(A/N): My holiday gift to you all, I apologize for not posting sooner, but now we have more plot progression!

The cool blue tones and white dots of the holomap shone like fading stars in a lone galaxy as the projection reflected off of the shiny white plastoid armor. Various members of the 501st and Republic Officers had taken a seat around the table. The two Jedi in the room were seated at opposite ends, while Admiral Wulf Yularen remained the only one standing to work the controls of the map.

"Our scouts have successfully reported back with the pathfinders on the structural integrity of the cave systems beneath the surface. We were correct in our assumptions that the earthquake was not a geological event triggered early by the Separatists." Yularen explained, zooming in and highlighting where the ground had collapsed.

Fives swallowed as the images changed from the solid ground to the gaping maw that had opened up in the ice. His body still remembered the pain of the rocks and ice falling on top of him until one had finally forced him into the dark recesses of his unconscious mind. Then, after dreaming of the last horror he had witnessed, he had awoken into an entirely new one. Thankfully, Rex had been there with him. Although they both could have been in better circumstances, both of them waking up stuck together had tipped the odds in their favor to get free. That had been the edge against the spiders devouring them all in the cave that day, even if some of his brothers hadn't been so fortunate. After watching them being devoured, melted, and ripped apart by the eight-legged fanged fiends, Fives wasn't sure if he would even wish such a fate on the Clankers that caused the quake to begin with.

Out of the corner of his eye, the ARC Trooper saw his General quirk an eyebrow. "Admiral." Skywalker addressed, "If you're suggesting what I think you are, that means that they had been tracking us from the beginning."

"Which they have," Yularen confirmed, "From this base."

Murmurs from around the room carried words of discontent and anger. Ever since they had arrived on the ice ball, the Separatists had been watching their every movement, waiting like scorpions in the sand to strike. As Fives had continually observed, the Separatists' own resources fed into an overconfidence that often led to hasty deployments of droids. This in turn led to their command overly leaning on their tactical droids, to where these days all the Republic really had to do was strike swiftly and destroy said droid to secure their objective. If they truly had been tracked from the beginning, then they had played right into their unknown enemy's hands. They had been distracted during their primary invasion, and the CIS command had sprung their trap, plunging them all into the sub-zero sublevels of the tunnels and city. Thus, destroying the settlement in the process.

"Their goal never was to take the city," Rex shook his head "Their goal was to protect that base, even if that meant using the Citadel as a weapon itself." Fives could hear the melancholy retrospect creeping into his Captain's voice. A quick glance around the room and Fives could tell none of the members of Torrent Company were taking the news well. How could they? A

simple mission to defend and protect had turned into a waking nightmare of trying to survive against the worst Ren Vhar had to throw at them.

"They nearly succeeded. Our body count and MIA list keep rising." Adorsha's worried tone betrayed the air of authority. Fives knew she was trying hard to maintain her composure after taking countless losses. He had fought alongside General Skywalker and Commander Tano to know that Jedi senses were like technology, so far above his security clearance, that it might as well have been from the future. Whatever their recovery teams had been able to find, Adorsha's senses along with Skywalker's must have been feeling far more in terms of loss.

"Any idea who the base commander is?" Skywalker asked Yularen. His brows set into a deep frown, "This doesn't seem like a strategy fitting of any of the Separatist Leadership we've met so far, this is reckless... and messy."

The expression in Yularen's eyes was one of disappointment. Fives could only wonder if there was perhaps a hole in their intelligence, as he could already predict by looking at the man what he was about to say. Yularen shook his head, "As of right now, we do not have any information

that could pertain to that other than the standard Tactical Droid the Separatists tend to rely upon in the battlefield.

"Or used to safeguard their projects." Adorsha conceded, "Still, somebody has to be spearheading the operation, I've never seen that kind of technology being used before. If this is a testing ground for underground to surface infantry, or worse- artillery, I'm guessing there is probably a scientist or an engineer involved." the white markings that outlined where her eyebrows would have been furrowed in thought, "Whoever is in charge, they must be getting it in the ear from CIS high command for dropping a city on top of us.

The Separatists aren't above using civilians as shields for holding a planet or safeguarding a project." General Skywalker cut in. The firmness in his voice in stark contrast to the pillowy lilt of Adorsha's,"They almost succeeded using those tactics at Ryloth."

Fives found himself leaning forward as the oceanic, teal hued hologram illuminated Adorsha's eyes. It wasn't the first time he had been lost in them, nor did he doubt it would be the last. Thankfully, his brain was able to catch up with his tongue to agree with her, quelling Skywalker's anger with a distraction on their current mission at hand, "They've probably got some more of those drill-tanks stashed somewhere on that base, if not more are probably already being developed in a foundry or factory attached to the base. They can hide them in sand, it's not a stretch for them to hide one beneath the snow and ice."

"If not, I'm betting they've got something even bigger stashed away," Adorsha added, looking Fives directly in the eye, then to Captain Rex. "Our best course of action would be to use those tunnels cleared out by the Pathfinders through the ice to infiltrate the base, capture the tactical droid before they can wipe or blow the central computer, secure or destroy whatever they already had developed and stop the Base Commander from fleeing." In a way, Fives was glad

he had fallen for her. The war made the Galaxy a complicated enough place as it is, the safest places now were aboard the warships that they now were all convened on, more so than the cities that had stood for generations like the Citadel had on Ren Vhar. Yes, the galaxy was a series of ironies that Fives had been born to defend, alongside his brothers. Increasingly though he had found his loyalties starting to shift with the feelings he knew he was certain of. If anything, he pitied the residents of the icy tundra he was sworn to protect below them that needed to be avenged, but who was to say they wouldn't turn around and point fingers at the Republic for being too slow in their response?

There were only two things in the Galaxy he was certain of; The duty that every Clone was born with, to protect the Republic and whatever sentimentality the Kaminoans tried to breed out of them remained. He loved his brothers, but as Adorsha continued to talk, point and discuss matters of strategy with Admiral Yularen and General Skywalker, Fives wondered if it was possible he loved her just as much as his brothers, if not more so, in a different way. He didn't have a word in basic to describe it, though he recalled something Echo had taught him years ago on Kamino when they had been going through ARC training.

"Kair'ta, have you ever felt like that, Fives?"

"Uh… how would I know if I did?"

"Alpha said it was like being so attached to someone you get this intense pain in your chest each time you see them."

He never knew what Echo had meant until he'd met Adorsha. Back then, he wouldn't have believed that he'd ever be so lucky, let alone be locking lips in dark corners of the hangar bay. Dreamed it perhaps, as he was sure all Clones did about their blazing hot female Generals. He remembered the way Commander Cody had been watching Senator Izayoi on Talus- it was hard not to, and he was certain they'd had some kind of affair. He'd seen Commander Bly and General Secura interact too, the tension was so thick between them Fives was sure only pure Beskar could cut it. No, he wasn't the first Clone to fall for their Jedi, and he highly doubted he would be the last. In this time of war, he could only wonder if this was the feeling Echo described and not the result of the impending doom on Ren Vhar they had faced. It seemed like the more time he spent away from her, his thoughts of her would continue to grow, then when he saw her, if he said nothing, he would get a weird sensation in his chest. It wasn't exactly painful, in fact, Fives would say it felt more like excitement than anything. Still, he had to wonder, would he have helped another person if they had come into the barracks that night looking for a bed, if it hadn't been Adorsha? He liked to think so, the Jedi had to be in peak condition before entering the battlefield, and Fives had made the call to share his bed. Not just because of sentimental attachment- but because it had just been the right thing to do.

Rex's voice brought Fives out of his trance "We'll split into two strike teams once we've secured the entrance to the base." He pointed at the massive opening in the ground on the map, "From there, one team can make their way towards the computer mainframe of the base and extract

whatever information they can. Meanwhile the other team will move to intercept the Base Command before they can evacuate

Surface reinforcements can cut off whatever route they have planned and move to capture, or kill, should the need arise."

General Skywalker's scowl never faded. "I want that Tactical droid alive," he looked to Rex, "But I'm not opposed to having it sent to technical to extract its information from its circuit boards. If things get hot, then so be it."

The two Jedi exchanged a look, wordlessly exchanging information until Adorsha slowly nodded in approval. Fives suddenly found himself, alongside Rex, in his General's eye "Rex, get your men ready to move out and divide up the Strike teams as you see fit, Adorsha and I will join all of you in the hangar after we've relayed some information back to the High Council and the Fleet."

Rex stood up, taking his helmet under his arm and Fives copied his Captain "We'll round up the men and brief them in the hangar, time is of the essence here, the longer we stay the more time our enemy can prepare to evacuate."

"Then let's not give them that advantage," Adorsha rose to her feet, nodding at Rex, "Go."

That was all the permission both Clones needed to leave. Fives hadn't been expecting to redeploy so soon after their last mission went so awry, but if the Republic needed them to remain on Ren Vhar- then so be it.

Fives just hoped the base commanders would give him an excuse to melt them for what they'd done to his brothers and the Citadel.

(A/N): Remember to favorite, review and tell me what you think so far, and follow to be updated when the next chapter comes out! See you all on Ren Vhar in the new year!