Alright, I'll try not to make the "comic-relief" go dark (because I am so close to doing that). As for our team, we get to see how well they're doing-if at all.

Grenades buzzed in Rex's ears as he dodged flying debris. Carnage raged in fires around him, smoke billowing and rising into the midnight sky. The civilians that had taken up aim on their rooftops had lessened somewhat, but it was due more to injury, and helping taking care of the wounded men. So far, Rex had only tallied two civilian deaths.

The giant machines that had been ravaging the capital were slowly starting to migrate in on their point in the plaza. There were six of the drones surrounding them, their towering bodies and long tentacle like arms destroying anything in their path.

"Get the civilians off of those roofs and into their basements!" Bliz barked, firing as quickly as he could. More Lizards seemed to be pouring in an endless stream from alley ways and sewers. Their small platoon was getting flooded quickly. Air support was out of the option because bombing civilian homes wouldn't have helped their cause.

The large black-and-glowing-blue drones loomed ever closer. In his helmet, Bliz could see the tally number of lost men steadily rising as their numbers dwindled. A high-pitched beeping noise was heard in the back of his helmet, alerting him to incoming danger.

"Grenade!" Bliz dove for what little cover there was, watching as clones who weren't fast enough got caught in the blast, and still others were hit by flying debris.

"I just got word from our outer defenses," Rex yelled, skimming to a stop beside Bliz and kneeling on a knee. "Generals Kenobi, Cloen, and Mundi are fighting off Lizards in the destroyers. They've infiltrated the defenses through crates that were dropped off from here by Verocian and Republic transports."

"In?" Bliz huffed, ducking under a red laser.

"Yes, in," Rex responded. He jumped up to the top of the boulder they were taking cover behind, not liking the immediate sight before him.

The houses in a 200 meter radius were destroyed or falling apart. Luckily, no more civilian bodies were appearing in the streets, but the droids at the end of the road were quickly advancing, stepping over the large rubble and targeting anything that moved.

"Rex! Watch out!" Rex immediately felt the wind knocked out of him as Bliz tackled him to the ground, just barely missing the long sweeping arm of the drone.

The obsidian metal groaned as its arm swung back toward the two clones. The Lizard inside flicked its tongue out angrily, moving the controls to attack Rex and Bliz.

Bliz jumped up from his position on top of Rex, pulling out his double blasters again as he dodged the long arm.

What he didn't see was the second arm that came from behind.

"Bliz!" Rex wasn't heard above the sound of plastoid armor breaking.

The solid black arm first slammed Bliz's body into the wall of a small home. Rex could hear the crack of Bliz's helmet as extreme pressure was applied. The tentacle pulled back, wrapping itself around Bliz's waist and slowly pulling upward. Pieces of armor fell from his arms and chest as his limp body rose higher and higher into the air.

"Bliz!" Rex pulled his blasters out of their holsters, firing at the arm and the Lizard that controlled it.

A grenade hit the side of the massive drone, tipping it sideways but not knocking it over.

Bliz's cracked helmet jostled, then slipped off of his head, falling to the ground with a loud crack.

From his position directly below him, Rex could see his brother's eyes crack open from unconsciousness. He saw his eyes widen in pain, shock, and…fear. Bliz's hands stretched slowly toward Rex as his mouth widened in a silent scream.

With sudden speed, the arm jerked upward, lifting the Commander up and over its back. His body disappeared into the top of the drone, but Rex could hear the dull thud of plastoid hitting something hard.

Anger fueled through Rex's veins as his trigger finger fired shots without his thinking. He dodged the first swing of an arm from the drone, ducking under and rolling behind a boulder.

"Aah!" Kiki screamed as she was lifted from the ground by a drone tentacle. Rex twisted on his heel, aiming toward the controller of the drone that had hold of Kiki.

Kiki struggled against the tight grip of the arm, slamming her fists against the hot metal. She tried to activate her lightsaber, but the second arm of the drone shot forward and knocked it out of her hand, sending her arm into a painful angle behind her back. She screamed louder, gripping her shoulder in pain.

A few meters in front of Kiki, behind the drone, Ahsoka and Danda were desperately trying to fend off the tentacles from the drone. Ahsoka was the first to be grabbed, the black tentacle wrapping around her slender waist and harshly dragging her upward. Danda yelled her name, distracting herself for one crucial second. The other arm grabbed her from behind, yanking her up towards the basket it had on its back. She beat her fists against the burning metal, singeing the skin on her hands.

Electricity shot through the arms to the two Padawans at the ends. Ahsoka's back arched backwards as electric shock flowed through her system. Even from across the plaza, Rex could hear the screams of the two girls as they were electrocuted.

From somewhere in his peripheral vision, Anakin's limp body was being carried up to the back of the drone.

Each member of Crusade Squad was being picked off one by one, other clones trying to go in and defend their brothers against the oncoming droids and Lizards.

"Help!" Marik reached out for the arms of another clone, gripping as hard as he could. His bloody glove slipped against the plastoid of the other clone, and he was taken up screaming into the holding cell in the back of the drone.

Rex was the last to be taken.

As his broken body was hauled into the air, his blue-marked helmet with its distinctive Jaing eyes clattered to the ground.

Alick noticed that, after their first incident with the Lizards, Aella was walking closer to him than usual. Occasionally, the back of her hand would brush against his, and he would stiffen, but not say anything.

Sometimes, when there was an unusual rustling in the bushes, she would immediately put her hand to the blaster on her thigh, stepping even closer to Alick.

"I think I recognize this place," Aella said, looking around at the densely packed trees and bushes.

Recognize it? All I've seen so far is trees, bushes, and mud, Alick thought sourly.

"I think this is where my father and I used to go hunting!" Aella said, her bright green eyes lighting up.

Hunting? Aella never ceased to stop amazing Alick. But, even through the brightness in her eyes and the soft smile playing on her lips, he could see that the death of the Lizard she's killed was still bothering her. More than once, when they'd stopped to rest, he heard her throwing up in the bushes, away from the main group so they wouldn't hear her.

But Alick heard, and he saw. He'd wanted to comfort her, but what was he supposed to say? It gets better with time? You'll get used to it? He knew better than to tell her those things. If they hadn't worked before, they wouldn't work a second time.

"—my father always said that this was his favorite place to hunt," Aella said, almost startling Alick.

Great, she'd been talking, and he wasn't eve paying attention. "Those were the days…" she said, her voice dropping off and her smile fading.

Alick felt it wasn't his place to ask, so he didn't. They walked on in silence for a few minutes, Aella thinking about what it was like hunting with her father, and Alick wondering what could have made her so upset.

Females are weird, he thought, watching Aella through the 360 degree camera on his helmet. The heat didn't seem to bother her one bit—it actually brought a bit of color to her cheeks.

That's a nice shade of pink, Alick thought, then almost jumped at his choice of words. Where had that come from?

"We'll make camp for the night, you need your rest," General Unduli said, pausing and sitting on a log. They'd been walking for six hours; it was a surprise that Aella had made it that long, because Alick's feet were killing him.

Aella sighed and went to sit down on a large tree stump. They were in a relatively clear area, with dead leaves and mud on the ground instead of plants. The sun was getting low on the horizon, the orange sky turning a dark purple.

For a moment, Alick didn't know what to do with himself, so he sat where he stood (which wasn't very comfortable) and pulled off his helmet. Aella gasped, staring wide eyed at Alick's face.

Stunned as well, Alick did a quick mental check-over of what had happened recently. His hair was probably (most likely) a little over-grown, and sweat would most likely be on his forehead, but other than that, he couldn't think of anything that would be particularly alarming.

"What?" too stunned to ask her a proper, respectful, question, Alick said the first thing that came to his mind.

"You just…look much different from what I expected," she said quietly.

"Oh…" Alick wasn't sure what he was expecting. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? He wondered, taking in her features for the first time without his helmet. Her face was much…neater looking without all of the data interrupting her features. Her cheeks seemed rounder.

"How so?" he asked without thinking.

"You're younger."

"…" Alick didn't have a valid response to that. So what if he looked younger than she thought he would? At least she was actually looking at him rather than through him the way most civilians did.

And that almost made Alick smile.

"Would you like a ration bar, ma'am?" a soldier said, walking up and offering a plain white cylinder.

"Oh, no thank you," she said, waving a hand at the proffered food. "I have my own."

The clone nodded silently and walked back to his squad.

Alick hadn't noticed he'd bristled until he settled back into the muddy ground. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Aella while he bit into his own ration bar. Can't have her royal highness choke on her food, now can we?

"Would you like one?" Aella held out a small, round flat item to him. It was pail in color, and it looked hard.

Wordlessly, Alick took the flatbread and bit into it. "This…actually tastes good!" Alick said around the flatbread. It was mildly sweet, and softer than he'd thought it would be—more like a cookie. He took another bite before he even finished his first one.

"You really think so?" Aella smiled in wonderment. "I personally don't really like them that much, but they're good for long hunting trips. This was even the best batch I've made."

"You made these?" Alick asked around his mouthful of flatbread. She made these?

"Yeah, you really like them?" Aella, blushed and pushed a blonde curl behind her ear.

The light pink blush on her cheeks made her look…nicer. That was the only word Alick could actually think of at the moment. He also noticed it brought color to her lips.

Quickly, Alick focused his attention on something that wasn't her. The sky…was dark. The trees…were also dark. Everything was dark.

Just my luck, aint it? He thought a little sourly.

"You okay kid?" one of the other troopers said, giving him a sly smirk. "You look like you just went to heaven."

Alick shot them a nasty look while they all laughed. He looked to the log where Aella had been sitting, wanting to see her reaction for whatever reason.

She wasn't there.

"In case you're wondering where you're pretty princess went," the same trooper spoke up, calling across the hastily set fire.

Fire? When did that get there? Alick focused on the flames rather than whatever teasing tones the older men were using.

"She said she was going for a walk. Don't worry, General Unduli knows where your girl friend is." More hooting and howling came from the other side of the camp fire.

Alick gave a half sigh, half growl, before standing up and slamming his bucket on his head. He stalked off into the jungle, not caring that he could potentially lose the group. He could just contact them and he would get their position on his HUD.

He was looking for Aella.

Lately, she'd been the only person who hadn't tried to annoy him in as many ways possible.

Aella…Alick thought absently, crunching through the underbrush. Alick stopped suddenly, getting a feeling of wanting to kick himself in the head. You dik'ut! he mentally yelled at himself. You can't think that way about a princess. You'll be kriffing executed!

Alick began stomping angrily through the jungle again, this time with burning anger in every footstep. First, they have to bring along a whiny princess who turns out to be good in a fight, and then he gets teased just for looking at her, and then he can't stop thinking about her.

His day was going great.

Alick burst through a line of bushes, barely aware of surroundings—he was too angry at his idiocy to notice the person swimming in the water.

Alick froze when he saw the head bobbing in the cool blue pool, occasionally dipping under again.

"Oh!" Aella's head snapped to where Alick was standing. "I didn't see you there!"

Alick couldn't get any words out of his throat. From what he could see, the princess was bathing.

"I'm not naked, you know," Aella said, rising from the water a little. And she was right; she had a different pair of hunting clothing on—but even still, Alick felt his face warm up at her blunt wording.

Slowly, Aella climbed out of the water, blonde hair dripping with water. "Were you looking for me?"

Up until that point, Alick hadn't said a word. He was still a bit speechless, but he managed to formulate a word. "No."

"Oh…" Aella looked down embarrassedly, running a hand through her sopping hair, and getting it caught on a tangle.

The air between them only grew more awkward as Alick continued to stand, feeling completely out of place.

"I…was just wondering where it was you went," Alick said after a moment. Dik'ut! Didn't you just say you weren't looking for her?! Alick groaned within the confines of his helmet.

"You…wanna have a seat?" Aella said, patting the dirt beside her as she sat down.

Again, words refused to formulate themselves inside Alick. Wordlessly, he sat down beside Aella, staying a respectable one meter away.

Aella chuckled at his exaggerated distance and scooted a little closer. "No need to sit so far," she said, smiling softly at him.

Was that a flirt? How was he supposed to react to that? Flirting was against regulation, so Alick thought it would be best to tell her something along the lines of that. "With respect, Your Highness—"

"No need to call me that," Aella interrupted him, looking at what she could see of the sky. "It's just a title."

Alick, once again, didn't know how to respond. She was royalty; she had more power than him, and in some cases, even more power than the Jedi themselves. He hoped he wasn't making a mistake sitting less than a meter from her.

"—It was always so much fun, going hunting with my Father. My mother always used to complain that it wasn't something a princess did."

Once again, Alick hadn't been listening. A bit of shame rested in his gut as he realized this.

"What's your name?" Aella asked, realizing he hadn't even been paying attention.

She didn't even know his name—and for some reason, that hurt. "It's Alick," he said a little curtly.

Aella didn't seem the least bit offended. "Alick…" His name sounded nice when she said it. He thought about that. "I…I just wanted to thank you for earlier…"

He knew exactly what "earlier" meant.

"You don't have to—" Alick didn't want to put Aella through that kind of trouble.

"No, no, it's fine," she said, running a hand through her still-damp hair. She looked briefly to the visor of his helmet.

"It still bothers you," Alick stated. He knew he wasn't the best at conversation, but this was borderline ridiculous.

"Well…yeah…" Aella face paled from its pretty pink shade, which Alick had realized was part of her natural Verocian skin tone.

Alick wasn't sure what to say. To compensate, her shifted a few centimeters closer to her.

"Can you…take your helmet off?" Aella asked, biting her lip.

"What for?" Alick asked, the strange inquiry snapping him out of his thoughts.

"The visor, it's a bit…well, distracting. I need to see your face." Aella briefly shifted in her place.

Alick did as he was told. The air was surprisingly cool for the normally hot jungle, the breeze running through his hair as he inhaled.

Once again, what sounded like a tiny gasp escaped Aella's lips.

"Better?" Alick asked, the hint of a small smirk tugging the corner of his lip upwards.

Aella nodded wordlessly.

Words stuck in his throat—again—as Alick took in full sight of Aella. Her skin was almost glowing in the scant moonlight, golden hair already drying and re-curling. Alick twitched forward, little by little…

The first kiss was a little awkward.

Which was just as well, as neither of them had ever done something like that before. Alick felt his stomach flip-flop a few times—in a good way, not in the pre-dangerous-battle way.

It felt…nice.

Alick was the first to pull away, trying to get a sense of what had just happened.

"I…I didn't mean to…" Aella's face burned a flaming shade of red, making her pink skin only more attractive.

"No, it's fine," Alick whispered. The kiss was nice, albeit awkward.

The second, however, was a bit of a different story.

Alick was already getting used to the whole "intimacy" thing that his brothers always talked about. All they ever had were posters of girls on their barracks walls.

Aella placed a hand on Alick's chest piece. Surely, she could feel how fast his heart was beating.

He knew how fast it was.

"Alick…" Aella muttered, placing a hand firmly on his chest piece.

Alick almost didn't hear her. He pressed further, new feelings starting to spread through his gut.

"Alick!" Aella pulled back suddenly, chest heaving. "I…I can't…"

With sudden guilt, Alick realized he'd probably been going too fast for her. "I'm sorry I—"

"No, it's not that, it's just…" Aella bit her lip, looking away nervously. "I…I shouldn't be doing this."

Shouldn't be doing this? Confusion was the first emotion to appear on his face, but just under that, he looked…stung.

"Why not?" Alick asked. He searched her bright green eyes for an answer.

"It not proper. For someone of my status…to…to," she stumbled over what she was trying to say. "I'm a princess."

Alick's hurt widened a bit. "So? I know that?" Alick desperately hoped he wasn't going to hear what he thought he would.

"I'm sorry, but I can't do this. As a princess I can't—"

"But you said that was only a title!" Alick said, a little loudly.

Aella flinched. "I know but…I'm sorry, Alick." She avoided eye contact. "I'm not supposed to be doing this. It's not proper, especially for someone of my status."

Alick sat back, deeply hurt by now. And here, he thought he was making a friend, or at least someone he could confide in. Alick's face hardened in bit back anger, confusion, and pain. She was just like everyone else.

"Well, fine then," Alick said coldly. He stood up, back ramrod straight as he turned to walk away from.

"Alick…" she said softly. Just as he turned, Alick thought he saw tears in her eyes, but it was just the moonlight.

He slammed his helmet on his head, drowning out any last traces of her voice. His eyes were stinging. Nonsense, the logical man in him said. There's probably dust gathered in you bucket. You should clean it out later on.

Alick walked back to camp, forcing his mind to focus on other things except for the pain in his chest.

In the end they were always the same.

She was no different. She was just like everyone else.

Sorry to make their relationship so sour, but at least this chapter is a bit longer. I'll try not to focus too much on the side story, unless you want me to, that is. Next chapter should contain more Obi-wan.

~AAx

P.S.- remind me not to kill either Aella or Alick. I have a bad habit of killing off loved ones. ^^" (as I'm sure you all know, by now)