"Oh... it's just horrible, horrible..."
"Can it clanker" Jesse moaned over at C3PO as they cut through another patch of the forest.
"Clanker!?" 3PO demanded of the tattooed clone "I'll have you know I'm C3PO, expert in human and droid relations and translator of over..."
"We get it, you told us the last 500 times we asked" Kix chipped in.
"Honestly!" 3PO huffed "You clones have no way for flattery or manners".
"We reserve our strengths for other things" Kix said.
"Clearly" 3PO replied with sass.
R2 bepped at him.
"Well someone has to tell them" he replied to his smaller droid companion "R2, I've been in danger before...what do you mean they'd abandon me? Ha... I can do perfectly fine on my own..."
"Why don't we sing?" Rex suggested suddenly "To drown out the complaints?"
"Sing?" Doormat inquired "You sing on the way to battles?"
"Well... occasionally" Rex muttered.
"Yeah Rex does in the shower" Jesse muttered slyly.
"If I do say so myself, I don't recall singing into any battle" Commander Appo said seriously.
"It was a joke, Appo, calm yourself" Rex muttered.
"You can joke!?" Jesse muttered, staring beliwered at his captian.
"You can carry a blaster?" Rex hit back, both comments earned a few chuckles from the other clones.
"Are we getting closer to any kind of civilization General?" Kix inquired of where Anakin was leading the band of them, the young Jedi knight seemed lost in thought and wasn't partaking in the banter between his weary men. He shook his head when he heard "general" but had no idea of what was just asked of him.
"Sorry, what was that?"
"Any sign of life, general!?" Kix repeated.
"No" Anakin replied glumly, he looked up at where the sun was setting in the blue sky and at the trees around him, in every direction that's all they could see. Trees and greenery, trees and greenery there was nothing else. The wildlife on Kashyyyk was boringly tame, small birds, or other mammals came and went but nothing life threating. Seeing as this was the Wookies home-world, he imagined the fierce warriors would have fought off and drove the other, larger, predators to extinction. Despite their ferociousness in battle, the Wookies were friends to the republic and through their grunting and roaring they had big hearts and would accommodate, the clones, the Jedi and the two droids with them until they could call for help.
"Looks like we'll have to set camp" Anakin said, "We'll get nowhere in the dark and the men are exhausted".
"I guess it's best we set up some kind of defence, it wouldn't surprise me if the seppies send a droid platoon in the night" Rex muttered.
Anakin nodded, he tried using his comm once again and even looked down at the personal one Palpatine had given him, he only wished he could have Padme back, that he could have Ahsoka back, that he could be by his master's side right now, that he could speak to Palpatine, or even bring his own mother back to speak to her just one, more, time.
He was losing everyone and everything, including his faith in the republic.
"What are you commands, Master Sidious" Grievous inquired of the holographic, hooded figure on the screen in front of him. His fleet was flying through what remained of Skywalker's ship, bits of debris and the bodies of the clones floating in space, were pushed aside by his grand force, Grievous couldn't wait to finally get in on some action.
"You'll send a platoon of droids, send about 500 of them, a small force, but it should keep Skywalker and his surviving friends occupied for long enough" Palpatine instructed of the droid commander "The noise of the fire-fight will be sure to attract the Wookies to them as well and when Skywalker discovers the truth of what occurred on Kashyyyk…" Palpatine smiled there, rubbing his hands together.
"But what are my orders!?" Grievous asked impatiently "What can I do in this grand scheme of yours?"
Palpatine's grin grew larger.
"I want the Separatist armies to focus on the upcoming attack on Coruscant" Palpatine instructed "As for yourself General, you've disappointed both me and Count Dooku numerous times, it's about time you struck at the very heart of the Jedi Order. If you want to prove yourself, if you want add more lightsabres to your collection and become as feared as you once were and not the untamed, joke of a beast you are seen as now, who flees every battle..."
"I'm not...!" Grievous began hotly.
"You will listen!" Palpatine snapped harshly, as the cyborg fell silent "Good" he muttered at Grievous silence "you will attack the Jedi temple directly and inflict as many casualties as possible".
Grevious' narrow eyes lit up.
"Alone?"
"Not alone, with a large platoon of droids, bring the war to Coruscant" Palpatine said "This will ensure a Separatist victory over the republic and it will be the deciding factor that ends this war, after Coruscant has fallen, we'll hunt down the rest of the Jedi across the galaxy, is that understood?"
"Yes master" Grievous said.
"Count Dooku will be in touch shortly, as soon as he gives the order, you are to attack the temple" Sidious said "That will be all"
His image faded as Grievous got to work instantly, he'd never been this excited in a long time. He'd agreed to have his measly body upgraded with cybernetics for this very purpose, to show them all how strong he really was, at long last he could deal the damaging blow he'd longed for against the Jedi. No more running, no more being bested by Kenobi, or any other lone Jedi in combat, he'd restore his name and ensure whatever remained of the Jedi, trembled in fear at the very mention of him.
Yet as Grievous got to work, Palpatine sat in his office, as happy as always.
Grievous was a fool, a naïve, pathetic creature, that would fulfil the same purpose as someone like Darth Maul. He was saddened to learn that Maul had failed his final mission on Mandalore had been taken fairly easily by the republic forces. Shaak Ti or Obi-Wan Kenobi hadn't been slain, Maul was a failure of an apprentice and Palpatine was glad he didn't reveal to him, his true identity within the republic. Maul was a mistake that he could cast aside.
But Dooku knew who he was, Grievous did not. Grievous was a simple tool, a rage filled Jedi-killing machine, who was simply there to cause chaos and further destruction to escalate the war to new heights. Palpatine knew full well the republic would not fall to this Separatist attack, it would damaged certainly, but it wouldn't fall, it wasn't his mission to end the war. Not yet, that would come with Order 66...
While Dooku was already arranging "plans" to cause maximum destruction, Palpatine briefly thought of Ahsoka Tano. Just because Obi-Wan had lived, it didn't mean Ahsoka would escape her fate, he had... people... that we're already ensuring her end. When she died... Skywalker would be devastated, exactly how Palpatine wanted him. Poor Anakin, helpless to stop anything. His comm was jammed, by the time he got through to the republic... he'd be lucky to get an answer. He'd easily survive the droid platoon, as would many of the clones, but slaying one or two of them would be good and then they were in for another surprise, one Skywalker would survive, Palpatine was certain of that, he hadn't selected Anakin to die so easily.
But having Anakin out of the picture while this destruction and loss occurred would only further his sense of importance, if only he had been there... if only...
Palpatine's grin grew wider, thinking of the brilliance of it all.
As he thought of that, another brainwashed tool of his came into the room, a clone trooper. A clone trooper that was silently going around the republic, spreading false information, easily blending in and out of so many places, not leaving a trace of his deception. The intelligence Mace Windu had received about Grievous fleet, it was all thanks to this clone, he had to be reprogrammed by the separatists to do this and spread lies whenever they were needed. Just another piece in a massive game of chess that Palpatine was mastering.
Jar Jar hadn't reported anything strange as of yet, those working underneath his thumb were ensuring everything would come to pass, yet something was still amiss, something wasn't right.
"Whatever it is" Palpatine muttered to himself darkly "Like Maul and Opress, I will deal with it personally"
Cad Bane had come to like this lifestyle.
He knew the three Jedi (if they could even be called that) were getting closer to them, day by day. He knew full well he wouldn't be able to take on all three of them and yet he had managed to do the impossible beforehand. He knew Sing was restless, she didn't enjoy this as much as he did, yet she was itching for a challenge, as he was. Leading and killing the odd straggler was fun. But his senses were dulling to a point where firing a gun at the useless scum under his command felt more like a natural function of his body, rather than the heart-stopping, adrenaline filled, spilt second choice he had to make beforehand when faced with more experienced enemies, shooting his blasters then... that was life and death.
Right now, it was nothing but pest control.
Bossk was stood to his side, the bounty hunter's daring plan to free the prisoners was something both of them had agreed to, once the three Jedi vermin chasing them were dead. Then they could inflict as much damage as they wanted, with no one to stop them. The scouts they had employed had done some hostile reconnaissance of the detention centre, yet Bane knew it better than anyone inside and out. When the time came, he'd single-handily lead them into the centre and with enough allies (and with more vermin clambering to them by the day) they'd soon have the numbers to do it.
The scouts and other groups guarding their empire, they'd heard the reports, they knew they'd been slain by those Jedi... Bane was simply awaiting the challenge. Yet as they sat there in one of the many bases they now had in Coruscant's lowest levels, Bane wasn't expecting the people guarding the door to be thrown through it, already dead.
"JEDI!" Sing roared instantly, preparing her gun, Bossk did the same, as Bane felt his hands grip tighter on his blasters...
"They'll be no need for that" came a familiar, calm yet cold voice, as an elderly, hooded man walked into the room.
"Those guards were ours, Dooku" Bane muttered.
"We both know those were nothing, in time you'll will attain much better guards, ones that could keep even me occupied, for at least 10 seconds" Count Dooku said with a small smile, "I must say however I am proud of the work you have put in, it's just as I had foreseen".
"Well, what other option did we have!?" Bane said "I just want to know why you're here once again, don't you have business somewhere else?"
"My master tells me my business is here, at least for a short time" Dooku muttered "Before long, you'll have your army. Better guards, better fighters, better business and much more support. We have an assault planned on the Jedi-Temple, in the madness, you'll get to that prison and gain all the allies you need to be a real nuisance..."
"Sounds interesting" Bossk hissed "I suppose you heard through the grapevine, where we were located and what we were planning?"
"Like everyone else and I also heard about the three Jedi... if they can even be called that..." Dooku rarely smiled, but he did so now "...that are coming to bring you to justice, I can tell you they are powerful, powerful enough to get to you, but with me here..."
He thought of them there, especially of Ahsoka Tano who he'd been ordered to eliminate once and for all and his once obedient assassin, Asaji Ventress.
"...I will assist you in ending the Jedi nuisance" Dooku muttered.
"Then we can ensure our all out attack succeeds"
A/N: Okay another slow chapter and too answer the reviews I haven't read the republic commando novels so I wouldn't be familiar with Omega Squad, so I don't have plans to include them in the fic at this point in time. As there are a ton of other characters already being introduced and adding more would fill an already oversaturated cast at the moment. However I can confirm the character numbers will be thinning before long, leaving more room for new characters, as you'll see with next couple of chapters, things will slow down and we'll get more induvial moments with established characters before everything goes to hell. But thanks for your suggestion, will look up Omega Squad as they sound interesting.
and to answer a few more questions, yeah I prefer the voices from the game, as I imagine it will set the Delta Squad apart from their fellow clones and as for Scorch, yeah, I saw a picture and realised he is more black than yellow, I just remember him being yellow for some reason. But I'll amend that in later chapters, thanks for pointing that out to me and I hope your enjoying the story!
Also for the Good reader I appreciate the passion you have for my persona fic but telling people to "GO TO HIS ACCOUNT AND PRESSURE HIM TO MAKE NEW CHAPTERS OF THIS GREAT STORY!" isn't something I'm happy with as I don't like being pressured into writing things and like to write what I enjoy, I got burnout by my persona fic but I am planning to restart it when Royal comes out in March as I want to include the new girl within it as well. But I don't want to make any promises I can't keep, so for now there's no plans for any updates in the near future.