Christophsis
Day 93

R2 rolled away as the blaster fire intensified. Troopers ran past the little astromech in an attempt to find cover in their prepared positions. Among the troopers was Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker. He stopped to observe the massive droid army marching toward them.

“They’re back!” Obi-Wan runs up, with several clone officers in tow.

“I told you this victory was too easy!” The Master claimed. “We never should’ve sent the ship back for supplies.”

“It wasn’t my idea to send the ship back.” Skywalker rebutted.

“Generals,” Captain Luna interrupted, knowing this argument could last a little while. “Second wave is incoming. The Jedi nodded, then turned to their respective officers.

“Rex, you and your men follow me.” General Skywalker ordered, the clone captain signalled his men over and followed Anakin to their position.

“Cody, Luna, battle positions.” Luna nodded and ran toward the rear. Cody simply turned toward the front and moved to the prepared position in the street. Clones gathered behind the massive crystal barricade that walled off the street, readying their blasters as the droids advanced. A few troopers were picked off by stray bolts. Just ahead of the wall were several pickets, who were already skirmishing with the droids marching toward them.

Leading the pickets was Captain Cadence, as her company was scattered along the main road, using whatever cover they could find. She fired into the droid ranks, making every shot count in hopes to thin their numbers. Massive tri-droid walkers towered over the droid infantry, their own guns firing explosive bolts. Cadence watched as a group of three clones attempted to move, only to be obliterated by the blast.

Obi-Wan signaled the clones behind the barricade to fire, unleashing torrents of fire into the ranks.

In the rear area, the heavy cannon battery was firing away, taking out huge chunks of droid units before they could reach the frontline. Directing the artillery was Luna, who observed the fire from her binoculars. She felt something tap her leg, followed by rapid beeping sounds. She looked down to see R2 looking up at her with his singular eye. Luna smiled and rolled her eyes before petting the little droid, calming him down.

Luna remembered when the astromech was first assigned to them after Anakin became a Knight. He was a jokester, much like some of her clones, but he was tough and could get any job done. Some of her brothers didn’t like the astromech, they didn’t like droids in general, but they were first to admit they admired his ability to get work done without that much of a fuss.

She went back to observing the targets, until she noticed a few figures standing above the carnage.

Above the battle stood General Skywalker, along with Captain Rex and a platoon of troopers, all of them equipped with jetpacks.

“What’s our plan of attack, sir?” Rex asked. Anakin only smirked.

“Follow me.” The Jedi then leaped into the air and landed on top of the leading tri-droid, then activated his lightsaber.

“Let’s go, boys!” Rex ordered before taking off.

“I got a bad feeling about this.” One trooper remarked before joining his brothers. The platoon of clones landed next to the tri-droid, and opened fire, aiming for the weak spots in its turret. A couple of troopers had to roll out of the way as the droids attempted to stomp on them with their massive legs. They then concentrated fire on the ring that allowed the turret to rotate. Anakin blocked each blast a second tri-droid sent his way, at first sending them in random directions, then focusing on the droid he was standing on.

With a leap, he flipped over the top of the droid, landing on its gun. The second droid continued to target him, even as he sliced into the first droid and directed the second’s explosive blasts into the cut. The first droid exploded, then collapsed, forcing Skywalker to jump down before joining the other troopers.

Obi-Wan witnessed his former padawan succeed in his part of the plan. Now it was their turn. He raised his lightsaber as he turned to his troops.

“Come on, men!” He cried before charging forward. A trooper stood and motioned for them to follow before he was blasted away by a bolt to his head. The other troopers charged forward, their numbers slowly dwindling as they advanced toward the droid lines.

Cadence ran forward, slamming a droid’s head with her blaster. She fired into the ranks, which never broke as the clones melted in. She watched as a trooper attempted to bare punch a droid in the face. The result was as expected when punching a droid. Pain in his hand, then a blaster bolt to his chest. Cadence quickly avenged the trooper.

Cody had a much better time, using the cuffs of his armor to take the blow as he knocked away several droids with his advanced combat training to clear a path. The clones continued their assault, forcing the droids to finally halt. This gave the artillery free reign of the field, firing at whichever target they wanted.

Toward the rear was the droid command tank, where their leader, General Whorm Loathsom, was ducking down as another tank was decimated by the artillery. He activated his commlink as the convoy stopped, the forward droid commander flinched as a shell landed near him.

“Why are we stopping?!”

"We cannot get past their cannons, sir. The commander answered.

“Cannons?” This will never do. “We must pull back and activate our deflector shields.” He deactivated the comm and looked toward his other officers. “Turn the troops around!” When another tank exploded, he decided to duck back into the turret of the tank.

The droids, still under fire from the clone troops, turn and began a brisk run, retreating from the battlefield.

Anakin grinned as he watched the droids retreat, the clones ceased fire in order to preserve ammo. With no supply ship available, every shot had to count. Captain Luna and Captain Cadence ran to meet each other, wrapping themselves in a hug for a well earned victory. Troopers cheered as they pushed the clankers back, meaning they still had a chance to win. They heard the sound of engines coming out of the upper atmosphere, and the sight they saw flying through the city was more than welcoming. A Republic Shuttle flew through the skyscape, heading toward the main landing site, which was currently serving as the medical center.

Obi-Wan and Anakin saw the ship fly by.

“Looks like help has arrived.”

The two Jedi and the alicorns marched toward the shuttle as it landed. Troopers gathered around to grab whatever supplies were brought in.

“Our fleet must have returned.” Kenobi suggested.

“Which means we’ll be getting our reinforcements.” Skywalker announced with glee.

“I just hope we get ammo, most of my troopers only have two or three packs left.” Luna added.

“Same, we had to start stripping the dead to pool supplies.” Cadence admitted. The shuttle landed on the ground, and the door opened. What walked down the plank was not something either the Jedi nor the troopers could have predicted.

A young Torgutan female, in somewhat revealing clothing, not untypical of a young Jedi. She looked at the two Masters and immediately made her way over.

“A youngling?” General Kenobi asked in surprise. Cadence looked at her General with suspicion. He was expecting a new padawan. Why was he surprised at how young she is?

“And… who are you supposed to be?” Luna looked at her General before rolling her eyes. If there was one thing General Skywalker wasn’t, it was tactful.

The youngling didn’t even give a look as she spoke. “I’m Ahsoka Tano, Master Yoda sent me.” Luna and Cadence looked to each other. If Master Yoda sent for them, something must be up.

“I was told to tell you that you must return to the Jedi Temple immediately, there’s an emergency.” And they were right.

“Well, I don’t know if you noticed.” Skywalker said, obviously annoyed. “We’re in a bit of an emergency right here.”

“Yes, our communications have been a bit… unreliable, but we’ve been calling for help.” Luna growled as she remembered why their communications were down. The traitor, Slick, sabotaged most of their equipment, especially the communication hub. It could still transmit planetside and, if they were lucky, the space around the system, but beyond that was impossible. Cadence placed a calming hoof on her back, to which the dark blue alicorn sighed.

“Master Yoda hadn’t heard from you, so he sent me to deliver the message.” Ahsoka added.

General Skywalker sighed. “Oh great, they don’t even know we’re in trouble!”

“Maybe you can relay a signal through the cruiser that just dropped me off.” The youngling suggested. All eyes were on her, then toward each other before they made their way to the comms station. Cadence turned to see wounded troopers being brought back from the frontline, so she turned to assist however she could.

As they made their way to the comms station, Luna and Ahsoka walked side by side. The alicorn captain could feel the youngling’s eyes on her. With a small sigh, she turned to the Jedi.

“Is there something I could do for you, ma’am?”

Ahsoka’s eyes widened. She didn’t actually expect the trooper to acknowledge her. “Uh, just… wondering.”

Luna raised an eyebrow, not that the Jedi could see under her helmet. “Wondering?”

“About… who you are? What species?”

“Ah, if I had an answer, ma’am, I’d gladly tell you.” Luna answered. Ahsoka looked at the alicorn in shock. “All I know is that I’m a clone of somebody, and that’s it. All I took was the look and the name of my host, and that’s it. It’s the same case for my sisters.”

“There are more of you?”

“Two others, ma’am. My older sister, Celestia, and my younger sister, Cadence. She’s the pink one in the 212th, over there.” She pointed to the other alicorn, who was busy helping the medics treat the wounded. Ahsoka was surprised at how a Captain was treating wounded, as her teaching taught her that officers never did such a thing.

Luna noticed the look and chuckled. “Yeah, Cadence cares a lot about our brothers. Same with Celestia and I, all of the officers are given basic medical courses, just incase.” The conversation ceased once the group arrived at the comms table.

Admiral Yularen was not having a good day. He was originally on a relief mission to support the troops on Christophsis, that changed when the Jedi Council contacted him, demanding that he dropped off a messenger to General Kenobi and Skywalker. He could’ve dropped her off with the relief supplies, as then he would have a whole fleet to break through the blockade, but the importance of the message was too high to wait.

Now he was taking on several Separatist Cruisers with a lone Venator. The messenger managed to make it planetside. Mission Complete, now he had to hold while the Nav Computer made the arrangements for Hyperspace. He was not aware of the events taking place in the communication room.

“We’re under attack by warships, but I’ll patch you through to the Jedi Temple. Stand-by.” The clone officer boosted the signal, a process that would take several agonizing seconds. The three Jedi looked toward each other as the holotable beeped. Each beep intensified their mood. After what felt like ages, the image of Master Yoda appeared.

“Master Kenobi, Skywalker. Glad to see you, I am.”

“Master Yoda, “Obi-Wan began. ‘We are currently trapped on Christophsis. We are in no position to go anywhere or do anything. Our support ships have all been destroyed.” Normally, Kenobi was the more tactful of the Jedi pair, however, the situation was dire and the comms might shut down again, so he had to be quick in order to get the message through.

“Help, we shall, shdhfhfhuwebufbfewybweubcu” The holo image glitched out and the communication was cut once more.

“Master Yoda, Master Yoda!” General Kenobi called out, in a vain attempt to hail the GrandMaster once more. The glitching image was quickly replaced by the clone officer.

“We lost the transmission, sir.” A second clone enters the room.

“We must leave immediately, more enemy ships have just arrived.”

“We’ll get back to you as soon as we can-” The transmission cut, leaving the Jedi to their situation.

“Well, it looks like we have to hold on a little while longer.” Skywalker said to Kenobi and Luna. Ahsoka stood there, patiently waiting for the Jedi to address her. Obi-Wan was the first, choosing to go into his welcome pose, with his arms behind his back and standing tall. Captain Luna had no idea how this was supposed to be welcoming, it scared even her whenever he stood around like that.

“I’m the new Padawan Learner, I’m Ahsoka Tano.” Oh, so this was the new Padawan General Kenobi asked for. Luna was surprised at how young she was; from the alicorn’s experience, padawans were usually older.

Ahsoka’s face grew to one of awkwardness as Kenobi talked to her. “I’m at your service, Master Kenobi. But I’m afraid I’ve been assigned to Master Skywalker.” She pointed to the Jedi Knight, which surprised both him and the alicorn standing next to him.

“What?!” They both exclaimed.

“Woah, woah, woah, woah. There must be some mistake,” Skywalker argued, “he’s the one who wanted the padawan.” Skywalker pointed his robotic arm to his old master, who was grinning unapologetically at the scene.

You sneaky little… Luna glared at the general. She caught on to what happened. Obi-Wan didn’t request a padawan for himself, but General Skywalker instead.

“It’s no mistake.” Ahsoka spoke up. “Master Yoda told me that I am to be placed under the tutelage of Anakin Skywalker, and he is to further my Jedi Training.” The Jedi Knight was shook. This was really happening.

This shouldn’t be happening. He was a Knight for only a few weeks, and already he’s been assigned a padawan. Anakin didn’t want a padawan for a number of reasons, but the biggest one was because he wasn’t ready. He, himself, has only begun to understand being a Jedi, and is busy fighting in the war. With a padawan, he has less time and less chances to sneak off and be with Padme.

“But that doesn’t make any sen-”

“Perhaps we should continue this another time.” Obi-Wan interrupted. “It’ll only be a matter of time before those droids figure a way around our cannons.”

Anakin sighed before turning around. “I’ll check in with Rex.” He started to walk away when Obi-Wan coughed.

“Better take her with you.” Skywalker said nothing. He only stopped, then walked off again. Ahsoka followed briskly behind him, leaving Kenobi and Luna alone. The alicorn trooper walked up to him and frowned.

“This was your idea from the start, wasn’t it, sir?” Kenobi only gave her a grin, giving her the answer she needed. She saluted before moving on to the frontline to talk with her men.

Cadence wrapped the last of the bandages around a trooper’s waist. He groaned as pain in his chest intensified. It would take a few minutes for the bandages’ ointment to start working, but when it did, he would feel more comfortable. The captain sighed as she looked around. Medics were running around, trying to spare as much medical equipment as possible. When Slick destroyed the base, he didn’t only destroy the vehicles and half of the ammunition dump, he also destroyed the fresh medical supplies that were dropped off that night.

In his attempt to “Free his brothers from enslavement,” he caused more deaths than what were truly necessary. If they survive this, there was no doubt that Luna will put him in front of a firing squad, or just strangle him to death in his cell. This time, Cadence wouldn’t stop her.

A clone medic kneeled down next to another wounded trooper and began work. Cadence watched as the medic worked, his body movement becoming more sluggish the longer he treated the trooper. With a sigh, she got up and walked over. She stood above the medic as she spoke.

“Stitch, take a break.”

The medic said nothing, he only continued to work.

“Stitch, that’s a direct order.”

“Captain, let me just finish this one-”

“I’ll finish up, Stitch, you’re tired, and a tired medic is no help to anyone.” Stitch didn’t budge. Cadence glared. “Trooper, either you go sit down and rest for five minutes, or I knock you out with the first thing I find!” Silence fell, all eyes were on the two, not that either of them noticed. Without a word, Stitch stood up and walked over to a nearby pile of rubble. Cadence watched the clone medic sit down, and his head fall forward.

The captain sighed, then got to work on the wounded trooper. “Sorry about that, you’ll be fine. Just let me work my magic.”

Luna arrived at her company’s location. Her troopers were scattered in a small picket line before the square. She could almost see the droid camp from her location, but the distance was too great for the naked eye.

“What’s the scene like, Zombie?” She asked. A prone trooper with a sniper rifle sighed, then turned to his captain. Luna rolled her eyes.

“I know, don’t call you that, but what can you see?”

“Six platoons of B1’s, a company of B2’s three platoons of AAT’s, and three squads of dwarf spider droids, moving into assault formation.” The sniper said bluntly before returning to his scope. Luna shook her head and turned to a small group of clones huddled around a corner.

“Osprey, relay the information.” The trooper, Sergeant Osprey, nodded, then performed the hand signals.

Since communications were limited, the troopers had to resort to relay posts to pass information along. Troopers on top of a roof further down the street would receive the signals, then pass them onto Rex’s position, to which he can then inform the Generals. This worked so far, as the troopers in the building received their message, sending back a confirmed signal.

“Keep your heads on, troopers. Be ready for anything.” She turned to head over to the small gathering of clone lieutenants. Among them were Hardlight, Knave, and Coward.

Why Coward chose his name, no one could ever truly know. He was always the one to charge head first into battle, and was well known to scare the living shit out of anyone who was not under his personal command.

She sat down with the three officers and removed her helmet. Knave and Hardlight had their helmets off as well, Coward, being his usual self, kept it on.

“Ma’am, how’s it going?” The helmeted trooper asked. Luna sighed.

“Way too much to explain, Lieutenant Coward, way~ too much.” She looked over at Hardlight, who was drinking from his canteen.

“How about you, Lieutenant Hardlight, used to the rank, yet?” Hardlight shrugged.

He was not used to it yet. It had only been a few weeks since Muunilinst, where his most of his old company, Carnivore Company, was chewed up by the droid calvary assault. All of the officers were killed, making him one of the highest ranked troopers still alive. Rather than refill the officers, Carnivore Company was folded into Lunar Company, and Hardlight was made a lieutenant to fill in the officer slot.

He was not used to leading units bigger than a squad, it felt less personal. It meant he couldn’t fight as much without risking the Chain of Command. He hated it. He was a fighter, not a leader. But, it was what the Republic asked him to do, so he was going to do it.

“If you ever need advice, Lieutenant, simply ask.” Luna said gently. Hardlight nodded a silent thank you and went back to drinking.

Knave simply went to work on his blaster, making sure it was in tip top condition. With the trooper remaining silent, Luna went back to talking with Coward, who was always ready to chat. They talked until a reddish purple glow reflected in the crystal structures. All eyes turned to the droid camp, where a deflector shield was growing.

“Kriff.” Was all Luna could say.

All of the Jedi and Clone Officers stood around the holomap. The big thing that all eyes were on was the ever growing energy shield near the center of the city.

“The droids are using the energy shield as an umbrella for their troops.” Luna explained. “It’s meant to keep their formation safe as they advance toward the cannons.”

“What’s the status of our anti-vehicle weapons?” Cody asked.

“Not good.” Cadence answered solemnly. “We only have a handful of rocket launchers left, and about three packs of thermal detonators. That’s if the clankers even let us get close enough to the tanks to hit them.”

“I suppose our best bet is to draw them into the buildings, it might even the ground a bit.” Kenobi suggested.

“It’s risky, sir.” Rex stated. “The droids far out number us, and our ability to street fight is limited without the heavy cannons.” He moved the map display to the artillery camp, where the cannons were displayed. “They’ll march under their shield until they’re right on top of our cannons, then they’ll blow them away.

“If that shield is such a problem, why don’t we deal with it.” All eyes turned to the young padawan who spoke up, surprised. None of them were used to a padawan speaking unless spoken to.

“Well, I for one… agree with her.” Anakin admitted, surprising everyone even more. “Someone has to get into that camp and destroy the generator, that’s the key.”

“Well, I suppose you could tiptoe past their lines and destroy the shield generator before they reach the cannons.” Obi-Wan planned out with humor in his voice. Luna looked at her general and his padawan. It was much more likely they’d kill each other before they got to shield, as evident by the small bickering the two were doing as they walked away to find some explosives.

Rex, apparently, had the same thoughts as he stood next to Kenobi. “They make… quite the pair, sir. Think they have a chance?”

“They better. If they don’t take down that shield before the droids destroy our cannons, there’s no escape for any of us.”

Cadence and Luna looked to each other, worry covering their faces. Luna then nodded in determination, same for Cadence.

“Our companies can hold the line, sir. We fought off worse than this lot.”

General Kenobi smirked at the blue alicorn, then turned to fully face her. “Alright then, I’m putting you in charge of our first line. Cadence and Cody will hold the second line. Rex and I will fight in the third. We’ll allow the droids to march toward our positions to which we can ambush them. Their tanks won’t be as effective when they can’t aim at us.”

“So we’ll use hit and run tactics.” Cadence summed up.

Kenobi nodded. “Exactly.” The alicorns ran off to collect their men, and ready for the fight of their lives.

Zombie watched the shield advancing toward them. It was close enough now that he didn’t require the sniper scope to see it. He could see the droids marching in perfect sync down the street, the only thing that stood in their way was a box in the middle of the street. The clone watched that box, a little suspicious. It wasn’t there a few minutes ago, and he saw no one put it there. His eyes stayed on it, even as it started moving. The clone sniper blinked, then shrugged. His mind must’ve been playing tricks on him.

Besides, he had other things to worry about, like the shield that was currently passing over his position. He readied his rifle and awaited the command. He didn’t have to wit long.

“Go go go!” Luna and several troopers jumped down from their position, and landed in the middle of the droid lines. They easily took out the first platoon of droids, then pushed into the second line. Zombie watched as the captain and her squad cut down the droids with ease. If he ever felt like smiling, this was the time to do it. But it would have to wait, as he could see the tanks advancing toward them. Through his scope, he could easily see the droid commander standing out of the turret. Easy shot.

He aimed at the droid’s head and squeezed the trigger. The head went flying, and the tanks stopped. That bought the captain a few seconds as the droid programming selected a new leader. AKA, his second target. A second droid stood out from its tank. A second shot, a second kill. It became a pattern. Shooting droids that caused a threat to the captain, then taking out the next droid leader. It was pattern he would do for the rest of the fight.

Hardlight lifted his Z-6 and aimed. Three platoons of droids advanced toward him. “Alright, ya clankers. Suck laser!” He squeezed the trigger, the barrels began to spin, and the chain gun unleashed its terrible resolve. The first three rows of droids were down before they could retaliate. The rest of his platoon joined the firefight, and gunned down the first two platoons of droids. The third, however, got smart and scattered into a loose skirmish formation before firing. Two troopers went down, Radar dragged them back. Then a third and a fourth and a fifth. Hardlight ceased fire, then turned to his troops.

“Fall back into the building, now!” The platoon obeyed, and made their way back inside. The droids followed, and the fight became much more personal.

Osprey fired each shot with care, making sure each one would count. Two members of his squad were already dead, and another three were being dragged back to the medic station. With only four able-bodied members, he would hold this line. Like the trooper he was.

Luna jumped on top of a tank, blasting at any droids trying to protect it. She pressed the button the thermal detonator and dropped it into the open hatch the turret. She then jumped from the tank and charged toward the next one, ignoring the explosion behind her.

Just as she jumped onto the turret of the second tank, a third tank aimed and fired. It hit the spot next to the tank, and Luna felt a burning pain in her back legs. She had to ignore it as she dropped the thermal into the turret. A clone who saw her get hit ran over to catch her and carry her away before the tank exploded.

From his position, Coward could see the captain being carried back to safety. “Well kriff, fall back!” He ordered, continuing to fire to cover the retreat.

Zombie kept up the fire, taking out droids every which way. He had already lost count. He fired another round at a B2, then turned his attention to an AAT aiming at his position. The trooper didn’t hesitate.

“Everyone out!” The tank fired and the room was obliterated.

Hardlight covered his men as they ran from the building, his rotary cannon wiping out the entire droid squad with a single burst. With his men clear, the lieutenant made his way back to the second line of defense.

Osprey held the line as the rest of his men retreated, even as the B2 aimed a wrist rocket at his position. He never stopped firing until his feet left the ground, and his back was on the floor.

The trooper dropped Luna off behind cover, where Radar looked her over. She was still breathing, which was the first good sign. The second good sign was that she responded to his touch.

The third good sign was that she managed to wake up, albeit with a massive headache and a bit of pain in her legs. Nothing a quick injection won’t fix when she gets the chance. For now, she had a battle to win.

Luna stood and grabbed a blaster from a fallen trooper. She aimed at a group of droids advancing toward her. With a quick burst of the rifle, they were scrap. The captain could see more troopers falling back into the line, blasting the droids that stood in their way. She turned to one of the troopers.

“Fall back and send a message to the General. Tell him that the Skirmish Line ahs fallen and are holding position within the shield.”

“No need, Captain, I’m right here.” Came the voice of General Kenobi, who blocked several bolts with his lightsaber. Luna blinked. How had she not noticed him standing there?

Cadence ran up to the Jedi and started blasting in between swings. The pink alicorn wasn’t even afraid of being hit by either a bolt or the General’s Saber. Luna shook her head in amusement before returning to blasting.

The amount of pain Osprey was in was unbearable. His back was on fire, and his legs were… he wasn’t sure. He couldn’t feel them. Was he crippled? No, he couldn’t be. He won’t be! The trooper looked around the room. The droids had moved on, obviously thinking that he was dead. Good, so he had a chance to move.

Except he couldn’t. Everything below the waist was dead weight. Blast it! Why him? Why now?

There was movement coming from down the hall. It was slow and clunky. More clankers? The sergeant grabbed a blaster. If he was going down, he’d go down fighting. The clone aimed at the door and lightly squeezed the trigger; not enough to fire the weapon, but enough to warm it up.

A clone trooper limped through the door, sniper rifle in hand. His armor was almost completely destroyed, with holes and scorch marks all over the place. His helmet visor was broken, revealing his scarred face. He stared at the clone pointing the blaster at him, then moved into the room. Other wounded troopers did the same, each either limping or holding their wounded arms. Each had a blaster with them, in case they ran into droids.

Zombie limped over to Osprey and looked him over. After a few seconds, the trooper silently hailed two troopers over. The two were the least wounded, with only minor cuts and bruises. Effortlessly, they picked up the sergeant, and carried him over their shoulders as the wounded squad made their way back to friendly lines.

Kenobi ducked behind a desk as tank bolts slam into the clone position. Luna was ducked down with him.

“Sir, the shields have almost reached the heavy cannons, we stand no chance out here!” Obi-Wan thought for a moment before making his decision.

“Pull your men back to the cannons, do everything in your power to protect them. I’ll delay the droids.”

Luna’s eyes widened. “But-”

“That is an order, Captain!” The alicorn trooper obeyed without another word. She made a run for it as Kenobi cut down a B2 trying to sneak up on them. The captain ran to meet with her squad before giving the order.

“Fall back! First platoon, cover the retreat!”

Troopers got up from their positions and ran down the street toward the heavy cannons. Luna could see droids surrounding Kenobi’s position and sighed. Cadence noticed and gave her a reassuring smile.

“Sis, trust me. The General knows what he’s doing, now come on!” The two ran back as the rest of their men made their way to the last defensive line.

Obi-Wan watched his troops escape as the droids surrounded him and a tank aimed its massive barrel at him. Overkill? Probably. The AAT’s hatch opened up and out of it rose the Separatist Commander, Whorm Loathsom.

“You must be the infamous General Kenobi.” He said smugly.

Obi-Wan sighed. He hated saying these words. “I surrender.” A B2 cautiously stepped toward him and roughly took the lightsaber from his hand.

“Now, General, order your troops to stand down.” Kenobi ignored him and instead used his Force abilities to lift several crystal stones to create a table and two seats.

“Please, have a seat.” Whorm looked at the Jedi as if he had lost his mind.

“Have you gone mad?”

Time to use his ‘negotiation skills.’ “I’ve conceded the battle, now all that’s left to do is work out the terms.” The Kerkoiden looked at him suspiciously.

“Don’t try any of your tricks, Jedi.” he said before climbing down. Obi-Wan rolled his eyes. This was going to be easy. Whorm stepped out of his tank and sat down in front of the Jedi General.

It was time to play it up. “I must say, it is truly an honor to meet such a worthy opponent face-to-face. You’re a legend throughout the Inner Core.”

“Hehe, thank you. The honor is all mine. I’m so glad you decided to surrender.”

“Well at some point, one must accept the reality of the situation.” The Jedi Master was just hopeful that the situation would change, otherwise this would turn into a real surrender negotiation. He coughed into his hand. “Might we have some… refreshments?”

Loathsom pondered for a moment before turning to his droid assistant. “You there, fetch us something liquid.” The droid bowed before running off.

Kenobi could only hope that droid wouldn’t come back with cups of oil.

Cadence threw a thermal into the open hatch of a tank before taking off into the air. The tank exploded, taking several battle droids with him. She landed behind cover, where Luna was firing her rifle.

“Luna, we can’t keep this up!”

“We don’t have to, we just have to wait for General Skywalker to take out that shield.” She fired another burst, taking out a B2 before it could fire. A second aimed and fired its rocket at the position. Luna’s eyes widened.

“Watch that wrist rocket!” She cried before diving to the ground. Cadence did the same just before it impacted their old position. The crystal wall that served as their barrier now had a breach wide enough to left droids march through. The two alicorns fired into the gap, turning the breach into a chokepoint. Other clones opened fire to keep the pressure on the breach.

“We’re almost out of ammo!” A trooper cried before his blaster clicked empty. He ran forward and grabbed a droid blaster, firing it into the droid formation before being gunned down.

“Do you really think General Skywalker stands a chance?”

“I do, it’s dealing with his new Padawan that worries me.” Luna used her magic to violently throw a B2 back into its squad, knocking them all over and crushing their servos in the process. In the distance, there was a loud explosion. What followed was the best sight the alicorns have ever seen: the shield was receding back. Time to end this. Luna turned around.

“All cannons, open fire!” The gunners wasted no time and opened fire into the droid formations. The entire droid army was annihilated by the full power blasts of the cannons. The clones cheered as the droids were blown to smithereens by their superior firepower.

Osprey and the others watched as the shield disappeared and the droids were taken out by their cannons. With a smile, Osprey nudged the troopers to continue forward. Now he could go to the medics and not feel useless.

Kenobi held Loathsom hostage, keeping the droids from firing. At that moment, his commlink went off and the image of Admiral Yularen appeared.

“General Kenobi, if you can hear me, we broke through the droid blockade. Your reinforcements should be arriving shortly.” The Jedi looked up to see gunships flying over the city, filled to the brim with fresh troops and supplies. He smiled as he knew that his former Padawan and his hopefully permanent student had done it. A gunship landed, along with Cadence and a squad of clones. They walked up to the droids and used their tasers to deactivate them.

The alicorn looked at the knocked over table and saw spilt tea on the floor. She gave her General a look, to which he responded with his signature grin.

Anakin and Ahsoka watched as the gunship landed. They boarded and were greeted by Captain Rex. “great job, General Skywalker.” The clone captain said before turning to the Padawan. “You too kid.” Ahsoka beamed. She had a feeling this was going to be the start of a great relationship. The gunship took off and made its was back to the central landing stage, where several Acclemators were docked.

Osprey was taken on a stretcher back onto the ships. He was going to be on medical for quite a while. But at least he would be able to fight again very soon. He watched as Zombie walked onto the medical transport. The sniper had an annoyed look on his face, one that was shared by Captain Luna. The alicorn saw the state of his armor and his body and ordered him to be treated and have his armor replaced. Zombie didn’t care about his armor, he felt the damage gave it character. But regulation was regulation, and when Captain Luna gave an order, you followed it without question.

Luna huffed as she watched Zombie board the transport. She turned and walked back to assess the remains of her company. The alicorn could already tell how chewed up they were.

Cadence helped the last of her wounded onto the transport, then stepped back to allow it to take off. Her unit was hit hard, but most of them were minor wounds. She lost around two dozen men, far less than the rest of the companies. Guess her men were just lucky this time. The captain watched as Kenobi, Skywalker and Ahsoka were talking to Master Yoda.

This must’ve been about the mission the Jedi Council needed them to do, something she was not looking forward to. She watched as Ahsoka suddenly took off, her face showing excitement. The Padawan ran over to Rex, who was talking to Luna. After she spoke, the two captains looked to each other in annoyance.

Cadence saw that Ahsoka’s face fell a little. It was made worse when Luna angrily walked away.

Luna couldn’t believe this. They literally just finished a battle, and already the Council was sending them on another mission; to rescue a kriffing Hutt! Hutts were criminals, why would the Jedi work with them?! Have they stooped so low already?! If this mission got any more of her men were killed, she was going to raise hell, damn the Jedi superiority! A calming hand was placed on her back. She turned to see General Skywalker standing next to her. The captain took a deep breath and turned her body to face the Jedi Knight.

Anakin coughed into his hand. “So… obviously you’re not excited-”

“No, I’m angry, sir!” The alicorn yelled, gaining the attention of some troopers and a young Padawan. “Why? After we just got through with a difficult battle are we being sent to do a mission… for Hutts?!”

Skywalker cringed. “Trust me, I hate this mission too. You know how I feel about Hutts.” Luna looked down. She knew all too well. “But we have our orders, and if this helps the Republic win this war, then we’ll do it.”

Luna groaned, but said nothing. She only stared at her General. She could tell he hated this just as much as her. But he was right, orders were orders; even if she didn’t agree with them.

“Alright, sir. I’ll gather my men. But volunteers only, most of them are going to be too tired to fight.” Anakin nodded.

“I understand. Rex’s men are mostly okay, so any volunteers will be folded in with them. I’m also bringing a tank platoon. I’m not taking chances again.” Luna smiled softly. He was learning to be a better leader. With a salute, she marched off to find her troopers, never noticing the look she got from Ahsoka Tano.

Author's Note

Hooray, another long chapter done! We finally hit the Clone Wars Movie, and soon the rest of the series shall come!

Now, time for some questions:
Why would the Jedi help the Hutts?
How could the Hutts win them the War?
Why does Anakin hate them so much?