[501st] - CT-1247 "Ice" -
[Private]
[Kamino]
[21 BBY]

The Separatists were always big game hunters. About half way through the war, they got quite close to the Republic's cloning facilities on Kamino. The Seppies were sent packing after their cover was blown, but came back several months later. A large fleet came to attack our space defenses, but ultimately failed. We thought the invasion was botched, until thousands of droids rose out of the oceans, seizing our lower hangars and barracks. If the 501st hadn't come back to Kamino to reinforce stationary defenses, we would surely have lost the planet, and shortly after, the war.

After the Battle of Kamino, we rejoiced. The cloning facilities had been damaged, but nothing that wouldn't be recovered. A clone trooper I'd never met, and one that I'd go on to fight alongside on Umbara, both recieved promotions for defending the younger clones' barracks. Only the Separatists would go after troopers who can't fight back. With production of clones at pace again, the Republic would go on to fight many battles. Some, under a different name.

[501st] - CT-1247 "Ice" -
[Corporal]
[Umbara]
[21 BBY]

A dead Senator. A framed ally. A beckoning Separatist. The Umbarans pieced this together real quick. They decided to break diplomatic ties with the Republic and join the Separatists, taking up arms with them. Not wanting to lose an important planet for fuel and supply lanes, the Supreme Chancellor sent an invasion force to change the Umbaran peoples' minds. When we arrived, we weren't surprised. There were always stories from troopers stationed here about how dark it was. The grey, hanging fog certainly added to it. The moment our gunships landed, and we sprinted across those gloomy open fields, we realized they'd earned the name of 'Shadow People'.

Dying for what you believe in doesn't make it right. My platoon learned that in a horrible way. Our commander, General Pong Krell, didn't care what we died for, let alone if we died. We walked for hours on end only to end up in bloodbath after bloodbath, each one involving a different way the Umbarans slaughtered our men, and what new toys they used. When we were finally allowed to make camp, we were awoken hours later to stop the nearing enemy from taking back an airbase. We were told they had stolen our armor. We were told they had our weapons. I didn't know I was shooting my own brothers. None of us did.

[212th] - CT-1471 - "Minimum"
[Sergeant]
[Ryloth]
[22 BBY]

Ryloth... Second planet in the Ryloth System. Home of the Twi'leks. The Twi'leks were rarely treated as equals to humans. At least, by the Separatists. The CIS, a name they went by frequently in the Senate, rolled out an invasion force and quickly siezed this rock. They knew our white-knight Jedi commanders would follow, and they set up forts and AA cannons, waiting. The Seppies even brought captive Twi'leks to sit with them as well, acting as meat shields. If we were gonna save their people, the least they could do was stay out of our way. As our gunships flew to a short-handed landing site, I looked at my brothers beside me and wondered why so many had to die for this stalemate of a war.

After a hard-fought struggle through the Separatist prison encampments and many of my men getting torn apart by savage beasts that were starved for us, we disabled the air defenses and allowed reinforcements to come. As for what was left of my squad, in other words, me, I was called back to the transports along with the rest of the first wave to recover and be shipped elsewhere. I never set foot on Ryloth again. I'm not complaining, but I'll never forget those looks we got from the Twi'leks. Faces full of joy, as if they were already saved. A salvation I feared we couldn't deliver.

[212th] - CT-1471 - "Minimum"
[Lieutenant]
[Kraco]
[21 BBY]

Kraco was undeniably important. Its surface wasn't much different to that of Ryloth, but with a lot less heat. However, what mattered, was under the surface. Hotbeds of raw minerals and metals. Of course, the Seppies needed this planet more than us, to manufacture droid armies, and they were dug in well. The Republic chased after them, to take all that metal for themselves, and, the Seps weren't too interested in sharing. My platoon and I were being sent to an important outpost and mining base to cripple the enemy's resistance. The men around me were ready for some fun, but I was getting a little sick of being the expendable first wave.

The success on Kraco shifted the war unbelievably. The Republic had been on the defensive, barely beating back invasion after invasion. When we had taken Kraco, everyone breathed a little easier, knowing we'd knocked down the Seperatist numbers a bit. Although we were still uncertain about the amount of droids they had standing by, we felt more confident fighting this war. I couldn't take being in the dark about the droid army's numbers. And I couldn't take knowing about ours.

[Special Operations Brigade] - CT-4014 - "Shadow"
[Captain]
[Cyrtal]
[20 BBY]

Cyrtal is a planet deep within Separatist space. It's a rather desolate area. Imagine a rock with a few dead trees, shrouded in fog. You've got one Hell of a creepy operating zone. I was sent in with two friends of mine to search for important data. We found a droid factory, and snuck in. When we opened the central computer, and examined its contents, we were horrified. The Republic's clone army stood at about two billion individual troopers, and was constantly added onto by cadets rushed out of training, and into service. The computer showed a number of droid units in service and stand-by. It exceeded our estimates beyond comprehension.

Quintillions. They had quintillions of droids. One clone trooper could make waste of many battle droids, but not this many. Even with the Jedi Order on our side, things seemed bleak. Twenty-one quintillions was too much to handle, no matter the circumstances. We rushed out of the factory, and eliminated every trace we had been there. If we had shut it down, the Seps would've known we had been there. The actual numbers never reached public ears, to keep the people sane and the troops fighting, but a lot of the high command started to sweat a little. In an odd role reversal, the Republic relied on secrecy, and wanted to keep things in the dark more than the Separatists did. One question stood. If the Separatists had so many droids waiting... Why would they wait at all?