Chapter 3: Low Intensity Conflict on Ithor
There was another crisis happening in the Clone Wars that required the help of the 41st Elite. The planet Ithor was divided over whether to stick with the Republic, or to join Dooku's Separatists, and Commander Gree and Luminara Unduli, accompanied this time by Master Yoda, were called on to resolve the matter in as peaceful a manner as possible.
Scout troopers and BARC troopers disembarked from the Republic Assault Ship they had come in, bringing only their BARC and ISP speeders, and no other vehicles. Some of them wondered why they had to be so picky about what vehicles they used, until they saw the ecosystem of Ithor, where they met Tonas, an Ithorian herdsman who lived on the surface of Ithor unlike the majority of his kind, who dwelt in herd ships.
"You know," said Bomber, "I'm not sure why we should be so careful what we shoot and what we don't shoot. I'm sure this planet can heal itself in time."
"Evidently, you don't know about the Ithorian Law of Life, Bomber," said Filler, "They do absolutely no harm to the life on their planet, except for when they need food, and then they always replace each plant twofold to make the planet's ecosystem continue to thrive. It's part of their religion, I hear."
"I like the sound of that," said Adam sarcastically, "Sure, we save lives as troopers, but why should we have to worry about the plants, of all things? That's like… saving the rocks, as far as I'm concerned."
"Shh," said Filler, "You want another lecture from the Commander and the General, Adam? The Ithorians have their own customs and culture too, you know, and we always have to respect them."
"Fine, fine," grumbled Adam quietly. "I'll keep my mouth shut again. Though I still think this is a waste of time. I would have liked to use one of our Juggernauts-"
"Shut up, Adam!" Filler hissed.
Adam sighed, but did as he was told.
Commander Gree, Luminara Unduli, and Yoda stepped forward with a protocol droid called S-3PO to talk to Tonas about the upcoming battle where the Republic and the Separatists would struggle for the planet.
"Greetings, my herdsman friend," Luminara bowed to him. "I am Jedi Master Luminara Unduli, and General of the 41st Elite Corps. And these are Grand Master Yoda, and Clone Commander Gree."
"I'm glad to meet you, sir," said Gree, "We come in peace."
"Indeed, we do," said Yoda, "My pleasure to meet you as well, it is."
Tonas greeted them in his dual-mouthed, four-throated language that non-Ithorians could not reproduce. The Jedi and the commander turned to S-3PO.
"He introduces himself as herdsman To Tonas, who was called to the surface of Ithor four Ithorian years ago by the Mother Jungle, and has never returned to his herd ship, in accordance with Ithorian custom," the droid intoned, "He welcomes you warmly to his world, and he hopes that you will treat his ecosystem with respect and reverence as his people do."
"Of course, To Tonas," said Luminara, bowing her head again.
"Always respectful to those who show respect, I am, good man Tonas," nodded Yoda.
"I do too, good sir," said Gree.
The protocol droid translated Tonas' next response. "He is glad that you are willing to help his people against the Separatists, but he has his conditions."
"Please say what they are, To Tonas," said Yoda, "and comply with them to the best of our ability, we will."
S-3PO listened to the rumbles of Tonas' voice, and told the Jedi and the clones what he was saying. "First of all, he says that he does not want any samples of his planet's vegetation or wildlife to be taken for tests by Republic scientists, for no life form should be subject to the tortures conducted in foreign laboratories."
"That sounds perfectly reasonable," said Luminara, "Though the Chancellor and the Senate sometimes like to study life from worlds besides Coruscant anyways, if only for food and medicine purposes. But I think we can convince them to make an exception this time."
"Hmm," said Yoda, "Stubborn, the Chancellor and the Senate can be. But reach an agreement, I think we can, for not all senators are greedy for their own self-benefit."
"I work directly for the Chancellor, sir," said Gree, "He's the Grand Army's commander-in-chief. I might be able to help convince him, too."
Tonas voiced his gratitude, according to S-3PO, and then continued.
"Second, he says that he and his people are strict pacifists," the droid said, "and so, they cannot join you as soldiers on the battlefield. Third, he hopes that this will be a low intensity conflict, more like a peacekeeping skirmish than all-out war, and that's why he requested before we came here that we should not use HAVw A6 Juggernauts, AT-RT's or AT-AP's on Ithor. And finally, he's still willing to help you out in this battle, so long as it does not involve Ithorians killing other things, even droids."
"Hmph!" Adam thought to himself. "Some condition. You can't kill a droid; you can only destroy it! Why can't they even do that?"
Gree and the Jedi took no notice of Adam's irritation with the situation, but his fellow troopers somehow noticed his fidgeting, and glared at him through their helmets. He was beginning to think there was no end to the rebukes of his brothers.
"We can easily agree to that," said Luminara, "The Jedi prefer peacekeeping to outright fighting, ourselves, and we already knew that Ithorians are pacifists."
"Yes, peacemakers the Jedi were intended to be, not generals," concurred Yoda, "And fight smaller, quieter battles, the 41st Elite is capable of doing."
"And don't worry, sir Tonas," said Gree like a true authority figure among his brothers, "We in the 41st don't always fight straightforward battles. We can use guerilla tactics and subterfuge, too, and if necessary, we can do as little damage to the surrounding area as possible. Your planet's ecosystem will survive this battle."
Tonas rumbled in his language again. S-3PO translated it again. "He thanks you very much, though he will be having some scouts watching over the battle from a distance to make sure that you keep your word. But he just thought of one more condition, and that is, to prove your respect to Ithor and its environment, you will replace every living thing that dies in your battle twofold, just as the Ithorians do, in accordance with the Law of Life."
The clone troops were taken aback a little by this, wondering how they were going to fulfill such a demand. But Gree, Luminara, and Yoda already had a plan in mind.
"You need not worry, good To Tonas," Luminara said sagely, "We are preparing to bring you some cloning technology from Kamino, the home world of the Grand Army's clone troopers, to work alongside your own cloning technology, and a detachment of the 41st will stay here for awhile to use that technology to help you recreate your lost flora and fauna, as well as to help keep the peace for awhile, in case the Separatists return."
Tonas thought about this for a moment, or at least seemed to, and then, he reached out and, to Luminara's slight embarrassment, he enveloped her in a bear hug. Yoda chuckled. Some of the troopers looked amused, too.
"He says he accepts our help now," said S-3PO, "and he says that his scouts will help your scouts find the quickest way to the droid army to crush it before there's a very large uprising."
"Excellent," Yoda said, "Fail you, we will not, To Tonas."
A few hours later, some Ithorian scouts were guiding the scout troopers and the BARC troopers through the lush jungles of Ithor. The troopers were not bothered by the heat and humidity, due to their armored suits and black body gloves that controlled their temperature level at a comfortable one. Yoda had once, unknown to all there, including Luminara, visited a swamp planet called Dagobah, which he would return to late in his life, so he wasn't too bothered by it, either. Luminara, though, being a Mirialan, sweated a lot in the humid heat. Like many Mirialans, she preferred cooler worlds to hot ones, especially hot, humid ones. Nonetheless, she wasn't going to let that get in her way anymore than it was getting in the way of Yoda or the troopers.
Finally, they made it to an open place where the Separatist battle droids were congregating, though not before shooting down an occasional droid scout or two. A few plants were hurt by blasts that missed, and the Ithorians did not smile when that happened, but they were going to stick to the agreement no matter what. The base was a very open space with only a few plants obstructing the fighting space, though the 41st later learned that the droids had mowed down most of the plants by their base. Luminara and Yoda gave the word, and Commander Gree gave the order to attack, reminding his men one more time to restrain themselves and not shoot recklessly or unnecessarily.
The skirmish lasted only a half hour, and all things considering, it went rather well. All the droids were destroyed, and their Gossam Separatist commander was taken prisoner. Only about twenty plants were killed, and thirty more scarred, but still alive, and no animals had died apparently. Of course, almost fifty men in the 41st died in the battle, including Filler, and Adam asked to spend some time by himself after the battle to mourn him.
Later, the Elite Corps brought out some cloning technology straight from Kamino, as they had promised, and Luminara, Yoda, and Gree made arrangements for certain hand-picked troops to stay behind to help the Ithorians regrow their dead plants and crops. Adam later volunteered to be one of those troops. Inevitably, some of the chosen clones were let down by this new duty, what with them always eager for battle. To the amazement of the Jedi, though, especially Yoda, many of the troops were surprisingly humane enough to actually help the aliens of Ithor willingly. They thought it was a privilege to work with interesting aliens who cared about life enough to adore and worship it. Gree would have volunteered for the job, too, if it weren't for his duties and responsibilities as the 41st's senior commander.
Before leaving, though, after saying their goodbyes to To Tonas, Gree and the Jedi were curious to know why Adam, of all the clone troopers in his unit, would volunteer to help the efforts of repopulating the flora of Ithor.
"Well," said Adam thoughtfully, "I think it was something that my brother Filler said to me shortly before he died from an attack by one of those clankers. He said that he loved me as a brother, and I told him the same, but then he said that if I expected to be a model trooper of the 41st, as well as a model for future generations of soldiers and peacekeepers, I have to look more at how sacred life truly is, and embrace it as something that's very badly needed for a peaceful galaxy. 'After all,' he concluded just before he passed away, 'what good is peace and order if there are so few alive to feel safe and secure within it?' I started to reconsider my bad attitude about the soft ways of the 41st Elite, and I decided to do the divine thing. If I work here with the relief efforts, perhaps I can learn something from all the life forms living here, including the Ithorians themselves."
Gree, Luminara, and Yoda's eyes widened. "I don't know what to say, Adam," said Luminara, "except that I'm impressed. More troopers are starting to see why the Elite Corps stands for life as well as death in the Grand Army!"
"Many say, without empathy, the clone troopers are," said Yoda, "Yet true with trooper Adam, this is not. Seen the light, he has at last, and in the Force, a beacon of life for more closed-minded troopers to pay attention to."
"Indeed," said Gree, smiling proudly, "I could say that Filler deserves some recognition, too, for opening Adam's eyes before his death."
"I'll make sure of that, Commander," Adam said. "At the first good opportunity, I'm going to get myself the same hairstyle as you, sir, the double stripe, to honor Filler and other dead brothers."
"Then I say that Ithor will be lucky to have men like mine defending and rebuilding it," Gree announced to his hand-picked relief workers, "but most of all, for Adam here. Good job, men!"
He saluted Adam, who returned the salute, and then all the 41st Elite men on standby saluted, too. Luminara and Yoda gave each other a small smile as To Tonas and his Ithorian cousins cheered the 41st on.
"It looks like another triumph for the Elite, Master Yoda," said Luminara, "I couldn't have asked for better troops."
"A triumph, too soon to tell, if it truly is one," said Yoda thoughtfully, "This war is still far from over. But a milestone in sentient goodwill, it certainly is, a formerly stone cold clone learning the value of sentient life. Perhaps one day, learn to do the same, the whole galaxy can, too."
"To peace," Luminara said, putting out her hand.
"To order and safety," Gree suddenly chimed in, clapping his gloved hand on top of hers.
"To life," Adam said next, putting down his own hand.
Yoda hopped on a branch of a small tree so he could reach them, and clapped his own hand down on theirs. "To hope, and the Force."