Alright, I'll try to update a little faster. You Can't Protect her from Everything is a little slow on updating because it is currently taking place at the same time as this, so I don't want to end up spoiling anything. (sorry) But the next chapter should be coming out soon! (also, a bit of "comic relief" in this one—but it still has battle sequences)


"General Kenobi!" Cody's voice yelled across the hangar bay, slightly muffled by the helmet's buffers.

Obi-wan's activated lightsaber hummed and swished through the heated hanger bay air, striking down every monstrous Lizard that came to attack him or one of his fallen men.

He knew that something had gone wrong when one of his newest sergeants had gone missing not long after being sent to retrieve ammo.

When Obi-wan had finally gotten involved with the search party, four men had already been ripped apart, blood staining the clean white floors of the storage rooms.

The crates lay open and toppled over.

That was when the first Lizard had attacked, killing one of Obi-wan's men before moving to him.

Now, they were trapped in the main hangar bay, Lizards pouring in from either side as clones struggled to fight the Lizards, launch off to defend their perimeter in the battle outside, and put out the fires that had almost completely engulfed the bay.

Obi-wan deflected laser blasts as he held his comm. up to his mouth, trying to get contact to the other ships in orbit. "This is the Resolute to anyone who can hear us. We need back up! Is anyone there?"

The comm. crackled, and then eventually a male's voice answered, sounding strained and tired.

"Obi-wan!" he said, sounding relieved that his master was alive. "What are these things?! They're like walking lizards!"

Ah, Sunlaou. So much like his cousin Kiki. "Sunlaou, have you been able to make any contact with the toher forces?"
"Unfortunately, no," Sunlaou said, lightsaber swinging in the background. "The Separatists thought it would be a fun idea to jam our communications. You're the only one I've been able to reach so far. Our two front forces have been completely separated from us, and I suspect they've been experiencing the same problem."

"Just our luck," Obi-wan answered, reaching out in the Force to see what he could get of the other two star destroyers.

Yes, they had the same issue that he and Sunlaou did. Lizards were swarming around hangar bays and weapons depots, slowly but surely making their way up to the bridge.

The cries of an injured man knocked Obi-wan out of his Force-sight to the other ships.

"Help!" the clone trooper was desperately trying to scoot backwards from the four lizards that had cornered him, clutching an arm to his chest. "Help!"

Flames shot and spewed from a vent, lighting spilled oil and tabana from the nearby gunships. Through the transparent magnetic shield of the hangar, he could see the complete mayhem of torrent starfighters and vulture droids—and just beyond that, the fleet of Separatist war ships just behind the moons.

His attention focused back on the clone trooper backing against a wall of torn metal and wire.

There was no way Obi-wan would make it across the hangar in time.

Laser fire slammed into the Lizards from their left, taking out the first two and grazing the second. A small group of troopers had managed to make way through one of the blocked entrances in hangar bay.

"Obi-wan, you still there?" Sunlaou said. What sounded like a grenade going off in the background almost cut the signal.

"Yes, I'm here," he replied, almost slipping and losing his balance on a puddle of slick, black oil.

"My men in the bridge have just made contact with the others, and they've just gotten a weak signal established to the council. We may be able to get some reinforcements."

That was something Obi-wan had been waiting to hear. The flow of Kirzmin Lizards was starting to slow—not by much, but their attacks had become less scrambled and individualized. They knew their forces were thinning.

"I've just managed to break the line of Lizards!" Sunlaou said, his voice sounding triumphant and tired. "There's much less now. Let's hope there aren't any more waiting for us somewhere else in the ship."

Obi-wan was glad that their small battle was finally coming to a close, but he could sense that the 212th had suffered massive losses just from the attack on the ship, let alone the men that were out fighting the Separatists.

He only hoped that the others were having better luck than he was.


It was hot.

And not just prickly-armpits hot. More like it's-too-hard-to-breathe hot.

Even through his helmet, he could feel the humidity. Alick stepped over foliage as he picked his way through the dense jungle. Why does this place have to have so many plants? He was tired, sweaty, hungry, and worse was that they had to escort a whiny princess who wouldn't stop bi—

"Um, excuse me, Ms. Jedi Lady?" she said, her high voice piercing through the air—and probably scaring away some innocent animals. "Just where are you taking me?"

Alick had always underestimated the power of a Jedi Master's patience. This was one of those times—General Unduli didn't seem too annoyed in the least by the frustrating royal's complaints.

"Like I've said before, your Highness," she stated calmly, hands folded behind her as she gracefully stepped over plants without making a sound. Jedi had a way of doing that—compared to her, Alick sounded like a blind, three-legged bantha. "We are just temporarily transporting you to a safer environment until the fighting around your estate subsides."

"Can you at least tell me where you're taking me?" she crossed her arms over her…considerable… chest, huffing a little loudly.

She's too used to getting what she wants, Alick thought, silently groaning under his helmet.

General Unduli stopped, although not because of what the snobby princess had said. She raised a fisted hand by her shoulder, silently telling her men to stop where they were.

"What? Why are we stopping? What's going on?" At least her highness had enough sense to whisper to the trooper nearest—which unfortunately happened to be Alick.

Just my luck, he thought—but he couldn't focus on the annoying woman, he was getting chills down his spine, as if someone were staring at him.

"Protect the princess!" Master Unduli immediately leapt into action, igniting her green lightsaber and taking up a defensive position in front of her men.

Their small troop of clones formed a tight circle around the princess, aiming into the bushes that surrounded them.

Slowly, she pulled out her own hand blaster, placing her finger outside the trigger guard.

Okay, so she's not as bad I thought. Alick aimed steadily into the bushes.

The first of the Lizards to attack them managed to take our three men, ripping limbs off as it made its way toward the circle of clones.

More Lizards began pouring out of the bushes, some using blasters as they all charged to the escort group.

Master Unduli leapt above one of the Lizards, slicing its back as she spun in the air and pushing off of its body as she launched onto the next one.

Alick fired into the mass of dark green and brown bodies. They were tough to kill—their scales almost acted like a natural armor. Unfortunately, the only weak spots they knew of at the moment were their joints.

The princess tried to find an area to aim between the gaps of the men surrounding her. She pointed her blaster, occasionally firing off a few shots that nearly took Alick's head off.

Would you just keep still? He knew it was dangerous, but he thought the only way to keep her from accidentally killing one of their men was to physically move his body in front of her. "Princess, it would be better if you stayed down—"

The yelp behind him made Alick cut himself off as he spun around to see the princess pinned to the ground by a Kirzmin Lizard almost three times her size, large jaws snapping at her face. A second Lizard had taken out the clone guarding the princesses back, and it was currently tearing him limb from limb.

Oh no—Alick wasn't quite fast enough to get to her.

She pressed the barrel of her blaster to the bottom of the Lizards jaw, squeezing the trigger and sending a green laser through the top of its head. Its movement had slowed, but it was still hissing and trying to get to her neck.

Alick was moving as quickly as he could to reach princess Aella—that was her name, he remembered. Before he could reach her, she had pressed the hot tip of her blaster into the Lizards eye, causing it to hiss even more before she finally pulled the trigger.

The dead Lizard collapsed on top of her small frame. "Help!" Aella struggled to remove herself from under the Lizards body.

Alick finally made it by her side, lifting one part of the Lizard to allow her to crawl through. Carefully, he took her hand and helped her up.

"Are you alright?" Alick's voice was shakier than he would have liked—as were his hands.

"I…I think. Yeah, I'm fine," Aella said. Blood that was most likely not her own was streaked across her face, and her once rosy cheeks were a deathly pale white now. Her eyes were dead.

"Is…this your first time?" Is this your first time killing something? Alick couldn't stop himself form asking. She seemed dangerously close to throwing up.

Aella almost didn't hear him. "Yes…" she said softly, her eyes scanning over the mutilated bodies of clones and Kirzmin Lizards alike. "Is…" the words caught in her throat, and she swallowed to get around it. "Is this what you normally go through?" Her green eyes were shining with concern, pity, and…tears? But who was she crying for?

"Yes, but you get used to it." Alick felt like kicking himself in the head. You get used to it. He realized with some guilt that his words were harsher than intended. And to prove his point, Aella flinched.

General Unduli spoke, and it was only then that Alick realized they were at the back of the line. "Come on, men! Our numbers have been reduced, and there may be more on the way. We only have a few hours to make it to the safe house."

"Come on, your Highness," he said, struggling for a softer tone of voice. "We're almost there." He tugged lightly on the hand he hadn't noticed he'd still been holding. He recalled absently rubbing his thumb against the back of her hand while he'd tried to comfort her.

Instead of moving, Aella tightened her grip on Alick's much larger hand. Out of instinct, he pulled away. He wasn't used to any kind of physical contact—not something as intimate as holding hands. His brothers had always helped him up and then left, or gave him a friendly pat on the back or slug to the shoulder. Never something like this.

Aella opened her mouth as if to protest, but quickly shut it again, although not before a tiny gasp flew out. She turned forward toward the backs of the waiting group of men.

Alick's hand felt almost…bereft…when she let go to continue walking. It's no matter, he thought, quickly following behind her. He couldn't get her pale, blood-streaked face out of his mind. She'd seemed so…scared,

It was exactly how he'd felt when he'd first killed.


Another relatively short one, but I had to stop before I created and entire plot for these two. I think my skill (if you may call it) for writing battle scenes has gone down, but I guess with school that's to be expected. Next chapter we'll focus back on the original gang, seeing as how we need more coverage for them. Until next time (which is hopefully soon)

~AAx