Hey all I'm back with a new chapter! I had been receiving a lot of reviews about wanting more chapters, and I can honestly say I am happy that there are a lot of people like this, and I'm sorry for not getting this out sooner. I finished my Winter class, and it was pretty easy, and I only have a couple of days before my Spring semester starts, so I'll be busy again soon.

Before you get onto reading, please look at a poll I posted on my profile, thanks in advance.

I own none of the content, and please enjoy.


Weapon's Factory

Tessa and the squad had to hold in their laughter, as General Skywalker kept interrupting Ahsoka's briefing. Although they could see that General Skywalker should have a little more trust in Ahsoka, but, they couldn't help but see the comedic factor in it.

It had been a couple of hours since taking down the shield generator, and then surrounding the main droid foundry. Everyone was getting the plans, weapons, and everyone ready. Due to the losses, and wounded, that would include two Generals, reinforcements in the form of General Unduli and a detachment of her forces arriving soon.

After Anakin dismissed them, Ahsoka told them to wait for a moment.

"Guys, do you think General Skywalker isn't letting me handle myself?"

Everyone glanced at one another, trying to find the right words to say. Zeer took the lead, cleared his throat, and was about to talk, but Anakin beat him to it.

Anakin held back a groan, and said," Snips, I never said-"

"No. No, it's okay. I understand. I'm the Padawan. You're the Master."

This left the squad to be in the awkward position of being in the middle of the argument.

Tessa leaned over to Cutup, and said," Do you think that they'll notice if we'll leave?"

Cutup shook his head at his commanding officers, and then said, "I highly doubt it."

They were saved the timely arrival of General Unduli and her Padawan, Barris Offee.

"Sirs." The squad said with a salute.

Luminara nodded at them, and then said to the two other Jedi," If you're both finished with your little discussion; we do have a factory to destroy." She then glanced at Barriss, and said." Well, Barriss, aren't you going to introduce yourself?"

Barriss took a step, curtseyed and said," Padawan learner Barriss Offee at your service."

The squad, even they had their helmets on, all had various degrees of slight amusement. They could already tell Barriss was totally different than Ahsoka.

Ahsoka looked nonplussed for a moment, held out her hand, and said," Glad to meet you. I'm Ahsoka."

Barriss then turned towards Beta Squad, with Zeer taking a step and said," Sir, Sergeant Zeer of Beta Squad, at your service. The others with me are: Nax, Coric, Attie, Del, Echo, Fives, Cutup, and Huntress. We're Commander Tano's personal squad when she needs us."

"It's nice to meet you, especially you, Huntress was it." Barriss said, as she looked at Tessa.

"Likewise, sir, but you can call me Tessa, if you wish." Tessa said, and Barriss nodded.

Knowing the introductions were done, Anakin turned to Luminara, and said," It's good to see both of you again."

"I wish it was under more peaceful circumstances."


After that, General Skywalker told them to start getting ready, the squad had noticed that Commander Tano was going to say something, and was a little miffed that her Master had interrupted her again. Soon after, the squads, along with the rest of the forces, was preparing their gear, or were making last minute adjustments to their vehicles, heavy cannon's, and or defenses.

The squad soon saw Ahsoka and Barris running in the direction of the factory. Ahsoka had already told them what the plan was, and they had faith in her and Commander Offee.

"Hey Commanders! Good luck!" Tessa called.

Ahsoka looked over at them with a smile, and did a quick a lazy salute.

"So, I take it you'll become friends with Commander Offee, like you did with Commander Tano?" Nax asked.

Cutup snorted and said," If that's the case, then when will you three have slumber parties then?" He teased.

Tessa gave her brother a flat look, and then glared at the others, when they started to laugh.


A short while later, everyone was advancing towards the factory, Tessa was hoping that the Commanders would destroy the factory in time. She and the others were more than ready to keep the droids busy, so they would be distracted from finding out about the Commanders. The only thing Tessa felt was a huge issue was the lack of cover, and the way they were going to attack. But she wasn't in the position to question it, but the thought of taking out a lot droids gave her a thrill.

The squad was in the front with the Generals, and the officers, Tessa held her Rifle, and she looked around the area. Her eyes narrowed at a couple of the spires that dotted the landscape, and she had a feeling.

"Excuse me, Captain, I want to file a complaint."

Rex glanced back at her, and he ignored the slight sniggering from Gree. He did raise a brow from her wording, but was also sorta worried, he had learned that Tessa had an odd sense of humor, and he believed she had gotten that from Nax or Cutup. Sometimes they were good, while others he had to roll his eyes at.

"What is it, Huntress?"

"I believe we should destroy the nearby spires, sir. Geonosian's could be hiding in them, probably set for an ambush."

Rex considered that for a moment, and he could see the logic in that. He couldn't help but have a sense of pride in her.

"Not bad, kid. You got a good one, Rex." Gree said, after he realized what Rex though as well.

"Right then, you, Nax, and Attie take of any bugs, once you see them then. We'll alert the others as well." Rex told them, and they nodded.

Echo patted Tessa on the shoulder, and said," Once again sister, your marksman skills help."

Tessa felt herself blushing a little from the praise.

Nax leaned over to Del, and muttered jokingly," I remember a time where I was praised for my skills." And the silent engineer snorted in amusement.

When they got closer to the factory, the doors to it opened, and fresh Droids came out the doors, and started to march towards them.

"Well, here comes the welcoming committee." Cutup joked.

"Yeah, too bad they'll be parts again once we're through with them." Nax said.

"Stay focused." Zeer said.

Once both sides were close enough, both Generals activated their Lightsabers, and everyone brought up their weapons.

"Here we go." She heard General Skywalker's enthusiastic remark.

The droids started to fire at them, and the others fired back at them, and both Generals led the charge to get closer, and Beta followed after them behind Rex, and Gree. Tessa picked off targets as fast as she could, and even got a chance to get close enough to one and slam the butt of her Rifle into the droids face, and once it was down, she fired two shots into, and continued to fire.

Nax was next to her, and the both of them were droid after droid, while they called out to each other when they spotted one they didn't see. Attie then appeared next to them, and sprayed his Z-6 at a small cluster of droids.

Fives finished off a droid with his Carbine, and then flinched a little when bolt went past his head, and looked to see a downed droid, and then turned to see Echo.

"You owe me one." He cheekily said.

Fives grumbled, but he continued to fight, and soon was joined by Cutup and Del.

Zeer and Coric were fighting near small mound when the former heard screeching, and he looked up to see Geonoshian's coming out of pillars.

Zeer cursed under his breath, activated his communicator, and said," Huntress, Nax, bugs are coming. You should welcome them."

"Yes, sir." Tessa responded, and looked at Nax, who nodded.

Once the bugs started to come out, the both of them started to pick them off. Attie started to fire with them, but he then glanced to his side when he saw one of the 41st Troopers firing with them.

"Nice day huh?" Attie quipped.

The trooper snorted and said," Yeah, another day, another battle. Buzz." Buzz said.

"Attie."

Buzz then looked over his shoulder, and said," Hey Draa! Use one of your Rockets on one of the pillars!"

Another trooper in green armor nodded, and went to set up his Rocket Launcher. One he did, fired at one of the pillars, and destroyed both it, and the bugs inside.

Tessa stopped for a moment, gave him thumbs up, and said," Nice aim!"

Draa gave her a lazy salute back, and continued to fight.

"Tessa, watch out!" Nax yelled.

Tessa turned around, and both braced herself, and shrieked when a bug tackled her. She started to punch and kick at it, but seemed to block, and hit her back. They ended up in a mini wrestling match, until Tessa finally gets a good enough opening to headbutt it. Once it was dazed, she punched it again, and it fell to the ground. She then unsheathed her blade, pounced, and then started to stab and hack at it like one of those cheesy Horror-Holo's she'd seen a couple of times.

A pair of arms grabs her from behind, and pulls her, but she tries to fight back, adrenaline coursing through her.

"Sister, it's ok!"

Tessa blinked, and fell to the ground, panting. She looked up to see Fives in front of her, arms raised in a gesture of calmness. Both Echo and Cutup are on both sides of him, while the rest of the squad, are in a defensive formation around them.

Fives cautiously places a hand on her shoulder, and said," Its fine, the bug is dead. You pretty much turned it into Swiss-Cheese." He added the last part as a joke, and then motioned for Cutup to come over to them.

"Are you hurt?" He asked in his Medic voice.

Tessa shakes her head, just feeling her rapid heartbeat trying to get back under control. But not totally, due to the fact they were still in a warzone.

"Alright, just take a minute." He said.

Echo whistled when he took her in fully, and said," You 'know you got some of the bugs blood on you."

Tessa looked at herself, and saw that were splotches of blood on her armor. She then glanced at the bug she basically mutilated, and grimaced. She tried to wipe off some of the blood of her armor, just to keep her fear at ease, but knew she would have to clean it up thoroughly later. She got up, with the help of her batch-mates, and picked up her Rifle.

"Gentlemen, we've still got a job to do." She said, and sprinted to where the fighting was at.

The others looked at each other, merely shrugged, and took off after her, due to being used to her energy.


By the time the squad got back to the fighting, the Walkers were taking out the remaining droids. A few moments later, the factory doors opened again, and instead of droids, some type of new vehicles started to roll out. Two rows of three were slowly making their way across the bridge.

"Great, looks like the Seppie's have some new toys." Attie grumbled.

"Please don't let it be another Organic Bomb." Tessa muttered in prayer.

"No, I'm pretty sure it's a tank. Reminds me of their ATT's." Echo mused.

Del listened to his headset, and then said," Right, the General has ordered an artillery strike, get ready to watch the fireworks."

From their vantage point they were all behind the guns, and could see them start to fire, and the shells soon came raining down on the new tanks. Once they impacted, the tanks didn't look like they were getting damaged, even with the continued barrage, until the Artillery stopped.

"Karabast, what type of armor does that thing have?" Fives breathed.

"It's either that, or good shielding." Tessa mused.

A moment later, the tops of the tanks opened, and Mortar rounds started to fire from them.

"And here comes the fire. Get down!" Zeer yelled.

Everyone ducked, and felt the shells impact the ground, and also heard a bigger explosion coming from nearby. Tessa looked up to see they had taken out their Artillery. But she was immediately pulled down by Fives.

Zeer then got a message in his helmet a moment later, and then said," The Captain said we're falling back. The General has a plan. Let's go!"

"I just hope the Commanders take out the factory before we're all corpses." Nax quipped, as he jumped out, and started to run.

Tessa sprinted as fast as she could, she felt like the impact of the shells were coming closer, and she also saw blaster bolts streaking past her. She looked around her, and saw everyone else running as fast as they could. And the next moment, Tessa found herself being sent into the air, and falling to the ground with a groan.

Someone got to her and helped get her to her feet.

"Hey, don't lag behind sister, let's go." Cutup said.

"Thanks Cut." Tessa gratefully said.

She then heard a whistling sound, and looked up, and she froze in fear when a shell came screeching towards her. She then felt someone aggressively push or shove her out of the way, and she fell to the ground, and looked at Cutup's direction. And she could only look on in horror when a shell hit him, and he was sent flying into a rock formation.

"Cutup!" She cried in horror.

She then felt another pair of arms grab hers, and hoisted her up.

"C'mon Trooper, let's move it!" A random Trooper said, and dragged her.

Tessa would've socked her brother, and ran to her batch mate, but then there was a good chance she would get hit next. Her old self would've done it in a heartbeat, but something in her brain was telling her to just go and get out of there. She knew Cutup would've told her go on, and don't be stupid, so she kept running, and managed to find some cover with the Trooper, and a couple of others.

It wasn't a minute later when the mortars stopped slamming into the ground, and there was a faint explosion in the distance. Tessa and the others got out from the large rock formation they were hiding behind, and looked back at the Droid Factory.

She should've known General Skywalker's plan was to destroy the bridge, and she could see the silhouettes of him and General Unduli on the other side of the now destroyed bridge.

"Huntress, is that you?"

Tessa looked across from her, and saw Echo waving at her, and she saw the rest of the squad. As soon as she saw them, she ran as fast as she could, and grabbed Coric, and was starting to drag him, but he stopped her.

"Tess, what's wrong?" Coric asked worriedly.

"Cutup was hit he pushed me out of the way we got to see if he's okay!" She said in one sentence, and pointed to where she last saw him.

Echo and Fives stiffened, and were about to go with her, but Zeer stopped them.

"Hold on, we don't know what will happen if we run out there without a plan. I'll let the Captain know, and then we'll get Cutup." Zeer calmly said, as he got the situation under control.

Everyone nodded, while Tessa just felt liking bolting, but she knew the Sergeant was right.


They found Cutup lying against the rock formation, parts of his armor was cracked, and wound was open, and it was bloody. They could hear his labored breathing, which was a sign he was alive, but it didn't sound good.

They would've been there sooner, if it wasn't for everyone covering the Generals, due to them being on the other side of the bridge, and were dealing with more droids. And thankfully, the factory was finally destroyed, which meant Ahsoka and Barris had succeeded. The squad would've tried to contact their Commander to see if she and Commander Offee were okay, but they were

"Karabast." Coric muttered as he got down and checked him.

Coric removed his helmet, and Tessa felt her drop when she saw how pale Cutup looked, and some blood was coming out of his mouth.

"Cut." She whispered.

Cutup looked at them, but looked like it took a lot of energy. He tried to smile, and managed to say," Sorry… don't look my best."

Coric gave him a shot, and shook his head, which signified it wasn't good. He then moved so Tessa, Fives, and Echo could be closer to him. Even though it was a warzone, and they would be reprimanded for it, they removed their helmets. The rest of the squad, even Zeer, did the same, and they all crouched with the others.

"Hey Cut, hang in there, we're with you." Echo reassured.

"Yeah, we survived for this long, you'll make it too." Five said, even though he knew otherwise.

Cutup gave them a sad smile, and said," Sorry… I don't think so. At least… I'm going out… by saving my sister."

Tessa sniffed, and said," You di'kut, your life is more worth it than mine."

Cutup squeezed her hand, and said," Don't say that… you're more than worth it, Tess. Sarge… thanks for taking us in… and thanks for welcoming us. And tell Commander Tano… thank you for being with us in our squad. And thank… the Captain and General."

Zeer nodded, and said," Your our brothers and sister, we look out for each other. And I will."

Nax, Del, Attie, and Coric nodded as they agreed with the Sergeant.

Cutup coughed, and some blood came out, and he then looked at his batch mates. "I guess… this is the end boys, we been together this long… I'll make sure to tell Droidbait and Hevy you all said hi. I'm proud to have fought with you… and I love you all."

"Love you too Cut." Fives said.

"Same, brother." Echo said with a nod and a sniff.

Tessa nodded, as she let out a sob, and said," Love you too brother."

Cutup looked at Tessa, and said," Promise me you'll continue to fight, Tess. And once this war is over… you make your own life."

Tessa nodded, and said," I will."

Cutup nodded, and his eyes started to flutter, and his head then hung down, and he a serine look on his face.

Tessa let's go of his hand, and started to cry softly into her hands, with Echo and Fives hugging her in comfort. The rest of Beta hung their heads in silence.

A moment later, Zeer's commlink went off, and he answered it. "Zeer."

"Zeer, get the squad ready, we conducting a search party for the Commanders. Get Cutup to the aid station as quick as you can. He'll be in good hands.

"Captain… he didn't make it." Was all he said.

The commlink was silent for a moment, and then he said," I'll give you all a few moments. And then report for search and rescue… I'm sorry." He finished and ended the transmission.

Rex sighed sadly, and then looked at General Skywalker. He knew he heard him from the saddened look, and he gave him a nod, which indicated he supported Rex's decision.


Ahsoka was on her knees in a meditative position, and she hung her head, in a silent prayer as she was in front of Cutup's corpse, which was now on a stretcher, and had a blanket over him. She was happy that Barris and her had completed the mission, and made it out alive, but all that changed when she found out what had happened. She knew something was off, when she and Barris got out of the tank, and she felt great sorrow, and it was pouring from her squad, who were standing nearby. And she felt her heart drop when she saw Cutup wasn't with them. She had asked what had happened, and once she found out, she immediately wanted to go see Cutup one last time.

Now here she was, mourning Cutup and praying to the Force he would now be in a better place.

She knew the others were behind her, standing vigil. Barris was there earlier, to pay her respects, and soon left to talk to Master Luminara. She knew this was private for them, and Ahsoka was grateful that she paid her respects, even though she didn't know Cutup.

Ahsoka got up, looked at her squad, and said, " I'm sorry you guys, if we could've destroyed the factory sooner-"

Zeer stopped her by saying," We don't blame you, Commander. And I know for a fact that Cutup doesn't either. The situation just got out of hand." The others nodded as well, they would never blame her, especially Tessa.

Ahsoka nodded, and she then grinned at everyone, and said," Then lets keep on fighting, in honor of Cutup's memory."

Everyone voiced their approval, and saluted her, and she saluted back.

While this was going on, Tessa thoughts were on what Cutup had said to her, and the promise she made.

'I promise Cut... Rest in Peace, brother.'


So yeah, I had planned for Cutup to die for a while, and I was wondering when that was going happen, and I came to the conclusion that it would happen here.

I want to thank you all for your patience, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter.