Teth
Day 94

Luna slowly awoke, her eyes begging to close again. But why was she asleep anyway? Wasn’t she on a mission? What was that mission? Save… someone? Was that it?

“Take care of what’s left of the clones, I’ll go after Skywalker.” That voice. It sounded so familiar. Where did she hear that before?

Her eyes opened and the sight before her was horrifying. The bodies of troopers littered the floor. Not a single one moved. Standing over them was an army of droids. One of them was talking to a bald woman in some dark clothing.

Wait a minute. Luna did recognize that voice. That was the woman who killed her men! Ventress, Count Dooku’s Top Assassin!

“Yes, mistress.” Came the drone of the command droid. A blaster went off, killing the droid as it stepped to the right. Luna turned to see Captain Rex leaning against a wall, firing his pistol at a rapid pace. The assassin blocked very bolt before using the Force to yank the pistol from his hand and close his windpipe.

The clone captain was lifted into the air.

“Where is Skywalker?” The Sith demanded.

“I… don’t talk to… Separatist Scum.” The assassin released her grip on his neck, dropping the clone to the ground. She then waved her hand.

“You will contact Skywalker now.”

“I…” Luna watched in horror as Rex struggled against her will before turning to face the woman. “Will contact Skywalker now.”

“Rex, no!” The alicorn managed to jump up and pulled out her vibroblade. She roared as she charged at Ventress. Her anger was blinding. The assassin turned and used the Force to the alicorn back. But she planned for that. With her magic, she grabbed a fallen blaster rifle and flung it at Ventress. The Sith sensed it and used her lightsaber to cut the weapon in half.

Luna felt her windpipe close and her hooves leave the ground. Rex watched for a moment before activating his commlink.

“Anakin, come in.” If she wasn’t busy trying not to pass out, Luna would have shown her surprise. Rex never referred to the General by his first name, none of them would, even when he wasn’t around. Which meant…

Rex, you clever clone.

“We held off the droids, sir.” Silence was all he got. “What is your location?” Ventress stepped over to listen in. Nothing. The General didn’t respond. She glared at the clone, thinking about the multiple ways she planned on killing the survivors, when another droid appeared.

“Mistress, I must inform you that Republic reinforcements have arrived.” Luna grinned as the realization dawned. General Kenobi was here, they were successful. There was no way Ventress could hold with the amount of troops she’s got.

“We must act quickly.” A squad of Droidikas appeared from the hall, rolling in before standing tall. “Find Skywalker and hold him down until I arrive.” She turned to Luna. “I shall follow shortly.” The rolling death balls beeped in compliance before rolling away.

The Sith Assassin slammed the alicorn captain into the wall, knocking her helmet off her head. She looked at the captain with interest. “Once I finish Skywalker, I shall return to kill you and what’s left of your clones.” With that, Luna felt her windpipe open up, and she sucked in more air than she ever thought she’d need to. It was too much for her to handle at the moment, so her lungs decided to punish her for it. She coughed several times before getting her breathing back under control. At that point, the assassin was gone, and a squad of droids surrounded her.

With a sigh, she got up and joined the other members of her squad outside.

High above in the atmosphere of Teth, a Venator opened the large hangar doors. Out of those doors came a large contingent of fighters, led by General Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Captain Cadence watched from inside the bay as the fighters launched and the gunships were brought out. She wasted no time gathering her troops, who had their equipment all ready. She readied her blaster as her paranoia kicked in. For some reason, she had a really bad feeling about this.

Luna, Rex, Hardlight, and four other troopers stood next to the downed AT-TE. Their hands were held behind their heads as the platoon of droids kept their blasters trained on them. Above them, they could hear the sounds of fighters and combat. The clones said nothing as a plan formed together.

Rex’s commlink blinked to life.

“Rex, come in. This is General Skywalker.” The General?

“Did you hear that?” One droid asked.

“It came from the prisoner!” Another declared. The two approached the captain, who grinned under his helmet. He presented the commlink to the droid.

“Let me show you how it works, clanker.” The droid stared at the device, never realizing that’s exactly what the clone wanted. He slammed his wrist into the side of the droid’s head, knocking it loose and shutting it down. In an instant, he grabbed its blaster and turned it on the other droids. Luna used her magic to rip a blaster from the second droid’s hands and fired into the mass. The other clones charged forward and did the same as Rex. Hardlight slammed two droids’ heads together and grabbed both of their blasters. He then duel wielded them both to increase his fire power.

The droids returned fire, their aim going high in the confusion. Luna raised a shield to cover her troopers as they ran for the AT-TE. Once they were clear, Luna dropped the shield and ran to join them. The battle of Teth resumed.

Luna ducked and answered the next hail from Skywalker. “I read you, General. We’re pinned down in the courtyard!”

“Do you need help?!” Luna didn’t respond, she just started blasting. She was about to tell him to finish the mission, but the General already made up his mind.

“I’ll take that as a no, Captain. We’re on our way.”

“Wait, General, no!” The commlink bleeped, signaling an end to the transmission. No, he had a mission to complete. He was letting his emotions get the better of him again. A series of bolts forced her to duck.

Hardlight ducked down as several bolts impacted his cover. He fired back, killing the B2 responsible. He watched as a trooper was hit and fell from the top of the AT-TE, then looked up as he saw Republic fighters do a fly over of their position. Did that mean they broke through?

A squadron of Vulture Droids flying right behind them answered his question.

“Just a few more minutes!” Luna called out, using her stolen blaster to take down entire clumps of droids.

Just a few more minutes, that’s all they needed.

Cadence jumped into the gunship, the doors closing behind her. Her Ghost Company stood tall as the gunship took off. As they did, her commlink beeped. She pressed the blinking green button to allow General Kenobi’s voice through.

“Captain Cadence, I can see combat down below. Looks like Luna and Rex are holding out, but not for long. I need to find Anakin, you secure the courtyard.”

“Yes sir, we’re on it.”

“Good, my fighters will clear a landing zone for you.”

“Understood, sir. We'll rope down once clear.” Meaning she and her troopers were going to rope down from the gunships, instead of the gunships landing. It was risky for the troopers, but allowed for a more rapid deployment, which was needed.

“Very well, Captain. May the Force be With You.”

“And you, sir.” With that, the commlink cut. Cadence turned to her troopers. “You heard the General, boys, time to show these clankers what it means to be a Ghost.” Her troopers responded with a series of spooky boo’s, an action that almost made her laugh.

“Get ready.”

Hardlight ducked down once more, clutching the only working blaster he had. He aimed at a droid out in the open.

*Clink*

No, why now?! Stupid droid blaster! He needed another one. Where would he get one? The lieutenant looked up, he could see gunships approaching. This was it, they held out. Just a minute more.

His gaze turned down. He saw a B2 readying its wrist rocket. That was going to wipe them out!

Without a second thought, he made his decision. If that droid fired, everyone would be blown to bits. He lost enough brothers in that gruesome manner, he was not going to let it happen again.

“For the 501st!” He bellowed as he charged out of his cover. The trooper ran toward the Super Battle Droid and swung. He hit the wrist rocket arm, sending the rocket careening into the air. The Super grabbed him with its free arm and lifted him into the air. Two pairs of bolts ripped through his lower abdomen, and he was unceremoniously thrown to the floor.

The pain was unbearable, but worth it. It bought his brothers and sister a minute more. He struggled to look up, but the sight was one he couldn’t miss. The gunships halted above the courtyard, their turrets ripped the droids apart, giving room for the troopers inside the exit. Hardlight watched the troopers of the 212th rope down and create a circle that extended toward the AT-TE.

It was worth it, he thought as his vision darkened and the pain faded away.

Cadence covered her troopers as they roped down, blasting away droids that fired in their direction. Once she watched the last trooper drop, she jumped from the gunship, opening her wings to slow her descent. Her first instinct was to make a run for the downed AT-TE. She had to make sure her sister was alive.

The sight of a droid flying through the air gave the alicorn assurance that she was. Luna jumped up to the top of the walker, using her magic to ripe a droid in half. Cadence flinched for a moment, not used to seeing her older sister in such a fury… scratch that, she has.

“Luna!” She called out. The blue alicorn blinked, dropped the droid, and looked over to the youngest alicorn.

Her smile erased the aura of rage that floated around her. “Cadence!” The alicorn jumped down, absentmindedly crushing a B1 standing below her. She ran over to her sister and wrapped her in a back breaking hug.

“You made it!”

“I told you I would.” A small cough broke them up. Both looked over at Pops, who was standing tall despite the blaster fire around him.

“Battle now, hugs later!” Luna blinked, then gasped.

“Cadence, that woman that killed my men, she’s here for the Hutt!” Cadence’s face turned to shock. If that woman was here for the Hutt, then the situation just went from bad to the worst ever… of all time. They had to finish this fight so they could go help the General.

Luna’s commlink bleeped, on instinct, she activated it.

“Luna, Rex, this is General Skywalker.” Oh thank the Force, she hadn’t found them.

“I read you, sir.” There was a pause, allowing the alicorn to tense up.

“We’re not going to be able to help you.” Luna smiled confidently.

“Don’t worry, General. We’ll be alright.” Luna saw a random freighter fly over the battlefield. That must’ve been him.

“The Mission always comes first, sir.” Rex added over the net. The freighter disappeared into the air. There they go. Mission was almost done, now they just had to finish this battle.

Luna dropped her stolen droid blaster and grabbed a rifle from the ground. This was a quality weapon compared to the mass produced trash that regular droids carried. It was accurate over long distance and did a lot of damage to the target.

She thought about the decision that the General made. She was proud of him, using his head to make a choice rather than his heart. If he stayed to help, that Huttlet would’ve died from whatever illness he had. The Captain also thought about his padawan. No doubt she helped him think straight, Ahsoka seemed like a girl who would make her thoughts known on decisions, something that might become a headache every once in a while. But Luna was willing to deal with that if it kept General Skywalker in line.

The alicorn fired into the ever shrinking group of droids near the entrance of the monastery, the overwhelming fire from the clones were quickly diminishing their numbers. This battle was going to end, and it was, hopefully, going to be worth it.

Cadence dragged a wounded trooper behind the AT-TE. As soon as she let go of the clone, Loop went to work. She watched as the stuttering medic checked the wound, a blast to the shoulder, and immediately begin treating it.

“R-right. J-J-Just a nicked shoulder. You’ll be fine.” He said as he applied bacta to the wound. The clone groaned as the medical liquid poured through the hole in his armor and into his wound. “Yeah, yeah, take it easy.”

Cadence rolled her eyes, but still smiled. Loop was a good medic, one she could always count on.

Luna kicked a B2 to the ground, then unleashed several rounds into its weirdly positioned head, The super battle droid was torn to pieces by the point blank barrage. The alicorn then swung her rifle to knock a B1 away before blasting its comrades. Within seconds, another droid squad was killed, but it wouldn’t make up for the troopers lost today.

She turned to the body of Hardlight; the body was lying still among the pile of droid corpses. The Captain nodded solemnly in respect before charging forward and unleashing hell among her enemies.

Dek groaned as pain flared everywhere. How hard was he hit? The trooper tried to move his head, but it refused to obey him.

Great, just great. Was he crippled? He was hit in the chest, he should be dead.

Maybe he should change his name to Lucky.

A series of heavy footfalls got his attention. That didn’t sound like droids. They sounded like clones.

“Search the area, leave no clankers left!” That was the Captain! She made it! He just had to get her attention.

Luna perked up at the sound of groaning. That was a trooper in there, and he was still breathing! She signaled the troopers with her to fan out and find him. They slowly marched forward, listening for the groans of the wounded trooper.

The alicorn looked down as the groaning sounded close. There, on the ground, with a hole in the chest plate of his armor, was Dek, alive and in pain. Luna lowered herself to the ground and placed a calming hoof on his shoulder.

“Take it easy, trooper. We've got you.” She raised her head to the squad behind her. “Get me a medic, now!”

“Yes ma’am.” One of them ran back to the courtyard. Luna turned back to Dek and did her best to keep him awake.

“Hey, Dek, I think we should change your name, want to be called Lucky?” That got a small chuckle from the wounded trooper. The chuckling stopped when the medic ran in and went to work on his chest.

“W-wow, you’re lucky, vod.” Loop stated. Luna rolled her eyes, Loop’s bluntness knew no bounds. She turned back to the squad.

“Two of you stay and check for more wounded, the rest of you follow me, we must find General Kenobi.”

“No need, Captain, I’m right here.” All eyes fell on the Jedi General as he appeared around a corner, his lightsaber illuminating the entire hallway.

“Sir, all droids have been eliminated.” Luna reported.

The Jedi nodded. “Very good, let’s collect the dead and wounded, then join Anakin on Tatooine.” His expression darkened. “I just hope Dooku didn’t have other surprises for him.”

“Sir, I know General Skywalker. Nothing will stop him from getting that Huttlet home, and Commander Tano isn’t going to let anything happen to him.”

Obi-Wan smiled. “You seem to have a lot of faith in them.” He pointed out.

Luna nodded. “From what I’ve seen, sir, they’re perfect for each other.” The Jedi and alicorn walked outside into the courtyard, two troopers lifted Dek onto a stretcher and carried him to the gunships.

The Battle of Teth was over, and the mission was almost complete.

All but six are dead and wounded. Luna attacked with two companies; sure, they were under-strength, but that’s not the point. They attacked that monastery with over sixty troopers, and only six were able to escape injury and death.

The Captain slammed a hoof onto her desk, resulting in a loud bang that she was sure echoed through the barracks. All those lives wasted on a Hutt.

She sighed. But the mission was completed, the Huttlet was returned safe and sound, and the Republic now had space lanes through the Outer Rim that let them travel to Kamino without threat from Separatist fleets.

But she hated taking casualties like this, but this was a situation where they weren’t expected to survive. She supposed that was the 501st’s specialty, surviving the impossible. The alicorn sighed as she walked over to a wall near the back of her office.

The wall was made of a special material, one that she could etch into. On the wall were names of troopers she had lost under her command. It was a list that was always growing. Now she had more names to add to it. Using her magic, she took a pen and began etching names into it.

The first name she put onto the wall was: Hardlight.

Author's Note

Teth is complete, and we have now passed the Clone Wars movie!!! Hooray!!!!

Onyx, I'm so sorry for Hardlight. If you wish to submit another trooper, go right ahead. I'm always accepting new OC's. Please forgive me, I know, I'm a murderer!