Once we landed the Acclamator on the planet, the ramp lowered and released a few AT-TE walkers, and numerous squads of troops to assist in the hunt for General Grievous. I walked next to Master Kenobi, with Commander Cody on his left while Captain Rex was on my right, discussing the plan.

"Instead of scattering our troops looking for all the escape pods, we shall head towards the wreckage of the landing transport first." Master Kenobi says.

"Wouldn't Grievous think to leave it, knowing that we would search there if he was on board? Master?" I ask in slight confusion.

Master Kenobi nods in understanding. "I wouldn't be surprised if he wasn't there when we arrived. However, any wrecked droids or computer terminals could give us insight on his location better than a manual search of all of the escape pods," he answers.

I nod, understanding what he was saying. "That makes perfect sense."

The sun starts to set as we head in the direction of the crashed ship. I have to wonder how this search for Grievous will go.


Later in the day, a little less than an hour into the search, Master Kenobi and I were standing on one of the tanks that continued to walk forward. Master Kenobi was searching the forest ahead with a pair of binoculars when Captain Rex pulled up beside the tank to look up at us.

"General Kenobi, Commander Shan. Sir, the cruisers have just returned to orbit. Any sign of Grievous?" he asks us.

I look at Obi-Wan. "Master?" I ask.

He studies whatever he is looking at before turning to face us. "I believe we may have found Grievous' ship."

"Well that's good news. Hopefully there may be something that could have something for me to slice into," I say. (slice is the Star Wars term for hacking). Master Kenobi nods. "Indeed. Tell the troops to head directly due East." Master Kenobi tells Rex.

"Yes sir."


Once we arrive at the crashed sight, the clones all spread out to search for signs of droids or any evidence to Grievous' location, lifting up various bits of degree. I go along with them as well to see if there are any salvageable droids that I could slice into. So far they were all pieces of scrap.

"Most of these droids are pretty much trash Master." I say, kicking one that immediately falls to multiple pieces afterwards. Master Kenobi raises his hand to his chin, something that I notice he does a lot. "Best to keep looking until we know for sure," he says. Cody looks up from where he's kneeling by the ships engines.

"Normalizing intakes are still warm. This couldn't have happened too long ago."

Rex then comes back from his search of the ships interior. "The crew compartment's almost entirely destroyed as well sir."

"We'll split up into teams then." Master Kenobi decides. "Jarik, take Rex, Jesse, Hardcase and Kix to search the wetlands. Grievous couldn't have gotten far. Cody and I will pick it up from here."

I nod in understanding. "Yes Master."

I then head over with Rex to the group I would be going with, where a few speeders were set up for us to use. I got on mine and familiarized myself with it for a second, having never used a speeder before. We then set off towards the wetlands, passing through rolling farm hills.


Unfortunately for me, the sun was directly ahead of us, and I didn't have a helmet, so I couldn't block out the glare. To make matters worse dust would occasionally get sent into my face. I grumbled in annoyance.

"Remind me to bring a pair of goggles the next time I'm on a speeder," I tell Captain Rex, who nods with a bit of amusement. "Of course sir," he replies. Due to the sun partially obscuring my vision, I never noticed the Commando droids that were lining up a shot. The moment they fired however was when I sensed it coming straight for us.

"Incoming!" I exclaim, moving out of the way of the shot that was originally aimed for me. I managed to miss it, however Captain Rex couldn't react fast enough, and he was hit out of the speeder, the bolt hitting his chest. I manage to not cry out in surprise, sesning that he was still alive. However an incredible amount of guilt sprung up in me, because the shot was aimed at me, but hit Rex instead because I moved out of the way.

Getting a grip on my feelings, I call out to the team medic. "Kix! Cover Rex!" I shout over the sound of the speeder bikes. Kix nods and turns around without a word, immediately heading back to Rex's position while the rest of us sped towards the droids. They tried to make a run for it, but we shot them down quickly using our blaster cannons, stopping by their mangled frames.

"Commando droids!" Hardcase exclaims angrily.

"Commander, you better get back here!"Kix calls me on my comlink. "Alright Kix, we'll be back in a moment.

We speed over to their position and quickly get off the bikes.

"How bad is it?" Hardcase asks.

"Pretty bad." Kix says gravely. "I need to remove his armor in order to see the full extent of the damage."

Jesse looks around. "Those snipers might've called for backup. Unless we want to get picked off one by one, we should find better cover first."

I look up and notice the animals approaching us. From the way their acting, and how they feel through the force, I believe them to be domesticated. "How about a farm?" I offer, gesturing to the animals. "These guys are domesticated."

Hardcase nods, understanding my line of thought. "And where there's a farm, there's usually a farmer," he says knowingly.

"Then lets crash at his place and hope we aren't chased out with an angry pitchfork." I tell the men. They nod. "Yes sir. I'm not willing to be skewered by droids or a pitchfork." Hardcase says. I shake my head in amusement. Jesse then heads over to his speeder to pull out the stretcher while Kix and Hardcase gently lifted Rex off the ground. I help Jesse open up the stretcher to carry Rex, and soon enough we're off.

Eventually we come across a few fields and a farmer's settlement in the distance. The house is relatively simple in nature, if maybe a little run down, while the barn is large and circular.

We pull up in front of the house, and are just about to get off the bikes and knock on the door when it opens, and a pink colored Twi'lek woman immediately aims a rifle at Jesse. He raises his hands placatingly and I do so as well, a little cautious yet amused by the situation.

"We want no trouble here," she says, keeping a good grip on her rifle.

Hardcase rolls up behind Jesse. "Easy with that weapon Ma'am," he says, pulling off his helmet. "We're here as friends."

"State you business," she demands.

"Our captain's been hurt and we're looking for a place to help tend to him." I tell the woman, lowering my hands a little. Her eyes widen in surprise when she sees me, recognition showing in them, although she doesn't lower her weapon, although she does seem to consider.

"I'm no doctor, so just-" she tries to say when I get her attention again. "Kix here is a medic, we just need a place to help him overnight." Upon being mentioned, Kix raises an arm and gives a small wave.

Suddenly a quick patter of feet gets our attention as two Twi'lek children appear at the door. I raise my eyebrows and grin a little, lowing my hands as they gaze at us in obvious innocent fascination. "Mommy, whose-!" The girl starts to say.

"Get back inside both of you," the mother tells them, lowering her rifle. They groan in displeasure before the boy notices me. He gasps with a delighted smile on his face. "But mommy! That's a Jedi!" he says in excitement, the two of them jumping up and down.

"I know, but stay inside for now. You can meet them later," she tells her children. Reluctantly, they head inside, but not without staring at me for as long as possible.

"There are some benches in the barn. It's the best I can do," she tells us once the kids leave.

"That'll be fine ma'am. Thank you." Hardcase tells her with a smile. She lowers her weapon, seeing us as not being a threat, although she eyes us suspiciously.


Later in the evening, when it was starting to get dark out, we had set Captain Rex up on one of the empty tables inside of the barn. Kix went about carefully removing his armor to get a look at the wound, while the rest of us watched, having no medical knowledge. While I knew that Rex or the Clones wouldn't blame me for the accident I still felt guilty due to the fact that the shot was originally meant for me, and Rex happened to be behind me at the wrong time.

Kix applied a bacta patch when Rex started to wake up. "What.. what happened?" he asks drowsily.

"Commando droids took a pot shot at you, that would've gone straight through your heart had it been two inches to the left." Kix informs him.

"I, can't move my arm." Rex asks worriedly, trying to sit up.

"You have some nerve damage." Kix tells him.

"Will it heal Kix?" I ask him.

"With enough time and bacta administered to his injury, he should make a full reecovery sir." Kix says. I sigh in relief while Rex rolls over. "Understood. Patch me up and let's get on with it." Rex says stubbornly, reminding me of Ahsoka. Hmm, I wonder why.

"Sir you're in no condition. It will heal but it'll take time," Kix warns him. Rex turns around to glare at him. "We have to get underway Kix. That's an order."

Kix disagrees and eyes him. "Sir, as team medic, when it comes to the health of the men including you and Commander Shan, I outrank everyone."

I send Rex a small grin. "He's right. Ahsoka told me all about your "experience outranks everything" rule, and Kix has the most experience medically. I think he wins." I tell him. Kix beams and quickly nods to Rex, who sighs in reluctance. The sound of coughing gets our attention.

"Excuse me," she says, holding a tray of food. "If there's not enough.."

Jesse heads over, accepting the tray. "Uh, that's plenty. Thank you.." he starts to say, realizing he doesn't know her name.

"Suu," she tells him. Suddenly a toy ball comes floating past them and heads underneath the table. Oh boy, the kids have arrived.

"I told you to stay in the house." Suu tells her kids. The girl crawls underneath the table to retrieve her ball.

"I couldn't help it mom. It got away," the girl says innocently. She looks at Rex in wonder before giggling a little. "You look like my daddy," she says.

The young boy then enters the room and gasps at he sight of me. "Wow! Can I see your laser sword?" I shrug a little. "I could, but it's pretty lethal." I tell him.

"I always thought of Jedi being old people who sit on cushions!" the girl says, giggling. I roll my eyes a little while Hardcase starts to snicker at the thought. Even Rex lets off a small smile.

"Don't bother the Jedi and soldiers kids." Suu tells her children. "Now head back inside."

"Yes mom," they tell her, giggling to each other. I can't help but smile at the sight. If Ahsoka were here she would start squealing over how cute and adorable they are.

"My husband is away delivering the harvest. Do you need anything else?" Suu asks us. I shake my head. "We're fine here ma'am. Thank you." I say gratefully. She nods and heads back into the main house.

"Resume the search without me Commander. I'll be fine," Rex tells me, laying back. I nod my head. "Alright Rex. Hope you get better soon."

With the words being said, me and the other three departed from the barn and got onto our speeders. We set off in the direction we were originally heading towards. Soon enough however, I got a message from Master Kenobi over my comlink.

"Jarik, come in please," he says. I click the button on my wrist com and reply. "Yes Master?"

"We may have discovered General Grievous' location. Bring Captain Rex and his men over to our location." Master Kenobi tells me.

"Yeah, about that, Rex was injured." I tell him.

"What's his condition?" Master Kenobi asks me.

"He'll be fine, but we had to find him a place to stay while he heals." I say.

"Very well. We're headed to the west. Swing around and we can meet up at the final escape pod. We're going to need all the firepower we can muster." Master Kenobi says. I nod my head. "Yes Master." I close the channel and then turn to the other three troopers.

"Master Kenobi believes that Grievous is in the west direction so let's get over there as fast as we can!" I tell them.

"Yes sir!" Jesse replies. We all turn our speeders around and head in the direction of the coordinates Master Kenobi sent me.


Once we got closer to the coordinates, we started to here the sounds of battle. Looks like they started without us. Soon enough we were in range to start firing our speeder's guns at a few droids that were nearby. A Separatist shuttle flew overhead, no doubt attempting to pick up General Grievous.

"How are you doing Jarik?" Master Kenobi asks me.

"We're pretty close. That shuttle overhead is no doubt attempting to rescue big bad and ugly right?" I ask.

"It most certainly will try." Master Kenobi tells me.

When we reach the main battlefield, I jump off my speeder, letting it slow down next to one of the tanks and pull out my lightsaber, blocking shots that were heading my direction.

The AT-TE moved forward as the clones fired upon the droids. I ran forward with a small group of clones, who were firing upon any nearby droids. I saw Master Kenobi up ahead and ran in his direction. I sliced through a droid that was nearby and eventually stood next to Master Kenobi.

"Sir, that ship's coming around for another landing attempt." Jesse says through the comlink.

"Keep firing. Don't let that ship land." Master Kenobi replies. Unfortunately the tank guns choose that moment to stop working, and a thick cloud of black smoke rose from it.

"The guns are overheated!" The gunner says.

"Always something." Master Kenobi says in annoyance.

"So what's the plan now Master? We can't keep shooting at that ship forever." I tell him.

"It's time to pay the good General a visit," he replies. I nod in understanding and we rush forward to where Grievous is standing, still waiting for his shuttle. I slice through one droid guarding him, and Master Kenobi dashes through another before leaping at Grievous' unprotected back.

"General, behind you!" One if the droids tells out. I immediately force pull the droid towards me and slice it in half.

Hearing his droid's warning however, Grievous turned around quickly and got out a green lightsaber, just barely blocking the attack. He crossed blades with Master Kenobi a couple of times before throwing his cape at him, confusing him for a second. He then appeared on his side, spinning two blades when I blocked a strike meant to slash Master Kenobi. The two of us quickly attack Grievous with a flurry of strikes when he manages to knock me back with a powerful strike. Master Kenobi manages to shove Grievous against the pod and prepares to leap at him with his signature move when Grievous kicks him back full in the chest.

Grievous then started to climb the pod, deactivating his lightsabers. "Forget trying to land!" he yells to the shuttle. I jump up with my lightsaber and manage to damage one of his legs. He roars in rage and swings a fist at me, knocking me off back onto the ground. Grievous then fired a grappling hook at the shuttle, which then begins to take off. Master Kenobi tries to climb after him but it was too late.

"Jedi scum." Grievous laughs at us as the shuttle flies away. The clones try to fire at him but Grievous swings his saber around, deflecting a few shots.

"Are you all right, sir?" Cody asks us as he approaches.

"No!" Master Kenobi exclaims in frustration. "We're right back where we started. Call the cruisers. See if they can stop that ship."

"Right away, sir." Cody responds.

"And tell them to send someone to pick us up." Master Kenobi adds, sounding defeated and irritated. Considering the history he has with the General I can't say I blame him. Both times he escaped with practically out of sheer luck, or he caught us by surprise.

"Well, there's always next time right Master?" I ask. He nods. "There certainly is Jarik. I just wish we didn't have to need a next time." Master Kenobi says. I shrug, not knowing what else to say.


When the sun started to rise, I told Master Kenobi that I was going to take a speeder to pick up Captain Rex from the farm. He agreed, telling me to be careful before I set off. I also commed Rex to let him know I was on the way. By the time I reached the farm the sun was above the horizon and beginning to beat down heavily.

"You're still a deserter Cut, but you're certainly not a coward." I hear Rex say. I pull up in front of the house where Rex stands waiting with his armor and helmet, as well as Suu's family. I also notice the farmer himself is a clone. Interesting, but if he wants this life then there's no reason to stop him.

"Hey Rexter. Did you sleep well?" I ask with a smirk. He nods, though I can see his mouth slightly upturned, indicating a smile.

"Yes sir, although we did have a small overnight issue." Rex informs me. I look around the house, my eyes passing over the family in a quick glance. I notice that Suu and her husband tense up a little bit, but don't comment.

"Yeah, I can see that." I say with a smirk, getting off and walking up to the side of the wall. I nudge a dead commando droid before suddenly pulling out my lightsaber, and stabbing something behind me.

A sparking, beat up commando droid suddenly groans and falls to the ground, a sizzling hole in its chest. Everyone jumps in surprise as I deactivate my lightsaber.

"Missed one." I tell him with a shrug. Rex rolls his eyes in exasperation.

"Awesome!" the kids exclaim, their faces lit up in awe. I give the kids a small wave before looking to Rex. "So, ready to head back?"

"Yes sir, looking forward to meeting up with the rest of the men." Rex says. I nod before looking towards the family. "Well, good luck to you guys our here on your farm," I say with a wink, getting on the speeder. Rex walks over to the speeder as well.

"You're.. not going to turn me in?" Cut asks, sounding worried and confused. I shrug. "What would be the point? It would separate you from your family, you'd all be miserable, and I would feel guilty. I see no need to force someone to change their life. It certainly isn't my life thats for sure." I tell him with a grin. He nods in relief. "Thank you.. Commander," he says, sending a small smile to me in return as Rex climbs onto the speeder as well.

"You're welcome to stay Rex," Cut offers. Rex looks at him. "This is your home Cut. Mine, is elsewhere." Rex tells him with a smile.

"Well that's good to hear. I'd hate to explain to Master Skywalker and Ahsoka that they can't trust the greatest soldier they have," I tell Rex with a smirk. He rolls his eyes. "That would be quite the sight sir," he agrees.

"Goodbye!" The kids start tp say, waving at us. Rex waves back as I start the speeder, taking off back for the rest of the team into the sunrise.