The year is 22 BBY. Nearly two months following The Battle of Teth, the 501st are dispatched to the sand world of Tatooine; where they have lost all contact with Republic Security forces protecting a key republic senator.

6 gunships dropped from a Venator The Resolute. The Troopers of the 501st stood inside, hanging onto the suspended handles from the top of the cabin many of them breathed uneasy. One gunship took point. Inside it CT-7567, also known as Rex was checking his inventory before giving his duel DC-17 pistols a spin as he shot them into his holsters. In front of him, Ahsoka Tano and her Master; Jedi General Anakin Skywalker stood. Gazing at the group of Troopers. Some had their helmets off, most of them had the standard military haircut. Some had cut their hair to have some design, where Rex had bleached his and cut it short.

"General, incoming transmission from General Kenobi." Hawk, the pilot said from the cockpit.

"Put it through Hawk." Anakin responded. Hawk nodded and pushed a few buttons before a blue image of Jedi General Obi-Wan Kenobi erected from the floor. The picture flickered a little. Many of the Troopers; of whom were engaging in their own small talk turned and looked at the holocall.

"Anakin." Obi-wan said to his former Padawan. Anakin smirked and nodded at his old Master before letting the General do his briefing.

"Your mission is textbook." Obi-wan stated. A picture of a Tatooine city took his place in the hologram.

"This is the city of Mos Kena. About 10 clicks north of the city is a small moisture farm." Obi-wan stopped for a moment, and the hologram of the city was replaced by the moisture farm. It was a circular structure that was built in the ground, with moisture evaporators littered across the surrounding landscape.

"This moisture farm, codename Alley was the safe house of senator Leann Serana." Obi-wan said. A picture of her replaced the moisture farm. She was a petite human with long hair, obviously Caucasian she was also around 5'6".

"She was dispatched with an elite 401st unit; Phalanx Squadron., sent to protect her on this godforsaken planet. We recently lost all contact with the Alley and all attempts to communicate have only been met with static. And all negotiations with local authorities have come up...unsuccessful to say the least." Obi-wan finishes. The hologram is replaced with a live-hologram of Obi-wan again. He stands with his arms crossed. Rex stepped forward.

"We'll get your Senator back General." He said with authority. Obi-wan cocked an eyebrow, looking at his former Padawan. Anakin cleared this throat, his arms also crossed.

"Well er...what Rex said, Obi-wan. We'll get her back. Don't you worry." He said with a grin on his face, giving him a nod before Obi-wan cut the transmission. Anakin turned his head to the pilot.

"Hawk! Patch me through to all the gunships." Anakin said. Hawk nodded and clicked and flicked a few buttons on the control panel. On the rest of the gunships, Ahsoka and Anakin appeared in the middle.

"Alright men, you have your mission. We land in 10 minutes. Make sure your fuel cells are 100 percent, and let's make this a clean cut mission." Anakin said, stepping back. Rex stepped forward.

"Kix." He said. Kix stepped forward and showed up on the hologram. "When you land, I want you and Jesse's gunship to secure a 360 degree perimeter. I do not want anyone to get the drop on us. Understand?" Rex said. Kix nodded and stepped back, and then the transmission was cut. The outer blast doors opened, and the Troopers peered out. They could make out the sandy-landscape beneath them. The twin suns were slowly setting beyond the horizon, and Ahoska guessed that they had two hours before dark.

"Landing in 30 seconds Commander!" Hawk yelled from the cockpit. Rex checked his cells in his duel pistols before sliding them into their holsters. Other troopers made sure their DC-15a's and DC-15s's were secure and ready to fire if needed.

"Red light.." The co-pilot said. Everyone grabbed the handle bars that were hanging from the ceiling of the gunship, a rattle and then a loud thump followed as they landed on the sand.

"Green light!" The co-pilot said. Hawk opened the door and the Troopers rushed out. Rex and CT-5642, or Corom moved together. They saw the moisture farm and slowly moved towards it. The rest of the gunships landed, and the perimeter was secured. A sea of white, and some blue emerged and surrounded the area. Rex, Corom, and four other troopers moved down the main staircase. Slowly approaching the door they stacked up. Rex counted down with his fingers.

3...2...1..Corom punched a button and the door slid open, Rex went in first, pistols at the ready the placed look empty...a little too empty. Still, he was on his toes. Other groups emerged from the secondary entrances and others looked over the side. Rex made his way to the main residential building. The door was open, and it was dark inside. He tapped reached into his pouch and connected a helmet light to the side, tapping it the light went on and into the building.

"What the.." He could make out a figure against the wall, but the light became shallow that deep into the building. He went forward slowly, walking through the door he stepped on something and fell over with a big crash.

"Ragh!" He said, fearing that he was vulnerable. Two troopers heard the commotion and ran in.

"Captain!" One of them said, his armor; which was white, is now covered in sand.

"Agh..I'm alright.." Rex responded. He picked up the object that he tripped over. It was a helmet. He shined his light on it, the helmet had a lot more red then the regular 401st Troopers did, red covered the cheek area and streaks surrounded the visor. He made a puzzled look under his helmet, then felt something fall onto his leg. He looked down. Blood. He thought. It was red and dripped down his blue-streaked leg armor plating. He looked up and scurried away.

"What the hell!" He yelled. What he saw was something he had never seen before. A Phalanx Company Trooper, pinned against the wall. His eyes were wide open and his mouth agape, with a large gaffi stick plunged into the poor Troopers chest. Blood emerged from the wound and dripped down the stick slowly.

"Someone get Kix!"