Okay I have two points that I wish to make before you read on. The first is that the promised trailer I said I'd put up for every tenth chapter has been added to the end of Chapter 20 so you can read that now if you like.

The second point is that the first paragraph in this chapter is meant to be like the introductory narration at the beginning of each episode of Clone Wars.

Thanks for reviewing everyone, including the new reviewer Treadstone449.

Secret of the 327th

Chapter 21:- Ryloth Resistance

The Clone Wars rage on! Rumours of war spread everywhere, and Obi-Wan Kenobi sets out for Naboo to discuss reports of enemy activity in the system with Senator Padmé Amidala while Jedi Master Luminara Unduli and Aayla Secura investigate Jabba the Hutt's reports of Separatist activity on the remote glacial world of Alzoc III. Meanwhile, Anakin Skywalker and his Padawan, Ahsoka Tano, along with three creatures from another dimension known as Digimon and three human children with special bonds to them known as Tamers, take charge of the operation to rid the rid the recently liberated planet Ryloth of the remaining droid army presence.

The hum of engines produced a long, steady rumbling noise as the LAAT gunships soared above the rugged terrain of Ryloth, lifting above the jagged cliff-tops and flying smoothly above the gritty desert sands. Twenty-four hours had passed since the Capital of Lessu had been taken, but there was little opportunity for rest for everyone. That was the reality of war. It was brutal and had to be swift and efficient. On the whole, the Republic had done exceedingly well in retaking the planet, with only a very few casualties, at least compared to a usual planet-wide liberation attempt. Of course, a lot of this was due to the Digimon and the clones now looked at all three with deep respect, even the wisecracking white one.

As of now, the three of them were standing in one of the gunships. The blast doors were open, as there wasn't any likelihood of anything shooting at them, and the clones and the Digimon stared out across the ruined planet. The three Tamers were also in this particular LAAT, but they were all sitting down at the back of the gunship, where they were both safer and out of the way. R2-D2 was standing beside them.

"So," said Lopmon over the noise of the engines. "Where are we going?"

"The city of Resdin," said Anakin, looking down at the brown bunny standing by his feet. "There may be no more Separatist ships in the system, but there's still a large droid stronghold in that particular city."

"Why that one?" asked Renamon.

"Resdin was the first casualty of this whole occupation," explained Anakin gravely. "The Separatist hit it fast and hit it hard. Any Twi'lek living there was extremely lucky to escape alive. But it got across the message that the Separatists wanted. It was the situation at Resdin that was the main lever in the surrender of Lessu."

"Why don't the droids just make it easier on themselves and run?" sighed Ahsoka. "It'd make things so much simpler for us. Then we could leave this planet and set about helping one in greater need instead of just sweeping up the trash."

"Ahsoka," warned Anakin. "A Jedi does not crave adventure."

"Sure he doesn't," Ahsoka smirked at her Master. "That's not hypocritical at all, Master."

"What did I say about being snippy?"

"But if I wasn't snippy, then I wouldn't be Snips."

"She has a point," said Terriermon. "You'd be forced to come up with another nickname. If Impmon was here, you'd already have a new one, Ahsoka."

"And what would it be?" the Togruta looked down at Terriermon curiously.

"Usually he makes a reference to someone's head, so you'd probably be Zebra-head."

"Zebra?" asked Ahsoka. "What does that mean?"

"It's a type of horse in our dimension," said Henry. "And it's covered in black and white stripes just like your head-tails."

"Right," said Ahsoka slowly.

"Maybe we should get back on topic," said Rika. "Just why do the droids stubbornly cling to this place when it's so obvious they've lost?"

"Maybe they don't have any ships that can make it into space," suggested Henry.

"It's simpler than that, kid," chipped in Captain Rex. "These are droids we're talking about. They're just not programmed to back down unless they're told to. If they've got a chance of talking out just one of us, then they'll stay and fight."

"Resdin might be a little tricky," said a clone that went by the name of Sergeant Kano. "It's a wreck now. There's barely a single building with a roof to call its own. There's rubble everywhere. The whole place is just a mess, and there could be droids hiding behind any old pile of junk."

"All this is really scaring me," said Suzie. "Those big, metal robots creep me out."

"Not surprised," said a nearby clone. "A droid army might not look like much, but it can be the stuff of nightmares."

"Ah, you're exaggerating, Tred," shrugged another clone with noticeably shinier armour than everyone else's. "We can take 'em, right Sarge?"

"Of course we can take them," Rex answered for Kano. "But keep a lid on your eagerness. You've never faced a real droid force before, Rich. They can be real tough to clear out sometimes."

"Yes, sir," Rich nodded. He was what the older, more-experienced clones referred to as a "Shiny," which meant that they were new recruits, on the front lines for the first time. If Rich survived this ordeal in Resdin, he might have a little more respect for his enemy in future.

Rex heard a slight beeping in his helmet and pressed his finger to the communications system by his ear. After a couple of seconds, he reported, "We're approaching the city now, sir. We'll be at the landing zone shortly."

"Alright, men," said Anakin. "You know the drill. We need to dig out the droids that remain in this city, and since there's a full battalion in there that might be a tough job. But on the plus sign, we've got some assistance this time. I've heard a lot of good things about you Digimon."

"Now it's time to see if Obi-Wan and Aayla were exaggerating," grinned Ahsoka.

"Ooh, do I detect a challenge in the air?" smirked Terriermon.

"I believe you do," nodded Renamon. "And fortunately, we're more than up to accepting it."

"That remains to be seen," Anakin nodded. "For me, at least."

"You won't be disappointed, sir," said Galle. "A battling Digimon is not something to be taken lightly."

"I'll take your word for it Lieutenant," said Anakin. "Prepare for landing, everyone."

There was a distinct clicking noise as the clones un-holstered their blaster and primed them. The Tamers all got to their feet. They had orders to stay by the gunships and to follow the progress of the battle through their D-Arcs, assisting where they could. Anakin's exact words had been – "You're not going to help anyone by getting shot."

This had not gone down very well with any of them, especially Rika, who insisted they been in many similar places, some even more serious and had been in the thick of the action. But Anakin had been adamant, and they'd relented, albeit very grudgingly.

The Digimon made themselves ready too, nodding to their Tamers and giving them wordless sentiments and reassurances not to worry about them. Then the gunship, along with the several ones behind them, dipped in altitude and began to descend. They swept down past cliff-faces and then came to a smooth halt on a very large ledge and alighting.

"Textbook landing," Henry said approvingly. "Wish our pilots could do that with our aircraft back home."

Everyone piled out of the gunships as a bunch of other gunships landed nearby. In front of them were a bunch of clones that had already been there, as well as two large AT-TE walkers. This was the scouting party that had been sent to the city yesterday. Behind them, the gunships lifted off, taking Seargent Kano and a squad of other clones to a different location. Rex marched straight over to the scouts and demanded a report. Then, he turned back to the others.

"What's the status, Rex?" asked Anakin.

"Less than fruitful, sir," said Rex. "They haven't been able to do very much since they arrived. The power to the holobridges are out and without jetpacks they haven't been able to cross the gaps."

"That's a hindrance and a half," sighed Anakin. He turned to Ahsoka and the Digimon. "Resdin's built halfway up a series of cliffs and the only way to get across on foot is with numerous holobridges dotted around the place. And with the power out, we're gonna have to fix that ourselves before we can proceed."

"Sounds like a job for someone I know," Ahsoka patted Artoo on the head. The astromech gave his usual twittering response.

"Then let's get going already," said Terriermon. "It's be hours since something tried to shoot me. I'm getting bored."

"If you insist," said Anakin. "You three Digimon are with Ahsoka and me. We need to escort Artoo to the power terminals and get the bridges back up."

"And I assume that you want us to destroy all droids we come across," noted Lopmon.

"Of course."

"Consider it done," Renamon's expression hardened.

"Watch yourselves," Galle said, hefting his blaster. "General Secura won't be pleased to find you're all dead when she gets back."

"Don't sweat it," said Terriermon. "It's impossible to kill a Digimon." This was technically true, as a Digimon could only be deleted, but none of them were sure what would happen to a deleted Digimon in this universe. None of them were keen to find out either.

"Come on, Artooey," Ahsoka said, and she broke into a jog, Renamon behind her. Terriermon and Lopmon took to the air. R2-D2 rolled along behind them on his three wheeled legs.

Anakin paused briefly to say "We'll meet you at the rendezvous," to Rex, before running to catch up and overtake the others so that he was leading the way. They reached two buildings by the cliff-face and the two Jedi got between them. Anakin led the way as he planted his foot on the wall of one and sprang of it and bounced off the other buildings, leaping from wall to wall until he flipped over the top. Ahsoka followed suit. When she reached the top, she found Terriermon and Lopmon were already there, standing next to Anakin. Terriermon had a look of mock-impatience on his face.

Suddenly, Renamon leapt over the lip of the building and landed gracefully, having leapt all the way up in one go instead of wall-jumping. Behind her, Artoo rose up on the jets that had extended from his legs, before coming to rest on the top.

"Follow me," said Anakin, and all of them broke into another jog as they ran along the rooftops, leaping or flying from roof to roof. They dashed along one of the few stone bridge about the place in order to cross the chasm, and made short work of a series of half-standing walls that had once been a building.

On the other side, they encountered their first battle droids of the day. They were standing with their backs to them and standing rigidly to attention, ten B-1s and two Supers. The Supers were patrolling a nearby doorway, which would be the most likely direction for a clone to walk from. They hadn't even considered Jedi leaping across the gap behind them.

"You know what?" said Anakin conversationally and completely unconcerned by the droids before him. "I'd quite like to see you in action now. How about I let you deal with those guys without any interference from Ahsoka or me?"

"Aw, but I was ready to dice them into pieces," muttered Ahsoka.

"There'll be plenty more opportunity for that," said Lopmon. "There are lots of droids around – it's plain to see that from the air."

"Good," said Ahsoka. "You reckon you can handle twelve of them?"

"Are you kidding?" asked Terriermon. "Let's get 'em."

"With pleasure," Renamon stepped down from their perch and slid down a sheet of metal until she was standing behind the droids. She calmly tapped one on the shoulder.

"Yes?" it asked, turning around. Renamon's fist merged with its face and sent it flying, head shooting off on its own over the cliff and the body knocking over another droid. The droids turned to face her and raised their blasters, but she was already in motion. Renamon knocked the blaster out of the hands of one, caught it and used it as a club to the droids head, then she swung around and sent a foot lashing into the chest of another. She dropped to the floor and swept with her legs, taking the legs out from underneath another, then leaping up, grabbing the dazed droid and swinging it into another, sending them both shooting over the edge.

Terriermon zoomed downwards and body-slammed another B-1 in the head, knocking it off, then leapt onto another, wrapping one ear around its head and ripping it out of the body forcefully. He tossed the head into the chest of another, which did nothing but make it look down at the thing at had dinged against it in confusion, but then Terriermon was upon him and his ear swung like a fist, which sent the head spinning in its socket. He leapt off the stricken droid as another shot at him. He caught himself in mid-air and wheeled around to slam forcefully into its back. It fell heavily and slid across the stone, Terriermon on its back. They both came to a stop at the edge of the cliff.

"That was close," remarked the droid, but as he said, Terriermon hopped off his back, hooked both ears under the droids legs and calmly tipped him over the edge.

Lopmon took out the last remaining B-1 with ease, as she swooped out of the sky and tore its head off by grabbing it as she passed by. Their heads really were very flimsy. But then she was faced with two droids who didn't have that weakness. The Supers levelled their wrist blasters at her. She dodged to one side, and then felt something. Suzie must have swiped a card, because an enormous hammer that she didn't look capable of carrying appeared in her hands. This was Thor's Hammer, usually found in the hand of a Digimon called Zudomon, but it'd do very well for her. She turned back to the Supers and ran for them, swinging the hammer. It caught the first one a crushing blow to the face, then she dropped to ground and struck the other one in the legs, knocking both off, before finishing it with a strike to the body.

"Not bad," said Anakin, as he and Ahsoka slid down to join them. "Twelve droids in seven seconds. Impressive."

"We could have done better though," Ahsoka folded her arms, grinning.

"The hammer was quite an interesting touch," said Anakin to Lopmon.

"What can I say?" Lopmon smiled as the hammer faded away. "I have a knack with close-ranged weapons and lightning bolts."

"Lightning bolts?"

"Some other time, maybe," said Renamon. "Shall we get going?"

"Yes we shall. We don't want to keep the clones waiting." Anakin led the way as the six of them easily crossed several more gaps, leaping from rock to rock and occasionally swinging from pipes jutting out from the wall. Anakin couldn't begin to describe just what he was feeling right now. He might just have a chance of fulfilling the prophecy with these guys helping him along. They'd made short work of the droids without using their special attacks that Aayla and Obi-Wan had described. Now, Anakin was itching to see them.

The controls to the holobridge were being guarded by more droids. This time, it was Anakin and Ahsoka that leapt in to attack while the Digimon stood back and watched. Anakin charged towards the group, deflecting the laser fire coming his way with ease. He leapt right over the two Supers that blocked his path and swept his blade through a B-1, then back the other way and through another, before spinning on the spot and slashing into the torso of another. Then he leapt up and bounced off the shoulders of another B-1, before sending several others off the cliff with a blast of the Force. Calmly, he stabbed the fallen droid in the chest.

Ahsoka took out the two Supers that Anakin had jumped over first. Her lightsaber swung as they fired wildly at her, and she sent several bolts flying back at them, taking out one and wounding the other, which she finished with a slash across the body. She leapt to one side as some more droids fired at her, then rolled forward and slashed through one as she rose up, grabbed another and plunged her blade through its chest, forcing backwards and into another so she impaled two at once. Withdrawing her blade, she finished off her spree by ducking under some blasts and slashing one upwards through the abdomen, her feet leaving the ground and then hacking through another on the downward swing.

This left only one battle droid left. It backed away as Anakin and Ahsoka turned to look at it at the same time. "Stay back," it demanded pathetically. "I warn you, I'm armed."

"Didn't stop your friends needing to be sent back to their factories," remarked Ahsoka.

"Yeah, well... I'm more skilled than them."

"I doubt that," smirked Anakin.

Abruptly, the droid suddenly went rigid, crackling with electricity. It fell to the ground, dead, and R2-D2 was standing behind him, an electric prod sticking out of the top of his head. The astromech chirped in acknowledgement.

"Nice one, Artooey," said Ahsoka, then turned to look at the Digimon, who were approaching. "So, were you impressed?"

"Maybe," said Terriermon.

It looked like the start of a real friendship.

"Alright, Artoo," Anakin indicated the console. "If you'd care to do the honours."

Artoo rolled over to the console. The others approached the ledge and looked out over it. The AT-TE walkers could be seen from here, as could the clones surrounding it. Ahsoka waved, and was fairly certain she saw Captain Rex wave back.

A compartment in Artoo's chest area opened and a small, mechanical arm emerged and entered a socket in the console. The arm began to rotate and three seconds later, the holobridge went up.

"Whoa, that was fast," remarked Terriermon. "You might be even better with computers than Shibumi."

Artoo whistled and beeped in response.

"But you should also know that I don't have a clue what you just said."

"That wasn't so tough," said Ahsoka. "Perhaps this won't be as difficult as we thought."

"Don't get overconfident," Anakin warned her. "We have no idea what we'll be facing out there. They could have tanks of their own."

"I hope our Tamers are keeping out of trouble," said Lopmon.

"I'm sure Henry will keep a handle on things," said Renamon, reassuringly. "He has a good head on his shoulders, which contrasts to Rika's hot-headedness."

"Are you saying that metaphorically?" asked Terriermon, "Or do you mean that her hair makes it look like her head's on fire." He dodged as Renamon aimed a playful kick at him. Ahsoka and Anakin both chuckled.

Anakin's holoprojector started beeping. Unclipping it and pressing the button, they saw a hologram of Sergeant Kano appear on it. "General," Kano saluted. "We've found a large group of clankers over here in our sector. Shall we take 'em, or wait for back-up?"

"What do you think?" asked Anakin. "You reckon you can take them without backup."

"Yes, sir."

"Then go ahead. Ahsoka and I are just starting our advance into the city. If you find yourself in trouble, let us know and we'll get there as soon as we can."

"Copy that, sir." Kano saluted and his hologram vanished.

"Shouldn't one of us go and help him?" asked Ahsoka. "There are only five clones in his group."

"If he thinks he can handle it, then I say we let him," said Renamon. "We can concentrate on other things instead."

"Exactly," nodded Anakin. "You could learn a thing or two from Renamon, Snips."

"If you say so, Master," smiled Ahsoka.

"Artoo," said Anakin. "Return to the gunships. The rest of you, come with me." Anakin leapt down over the edge and came to land on the ground next to the clones advancing across the bridge. Ahsoka and Renamon followed suit, while Terriermon and Lopmon glided down and alighted on one of the walkers.

The combined forces of the 327th and the 501st marched through the streets together until they came to a fork in the road. "Guess it's time to split up," said Lopmon. "We can cover more ground that way."

"Indeed," said Anakin. "You guys, go with Galle and take the right hand side. Ahsoka, Rex and I will go left. We'll meet up later."

"Right-o," grinned Terriermon. "And we'll leave you with this little spectacle, if you like. Henry, I know you're watching through your digivice. Digivolution, please."

"That makes all three of us," said Renamon.

Back by the gunships, three cards were swiped, and, as a result, three Digimon began to glow and grow bigger.

"TERRIERMON DIGIVOLVE TO... GARGOMON!"

"RENAMON DIGIVOLVE TO... KYUBIMON!"

"LOPMON DIGIVOLVE TO... TURUIEMON!"

"Whoa officially doesn't do that credit," Ahsoka's eyes were wide. Anakin's were as well, but he couldn't seen to find anything adequate to say. All of the clones of the 501st also looked equally stunned, while the clones of 327th were immune to this by now.

"We'll see you around," Kyubimon said, and they began to make their way down the right-hand street. One of the AT-TEs went with them and the three Champion level Digimon walked down the street at the head of the group alongside Galle.

"Did you see their faces?" laughed Galle, and many of the other clones joined in.

"On the whole, no," grinned Gargomon. "Most of them were wearing helmets."

"Yeah, but the Jedi weren't," said Galle. "They couldn't believe it. And trust me, it takes quite a lot to throw a Jedi off-balance. Congratulations."

"High praise indeed," said Turuiemon. "I believe we made their day with that."

"It's a pity that they won't get to see us fighting," said Kyubimon. "They'll miss quite a spectacle."

"Well, we'll give 'em the next best thing," said Gargomon. "When we come up against some droids, we're gonna make so much noise that out battle will be heard all the way back at Lessu. Right, guys?"

The clones cheered.

"Quite the motivational speech," sniggered Turuiemon.

"And I meant every word of it," nodded Gargomon.

The 327th marched forward with a will, determined to root out the stubborn droids before their General returned from Alzoc III. They swung around buildings, pointing their blasters at the gaps between them just in case there were droids hiding there. There weren't, but there was no sense in relaxing because of this. The droids had been in this city for some time, and would probably have some vague mechanical knowledge of the general area.

And sure enough, they came. Four droids rounded the corner, presumably a scouting patrol of some kind. They didn't last three seconds. The clones quickly raised their blasters and shot them to pieces and they collapsed in a useless heap.

"Be on your guard, men," Galle called to them. "You can bet that there'll be some more clankers before too long if they've got patrols here. Tread carefully and mind your aim."

Gargomon rotated his guns, eager for battle. "It's them that should be treading carefully if you ask me. Let's show 'em what the 327th are made of."

"And let's also show them what they're made of," Turuiemon nodded. "Show them their own insides."

"I like your attitude," said Galle. And he rounded the corner. Immediately he saw more droids, mostly B-1s with the occasional Super, so it was the genuine droid rabble. He opened fire and took a droid in the back and another in the side before they realised what was happening. More clones dashed out from behind the corner and crouched behind low walls. One of them got hit by a lucky shot and fell, dead, but a good deal more droids were getting hit.

Gargomon rolled out from the corner like a commando and let loose with his cannons. "GARGO LASERS!" he cried and poured said attack at the droids. He bounded over one of the low walls and ducked behind another, propelling his fire over the top and scoring countless hits on the droid forces. Robotic bodies fell left, right and centre.

Two more clones were hit by the fire being returned, and a third was yanked out the way of a strike by Turuiemon. The rabbit had amazing reflexes and had pulled the clone aside the moment she saw he was in danger. Then she sprang over the wall, switchblades extending and swung her arm so hard she span in the air as she cried "GAUNTLET CLAW!"

The attack slashed through three Supers and two B-1s. The ones on either side of the fallen turned to see what had happened to their brethren and were immediately struck down by clone fire or by Gargomon.

It was at this point that Kyubimon decided to make her move. She burst from where she'd been watching the attack and streaked straight down the middle of the street, past clone and fellow Digimon alike as she surged towards what remained of the droids. "DRAGON WHEEL!" she shouted and went the rest of the way shrouded in the dragon shaped fireball. What remained of the droids were incinerated by the inferno and collapsed.

"You reckon they heard that back there?" asked Galle, holstering his blaster and taking a Z-6 rotatory blaster cannon from his back, twirling the barrel at the end.

"Oh, I'm sure they did," said Gargomon.

"Let's press on," said Galle. "My guess is that was just a portion of what's ahead. We may have a decent fight ahead of us yet."

It was at this point that the wall of one of the buildings along the street suddenly exploded outwards in a shower of stone. More droids emerged from it, firing in all directions. Kyubimon had to wheel about to avoid being hit. Galle and the other two Digimon ducked behind a wall as a phalanx of Supers emerged from the building, ready to kill.

It was quite unfortunate for the Supers that they failed to do just that, because the AT-TE had rounded the corner by this time. The clone manning the huge cannon wheeled around and let loose two shots which obliterated the Supers, the street where they'd been standing and the building they'd come from.

"I could do that as well, you know," said Gargomon. "I just don't want to."

"You just keep telling yourself that," chuckled a nearby clone.

"You haven't seen our full potential yet, you know," warned Gargomon. "And you'll be sorry you didn't believe me."

"FOX TAIL INFERNO!"

Kyubimon was firing fireballs from her tail around the next corner. "I hate to interrupt," she said, as she sent a barrage shooting over her head. But the noise appears to have attracted the rest of the group.

"Alright, positions, men!" shouted Galle and the clones sprinted to obey. Two more clones, known as Barr and Inc, also unhooked some Z-6s and held back as other clones ran past them and took up positions. Then, as the these clones provided cover-fire, Galle, Barr, Inc and Gargomon all sprinted past and took up positions at the front, cocking their cannons.

"Eat laser, clankers!" shouted Galle and let loose. So did the other three. The storm of bolts ripped through the air and then ripped through the droids, bombarding them with a torrent of burning plasma. The droids tipped backwards under the assault and many let off their own shots, badly and inaccurately. Lasers flew around the cannon-users and managed to miss them completely, while they themselves were dead accurate.

Kyubimon and Turuiemon shared a glance and a nod, then they turned and ran back to the AT-TE. Both of them leapt on top of it, and then leapt off it on the roofs of the nearest buildings. Then, the two of them ran across these roofs until they reached another street. Both leapt down into it, cut to the left and ran across. Sure enough they quickly encountered the backs of the small droid force.

They charged.

"Sounds like they're getting a lot more action than we are, General," commented Rex, as loud explosions emanated from nearby and flashes of light could be seen above the buildings. "You reckon they're winning?"

"Well if you'd seen them fight the droids earlier, Rex," said Anakin. "You probably wouldn't be asking that question. You'd know the answer is almost definitely a yes."

There were two faint, but clearly audible cries. One went "Dragon Wheel!" and the other went "Gauntlet Claw!" As they looked over the buildings they saw what appeared to be a plume of blue fire and a flash of white light rise into view.

"Looks like they're using those special "attacks" that Aayla told us about," said Ahsoka. "Which one of them do you reckon is doing the fire?"

"I wouldn't think any of them would be capable of doing that to be honest," shrugged Anakin.

"But it's good news for you though, right?" Ahsoka looked up at the taller Jedi. "Imagine the look on Count Dooku's face when she sees something shooting blue fire at him without a flamethrower. Let's see him try that."

Anakin shook his head, chuckling. "I'll make sure I have a holorecorder so I can watch it over and over again."

"I might ask you to lend it to me if I ever get bored," said Rex.

Anakin's holoprojector beeped. Once activated, Sergeant Kano appeared again. "What is, Sergeant?"

"There are a few more droids over here than we previously thought, sir," Kano informed him. "We discovered a possible number of outposts. We just took out one of them, but there are at least three more. We could do with some back-up. The shinies are willing, but a little rash."

"How do you know there are at least three more?" asked Ahsoka.

"We heard one of the droid mention an Outpost Four, sir," said Kano.

"Hold your position, Sergeant," said Anakin. "We'll be right there. And Ahsoka and I will bring a little back-up."

"Copy that, sir," Kano disappeared. Anakin placed the holoprojector back on his belt and hailed Galle through the comlink on his wrist.

Galle and Gargomon took out the last remaining Super at the same time, while Turuiemon skewered the last B-1 in the chest with one switchblade.

"That was real easy," said Galle. "I could get used to working with you guys pretty easily."

"We aim to please," said Kyubimon, as she tossed a droid she'd picked up with her tails over the buildings.

Galle's wrist comlink beeped. Pressing it, he said, "Yes, General, we just took out a medium-sized droid force with only four casualties," he said.

"Impressive," said Anakin. "But I'm afraid you're going to have to forfeit your trump card, Galle. Sergeant Kano just called with a request for back-up. I want myself, Ahsoka and all three Digimon to go and help him out."

"I'm sure we'll manage, sir," said Galle. "I'm sending them over now, General."

"Good man."

"Alright, you three. You heard him. You better double back and meet up with him."

"Alright," said Turuiemon. "Good luck with the rest of this sector, Galle."

"Thank you," Galle nodded. The Digimon turned back and began to run back through the streets they'd just come down at a steady pace, past the AT-TE walker and dead droids. They ran past buildings, until they reached the fork in the trail and they swerved off to the right. Within a minute or two, the 501st platoon came into sight. The clones cheered as the Digimon ran past them, not panting in the slightest.

"Good," said Anakin. "You're here. You up for a little detour?"

"Bring it on," said Gargomon.

"Then follow us," said Ahsoka.

"Rex, you and your men keep going this way," said Anakin. "You three, try and keep up."

With that, Anakin and Ahsoka leapt upwards, using the Force to power their leap and onto the roofs of the nearby buildings. They began to sprint along the top of them.

"Now, if you ask me, that's not particularly fair on you guys," said Rex.

"Who cares about fair?" Kyubimon winked. One card slash later, and bat-like wings erupted from the shoulders of all three of them. The clones started backwards in amazement. "Bye," nodded Kyubimon and the three of them took to the air, flapping over the lip of the buildings and setting off in hot pursuit of the Jedi.

"I thought Waxer was telling me fibs when he said they could do that," muttered a nearby clone.

Anakin turned back to see if they were following and was surprised to see no sign of them. He pulled to a halt, as did Ahsoka, and they both stared in the direction they'd come, expecting the Digimon to appear over the top and run towards them.

When they didn't, Ahsoka said, "Maybe we made a slight error in our judgement and they can't follow us."

"Or they're just being really slow for some reason," Anakin's eyes narrowed.

"Or maybe we've already overtaken you," came Turuiemon's voice from above. Looking up, the Jedi saw all three Digimon with large wings zip overhead.

"Hey, no fair!" shouted Ahsoka, and she set into her run again, with Anakin right behind her.

"Come on!" Gargomon called down to them. "We're just getting our second wind."

"Having wings gives you an advantage," pointed out Anakin.

"Well, you should have thought about that before you declared a race."

"I see STAPs up ahead," said Kyubimon.

"Not for long," Gargomon raised his guns.

"Wait," called Anakin. "We'll handle them. So Snips, you wanna level the playing field a bit?"

"I'm game," the Togruta grinned. Both of them increased their pace slightly and leapt upwards, towards the STAPs that were motoring towards them group. Anakin landed first on the front of one.

"Hey, who are you?" asked the droid, before getting kicked off his transport and having his place taken by the Jedi. The other STAP wheeled to shoot at Anakin, but the driver suddenly had a red boot kick him and the side, losing his balance, his body decided it would be best to obey gravity, which led to the death of the droid.

"Now, this is more like it!" whooped Ahsoka and the five of them rocketed through the air at top speed, laughing and hollering to the sky. This was one of those moments where the war was almost put to one side, and it just became a time for fun and enjoyment. Of course, several droids down below spotted them shooting overhead and attempted to shoot them down, but they were always bombarded by red lasers from the STAPs, green ones from Gargomon, white streaks of light from Turuiemon, or blue fireballs from Kyubimon.

Ahsoka zoomed downwards and into a ravine, before zipping back up, yelling in elation. The Togruta said, "You reckon Kano and his troops are alright?"

"Kano's a veteran," pointed out Anakin. "He can take care of himself, unlike a little Huttlet I used to know."

"You mean Stinky?" asked Ahsoka. "You don't need to remind me about him."

"Who was Stinky?" Turuiemon drew level with Ahsoka.

"A baby Hutt we had to rescue from the Separatists. It was so difficult to work with the little guy."

"You think that's bad?" asked Kyubimon. "You should try being locked in a room with Terriermon for three days."

"Excuse me, but I seem to recall that being the focal point of our mating," protested Gargomon.

"My point exactly."

"I hate you."

"You were..." Ahsoka blinked. "Do I even want to ask?"

"Probably not," Kyubimon said. "It's funny, but usually if you go back in time and change something, one thing you might want to change would be the time you got captured, but I'd actually rather keep it, considering what happened."

"I've changed my mind. I don't hate you. I feel the exact opposite."

"Say it."

"Say what?"

"Gargomon!"

"Alright, alright. I love you."

"Aww," grinned Ahsoka. "That's so sweet."

"Yes, but it also happens quite frequently," said Turuiemon. "And what they do behind closed doors is better left behind closed doors in my opinion."

"Come on, sis," Gargomon grinned. "If we ever get back, I'm sure Impmon would come asking Kyubimon for hints about to do with you in..."

"Finish that sentence and I'll cut your wings off."

"Let's focus, people," said Anakin. "We're approaching the area."

The sound of laser fire began to pierce the air. Eyes widened and they quickly put on speed. Swerving around a corner, they saw Kano and his four clone shinies pinned down behind a low wall as a bunch of droids were firing on them.

"Looks like we arrived just in time," Anakin remarked as he opened fire with his STAP. He mowed down four of the droids before they realised what was happening, and when they did realise what was happening, another group of them had been cut down by Ahsoka. The Jedi leapt off their STAPs in mid-air and came down hard, lightsabers drawn and they went a-cleaving.

Kyubimon also alighted and ran towards Kano's men. She leapt atop the wall they were hiding behind and began to rain down fireballs with extreme prejudice, sending out a barrage of nine every four seconds.

Gargomon saw something out the corner of his eye as he and Turuiemon flew to join the others. Looking up, he saw a commando droid had leapt off the top of a battered, half-standing building and was heading for Turuiemon. "Look out!" he cried, and changed direction, ramming into her and knocking her aside. The commando droid crashed into one of his wings and fell off, plunging into the canyon below.

But Gargomon had lost control at the sudden weight and went spiralling downwards, yelling. The rabbit flapped desperately and managed to grab some semblance of control before coming to crash right in front of the droid lines.

"Ow," he said, as he attempted to lever himself up. The droids had hesitated at the new arrival, but they raised their blasters at Gargomon as he climbed unsteadily to his feet.

"Gargomon! Look out!" Ahsoka cried as she cut through a Super that had taken a swing at her.

Gargomon managed to avoid the first couple of shots thrown at him by diving to one side. They followed his progress though, but Gargomon raised his cannons. "GARGO LASERS!" he cried, and opened fire, cutting down droids where they stood.

But there were more droids turning towards him and pointing their weapons his way. Gargomon backed away, keeping up his continuous stream of attacks. Anakin and Ahsoka slashed and hacked, battling their way over to him furiously. But they needn't have bothered, because Turuiemon swooped down after recovering and came to a halt above Gargomon. Her arms were crossed in front of her, and a ball of purple electricity that was definitely not her own attack was building up before her.

"ELECTRO SHOCKER!" Turuiemon shouted and unleashed the bolt of purplish electricity, which fried the droids where they stood.

"Nice," said Gargomon. "But you still owe me one."

"What, using Kabuterimon's attack to save your ass doesn't count?" asked Turuiemon.

"I would have thought of something," Gargomon shrugged, grinning. "But thank you anyway."

Turuiemon rolled her eyes. "And I suppose you've forgotten that fact that I saved you from getting munched by a Fwit on Maridun."

"Oh yeah. Uh, call it even then."

"No, you still owe me, because I just saved you again."

"Damn."

"That was pretty damn good," said Kano, emerging from where he'd been sheltered. "Thanks for the save, General. You got here at just the right moment."

"Happy to help, Sergeant," nodded Anakin. "And I agree with you, that was very intriguing. I can tell you guys are used to working together as a team."

"When you have prophecies made about you, that tends to happen," said Kyubimon. "And where we come from we've often had to work as a team to deal with threats."

"As the old saying goes," said Turuiemon. "There's no I in team."

"That's good," said Kano. "I might use that the next time I come across a clone with a taste for single-handed heroics."

"And me for a rampant Padawan I happen to know," Anakin smirked.

"Ha-ha. I think I'm gonna die laughing," Ahsoka folded her arms.

"I wouldn't advise that," Gargomon laughed. "Then he'd have to get a new one."

"Oh shut up," sighed Ahsoka.

"So, about these outposts, Sergeant," Anakin turned to Kano. "What do you know?"

"Only what we've told you, sir," said Rich the shiny. "When I shot one of the clankers I knocked off a holoprojector and it started to display two droids talking about it. From the sounds of things we've managed to take out Outpost Two, but they dismissed the idea, saying that Outpost Four would have warned them if there'd been an attack. Then the droid realised his communicator was on and it turned it off."

"You mean to tell me that it gave us useful information without even realising it?" Ahsoka laughed. "That's stupid even for them."

"These droids are officiously more stupid than I thought," Gargomon kicked a carcass over the cliff. "They could do with a couple of brain cells. It would work wonders."

"Maybe having brain cells would help you along too," quipped Turuiemon.

"Oi, you don't have any either."

"Momentai."

Everyone turned to look at Ahsoka, who had just spoken. "It's spreading," muttered Kyubimon. "It's like a disease."

"But it's my word," protested Gargomon. "I don't want it to spread."

"It's not your word. I belongs to the Cantonese."

"Maybe we should stop talking while we're ahead," advised Anakin.

"Quite," said Kyubimon. "Gargomon, and only Gargomon should make comments like that if you ask me. The thought of everyone else being Terriermon-like is... disturbing to say the least."

"But you wouldn't have me any other way, would you," Gargomon draped an arm over Kyubimon's shoulders. The fox shook her head.

"No, I wouldn't."

"Save the intimacy for later," said Turuiemon. "Shall we go and blow up a few outposts."

"Now, that I like the sound of," Kano hefted his blaster.

"Let's go, Skyguy," said Ahsoka. "Let's see how many outposts we can take out before dark."

And indeed, it did go dark. Resdin was on the brink of the half-year darkness, which meant that it was at the point of the planets rotation where there was such thing as night and day for a few days before it became dark permanently for six months.

On the whole, the liberation of the city went rather well that day. Most of the droids were blown to smithereens but clones or Digimon, or they were cut to pieces by Jedi or Digimon. The sun set, and night rolled in slowly, unlike the instant changes associated with the Digital World.

Most of the clones settled down for the night, but Kano and his group, along with the Jedi and the Digimon, began to fight their way to what remained of the outposts.

On the other side of the city, there were two clones who were still up and about. Captain Rex and a second clone Sergeant known as Boomer were on a patrol around the city. They were riding AT-RTs and the small walkers plodded along with rhythmic footfalls.

"This isn't particularly interesting you know, sir?" said Boomer, as he steered his walker around the corner. "Don't you think we should be getting some rest before tomorrow?"

"We need to make sure that there aren't any more droids hanging around this place that we previously missed, Boomer," said Rex. "And don't forget, a city like this might allow a few Gutkurr or some other predator to get in and snack on us while we sleep. Not to mention there could be a few smugglers around which are looking for a quick score, if you follow me."

"Ah," nodded Boomer. "I see. Good point."

"Course it's a good point," said Rex. "Anything that wants to kill is has to go."

"Well, I don't see anything," said Boomer. "I wonder if... Oh, wait a minute, I see something." Boomer leaned back in his seat, pointing the "head" of the walker upwards and, as a result, the cannon. He fired, and the laser connected with the top of a Dwarf Spider Droid that had been walking down the Cliffside above them. Its feet left the rock and it plummeted into a heap in front of the clones.

"Nice shot," observed Rex. "Dead on target too. Let's keep going, and we should keep an eye out for more Spiders."

They continued to walk forwards, patrolling through thin canyons and occasionally leaping over rubble that blocked their path. They did indeed encounter two more Spider droids, both of which were taken out by Rex before they could do more than turn to look at the clones. There was also a random Super at one point, which had somehow managed to evade the clone's assault before.

But then there was a whooshing noise. Looking up, the clones pulled back as a Vulture Droid went soaring overhead, skimming the cliff tops above them. It was definitely going somewhere. If it was on patrol, it would have turned to shoot them. But it didn't. That was not its objective.

"Phew," Boomer breathed. "I thought we'd had it then."

"So did I for a moment," nodded Rex. "I hate Vultures. They're just so..."

"Sir, look!" Boomer cried, pointing ahead of them. Rex looked around sharply and saw something emerging from a tunnel that went straight through the cliff. Rex caught a brief glance of a humanoid figure with an oddly shaped, large head, and some sort of cape billowing out behind it, before it disappeared round the corner.

"Did you see it sir?" asked Boomer.

"Hell, yeah," said Rex. "Whatever it was, it wasn't a droid. Let's go check it out. I'll contact General Skywalker."

The vulture droid that had flown over the two came to an abrupt end when Turuiemon sent a blade of white light whizzing through it, slicing off one pair of its legs. It plummeted down and slammed into a group of other droids guarding the outpost.

Anakin drove his blade through a Super and sent two more off the cliff with a wave of his hand. Ahsoka rebounded off a droids shoulders and took off the arms of another Super, before lifting them up with force and sending them both whizzing into two battle droids, then skewered the Super.

"BUNNY PUMMEL!" Gargomon smashed a nearby wall, which promptly began to rain down debris onto anything below. Gargomon got out of the way quickly, but a good number of droids could not say the same.

Kyubimon had Kano and Rich on her back. She darted through an opening in the droid lines, using her tails as clubs to send two droids flying. She approached the outpost building, upon which point the two clones hurled thermal detonators into it. A few seconds later, the building exploded with a colossal boom. Turning back to get out from under falling metal, they found that the other droids had been taken out from shots from the other clones.

Ahsoka beheaded the last droid, before deactivating her lightsaber and saying, "Easy as pie."

"WHAT A SPLENDID PIE! PIZZA PIZZA...!"

"Gargomon!"

"Sorry, Kyubi."

"What do we do now, sir?" asked Kano. "Shall we head back to base?"

"I think so, Sergeant," said Anakin. "We..."

The holoprojector beeped again. This time it was a hologram of Rex that appeared when Anakin pushed the button.

"Sir, we've found something."

"Not now. I'd quite like a bath," said Gargomon.

"What is it, Rex?" Anakin ignored him.

"Looks like someone's here other than us and the droids," said Rex. "I'm sending you the co-ordinates so you rendezvous with us."

"Someone else?" asked Ahsoka. "Who would want to come to this place? It's not exactly a holiday resort."

"Didn't get a good look at him sir, but it could be a... Wait. Contact! AARGH" A holographic laser struck Rex in the shoulder and the clone keeled over, a hand pressing to the impact area.

"Rex! What's happening?" cried Anakin.

But the holoprojector went dead.

"REX!"

Cliffhanger much? Hopefully I should get the next chapter up within a couple of days. Thanks again guys.

Next time...

Star Wars based chapter. Half of the following chapter will follow Obi-Wan Kenobi on the mission mention in the intro earlier. The second half will follow Aayla and her travels with Luminara to the ice planet. Both are key to the next few chapters.

Coming up:- Chapter 22 : Juma-9 and Alzoc III