Hey, it's TKDrift.

Apologies for not updating in a while, I had a lot to do. But just an update; Ahsoka will be involved in this story, but not right now. For those who didn't notice, she was part of the Umbara Campaign. If you don't believe me, look at the Trivia Slideshow, Slide 2 of the Slideshows Section for 'Darkness on Umbara' on . Speaking of Ahsoka, also check out 'Ahsoka on Umbara (.net/s/7661139/1/Ahsoka_on_Umbara)' by jediclonecowgirl; unlike this story, this one has Ahsoka taking part of the ground force's attack from the beginning, and it's a well-written and good story.

Enjoy.

Chapter 3: That's It

If someone had to walk for 12 hours, almost get killed by mines and various ambushes, sleep and rests was more than leisure; it was almost literally heaven. At least that's what Jesse, Tup, Hardcase and Boomer felt as they relaxed. Kix was still patching up the wounded while Kano was still at the tower, but there was a little good news; General Skywalker's apprentice, Ahsoka Tano was going to join them. Since only Skywalker was the one recalled to Coruscant, she was assigned as Krell's interim Padawan, but she was still in the air with the invasion fleet and she also hated Krell as much as the clones, having seen the reports. As Tup began to climb up on his bed and everyone took off their helmets, Captain Rex came into the barracks.

"The….assault on the capital…" He sighed, "…will continue as planned."

Everyone was in disbelief. All that they hoped that Krell would change his plan had been in vain, again.

"So that's it?"Jesse asked. "We just march, into those missiles?"

"Oh there's another option;"Fives replied, though with a little too much enthusiasm in Tup's opinion. "We go ahead with our plan and suffer the consequences"

"You will be court-martialed!" Rex replied sharply. Sitting down and sighing, he quickly had a glance at the room before, in a quieter voice continued; "If it were up to me, and if we had the time and the training, I would say do it. But it's out of my hands. And the truth is, YOU are no pilots."

'He has a point there…'Tup thought to himself.

"Come on. If Hardcase can fly one of these things, we all can" Jesse retorted, annoyed.

"Yeah…he wasn't really flying."Boomer said, rephrasing while looking at Hardcase, who simply looked away in embarrassment. "More like avoiding crashing."

'Never Mind' "We'll be blasted out of the sky before we get anywhere" Tup added, in agreement.

"Not if we're in their fighters."Fives replied. "No one's gonna be shooting at us!"

Just that moment, the door opened and in stepped the 'Republic Battle Droid' as dubbed by Boomer, came in Dogma.

"Here comes Dogma" Jesse whispered to the group, clearing his throat.

"Uh…what's going on?" asked the rookie Clone as he approached the group, whom suddenly turned away from each other.

"Eeeuh….nothing"Tup told him, though rather suspiciously.

Eying his fellow rookie with a look that spelled 'Of course it was' sarcastic/suspicious look, Dogma moved to simply sat on his bed.

Rex might have given up, but he still went on. Fives wasn't ready to give up. As the Captain got up and left, the ARC Trooper started to walk towards the door as well. It was simply a choice; death by own choice or death by suicidal orders. And he was positive everyone else was going to choose the first one.

"This is about more than just following orders" Fives told the Captain as he followed him out the barracks.

"It is. It is about honor" Rex replied, stopping in his path and turning to face the Domino Squad member.

Even more aggravated, Fives asked "Where is the honor in marching blindly to our deaths?"

"It is not our call." Rex said firmly. "We are part of something larger. We are not independent of one another." The Command Code forbade them from doing anything that was out of the book. Whether that was questioning orders or going against orders for a rogue mission.

"I'm sorry. I cannot just follow orders when I know they're wrong…." Fives replied, getting angrier by the second. How could Rex still defend a General that was so reckless it made Skywalker look downright cautious? The Captain was known to argue with even higher ranked Jedi like Kenobi and Windu if he didn't agree with a plan. And yet he was defending Krell of all Jedi?

"….especially when lives are at stake" he ended with a snarl.

"You will if you support the system we fight for" Rex told him harshly, putting his hand on the ARC Trooper's pauldron.

"I do support it. I do." Fives snapped, slapping away Rex's hand. "But I am NOT just another number. None of us are!" And with that he walked back to the barracks. He had enough. More arguing with Rex over command regulations and morals was going to be just like that time Echo and Hevy argued and eventually started fighting; it wasn't going to accomplish anything.

"Fives, where are you going?" the Captain asked.

"To round up some pilots." The last Domino Squad member snapped, with the closing of the door finishing his sentence for him.

During the argument, inside the barracks…..

While 501st Captain and ARC Trooper verbally fought outside, the two veterans' voices didn't go unnoticed.

"You know, we can hear everything" Jesse whispered to Boomer as they argued.

"Well, it's not like they're gossiping" Boomer told him.

"In any case, I still think we should go through with Fives' plan." Tup declared. "Sure it's against the rules, but if we succeed, Krell just MIGHT let it slide."

"I can't believe all of you. We are soldiers; we need to obey and listen to the General's orders!" Dogma snapped, rather rudely pushing Tup out of the way while heading towards them.

"Yeah, but are you really willing to die needlessly for it?" Boomer shouted back.

"If I have to" Dogma snarled, not even flinching.

Tup shook his head, still not understanding Dogma. But he was sure of one thing; one way or another they had to come up with a plan that was better than just simply charging towards the Capital, assuming Fives' idea was un-executable. How that was gonna happen? He did not know.

Read & Review Please.

This is TKDrift, signing off.