Author's note: For those of you less familiar with Star Wars lingo, the language Mando'a, or if you're just confused, I have a vocabulary list and a few helpful comments at the bottom of this fanfic. If that doesn't answer your questions, feel free to comment. I do not own Star Wars. I do have a few OC's (original characters) in this story, but that's just me naming previously unnamed clones in the canon universe. I originally wrote this for a class assignment, which you can read about at the bottom of the page if you want to know more. Enjoy!

Sheltering inside a Republic armored walker, the Republic command team prepared for battle. Captain Ozzel was a relatively short human, with snow gear covering every part of him except his moustache, pointy nose, and intent scowl. Speaking with a sense of authority, Ozzel announced, "General Fisto, we are approaching the processing plant. Gunners, to your stations!"

Kit Fisto responded, "Patience, Captain Ozzel. No point in firing until we know exactly what we're firing at." His green skin and head tentacles were similarly covered because of the planet's harsh weather, however, his easy grin made him much more approachable than the Captain.

Clearing his throat self-importantly, Ozzel insisted, "Sir, our directive from the Senate is to capture this world's resources as soon as possible."

If Fisto were not a well-respected Jedi Master, he would have rolled his eyes. Instead he replied "I am aware of the Senate's mandate. But Master Plo has yet to make contact with the locals, and nobody rushes Master Plo."

Moving up the ladder to venture outside, Master Fisto was followed closely by Commander Wolffe, the highest-ranking trooper in the 104th battalion. Once outside in the snowstorm, the two made their way to the front of the tank. With a hand shielding his snow helmet's view, Wolffe questioned, "Sir, has the General always been this patient?"

With a wry smirk, Fisto answered, "All jedi are patient, or should be, Commander. Master Plo was the way he is long before I came to the temple. But I sense this doesn't satisfy your curiosity."

Despite Wolffe's helmet's voice filters, Fisto could hear the humor in Wolffe's voice. "No, Sir. You see, there's a bit of a debate in the unit. We've started a betting circle."

Fisto came to the conclusion rather quickly. "You want to know how old the general is."

Wolffe nodded, smirking beneath his blue-grey helmet, patterned after his namesake. "His manner makes him different from any Jedi I've met so far."

"There is something ancient about him, yet he possesses the flexibility of youth." Fisto turned back to glance at Wolffe. "Mission accomplished Commander, you've got me curious." As the two continued walking, they came upon another figure in the snow.

"Before you ask, I do not believe my age is pertinent to this mission." Jedi Master Plo Koon rumbled in his low voice, distorted by his usual rebreather mask. As a Kel Dor, Master Plo could not breathe oxygen, so he wore a black mask, along with goggles and his grey and purple snow gear. Because his leathery skin was more adapted to the cold weather, Plo's hood was down, revealing the two thick flaps hanging down from his head where humans would have ears. A few of the clones in the legion that liked to draw had commented that getting those right was challenging but rewarding. They announced this after they had decorated the battalion's gunships with a picture of Plo Koon, two clone trooper helmets, and the words "Plo's Bros."

"Apparently Kel Dorians do not lose their hearing with the passing of years." Fisto commented as the trio jumped off the front of the tank to meet up with another group.

"Ahh… our native allies have been waiting for us to arrive." Master Plo walked up to the small assembly of Khormai representatives, led by Adaroo, a large humanoid resembling a walrus, dressed in orange, metallic armor, with steam pipes exiting various machinery on his back.

Commander Adaroo scowled. "We thought you Jedi had decided not to come. Tchk-tchk."

With a diplomatic tone rightly identifying Master Plo as the senior member of the Republic's command team, Plo Koon responded, "Our landing was delayed by the story. Who is commanding the enemy forces?"

The Khormai leader responded with a huff, "Shamefully, one of our own. An ambitious warlord cast his lot with Dooku in exchange for control of all we have. Now he enslaves his own people to mine for the Separatists."

Fisto agreed, "Those who fear to lose their power are made tyrants by war."

"All who make war are tyrants, Jedi. Even your heart I wonder for. Do you fight for us or the agrocite? If you have come to secure the ore for your Republic, I will not judge." Adaroo asked, sounding more curious than accusatory.

Fisto responded as a Jedi moreso than as a General. "We fight for freedom, my friend. What is on Khorm belongs to the Khormai."

The Khormai leader chuffed amusedly at this response. "Just the answer I expected, Jedi! But will it prove true? Now come, I will show you the weakness in the droid lines - Let us dispense death to our tyrant."

Moving as a group, it was not long before the tanks came within range of the Agrocite processing plant at the base of the mountain. Currently the enemy Warlord was stationed there with an army of droids, heavy cannons, and various other artillery. They intended to eliminate the Republic forces before they could make it to the mines at the top of the mountain, where the Khormai people were imprisoned.

Reaching the peak of the snowy hill, the Republic troops were surprised by the sudden blast of cannon fire sounding to their right. Ice shattered around them as Captain Ozzel ordered from the safety of the troop transport, "Scatter the walkers! All troopers debark! Move!"

Allyn Tauht, a recently knighted Jedi General joined the two Jedi Masters at the front of the ridge, voicing the thoughts of her superiors. "They don't have a chance! One guess who ordered them to deploy!" Her blond hair was pulled back under her hood, so it wasn't swept up in the wind, revealing her displeasure. She had worked with Ozzel before as a padawan and was familiar with his need for victory at any cost.

Fisto's group had been to the side of where the firing began and had been away from the command tank when the order had been given. Now, they raced back towards their troops. "We must draw the enemy fire. Knight Tauht!"

Racing in front of the clone troopers currently under fire, Master Plo ignited his lightsaber, using it to deflect blaster bolts. "Troopers, fall in behind us!"

Master Fisto quickly joined him in defending the front line. "I can take point, master."

Plo Koon shook his head, his leathery skin and rebreather mask obscuring a slight smile. "Perhaps next time, young one. Knight Tauht, the cannons are all yours."

Racing towards the closest cannon, Tauht replied, "Yes, master."

Finally, the Republic tanks came within range of the ground troops, and Ozzel gave the command, "We're in position! Open fire!"

The clone trooper manning the tank's cannon, Lodestone glanced up at the Captain with his brow furrowed under his helmet. "What about the Jedi?"

Ozzel replied, "They know how to take cover," his orders standing.

Nodding somewhat reluctantly, Lodestone proceeded to mow down the enemy forces alongside his surrounding walkers. Being the mental and moral lodestone of his squad may have earned him his name, but there wasn't much he could do to defy the order. Thankfully, the Jedi did indeed take cover, and the droids were quickly eliminated.

At the nearby agrocite processing station, the Khormai warlord began to panic as a battle droid reported on the battle's status. "My Lord, our defenses have been reduced to 54...er 37...uh...14 percent. The odds we will lose this battle have increased to 100%. Should we destroy the plant?"

Racing out of his seat and down the stairs of the facility, the Warlord ordered, "There's no time! Get me to the rail jet."

Racing through the newly captured facility, Knight Taught saw the Khormai Warlord enter the rail jet, and exclaimed, "Master Plo, the warlord is trying to escape!"

They ran towards the loading area, just as the jet sped out of sight. "It's too late, Master Plo… we lost them."

Now that the Warlord and his forces had largely retreated into the mountain, the Republic troops could set up camp in the agrocite processing facility. Largely made of metal and covered in snow, it was little more than a windbreak against the weather outside. Even Leader Adaroo had commented earlier that the wind and snow were far worse than usual. However, the clone troopers, used to non-ideal conditions, were quick to set up camp, throwing a few snowballs at each other if off-duty.

Once the camp was set up, the command team met in the lookout tower of the facility, one of the few wind-protected areas on base.

Ozzel addressed the group with a shiver. "Brrr! What a miserable frozen rock- and this storm… No storm will stop our advance. I was glad to facilitate the liberation of this processing center for the Grand Army of the Republic… uh, and the Khormai."

Plo Koon nodded, "The people are thankful… but many of them remain imprisoned in the mine."

Fisto continued, "Our primary objective. Liberating it will be no easy task. With the rail jet gone and the storm rendering our air support useless, we are at a disadvantage. The droids have the high ground, and fortified positions - they'll be waiting for us."

"Attacking an enemy that is prepared for a siege will result in more casualties than we can afford. We should seek an alternative." Tauht added wisely, keeping in mind that the clones were people, and they deserved better alternatives than being ordered to strike a fortified base head-on.

Captain Ozzel had no such qualms. "A direct assault is our only option, Master Jedi. I understand the Jedi code is to protect life, but clones were created to fight and - if necessary - die. Some will be killed, and while unfortunate, we can always make more. Isn't that correct, Commander 3636?"

CC-3636, also known as Commander Wolffe, responded tonelessly "If you say so, sir." Internally, however, he fumed about the fact that while he may hold the rank Commander in the Clone Army, he only held authority over other clones, and was outranked by Captain Ozzel as a nat-born officer. If any of his captains had said something like that to him, or to one of the citizens they were helping, he would have given them a demerit, KP, and the night watch rotation for the next tenday.

Rather disturbed by his fellow officer's disregard for the Clones, Master Plo addressed the Captain. "Captain Ozzel, your decisions in battle today were needlessly aggressive and revealed disregard for the lives of your men."

"I saved your life and acted in the interest of the Republic, General. Need I remind you that I was rewarded this commission by Supreme Chancellor Palpatine himself?" Despite General Plo being the superior officer, there had been many instances in today's battle alone where Captain Ozzel had tried to give the Jedi orders, questioned their calls, or all but countermanded their orders. He may be a friend of the chancellor, but enough was enough.

Taking a deep breath through his rebreather, High General Plo Koon, Jedi Master on the High Council responded in all his authority, "I am aware of your relationship with the chancellor, but you will remember your place in the command structure, Captain."

"Yes, sir."

Above the planet, Admiral called through the comms to both Master Plo and the pilots on duty. "This is Admiral Wieler, on the Resilient calling General Plo. An enemy starship has entered the system. All fighters - that vessel must not reach the surface!"

Clone pilots Nuna, Porg, and Starbird raced to their ships in pursuit of the ship. Having gone through training together, they were pretty close, calling each other ori'vod, which translates roughly to sibling or best friend.

As pilots, they had thought it appropriate to have bird names. Starbird's hair was the longest of the three, dyed red and pulled into a bun underneath his red-streaked helmet. Porg had short fluffy hair, uncommon for most of the brothers in the army, but it suited him well. Nuna shaved his hair short, not liking how longer hair felt under his helmet. He had gotten his name from both his haircut and his squeaky voice when they were seven, the clone trooper equivalent of teenagers, because they aged twice as fast.

Many of the clones had unusual haircuts, tattoos, or other forms of differentiating themselves from their vode. The 104th prided themselves on being a batallion where differences were not only allowed, they were encouraged. Their Jedi Generals had never gotten a name wrong once they learned it, even when Boost and Sinker had switched armor to try to trick the General, who had grinned under his mask, and promptly assigned them Kitchen Patrol for doing so while on duty.

"Wanna play Sabbac when we get back?" Porg called through the comms to his ori'vod.

"Focus, Porg. I'd hate to see you crash land in that storm. It would take a week to get you back, with all the snow, and you already owe me from last time you lost a Sabbac game," Starbird scolded lightly. Comming Nuna, Starbird questioned, "How's the engine, Nuna. Is it fully repaired from our last firefight?"

"Affirmative. It's purring like a lothcat. Now let's get after that enemy fighter so I can finish repainting the gunships. The decal on one of them got ruined by blasterfire, and I'd like to fix it as soon as possible." Nuna responded as he finished his pre-flight checks and flew out of the ship's hangar.

The three flew in standard formation, with Starbird in front and Porg and Nuna flanking him on each side. They caught up to the enemy ship, trying to shoot it down, but its pilot seemed to be almost precognitive in its ability to avoid their attempts. As the ship got closer to the planet, Porg noticed that it was heading straight for the center of the storm cycle currently preventing the Republic forces from aiding the ground troops. "The enemy ship is descending into the storm!" He called to his fellow pilots. "It'll be ripped apart!"

As the leader of their trio, Starbird made the call, "Back off! We can monitor from here."

They were all shocked when, instead of being destroyed within seconds of entering the storm's atmosphere, it began to open up, revealing the snowy planet's surface below, in exactly the area the enemy fighter was flying.

"The storm… it opened up for the enemy ship!" Nuna announced through the comms, racing to catch up with the enemy fighter again. "Resuming pursuit!"

Porg was quick to follow, but Starbird hesitated for a moment before realizing, "The storm is closing! Abort!"

He could hear Porg's intake of breath as he realized what he had, and Nuna's quiet curse as they attempted to make their way back out of the storm, but it was too late. Their fighters got swept up by the planet's winds, and before Starbird knew it, they were out of sight. He couldn't tell if their parachutes had deployed or if they had been in their ships when they had crashed into the side of a mountain on the ground.

"Pilots, return to the ship." The admiral ordered through the comms, and only Starbird was there to reply with a quiet "Yes, sir."

Back on the Jedi Starcruiser, Admiral Wieler notified the Jedi, "The enemy got through… and the storm reformed to full strength. Our fighters were lost. The atmospheric distortion is centered near your primary objective."

"Which means the enemy must have some sort of climate-control station near their base. Clone intelligence has reported the Separatists' attempts to acquire the technology." General Fisto responded from the base on the ground.

Folding his hands within his gloves, Master Plo nodded, "And so they have. If we can find and eliminate that station, we can utilize our air support to liberate the mine- and free the inhabitants being held there."

With a frown and an annoyed glance towards the weather outside, Captain Ozzel asked "You don't expect me to go on some wild seek-and-destroy mission?"

"No, Captain. Master Fisto and I will lead the mission." Master Plo responded, allowing the Captain a bit of leeway.

Ozzel nodded in acknowledgement. "Very good, sir. I will prepare a detachment of my best commando units to accompany you. And as you know, General, we are on a schedule. Do you have an estimated time of -"?

"As long as it takes. Knight Tauht, I will leave Wolffe and my troops in your capable hands. You are in command while we are gone."

Glancing outside at the troops now under her care, Allyn Tauht steeled herself for the task in front of her. She had led troop forces before, so she knew the weight of this responsibility. She also knew that, if she had any questions, Commander Wolffe had trained for the past ten years of his life to be a prepared leader in situations such as this, so she had help if she needed it."Yes, master."

Warlord Gout glared menacingly at the hologram figure in front of him. "This is what you send to me as reinforcements? One hairless harpy is going to defeat three jedi?"

"My agent is more formidable than she looks, Warlord Gout. She has much experience leading droid forces… and defeat is not an option. The agrocite mined on your world is far too valuable to the Separatist alliance to lose. Not only is your resource a most powerful fuel, but I have recently discovered it has vast potential in the development of beam weapons - very powerful beam weapons. My servant will lead the effort to reclaim the processing plant. She is very adept at dealing with Jedi." Count Dooku, leader of the Separatist alliance (and Sith Lord) exuded superiority, and his dangerous tone persuaded the Warlord to rethink his complaints.

"As you wish, My lord." Warlord Gout bowed, gulping in nervousness, which he attempted to conceal from Count Dooku's so-called "hairless harpy."

Asajj Ventress, Count Dooku's assassin, was well-renowned for her anger, her deviousness, and her ability to kill Jedi. As a native of Dathomir, her skin was entirely white, and her head was unadorned, except for two tattoos swirling across the back of her head. Because of the weather, she had a warm black coat in addition to her usual dark purple tunic and tight-fitting pants. Her twin lightsabers rested on her belt, although they would not remain their long, if Ventress's annoyed glare was an indicator. Her master loved sending her to these types of idiotic leaders. They would constantly insult her, questioning her authority, whether because of her gender or her species, but more often than not, when their plans failed or they defied her Master's orders, she got the last laugh as she slaughtered them where they stood. Right now, she was thinking decapitation sounded like a good idea.

Racing through the icy canyons on their speeders, Captain Sharp and his team followed Kit Fisto and Plo Koon as they were led by the Khormai toward the base. When the canyon veered sharply to the left, Sharp called out to the Jedi (although the noise came out of his helmet quieter and more distorted than usual), "General, we're not taking a direct path to the objective?"

On the second speeder from the front, Kit Fisto responded, head-tails whipping in the wind. "I asked Adaroo to lead us this way. This mission has the greatest chance of success if we approach undetected. Your voice is distorted captain. Is your comlink malfunctioning?"

Sharp cleared his throat beneath his helmet before responding. "Negative, General. I took a blaster bolt in the throat on Mimban. Don't worry, the mission was completed to Command's satisfaction - just as this one will be." He had been cleared for duty a day before they landed on Khorm, with instructions to use his voice sparingly for the next few days. He had joked to the medic that his injury was being iced on a regular basis, which should continue to help it heal. The medic, Buir, had glared at him, shaking his head, and told him that if he got laryngitis for the next month by pushing himself too far, then it was his own fault.

Buir had been hesitant to let him take part in the campaign, but when Captain Ozzel heard of it, he pointed out that while a throat injury did somewhat hamper communication, it did not affect his mobility, and he was needed to lead his division. Sharp didn't mind too much; he wanted to be with his vod anyways, but it would be nice to see the Captain show a little more concern for the troopers under his care.

Glancing at Captain Sharp briefly in concern, Kit Fisto remembered that he couldn't see the Captain's face, nor his injury with the snow gear covering the clone. "We'll try not to get in your way, Captain. It would be a shame to waste all the detonators you brought along."

Sharp grinned, along with the rest of his team. "The Devil Dogs of the 44th Special Operation Division always come prepared. There hasn't been a ship, station, or soft target that we haven't blown to haran, sir. That's how we got our name. When we get an assignment, Captain Ozzel only has one condition- 'Finish the mission, or don't come back.' We never fail, so it's never been a problem." Of course, the Devil Dogs had a bit of a rolling membership because of said condition, with a new member replacing an old one every other mission, but that's just the way it was under the Captain.

Fisto frowned as they continued "It's difficult to argue with success, Captain. But in my experience, how a mission is completed usually defines its level of success."

Sharp rolled his eyes under his helmet as he dodged another snow-covered rock. "No offense, General. But that sounds like the talk of a peacemaker- and talk like that gets troopers killed out here."

General Tauht was meditating in the common room when the first cannon blast sounded from the mountain above. Looking out the window, she could see the droid army already making headway down the mountain. Hearing another blast, she saw a rocket get launched from above and land in the center of their makeshift barracks. Thankfully, this had happened during a shift change, so most of the vode were already outside and heading towards cover from enemy fire.

Rushing down the slick metal stairs, Allyn called out to the Captain as he emerged from his tent, still pulling on a boot, "Ozzel! Order your men to reinforce our lines! We can hold them off! I will contact General Plo Koon!"

Having slept in his armor, Commander Wolffe was already at the front defensive line, blaster drawn. He nodded, signalling to his men while responding, "Acknowledged, General. This way, Captain." Captain Ozzel saluted General Tauht before running off to round up his troops.

Two Jedi down, they were at a disadvantage, but Commander Wolffe had faith in General Tauht, she was a capable leader and she could take down any droid heading their way. Rallying the clones to the defensive position, Wolffe and his vode were doing a pretty good job holding back the enemy forces. With Ozzel's troops at their backs (although Ozzel himself was as far away from the battle as he could be while still giving orders), Wolffe was feeling pretty confident that they could hold their position until the Jedi returned, at least until he saw twin red blades light up near a group of shinies defending the far gate, the opposite end of the camp from the Republic's main defense.

Performing a few neat flips and slashing her lightsabers through a group of clone troopers, Asajj Ventress invaded the Republic camp, decimating anyone in her path. Running through the troops while deflecting any blaster bolts aimed her way, Ventress moved quickly to the Republic command post, where she placed a few bombs before leaving the room. Seeing Ventress head up the stairs to the command post, Knight Tauht ran after her quickly, seeing Ventress escape before detonating the explosives she had set. Grunting in pain as she landed on the metal platform below the burning command center, Allyn quickly ignited her lightsaber as Ventress brought her own saber far too close to her neck, saying, "You haven't offered me the chance to surrender yet."

Attempting to sweep the leg before landing a hit on Ventress' jaw with her lightsaber hilt, Knight Tauht responded "I have been warned not to underestimate your powers, Ventress. My orders are to subdue you - by any means." As she said that, Allyn managed to send one of Ventress's dual lightsaber blades flying down into the battle below.

Ventress spit out a bit of blood, as she circled the Jedi knight. "Mmm. You have the strength to make this interesting - but my time - is short." Suddenly, Ventress's lightsaber reappeared from below them. Using the force to levitate her lit lightsaber behind Knight Tauht, Ventress impaled the young Jedi.

Collapsing on the ground, Tauht died quickly. Ventress smirked confidently before continuing with her mission to find the rest of the Jedi and kill them.

"Captain Ozzel! It's General Tauht, she's dead!" Corporal Comet called from his position guarding the rear of the troops.

At this, Captain Ozzel asked, "Dead? Then… I am in command!" Standing up from behind the crates he was hiding behind, he yelled out without a second thought, "Charge!"

Coming up behind him, Commander Wolffe yelled over the blasterfire, "Sir! Our orders were to stay put and hold the facility!"

"I won't sit here and wait for the enemy to take it back! We will push the attack and finish this fight for good! Can't you see we have them on the run?" With a wary glance at the unfortified mountain Captain Ozzel was urging the men towards, Wolffe reluctantly ordered his troops to pursue the retreating enemy forces. I hope we don't regret this.

The clone troops pursued the retreating droid forces into the snowy hillside, when all of a sudden, they rounded an outcropping just in time to see another battalion of droid reinforcements come out of their hiding place in the snow.

Wolffe's eyes widened as he heard the cries of his vode as they were blown off their feet by explosions and hit with blasterfire. This was a disaster, and before he knew it, the droid forces had flanked him and the remaining forces.

From his position in the command tank, Wolffe felt the cannonfire before he saw it blast a hole through the walker's side. Groaning as he impacted the side of the wall, he stood up, opened the hatch and dragged Captain Ozzel out of the opening, saying "Ozzel, the clankers have us surrounded! Your orders?"

Ozzel regained his footing and ordered Wolffe, "Signal the enemy. We're surrendering."

Feeling a sense of dread, but following his commanding officer's orders, Wolffe responded, "Droids seldom take prisoners, sir."

Ozzel's eyes widened in fear, his face paling even further as he asked, "Not even officers?"

Stopping at what looked like a few shacks torn apart by the wind and covered in snow, Leader Adaroo let out a mournful sound and said, "This village is one of the many consumed by the storm… the horror the droid army has unleashed on us has devastated our landscape and destroyed our homes. Our world has been reduced to a graveyard."

General Koon laid a hand on the grieving leader. "I grieve with you. Every battleground takes its toll in lives, but none so tragic as those of the innocent." He then moved with General Fisto to help Adaroo's troops bury their dead.

Sharp came over to General Fisto, confused at their delay. "General, what's the difference where those bodies freeze? This isn't part of the mission." If they were late in getting their job done, who knew what kind of nonsense Captain Ozzel would get up to back at base camp with the rest of the vode?

Fisto, having only ever worked with Ozzel for this campaign, responded "Our mission is not only to protect the lives of others, but to respect them. Upholding the ideals of the Republic is crucial to saving it." And showing basic concern for those people they were rescuing was an important part of that, even if it was slowing down their mission slightly.

"My men and I save the republic every day by getting our job done." 'And nobody cared where their bodies froze,' Sharp thought to himself. He could remember each and every time a brother had died in the war, and if they were lucky, they had time for a funeral pyre and a quick remembrance. If not, they were left in the mud with blood on their armor and tear tracks on their faces. He remembered one story he had heard about from an ARC trooper that had spent some time with them before returning to the 501st legion. He said that his batchmate had sacrificed his life saving the Jedi, and they had to run before they could grab his body from the flaming wreckage of their escape ship, but when one of the Jedi had died, the Jedi had ordered the men to take a twenty minute breather to grieve for him. That's just the way it was, no matter what battalion a clone was in.

Sensing a few turbulent thoughts from Captain Sharp, Koon spoke quietly to Kit Fisto. "In moments of great emotion, Master Fisto, nothing is more valuable than patience. Keep in mind the clones have not had your years of training or experience."

Kit Fisto, still in his mid-thirties, nodded at the reminder that they were technically leading an army of child soldiers, even if they matured at twice the normal rate. "Or yours, Master, however many it is. Is that what I should expect for the rest of this war? A growing disregard for life everywhere?"

Koon brought a clawed hand up to his mask as he thought on this, rumbling "In my many years, I have never seen the galaxy in such a state of brutal unrest. There will be many dark days yet, but we must keep hope alive."

Sharp thought back to his years growing up on Kamino, being treated as products instead of people, how his batchmates were sent into live fire training at the ripe old age of six, and just how many vod younger than him he had seen go down from anything from blasterfire to explosives, to accusations of treason. He responded with a gravelly voice, "With respect, General, I've seen far worse than this - and the war has only been raging a year. I've seen the Separatists win battles because they will do whatever it takes to win. What will the Republic do?"

Plo knew that not everybody shared his ideals about the clone troopers and their sentience, so he understood where the Captain was coming from, which was why he wasn't sneaking off to meditate away his annoyance like Kit Fisto.

Master Plo conceded, saying "We are at a disadvantage, Captain, because we will not abandon our ideals to win. If we became the enemy in our hearts and minds, then our victory would be for nothing."

Making a hoarse "huh" noise, Sharp responded, "I never thought about it that way, sir. Fixer, Jark. Give the Jedi a hand. Just remember vode, ideals are nice, but they don't change anything in battle." Meaning that while civvies like the Khormai might get these accommodations in death, it didn't mean they would. "Now the quicker these dead are under the ice, the quicker we are on the move."

Helpful Vocabulary:

Haran: Hell in Mando'a

Di'kut: Idiot in Mando'a

Shebs: Butt in Mando'a

Hut'uun'la: cowardly, from the root word coward. The worst possible insult in Mando'a.

Jetii: Jedi in Mando'a

Kriffing: Imperial swear word, a derogatory modifier similar to the "F" word

Vod/Vode: Gender neutral term for sibling in Mando'a (which is a gender-neutral language)

Vod'ika: younger sibling, -'ika meaning little

Ori'vod: comes from the word vod, means older sibling or best friend, since Mandalorians have a pretty accepting definition of family

Buir: mother, father or parent in Mando'a

Clankers: Slang for battle droids

Bucket: Slang for helmet

Seppies: Slang for Separatists

Walker: Republic Tank, which walks on four legs

Nat-born: not cloned, a naturally born person

Comming: calling someone on a comlink (Star Wars phone)

Loth-cat: cats in Star Wars

Shiny: a new trooper, fresh from Kamino, where the clones are made and trained, younger with clones with "shiny" armor

Character List

Plo Koon: a Kel Dor Jedi Master on the High Council (aka a very highly ranked Jedi Master). Kel Dor come from a planet which has Dorin gas instead of oxygen, which is poisonous to Kel Dor, so Plo Koon wears a black rebreather mask and goggles at all times. Plo Koon is one of the more traditional members of the Council, however, he is known as a wise and empathetic Jedi, who cares for those under him.

Fisto: A Nautolan Jedi, from an amphibious species with large black eyes, and large tentacles on their heads in place of hair. Kit Fisto is a younger Jedi Master who is also on the Jedi Council, but has less seniority than Plo Koon. He is one of the less serious members of said council.

Tauht: Minor Jedi character, only mentioned in this book, genderswapped for this fanfiction, and is now a woman, blond hair, blue eyes. She is a recently knighted Jedi General, and she takes her position seriously, taking care to minimize casualties and treat the clone troopers like sentient beings.

Ozzel: A Captain in the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), and later an officer high up in the Empire in the Original Star Wars Saga, doesn't care about clone casualties, but when his life is on the line, he panics, surrenders, and gives up secret information. He ignores the strategic advice of the Commander Wolffe (who would outrank him as a Commander if Wolffe were a nat-born officer, but since nat-born officers are automatically higher ranked than their clone trooper counterparts, he is in charge), goes against the alien Jedi's plan when he falsely assumes they are dead, and overall is a terrible leader

Wolffe: A Clone Commander under Plo Koon, who is loyal and strong. He lost all but two troopers in his previous battalion, Boost and Sinker. He has a different armor design in each episode of the Clone Wars that he is in. Fanon is that he got his name because of a penchant for growling at his batchmates, and his generally grumpy attitude. In this comic book, his armor has a blue stencil of a wolf's head on his snow trooper helmet, a red triangle on his forehead, and a few other blue stripes on his armor.

Sergeant Sinker: member of the Wolfpack, (was originally genderswapped), clone with a dry sense of humor, hair dyed silver, has unmarked snow trooper armor for this comic book

Boost: member of the Wolfpack, hair dyed red and shaved into two short strips that look like an = sign on his head, one line above each eye. He's a little reckless (but not too much), more serious than Sinker, both like to bicker with each other, has unmarked snow trooper armor for this comic book

Comet: member of the Wolfpack, younger one in the group, corporal, defended the back of the group, aka reliable, (originally genderswapped for this fic), has a red stencil of a wolf's head on his helmet, marking him as a member of the wolfpack, and a few other red stripes on his snow trooper armor

Captain Sharp: Captain under Ozzel, stubborn and fatalistic, but has a sense of humor and a tendency to spout out terrible puns when with his vode, is in charge of troopers Devil Dogs. Was hit with a blaster in the throat on his last mission, so his voice is hoarse in this story. He got his name because of his sharp retorts and snarky attitude while in training. He wasn't afraid to ask hard questions. In his own words, he "went out with a bang" when he blew himself up to save the rest of the republic's troops and the Khormai people.

Devil Dogs: Jark, Fixer, Sten, Blunt, Deadeye, and Buir. (Fixer and Blunt were originally genderswapped for this fic), led by Captain Sharp, at the end of this fic, only Fixer and Buir are still alive. Sten is the weapon's expert; a Sten is a type of submachine gun. Jark was the demolition's expert. Deadeye was a sniper, Fixer was a mechanic, and Blunt acted as their pilot when needed.

Buir: Clone Medic for the Devil Dogs, got his name because he used to read parenting books in his spare time to learn how to deal with his squad full of wild childs. When they found out, they started mockingly calling him "Mom" and the name stuck.

Members of Wolfpack: Wolffe, Boost, Sinker, Comet, Warthog, Dash-1129, Dash-1044, elite team of clone troopers under General Plo Koon, usually tasked with rescue missions

Pilots: Porg, Starbird, and Nuna, all named for types of birds in Star Wars. Porg has lighter-colored, fluffy hair, and is a very sweet vod'ika. Starbird is the leader of their trio with red-streaked hair in a lower bun, and Nuna is the sarcastic wildchild with buzzed black hair. Starbird and Nuna were originally genderswapped when I first wrote this fic. They are not batchmates, but their batches were very close in age, so they went into pilot training together, and have called each other ori'vod ever since.

Adaroo: Khormai leader's name, looks kinda like a humanoid walrus

Khormai: humanoid walruses with steampunk outfits, walk on two legs

Author's Note (cont.):

I know a lot of people know a lot of these words already, but I originally wrote this story for a class assignment, and I don't know how much the grad-student knew about Star Wars or Mando'a, so I added these at the bottom. I'll post the same words at the end of the next chapter, but I might have a few additions for the third chapter. This class wanted us to rewrite a previously known story in a new way that challenged systems of oppression, so I picked the Star Wars: The Clone Wars comic book "In Service of the Republic," which I do not own the rights or the characters to, I'm just borrowing them. Most people in my class wrote a one page short story, but because the teacher was a grad student, they didn't give us a font size requirement, margin sizes, or a page limit. Because of this, I had a grad student basically beta-read the first twenty-five pages of this fanfiction (and now they know to put page limits on final papers). I did enjoy the class more than I thought I would, but I also had fun being that one kid in the class with a twenty-five page paper that nobody asked for.

Because of said requirements for the paper, a few of the clone characters were previously changed into female clone troopers (they would look like Zam Wessel from Attack of the Clones, but they would be clones of the actual human woman that Zam Wessel shapeshifted into. I tried to find another human woman bounty hunter that worked with Jango Fett in Star Wars, but there were zero canon human female bounty hunters during the prequels that I could have used, so I improvised) to combat the lack of women characters in the original SWTCW universe. That is why some of the clone troopers might have their pronouns change accidentally in the middle of the story. The characters that I had genderswapped were

I switched them back for this fanfic because I know that having female clone troopers is a really hard thing to pull off in fanfiction form, but if anyone wants to read the original version, let me know, and I might post it later. This comic book was originally split up into three parts, so I'll probably do three chapters as well. The next chapter is mostly done already, but I might wait a little depending on how long it takes to double-check it for mistakes. Comments make the llama happy!