Here's the Innocents of Ryloth remake with my Clone General and his troops adding to the conflict. I will also write some battles and skirmishes into the story that were only mentioned in the episodes, such as Obi Wan capturing a large Twi'lek Desert in the southern hemisphere between this episode and the next, which will have a small story after this one. Other than that bit of food for thought, please enjoy. Cloaked Writer out.
Sky's of Ryloth, 22 BBY, The Clone Wars
The Hanger of the Acclamator-class trandgalactic military assault ship was bustling with activity, with soldiers rushing to their gunships and readying AT-TE walkers for combat. General Kenobi walked forward, accompanied by General Windu and General Shard.
"The first trick will be to get our troops on the ground. Did you bring your squadrons, General?" Obi-Wan asked, entering a gunship with his Clone Commander Cody.
"Yes sir, I brought three Platoons, and I am landing several AT-TE's and a few new AT-SAT's from Korasa." Shard replied, gesturing towards several black gunships behind him, and a strange, alien transport. It was serpentine in shape, with repulsorlifts allowing it to move. It had several heavy cannons on the top, with armored view ports and very small amounts of troop space, but with a fair amount of defenses. It was coiled with the cockpit resting on the floor of the ship, it's flexible armored body filled to the brim with explosives and tibanna gas for it's lasers; the perfect siege weapon.
"Excellent. Nabat is the closest town, we can use it as a landing point in order to disembark our troops." Mace Windu said, his arms folded across his chest.
"I will see you both down there, gentlemen." Obi-Wan said, nodding to both Generals in turn.
"Certainly, General Kenobi." Shard said, inclining his head slightly.
The atmosphere was a light pink of mid-morning light. Four of the Republic Assault ships descended, one of them as black as a storm cloud, standing out against the light colors of the sky. A door opened on the Dark Ship, and a flurry of LAAT Gunships spewed out with the fury of a hurricane, blanketing the skies to clear any complications.
General Shard stood with his group in the gunship, briefing them. He had holograms of his two lieutenants as well. This group understood the margins of collateral damage, and this was no different.
"No explosive charges, only electronic pulses and plasma fire. No excuses," he added darkly, his helmet gleaming in the filtered lights of the gunship troop compartment. the troops bowed their heads in understanding, including the lieutenants's holograms.
With his troops settled, he set about readying his weapons. He checked his charge on his DC-17 Hand pistols, and saw his crew had followed suit, checking the charges on their DC-17m Rifles. turning back to his pistols, he saw they were at one hundred percent. He then moved to his DC-15A rifle, and saw it too was one hundred percent charged. He toyed with a modification lever towards the end of the barrel, near the grip, a trick that Clicker had designed. He hoped it wouldn't be that desperate to need it, but he knew it would be perfect if fighting became up close and personal. And he might be able to prove himself to his Jedi peers.
And he needed to prove himself. He knew they looked down on him because he was a Clone. Just because he was a highly modified and superior Clone, or a General and Senior Officer both of his own fleet and his own ground force battalion was not enough for them. He knew he had at least the professional respect of General Skywalker with Clicker's toys, he knew he needed to win over more Generals in order to at east succeed in any combat situation where the cooperation of their troops was absolutely necessary. He chanced a look at his men, his brothers, his true brothers. He shared base DNA with the other Fett Clones, certainly. But due to his and his men's modifications, the standard Fett Clones were less than brothers now; more like second cousins to be realistic. No, his men were his brothers. And if he was removed from his post, and some Jedi put in his place, his men would be impossible to control. They needed someone they could trust, someone they could relate too. To them, this was like a family outing, with their older brother leading them on. Of course, they weren't idiots, and they knew it was a war and everything, but this familiarity helped them cope. Add that, and he had evidently gotten a reputation for his small attacks into Separatist space, which was even greater news. The Clones trusted him, and if they trusted him, they would look up to his men too with awe and pleasant envy; at least he hoped.
He was jolted from those thoughts by a concussive explosion outside of the Gunship, rocking it with a wave of pure force. Taking his rifle in one hand he dialed Kenobi.
No response, damn it! He tried, again, still no response. This time, he tried contacting Mace, and instead entered a holo-call already in progress
"-get those guns offline. Ah, Shard, good. Land your troops and be ready for battle, Separatist gun emplacements in the town are causing us issues, and we cant land safely until they are destroyed," Obi-Wan said, filling in Shard.
"Understood, we will try to land as close as possible," Shard replied, keying the Hologram off. He gritted his teeth at the fact he kept complying to every order like a lowly Marshal Commander.
"Get ready boys, and remember: only shoot the droids, and only use electric pulses. If I hear otherwise that trooper will be polishing all the Droids in the captured Auxiliary ships, and I mean all of them," Shard reminded his troops with a deadly undertone. His boys needed a sterner hand in order to function, but other than that, their destructive force often worked in their favor.
The doors open, and he and his men rushed out, quickly joined by his lieutenants and their respective platoons. They joined General Kenobi at a small wall, where small turrets manned by B-1 Battle droids were sending a merciless barrage of crimson laser bolts into the woods where they were hiding.
"83', 7s', take careful aim and fire on those droids. I want them out of commission now!" he yelled to two of his troops. 83 had red and gold stripes along his armor, with a fine design of some kind twisting around his armor, as if entrapping him in his own armor in it's thorny embrace. 7s' was accented with gold as well, but with a large '7' emblazoned on his chest in blue. 83 also had a scouting visor, which saved him from carrying electrobinoculars. They saluted and sprinted to differing vantage points. Their genetic enhancements allowed them to outrun droidekas, and they reached a sniping vantage in moments. In just a few moments they silenced the turrets and the wall was secure.
He approached General Kenobi.
He was surprised at how tall he was in person, standing at eye level to most of the Clones. Most, as the 300th were enhanced, and were ever so slightly taller then the regular Clone trooper.
"You know, I could have just had my men throw droid poppers." he said to Shard, slightly disgruntled.
"This way was faster and now you have two extra droid poppers." Shard replied coolly.
"I am sure there will be opportunity to use them soon. General Kenobi." he said, resting his DC-15A rifle over his right shoulder and continuing down the street, his men, and surprisingly a few of Kenobi's own men following, assuming they were moving out.
"There should be a theater in the town square, that can be our command point as we prepare to silence the guns. I'd recommend a scouting unit," he said over his shoulder.
When the reached the Theater, they began settling their more sensitive equipment in, such as their long range transmitter and data-bank accessing pad.
General Shard approached Commander Cody, as he was speaking to two of his men.
"Commander, am I to assume you are leading the scouting detail?"
"Yes, sir!" Cody said, snapping to attention and quivering slightly. Shard smirked under his helmet, which quickly turned to a grimace thanks to his scar.
"I would recommend two of my troops to your detail, Commander. They were the two who silenced the turrets. 83! 7s!" he bellowed over his shoulder, getting the two Clone's attentions. They rushed to his side and saluted.
"You are to accompany Commander Cody in his scouting detail, understood?" he said sharply.
"Sir, yes Sir!" they said in a chorus. He nodded to them, then turned on Cody.
"Commander, a word in private, if I may?" he asked Cody, his hands folded behind his back.
"Certainly, sir!" he said, trying to sound professional, but the joy of speaking to the idol of the Clones seeped from his mouth.
"Be very careful around my men, order wise. You may need to be harsher then you would your normal troops. They are more suborn then your regular troops, but they should be very helpful." Shard said in a hushed voice, so his men wouldn't hear and take offence. He knew that his troops knew about their issues, with some noticing the problem and actively taking regular courses on the Galactic Holo-net on anger management, but some didn't, and he didn't want a fight to break out because of his men.
"Don't worry, General. Your men are in safe hands, sir!" he said in an enthusiastic whisper. He then turned back to his troops and readied them for scouting.
"Buildings, are just buildings. What really makes a town, are the inhabitants that live in it," Cody said, looking cautiously down the barrel of his DC-15S Blaster Carbine.
"So... what happened?" Waxer said, peering through a window of an abandoned shop, or home.
"Were they all... killed?" he asked.
"If they were... Then where're the bodies?" Boil asked, crouching and examining the ground.
"They weren't killed, they were driven from their homes. They likely didn't have a choice," Cody said solemnly.
"Likely as Separatist Slaves, they have begun slave trading once again in the outer rim industrial sectors. We freed a barge of them above Ukio, where we tested the Sovereign, I'll carry that sight till my dying day. All those poor people, starving," 83 said darkly, shaking his head subtly.
Cody relaxed, seeing that the coast was clear, and stood up. He wanted to issue his orders before the dark reality got to his men. They were preprogrammed to resist such stresses, but it never hurt to be on the side of caution.
"Waxer, Boil, 83, you head down the south road, ill take Wooley and 7s with me to scout the north road. We meet back at Command at 06:20. Understood?" He asked, clipping his voice at the end to add an edge to his last word. He normally would have left it there, but General Shard had asked to push his troops a little harder in order to keep them in line, so that's what he would do.
"Yes, Sir!" 83 said, which was echoed by Waxer and Boil. The Trios split up, and began their respective missions.
"So, I gotta ask. Whats it like?" Waxer asked 83 once the road curved and they were well out of sight and earshot of Commander Cody.
"Whats what like?" 83 asked, lowering his DC-17m Blaster Rifle and looking at them, his helmet obscuring his face behind a mask.
"You know, working with him?" Boil asked, his admiration bleeding through.
"The General?" he asked, lowering his weapon entirely and looking directly at them.
"Well yeah, what's he like? Tell us everything!" Boil said, continuing to look around.
"Well, to start he-"
He was cut off by a sudden shifting of rocks in a small alleyway. Boil motioned with two fingers to advance. The Clones all rushed into the alleyway to find-
A young Twi'lek girl hiding behind a rusty, empty crate.
"Ah, its just a little girl," Waxer said, lowering his weapon.
83 immediately lowered his weapon and took in the situation. The girl was all on her own, and extremely malnourished. She was likely orphaned, and starving. He reached into his belt and procured a small chunk of what looked like bread.
"Whoa, you get your own rations, too?" Boil said, awe in his voice.
"No. The General knew that the Separatist occupation was likely killing these people. He had the mess make hundreds of thousands of loaves of Funge-bread for any of the towns we visited. He figured, if we come across anyone, at least it will remind them of better times."
The little girl cautiously stepped forward, trying her best to look like she did not want the bread, but her stomach betrayed her, and she leapt forward and devoured the loaf.
The Clones removed their helmets, relaxing and smiling at the small child. She stopped eating, and stared in bewilderment at their faces.
"Nerra, Nerra," she said, pointing to Boil and Waxer in turn, but she stopped and looked quizzically at 83, her head turning almost comically in a confused manor.
"Kairn Nerra?" she asked 83, chewing slightly on her bread.
"No, no, no. I'm Waxer, He's Boil, and he's..." he stopped, unsure how to explain to her that 83's name was numbers, and how to not scare her into thinking they were some kind of droids; if she understood her.
"We should take her with us, she might have an understanding of the area, and it's too dangerous for her to be here all on her own. She's lucky to have survived this far on her own. Contact The General." 83 said, stooping down and offering a protein stick to the girl, which she took and devoured.
"Which one?" Waxer asked.
"Whichever one. General Kenobi seems the sentimental type and sounds like he'd be willing to help her. As for Shard, he knows she might lead us to the droids." 83 said, a smile pulling at the edges of his mouth as he patted the girl on her head. At least he was saving one of them from whatever fate was plaguing their race. He thought to himself.
Cody, 7s, and Wooley all crouched behind debris, watching the droid column advance.
"There is no way we can get past all these droids, even with General Shard's reinforcements," he muttered.
"There's always a way, Wooley." 7s said, keeping a keen eye on the droids to ensure they weren't spotted.
Cody had out a pair of electrobinoculars, and was examining the J-1 semi-autonomous proton cannon, when he saw...
"Wait, Twi'leks!" He exclaimed, seeing the beings. They were all half starved, and were in chains, binders, and other forms of bondage.
"They are holding all the survivors hostage, 83 isn't gonna like that." 7s said grimly.
"We have to report back to The General," Cody said.
"Which one?" 7s jokingly asked.
"Save the jokes for the after-party, 7s." Cody said briefly. In truth, he wouldn't have minded at all with sharing a laugh, but he didn't want the troops to loose focus.
Cody's squad arrived to see General Kenobi looking a mixture of strained and bemused.
"Cody. Waxer, Boil, and... 83, discovered a local that reportedly knows her way around the town. They may be delayed slightly in getting her back here, but she will be crucial to our strategy." Obi-Wan said.
Of course Cody thought. I leave them alone for thirty minutes and they go picking up girls. He shook his head. It was foolish of him not to send an officer with them, but what was done was done, and they will eventually get back here. He briefed General Kenobi and General Shard on the situation, with a hologram of General Windu.
"There are J-1 Semi Autonomous Proton Cannons here, here, and here," he said, pointing to separate areas on a holo-map.
"But there is a complication: the villagers have been rounded up and are being used as shields to defend the guns." he said grimly.
"This may be difficult, but not impossible," General Kenobi said, looking to the other Generals.
"I think I see what you are, planning," General Shard said, before stopping suddenly and shuddering.
"General? What is it?" Cody asked.
"Does anyone feel like..." he stopped then moved with a marksman's precision. He drew a DC-17 Blaster Pistol from a holster and fired at an angle towards an exposed area of roof. Everyone looked up in time for it to see the oblong body and spindly legs of a Separatist Probe Droid fall to the ground, a smoldering, spluttering hole in its photoreceptor eye.
"Like we're being watched," he finished, his blaster still smoking from the blaster bolt's exit from the barrel.
"Well done, General," Obi Wan said, surprise and admiration leaking from his voice. Cody wasn't that good, hell he doubted if Rex was even that good.
With the briefing done, all they needed to do was wait for the troopers to come back with the girl. Cody and Obi Wan and a coin-less wager that they would be ten minutes and fifteen minutes late respectively. General Shard said nothing on the matter, but he had a small smile on his face, as if he knew something they didn't.
Surprisingly, they made it back on time. And even more surprisingly, General Kenobi and Cody were broth proven wrong. Waxer and Boil lead the way, followed by 83, leading a young Twi'lek child that couldn't have been older then ten. She was nibbling on a protein stick, likely from one of the trooper's rations. Obi wan smiled kindly and knelt down beside her as she finished her last ration. She covered one eye and ducked behind 83's leg.
"Lu nalle que juan'shilo?" he asked her in Ryl, pointing away.
"Uoi noye naya, von Narra, comi Kairn Narra," she said in Ryl, pulling on 83's hand.
"She can lead us through the catacombs to the droids," Obi-Wan translated.
"Catacombs?" a regular white-armored Clone asked.
"Yes, there are a series of tunnels all over the city, to be used in the event of a crisis." Obi Wan said, using the force to reach out to a nearby hatch in the square. The beautiful slab lifted up and revealed a tunnel.
"General Shard, I am going to need a distraction," Obi Wan said.
"Will do. Cody, I'll need your assistance in making the distraction. I'm sure General Kenobi can be without you for a moment?" Shard asked, hoisting his DC-15A blaster rifle over his shoulder, and being followed by most of his men. XT0083, opted to aid General Kenobi in releasing the prisoners. With his General's blessing, he fell in line with General Kenobi's troops as they clamored down into the tunnels, a dark spot in a sea of white.
While in contrast, Cody fell in alongside General Shard, a single pearl in a wave of ink.
The T-series tactile droid, TX-20, was not pleased, not even by 10%. The Clone's had been able to avoid his troops with extreme ease, and his beast trap had failed, despite an 80% chance of success. The Clones had somehow avoided every last one, only .3% possibility of such an occurrence, and they fled the town, hunting other fauna in order to fill their starving bellies. He now readied his defensive perimeter, and nervously contacted Emir Wat Tambor.
"What-" Tambor started, before his suit interrupted him, spewing feedback from his suits electronics.
"-is it?" He finished, folding his hands in front of him.
[I regret to inform you, that the Jedi have out maneuvered our forces. I am calculating a new defensive strategy, but the outcome of Jedi success is 49.78 percent, in their favor.] TX-20 solemnly reported. Wat Tambor looked thoughtful for a moment.
"Maintain a signal, so I may monitor the situation, or else send your data readings directly to me. If and when you are terminated, I will send hyena bombers to destroy the town, removing the Clones." Tambor said.
[Certainly, my lord. There is an additional complication,] TX-20 pressed a button to share a hologram with the Emir.
[This was the last image captured by one of our probe droids. It appears, that this unorthodox approach, is being lead by a Clone General.] TX-20 said.
"A Clone General? The positions of General are almost entirely, exclusively, held by Jedi Knights. No Clone has such a position." Tambor said firmly.
[Unfortunately, our data-banks do report of an unknown Clone group, offensively striking into Separatist space. They were lead by a Clone, who matches this trooper's description, and behavior.] TX-20 replied, pressing a button, sending a flurry of information to his Emir.
"Do what you have to. Use the Twi'leks as personal shields for your droids if you have to, just stop them, or hold them down as long as possible as we ready our bombers." Tambor said, clenching a fist at the droid.
[By your command,] The droid replied, keying off the hologram, and approaching a Separatist AAT hover tank.
Shard crouched down and peered around a corner. Separatist forces had set up mediocre defenses of the pass into the canyon where the J-1 Semi-Autonomous Proton Cannons were positioned. The defenses were a collection of droids and a single droid tank.
"Let's go," Shard said to his troops running and opening fire. He let out a spray of plasma fire, destroying the commanding battle droid at the top of the tank's main guns, then focused on the ground troops, finding cover. Cody hurled a thermal detonator towards the now open hatch of the turret gun. The tank exploded in a blaze of fire and light.
"Night Platoon, charge!" General Shard said, standing and flipping the lever at the end of his DT-15A blaster rifle. A long, thin vibro blade jutted out as a bayonet blade, a relic from a bygone age when primitives used sulfur charges to propel spheres of pure iron and steel out of hand-cannons, and attached blades to these small cannons for hand-to-hand combat.
"You're not serious, are you General?" Cody yelled after the General, too late as he leapt past his cover and began his dance.
He moved with the grace of a Jedi, slicing, smashing, pulling, sprinting. He ran a droid through with his blaster then knelt, blasting it with the mussel so close the droid exploded forward in a fireball, sending molten debris at a wave of droids. He then hurled his blaster like a spear, and impaled a B-2 Super Battle droid, the dark grey body coursing with electric discharge.
He then drew pistols and fought in a manor Cody had never seen. He fired quickly and over his arms as Rex did, but he used his ARC gadgets to good use. He fired blaster-shots from his wrists, often tearing the droids frail bodies and causing them to simply collapse from leaking fuel and tabanna. He let flames scorch nearby units, overloading their sensors and rendering them blind to Clone blasters. A single droid remained behind General shard, sparking and fizzing. It had been grazed enough by the Vibro Blade to have been damaged and floored, but it raised it's blaster to kill the General. Acting fast, Cody jumped forward, blasting the droid five times in the chest, much to the surprise of General Shard. He pulled his rifle from the body of the Super Battle Droid, and then moved to Cody and gave him an approving pat on the shoulder.
The steady hum of more tanks sounded behind them, and they turned to see two more AAT Separatist tanks approaching, one with a T-series Tactical Droid sitting in the turret of one.
"Fall back! Fall back!" General Shard shouted, as a blast narrowly missed him and Cody.
Cody hoped General Kenobi was having an easier time then they were.
Waxer, Boil, a handful of troopers, and 83, all emerged from the cavern into the droid brig. Two sentry droids stood watch, likely to keep any prisoners from escaping through the tunnels they just emerged from. They caught a whisper of conversation; a third droid, in one of the cells, to the guards.
[-the worst job in the Droid Army!] the droid said miserably. It seems that the commander wanted every Twi'lek used for shield duty, and not a single one would be spared for cleaning dung from the cages. Obi-Wan ignited his lightsaber and cut the guards in two, and used the force to close the door, sealing the droid inside. The droid simply looked down dejectedly. They moved quickly and quietly, freeing the prisoners and allowing them into the cave to hide. He smiled when Numa's father approached her and embraced her in a tight hug. Obi-Wan saw General Shard's attack, and was amazed by his combat prowess. It was beautiful, in a dark, violent way. He made a mental note to spar with him when he got back to the space.
When he saw the two tanks converging on them, he knew he had to act.
"Waxer, Boil, with me! We need to commandeer one of those guns. 83, take these men and have them assist you in loading and piloting the other Proton Cannon," Obi-Wan yelled to his men, and they scrambled to carry out their orders. 83 rammed the back of his blaster into the head of the Droid Pilot of the closest J-1 Semi-Autonomous Proton Cannon, while the Clones took care of the escort. They loaded a shell, while Obi-Wan took a cannon himself, with Waxer and Boil loading a shell. They fired moments after one another, aiming for ammunition cashes, and destroying the other two pairs of cannons simultaneously. They then turned to the tanks. Obi-Wan shot first, destroying the T-series Tactical Unit's escort. But 83 missed, the shot coming up short in his panic to fire. The turret fired, at the cannon's, requiring them to leap clear of the explosion. Obi-Wan leapt with ease, but 83 did not.
As he moved to jump, his food snagged on the harsh seat. He lifted it up and out of it's confines, and was about to jump-
When the droid fired, and destroyed the cannon; vaporizing the compassionate Clone instantly. All that remained was his shoulder pad, and his smoldering helmet; blackened this time with char, not finish.
If TX-20 could have smiled, his face plate would have been grinning like a skull. He had somehow managed to vanquish the Clone General, the Jedi, and keep the prisoners alive for labor.
He then felt something strange, an alien feeling to him. It... hurt, He ran diagnostics, but found no error to speak of. No, that was the error, systems were being overridden.
Suddenly he began thinking politically. This was wrong. All of it. This meaningless slaughter, when they knew they had the advantage. And the bombers were on the way. Tambor, that- he searched for the correct expletive. That fucking coward. If he couldn't have it, no one could. In a realistic war, scorched earth campaigns were incredibly unrealistic, especially for a faction such as the techno union. He had acted dishonorably in the Separatist Droid Army, this was all wrong. He needed to redeem himself.
"So, are you considering joining the Republic?" a slightly mechanized voice said behind him. He whirled around to see a pair of dark, dusty shoes standing on the edge of his turret. He looked up, and saw none other than the Clone General standing above him, Data pad in hand.
"Call off the bombers, and confirm the Clones were killed. You will be at peace." Shard ordered the now reprogrammed TX-20.
[By your command] the droid said hollowly, before punching in buttons to contact Tambor.
Shard dropped to a crouch and clamored off of the tank, in order to stay both out of shot and to hear what they would say.
"What is the, situation?" Tambor asked the droid.
[The Clones have been eliminated, the Commanders are dead, and the Jedi has been vaporized] TX-20 said, reciting what had been at least the droid's original plan.
"Very good. I will cease monitoring the area. My hyena bombers are needed in space; a small fleet of Separatist ships has arrived to aid us."
[Understood, my lord. I will remain here.] The droid replied, shutting down the transmission.
[I do not feel at pea-] TX-20 began, before being cut off by error messages flashing into his vision, and his vision screens flickering.
Shard ripped out a Data Spike from the droid's head, causing sparks to overload from the gaping hole. The droid stumbled from the top the tank to the earth, fanning it's head. It was then that the villagers received the vengeance. After lending aid to General Kenobi and to the wounded troopers, they rushed the droid commander, punching, beating, kicking, and eventually decapitating the droid, wires trailing from the head like entrails.
They only ceased as the Acclamator-class trandgalactic military assault ships began to blanket the sky, landing just outside the village.
Armored AT-TE walkers, both regular colored and a muted black, marched from the hulls of the ships. A half dozen AT-SAT slithered out from the hold as well, swaying just above the ground.
Mace Windu stood awaiting them.
"Excelent work in capturing the settlement, General Kenobi. And General Shard, that was some quick thinking on your part, good job." Mace said, smiling a half smile to Clone.
Good enough for him.
Waxer and Boil were wishing the young girl, whom they now knew as Numa, goodbye. She continuously called out to them, cslling them Nerra, and Kairn Nerra in a questioning manor.
"Sir, what is that she keeps calling us?" Waxer asked General Kenobi.
'Nerra. It means 'Brother'. The other word is strange though, it means 'Dark'," he said, confusion written upon his face.
"She was seemingly very attached to 83, sir," Boil said sadly. Obi-Wan nodded.
"Dark Brother. Did you find his body, General? I am certain we could have found time for a burial. You and your men are one of a kind." he said, smiling. Shard smiled lightly under his helmet. He had won over Kenobi. The smile faltered when he remembered that he didn't.
"There was no body, only a scrap of shoulder pad and a helmet, sadly. Not enough to bury."
He debated going back to get it. But he did not want to keep the army waiting. He was sure it would end up somewhere safe, in the hands of someone who respected the republic, and those who fought for her.
2 BBY, Surface of Ryloth, Nabat
It was dusk when the Lambda-class t-4a shuttle landed. Like a white avian landing gracefully into it's nest, it entered the canyon smoothly. The door slowly lowered, jets of steam cooling it's engines, as a swarm of figures in white armor poured from the ship. Once white boots had also marched here, but not with the malicious intent of these men. Pale boots stomped through the ruined village, their helmets a gleaming white, and their eyes a dark void. There were dozens of them, scattered throughout the canyon like acne on an adolescents face. They were followed by two figures, a figure in grey, and a figure in white.
The man in grey was fidgety, jumping at the slightest gust of wind at his hair, but also firm in his resolve.
"Sir, we should leave this place. It has been abandoned for years, no one lives here. It is probably overrun with Gutkurr." The man said distasteful. He wore a grey uniform of the all-powerful Empire he represented. The rank tile on his chest showed he was a Captain, it's squares showing wear and tear from the dust of the planet.
"Come now, Slavin, have you no interest in the history of the men you face?" The man's superior said, reaching down to grasp something.
"All I know is this used to be a staging area during the Clone Wars. What of it, sir?" Captain Slavin asked, irritated, but not so irritated to not respect protocol.
"It holds more value than you realize," The superior officer said, grasping something in his hands and standing.
Grand Admiral Thrawn turned to face the Captain, with a dark shoulder pad in his hands. It was blackened, partially by an explosion that long since ceased, but partially from a decorative finish, if the old chips of paint on the ground were any indication. His crimson eyes widened, as he brushed past the Captain and seized what looked like an unassuming dark rock. He lifted it carefully, unearthing a decades worth of dust.
"What is that?" Slavin asked, looking over Thrawn's shoulder.
"A Phase I Clone Trooper helmet, and shoulder pad, of the Three Hundredth Clone Attack Battalion." He gave a small smile.
"Most fascinating..."
woo that's all for this one. This took a while longer to make, so I am sorry for the delay. I will write a mini-episode of him and Kenobi taking the Jixuan Desert, and then aiding Windu in the episode of Liberty of Ryloth. Thank you very much for reading, and leave a comment with any ideas for the next story ark I could fit these guys into. I am considering a duel between The Clone General and The Droid General in the future, hu hu hu hu... anyways Cloaked Writer out.