Woot another chapter! Anyways, sorry if this chapter seems kind of rushed and short because well it mostly was, anyways enjoy and the next chapter should be more exciting, hopefully.

Chapter 19

Captain Rex walked down the hallway that leads to the Counselor Palpatine's office. His helmet was tucked under his left arm as he walked, the sound of his footsteps echoing down the hall. He arrived at a large metallic door with two senate guards standing in front of it; dress in their usual blue robes.

Rex nodded to the two before walking through the door as it opened automatically. The counselor's office was rather large with several chairs for his guests to sit in and a large desk for the counselor. The office had a large glass window behind the desk that gave a spectacular view of Coruscant's skyline.

Counselor Palpatine was holding an urgent meeting and the office was filled with a couple of senators, Jedi Master's Yoda and Mace Windu, two holographic projections, one of Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi and the other of clone Commander Cody. Also in the room was a clone trooper that looked fresh from Kamino, judging by the way his armor seemed to shine in the light.

"Ah, Captain Rex thank you for joining us," Counselor Palpatine said with a smile. "Please have a seat"

"Thank you sir, but I'm fine with standing," Rex said.

Palpatine nodded in understanding before saying "Well now that everyone is here we can begin this meeting. Commander Tech, if you'd be so kind,"

The clone trooper in the white armor nodded and pulled something from a bag he was holding.

"At about 0600 this morning a Republic Star Destroy picked up this transmission as it passed by Felucia," the clone trooper, now clear to Rex to be Commander Tech, said.

Tech pushed a button on the device he had pulled from his bag and a holographic image of a terrified looking Republic officer appeared.

"This is Republic Cargo vessel 952 on approach to the planet Felucia, we were about to enter the planet's atmosphere when several droid fight-…" The hologram said before the image froze.

"What just happened?" one of the senators asked.

"That's as far as the transmission goes," Tech explained. "I assume the rest of the transmission was cutout after it's signal was jammed"

"How old is this transmission?" Kenobi asked.

"From what I've been able to tell, six standard months," Tech answered.

"Six months? And we are now just finding out about this!" Cody asked in surprise.

"I've only recently came in possession of this transmission. If I had known about it sooner we would have troops on the surface of Felucia by now," Tech told Commander Cody.

"Replay the transmission will you?" Yoda asked

Tech did as the Jedi asked until he told him to stop at the part of the transmission where the officer mentioned droid.

"Droids look likely to be the cause of distress," Yoda told everyone.

"That's impossible, if there were droids on Felucia our outpost there would have notified us," Cody said.

"Yes, but the Separatists are known for hiding secrets," Windu said.

"One particular Separatist that is good at hiding bases comes to mind," Obi-Wan said in thought.

The room fell silent for a few seconds before Captain Rex said "So that's where that blasted scrap heap has been hiding,"

Tech nodded his head. "Since we were unable to track the captain down after he fled the battle deep in the Outer Rim, we can only assume that he managed to get to Felucia and has been hiding there for some time,"

"It's a good theory but we won't know for sure until we get there," Obi-Wan said "As much as I would love to join the hunt I'm busy dealing with General Grievous here,"

"Yes, I'm aware General Kenobi which is why I asked for Captain Rex to be here," Palpatine said. "Since our commando units are spread across the galaxy, I was hoping you and the 501st could handle this situation.

Rex nodded in understanding, "I'll let General Skywalker and the rest of the 501st know then,"

"Actually, captain, I was hoping to keep General Skywalker out of this, if the droid we all think is hiding on Felucia then we can't risk losing him. So, I was hoping you could put together a team that could handle this," Palpatine told him.

"I understand sir," Rex said.

"Excellent, since our number of ARC troopers are dwindling we've created a new batch of clone troopers called Shadow Troopers. Director Armand Isard, of Republic Intelligence, sees this as great opportunity to test them so a couple of the shadow troopers will be joining you on your mission, along with Commander Tech for technical support," Palpatine told Rex.

"Accompany you Jedi Master Florarmoa will, familiar with the natives of Felucia she is," Yoda added.

Rex nodded "It'll be good to have a Jedi on the team,"

"Now that, that is settled you are all dismissed. Good luck on your mission Captain Rex and May the Force be with you," Palpatine said.

Rex saluted Palpatine again before turning and exiting the office, Commander Tech following behind. As the two walked down the hallway, Rex began to compile a list of troopers. If they were going up against one of the most hated clankers in the droid army, he was going to need a unit of heavily qualified soldiers that would be able to handle whatever kind of mess they are about to walk into.

Captain Rex managed to assemble a squad of twenty clone troopers. The troopers, along with the crew of the star destroyer they were taking, were busily loading loads of supplies into the cruiser before leaving for Felucia. Commander Tech was looking over a check list of supplies when Captain Rex joined him.

"How we doing, Tech?" Rex asked him

"We are almost ready to leave. The last of the supplies and equipment is being loaded up now. All we are waiting on is the Jedi and those Shadow Troopers," Tech answered, without looking up from the list.

"Good, let me know when everything is ready," Rex said.

Rex turned to see two clone troopers approaching. One had flames painted all over his heat resistant armor to make it look like he was on fire while the other one's armor was painted in black and red colors with a red smile painted on the helmet to make it look like he was always smiling.

When the two reached Rex they both saluted.

"Sergeant Pyro reporting for duty, sir," the one in flaming armor said.

"And Commander Jester reporting for duty, sir," the one with the smiling helmet said.

"It's a pleasure to have both of you on the team," Rex told them, returning the salute.

Sergeant Pyro was a demolitions expert who was rumored of being a pyromaniac, which resulted in him getting severe burns over most of his body. Despite his bad habit of starting fires, Pyro was one of the best demolitions men in the 501st and if there was a Separatist base on Felucia, Rex intended to blow, it and the droid captain in charge of it back to Chaos.

Jester however was more of a wildcard. According to every doctor that looked at him he had a bad case of mental instability. They say it was a result of some traumatic event, the Kaminoans say he's had it since he was "born". Whatever the case, Jester has a bad habit of rushing into danger and pulling potentially dangerous pranks. Since his last prank nearly got his squad killed, this is his last mission before being shipped back to Kamino for psyche evaluations and containment.

"Let me introduce you two to Commander Tech, he'll be providing us with tech support for this mission," Rex said introducing everyone.

"I didn't realize shines could become commanders once they get deployed," Jester said, jokingly.

"For your information, Jester, I was trained from the get go to become a tech officer, doesn't exactly entitle me to see much combat," Tech said defensively.

"Relax, Tech," Jester said as he put an arm around Tech "If we are going to be working together you're going to have to learn how to take a joke,"

Jester let out a loud laugh before Tech elbowed him in the gut. Everybody got a quick laugh out of that.

"Excuse me," A soft feminine voice said from behind the group.

The clones quickly turned to see a Mirialan standing there in a light brown tunic. Her skin was a dark green color with tattoos along her checks and one going down the middle of her forehead. Her hair was cut short so it barely went past her ears and was a dark brown color. Her eyes were light blue and her features were soft and caring.

The clones quickly straighten up and saluted her. She gave them a soft smile and said "It's quite alright boys; you don't have to salute me. I'm not as strict as most Jedi,"

The clone troopers relaxed before Rex introduced her to everyone.

"I feel like I'm going to enjoy working with you," the Jedi said.

"It'll be our pleasure to serve with you Master Florarmoa," Rex told her.

"Please call me Maria," she said gently.

Rex was about to make a comment when he saw four clone troopers in pitch black armor approaching. The troopers approached and saluted the group.

"Captain Shade, reporting for duty," The one in front of the group said, "These are my men, Shadow, Pitch and Black. We're the Shadow Troopers that'll be accompanying you,"

"It'll be a pleasure to work with you. I'm Captain Rex, these are Commander Tech, Commander Jester, Sergeant Pyro and Jedi Master Florarmoa," Rex said introducing everyone.

"Well then, now that everyone's here and the equipment has been fully loaded, I believe we should embark on our journey," Tech told Rex.

Rex nodded and the group moved to board the Venator-class Star Destroy The Merciless.