Another short, uneventful chapter, so sorry about that and sorry for all the dialogue, I thought it might be nice to add at least one some what motivational speech scene to the story so this chapter is that. Also I apologize if Captain Rex's speech is terrible...anyways enjoy!-Dustbot-062

Chapter 20

The Merciless began its approach to the lush planet of Felucia. The squad of clone troops assembled by Captain Rex waited in the hanger bay as Rex prepared to brief them. They talked amongst themselves, simple chatter to help ease the nerves, but the clone captain was more worried about what they might be walking into then any one of them.

"Something troubling you captain?" Florarmoa asked, joining the clone captain.

"No, general just pre-battle nerves that's all," Rex told her.

The Jedi smiled and said "It's alright to be afraid, captain, when facing the unknown anything can happen, and that is what frightens us,"

"I know, general, it's just I've battled against captain Emotion before and I've seen the things that malfunctioned droid is capable of. Most of the men here, they know nothing about what they are agreeing to but rumors and myths. I've never had to prepare men to deal with this monster before, all the battles that I've led troops in against Emotion were battles in progress or chance attacks on bases, never a direct assault on one of his own bases," Rex told her.

Florarmoa thought on this before saying, "I have something to confess as well, captain, when I was still an apprentice; my master was training me on Felucia. He brought me to this planet because he recognized that the natives were naturally sensitive to the Force. He believed that if I lived with the Felucians and studied with their shamans that I would grow a deeper understanding of the Force and have a deeper connection with it. So, he left me with them for six standard years. During that time, the Clone Wars began and my master had died. The Jedi council brought me back to civilization after his death so I could lead troops into battle. This is my first time fighting alongside clones and I am just as nervous and scared as you are,"

"What happened to your master?" Rex asked.

"The council is unsure, they told me that he was on Kashyyyk investigated some strange Wookiee deaths. As he was investigating he came across an old Wookiee tale of a strange off-world predator that had hunted the greatest of Wookiee warriors. The Wookiees that had died matched the way the Wookiee warriors had died in the tale of the "Hunter Predator". Apparently, from what the Wookiees who witnessed the battle say, my master had tricked the Hunter Predator and battled it to the death. Both my master and the Hunter Predator died that day. When the Wookiees heard that my master had an apprentice they thought I should have this" Florarmoa told Rex, as she pulled out a strange looking device. "The Wookiees say this device is one of the Hunter Predator's most valued weapons."

Florarmoa handed the device to Rex.

"It almost looks like some kind of wrist gauntlet," Rex said as he looked it over.

As he looked it over he found that it opened up to display some kind of computer and a strange pattern of letters that could only be another language.

"Do you know what language this is?" Rex asked

"No, I've checked all of the holocrons within the Jedi Archives and I have yet to come across a language like it or anything that matches the description of the Hunter Predator," the Jedi answered.

"Strange," Rex said, handing the device back to the Jedi.

"Keep it," She said. "It has provided me with a belief that I'll be able to overcome any challenge, even if it is an off world hunter that can beat a Wookiee warrior, throughout the years."

Rex nodded and attached the gauntlet to his belt, as Commander Tech approached them.

"Captain Rex, they are ready for you," Tech said.

Rex nodded and followed Commander Tech to brief the other clones as Jedi Master Florarmoa followed behind. The clones were either sitting on cargo boxes or standing, their talking had silenced as they waited patiently for captain Rex. Rex took a quick, silent, head check before beginning.

"Troopers," Rex began. "Brothers, I'm not going to lie to you, we are about to embark on a mission that if we are successful, could tilt the scales of this war in the Republics favor. We are here to hunt down Captain James Emotion and see that he ends up in the scrap heap. Now, I know you've all heard the rumors that Emotion is a deranged droid that performs bizarre, inhumane experiments and creates monsters. That he is a droid supremacist and is planning some kind of droid uprising that involves the mass genocide of every organic life in the galaxy. As far as I'm concerned, everything you've heard is true."

"I would also like to inform you that we have very little intel, in fact we have none at all. This means we have no idea what the deranged bucket of bolts has in store for us. All we know is that there is a droid base somewhere on Felucia and that we've lost contact with our outpost here. This can only mean one thing, that Emotion took out the outpost so our brothers there couldn't interfere with whatever mad scheme he has planned" Rex continued

" Here is what we are going to do, since we have no idea where on this planet his base is, we are going to head to our outpost and see if we can't figure anything out from there. Commander Tech here is an expert on all things droid and anything involving technology, with his help we might be able to find out the bases location. Sergeant Pyro will be handling our demolitions, since we are going to be taking down a droid base I want to make sure they go out with a bang, a big one. Also, this is Commander Jester's last mission, so let's make it a remember able one. Also joining us will be Captain Shade and his shadow troopers and Jedi Master Maria Florarmoa. Captain Shade and his men will be providing us with some extra firepower while Master Florarmoa will be our Jedi on the scene and our liaison to the Felucians; if anyone might have an idea on where Emotion is hiding it'll be them,"

"One last thing before we embark, as I'm sure you all know, missions or battles involving assaults against Emotion usually result in a high body count. It pains me to say this, brothers, but I can't ensure that you will all make it out of there alive, hell, we'll be lucky if one of us makes it out of there. That being said it's been an honor to fight alongside each and every one of you. Now then who's ready to send those clankers back to the assembly line?"

The crowd of troops erupted into a chorus of cheers.

"Forget the assembly line let's send them to the scrap heap!" Jester shouted jumping from his set.

The troopers were quick to agree with Jester, bringing a smile to Rex's face.

"Alright men load up," Rex ordered them.

The clone troopers, now calm and ready for battle, put their helmets back on, grabbed their gear and began to board the LAAT-series gunships.

"Pyro, you're in charge of Bravo squad," Rex told him.

Pryo nodded and said "Bravo, let's load up those explosives and get a move on, I got a nice pyrotechnics show in store for those clankers,"

Pryo and his group of ten clone troopers moved to one gunship where several ammo crates of explosives were being loaded up.

"Tech, you take charge of Charlie squad," Rex told him

Tech nodded and headed to join Charlie squad as they loaded another gunship.

"Shade, I want you and your boys apart of Alpha squad with me, General Florarmoa and Jester," Rex told him

Shade nodded and said "Understood captain, shadow troopers we're apart of Alpha let's move out,"

Rex and the others quickly boarded the last gunship. The gunships then left the hanger and began their approach to the surface of the planet.