Warning!: This Fanfic has a great amount of spoilers for the Umbara sub-series in the clone wars. Follows very closely to the actual storyline. If you have not seen the Umbara episodes, do not read this fic. Enjoy!

Part 1:

"Masters Krell and Tiin will be supporting my troops in the south." General Kenobi explained. "While Anakin's battalion comes in from the north and takes out enemy reinforcements. It is imperative that we conquer the capital city as quickly as possible, and hold it."

"Our biggest problem is going to be the local militia." General Skywalker said, stepping in. "The Umbarans have aligned themselves with the separatists, and are heavily armed."

Fives had folded his arms as he looked over the holomap, absorbing every bit of information that the Jedi gave them. After being an ARC trooper for months now, he knew that every bit of intelligence could be turning the tide of battle. Therefore, remembering it would come in handy when the group was caught in a tight spot. He let his arms fall to his sides and thought.

Hearing that the Umbarans had joined the separatists was not surprising in the least. More and more planets were falling away from the Republic. Fives had heard rumors about the Umbarans. They, like the Geonosians, were experts in manufacturing technology. The only difference between the Geonosians and the Umbarans were that the Umbarans were one step ahead in terms of technology. If Fives guessed correctly, this would be a tough fight.

Anakin then turned to face him. "ARC trooper Fives will be assisting my unit on special assignment."

Fives straightened up a bit as he held his DC-15 tightly. "Ready to do my part, General Skywalker."

"Nice to have you on board." Captain Rex, currently Fives' oldest acquaintance and best friend, said to the side of him.

"Just like old times, Rex." Fives replied, smiling underneath his helmet.

"Remember Anakin." General Kenobi resumed, regaining the groups attention. "Cody and I will be twelve clicks to your south. We're counting on you to take out those local fighters, or I'm afraid the capital will never surrender."

Anakin sighed in annoyance. "Does my battalion have to do everything?"

"You seem to always volunteer." Obi-wan said, giving Anakin a smug look as he, Cody and the trooper Fives believed that was called Waxer turned and left towards their own gunship. Anakin looked at his own troops and nodded, moving to step inside the gunship. Artoo shut the holomap off and rolled away while Rex turned to the troopers.

"Alright, let's go!" He said. Rex then turned to step inside the gunship, Fives following him. The rest of the troopers scrambled in after the three, the large doors to the transport closing behind them. Fives grabbed onto one of the support handles hanging above them, feeling the ship lifting off of the acclamator's hangar deck underneath his boots.

The gunship gained speed, indicating that they were now free of the large troop transport. Fives heard the sound of their Z-85 starfighter escort rush ahead of them. The familiar sound of flak exploding around them in the air was heard. Before long, the gunship's doors opened back up, allowing them to see outside. General Skywalker looked out below to another gunship with a frown as explosions detonated around them. Fives noticed that the flak emitted a green flash before turning to normal explosion colors. Fives guessed that they were facing Umbaran technology already. General Skywalker must have been right. The Umbarans weren't using separatist weaponry against them; the Umbarans were using inventions of their own.

"There's a lot of surface fire." Rex reported.

"They ain't got nothing we can't handle sir." A trooper, with a name which Fives couldn't remember, replied.

The attention of everyone in the ship was caught by the gunship to their port, which exploded. Everyone watched, feeling pity for the gunship's occupants as the doomed transport fell to the ground in flames.

Rex turned to one of the younger troopers, who was holding onto the support handle above him with both hands.

"You hanging in there Tup?" He asked.

Tup turned and answered with an optimistic. "So far, so good, Captain."

A beep sounded, and the pilot's voice came onto Anakin's wrist comlink.

"General Skywalker." The pilot, named Hawk addressed. "I'm turning the lights out. Our night vision sensors are having a tough time in this chop. I hope we don't overshoot the landing site."

"Just get us as close as you can." General Skywalker answered back.

The gunships flew closer to the ground. The tough-guy trooper lifted up a Z-6 rotary cannon.

"Time to lock and load!" he crowed.

In the rear of the transport, the AT-RT pilot mounted his walker, getting a good grip on the handles. The gunships finally managed to get out of range of the Umbaran artillery. Fives caught sight of the ground through the mist that covered it. The familiar hiss of a door opening up was heard, indicating that the back of the gunship had opened up. Fives caught sight of their AT-RT hitchhiker jump out of the back, and land on the ground. The walker was left behind as the gunship continued on. But the AT-RTs, each of them deployed from the back of a gunship, quickly outran them to engage the Umbaran infantry that waited ahead of them.

Fives heard the all too familiar sound of blaster fire quickly start up. He also heard the AT-RT pilots shouting in excitement as they rushed to return fire at the Umbarans. Soon it would be him and the rest of the group that would engage the Umbarans head on. The battle of Umbara had begun.

Explosions sounded throughout the battlefield as some of the scout walkers were hit by enemy fire. Several Umbaran tanks had hovered forward, shooting large balls of energy at the swift-footed machines. The large, slow tanks were fortunately no match for the AT-RT squadrons, and were quickly overcome. The Umbaran vehicles went up in flames as the walkers fired upon them.

Fives felt the ship rock underneath him as it leveled out with the ground. Soon enough, the gunship was close enough to hop out. The troopers around him jumped out on both sides. Fives heard General Skywalker's lightsaber activate behind him and deflect a few of the Umbaran's blaster fire. The sounds of battle rang out all around him. The projectiles flying around him, the screams of infantry on both sides, and the deafening explosions. Fives raised his DC-15 and took a few potshots towards the enemy line. But returning fire at the enemy was no simple task. It was extremely dark and foggy, making visibility terrible. Fives decided that it wasn't worth wasting shots from his DC-15. To conserve ammo, he traded out the blaster for his twin DC-17 pistols. The small weapons were rather useful and compact, making them favorites among higher ranking clones, such as himself. He saw the familiar blue glow of Anakin's lightsaber swinging back and forth. Rex, the loyal and trustworthy captain as usual, followed beside his general. Fives jogged his way along behind them. They stopped at the top of the hill and began a conversation. Rex reported something to Anakin as he fired away with his favorite pistols. Fives managed to come within earshot to catch a bit of their chat.

"-use it as a staging area." General Skywalker said as he brought his lightsaber up to block another shot. They began forward again, but at a slower pace. They formed a small train, with Anakin at the front booking shots coming their way, with Fives shooting beside him. Rex stayed behind them to urge the men forward.

"Keep moving! We gotta claim that ridge!" He told them before turning towards the enemy lines once again. "The other battalions are counting on us!"

More Umbaran tanks had arrived, taking positions on top of the ridge, while Umbaran militia troops were strewn around the slope. The clones were slowly pushing them back, but the Umbarans were trying to hold their ground.

"Don't stray too far!" Anakin told them. "The enemy could have the whole place rigged with traps."

Tup was ahead of Fives, seeming rather annoyed.

"I can't even see the enemy!" He shouted out in frustration as he ran, blinding shooting into the foggy landscape.

"That's why they're called the shadow people, Tup." Jesse replied with an edge in his voice as he fought.

Fives saw something come through the haze. An odd shaped fighter flew overhead of the clone squadrons ahead of them, bombarding them with green ordinance. The troopers cried out in pain as the flames scorched them, flinging them away from the center of the blast.

"Everybody, take cover!" Rex shouted out.

The trooper with the Z-6 rotary cannon stumbled. Tup was beside him, helping him regain his balance

"It's just a vine, keep moving Hardcase." He urged.

"Yeah, I got it all under control." The trooper, which Fives now knew as Hardcase, brushed off the comment. Fives suddenly took a moment when he heard a low groaning noise. The next noise he heard was Hardcase shouting out in surprise. Five turned to see a vine-like tentacle flinging the trooper around, causing him to shoot uncontrollably. The creature who owned the tentacles scooped up another trooper, causing him to cry out as well. The clones around them began blasting the beast, but to no avail. The creature dropped Hardcase while a strange tongue came from the creature's fanged mouth. Then, without warning, the creature grabbed Fives, lifting him up in the air. Fives looked in time to see the creature drop the other unfortunate trooper into its maw, shutting out his cries as it closed its mouth and swallowed him whole.

"That's not right!" He heard Hardcase shout in disgust as he began blasting away at the creature with his Z-6 cannon. Fives was still in the monster's grip, swung around as if he were a simple toy. Thinking quickly, Fives grabbed a thermal detonator from his belt and primed it. He patiently timed his throw and lobbed it at the creature's tongue. The tongue grabbed it and quickly retreated; swallowing it whole just like it swallowed the trooper. A few seconds later, the grenade exploded, causing smoke and small bits of debris flew out of the creature's mouth. The now dead creature dropped fives to the ground. It wasn't long before someone helped him to his feet. Fives looked at the thing which had nearly taken his life. But it, like many other things, had failed to kill him.

Hardcase groaned, bumping Fives's chest plate. "Nice work Fives."

Fives turned to him. "Hardcase, right?" He asked, seeing if he had heard the trooper's name right.

"Yeah." Hardcase confirmed as they began walking again. "That's what they call me."

_ Please review. I like my stories to be the best I can make them. If you find anything out of order such as spelling or grammar, please inform me. Also, if anything in my story is inaccurate canon-wise, please inform me. In my opinion, a fanfic that is accurate (if it is not an alternate universe fic) is a good one.