Chapter 4

Assault on Kashyyyk

"Ahsoka, I promise I'll be fine. Crash and Niner have my back, and I've survived a hundred battles up until this moment." Carter tried to make his voice sound as reassuring as possible.

Ahsoka took a deep breath, digging the heels of her hands into her eyes with frustration and fear. Carter wanted nothing more than to take her into his arms in that moment and comfort her with soothing whispers that it was going to be okay. But all he could do was bring a hand up and touch where her cheek would have been if the hologram were real.

"There are ten thousand battle droids down there. And there are twelve hundred in Raikou Company. And your squad is only four men strong, Carter! How can you be so sure with those odds?"

"Because I keep my promises. I promised I would be okay, and I promised I would never leave you. I'm not going to do either today, okay?"

Ahsoka closed her eyes for a moment and took a breath. "Okay. Be careful, please."

At this Carter couldn't help but flash a cocky smirk. "Aren't I always?"

"I mean it," she said, sense of humor apparently nonexistent in such a stressful situation.

"Alright, alright," Carter said quickly. "I will. But the same goes for you. I don't care if you're calling the air strikes and sitting behind the strategy table the whole time. Your ship's gonna be a target. Watch yourself, alright?" His green eyes flashed with concern.

"Alright," she said with a slow nod. She sighed deeply, wiping wetness from her eyes before smoothing her uniform. "I have to go…" she said, reluctant to close the transmission.

"It's fine," Carter reassured. "I'll see you after the mission. Make sure it's face to face, though." He gave her a grin.

She put on a grim smile for him. "Look, Carter... I love you. You know that, right?"

"Of course I do."

"Seriously. I'm head over heels in love with you. You better come back. You hear me, Flyboy?"

"Yes, ma'am. I love you too, 'Soka. More than anything. And that's why I'm coming back."

"Drop zone's only two kilometers away, sir," Crash said, using a gloved hand to flatten his spiky hair before sealing his helmet. "You ready?"

Carter nodded. "More than ever." He turned to face his squad, looking at each of the three clones as if he could see straight into their eyes through their helmets. "How are you three feeling?"

"Like I could take on the entire galaxy, Sir," Edge replied. He hoisted a heavy repeater over his shoulder as the LAAT/i prepared to drop them into the forest of Kashyyyk.

Carter grinned. "Good. Because you can take on the entire galaxy. We can. And we will. As a team."

"Yes, sir!" the three clones said in unison.

Their pilot opened the comm link. "Opening hatches in three… two…" Carter couldn't hear him say one above the sounds of wookiees and droids doing battle not too far away. He took a breath, feeling the wind whip his hair across his forehead. He waited until the perfect landing zone was in sight before screaming, "Go, go, go!" and leaping towards the ground.

He landed lightly on the ground, lightsaber in his hand and humming instantly. Above him, Crash, Niner, and Edge made their way down, jet packs preventing any hard fall they might have experienced. Carter glanced around at his surroundings to make sure they were safe, extending his Force senses as far as he could ahead of them.

"Only a handful of droids guarding that back entrance the scouts spotted. And judging by larger energy emissions… a couple of tanks. Not sure if they are crewed at the moment or not."

"We should assume that they are," Edge said. "Expect the worst."

"Exactly," Carter agreed with a nod. "You guys have grenades; use them if you need to. But remember, this is a refinery. A stray shot could get all of us killed."

"Same goes for the Seps, though, sir," Niner said. "What happens if one of us is the only thing that's standing between a bullet and a fuel tank?"

"It won't come to that," Carter insisted.

"What happened to 'Expect the worst'?" Crash asked, amusement in his tone.

"It's not a possibility. My lightsaber will always get in the way of any bullet coming for you guys. Now, come on. We aren't gonna get anything done standing here and debating. Move out!"

Three identical voices echoed "Yes, Sir!" before they formed up behind him. Carter began the short walk towards the base. The assault had begun.

Ahsoka frowned, narrowing her eyes at the beachside battle being holographically displayed in the strategy room of the Resolute. "Why are they fighting on such a broad front?" she asked, indicating the wide battlefield.

Swift glanced at her, confusion clear on his face. "What do you mean, ma'am?"

"Our forces, what with the size they are, would be much more effective if the Separatists were forced into a choke point and picked off bit by bit. Not to mention, their progress would slow. Less droids will have pressed forward, and more of their forces would be at the refinery when Carter- I mean, Commander Draik, sorry- and his men detonate the facility. When the place blows, so do the droids."

"Your insight is brilliant as always, ma'am," Swift said slowly, "but your point is moot unless there's a way you can shrink the battlefield to the size you intend." He chuckled a bit as he added, "I'm pretty sure that your Force can't work miracles of that extent."

Ahsoka allowed herself a small smile. "No. But Kashyyyk has plenty of trees. All we have to do is knock a few down in the right places."

The corners of Swift's mouth quirked upward as he caught on to what she was saying. "A few well-placed explosions should do the trick. I'll get to calculating remote detonator pack placements right away and then we'll make the call groundside."

"Great, she said with a grin. "Thanks, Swift."

"No problem, Ma'am. One choke point, coming up.

"Sir, droid platoon passing to the left," Niner whispered.

"Have they spotted us?" Carter asked as he squinted to look in the direction Niner had mentioned.

"Not yet, but they will if we can't find cover fast."

"We can take them out," Crash said quickly, tossing a droid popper up into the air and catching it with a flourish. "One well-placed toss, sir. You know I can do that with my eyes closed."

"No," Carter replied firmly. "We attack, we alert the rest of the base that there's something wrong." He brushed long bangs out of his eyes before continuing. "Follow me. Quietly." He dashed through the forest, winding around trees soundlessly. He stopped only when he was sure they were out of sight, waiting for his men to come running up behind him not long after.

"How far is the refinery now?" Crash asked annoyedly. "Now that we have most likely run in the complete opposite direction."

"Not far," Edge said, bringing up his holo map. He chuckled slightly to himself. "It's right over that hill." The clone looked up at his commander with a grin. "Good call, sir."

"At least someone appreciates my orders," he said, glaring at Crash. "Now, come on. We've got a refinery to blow up."

Carter's lightsaber hummed as he swung it behind his back to behead a battle droid. As soon as the movement was finished, the Padawan neatly flipped behind a super battle droid and shoved his weapon through its control panel. His foot rolled lightly as he brought his leg up to smash into another droid, its head popping off easily.

"Are you almost done, Crash?" Niner's voice was impatient.

"Demolition is an art, Niner…" The bomb-happy clone explained as his light fingers moved deftly across the wires of the bomb. "I'm trying not to blow us up."

"And we put our lives in the hands of the pyromaniac…" Niner grumbled, raising his rifle to destroy a droid with a single headshot.

Carter, Niner, and Edge continued to defend Crash as he wired the bomb from a seemingly limitless platoon of battle droids. Niner took up a position atop several crates and used it to snipe enemies quickly and precisely. Edge crouched behind a pillar and wreaked havoc with his heavy repeater. Carter looked at his men proudly before diving into the fray, flipping forwards and backwards, the acrobatics of Ataru confusing the battle droids in such close confines such as the refinery's gasoline production room.

A scream of pain echoed from behind them, and Carter glanced back to see the horrifying sight of blood trickling from Crash's neck. The demolitions expert fell away from the bomb, clutching at the injury and gasping for breath.

"Fall back!" Carter ordered. "To Crash! Edge, get a popper in there, buy us some time!" Almost instantly, Edge had hurled a droid popper into the crowd of droids. The small sphere activated, electrical emissions disabling the droids on contact.

"You okay?" Carter asked as he knelt next to Crash.

"I'm doing great, Commander," he wheezed, sarcasm still intact. "What about you?"

"Glad to see your sense of humor wasn't damaged," Edge chuckled.

"Crash!" Niner exclaimed, trembling hands cradling his comrade's head. The two were from the same 'batch' of clones; their sense of brotherhood was stronger than that of most clones. The terrified clone looked up at Carter, eyes pleading. "We have to get him out of here. He won't escape before the detonation."

Carter pursed his lips, glancing at the bloody wound on Crash's neck. He turned to Edge. "Can you finish arming the bomb?"

He nodded. "Yes, Sir."

The Padawan touched Niner's shoulder. "Get him out of here and a safe distance away from this place. Radio for evac, and for Force's sake, get him to a medic ASAP. I'm not losing any of my men today, you hear me?"

Niner nodded. "Yes, Sir." He slung Crash's body over his shoulders and began to run for the exit.

"Commander!" Crash shouted, wincing in pain. "Edge!"

The two remaining members of the squad turned to face the clone, expecting some sort of final words in case Crash didn't survive.

"Red wire crosses over the blue. Remember that."

Sorry, I know it's short! :(