look for a more secure route.”

Luna thought back to the scouts. There were routes, but every one of them would meet resistance. But this gorge would be their grave if they charged through it like Krell intended. Her brain argued with itself on whether or not to question Krell. But she was in the open, surrounded by her men and fellow officers. She was safe. For now.

“General, I report that-”

“What have I said about questioning my orders, Captain Luna?” She froze. She could feel his hand against her cheek once more. She felt the fear and the confusion. But he did not strike her this time. He simply spoke to her in the same tone.

“Sorry, sir.” She said, silencing herself. The alicorn shrunk in her armor as Krell turned back toward the Command Section. Rex watched him go, then turned to Luna.

He approached her and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. She nearly jumped and shook the hand away. Her men watched as Luna walked back through their formation and disappeared behind a large vine.

Knave watched it all unfold, then turned to the other platoon leaders.

“Get ready to move out, have all squads ready to go!” He then looked at Razorwolf. The trooper was already making his way to find the alicorn captain. He walked through the flora, listening for anything that could give Luna’s position away.

His audio receptors picked up on hastened breathing to his right. He turned to find a sight that did not seem possible. Captain Luna, without her helmet on, eyes wide with fear. He could see the sweat soaking her fur. He never saw the captain like this. After all they had been through, the men of the 501st made bets that she could take on a sarlacc pit and not even flinch. But here she was, afraid of something.

Razorwolf had no idea how to approach her. They were never trained to handle emotions like this. He thought back to how General Skywalker helped Commander Tano. Perhaps, he could try one of his approaches.

“Captain.” The alicorn jumped out of her skin. Her wings flared for a moment before retracting. Razorwolf slowly stepped toward her. “Are you alright?”

Luna said nothing. She just stood there, staring off into space. “Captain,” he tired again, “do you need help?”

He placed a hand on her back. It did not stay there. It was flicked away with his captain’s powers. Her glare made him back up.

“No, Corporal. I do not need help. I am perfectly fine.” Her tone was almost as robotic as a medical droid’s. “Now, get back to the others and prepare for an assault.”

His training told him to obey, but his instincts held him in place. “Luna, we’re just-”

“I said return to the line corporal, or I’ll have you back on a venator doing maintenance for disobeying orders!” Razorwolf nearly fell in shock. Luna said nothing more as she placed her helmet back on her head and returned to the formation.

The men of Torrent Company advanced into the gorge. Their AT-RTs lead the way. Luna’s company stood at the entrance of the gorge, waiting for the signal to advance, or cover the retreat when things would go wrong. Not a single clone in the entire battalion felt safe.

“This is insane!” Radar bellowed as they marched on.

“Krell is going to get us killed!” Junior added. Gallus turned to his men.

“Keep your thoughts to yourselves troopers and wait for the signal.” His authority held little power, as the troopers were too fed up to listen.

“We’ve kept our thoughts to ourselves long enough, sir!” Warran retorted.

“This is gonna be a meat grinder!” “We don’t have the firepower for this attack!” “Not even a Jedi could survive this!”

Steele managed to quiet his men long enough for him to find Captain Luna. She was talking to Knave, planning out their part of the assault.

“Captain!” Both officers looked at him. He pointed to the troopers, who were still arguing. “Perhaps, you should take charge for once and reassure your men.”

“Now hold on, Steele-”

“It’s fine, lieutenant.” Luna stepped forward. “I’ll handle this.” She walked toward the men while Knave walked up to Steele.

“What is your problem?” He growled. Steele glared back.

“My problem? How about hers? She doesn’t seem that concerned about the men as she should be.”

“When you’re a captain, you’ll understand just what she has to do to-”

“To what? Stay in Krell’s good graces? She seems pretty good at following his orders.”

“We all follow orders, Steele-”

“But her orders get us all killed!” Knave finally had enough. He grabbed Steele by the shoulders and shoved him back against a vine.

“Listen here, soldier. I don’t know what your problem with her is, but Captain Luna does her best to get us through this alive!” Steele was about to retort, but Knave kept on going. “Luna did her best at Geonosis, twice. She held us together on Felucia when we were ready to blow our own brains out! She’s seen so many of our brothers die, and she blames herself every time! I trust her judgement because she always did what was right by us, and the Republic. Men die, Steele. That’s the way it is! So suck it up and follow orders because those orders might save your life!”

With that, Knave let go and marched away, leaving Steele to think about what he said. The clone approached Luna, but was stopped by Razorwolf.

“Knave, we need to talk.”

The ground suddenly shook. Troopers held onto each other to keep from falling down. Blaster fire went off in the distance. The troopers readied their weapons and began moving toward the fighting.

Luna activated her comms. “Rex, status!”

“Enemy tanks came outta nowhere! They’re ray shielded!”

Some troopers readied their rocket launchers. Green bolts suddenly appeared from the vines. One trooper next to Junior goes down. He grabs him and pulls him clear. The company halted and aimed at the jungle ahead.

The ground shook once more. Razorwolf felt the ground beneath him begin to give way. He jumped clear right before a large centipede arose from the earth. Green bolts fired from the guns attached to the tank.

“Ambush!” Several troopers and two walkers were gunned down before the tank dropped and started running circles around the men. They fired at the tank in vain hopes of damaging it.

The tank turned to a group of troopers and charged toward them. The poor men had no chance to run before they were crushed by the monster. Another pair of troopers were blasted away by the turrets. Another walker explodes, killing its pilot. Radar and Junior work overtime to try and help any wounded, but the tank’s constant assault kept them pinned down.

Jumpstrike readied his rocket and aimed at the tank. The head of the tank looked toward him, revealing the driver inside. “Gotcha.” he squeezed the trigger and fired. The projectile left the tube and slammed into the eye of the beast. A chain explosion rocked the tank, blowing away the turrets and splitting it in two.

Blue plasma splashed around, forcing the men to duck into cover to avoid it. Luna looked around to see if any more tanks were coming. There was a large wall of explosions in the distance, followed by silence.

“Rex, are you okay?”

“.... I’m fine, Luna. We got hit hard, but the tanks are scrap. How about you?”

“Ambushed, but alright. I lost a lot of men, though.” She looked at her men, then back at the cliff. She could feel Krell’s eyes on her. “My men will join yours in the assault, I’m leaving a small detachment behind to help the wounded.”

“Copy that, we’ll hold until you’re ready.” Luna cut the comms and turned to her men.

“Knave, you take your platoon and the medics. Get the wounded back to camp. Once there, Rex will send you his wounded and you do the same for them, understood?”

Knave nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Everyone else, let’s move out!”

The two clone companies quickly joined up. Most marched past the hulking wrecks of Umbaran tanks, but a few searched through looking for trophies or survivors.

Steele found an Umbaran crewman stuck beneath some debris. The Umbaran spoke rapidly in its native language, which he did not understand. He didn’t care enough to understand anyway, as he pressed his blaster barrel against the Umbaran’s head and fired a single shot.

Some more blaster shots went off as the clones finished off the survivors. The Umbarans never left prisoners, why should they? Luna grabbed one by the neck and squeezed just enough to crush its windpipe. Her helmet reflected the Umbaran’s pleading face as the life drained from its eyes. Long ago, this would have made them flinch.

But now, the men of the 501st could care less.

They moved past the wrecks and continued to the airbase, prepared for the next ambush.

--

Rex halted the advance as he and Luna looked through their binoculars. All movement stopped as a thunderstorm boomed. Luna looked at the sky. Despite how dark and misty it was, there was no sign of a storm. She scanned the flora and saw something move.

Whatever it was, it was big. It looked like a bug of some kind. She thought it might be some wildlife they haven’t encountered yet, but then she saw the massive cannon on the top. More Umbaran tanks, and these ones were much bigger than the crawlers.

At first, there was one, then there were two, then three, then five, then seven. It was an entire tank company, with infantry support.

“We’ve got a problem.” Rex summed up, just before the tanks opened fire.

A giant ball of plasma sailed through the air. The clones scattered to find cover.

“All squads, fall back!” Luna bellowed as the plasma rounds impacted around her. The troopers ran for their lives as more plasma balls came their way. The tanks gave chase and were soon on top of the retreating clones.

Steele turned to his right, and watched as an entire squad was engulfed in a toxic blue light and were vaporized. “Oh skray.” He muttered in shock. Another pair of troopers were crushed under one of the tank’s legs. The leg raised above his head. He closed his eyes and braced for the pain. Something slammed into his side and knocked him out of the way.

Steele and her savior rolled several feet before stopping. He had not time to recover before he was lifted back onto his feet. The clone blinked and looked at his savior. It was Captain Luna. Her gaze was not on him, but the tanks that were marching over them. Green bolts flew past them, revealing the Umbaran infantry squad charging toward them. Luna fired at the squad and gunned them down with ease.

She then pulled Steele forward, making his sprint. “Keep moving, Steele! Get the men out of here! I’ll cover your back!” Steele gazed at his commanding officer for a second, then did as he was told. Luna fired at the advancing Umbarans, then turned to follow.

Her comlink bleeped as two voices came through.

“Captain,” Krell snapped, “continue your attack!”

“Sir, we’re overpowered, we need reinforcements.” Rex explained.

“The rest of the Battalion is holding the entrance to the gorge, Captain.” What? But they had already cleared the area, surely another company would be able to assist them? Was Krell trying to get them killed?!

“They’re guarding it so your troops can break through to the airbase!” Luna saw Radar dragging a wounded clone into some cover. Two Umbarans aimed their blasters at him. The alicorn beat them to it and fired a barrage, eliminating the threat to her medic. Radar nodded his head and began treating the clone.

Another squad was caught in an explosion and torn to shreds. Gallus ducked to avoid the shrapnel. Spark aimed at an Umbaran as it gunned down a trooper. He fired one shot, and nailed it in the head.

“Sir, we can’t possibly-”

“You will stand your ground! Do you read me?!” The rest of Krell’s rant was drowned out by the screaming in Luna’s mind. Something inside her felt ready to snap, and she was just about to let it. It took all of her strength to keep her mind together. She had a job to do, men that needed to survive, and she was not going to let them down.

Several troopers were vaporized by the arcs of plasma lightning shot from the undercarriages of the tanks. Radar had to hold back the bile as he continued work on a trooper. There wasn’t much he could do when the trooper’s arm was vaporized. All there was left to do was make the pain stop. Just some bacta to numb the pain and clean out the wound.

The wounded were gathered in a large clump of vines, where the enemy tanks could not enter nor see inside. Rex helped Kix lay a wounded trooper on the ground. “Keep the wounded as quiet as possible.” Luna helped another trooper inside, then walked up to Rex.

“Rex, we need to fall back.” Rex looked at her, then shook his head.

“Luna, we can’t. The General-”

“Screw the General, Rex! He can put me in front of a firing squad for all I care! We cannot continue this slaughter!”

“I used to think Krell was reckless,” Fives stepped in, “but now, I have a feeling he just hates clones.”

“We have orders,” Dogma rebutted, “Now let’s move out.” Rex tried to move, but Fives held him in place.

“We can’t take them head on, we need to find another way.” Rex stared at the ARC trooper.

“You got any ideas?” He meant it as a way to shut the trooper up. But the Captain was actually hoping for an idea. When Fives stayed silent and looked down, he knew there wasn’t one.

“Then this is it.” He turned to move when he was once again stopped. This time by Luna stepping in front of him.

“I think I do.” She said. Rex could see the sly smile under her helmet.

“Alright, let’s hear it.” Luna gathered up the others and explained her plan.

She wanted Fives, Hardcase, and Circuit to sneak through the Umbaran lines and infiltrate the airbase. Once inside, they need to steal three fighters. The Umbaran weapons would have more than enough firepower to decimate the enemy forces, clearing the way for the rest of the 501st to launch a full scale assault and overrun the airbase.

Fives and Hardcase laughed. This was a plan General Skywalker would be jealous he didn’t come up. The three troopers saluted and ran to get around the Umbaran attack.

“As for the rest of us,” Luna stood and primed her blaster, “let’s buy them time.”

“Okay,” Jump said, “let’s do it!” He prepared his rocket launcher and took aim at the tank. He aimed for the base of the cannon, hoping it was weak enough. The launcher sent the rocket spiraling toward the target. It impacted, making the tank reel back. But it did no damage. These tanks were tough, far tougher than the crawlers.

Luna gulped. She was hoping the rockets would do some damage. “All squads, hold this line! We keep them here!”

Her comlink bleeped again, Krell was contacting Rex, demanding an update. She was ready to snap, but she held her tongue at bay. Instead, she listened in.

“CT-7567, do you read me? Where are you?”

“General Krell, we’ve come up with an idea to infiltrate the airbase.”

“What is your plan?” Krell sounded both curious and nervous. Luna hummed. Something wasn’t right.

“I’ve dispatched three men on a stealth incursion into the airbase.” Rex explained. “They've been ordered to co-opt starfighters and use them against the tanks.”

Luna could hear the shock in Krell’s voice as he snapped. “You what?!”

“You put this entire assault on your hope that three clones would do what two companies cannot?!”

Luna glared at her comlink and slammed on the transmitter. “General, this is my plan, and yes I do! We cannot get past these tanks, we’re outgunned and outnumbered! Unless you want this assault to fail, then you will-”

“Do not give me orders, clone!” Krell bellowed. “You will launch a full scale assault and call off that strike team, or both of you will be relieved of duty!”

The alicorn captain just smirked and turned off her transmitter, she held on for a few seconds to see if Rex would comply. When she heard nothing, her grin went wider. “Good on you, Rex.” She turned and fired at the Umbarans and prayed that Fives and his team would get to the airbase quickly.

Fives’ strike team were quick to arrive at the airbase. “The second they spot us, I start blasting.” Hardcase declared, aiming the rifle at the base to prove his point. Fives and Circuit rolled their eyes. They knew Hardcase meant it, he was as gung-ho as a new recruit, despite his combat experience.

“Hardcase, can’t ya take it easy, for once?” Fives asked as they crept their way to the base perimeter.

“Please, stick to the plan instead of guns blazing.” Circuit added.

“I’m sorry, it’s just how I am.” Hardcase said dejectedly. He truly was sorry, but the clone couldn’t help himself. “My commanders say that my growth acceleration tube had a leak. Made me hyperactive, I guess.”

Circuit swore he heard him whimper. He sighed. Hardcase wasn’t that different from some of his old squadmates. They got excited and rushed into fights at every opportunity. Now, most of them were buried on Geonosis.

The three men stopped when they could see the electric fence that surrounded the base. They crept as close as they could to get a better view. They could see three fighters perfectly lined up near the fence. There were no guards near them. But a small squad was patrolling along the airstrip.

Fives looked at the fence, then at the tall tree right next to it. He led the others to the tree. “Use this tree to get over the wall.”

“Uh, how am I supposed to do this, exactly?” Hardcase asked.

“Figure it out!” Fives replied as he grabbed some detonators from Hardcase’s bag. Hardcase aimed his rifle up and fired the tow cable. It embedded itself in the tree. Fives began placing explosives around the base of the tree as Hardcase climbed the tow cable. Circuit waited a few seconds, then followed Hardcase up.

Once they reached the top, they could see more of the airbase. “Great, nice view.” Hardcase muttered. They then quietly walked down a vine that hung over the fence.

“I prefer a good fight to all this sneaking around.” Hardcase groaned. Circuit rolled his eyes.

“With your groaning, it’s a wonder the whole base doesn’t know we’re here.” They slid down onto the airstrip and watched Fives climb up the tree. He grabbed the tow cable and reloaded it into the rifle.

As Fives moved onto the vine branch. One of the flying creatures charged toward him. Fives ducked to avoid getting nabbed, almost losing his balance in the process. He tried to swat the creature away with the blaster, but the beast knocked it out of his hands. Hardcase caught the rifle as Fives fell and grabbed the vine.

The creature turned back to attack when Hardcase fired, nailing the creature to the tree. It screeched out in pain, then went limp.

Fives slid down the vine and landed next to Hardcase and Circuit. “Wow, I never actually thought that would work.” Fives joked before the three ran to the sitting fighters.

They made their way past a hanger and found a spot to hide near the fighters. Circuit covered his two comrades as they turned a corner. An Umbaran guard marched past them, unaware of their presence. Fives pressed a button on his wrist, detonating the thermals he had placed on the tree. The Umbaran guards heard the explosion and ran to investigate.

With the way clear, the three charged toward the fighters. Circuit led the way, but was unprepared for the Umbaran that jumped from behind a tank leg. He felt something pierce his side, but he ignored it in favor of shoving the guard back and firing a shot from his shotgun into its head. The guard dropped dead and the three continued. Circuit kept the pain to himself, they had a job to do and no time to waste.

They approached the fighters and looked at the seats. They were below the fighters, with no clear controls. “So… how do I start this thing?” Hardcase asked as Fives sat in one.

“Well, how should I know?” Circuit asked, realizing the irony of his next suggestion. “Start pushing buttons.” Fives pressed a button, activating the cockpit shield. Along with the shield appeared several monitors. He removed his helmet to get a better view of his new surroundings. Hardcase sat in another fighter and did the same.

Circuit stopped at a third fighter and was about to sit down when a squad of Umbarans approached. He could see Fives and Hardcase still trying to figure out how to fly the fighters. Then, he looked at the stab wound in his side. He could not fly with it, as he would probably bleed to death before he could land.

With a sigh, he made a decision. He primed his shotgun and took aim. The Umabrans came into range. He pulled the trigger, unleashing a devastating scattershot into the group. Three were cut in half while the other two took cover.

Circuit did the same and fired at the remaining Umbarans. He killed one, but more quickly appeared from the shadows. Fives and Hardcase finally figured out how to attach the cockpit to the fighter, then saw the skirmish going on.

Fives called out. “Circuit, get into a fighter, it’s ray shielded!”

“No time!” Circuit called back, firing another shot into the Umbarans. “Just get going, save the others!”

“We ain’t leaving ya, Circuit!” Hardcase declared.

“Just go, I’ll be fine!” All three men knew that was a lie, but Fives and Hardcase relented. They took off, firing some blasts into the crowd, thinking out their numbers a bit. Circuit nodded his thanks and watched them go. He smiled, then readied his blaster.

More Umabrans appeared from the hanger. Circuit fired into them once more, ripping them apart. More Umabrans appeared, firing into his position. One got him in the leg, knocking him down.

But he got back up and fired again, killing more Umbarans. A second shot hit his already bleeding side. But he continued to fight. He would not stop. He fired until a third round hit his back. He paused to suck in the pain, then fought back.

A fourth shot ripped through his arm, forcing him to drop the gun. He pulled out a pistol and fired again, killing another, and another, and another.

A fifth shot ripped through his chest, a sixth through his shoulder. But he continued to fire. A seventh burned his foot. An eighth scorched his other shoulder. With no way to fight, Circuit stood straight in defiance as the Umbarans marched up. It was a ninth shot to the head that finally ended Circuit’s fight. His last thoughts were of his brothers and the lives he knew would be saved because he gave one last good fight.

The situation was getting desperate. Half of the men were either dead or dying. Luna dragged a dead clone out of the crater where his squad once stood. Her breathing was erratic. Her fur was matted with sweat and tears. This was a nightmare, one where there was only one hope of escape. “Blast it, Fives, where are you?”

As if to answer her question, two Umbaran fighters dropped from the skies. She watched as they sailed over the battlefield and turned around. They fired at the Umabran tanks, giving the troopers a chance to run.

The tanks fired back, but the fighters were much too nimble for their weapons to be of any effect. Luna watched with glee as the fighters ripped the tanks apart.

The clones cheered as the fighters spun around in a less than dignified manner. They were overjoyed by the success of the strike team. Luna cheered with them before she realized something. She sent three men to retrieve the fighters. But there were only two in the air.

Her joyous mood did not last.

Clones from the rest of the Battalion charged toward the airbase, intending on taking it with a clear path. One that was cleared by the men of Torrent and Lunar Company.

They found Circuit’s body, surrounded by over twenty dead Umbarans. Luna oversaw his transport to a nearby hanger personally. There, he was placed along with the rest of the dead. The 501st made a vow that no trooper would be buried in this shadow world. Once the fighting was over, their bodies would be transported back to Kamino, where they would be ceremoniously released into the sea. It was the least these men deserved.

Her mind went to a much darker place as she stared at the tarps. Rows upon rows of dead men, dead brothers, and the words of Krell made her boil. To him, this was all worth it. All of the lives snuffed out today were worth an airbase. One that could’ve been bombed or overrun with a more efficient attack! But no, krell had to do it his way. The Jedi, once again, used them as cannon fodder.

How could Krell do this? How was he still considered a Jedi? Luna had to wonder, were other Jedi like this? Were Jedi like General Skywalker, Kenobi, Ahsoka, and Plo Koon the exception?

She remembered Celestia’s story of Mimban, how General Windu was so willing to let her men die just to keep a stalemate going. Why? Were they afraid of clones being smarter than them? Why were they running the war? They were merely swordsmen with special powers!

Luna threw her helmet against the wall. She had to stop herself. She couldn’t let these thoughts take hold.

‘Maybe… Slick was right. Maybe we are just slaves to the Jedi.’ She cast the thought aside. The battle isn't over yet. Once they took Umbara, then she could think about her place in the Galaxy.

Author's Note

Another chapter, another day of regret as I continue to torcher my favorite princess and her soldiers.

Why? Why must Krell exist?! Why must Umbara exist?! Someone get me a Death Star, I have a new target for them!