Thanks for the reviews, now, the story of Jabiim. I would just like to thank the Extended Universe bit in the encylcopedia bit of gives me all my locations and info! I would just like to say, I felt so loved this morning when I read my reviews, thanks you!
Chapter 6
Anakin stood in a muddy ditch. The men beside him, awaiting the order to move, were smelly dirty and the radiance of fear rose off them. In the distance he could hear the sounds of someone retching, otherwise it was completely silent, even the animals had decided that this was not a good place to be. Obi Wan was down the line in a bunker, planning the attack. Anakin was leading them from the front, though he was usually in the sky, there were several Jedi up there, and Obi Wan thought that it would be good experience for him. The orders wouldn't come for an hour, so he walked up and down the trench, talking with the men about the upcoming battle, making sure they were alright and well prepared and knew what to do. Among the clone troopers, there were planetary troops. Men who disagreed with the Separatists and were fighting along side them. Though fairly untrained and with rudimentary skills, they were good fighters. Obi Wan let them join, because they would fight, with or without the Jedi, and it was better to organise them if they were there, rather than stumble on them later. He came up to one of the men, Mod Lon, or Lon as he was referred to. "You alright Lon?" Anakin asked the trembling boy. He was only 18. A child, but they couldn't keep him out of the army, it was a planetary thing and the Jedi couldn't interfere with that.
"Yes, Commander," Lon said, watching the hill nervously, "Just wanting to get the fighting over with, sir."
Anakin patted him on the shoulder, "We'll get started soon, just remain calm," Anakin looked at the boy, and the men around, knowing that they were petrified, they needed to be put at ease right away. "Anyone know who won the last Podrace?"
"I heard it was Comp from Coruscant," one of the men said.
"That loser?" Anakin replied, "How in Sith's name did he manage that?" The men laughed, Comp was a racer who had won most of the racers for the past several years.
"He is the best sir," another man said.
"Then how come I've beaten him six times," Anakin said seriously.
"Really sir?" Lon asked with wonder, "I thought Jedi didn't race like that? I thought it was against the code?" The other men nodded in agreement.
Anakin smiled, "Comp has an unfortunate habit of not staying on the right side of the law, I have often had to chase him through the streets of Coruscant, much to my old partners distress, he doesn't like to fly. I think he has a weak stomach."
"I don't mind flying," Obi Wan said from behind them, "What you do is suicide," the men laughed at that, though slightly nervously in front of the General.
"I think I've heard you say that before," Anakin said, they walked off slightly, leaving the men talking.
"What was that about?" Obi Wan asked curiously, jerking his head towards the men.
"They were getting nervous waiting, they needed to take their minds off it for a while," Anakin replied.
"Good idea," Obi Wan said, "How are you holding up?"
"Good."
"Listen, it will be soon, are you sure they can handle this?"
"We'll know soon enough," Anakin replied, heading back towards the men.
"…she had long blonde hair and a smile that wouldn't quit," one of the men was saying, "What about you Lon?"
"Oh, I haven't…" Lon started blushing, "That is I'm waiting…" The men mearly chuckled at the embarrassed boy.
A loud mouthed Captain saw Anakin arrive and grinned. "What about you, sir? Ever gotten intimate with a nice girl?" The captain was a good officer who saw to the men's needs while liasing with the officers. He was a good man who wasn't afraid to say what was a bad idea. He didn't often need to correct Anakin about his treatment of the men, but it happened occasionally. He also told the men to treat their superiors with respect, especially the Jedi, though he didn't use his own advice in that area. Anakin had been trying to figure out a way to promote him and give him to Kenobi to torture. It hadn't worked so far. In reply to the captains question, Anakin only sent a smirk, and went back to work checking the maps.
"That means he has," a soldier said.
"Come on, sir," one asked, ""we'll tell you about our girls," another added.
"Even if I did tell you, what makes you think I want to hear about your girls," Anakin said with a grin, "After all, they've got to be pretty desperate to put up with you lot."
"Oooohh," they said in unison, one soldier came out with, "You think you can do better than this?" showing Anakin a hologram of a gorgeous woman, voluptuous and blonde.
"Dogs meet in comparison," Anakin said.
"Come on then sir, who is she," Lon asked.
Anakin looked far away, all the way to Coruscant, where his wife was standing on their balcony with 3PO and Sabe in something long and flowing, her hair tumbling down her back in a riot of curls, "An angel," Anakin said with a smile.
"How long since you last saw her?" Lon asked seriously.
"Too long," Anakin said with a sigh, "I see her very little, with long gaps in the middle. Anyway, we'll be fighting soon, get ready."
The men dispersed, leaving Lon and Anakin. "You miss her?"
"Always," he said, "But I have my duty, and she has hers. Get on with you Lon, the enemy should be here soon."
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"How long will you be gone?" Padme asked, holding onto Anakin as if he would disappear at any moment.
"I don't know, as soon as this battle is over we'll be moving on to another and another, it could be years before I see you again."
"Years?" she said, holding onto him tighter, tears falling down her face.
"I'll write to you every chance I get, I'll think of you all the time, your face, your hair, the way you speak, everything, and I'll count the days till I'm home with you again." Anakin had his hand in her hair, brushing it with his fingers.
"You better write," she said as she looked into his eyes, "And if you don't come back, I'll come after you and shoot you myself." Anakin chuckled at that, "How long?" she whispered.
"Till tomorrow," he replied in hushed tones.
"Then we have tonight," she said, drawing him to her bedroom.
"Yes, we have tonight."
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Anakin opened his eyes, the battle had lasted all day and had been bloody and brutal. Across the once green fields, he saw mud, red with blood, and mixes of body parts and droid parts, all jumbled together. Lon had died, shot in the first wave. Anakin now had to write to the boys parents on a distant moon to tell them their son had died. He had to do the same thing for all the other men who had died. It wasn't a pleasant job, and he wouldn't have to do it if their commanding officer hadn't died, even then he wouldn't normally have to do it if it hadn't been for the fact that Obi Wan had gotten severely injured and was in a coma. That left hi in charge. It left him charge of all the Padawan left after their masters had been killed trying to get into the city and were subsequently slaughtered. Anakin had no idea what had happened. But it had been a massacre, leaving only devastation, blood and him in charge as Obi Wan was sent to Coruscant. That night Anakin and his immediate council had no rest. Numbers were taken of deaths and ground gained. There was a huge difference between the two numbers. In the meantime, Anakin was formulating a plan about how to defeat the enemy. He put the various Padawans in charge of various battalions. They were his commanders, leaving them no time to grieve. They obeyed his every word, even though he was younger than a couple, he was still the only Jedi Knight there and had lots of battle experience. For the next month, Anakin stalled the armies coming at them. He showed amazing battle skills as he gradually pushed back the advancing troops. The men trusted him and he came through. In the midst of it all he managed to be calm and serene, he was unflappable. He was even getting a reputation of not being able to be surprised. The enemy had even tried to surprise him by doing something foolish and then something big. It never worked. It seemed as if he was one step ahead of the others, but he only used delaying tactics as he knew they would not win this battle. The numbers were far to great. Every night he argued with the Council over the need to be there. He kept saying that it was only accomplishing people getting killed. Droids poured in every day, and the clones kept diminishing. Illness was rife and a simple cut ending up giving a trooper gangrene because they had no basic medical supplies. Nothing was getting through to them, they had no supplies and little food. The Council could do nothing. Anakin just gave up in defeat, they were going to be slaughtered, they were trapped.
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"Anakin," Obi Wan said over communication a couple of months later, "The Chancellor wants you to oversee the evacuation at the other side of the planet."
"WHAT!" Anakin shouted, "Doesn't he know I have to be here! I am the Commander, not some flunky, I can't drop everything to go see some people leaving."
"I know, I know," Obi Wan said, he had healed nicely, but was unable to return due to nothing getting through apart from package drops. "The Council argue against it, but the Chancellor is becoming insistent and he has the power to go over our heads."
"I won't do it Obi Wan," Anakin said. "I can't, these people are depending upon me, I can't leave them."
"That's why I'm warning you, the Chancellor will inform you personally, but if you know ahead, you will be prepared."
"Thanks Obi Wan," Anakin said with a sigh. He was so tired, and everything here was hopeless.
"You look awful," Obi Wan said over the holo com worriedly.
"I feel awful, but there is nothing to do about it at the moment," Anakin said. His nice uniform was covered in blood and mud. He had a scar on his forearm that had been roughly bandaged up.
"Have you had that cut seen to?" Obi Wan asked.
"Yeah, nothing much we can do with the few med's we have, we have to do what we can."
"Be careful," Obi Wan said.
"I will," Obi Wan was about to cut off the coms, "Obi Wan?"
"Yes, Anakin?" he asked willing to do whatever asked.
"Don't tell Padme about how I look," he said, "She's worried enough over me."
Obi Wan nodded as communications were severed.
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After another week of fighting, the orders from Palpatine. They were written down and there was an accompanying note from the Council. Anakin had to do this on pain of punishment. Anakin was too much like Qui gon. Normally such an order would be ignored, but he knew that a couple of the Padawan were failing and needed to get out of there, so Anakin sent them to oversee it. He was delegating responsibility, which he felt entirely acceptable. He knew he would be "punished," but he wasn't there to watch people suffer and die because he had been told to go watch people enter a ship. He was their leader, and as such he had to lead.
"Men," Anakin said down the trench, "We aren't here because of a cause, we aren't here because the pay is fantastic, we are here because we've been ordered to. I know you're all tired and hungry and sick of the death. There isn't anything I can do about that I'm afraid. But there is something you can do. We won't win this battle, we won't even win this fight, but this isn't about wining or losing, it's about going down fighting. It's about having the courage to look death in the eye and say, I am not afraid. This has been a long hard battle, but it will soon end. My only question is, shall we end it together?"
There was load cheering in support for Anakin after he had said this speech. Anakin nodded and withdrew his light sabre. It made a hissing noise as it was turned on. "It's time to be remembered for going down fighting," he shouted as they went over and ran forward. The droids started firing. In the distance, transports could be seen. Republic transports. It was over.
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Ooooh, what happens? does it end in catastrophy? Review me and i'll post the next chapter!
