AN: So I'm very sorry for the delay. I wrote a lot of this chapter and then had a writer's block along with some real life distractions. Here is chapter 10 and hopefully I can get the next one up much sooner this time. Enjoy!
"Shut up Bac!" Cipher yelled as he shoved his clone brother forcing him to take a couple of steps back. Bac threw his gun to the ground and motioned for Cipher to come at him. Cipher happily obliged determined to defend Arima by knocking some sense into the pessimistic member of their group.
"Commander on deck!" Scav yelled out in an attempt to stop his brothers from pummeling each other. Both men stopped their attacks short and came to attention.
Commander Thod looked up from where he was sitting and let out a small laugh. "Very well done Scav…though I'm not sure this pile of rocks counts much for a deck and technically I've been here the whole time."
Scav gave his commander a nod, "Just working with what I got sir." Thod let out a chuckle again and walked over to Cipher and Bac. Both men had relaxed their upright posture and glared at Scav for stopping their fight. Thod placed a hand on a shoulder of each man and led them a little bit away from where Scav was happily cleaning his sniper rifle.
"Listen, both of you, we have enough fighting to do so no fighting each other. Now this ends here."
"But sir the jedi was useless. I didn't mean it to get under Cipher's skin, but it's the truth sir."
Cipher started to protest but Thod held up a hand to silence his trooper. He started to lead both men back.
"She is inexperienced, but she protected Scav while he took out the sniper droid, she did lead the clones that saved our sorry butts, and last of all……she is still a general and outranks you. You will give her the respect that her rank deserves."
Bac nodded grumpily and this brought a victorious smile from Cipher. The smile soon vanished as Thod turned on him.
"And you…though she outranks you and has strange powers, she is inexperienced. Don't follow her blindly because you know she's a jedi. She is human too, she will and does make mistakes and they will get you killed if you aren't careful."
As they arrived back at where Scav was, Commander Thod ordered Cipher and Bac to go and find out what the jedi had planned. As they left Thod shook his head with a sigh.
"Eh…kids what are you going to do with them." Scav said. Thod gave him a weird look.
"Scav, they were pulled out of their cloning vats only a few hours after us."
"Like I said…..kids." Scav said with a little smirk.
The medic clone looked up as Arima and her escort approached. The medic removed his helmet so he could look at the general face to face. He saluted and then stepped aside so the jedi could see Cry lying on the ground.
"Ma'am…I did all I could, but I'm afraid it's only a matter of time before he dies." Their was a pause and the medic continued. "Unless you can heal him anymore I don't think he will make it."
Arima covered her mouth in shock. The ground was covered in blood and a lot of Cry's white armor was a reddish brown. She had already seen troopers die….she hadn't expected any of their deaths would hit her hard. She stared at the medic for a moment as if unsure he was really there. Finally she managed to speak up. "Is there no way to get him up to the bacta tanks on the 'Guardian of Justice'?"
"Ma'am we have been trying to communicate with both ships for quite sometime. It appears that their communications were knocked out in the ensuing space battle soon after we began our rescue mission."
Arima nodded, "Keep trying, hopefully some reinforcements will come soon." The young girl stepped around the medic and knelt down beside the still form of the wounded clone. She closed her eyes and let the force tell her the extent of the wound. She soon realized that there were too many vital organs damaged for her to use the force to heal him. The only thing she could have done was stop the bleeding and the medic had already managed to do that.
"Gen…..general?"
Arima quickly grabbed Cry's hand. "Yeah it's me Cry….just try to rest…we'll get you out of here." Arima used her other hand to swipe at the tears flowing down her face.
"So….sorry….not…much help….righ…..now." Cry managed with a weak smile that soon disappeared as he coughed and some blood slowly oozed out of his wound.
"Don't worry about it….you'll have plenty of time later to help us out." She said knowing it was a lie.
"Yeah…..some…..keep you….out….trouble." Cry managed with another smile.
Arima gently touched his cheek with her hand and told him to rest. She stood up and wiped away the remaining tears. She placed a hand on the medic's shoulder. "Make him as comfortable as possible….and maybe a miracle will happen, but there's nothing I can do."
With that Arima left to find Devan and see what he had planned for their next move.
"Sir Commander Thod wanted us to find out what your orders for us are?" Bac said saluting.
"At ease….both of you.." The jedi said nodding to the two clones to take a seat on the rocks next to him. Both men took a seat a little uneasy at idea of sitting down for a chat with a jedi general.
"I still haven't gotten a full report on our current status….do we have enough men to launch an attack?"
"Attack sir?" Cipher blurted out surprised at the jedi's boldness.
"Yes an attack…if we can mount one…even a small one, it will keep the droids off balance and they will have to dedicate some of their forces to defense instead of an all out attack."
Bac nodded seeing the wisdom in the idea. For a moment he was even willing to concede that this jedi might not be as dumb as he thought. "We definitely have enough men for a quick hit and run….it won't do much, but it would disrupt the clankers if they are staging for another attack."
Cipher nodded, "A quick attack, maybe blow up an ammo stockpile or something just as vital if we are lucky."
Devan nodded, he started to speak but paused as he felt Arima's troubled presence through the force. He sent a message through the force to come and talk with him. The young female jedi suddenly froze at seeing the two clones sitting next to Devan.
"Did you need something?" She asked quickly.
Devan gave her a reassuring smile and nodded for her to take a seat. Arima sighed and sat down, but kept glancing over at the clones as if she expected at least one of them to lash out at her.
"We are going to stage an attack on the droids and I figured it would be best if us jedi were involved in the operation."
Arima nodded, not really in the mood for anything. "Maybe it will get my mind focused again." She thought to herself. Her thoughts were interrupted as Bac spoke up.
"Excuse me sir….is it wise to risk both generals on the same mission. Maybe one of you should stay behind and help with the defense of our base."
Arima and Cipher both shot a glare at the clone knowing full well who he wanted to stay behind. Arima's glare soon softened as she decided she really couldn't blame him after her performance. Cipher continued to stare at his brother, until Devan spoke up bringing his attention back to the conversation.
"You are absolutely right." Devan said with a smile, and Arima's heart sank a little as she began to think that even Devan doubted her. She started to stand but Devan placed a hand on her back.
"I'm still a little injured from when we fought our way to rescue you guys….Arima here will be the best choice to aid you on this mission."
The two clones and jedi all looked a little shocked at the proclamation. "Now go plan your attack and carry it out after the general there approves it."
Bac and Cipher climbed to their feet, donned their helmets and saluted. Arima also rose to her feet, but managed to stop herself before she saluted as well. She leaned in close to her dear friend.
"I hope you know what you're doing….hold down the fort while we're gone and try to re-establish communications with our ships….we won't last long without resupply."
Devan nodded and Arima left with a sigh, following the two clones all the way back to where Commander Thod and Scav sat patiently waiting for orders.