ENGINE OFFLINE. ENGINE OFFLINE. The ship's robotic voice alerted.

"I KNOW! I KNOW!" Droid screamed, trying as hard as he could to get the ship back up.

The rest of the squad was holding onto whatever they could to avoid being thrown around by the spin of the ship.

"WHAT THE HECK JUST HAPPENED?!" Gap cried, dodging a falling crate.

Droid clenched his teeth. "We were spotted! I knew there was a chance we would!" He pressed a bunch of buttons to attempt to save the ship, but the engine was completely offline.

"I'M GONNA ATTEMPT TO LAND THE SHIP!" Droid said, pulling up on the steering. "AND I DON'T WANNA HEAR ANY COMPLAINTS! I HAVE NO OTHER CHOICE!"

Fire began to engulf the ship like a comet as they were preparing to break into the atmosphere of the sandy planet. As soon as they broke the atmosphere, sand dunes and jagged rocks and boulders were seen for miles.

"WE'RE GONNA HAVE A SOFT LANDING, BOYS! KEEP YOUR HELMETS ON!" Droid yelled, pulling upward on the steering wheel.

CRASH! The ship plummeted nose first into the sand, throwing all of the clones forward into the ships dashboard.

And all was silent for a moment.

"You call that a soft landing?!" Gap snapped. "If that was a soft landing, then my eyebrow still exists!" He took his helmet off and pointed to the gap above his eye, where his eyebrow was burnt off. Jagged scars were around his eye, which was discolored. And scarred as well.

Droid sat up in his seat, and took his own helmet off, to reveal his scarred face, and robotic eye. "We would have exploded if we hit any hard ground, tough guy! You try landing the ship next time!"

Clover sat up, and took off his helmet, to rub his bald head, with a jagged clover shaped scar on the smooth skin. "Speaking of explosions, this ship could blow up any minute! We got shot, y'know! Fuel is getting everywhere!" He kicked open the escape hatch, and climbed up. "Move it, men! Move!"

When Clover got out, he helped each of his men through the hatch, and threw them down into the sand below. He had no time to be extra careful. They had no time to lose. His heart was racing as fast as it was back on Utapau. He couldnt stop it. He couldn't let any of his men die.

As soon as the last man was out, Clover looked at the smoking remnants of the ship. It was sparking, and smoking, and new flames were flickering up every second. He ran as fast as he could away from the ship. "RUN, MEN! RUN! GET AWAY FROM-"

The ship then exploded with a deafening BOOM. The impact threw all the soldiers forward into the sand, and slashed deep scratches into their armor with the falling debris.

Clover hyperventilated as he looked around him. "MEN! MEN! ARE YOU ALRIGHT?!"

All of them lifted their heads, and turned around to look at the large fire engulfing what used to be their ship. They seemed just as scared as Clover was. Scared, but alive.

"Well…at least we don't have to worry about destroying the ship, now," Gap said. "The sniper on our tail did that already,"

Clover scoffed and shook his head. "In the face of death, you're still making your stupid jokes…"

Gap sat up proudly. "My pleasure, Commander,"

A loud groan suddenly caught Clover's attention.

"O-ow…ow…"

Clover spun around, and saw Hesitate beside him, clutching his arm. It was bending in an awkward direction.

"Hesitate!" Clover tripped over his feet running to his brother. He helped his brother sit up, and took off his helmet. His bleached blonde hair stuck to his forehead with sweat, and his nose was bleeding violently. "What's wrong?! What's the matter?!"

"M-my a-arm!" He groaned, trying to touch his awkward arm with his other. "I-I landed on it wrong w-when the explosion…" he gritted his teeth and groaned.

Clover didn't need a medic to know that his arm was broken. "Focus! Get over here!"

Focus scrambled in the sand to get over to his brothers. "Oooh! Look at that arm!" He inhaled sharply through his teeth.

"Don't just stand there! You're the medic! Do something about it!" Clover snapped.

"But I have no medical supplies! I can't just magically create a splint and sling for this soldier out of nothing!"

Clover leaned forward and linked his fingers behind his neck. "W-well! Just do something!"

Focus pried the armor off of Hesitates arm to inspect it. "Then go find me something reliable to use for a splint! A stick! A piece of debris! Something!"

"Hey! I'm the Commander here! An ARC trooper! Don't you tell me what to do!" Clover demanded.

Gap stood up. "Yeah! Don't order him around!" He put his hand on Clover's shoulder. "You take care of Hesitate! We'll all take the rest of the men to go find something for hiM! Maybe even water, if we're lucky!"

Clover's mind felt clouded. He stood up, and stomped in the sand. He didn't want to have any of his men volunteer for any more serious danger. He clenched his fingers tightly. "If I do this, go find a ledge or something to shade the rest! Make a shelter out of the ship debris if you have to! I don't want anyone dying of heat stroke!"

Gap looked at him. "What?! You're not going alone! You could die out there! We need to stick-"

"No! I'm not risking any of you soldiers getting heat stroke! I'll go alone! You get shade! The best thing you can do for each other now is take care of each other!" He felt his eyes get wet. "I don't want to have to save you all a second time…"

Focus picked Hesitate up, being mindful of his arm. "He's right. It's too hot out here to stay in the sun," He looked up at Clover. "We won't go far. You know how to find us,"

Clover nodded and took a few deep breaths to calm down. "Please. Keep each other safe. It's all I ask of you," He turned away from his men, and started his trek into the sandy terrain.

Clover's throat was parched and dry. He desperately wanted a cool drink to soothe it. The sun was beating down from above onto his ashy skin, and his thick, heavy armor. The black jumpsuit underneath his armor was starting to stick uncomfortably to his skin.

"Man, these things really need more ventilation," He muttered, wiping his slick forehead with his hand.

An hour passed, and with each step, his feet felt heavier, and his body felt weaker. He put his helmet on to block the heat. It helped a little bit, and made his vision less clouded from the brightness of the sand.

But it didn't help his dehydration. He started to stumble a little bit in the sand. All he could see was sand, sand, and more sand, with a couple sandstone boulders and ledges here and there. No sticks, no water, no nothing. He wanted to go back, and just use a piece of debris from the ship, but he knew how dangerous that could be to Hesitate. It was probably very sharp. Burning hot. It would injure him more than it already had.

Clover couldn't take the heat any longer. His legs became the consistency of a togruta head tail, and before he could call for help, his weak body collapsed in the hot sand, in the middle of nowhere.

Focus looked out into the distance from the ledge they were sheltering under. Two hours passed, and their commander still didn't return.

"Do you think he's okay?" Focus asked, wrapping his arms around his legs.

"I'm still picking up his signal," Droid said, looking into the distance with his helmet on, a tracking device in his hand. "But…he's not moving."

"He's been gone for two hours," Gap said, drawing in the sand with his finger. "I knew we should have gone with him. It was stupid to let him go alone,"

Focus put his face into his knees. "Yeah…it was stupid…and it's all my fault…"

Hesitate put his hand on the medic's back. "N-No it's not. You were frustrated. S-scared. S-so was he,"

Focus looked at the injured soldier. "But it is! We should have all gone with him! Went against his order! We're all capable of walking!"

"He went because he cared for us," Gap said. "So we wouldn't suffer in the heat. That's why he made us stay back." He took a few shaky breaths. "Because he saved all of our lives once. He doesn't want to risk any of them again."

Focus sighed. "But he's an ARC trooper. We should be working for him. Not vice versa."

Gap crossed his arms. "And that's why he was given the privilege of an ARC trooper. He's one of the best in the Army, or…at least what used to be the Army," He looked at Focus with a sincere, compassionate look in his copper eyes. "Even though the Army has basically fallen, Clover hasn't given up his duty. Even though he's all rough and tough on the outside…On the inside, he's as soft as a homemade roll!" He smiled. "That's why Rex promoted him to be an ARC,"

Focus patted Gap's arm. "You're right, brother," He hugged his knees and looked at the setting sun in the distance. "I just hope he's okay,"

Droid scoffed. "That's like asking Wrecker if he likes to blow up stuff!" He said. "This is Clover you're talking about! He can survive anything!"

I dunno about that," Focus said. "The man can survive explosions, ship crashes, and blasts to the chest…but a little too much sun without water can kill the strongest warrior,"