Star Wars
Opposing Forces
As the Clone Wars draw on with no end in sight the number of casualties continue to climb. Battles wage throughout the stars and clones and Jedi fall side by side. Trust and brotherhood hold the Grand Army of the Republic together, even if the battlefields are ever changing…
The New General
A Republic transport rattles as it entered the lower atmosphere of the moon of Raxus, arms closing as it touched down on the dusty surface. The earth twisted under the weight of the ship and moments later the ramp lowered to touch it as well. Light flooded the dark outpost; walls of barracks, supply creates and troopers. Two clones stood at attention; covered in a spattering of chipped black paint on filthy white armor, blasters at their sides. Foot falls could be heard coming from within the ship and shorty after the figure, wreathed in a fluorescent glow, came into view. The hands of the troopers flew to their brows.
The person made their way down the gangway and made a beeline to the pair. She was slim and somewhat short so when she bowed to her new men she was out of their line of sight. Draped in a gray hood, her face was hidden but she spoke with a soft and welcoming ton; "please; be at easy men."
"Sir yes, sir" they barked together.
Lowering his hand and relaxing his shoulders one spoke; "you are General Rena Sama?"
"I am, and your names?"
The first spoke again; "CT- 8907" He talked with a flat voice and motioned his hand to his partner; "and this is CT-7689."
"Friends call me 'Matchbox'," he said as he shake his head, "and his 'reg thumper' is Crewcut."
"Will you show the General some respect and not curse in front of her!" Crewcut snapped.
"Only one I ain't showin' respect is you" Matchbox sighed.
"Well it's nice to meet you, boys. But I'd like to speak to the captain, please."
Matchbox chuckled; "Cap' is out on recon at the moment-"
"He should be back any second" finished the obviously annoyed clone.
"In that case; I'd like to see all the facilities, please" Rena asked.
"Right away ma'am; first the mess then the barracks and finally your quarters. Match; go tell the boys to clean up."
"Yeah yeah" he mumbled as he walked towards a grouping of buildings. They were prefabricated blocks suspended on four legs with a staircase leading to a heavy door. He walked to the middle of three buildings, slamming a button to open the door. As he made his way in he removed his helm and spoke to his brothers on the inside; "new generals here, boys. And she's-" but was cut off as the door slid shut.
"Sorry about him," Crewcut apologized as they started walking to a much larger building. From the look of it it had to have been here before the Republic's occupation, maybe a farmhouse or some sort of storage, "I wouldn't worry, the rest of the 603ed are the best batch of soldiers you'll meet."
"That's all right, I have dealt with rude people before" Rena confirmed as the crossed the enclosed court yard, high walls closing around them. As they came upon the doorway she looked side to side at the tall towers at each corner of the compound, four in total. Then shot a glance at the large gate that lead to the rest of the moon and wondered when the captain would return.
"Coming, ma'am?" the clone asked, standing aside so she could enter the well lit mess hall. When she entered all eyes swiveled to meet hers, three dozen pairs of brown orbs. Some put down their utensils well others continued to eat. This annoyed Crewcut.
"Jedi on deck!" he barked and as he did the clones shot from their seats. "Better" he said under his breath. The soldiers stood at attention until she rose her hand to lower them.
"This is just some of the company ma'am," the lieutenant explained, "the others are sleeping or out on recon."
"With the captain?" she asked as they turned to leave.
"No, not all. There are two squads out at the moment. One lead by the captain; the other by lieutenant Bull."
"I was also informed this is just one company of the 603ed?" Rena questioned.
"Correct. The man force was on Raxus."
"Was?"
"Yes, did High Command not inform you?"
"No."
"It did happen quite recently, so I don't accept the news to be widely know yet," Crewcut stopped and sighed, "the rest of the 603ed was whipped out on Raxus." He spoke flatly, looking off into the stars.
The Jedi Knight froze as morning feel over her.
A whole legion? How is that even possible?!
Her lieutenant answered her unasked question; "the Seps' unmasked some new weapon. Wiped our boys out."
Rena lowered her head but continued on to the barracks; "you have my sympathies, lieutenant."
"Thank you, General" he said as he walked up the same stairs Matchbox had. As the door slide opened the both were shocked at what they saw; Matchbox and another clone throwing punches.
Smiling, Matchbox was stuck several times in the bare face before Crewcut could jump it.
"Boxer! Match! What do you think you're doing!"
"Awe haar'" March swore, lip bleeding, "good hit, Box."
"Took 'um like a chap, Matchy, like always" his opponent confirmed.
"Damn right!" a third trooper agreed.
The room erupted into laughter and the lieutenant did his best to calm them. With no avail; the Jedi walked further into the room and into view. Her man feel silent and stared. Slowly, she removed her hood to reveal her dark green skin. A mirialan, She placed her hands behind her back and stood as tall as she could. She was silent for a long moment before letting out a heavy sigh.
"As you have most likely guessed; I am your new general. My name is Rena Sama and I'm sure your captain would not be pleased to hear of this on the day of my arrival. So..." she began to walk up the room, right to Matchbox and Boxer, "I will make you a deal, that's what us Jedi are good at."
"And what would that be, ma'am?" March asked, a hit of a laugh in his voice.
"I will not tell the captain of this if it does not happen again. I do understand you may have been 'playing' but there is a time and place to train and this is not it."
"Well said, ma'am" Crewcut added.
She turned sharply on him with a spin of her heels; "that goes for you as well, lieutenant. With the captain gone you and the other officers are in control and letting your men act this way is unacceptable."
"Well said" Boxer snorted.
"Y-yes well yo-" Crewcut stumbled but was cut short as the hum of speeders raced into the courtyard outside.
"That would be the cap'um" March said loudly, whipping the blood fully from his face.
"We will finish this later" Rena promised, eyeing the three clones. She turned to face the door and started to it then made her way outside. Five speeder bikes had been parked on the far side of the base and their drivers followed what Rena presumed to be the captain. He talked to a trooper to his left; "make sure you fill out the report in the morning, for now go get some chow and hit the rack."
Then he turned to his left and place a hand on a limping trooper; "and make sure you go see Patches."
"Yes, sir" they all said at once.
With a nod of his head he continued to the three metal structures. He was hard to see in the dimly lit night; most of his phase II armor was painted black. His helm was the same color but around the mouth and up the side it bore large, white teeth. On his helmet stood a fold down range finger, also he had a single DC-17 pistol on his hip and slung over his shoulder he held a DC-15 rifle. Finally, a bandoleer stretched across his chest to a pauldron his left shoulder.
Noting the new face at his base he quickly walked over; he saw Boxer and March standing in the doorway and Crew halfway down the stairs. In front of them stood a woman dressed in a long gray robe, hood removed. He noticed she wore what looked like leather bracers, shin guards and a tight black body suit. By the robes alone he could tell she was a Jedi, he'd seen them before. So when he saw the slim metal hilt hanging from her belt his guess was confirmed. She was a slender mirialan from what he could see.
As the distance closed she squared her shoulders and lowered her head, "I am Rena Sama, your new general. Lieutenant Crewcut was kind enough to show me around well you were away, I presume you are the captain?"
He eyed her for a moment, she was awfully young to be a Jedi.
"You are correct, I am Captain Grimm," he rose his hand to his helm, "on behalf of 'Nexu' Company and the 603ed; I welcome you to Outpost Gulf."
"It is a lovely outpost," she said with a smile, "now please; at ease."
He lowered his hand shot a quick glare to his men under his visor and looked back to the Jedi: "have you been shown your quarters?"
"Not yet."
"If you'd follow me then, General." He turned and lead her to a small shack on the edge of the compound.
"I know it's small and old but it has more privacy then one of the prefabs."
"I appreciate the thought, Captain. Would you see me in?"
"If you'd like."
Rena pressed the button to open the door and walked into the dark room. The lights suddenly turned on as Grimm reached his arm out and flipped their switch. The room itself was clean but dust particles still flew about. There was a small bed in the corner and a desk on the other wall. A square table sat in the middle of the room along with two chairs. Finally, a locker rested against the wall, door locked shut.
"Would you sit, Captain? I know it's late but we have much to go over."
"Yes ma'am" Grimm took a set at the table, leaving his rifle by the door.
She walked over to the bed, removing her robe. She folded it quickly and place it on the mattress. Also, under her cloak she had hidden a small leather bag which she put down on the floor. With her robes gone the captain got a better look at his new Jedi; he was surprised how thin she was, but he could tell there was much strength he had yet to see. From the look of it, Grimm guessed the body suit she wore was made of a material that would hide her heat signature. Save the gauntlets and leg guards she didn't seem to wear any sort of armor, which annoyed the captain. He figured there was some reason, the Jedi always had some reason for what that did. Around her waist sat a belt with many hard leather pouches and bags, she also removed this. Gingerly resting it on the bed.
Finally, she turned to face him; her skin was a light green with splattering of dark spots under her eyes and over the bridge of her noise. Like most mirialan she had facial tattoos, her's ran from under the high collar of her shirt to her bottom lip. They were an assortment of diamonds and triangles. Some of the boys had gotten tats but Grimm new that a mirialan's tattoo were almost holy markings so he quickly shifted his view to her eyes. Two, bright green orbs stared back; "you know Captain; you're welcome to take off your helmet."
"Oh yes, sorry General" he removed his helm and placed it on his lap. Rena swiftly studied his face before reaching back into her bag for a small box of tea. He looked like every other clone she had seen of course, but he had his unique features. The first thing she noticed was that his hair was red, from dying she didn't know, but was shaved down to the skin. Next, was something at forced a gasp from her; his right upper lip was thoroughly scared. A chunk of flesh was missing, revealing a glimpse of a tooth, and two lines ran up to his cheek.
He had noticed her staring, but didn't say a word.
"Sorry, Captain. I didn't mean to stare" she apologized.
"It's okay, ma'am. I find myself doing the same thing."
"May I ask how it happened?" Rena asked as she filled a a tea kettle with water.
"Sep' sniper. Match is the only reason I still have my head, pushed me out of the bulk of the hit."
"You seem to command an excellent group of men."
"Thank you, General. The boys and I have been thought a lot and from what just happened…" he sucked in a breath and closed his eyes, "we've been though a lot" he restated.
"I was told what happened. I new Master Kaloto, he was a good man, a wonderful teacher too."
"He was a great man. Always looked out for his troopers, never left his men behind."
It took her a moment to reply; "I hope I can fill his shoes."
"I wouldn't worry about that, General. You have nothing to prove to anyone, just do what you think is best."
"I appreciate the trust-"
"Don't misunderstand me, General" he cut in, "we have faith in you, as a Jedi. But you have to earn our trust. I mean no disrespect, General."
Rena found herself stunned.
Had her captain just insulted her? With a straight face? She'd never heard of this happening to any of the other Jedi, why was Grimm any different?
She sighed, the Jedi knew her captain was right. The clones had been fighting this war long before her so she understood why they'd need time to adjust to a new member of their company. Especially to a new general.
"Very well, Captain. Then I hope you are willing to bear with me" she said with a smile.
"That is my job, Ma'am."
Rena chuckled to herself as she stood, the pot of water she'd put on was beginning to bubble. Without asking she removed two cups from a shelf and filled them both with the steeping liquid, then placed one in front of the captain. A confused look crossed his face but he gently took the mug and blew away the steam; shutting his eyes as he drank the hot beverage. He noticed how the tea was the perfect temperature. Not too cold yet hot enough to warm him.
Is this some sort of Jedi thing, or is she just really good at making tea? Grimm wondered to himself as he finished it off.
"Thank you, General. That was... refreshing."
"Oh it's nothing, just trying to be a nice host."
"Never-the-less; thank you."
"Well then you're welcome" she sat opposite of him and rose the tea to her dark lips and inhaled their scent.
"So, General, how goes the war?" the captain asked abruptly, "being so fair in the Outer Rim we don't get much news."
"Well the Grand Master's defense on Kashyyyk isn't going the best but Master Kenobi was able to track down General Grievous."
"That's good to hear" Grimm said with a shake of his head and scratch of his chin.
"What about here?"
Grimm sighed; "I'm sure you've heard what happened to the rest of the 603ed?"
"Yes, you have my apologies."
"Thank you, General, but this is war.
She nodded, reluctantly.
The captain started again; "the rest of the 603ed was on Ruxas trying to take the main city and the Seps' used some kind of weapon and wiped the out. We were here to look for a secret base that was relaying coms back to clacker HQ. So that's what we've been doing, but now we're looking for any info on the weapon."
"Well, I was given no explicit orders so we'll continue to do what you've been doing, Captain."
"It will be a lot easier to find anything with a Jedi-" Grimm started to agree but was cut off by him hum of his comlick.
"Captain. Crewcut here."
"Report, lieutenant."
"Lieutenant Bull has yet to return from his run and when I tired to com him there was no response."
"Ever think he's just ignoring you?"
"That's what I thought at first but I had Frosty com him to, he got the same effect."
"Bull's never late, "Grimm explained to his confused Jedi, "all right; go to the com room and try to boost your signal. He may have gotten lost. If you hear nothing in the next ten minutes, gather: Angel, Lefty and Runner and meet me by the speeders."
"Yes, sir. Crewcut out."
"Well, General. Ready for your first midnight hick though a battle zone?"
Rena swallow hard and nodded.
A/N: So I've been really in to Star Wars lately ( I wounder why) so I thought I'd write about my favorite part; the clones.
Just FYI: 'Nexu" Company (around 100 troopers) is part of the 603ed Legion (around 9,000 men) so you may be asking how so many could have been killed, well will see, won't we?
Also, Grimm is their captain with Crewcut, Bull and Frosty as his lieutenants.