Deep in his bones, Fives knows that nothing they could ever do would be enough to change what happens on Felucia.
He barely understands what went wrong the first time, after all. Too much had happened, too much had gone wrong. The 501st and 212th had been tasked with retaking the planet from Separatist control, but it had proved to be too big of a job for only two battalions. The jungle had killed just as many as the Separatists had. It was like they'd been fighting two armies.
When the Republic had started losing ground last time, an evacuation had been called to get everyone out of there before the Separatist blockade trapped everyone on the surface. Echo and Fives were lucky, and managed to get off planet in time.
Other brothers were not so lucky.
Felucia is way too big to change in so little time. Fives and Echo mutually decide that simple survival should be their main focus. They spend half of the hyperspace trip teaching the rest of Domino everything they can remember, and they send the rest of Beta some of the datafiles reference the various poisonous plants or aggressive native creatures. Cutup in particular doesn't like that last category—he goes frighteningly pale at the holo-image of a massive bull rancor.
Fives tells them everything he can remember. Echo remembers a bit more and can pick up on some of the slack, but Fives also knows that it isn't going to be enough.
It's impossible to predict what the jungle will throw at them. The rest of Domino will learn that quickly enough.
Fives just hopes that they'll learn it fast enough to survive.
The flight down is quiet. Stiflingly quiet, and more than enough to make Hevy nervous. The Commander isn't with them this time—she's with the General in his gunship. Flak still pilots them, though, and even he is much more subdued than usual. When they're ten minutes out from the planet's surface, Flak gives them a quick briefing.
"The 212th have touched down already," he tells them. "They were able to clear plenty of landing zones for us, so we won't have any trouble touching down." He pauses for a brief second. "Be careful down there, boys. I haven't heard a single good story yet. This planet doesn't seem to like us very much."
Hevy catches the tiny jerk that Fives makes at those words and feels another pang of dread. For all of the information Fives and Echo had been able to give them, it's impossible to predict what's going to happen down there. They'll also have completely different assignments than Echo and Fives did beforehand. There's too many variables, too many unknowns. At least on Ryloth they'd had a clear objective. Here on Felucia, the goal is to take back the entire planet.
Hevy can't help but think that two battalions isn't enough.
"We're closing in on the LZ," Flak announces. "ETA one minute. We're in the clear, no need to run for it."
The landing is smooth, no complications at all. The doors open to reveal a weary-looking 212th Air Traffic Control Martial gesturing something at Flak with his lights. He motions for Beta squad to disembark with a quick movement.
Felucia is extremely different from Ryloth. The ground feels odd beneath Hevy's feet. Spongy, almost. He sinks into it just a little, but it doesn't cling to him.
The jungle stretches all around them. It's amazing that the 212th had been able to find an area clear enough to set up landing zones. Several fallen fungus trees indicate that the 212th had been doing some landscaping to make room for the multitudes of men. Several massive walkers have already been set down as well, parked silently around the grey tents set up to house command.
Over to the side, partially hidden by the strange foliage, is a massive vehicle that Hevy can't help but stare at. He's only ever seen it in holograms, never in person.
"Is that an A6 Juggernaut?" he mutters, elbowing Echo in the side as they begin to make their way towards the tents. Echo glances over and gives a quick nod.
"Yep. It's bigger than you expect, isn't it. We just call 'em turbo tanks. More fun to say."
The 501st have been instructed to convene to the south of the command tents, in proper formation. Torrent had been the second company sent out. Tide had been first, and as Beta squad makes their way down to the meeting spot a flood of Tide men start coming from that direction, splitting off into smaller teams as they go.
Captain Rex is waiting for them when they finally fall into formation at the proper place. Not all of Torrent is present—some squads are already gone, too, and some haven't even arrived yet. There are more gunships swooping in to deposit men. Rex is issuing out orders, anyway. He comes right up to Beta squad when they arrive, and they all snap to attention.
"Alright, men. We're taking over the border patrols for the time being to give the 212th a little breathing room. Does your squad have any priority orders from the Commander yet?"
"Not yet, sir," Del answers. "We'll let you know when we do."
Rex nods curtly. His helmet tilts a little to acknowledge two new squads as they come in.
"Make sure you do that," he tells them. "For now, our objective is to preserve the ground we've gained while we bring in more forces. Once all our men are in we'll begin General Kenobi's expansion plan, but until then we're going to hold position, alright?"
"Yes, sir!" Hevy cries along with the rest of Beta. Rex gestures to the side, where a clone scout stands next to him.
"This is Quest, of the 212th," Rex introduces. "I want Beta and Sigma squads with him. Listen to his advice, boys. He's been here longer than almost anyone else." Captain Rex shifts to the side, and Quest steps forwards.
"Right then, Beta and Sigma with me! The droids are well aware of our presence here, so stay alert!"
Hevy swallows down his nerves as they follow Quest towards the thick jungle at a quick march. He wishes he could bring his Z-6 with him, but Fives and Echo had advised against it. They'd claimed it would be difficult to carry around through the jungle, and now he understands why. The multicolored plants jutting out from the soil are hard enough to navigate with just a DC-15A rifle. The Z-6 would have been a hindrance, though he hates to admit it to himself.
The two squads move behind the scout quietly for a half-hour and several kilometers, simply listening to Quest as he speaks. He definitely knows what he's talking about. He describes the planet's terrain and some of the more dangerous things he'd come across during his time on the surface. It's all similar things to that of which Fives and Echo had briefed them on during their too-short planning period, so Hevy allow himself to focus more on keeping watch, scanning the jungle for potential threats.
"When we first set up the base, the clankers were giving us a hard time," Quest is saying. "It wasn't until we got the tanks down that we were able to finally push them back a little. We caught them unprepared for such heavy artillery, that's why they haven't tried taking back this section yet. They're gearing up for it, though, and we all know it. That's why we have to maintain the border patrols until—don't go near that."
Hevy jerks a little, startled by the sudden urgency in Quest's voice. The scout is whirled around, staring behind him—Hevy turns, following his gaze to see one of Sigma squad frozen to the spot, a few steps off the path towards something that had caught his eye.
"The first rule of Felucia is don't get unnecessarily curious," Quest hisses. "It'll kill you. Step back a couple feet, brother. If you move even an inch closer to that flower you'll regret it."
The flower in question is a pretty thing, medium sized and brilliant red. Its four petals, spotted with little white dots, quiver as the trooper steps away from it, confusion visible in his body language.
"What—?"
"That flower, memorize what it looks like," Quest orders. "It's called a Yerdua poison-spitter. It's… ah, semi-sentient. It can tell if a hostile gets too close, and it'll spit a deadly poison from the center of the petals to protect itself."
"But I'm wearing armor!" the clone protests. Quest shakes his head.
"Do you want to be able to ever take your armor off? It's a long lasting poison. You wouldn't be able to wash it off, and you'd spread it to anything you touched."
"Force," Nax mutters, levelling his gun at the plant as if it'll do any good. "Remind me to stay away from that thing."
"Stay away from that thing," Zeer grunts, completely deadpan. Nax's helmet whips towards him. Hevy can't see the mechanic's face, but he can imagine an impressive glare. Tipper chuckles.
"Knock it off, you two," Del mutters. "Stay focused. There's plenty to watch out for here."
"Alright, alright. Let's keep moving. We've got a lot more ground to cover," Quest tells them, and they keep forging ahead.
The strange thing about Felucia is that though there are plenty of plants and fungi covering the forest floor, they don't really rise too far above the clone's waists, and they aren't so densely packed that it's impossible to move. The fungi trees and the enormous blue, yellow, and orange flower-like structures are the only things that jut higher into the air, and they aren't quite as close together as Hevy had first thought. At certain points he can look through gaps in the trees and see for many yards beyond, and it makes him nervous.
It looks like they have cover, but they really don't. It's an illusion of safety that Quest seems to be all to well aware of, if the way his helmet constantly swivels is of any indication.
From beside him, there's a wet squelching noise as Cutup has the misfortune of putting his foot through a patch of mushrooms. Cutup groans in annoyance.
"Kriff. I don't like this planet already."
Quest chuckles bitterly. "Honestly, brother I would be surprised if you weren't frustrated—"
He cuts himself off suddenly, freezing in place. Both additional squads go still as well, immediately on the alert.
"Uhhh… Quest?" Fives says cautiously. Quest tilts his head.
"Does anyone else hear that?"
"No," Echo answers, but none of them relax, because scouts are bred to have better hearing, so that doesn't really mean anything. If Quest hears something, the rest of them believe it.
Quest hesitates for a split second longer, and then he suddenly whirls around, raising his rifle.
"We're surrounded, everyone get down!"
When a brother yells like that, you listen. No matter where you are, no matter what rank you are or what rank they are. That kind of yell means listen or die, and everyone drops as blasterfire rings out, tearing through the surrounding plant life. Hevy's heart rate skyrockets instantly, accompanied by an adrenaline rush that nearly leaves him dizzy. Distantly he hears someone cry out, but the voice is too far away for it to be one of Beta.
"Get to cover!" Fives hisses from the dirt next to him, making Hevy jump. Fives gives him a little half-shove, crawling on his stomach towards the nearest fungus tree. "Come on! We can't fight back until we're somewhat protected! We're sitting nerfs out here!"
Blaster bolts zip overhead, close enough to make Hevy press himself further into the ground. When he makes it to the fungus tree, he pulls himself to his knees and returns fire blindly in the direction they'd originated from.
"Behind you!" Fives shouts. He shoves Hevy back to the ground. Fives' body suddenly jerks, and Hevy's heart nearly stops.
"Fives? Fives!"
"I'm fine, the shot glanced off my armor," Fives hisses back at him. "Stay down, they're all around us. I'll watch our front, you watch our back?"
"Copy!" Hevy says.
Behind them, he can just make out flashes of white armor from where the rest of the clones had scattered. There's two bodies lying out in the open still—one of them is a man from Sigma squad, and the other is Coric, who's attempting to look him over. The rest of the men are laying down cover fire to protect him, but it's difficult to do when their enemies are everywhere.
It takes far too long for Hevy to identify their attackers. He catches a glimpse of a dark grey metallic form that darts behind an enormous blue flower, and growls when he's too slow to fire off a shot.
"Commandos," he says to Fives, and then talks into his helmet comm. "'Bait, are you—?"
"Fine," Droidbait replies bluntly, voice tense. "I'm fine, Hevy, don't worry. Focus on getting us out of this first!"
Hevy can't tell if he's lying or not. Regardless, he has no choice but to keep shooting, and hisses in victory when he manages to bring one down. His success is immediately dulled by a blasterbolt that nearly hits him in the back. Fives lets out a string of muffled Huttese curses.
"There's too many of them! Does anyone have any bright ideas?"
"I have droid poppers," Nax tells them quickly. "Only two, though. I didn't anticipate needing more."
"Better than nothing!" Fives yells back. Hevy is watching, so he sees the divot in the ground that Nax is hiding in and spots the first tiny orb soaring through the air to land somewhere near the droids. A bright flash of light and a ripple of electricity flashes in the distance.
"You got three, Nax," Coric reports calmly despite his exposed position. "I can see them more clearly. There's two more, back near the purple vine thing."
The other clone must be dead, otherwise Coric would be too distracted to help them. Hevy feels a pang of sorrow as Nax launches his second droid popper.
"On the other side, though, I count six," Coric continues. Fives suddenly growls, and his blaster sounds twice. "Make that five. Hevy, Fives, if someone draws their fire you two could rush them from the left side. There's another fungus tree that would let you blindsight them—ugh."
"Coric?"
"Fine, fine. Just… a close call."
Hevy tries to look back at him, make sure the medic's alright, but before he can do so Fives takes a deep breath.
"We'll rush them. Who's close enough to play distraction?"
"I'm with two of Sigma squad," Del reports. "We can draw their fire. Hold on." The sounds of combat increase, and suddenly Hevy catches a glimpse of Del and two other troopers sprinting out of cover behind a flower, weaving towards another fungus tree. The enemy fire follows them.
"That crazy son-of-a-hutt," Fives says in disbelief. He grabs Hevy's shoulder. "Come on!"
Hevy climbs to his feet, and wow, they're actually doing this. Now he's really glad he doesn't have his Z-6, because he's running so fast that he nearly trips over a clump of mushrooms. He and Fives go skidding around the fungus tree on the left, and when they come careening around, they have a perfect view of the backs of four commando droids firing at Del's new hiding spot.
Hevy opens fire. He's gotten better at taking commando droids down—one of them can't even turn because Hevy gets it right in the neck joint. The other one is faster. Hevy's first shot only glances off it's chest plate. He has to dive to the side instead of firing again to avoid the droid's shot. He's aiming again a little frantically when a bright blue blaster bolt tears through the droid's head from behind—Del.
"You alright, Hevy?" he calls out as the commando crumples. Hevy nods and pulls himself to his feet.
"I'm good, sir!" Better than good, actually. Hevy's grinning as Fives finishes off the last droid, and it's probably a bit of a scary grin. That had been a reckless plan. Fortunately it had ended in success, so Hevy's blood is practically singing in his veins.
"I thought Coric said there were five over here?" Fives asks, since he and Hevy had only taken down four. Del gestures behind him at the two other clones who had been hiding with him.
"The Sigma men took it down. They're good shots."
"You're kriffing right, we're good shots," one of them says, but his voice is a bit distant, as if he's distracted. "Did we get all of them?"
Fives looks around. "I think so. Stay on guard, though—"
The two clones are already gone, and Hevy knows where they're going. They've just lost a squadmate. He lowers his head for a moment in respect.
The men all reconvene around where the Sigma man had fallen. Quest's shoulders are slumped. He and Beta step back to let Sigma grieve, watching the jungle for any additional signs of droids.
"The fact that those assassin droids were sent out means that the Separatists are finally feeling confident enough to face our heavy artillery. They'll start attacking soon if we don't move first," Quest mutters to them.
"Good thing we're probably nearly finished moving the troops in," Echo replies. "We'll move as soon as everyone has mobilized. We'll definitely need to report this, though."
Quest lets out a very heavy sigh.
"Oh, Force," he whispers. "I can already tell this whole campaign is only going to get worse."
Domino is silent at his words, and the dark sensation of foreboding from before returns.
Hevy tightens his grip on his gun and clenches his jaw, turning his head to make sure the rest of Beta is right there with him. Just… just as reassurance.
He has a bad feeling about this.
The Republic's first target is a large Separatist outpost responsible for transmitting enemy orders over long distances. It's range covers half of the continent, and getting rid of it it is the most obvious way to start taking the planet back. The turbo tanks and walkers are mobilized, and the Republic begins to push its way into Separatist territory within the hour of learning the outpost's location.
It is here that the nightmare truly begins, and Quest's prediction starts to come true.
The first problem the Republic encounters is the mud. Felucia's hot and humid climate is accompanied by downpours of rain that turn the dirt into thick sludge. For the first day of the official campaign, Cutup and the others spend their time struggling to free the walkers from the awful mire. It's hard work, but there are droids firing at them, and the walkers are easy targets while they're stuck. It has to be done. Fortunately the walkers aren't out of the game yet—it's only every so often that a foot will sink in too deep, and will need to be dug out.
It's bad for the walkers, and it's bad for the ground troops, too. The ooze takes extra energy to walk in, exhausting the men much faster than anticipated as they struggle to pull their feet out of the sludge with each step. It gets everywhere, so much so that on a few occasions Cutup can't even tell who he's looking at. At one point he sees Captain Rex, only recognizable by the form of the pauldron on his shoulders and the kama at his waist. The cloth is stiff from dried mud, and the blue markings on his armor are practically nonexistent as he pitches in to help free a walker, urging the men onwards.
They've completely abandoned the turbo tanks for now. They're too heavy and too large to properly dig out. The walkers will have to do for now.
The first thing the Republic troops learn is that despite the immense exhaustion that comes with the downpours, the mud brings a little bit of blessing with the curses. The clones stick out like sore thumbs in the jungle, pure white against a background of colors and the near-blackness of the wet dirt. Cutup starts smearing his armor with mud intentionally as camouflage, and though he hates to cover Commander Tano's markings on his armor it's necessary at this point to keep them alive. A clone working to dig out a walker who hasn't yet camouflaged himself gets sniped from afar, and the sound he makes as he crumples to the ground echoes horrifyingly in Cutup's mind for hours afterward.
The droids come from all sides as they march forwards, and the clones need every advantage they can take. Eventually most of the men pick up on the trick, so they're a sea of brown and black instead of snow white.
The Separatist outpost is guarded by enormous semi-autonomous proton cannons, droid-like turrets that open fire on the walkers the moment they're within range. The cannons are accompanied by hoards of B-1 and super battle droids.
The Republic forces form into a massive line a klick out from the outpost, hidden in the verdure along with the tanks. Beta squad is positioned in between two tanks with another squad. When Cutup looks to the sides, he can see lines of men and artillery at the ready through the curtains of rain, preparing for the charge.
The Separatists aren't complete idiots. Cannon rounds come screaming in. Cutup thinks that it's thunder for one confusing moment until he hears nine identical cries of pain and watches as an entire squad far off to his right is obliterated by an explosion.
The Republic doesn't wait any longer after that. The walkers open fire, and the men are right behind them, charging in as a single front.
If Cutup's being completely honest, he loses track of what's happening after the first five minutes of the charge. There's so much artillery booming around him, practically shaking the ground, and there's so much blaster fire that he can't even tell where the base is after a few minutes. There are men around him, shouting out orders, pressing forwards, dying. Diving to the side to avoid more cannon fire. Firing determinedly at the incoming Seps. He thinks he catches a glimpse of blue and green sabers in the night, but he blinks and can't find them again.
His ears hurt, and his head hurts, and he can barely see through his water-and-mud-streaked helmet. He guns down a few determined droids that are trying to approach the walkers, aware of one of his brothers right next to him—he thinks its Fives, or maybe Echo, whoever it is their motions are smooth and controlled in the way that only the real ARCs can make them.
Everything is disorienting. Cutup thinks that they're advancing, but it's legitimately hard to tell, and he's suddenly more focused on not getting shot than he is at moving forwards. He trips over something half-hidden by the mud and has to stifle a yelp when he glances down and sees the limp body of a brother at his feet.
"Look out!"
Someone grabs his shoulder and pulls him to the side so quickly that his feet slide in sludge. He gets shoved into a ditch and slides down the side to the bottom. Echo—he's fairly certain it's Echo now—slides in next to him, and not a moment later the walker Cutup had been nearest to explodes into flames. The sound makes Cutup's eardrums throb. Another clone suddenly comes tumbling into the ditch next to them, kicking up mud and splattering them even more. When the brother presses himself closer to the ground to try and protect himself as another explosion sounds, Cutup catches a glimpse of blue swirls underneath the filth. He's nearly floored by the sense of relief that overtakes him.
"Tipper, are you alright?" he says. Tipper doesn't seem to hear him over the rain and blasterfire, so Cutup shouts the question instead.
"I think so?" Tipper shouts back. Both of them flinch as an enemy cannon round lands far too close for comfort. Echo is peering over the edge of the ditch, still firing at the droids.
"Where are the others?" Cutup yells, and Tipper shakes his head.
"No clue! We got separated!" he responds, and Cutup feels a sudden spike of fear.
The others could very well be dead.
Echo suddenly swears, dropping back down next to them. He tries to scrape some of the mud off his gun, but it's not very effective.
"The droids are starting to pull back," Echo says loudly. "They're out of range."
Cutup swallows nervously. "Will we have to follow them?"
"No," Echo replies. "This is a battle of artillery now. If we try and pursue, the Sep's cannons will pick us off before we can get close. We'll just have to hope that the walkers are enough to finish the mission."
"Thank the Force," Tipper mutters. He sags just a little, smearing mud across his whole back. "This is horrible."
Cutup agrees wholeheartedly.
They wait in the ditch for the next hour, listening to the echoes of gunfire and the frantic pounding of heavy artillery. There's nothing else they can do, nothing else they're willing to risk trying, so they sit there while the rain peters out and the mud dries on their armor, silently hoping that their squad is alright and listening to the death cries of the unlucky above them.
The walkers blow the enemy base to smithereens. It's satisfying to hear, even more satisfying to watch, but once the blasterfire stops Cutup can't feel anything except a bone-deep exhaustion that makes it hard to move. He wants to sink into the mud and not move for at least a week. It sucks at his body enough as it is, and it takes enormous effort to pull himself out of the ditch.
The landscape had been colorful and vibrant despite the Separatist presence when the attack on the outpost had first started. Now the whole area is completely decimated. Muddy craters pocket the ground, and the outpost in the distance is being consumed by flames.
There's a patch of half-crushed flowers at his feet—fortunately not the bold red of the Yerdua poison spitter, but a pale purple color that almost makes them look white in comparison to the mud streaked over their petals. Cutup stares them numbly and tries to ignore the way his hands are shaking.
"Cutup, are you ready to move? We've got to find the others!" Echo says from a few feet away. It's much easier to hear him now that the battle is over. Cutup jerks his gaze back up to the warzone, steeling himself at the sight of the dozens of motionless forms stretched out across the ground. The medics are already beginning to rush in.
"I—yeah, I'm ready to go," he says, and starts to move. Tipper puts a careful, supportive hand on his shoulder that trembles just as much as Cutup's are, and even though it shouldn't be, it's comforting to know that Cutup isn't the only one shaken by all this.
He's careful to step well over the flowers as he follows Echo and Tipper. He hopes other brothers will have the presence of mind to do the same.
Once the rain stops, the dirt beneath their feet quickly returns to normal. It's a relief to not have to trudge through the mud anymore, but that just means that the jungle finds something else to throw at them instead.
Beta squad didn't lose anyone during the outpost strike. Del and Fives had kept the rest of the squad close together, and hung near the back of the tank line, shooting at the droids from afar. They'd been spared from the worst of the firefight.
They're lucky, Echo knows. Several squads had been completely decimated, and many more had lost members to injuries and death.
How long will their luck last? They all know the odds of at least one of them not making it is high. Everyone is on constant alert, but it's still not enough to keep the casualties away.
The next morning Captain Rex pairs Beta squad with another team to go on patrol and leaves them with stern instructions to watch each other's backs. He's trying to keep them alive, assign more eyes to watch out for potential dangers. Gamma squad is full of good men, skilled and brave. Echo tries not to learn their names, because knowing a name always makes things worse in the end, but he picks a few of them up anyway. Four of them are named after cardinal directions, all from the same batch on Kamino. Another is called Quake—he's their sergeant. There are four others that he doesn't know the names of.
While they're advancing towards their next target—a landing strip for Separatist transports—the clones learn that the deeper they go into the jungle the more resistance they face. Not from droids, although that's an issue as well—but from the planet itself.
Beta and Gamma are on patrol. It's quiet, deceptively peaceful, easy. No one is expecting the massive plant that suddenly reaches down and plucks one of Gamma squad from the ground. One moment everything is quiet save the chirping of insects, and the next moment a brother is being hoisted up in the air by a massive gaping mouth.
"The kriff—!?"
"Get down!"
"There's more of them!"
Another plant swoops down to try and grab someone else, and with a sick feeling in his stomach Echo realizes that the plants are carnivorous. There are a dozen of them, and they're tracking the clones' motions and striking out wherever they sense it.
"No! No, East!"
One of Gamma is frozen, staring up into the mass of writhing plants above them. He reaches up helplessly, and his voice is thick with terror. "EAST!"
"South, get down!" Quake shouts, but South doesn't move, and a plant is diving towards him—
Echo makes a split-second decision, throwing himself at South. He knocks them both to the side and feels the whoosh of air as the plant barely misses them, its maw clamping down around a fungus formation instead.
One of the no-names gets plucked up, and his startled scream goes muffled as he's lifted higher and higher until it's abruptly cut off. Echo shudders.
"Nobody move!" he yells, both out loud and into his helmet comm. "They can only sense you through motion!"
Everyone freezes accordingly, even South, who is swearing brokenly beneath him. Out of the corner of his eyes Echo can see the giant plants twitching above them as if confused. Waiting for their prey to move again.
"Echo?" Fives calls from several yards away. "What's the plan?"
Echo takes a deep breath. "Don't have one yet!" he admits worriedly. "I don't know what their limit is! How much can you afford to move without them seeing you?" He flicks his fingers experimentally, then fidgets, tilting his head to look around. When he moves to take his weight off of South, a few of the plants drift interestedly in his direction, so he goes still again.
"Well, we can't just sit here!" Nax hisses from somewhere to the side. "If we don't have a plan, let's call one of the Jedi!"
"South, you alright?" North asks through helmet comms. He's audibly shaken. South inhales shakily.
"I'm—I'm fine," he replies quietly. "But the plants took East—"
"We know," West growls. "We saw. And I'm going to make them regret it."
South jerks abruptly enough that Echo glances up at the plants in worry. "West, don't do anything stupid—"
"Hey, hey. Just stay calm, okay? We've got to survive this, West, don't—" North begins.
They're both too late. West doesn't listen to them. He gets to his feet and pulls out two thermal detonators, thumbing the triggers. The plants swarm towards him eagerly, and South yells in denial.
West hurls the thermal detonators into the air. He's trying to save them all, and for a moment, Echo thinks it's going to work. One goes directly into one of the plant's mouths, and the other soars up into the twisting vines—but West is scooped up by one of the carnivores just before his grenades go off. The twin explosions send flames racing through the plant colony, and the vines begin to thrash as they burn.
"No… no! West, you kriffing idiot, we told you not to do anything stupid!" South cries, pushing Echo aside to stand up. The plants all ignore him in their death throes, and flaming debris is beginning to fall from the canopy.
West is gone.
"Everyone, we've got to move!" Del shouts. The clones sprint to get out of range of the fiery carnage. Gamma is dragging South along behind them, ignoring his shouted protests.
The flames die out eventually, after Beta and Gamma have sent out the reports of the carnivorous plants to the rest of the GAR as a warning. When the smoke clears, Beta follow Gamma tensely back to the site of the incident to search for West, because there's a slight chance the plants had dropped him once they'd started to burn.
They don't find him. North and South are the only two members of the original batch left.
Echo wishes they could give the two more time to mourn, but the setback has put them behind schedule, and they must make up for the lost time. They're needed at the landing strip in two hours, and they can't wait any longer than they already have.
Echo quietly thanks the Force that it was members of Gamma who were taken instead of members of Beta, and can't quite shake off his guilt at that thought.
They take the landing strip. It's easier than taking the satellite outpost had been, despite taking twice as long—two days. Despite the extended period of time, this operation is textbook for the clones. Without the miserable mud and confusing rain, the turbo tanks and walkers are able to provide assistance, along with several gunships that swoop down from above. It's still rough going, but this time, at least, Fives feels like the clones have some control over what's happening. The 212th and 501st work well together, like cogs of a machine, and the mission blows over with little complications.
Beta doesn't get time to rest afterwards. Commander Tano sends them a message summoning them to the landing strip's main building, which has been converted into a pseudo-command station for the time being.
Commander Tano is waiting for them outside the building, picking flakes of dirt off of her montrals with a disgusted look. General Skywalker is with her. For a moment, Fives' conflicting feelings make themselves known—can we trust him what does he know how can we find out—before he shoves them aside. This isn't the time or place for those kinds of doubts. He has to trust in his General, just like old times. Both Jedi have looked better, but neither of them are injured.
Commander Tano's brow is furrowed as her gaze travels over the squad, making sure that they aren't missing anyone. When her face relaxes a little in relief, Fives smiles.
"We're all accounted for, sir," he tells her gently. "We're alright."
Her gaze travels over him, and he can feel it lingering over the scorch mark on his chest from that close call with the commando droids several days ago. After a long moment, she takes a deep breath.
"I'm glad you boys are okay," she says. "Are you feeling up for a mission?"
Beta squad all turn towards Del. It's his call to answer that, though if they're really needed for a mission it's not like his reply matters.
Beta is tired, but they're not falling over from exhaustion yet. They'd do anything for the Commander anyway, and that goes for everyone. Even Fives.
"We're good to go, sir," Del answers. Beta squad straightens at his words, preparing themselves. Fives tightens his grip around his weapon. "What do we need to do?"
General Skywalker chuckles. "I can see why you like them, Snips," he says. "They're tough. You picked well."
The unexpected compliment makes Fives' heart skip a beat, for more than one reason. The General's words bring up hoards of memories that Fives has been trying to stay away from: General Skywalker laughing with the men, teasing Captain Rex, greeting Echo and Fives warmly at their return from ARC training—
All before Commander Tano had left, of course. Afterwards was when he'd started to become… unstable.
Fives wants to trust General Skywalker so bad. He's the greatest Jedi Fives has ever served with, powerful and skilled and caring, unlike some of the others. Despite everything that had happened he still admires their General, respects him for his compassion and battle prowess.
"Ahsoka and I have received word from the 212th scouts that there's a small droid production facility a few klicks north of here," General Skywalker announces. "I wanted a skilled strike team to help us shut it down. My padawan suggested your squad. Think you can handle it?"
"Of course, sir," Del says, saluting him quickly. "It shouldn't be a problem."
The General grins at him. "Alright, then. We'll leave in an hour. Get as much rest as you can, men. This isn't going to be easy."
Fives doesn't doubt that. None of the 501st's missions are easy. At least with General Skywalker at their side, they have a chance at survival.
General Skywalker remembers Domino squad from the Rishi incident. He remembers the Teth survivors, too, and apologizes sincerely for Attie's loss. The only clone he doesn't know by name is Tipper, who makes short work of introducing himself.
Fives nearly freezes when General Skywalker addresses him by name, battling the influx of emotions that he fears the Jedi might be able to sense. But neither of them react, only continuing their trek through the jungle, and Fives is grateful for it.
He's not ready to talk about this yet.
Felucia is so much easier to navigate with Jedi leading the way. Every so often either the General or the Commander will pause, eyes closed as if reaching out with the Force. They steer the clones around potentially hazardous areas and advise them on different plants to stay the kriff away from.
They walk for two klicks without any incident, and it's probably the least stressful thirty minutes of the whole campaign so far. Fives is just starting to think that maybe this mission won't be terrible when sudden the two Jedi freeze.
Fives is sick of watching people freeze because they know something's coming. He and the rest of Beta have seen way too much of that in the past three days, so they raise their weapons and put their backs to each other without a word.
"Something's headed our way," Commander Tano says in alarm. "Something big, I don't know what it is."
"An animal of some sort," General Skywalker says, unclipping his lightsaber from his belt. "It feels hostile. And it knows we're here. Running wouldn't do us any good."
Cutup flinches at Fives' back.
They hear it before they see it. A monsterous screech fills the air, echoing eerily through the jungle. The clones whirl to point their weapons in the direction it had come from as the Jedi activate their lightsabers, positioning themselves in front of the squad protectively—
The creature that bursts out of the undergrowth has six clawed legs, a shell-like body, and a mouth full of too many jagged teeth to count. Fives almost recoils in horror.
Sithspit. It's an acklay.
The clones open fire.
"Kriff!" Hevy shouts. Their blue blaster bolts mostly impact with the acklay's hard exoskeleton. The few bolts that manage to hit more vulnerable places just make it angry. It recoils for an instant before screeching at them furiously, and then it starts to scuttle forwards.
"Scatter!" Del yells. The clones dive to the sides as the acklay hurtles towards them, but before it can get close the Jedi intercept it. General Skywalker leaps up into the air, far too close to all those snapping teeth for comfort. It doesn't seem to bother the General, though—he kicks the beast in the eye, sending it stumbling to the side. Commander Tano hacks off a leg at the same moment. Unfortunately, the acklay still has five more, and it stabs viciously at her with its remaining claws. She's forced to roll out of the way to avoid being skewered.
"Hey! Stay away from the Commander, sleemo!" Nax shouts suddenly, and blasterfire erupts from the side. He and Coric are peppering the acklay with fire to distract it, which works… but suddenly they're the target of its fury.
"Oh, Force, run!" Coric shouts. He and Nax scramble to get away, so Hevy shoots it from behind. Tipper and Echo join him. The acklay whirls, baring its teeth. In its slight moment of hesitation General Skywalker slashes it's flank. It snarls at him, lunging forwards—and Commander Tano hacks off another leg. This time, it falls… except it falls forwards.
Tipper and Fives manage to get out of range, but Echo has the misfortune of being closest. The acklay's teeth are feet from where Echo is scrambling away. Cutup screams in denial. Fives can only watch in horror as the monster reaches for Echo with teeth that will snap and rip and tear, no no no—
He doesn't even see General Skywalker move. One moment the General is racing towards them and the next he's in between Echo and the jaws of death, hands outstretched and eyes squeezed shut. The acklay makes a strangled choking noise, jaws straining to reach them, mere inches away, but General Skywalker keeps it immobilized with the Force.
"Ahsoka!" he shouts, voice a little strained, and Commander Tano lets out a war cry as she brings her lightsaber down on the acklay's neck.
There is a long moment of silence. Tipper finally breaks it.
"Kriff, Echo, are you alright?"
Echo is shaking, and not even trying to hide it. He lets out a breath and recovers his balance very deliberately as everyone clusters around him, shifting away from the creature's limp body.
"I'm—I'm okay, guys. Force. That was too close." He shakes his head and turns to General Skywalker. "Thanks, sir. Thank you."
"Hey, it was no problem," General Skywalker says casually. "Snips did all the hard work."
Echo shakes his head again. "All the same, sir. That… would not have been a fun ending."
General Skywalker chuckles. "No, it wouldn't have been. Besides, we need you. All of you. I won't have you dying on us yet."
And Fives—Fives doesn't know what to think after that, because General Skywalker is sincere about that. He does care, he does trust them, just as Fives had thought he did during his first life until the end of the war.
Okay, so… what that means is that something changed. Something made General Skywalker act like he had before, and Fives would be money on the combined forces of the war, losing his padawan, and the Chancellor. You know, if he had money.
That also means that it's something that can be changed.
For the first time in a while, he feels a flicker of hope that maybe his General is loyal. Echo had theorized that maybe General Skywalker is being manipulated just as everyone else is, and Fives lets himself consider that possibility briefly before jerking his mind back to the present.
Now is not the time or place to think about this. They have a job to do, and Fives needs to focus.
Droidbait had worried that the General's plan would be to storm the front doors of the factory. It's still a factory, for pity's sake, even if it is small, and that means that there are plenty of clankers around to fend off any unwanted visitors. He's relieved when General Skywalker takes the more stealthy approach this time around. The droids aren't expecting anyone to sneak in from the back, most of their forces are positioned on the east side of the factory, towards the direction of the rest of the Republic army.
Hevy throws rocks to distract the two guards at the back while Zeer and Echo sneak up behind them. The takedowns are swift and silent, earning an impressed whistle from Cutup.
It's almost too easy from there. With a Jedi in front and a Jedi in back, navigating through the hallways without being seen is easy. When they make it to the control room, General Skywalker dives in first, lightsaber flashing brilliant blue in the dim lighting. Sparks fly as he cuts the two guards into pieces. Fives, Droidbait, and Tipper are right behind him. There's a line of droids sitting at consoles who start to reach for weapons at the sight of the Jedi. Droidbait aims for those first, because any one of those consoles could have access to some sort of alarm. He fires off seven shots and grins to himself when all five droids go down hard.
Tally mark. Tally mark. Tally mark. Tally mark. Tally mark.
He's not sure when he'd stopped associating his kills with numbers. Somehow, he remembers every thought of tally mark, even though he can't say an actual number.
He has a lot of tally marks since Felucia, and he's only gaining more with every hour that goes by.
The control room is cleared within the minute. Hevy sighs as he steps over the shredded droid parts by the door.
"You could have left some for the rest of us!" he complains as the rest of the squad files into the room. Zeer elbows him.
"Don't complain," the big clone grunts. "You'll get plenty more opportunities, I promise."
"Droid Factory 003, why aren't you responding? Come in, control, this is Factory 001. Please respond."
The tinny voice comes from the holoprojector in the center of the room, and Echo suddenly gasps, diving towards the floor underneath the holoprojector. His hands scrape at the wires and plugs underneath with a frantic fever.
"Someone stall them, don't let them cut the call!" he hisses out from between his teeth. Droidbait is closest. He has no idea what he's doing, but he accepts the call. The others duck out of the holoprojector's view.
"Finally," the droid who appears says. "Factory 003, you're two minutes overdue for your update. What's the—wait a second. A clone!?"
"Uh," Droidbait says. What the kriff is he supposed to say? But Echo isn't done yet, so he grasps frantically for words. "Hi. Um, I'm here to… discuss the Republic's surrender to your forces?"
He hears a strange slapping sound, as if someone has facepalmed from their hiding spot.
"Surrender?" the droid says skeptically. It glances around the seemingly empty control room. "Where is the crew?"
"Ah, they captured me, but since I'm the official Republic-surrendering diplomat, I have the right to talk to their superiors alone," Droidbait makes up a little desperately.
"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard," he hears someone whisper, just soft enough so the holoprojector doesn't pick it up. He puts a hand behind his back and flashes a rude sign at whoever the kriff had said that. Commander Tano stifles a giggle.
"What? Who came up with that rule?"
"I… dunno. That's what they told me, though!" Droidbait defends. "Come on, droid, give me a break! I'm trying to surrender, here!"
The droid stares at him for a few moments in confusion.
"I will have to contact my superiors," it says reluctantly. "What are the terms of your surrender?"
"Welllllll…" Droidbait drawls, kicking Echo lightly under the holoprojector to tell him to hurry the kriff up, "The terms are that we are surrendering, and we'd like for the Separatists to not treat us badly once we are their prisoners."
"Force save us," someone mutters. "General, please never make him a diplomat."
"I dunno, he's not doing that bad," General Skywalker says in amusement. Droidbait grits his teeth.
"Hey!" the droid suddenly says. "What if I don't believe you, clone?"
"Then I'd be extremely surprised," Droidbait replies without really thinking about it.
"What? What's that supposed to mean?"
Blast. "Uh—"
"Done," Echo says, normal volume. Droidbait finally looks down at him to see that Echo had plugged his datapad into a port and downloaded… something.
"Done? What's done?" the droid asks. Droidbait sighs and slams on the button to disconnect the call.
"I don't want to hear it," he growls at Beta before even turning around. When he's finally brave enough to do so, they're all looking at him, and he can't see his brothers' faces but he knows what their expressions look like underneath the helmets—sly and teasing and gleeful.
"Well, I did get my hands on the location of factory 001 thanks to your suffering," Echo says, holding up his datapad successfully.
"Great job, Echo," General Skywalker compliments. His expression is carefully neutral, but there's a glimmer of laughter in his eyes that makes Droidbait groan inwardly. "Ahsoka, take Tipper and Cutup, have them help you start setting the charges. Echo, how quickly can you extract anything useful from this factory?"
"Shouldn't take too long, sir," Echo replies. He's already turning towards the nearest terminal. "Give me just a few minutes."
Echo is successful, as Droidbait knew he would be, and Commander Tano returns just as he's finishing up with Cutup and Tipper right behind her.
"We're ready to go!" she announces, and they get out of there. It's just as easy escaping as it was getting in. Droidbait wishes they had a thousand Jedi to help pull off stunts like this, because it definitely wouldn't have gone as smoothly if Beta squad had been alone.
The explosion as they leave is quite spectacular. For the moment, it almost feels like they have a chance. Who knows, maybe Domino's changed something somehow. Maybe it's enough to help the Republic take back this planet.
Later, he'll realizes how wrong those thoughts were.
The situation on Felucia is only going to get worse.
A/N: There are acklays on Felucia in the old battlefront 2 and the wookipedia page also says that acklays are an invasive species to the planet so I felt more than justified to put an acklay there even though we don't see any during the clone wars.
Hope you guys enjoyed this, more to come soon! Thank you for your support and comments, I really appreciate it! You guys keep me going! Seriously, thank you so much!
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