A/N: Apologies for the delays folks, summer + holidays plus trip to Australia have held the publishing of these chapters for a bit. But alas, we (the wonderful Kaichi and I) are finally finished with them and are ready to present them to you. Chapter 12 may be a bit delayed as I, Shaliira am getting married next week so, well...you understand. But rest assured this story is continuing on.
Big thanks as usual to Sketch and NixNox for betaing. :)
Without further ado, here is Bloody Fields, part 1.
Valanthe felt at a loss, shocked and afraid all at once as she took in the sight below them. Renia's forces were clearly being boxed in with roughly two droids per clone, from what she could tell. The commotion was so high she couldn't even begin to count how many forces were left on each side.
She could see a precious few walkers left, the downed ones used as cover and blockade, a desperate attempt to prevent further advancement. To their far left, she could identify what looked like a droid command post, one tactical droid, elevated on his tank issuing commands to the troops. The droids were clearly looking like they had the upper hand, albeit lessened mobility. The lessened mobility didn't to much though, their aim was still true and many a soldier was felled by it.
Valanthe focused her macrobinoculars on what was slowing the droids down, wishing suddenly she hadn't. The field beneath them was littered with impact craters, bodies strewn about of all kinds. Metal, flesh, bone, armour. The once green grass was now a dulled brown and bright red in some places. Places where it wasn't burning. The smell of melting metal and burning flesh, mixed in with pathetic, sorrowful screams created a poignant, devastating scene.
The Mirialan's stomach lurched, her heart twisted in horror. iSo much death.../i How could she possibly help turn the tide when seasoned warriors got reduced to this. To a pile of torn appart corpses littering the land. How could she, a servant of the Force focused on stealth and knowledge with four tired men succeed where two battle hardened Jedi with over two thousand men couldn't? She was a spook, not a battlefield commander.
She knew this though. She couldn't afford to think about her own insecurities now. There was a job to be done, there were men to lead. Looking onward, behind the barricades as well as she could she tried to see if Renia or at least her Padawan were still alive.
As another set of explosions rocked the battlefield, Oddball peaked back up over the brim the shock wave reaching the team just as his visor cleared the edge, dirt kicking up into his face mask. Shaking the loose bits of dirt free, Oddball reached up and activated his helmet's viewfinder. To say it was a mess down there was an understatement, despite the stronger defensive position things were looking even worse than they were a few hours ago.
Their lines were weak; many of the strong points only had one or two men to a position. It was definitely a pitched fight, single clones taking on whole squads of droids practically on their own. Worst of all he wasn't a part of it; the biggest fight since the landing on Geonosis and he was shot down and stuck sneaking behind the lines. "It's just not fair..." He muttered with a slight shake of his helmeted head.
"I know brother," No-Nines said, he too was observing the battle, watching as the separatists advanced on the left flank. "The clankers never were ones for a fair fight."
"They're not, but ah...that's not it."
"It's not?" No-Nines was more than a little confused.
"No it's not, I'm stuck up here while they're down there, the biggest fight in the battalion's history and I'm stuck up here."
No-Nines didn't quite know what to say to that, their brothers were down there fighting for their lives and Oddball was pouting about not being involved. Of course they all wanted to help but because those were fellow clones, comrades, brothers who were putting their lives on the line.
He was sure that these thoughts were also on Oddball's mind, but it was...well a bit odd that they weren't first. "You're one strange clone, Oddball," he finally muttered, turning his attention back to the battle.
"Well I can't exactly dispute that. I just want to be down there, in the thick of it, you know like the General...The General!" Oddball announced excitedly locating their Jedi leader among the raging battle. Seeing the twin blue lightsabers flashing through his viewer was like a beacon in the night. Of course General Vinree would be on the front line, she'd never been one to set back safely in the rear before and he wouldn't have expected her to be now.
Just as she was about to comment on Oddball's quite obvious displeasure, Valanthe caught sight of the familiar lightsabers as well, breathing out a sigh of relief. There in the back, the third lightsaber. Renia's Padawan, the Pantoran Nimina Alchi. If the two of them were still alive that meant the defense was still holding, which gave Valanthe and her group enough time to try to make a run to them.
Only they couldn't just run through all of those droids and expect they'll all make it through. They were severely outnumbered with no cover and no support. So they needed a different tactic. They needed to divide enemy attention.
So the newly minted Jedi battle commander looked around. A few passes of her macrobinoculars almost left her discouraged. They needed to reach Vinree, yet it was certain death to just try to push through. They needed to…
There, on the edge of her pass to the right. An Anti-Aircraft Gun battery. The AA Guns they needed to take out, the guns that were keeping reinforcements from landing and exfiling the beleaguered battalion.
There were five in a row, with AA support guns peppered along the length of them. They needed to be taken out quickly and quietly. An idea sparked in her head. She had one she needed for this, now if she had another, the idea would go down twice as fast.
"Alright gents, let's put our plan of joining the General into motion." Valanthe finally spoke pointing to the right of their position. "We need to take those out of commission and repurpose them as fast and as quiet as possible."
Fives and Echo took a glance in that direction, then looked at each other, their buckets bobbing, obviously discussing something among themselves on a private channel.
"Repurpose them?" Echo questioned. "I can slice them easily."
Fives chuckled, "I know. I think I know what she wants, it's a bold idea, but it just might work. You'll have to work fast, vod."
"Would help if one of the Four-Four-Two could assist." Echo admitted, looking over at the green tinted ARCs.
Fives merely nodded, watching the small group, switching his channel back to hear the plan.
Sliding back down the embankment a bit with a sigh, Oddball cradled his blaster semi-patiently watching the other two ARCs discussing something among themselves. It had to have something to do with the Commander wanting to repurpose the guns; why else would they be sitting here chin-wagging? Whatever it was he hoped it was a good plan, and one that got them moving, after all he'd much prefer a straight fight to all this sitting around. Taking out the guns seemed a fine way to put some hurt on the clankers. He honestly wasn't too sure about repurposing them but that's why she was an officer and he wasn't.
"Commander? Repurpose how exactly?" Echo ventured since none of the others seemed eager to ask the question.
Valanthe looked over at the ever curious ARC and smiled a little, "well, we need cover and a diversion to make it through to General Vinree. Right now we have neither. If we manage to take over the AA guns and slice them we could rig them to fire on their own troops, it will divide attention from the General's position and keep it away from us, and lessened on them. Now.." she looked over at Oddball and No-Nines. "Tell me one of you is a tech, or at least tech savvy?"
Fives glanced between the Commander and the 442 ARC's, smirking beneath his bucket.
Bold plan, very bold. I like it.
Already seeing half the team turn their gaze toward No-Nines, Oddball couldn't help but roll his eyes and sigh. Standing up he stepped forward, slapping his hand on No-Nines' shoulder pad a couple of times. "ARC trooper-5962, Oddball, tech specialist second class, at your service."
Three heads turned to him slowly, equal amount of shock emanating from them.
"You are a tech." It left Fives' lips before he could help himself. He cursed inwardly as he caught himself. It wasn't right for a brother to question a brother like so, especially a fellow ARC.
Echo's shoulders shook with silent mirth, his bucket echoing him shaking his head a little.
The Mirialan blinked once, twice. A third time. "I'm sorry, Oddball," she spoke, noticing the same shock such as her own in the other two. "We're just a little surprised. Um…" she scratched the back of her neck for a moment to ebb the embarrassment away, "okay then."
Another deep breath, "awkward…" she shook her head, refocusing on the task. "Okay, Echo, you and Oddball need to slice those guns and rig them for our control, we'll have them firing at their own troops to give us time to slip away. Fives, No-Nines, you two will take out the support guns, I'll provide our cover. We're bound to get noticed by some troops at the very least."
"Sounds like a plan ma'am." No-Nines replied, trying to hold back a chuckle at the team's reaction to Oddball's revelation. He knew that his fellow clone wouldn't take it personally, he was the first to admit that he didn't come anywhere close to fitting the bill of a tech specialist. Honestly he wondered if Oddball liked letting people be uncomfortable when they found out his speciality.
"Agreed, we'll have those guns turned around in no time." Oddball added still grinning widely underneath his helmet. "And don't worry everyone, when things inevitably go wrong and whole of the separatist army is trying to take us out, I can handle them too."
"Such inspiring confidence," Vala replied dryly, a smirk in her features as she crawled in front of Fives and Echo. "Alright boys, quickly and quietly." She motioned with her arm as the four buckets gave a nod each.
As they approached the AA guns a little ways below them, Vala sprawled on her stomach with the rest of them, taking out her macrobinoculars.
"Two droids per AA Gun, two on guard," she said in a low tone, "one droid per support gun. And five more on guard. Thirty total that I can see. Focus your targets. I'll go first, draw their fire."
Putting her macrobinoculars away, she didn't wait for acknowledgement. Valanthe unsheathed her lightsaber again and called upon the Force. Within moments she shimmered out of the view of the men.
What in the name of the Maker, the sake of the Spirits and by the Force am I getting myself into? Riis wondered as she approached a group of battle droids as they chattered away waiting for their next firing solution.
"How long do you think it will be before we can demolish their defences?" One droid asked another and it almost made Valanthe pause.
"I don't know, I hope it's soon. I'm tired of standing around and watching for reinforcements. Nobody is going to come for the Republic scum." The other one said in an identical, annoyed voice.
Almost as if they're actual people. Spirits! The Mirialan had to force herself to focus as she moved under the cover of the Force to a position that would ideally let the ARC's shoot the droids from behind. Ideally.
Now or never. She mentally bolstered herself and took a deep breath. With an exhale, her cloak of invisibility dropped, a grin plastered on her face.
"Hello boys!" She said, green blade igniting after nearly five years of disuse.
It felt awkward and disassociated where once it was an extension of herself. But it was better defense against the droids than her blaster would ever be. Even if her Soresu and Niman practice fell out of use.
She espied a bunch of supply crates near them, ready to use them as boulders or as a cover, depending on how fast the droids got their composure back.
"Heeey, how did you...aaagh!" The droid that had spoken first screamed as the blade seared off the lower half of his torso.
Missing a blast by a narrow margin and awkwardly deflecting another, Valanthe realized she needed to do more than rely on her out of practice technique. So she cloaked herself again, stepped between the two nearest droids and spun around, her lightsaber igniting just as it reached the first droid, slicing through both of them with ease. Another blast dodged another deflected, she tossed her lightsaber in a horizontal loop through the Force.
It sliced another droid's head clean off, before zooming back towards Valanthe. She moved just in time, catching the lightsaber and jump-twisting out of the way of another blaster. Falling to her knees and rolling away, she pulled the droid closer through the Force, right onto the tip of her lightsaber as she came back to her feet.
Meanwhile above her, Fives and No-Nines covered Echo and Oddball's descent, each focused on their own group. They were picking off the support gun droids easily, almost sniping them as the other two ARC's approached the AA Guns.
As the other ARCs methodically and precisely picked off the battle droids manning the cannons, Oddball took a different approach. When Valanthe dropped her cloak and began taking on the droids he, like the others was a bit surprised. Shaking it off rather quickly he was on his feet, yelling out a battle cry and was over the berm. Looking over his shoulder for just a moment to make sure Echo was with him, and the Oddball was off, charging down the hill towards the droids.
Waiting till they were a bit closer and with another cry he let loose; finger depressing the trigger his blaster sprang to life, the light blue blots streaking towards the distracted droids. The first support guns down in seconds, Oddball turned to the first AA battery they needed to neutralize. "COME ON OUT YOU KARKING CLANKERS, COME AND GET IT!"
Echo on the other hand was his exact opposite. Quietly and efficiently taking his targets down. Watching the Lady Jedi in action out of the corner of his visor was quite a distraction so he forced himself to focus on his task. Slicing and repurposing. As the first battery was cleared he jogged over, setting his weapon down and opening his backpack.
He took out a few gadgets and plugged into an access port.
Fives and No-Nines meanwhile picked off the support gun droids with relative ease and were now moving to cover Echo and Oddball as they worked.
He kept glancing over at the Commander every so often, to make sure she was still in the fight. Or so he told himself. Truthfully her surprising actions and even more surprising skill were rather distracting. He couldn't say though that it was combat skill, but rather thinking and improvising on her feet.
As he got up close and personal with an unharmed droid that was pushed away by an invisible force near him, he grabbed at its head and neatly twisted it off. Maybe just maybe, if it survived the scuffle they could gain intel from it.
While Echo and Fives handled the first gun No-Nines tipped his head at Oddball and they headed for the second. Bounding across the open field the two ARCs worked in concert to cover each other while pushing the now alert droids back. When they were within spitting distance of the gun, both ARCs nodded to the other and charged the position; Oddball yelling with glee at the top of his lungs and No-Nines quiet as the breeze putting his remarkable marksmanship skills to use even while on the move. Reaching the edge of the slightly sunken emplacement, No-Nines dived forward landing hard on his front and began to lay down suppressive fire on a pair of advancing Super-Battle Droids. "Anytime now Oddball!" He called over his shoulder, chucking a grenade at the duranium plated mechs.
"Have I ever let you down before!?" Oddball shouted back with a chuckle as he slid underneath the gun, attaching his own gear to its control systems. It wouldn't take long to override the gun's systems and gain control, the firewalls on the separatist heavy weapons were notoriously cheap. "Poor seppies, didn't bother to even shell out for the five credit version." He quipped, some of the command codes already flashing across his screen. It wouldn't be long till they had control of the entire battery and could turn them against the droids attacking the battalion.
Echo shook his head amusedly as he ducked a stray bolt or two from a droid that approached and passed through the wide angle barrier Valanthe was creating at the cannon approach. Fives quickly took the droid out of commission, firing occasionally, covering the right quadrant over and around the Mirialan, while No-Nines took care of the left one.
Riis noticed the pair of Super-Battle Droids advancing up towards their position. No-Nines' suppresive fire alerted her more than anything else really. Stepping a little closer, into their line of fire, she spread her arms a little, pointing her open palms to the ground and focused. Soon enough small rocks began to lift from the ground and swirl around her palms. The ground beneath the two droids began to shake and crack, causing the droids to loose their footing.
"Now, No-Nines!" She called towards the green ARC.
As the ground beneath them started to come apart and the Droids lost their footing No-Nines had his chance. Popping up to one knee, No-Nines activated the compact precision scope attached to his blaster. Even without the constant barrage of blaster fire coming at him this was still a rather difficult shot. Focusing on the droids he quickly located the bright red of their power cores, in an instant his finger squeezed the trigger twice, hitting his mark and sending the droids tumbling to the ground.
"Targets neutralized Commander."
Valanthe grinned, "good man!"
Before she could actually turn and congratulate him properly, she sensed more of the droids incoming.
"Echo, Oddball, step on it, lads!" The Mirialan urged as she jumped down the elevation, towards the next wave of droids.
Twirling through the air, she landed heavily on her feet, the rest of her body following, slamming her palms against the ground in a three-sixty angle, sending the droids around her flying as a silvery blue wave of energy slammed into them.
"Fek!" Fives cursed, jumping down from the cannon emplacement to adjust his range. Kneeling, he aimed down towards the Mirialan's location, providing cover.
Two to go, Commander, almost there. Echo's voice filtered through. Firing solutions?
Jumping and twisting through the air again, Valanthe began to deflect bolts with a lot more ease, muscles remembering long done practices in Form III, the Soresu. "Set targets in a wide angle spread, when you're done, there's a comm-turret to our left. Rig the support to blow once the droids advance. Fives, No-Nines, find a burst point and be ready to move as soon as firing solutions are in place."
Fives didn't like this plan, it would leave the Commander too exposed and alone.
"Do it, don't worry about me!" Valanthe's urging came with grunts of exertion and sounds of laser bolts hitting the blade of her lightsaber.
Fives turned reluctantly to No-Nines and began fishing out his detonate charges. He tossed a few to the fellow ARC and the two separated, each covering a side, planting the charges.
"I'm setting the charges to go off when in droid proximity." Fives announced.
Echo nodded as he stepped over to the third AA cannon, having finished on the second last cannon while Oddball finished with the last one. He input several commands quickly, rigging the middle gun to overload once the support gun exploded.
Now that he was finished hacking the last canons systems Oddball hauled himself up and clambered into the gunner's seat. While Echo handled the job of setting the guns to overload and self destruct, Oddball got the fun job, programming in the guns to work as artillery rather than anti-aircraft and give them new firing solutions. Activating the gun's targeting computer, Oddball couldn't restrain the delighted chuckle. Like the battle droids themselves, all the heavy artillery in this sector was tied into their main battlenet, this was a significant advantage on the battlefield since it allowed a single tactical droid to get updates and take control of all the units under their command. Of course, it also meant that if someone industrious and heroic, someone like an ARC Trooper was able to access the network he could see where all the droids were and everything they did.
And right now they were clustered together, preparing for another push on the General's left flank. Oh and look this batter is designated as support for that attack. Foolish droids, won't they be in for a surprise. Traversing the gun to the left and increasing the elevation, Oddball was able to target the main staging area for the droid attackers. Once those coordinates were locked in it wasn't hard to set the entire battery to fire on that position, as well as fanning out and shelling the entire droid forward position. "GUNS READY ON YOUR ORDER MA'AM!" Oddball called out his thumb eagerly ghosting across the fire control.
Hearing the nearly unrestrained glee in his fellow ARC's voice, No-Nines shook his head and chuckled as he clambered up to a high ledge, hoping to get a better view of the terrain. From what he'd already been able to scout, there were several good points they could break out from, but none were perfect. And of course the one that was best for the forward team left Dizzy and the wounded stuck behind enemy lines. "Fives you better get up here." No-Nines called out, hoping his fellow clone had a better idea. He didn't at all like the idea of leaving the wounded, but if they went back there was a good chance their gap would close and they'd be cut off again. It wasn't an assured thing of course and all his instincts and training told him that you didn't leave a fellow clone behind..
Valanthe grinned as she heard Oddball bellow. Dodging a bolt and deflecting a few more she began to feign a retreat.
Fives fired several shots as he began his retreat, moving over to where No-Nines was.
"+Execute primary objective.+" An order came through their wrist comms.
"Understood ma'am." Oddball replied with a slightly ominous chuckle. "ALRIGHT CLANKERS IT'S PAYBACK TIME!" And with that Oddball depressed the trigger, the gun rocking back from the recoil of the large energy shell being sent down range. The large shock had the ARC cackling with glee as he let loose the full power of the enemy cannons right onto the droids own heads. A moment later he let loose a second barrage and then a third not letting up on the mass of droid attackers. He was determined to do as much damage as he could before the droids got too close and he would have to abandon his position.
Grinning, Valanthe kept up her withdrawal, drawing in several squadrons of droids behind her. She counted the yards off mentally in her head as she deflected bolts with more and more ease.
Lifting her left wrist, she spoke again, "Execute secondary objective in three minutes."
It was roughly the time that it would take the droids to reach the AA battery. She hoped that the ARC's had found a breach point by then and moved so that she could cloak herself and join them.
Fives consulted the range finder on his helmet, doing a few mental calculations.
"The explosion should be enough to clear us a path in that direction," he pointed to the right and ahead. "It'll be narrow so we need a single file staggered approach. Stick to cover, watch your angles but don't fire unless we have attention. This should be distraction enough."
He knew he was taking a bold, probably career breaking step by taking over in presence of two senior ARCs but he was confident in his plan. Fives only hoped that the other two wouldn't shoot it down, not because his junior status but because they simply didn't have time to argue about it.
"+Four hundred…+" Vala's voice counted off the distance.
"+GUN'S RUNNING A LITTLE HOT!+" Oddball called off over the sound of the cannon firing.
"Good plan." No-Nines said with a nod to the junior ARC. In the regular Clone corps it might be in bad form and even a punishable offense to step in like Fives did but for ARCs flexibility ruled the day. The ability to quickly adapt to a situation and recognize an advantage were far more important that strict protocol. "Fives you and Echo take point leading us out, we'll get the commander in the middle while Oddball and I bring up the rear."
Fives nodded, secretly relieved he was off the hook. Well for that very second. Now he had to make sure the plan worked. He nodded to Echo who jogged over and joined them, weapon at the ready again.
"+One hundred. Execute secondary objective.+" Vala sounded off momentarily before her communication cut off.
Echo tapped a command on his wrist interface which initiated the overload sequence. He nearly jumped out of his skin however when Valanthe appeared behind him to the right, sweaty and dishevelled.
"Grab a cover lads, this'll be a big one." She said, motioning for them to move.
Fives and Echo broke into a dash towards the rock formation furthest from the blast zone while Vala motioned for No-Nines and Oddball to follow them. She jumped into the cover last but in a somewhat unorthodox manner.
She spread her arms over Fives and Oddball's shoulders and just managing to touch Echo and No-Nines'.
"Blow the charges!"
As Fives pressed the ignition button, Valanthe focused her strength through the Force, extending a protective barrier over them, her already sweaty form now exerting even more, trying to protect everyone from debris.
The explosion was as loud as it was felt, the ground beneath them rocking. Vala's ears hurt something shocking as she struggled to maintain the protective barrier around them, to shield them from rock and metal debris that peppered them.
Feeling the small bits of debris bounce off his helmet, Oddball peeked up over the brim of their cover seeing the destroyed remains of the separatist gun and the droids sent to secure them. Now all they had to do was make it across to friendly lines. "Nice plan Commander." He said with a chuckle making sure the woman was still with them.
The green woman glanced at him sideways, grinning, "thank you, Oddball."
The barrage of artillery on the droids position had not gone unnoticed by the embattle troops holding their positions only a few hundred meters away. At first hearing the sounds of artillery firing they thought it was coming for them but when no rounds fell the clone lines took on an eerie silence. At first no one looked up expecting that it was some kind of separatist trick. But when no successive bombardment came, some of the more curious clones stuck their heads above ground.
Ren joined them, her eyes wide in shock at what she saw, the droids were actually firing on their own troops. And it certainly wasn't by accident either, not a single shell even came close to hitting her lines. Honestly she couldn't believe it, droids were precise, yes they were often stupid but they didn't make mistakes like that. Now if only they could capitalize on this, but there weren't enough troops left to stage an attack and still defend their landing zone and wounded. Ren was just about to order a shift in the line when in the distance a massive explosion lit up the night sky, the shockwave hitting the clones dead on as if it had gone up right in front of them.
"General! Comms are back online!" Charger shouted running up from the command post, portable comms unit in hand. "Reinforcements have landed! We're catching signals of General Kenobi and Skywalker, they're only a few kilometers to our south!"
As a resounding victorious cry came up from the clones within earshot, Ren slid back down into her fighting hole, a deep sense of relief filling her. Yes she knew they weren't out of the woods yet, but at least they knew that they hadn't been forgotten.
"Charger can you get me in direct contact with them?" Ren asked, unable to wipe the wide smile from her lips.
"Not yet ma'am, we're still trying to get our portable comms fully operational. We can receive but not send. R3 is working on it, should only take another few minutes now that we're receiving signal."
"Good, alright head back to the CP and give him a hand and assign someone to keep monitoring that frequency." Ren replied, giving Charger an encouraging slap on his arm.
CT-3336, aka Corporal Buzz called from his elevated position where he was on sniper duty, "General, permission to speak?"
Looking around to see how had called out to her it took a moment for Ren to locate the well concealed sniper. "Buzz, I think considering our current predicament, we're all beyond needing to ask for permission, but you have it anyway."
He chuckled softly, "sorry, sir. Habit. We have a slight problem. Charger reported Kenobi and Skywalker forces a few clicks to the south. The explosion came from the AA guns which are to our northeast. Just under a click. I think we have a third party out there." His eyes never left the targeting scopes, searching, trying to see.
Looking over in the direction Buzz indicated, Ren could still see the smoking remnants and brief secondary explosions from the former gun position. The trooper was right, there was no way that Kenobi nor Skywalker could have gotten their full forces that close to their lines without someone noticing. "Well this planet's uninhabited, perhaps some of our own people? More than a few gunships were shot down during the retreat."
Deciding to get a better view, Ren summoned the Force and propelled herself through the air, bouncing off a few rocks in the cliff face near her position until she could reach Buzz. "Do you see anything out there?"
"Negative, the blast did create a few new crevices from what I can tell….." he trailed off, angling his sniper to the left, far left facing the cliffside. "Stand by."
There was a tell tale whirr of his zoom as he adjusted it, trying to get a better view. "I see clone helmets, but it's too dark to make out the insignia's. Four by the looks of...what the fek? They just disappeared."
"Disappeared? What do you mean?" Ren asked an eyebrow raised in confusion as she pulled out her own set of macrobinoculars, sweeping the area that Buzz had been focusing on. "Clones don't just disappear into thin…" The words died on her lips as Ren passed over a patch of grass in the distance. She could swear she saw something...shimmering, just at the edge of her vision. She couldn't quite make it out but there was just something familiar about it, something that sent a tingle up her spine.
Laying her binoculars down on the rockface Ren repositioned herself, crossing her legs and laying her hands gently on her knees. Taking a few deep breaths, Ren closed her eyes and centered herself, reaching out with the Force, opening her senses to the living world around her. At first it was a rush of sensation, the most overpowering coming from her men many wounded and scared. Despite feeling the pang of guilt in her chest, she pushed past those feelings, banishing them to the grey areas just outside of her conscious perception. As she did so there was almost a light...a presence shining off in the distant black, it was familiar and different all at the same time.
Buzz hazarded a glance at his General doing her weird Jedi thing again. He couldn't deny one thing though. The Jedi found out a lot of things sitting with their eyes closed like that. How? That was well and truly beyond him. Clones weren't di'kuts, but he usually felt like one when sitting around with eyes closed got results and staring through a sniper scope yielded none.
But he knew better than to comment so he refocused. That was when he saw the four clones again. Frowning under his bucket, he had to sound off.
"Contact. I see four ARC type clones on staggered, single file approach, but there seems to be a hole in the line. We only have two ARC's in the four-four-two." He said, then his eyes widened under the very same bucket.
"General there seems to be a Jedi with them. I can make out a green blade, and rather unusual Jedi clothes, but I can't tell much more, should I switch to night vision? They are advancing on our position."
Smiling as she heard Buzz confirm what she was seeing in her mind, that light in the distance quickly becoming a recognizable figure. Valanthe, I should have known it was you. Ren thought as she slowly pulled herself out of her Force vision, the real world slowly coming back into focus around her. Taking a couple more deep breaths, Ren let her eyes flutter open staring at where the small group of clones pushed through the tall grass to reach the edge of their lines. "Yes please do, I believe you'll recognize two of our own along with that rather unconventional Jedi." Ren said her tone soft, happy her smile even wider than it was before.
Oh great, now she's gone all soppy. Buzz muttered inwardly as he turned on the night vision. "Oddball and No-Nines, I don't recognize the other two. Should I alert the others? They're almost at our lines, sir."
"Yes let them know to let the whole group through their friendlies, and good work Buzz." Ren said giving the clone a pat on the shoulder before picking up her binoculars and jumping down from the sniper perch, and heading for the front of their lines.
Down below, approaching the barricaded position, Valanthe felt at ease somewhat. She'd felt Renia reaching out to her through the Force, trying to for all intents and purposes identify her. It had caused her to drop her cloak, distractions often did that. But there was a residual trail of warmth as she felt Renia draw away, diminish into her signature Force presence. Well, a rather changed Force signature.
Not that the Mirialan could dwell on it too much, they were nearly there and she had to keep her focus. She deflected the stray blaster bolts easily.
"Go in, they're expecting us!" She slapped at Oddball's pauldron as he passed her.
As the four ARCs reached Renia's forces, Valanthe extended her hands, lightsaber held with her middle finger and thumb. She focused what strength she had left onto a nearby slab of rock. Were she more rested she would have dislodged and lifted it easily. It took her a good few moments and a few pleadings of, "come on, Commander!" before she she lifted it and hurled at the droids nearby.
As a commotion ensued yet again, Valanthe turned her lightsaber off and made a run for the defense line, trickles of sweat descending down her back as she did so. For all the form she was in, it had been years since such a rigorous, strenuous workout and she was feeling every bit of it. She thanked the Force though for her muscle memory of the all defense form, Soresu.
To Be Continued In Bloody Fields, Bloody Fields, part 2.