ME: Sorry for taking so long, guys. I've been busy with college and shit. Thankfully, Rebels continues to impress. Expect delays from here on out, ladies and gents. Inspired heavily by Karen Traviss's The Clone Wars novel.

Most combatants are young males, true. But never underestimate someone because of their age, build, or gender, soldiers. Hell, while you may face uniformed opponents, don't expect your enemies to be above disguising themselves as civilians. Treat anyone you don't know as hostile until proven otherwise.

(Sergeant Kal Skirata, instructing clone commandos on Kamino)

Neither Anakin nor Chad expected to be assigned Padawans, but Anakin was undoubtedly reacting more negatively to it.

"A Padawan, sir?" Rex asked, confused. "I thought you said you'd never have one, General."

"Yeah, well, obviously whoever sent the kids here didn't check to see if I had requested a learner, Rex," replied Anakin. "Jedi SOP is for a Knight or Master to talk about it before being assigned a Padawan."

While Anakin was an exception to the rules since he had been taken in as a young boy rather than an infant, that was one thing. It was quite another to simply drop two Padawans on a pair of Jedi Generals on the frontlines who had no idea what to do with them.

Ahsoka somehow had the audacity to shake her head. "Hey, come on, Skyguy, I'm still here and officially your Padawan."

"Skguy?" Serra and Chad chuckled simultaneously. Rex and a few other clone officers laughed as well, and even Ahsoka's cousin Raana blushed in amusement.

"Skyguy?" said Anakin, irritated at her snippiness. "I suggest you take that back, youngling."

"Padawan!"

"You and Raana don't even look old enough to become Padawans, so I don't know why you're complaining."

Ahsoka: "I'm fourteen and Raana's thirteen, so we aren't younglings, Skyguy."

Before Anakin could reprimand her, Rex cracked a smile. "Most of the men and I are ten, Padawan Tano," he commented. "But we're all tall for our age. Maybe it's the same for you and your cousin."

Obi-Wan stepped into the room. "The Separatist fleet is sending ships to the surface," he said. "Without Admiral Yularen to run interference, we'll have to deal with their reinforcements and increased air support on our own. It's a good thing they want this city intact, otherwise they'd have withdrawn their ground forces and commenced orbital bombardment. A chemical attack is a possibility, but with clone gear it'd be more of a danger to their own organics."

"They'll try to land their new droids out of range," pointed out Chad. "It's what I'd do, and the Seps here seem to be clever enough to at least try something like that. Remember that stunt they pulled when Slick was their man on the inside."

"Slick?" Ahsoka asked.

"A traitor within the ranks," Anakin answered, suddenly gaining an idea of how to deal with her. "Rex, why don't you take Ahsoka to observe the enemy? Don't get in close, just use your binocs."

"Yes, sir," Rex replied as he checked his weapons and beckoned to Ahsoka.

"You wanna go with them, Raana?" Chad asked.

The younger Togruta Padawan shook her head. "Thank you, Master Skywalker, but I think I can do more good here learning the ropes, as some would say. Stay safe, Ahsoka."

"I will, Raana," responded Ahsoka as she left with Rex.

Obi-Wan frowned. "Looks like you two are having a rough start," he told Anakin.

"This isn't a game, Obi-Wan," he replied. "Out here, a single mistake can and will get people killed."

"At least try to cut her some slack. You were a Padawan yourself once; I suggest you keep that fact in mind."

Anakin grabbed a comlink. "I've got some maintenance to do."

Chad knew it was his brother's way of getting privacy, and he didn't pester him about it. The troops did not need to have their morale ruined by the sight of a General who wasn't able to deal with his problems, so he let Anakin leave to blow off steam.

"Welcome to the One Hundred and Eighty-Second, Raana," Chad said. "This is Sixes, my legion's top commander."

Raana shook hands with Sixes politely. "It is an honor to meet you, Commander Sixes," she said.

Sixes nodded. "Honor's all mine, Commander Tano," replied the Commander.

"I'm in charge of the One Hundred and Eighty-Seventh Legion, Raana," said Serra. "This is my second-in-command, Bruiser."

After introductions were complete, a Lieutenant ran into the room. "Generals, we've detected an increasing thermal signature behind Sep lines," the junior officer informed them.

Serra tapped her comlink, hearing a clone sniper report in as she did. "It appears that the Seps have activated an energy shield. I say again, the Seps have activated an energy shield."

Well, stang.

Soon the Jedi Generals and their top clone subordinates reunited. "The energy shield that the Separatists have activated is expanding to cover their advance," Obi-Wan began the briefing. "Scans indicate that artillery fire will have little effect on its strength, so we may as well conserve ammunition."

Chad frowned. "Only way we stand a chance is to draw the clankers into buildings, at least somewhat negating their numerical advantage. But that won't stop them from getting to our cannons and blowing every last one to hell."

Ahsoka spoke up. "What if we went behind enemy lines in order to destroy the shield generator? That could work."

Anakin frowned and shook his head. "We don't have time to go around the droids-," he began, before stopping. "Wait, that gives me an idea. If we survive this, Snips, you and I are gonna have a nice long chat."

Ahsoka narrowed her eyes. "Snips?"

"Hey, you were the one who thought Skyguy wasa good nickname for me," retorted Anakin. "Plus you're snippy, so Snips is a perfect nickname for you." He then turned to Obi-Wan. "Master, I think Ahsoka and I can knock out the generator, but I need you and the others to tie up the Seps."

The Jedi Master sighed. "I hope whatever you have planned works, Anakin," the auburn-haired man said. "But time is of the essence and I see no other options. May the Force be with you and your new apprentice."

"The Force really needs to look out for all of us right now," Anakin replied. "But thank you, Obi-Wan."

The Jedi and clone officers went their separate ways. Anakin took Ahsoka to find and destroy the Sep shield generator, while Obi-Wan, Chad, Serra, Raana, and the clones went to confront the advancing droids.

In order to make things look convincing, Obi-Wan ordered the artillery to fire on the shield before withdrawing. Meanwhile the clone troopers readied their blasters and other weapons in order to stage an ambush.

Once the expanding energy shield had passed over the Republican troops, Obi-Wan ignited his lightsaber and leapt into battle, blue blade ready to turn tinnies into nothing more than low-priced scrap.

The troopers opened fire the moment their CO got the attention of their mechanical enemies, particle bolts, grenades, rockets, and missiles flying towards the enemy ranks. Droids were cut down while tanks were destroyed.

However, the Separatists were not content to simply accept the fury of their enemies. They fired back at the Republicans, killing a number of clones.

"Stand fast, troopers!" Raana shouted as she fought alongside her new master. "The Force fights with us!"

Rex was able to take down a super battle droid as Raana shouted her words of encouragement, but as a consequence his rifle's power pack was drained. Deciding he didn't have time to reload, the Captain drew his sidearms and opened fire.

Gotta buy time for the General and the youngling...

"What the kriff is that?!"

An unfamiliar battle droid had appeared. The damn clanker resembled a B2, but slightly more than twice as tall, bulkier, and more heavily armed. Raising its two primary arms, the droid spat fire from a flamethrower on its right arm and opened fire with the plasma cannon mounted on the left one while a pair of secondary limbs spat particle bolts.

"Ultra!" a clone screamed before taking a plasma round to the head.

"Popper out!" yelled Bruiser as he threw an EMP grenade, commonly known as a "droid popper," at the ultra.

The droid popper went off. The blast knocked out a pair of B2s and several B1s, but the ultra battle droid was only briefly stunned before it resumed firing.

"They must've EMP-hardened the damn thing!" Serra snarled. "Anyone have a rocket launcher?!"

One clone with a grenade launcher attached to his rifle aimed at the mechanical behemoth before pulling the trigger. The grenade hit the droid right in the midsection, destroying one of the ultra's blasters but otherwise causing superficial damage.

Obi-Wan and Chad tried to knock the droid over with a Force-push, but it stayed in place. "Why isn't this thing moving?!" yelled Chad in frustration.

"Could be using some kind of density projector, boss!" Sixes suggested as he fired on the ultra. "Some buddy of mine from Intel told me the Seps were working on them!"

"Nothing is invincible," Obi-Wan said. Seizing a grip on a piece of masonry with the Force, he hurled it at the remaining secondary arm of the ultra, succeeding in tearing it off as a result. "This droid will simply prove a more difficult threat than our usual adversaries."

"I have an idea!" said Serra. "Chad, you and Obi-Wan distract the droid and get it to turn around. Bruiser, get a popper ready. Raana, stay with me."

"Thank you, Serra," Obi-Wan replied. Privately, he had his doubts as to whether Serra's plan would work or not, especially since it involved an EMP grenade (which had proven ineffective against the ultra battle droid), or even if she had a plan, but desperate times called for desperate measures. "Follow me, Chad."

The two Jedi Knights charged at the ultra battle droid and succeeded in gaining its attention. Internally designating the two men as priority targets, the ultra shot plasma and fire at Obi-Wan and Chad, forcing the two to deflect and block.

As soon as the four-meter tall droid had turned its back on the majority of the Republicans, Serra gave the order. "Now, Bruiser!"

Her XO threw the EMP grenade at the droid, Serra using the Force to get it to stop precisely where she needed it to be.

Just as the grenade went off, Serra picked up a pair of super battle droids that had been shot down by the clones and threw them at the distracted ultra. Simple physics resulted in the bigger droid being knocked down by the wreckage.

"Good job, Master Keto!" complimented Raana as she deflected blaster bolts away from herself and Serra.

"It wasn't that complicated of a plan, kid," responded Serra as Chad picked up one of the B2s before slamming it into the ultra as it tried to get up then stabbing downwards into the droid with his lightsaber. "But thanks for the compliment, now let's-."

A series of explosions cut Serra off. Multiple clones were killed, Chad had been knocked to the ground, and now there were more Sep vehicles and droids on their way.

"Fierfek!" cursed Serra as she fought her way to Chad with Raana. "Master Kenobi, looks like now would be a good time to pull back!"

"Indeed," Obi-Wan replied as two clones hauled Chad's unconscious form to safety. "Cody, call the retreat. Serra, you're in charge of the withdraw. I'm staying here."

The young Jedi Knight widened her eyes. "With all due respect, Master Kenobi, I've never left anyone behind, and I don't plan to start with you!"

"I know, Serra, and for that, I admire you." Then Obi-Wan shook his head and said, "But that doesn't change the fact that you're the only Jedi Knight available right now and someone needs to supervise the clones as they fall back. Chad and I trusted you, Serra, now you'll have to trust me."

"But-."

"JUST GO!" he interrupted, uncharacteristically loud. "That's an order!"

Hoping there was a method to Obi-Wan's madness, Serra obeyed and fell back with Raana and the clones. The Togruta teenager looked at her with a mix of awe and dismay, the latter probably due to the fact that she had just witnessed a newly-minted Jedi Knight arguing with a Council member.

Eventually the Republican troops made it to the line established to defend the artillery. Chad had regained consciousness, and alongside Serra and Raana deflected blaster bolts while their clone subordinates returned fire.

Suddenly the droids ceased fire. Raana, both frightened and exhilarated by her first experience of war, didn't know what was more unsettling-how the Separatist automatons had all stopped shooting virtually simultaneously, or the fact that they had ceased to fire their weapons in the first place.

They have numbers and firepower on their side, she thought. Why delay finishing us all off if there's no advantage to doing so?

"Republican dogs, surrender!" yelled a Kerkoiden officer. "Your General Kenobi has been captured and is even now discussing terms with General Loathsom! Voluntarily surrender your weapons to us now and you will be treated better than if you wait and have to be ordered by Kenobi to stand down."

Raana immediately turned to Master Skywalker. "That's impossible, Master!" she said. "I don't think Master Kenobi would being talking about terms of surrender while we were still fighting!"

Beneath his helmet, Chad smiled for the first time since the Battle of Christophsis had begun once again in the streets of Crystal City. "Actually, Raana," he said, "I have a good feeling about this."

Serra, in spite of the odds being stacked against the Republicans, snorted. "Well, that's not something I've heard before."

A tense minute passed, with the droids and clones keeping a tight grip on their rifles "Don't think you can win here, Jedi!" sneered the Kerkoiden. "You have been abandoned by your insignificant fleet, your so-called leadership on Coruscant have left you and your test-tube abominations to die while the Galactic Senate intoxicates itself with Alderaanian wine. Do you really-."

Suddenly there was an explosion in the distance that indicated the success of Anakin and Ahsoka. Without a generator to supply energy to it, the Separatist shield disappeared.

The Kerkoiden officer's mouthed dropped open. "What?! Imposs-."

A particle bolt hit him in the neck, killing the Separatist commander quickly.

Chad opened a channel. "Gunners?" he said. "Let 'em have it!"

The clones manning the artillery pieces were distressed at being unable to aid their brothers in the infantry and armored units as they bled and died to fend off the Separatists. Now they had an opportunity to make up for lost time, and it showed in their actions. Now droid and Separatist armored vehicle alike were destroyed by Republican artillery fire.

Just as suddenly as they had ceased firing earlier, what droids were in view shutdown. Seconds later, Chad was hailed via comlink.

"Chad, this is Master Kenobi," the older man said. "Do you copy, over?"

"Yes, Master Kenobi," replied Chad, happy to hear the voice of his brother's mentor. "I copy, go ahead."

"I was able to capture General Loathsom and force him to initiate a shutdown of the droids and order his organic subordinates to surrender. With any luck, we'll have the city under control within an hour."

Vulture and Hyena droids streaked into the air, only to be engaged by V-19s. LAAT gunships flew in unmolested, undoubtedly carrying both fresh troops and vehicles.

"This is Commander Tarkin of GRS Tenacious to ground forces, come in," said a voice with an Eriaduan accent. "Does anyone copy, over?"

Serra answered Tarkin's hail. "Commander, this is General Serra Keto," she said. "I copy, send traffic. Over."

"General Keto, the Separatist blockade has been broken. Repeat, we've broken the blockade. As a result, Tenacious is available to provide fire support. How copy?"

Serra: "Solid copy, Commander Tarkin. I'll pass on the good news to the boys and get them to start sending targeting data up to the fleet. Be advised: We have taken heavy casualties, say again, we have multipled wounded. Requesting casevac, over."

"Understood, General Keto. I will inform air support of your predicament. Tarkin out."

With the majority of their droids shutdown, the Separatist presence on Crystal City had no chance of victory. While those who refused to surrender themselves to the Republican reinforcements were able to inflict casualties, they only succeeded in delaying the inevitable. Within half an hour the capital of Christophsis had been secured.

Remarkably enough, Master Yoda himself had arrived with messages for the Jedi on Christophsis. Anakin and Ahsoka had been assigned to rescue Jabba the Hutt's son, Rotta, as he was being held captive on Teth. Obi-Wan, befitting his experience and skills, would go to Tatooine in order to negotiate with Jabba. Finally, Chad, Serra, and Raana were tasked with escorting two important POWs to Coruscant.

*CUT TO: NU-CLASS SHUTTLE APPROACHING CRYSTAL CITY, CHRISTOPHSIS*

Ordo was one of six Null-class Advanced Recon Commandos, and thus was used to being assigned missions that wouldn't be given to a commando squad or even an Alpha ARC. An elite operative, he thought that Palpatine and Zey (the new Director of Republic Special Forces after Camas had karked up with the Nulls) would task him with something that he or his brothers would consider "soft."

The ARC Captain had been proved wrong when he received orders to take a Nu-class shuttle to Christophsis in order to pick up two EPWs-Enemy Prisoners of War.

Prisoner transport? Ordo thought, both confused and irritated. This is something the infantry can handle, warranting at most RCs. Even just one ARC is overkill, and more importantly an invaluable asset that can't be on an actual op while he's on guard duty. These two Seps better be worth it.

After getting clearance from the FOB's ATC, Ordo landed the shuttle with the precision of a machinist. Lowering his chair from the cockpit, the Null ARC unstrapped himself, and lowered the boarding ramp.

A Human woman dressed in camouflage fatigues, a man in armor with a reddish-brown Republic cog on the chest plate, a young female Togruta dressed in what looked like traditional Jedi robes, and a group of clone troopers greeted the ARC trooper. Amongst the white jobs were two cryo-chambers that reminded Ordo of coffins.

"Good afternoon, Captain," said the armored man. "I'm General Chad Skywalker. This is General Serra Keto, a close friend of mine, and Commander Raana Tano, my Padawan. Commanders Bruiser and Sixes are Keto and I's top officers."

"Good afternoon, General Skywalker," replied Ordo. "My name's Ordo, sir. Where are the prisoners?"

The Human woman, Keto, spoke up. "In the cryo-chambers, Captain Ordo. Due to the circumstances, we figured putting them on ice was the best option. It helps that they're both in suspended animation as a result, so no chance of either of them trying to escape. These fuckers already cost us too many of our men."

"Good to hear that, General Keto," Ordo replied. He didn't particularly like Jedi, but Skywalker and Keto seemed decent enough, and the latter seemed to be incensed at losing troops thanks to the Sep POWs. "Let's get them onboard and head to Tenacious, then."

The Togruta Padawan, Tano, narrowed her eyes and frowned. "Excuse me, Captain? Your shuttle is capable of hyperspace travel, why do we need to board Tenacious? If you need to refuel, I'm sure it can be done here."

Ordo shrugged; he had been given his orders by the powers that be, and he would carry them out as precisely as possible, if only because it was easier to just obey orders this time rather than bend them and annoy Zey. "Can't say, Commander Tano," he told her. "Maybe our superiors think we're more secure aboard a Star Destroyer. Maybe they don't want us to get ambushed and blown up by the Seps. All we can do is take these two to Coruscant per our orders."

The troopers loaded the cryo-chambers aboard the shuttle then proceeded to sit down with their Jedi superiors. Ordo got back into his chair and strapped in before getting back up to the cockpit.

"FOB ATC, this is Shuttle Nern-Eleven," said Ordo. "Requesting permission to takeoff, over."

"Nern-Eleven, roger," replied a traffic controller. "You are cleared to takeoff, wind speeds are twenty knots, heading two-four-five. Over."

"Understood," Ordo replied as he activated the shuttle's repulsorlifts. "Lifting off now, over."

Ordo flew towards Tenacious and gained permission to land after transmitting his clearance codes. Once he had landed, the Captain lowered the ramp and was greeted by a man in a Republic Navy uniform and a platoon of men and women's worth in dark blue uniforms.

"Welcome aboard, Master Jedi," the Navy officer said as the Jedi walked down the ramp, their subordinates following with the cryo-chambers. "I see you have the prisoners with you. Which of these cryo-chambers contains the clone traitor?"

Ordo raised an eyebrow under his helmet. "Excuse me, Commander," he said after glancing at the officer's rank insignia, "but did you just say clone and traitor in the same sentence?"

Skywalker sighed audibly even though he was wearing a helmet. "Seems as though you weren't informed, Captain Ordo," he said before the Commander could answer. "One clone trooper, Sergeant Slick, went rogue and leaked secrets to the Separatists on Christophsis. Because of him, they were able to foil an ambush we had planned and launch an attack on our FOB in Crystal City. The latter hasn't been directly attributed to Slick's espionage, but regardless he turned on his brothers. Serra and I lost men thanks to him."

"My condolences, General Skywalker," said the officer. "But I must know which of these containers has the traitorous clone trooper inside. The reason I greeted you with a detachment of Marines is because birth-born guards are less likely to sympathize with Slick than clone soldiers."

Ordo was irritated at what could very well be anti-clone bigotry on the part of the Navy officer, but held his tongue. Can't really afford to start trouble with this guy aboard his own ship...

Skywalker tapped one of the cryo-chambers. "Slick's in here," he said. "Have the Marines guard him if you want, Commander Tarkin. All I want to do right now is get this ship on her way to Coruscant so I can get back to my legion as soon as possible. The boys need me at the front, not on Coruscant sitting around watching holovids of airhead celebrities."

Ordo's respect for the Jedi General shot up a few points. At least he tries to be there for the white jobs under his watch.

"Thank you, sir," Tarkin said. "If you or anyone else in your group wishes to be around the rogue Sergeant's chamber, feel free to do so. However, orders dictate having Marines on guard for the Sergeant at all times, and I will ensure those orders are carried out."

While Ordo still didn't like it, he could understand the rationale of assigning Marines to the job if the aruetiise couldn't trust clones with guarding the apparent traitor. Formerly the Judicial Assault Troops, the Galactic Republic Marine Corps had been established following the Battle of Geonosis and the Judicial Forces' transformation into the Republic Armed Forces. Considered some of the most best trained and reliable non-clone troops under the Republic's banner, the Marines were frontline fighters who were more than capable of taking on ordinary battle droids, even if Ordo didn't think they were as good as clone troopers.

Well, it's not as if these guys don't try, and we have the advantage of being engineered and trained for warfare. Gotta admire the guts to volunteer to fight for a cause, even if the Republic's not the most admirable of entities.

"So..." Ordo said after the prisoners had been secured and placed under guard. "Anyone want to go get something to eat?" He really felt like he could use a meal of roba sausage with gravy.

*CUT TO: UNKNOWN SECURE FACILITY, CORUSCANT*

Quiet had been severely wounded during her ill-fated mission on Christophsis. Being set on fire by being shot, tactical vest or not, had not been pleasant, and the fact that fuel had literally been added to Quiet's fire did not help things.

After providing the Confederate officer medical treatment and stabilizing her condition, the Republican scum had placed her into a cryo-chamber then restrained her before putting her into suspended animation. It was both to keep her safe and to keep her from escaping, they said. Quiet had accepted the logic her enemies used, but she didn't like being in cryogenic suspension. It was one thing to fall asleep, because unless one died they could choose to wake up. In contrast with cryo, unless you had set a timer to awaken yourself, you were at the mercy of others.

Light appeared in Quiet's eyes as she regained consciousness. The cryo-pod had been opened, she saw, but by whom and why?

A cloaked figure stepped into view, two droids at his side. "Good morning, Captain," the figure said.

Quiet shook her head. She may have been in pain from her burns, but the woman's alarms had been set off in her head. "Who are you?" she asked. "What do you want with me?"

The man in the black hood shook his head. "My dear, you have proven yourself to be an effective operative, one who was even trusted with the assassination of a Jedi General," he told her. "I feel that you can help advance my plans for the galaxy more efficiently if you are under my direct command."

Quiet snarled at the cloaked figure, unable to move but still defiant. "I am an officer of the Confederacy of Independent Systems!" she replied. "I fight for a free galaxy, old man, not some cesspool of corruption like the Republic!"

The figure chuckled. "My, you are a true Confederate patriot," he said. "But unfortunately for you, young one, the Confederacy is a sham. I agree with you that the Republic cannot be saved. It must be transformed into something better, something that can work. Despite how the history books will denounce your Confederacy as a deplorable entity, it is essential to what I have been working towards for decades-most of my life, actually. Thanks to you and your fellow revolutionaries for a doomed cause, I will be able to make the galaxy great again."

Darth Sidious, Lord of the Sith, then turned on his heel and left the room with his two droid bodyguards, ignoring the infuriated protests of the Separatist officer whose superiors had nicknamed "Quiet." Once the medical droids he had assigned to her had done their job, she would become an asset taking her orders directly from him. Not a Sith Apprentice like Maul or Tyrannus or even a Dark Jedi like Asajj Ventress, but an operative under his command that had been..."conditioned"...to follow the Sith Lord's orders without question or hesitation.

ME: Palpatine/Vader 2016! Sheev has decades of political experience, and Vader is a Clone Wars veteran who served as both a General and a fighter pilot. And yes, they know how to deal with the damn Sand People! Those two are way more qualified than Trump or Clinton! #MakeTheGalaxyGreatAgain!

On a less comedic note, while I'm not sure about whether to watch KOTOR 2 or not, Mobyus1's walkthrough of KOTOR was awesome.

I hope you guys enjoyed this update.

As for Quiet and Palps...let their section sink in for a few seconds if you want to know what he's got planned for her.