Disclaimer: I don't own Evangelion or Star Wars. Just this story.

Authors note: Alright, this chapter isn't going to be nearly as long as that last one. Stuff like that can only happen when more than one major event takes place on or near the planet. This chapter will be much shorter, because it's mostly battle. Oh, and don't get used to this frequent posting. It's only happening because of Christmas break. After it's over, I'll probably be down to only one chapter a week.

P.S. Thanks for all of the positive feedback you guys!

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Shinji didn't like this planet at all. He would actually rather have been back on Rhen Var in his old, poorly-insulated armor than be here. These last two months had been some of the worst in his life. The only time that had ever been worse was the day his mother died. And even that was almost starting to look better by comparison.

They had been on Felucia for two months now, but it had felt like two years. Every day was either a constant battle with droids, or constant lookout for them. And every night was a nightmare. Shrieks of horrible unseen creatures rent the night air like a knife, chilling Shinji and the clones to the bone. To top it off, every once in a while a clone would get sick from some unknown disease, and it would usually claim his life in less then 24 hours. And sometimes, a clone would just... vanish. No trace could ever be found, except for maybe a few bits of armor and a trashed gun. Two or three of Shinji's men actually went insane and ran off screaming into the forest. The only thing that kept Shinji and the rest from going crazy and joining them, was their Jedi Commander. Ayla Secura.

To the men in the 501st she was like an angel. She kept her cool at all times. She kept telling them that they would come out of this alive. She kept them... From going mad. Shinji was glad to have her around, knowing that without her they could end up like the 182nd Legion. They had landed here a few months ago, and hadn't been heard from since. Some of the clones said that a disease must have gotten them. However, Shinji believed it had been whatever made those noises at night.

Shinji thought about all of this as he stared into the campfire. After a while, he tried to get his mind off of the current situation. He let his mind wander back to his last day on Coruscant. He had been called that day to remind him that he was to be at the space port by 3:00 sharp and ready to leave. During his vacation, despite the attempt on Rei's life, he and Rei had managed to enjoy themselves. Before he left Shinji bought her a little something, just so she would have something of him to hold onto until he got back. It was a small teddy bear. It didn't have anything written on it, it didn't have a heart on its chest, it didn't have anything corny or cliche like that. It was just a plain teddy bear. Rei had seemed to like it. He had delivered the bear with a promise. "I'll be back in no time Rei," he had said. Then, he had packed up his tranquilizer guns, and headed out. Rei had been there to see him off. He wished he could be with her now, instead of this horrible jungle.

He kept thinking about it for a while, then went back inside his tent and tried to get some sleep. For some reason he felt peaceful, and wasn't able to think about the next day, which promised to be just as bad as any other day. After a while, he fell into a deep peaceful sleep.

888

Shinji woke up the next day, wishing that he hadn't. He had been in the middle of a very pleasant dream, when all of a sudden Red had shaken him by the shoulders. "We need to get moving!" he exclaimed. "We sent a small unit forward, and now their under attack!"

"What?!" exclaimed Shinji, jumping up out of his sleeping bag. He had already been sleeping in full armor, so he didn't need to get ready. He grabbed his blasters and helmet and rushed out of his tent. There was a large radio receiver an the ground, and several clones and Master Secura were huddled around it. The sound of blasters could be heard coming from it, as well as the strange screams that they had heard almost every night.

"Help!" the voice said, "We need assistance now! They're everywhere!" the blaster noise continued. Shinji put on his helmet and started running north, which is where the unit had been sent. There was a dense yellow fog, as there always was here, and Shinji could only see about eight yards in front of him. The signal had been coming from an non-operational AT-TE. Shinji got there and looked around. There was no longer anyone there. 'Where are they?' he thought. In a few moments, The horrible truth dawned on him. 'Oh no,' he thought. 'They're all dead.' He looked around for what had been attacking them. Unfortunately, he found it. There was a large corpse about ten feet to his left. 'What the,' thought Shinji. Suddenly, a living version of the corpse came Charging at him from out of the mist. The creature roared, and it sounded very familiar.

Shinji wasted no time firing at the creature. He hit it directly in the torso, but it kept coming. It was in front of Shinji in less then three seconds, and brought one of its six legs crashing down. Shinji moved quickly, just avoiding the creature's attack. He fired at it again, this time hitting it in the head. The creature fell to the ground. Shinji looked at the dead body more closely. 'This thing's tough,' thought Shinji. 'But there's no way that just two of them could take down a unit of clones by themselves. Unless...' He looked up, and saw three more charging at him. He fired at one, hitting it directly in its open mouth. But there was no way he could take out the other two by himself. Suddenly, a barrage of blue lasers began slamming into the creatures. The clones had finally caught up to him.

But in answer to the arrival of the clones, two more creatures showed up. Shinji began firing at them. "Aim for the heads!" he yelled. The creatures fell, one by one. But Shinji couldn't help but feel like they would see more of them soon enough. However, this worry was soon replaced by a new one. The clones gathered around the broken AT-TE, and suddenly red blaster fire filled the area! Droids started pouring out of the mist. Shinji and the clones fired back. Lasers flew everywhere. But despite Shinji's leadership, they were still losing. One by one his clones fell, but the battle droids kept coming. Marching on and on like an endless tide. It was starting to look like Shinji's final battle.

Suddenly a blue lightsaber ripped through the droid ranks, followed shortly by a green one. Ayla Secura caught the weapons as the came back, and ran headfirst into the droids, hacking and slashing as she went. She made her way to the AT-TE, followed by a large group of clones being led by Commander Red. Suddenly, the battle started moving in their favor. They successfully beat off the attackers. But they knew they only had minutes before they would return. Master Secura, Shinji, and Red got together to form a plan. Alex was busy organizing a defensive strategy.

"Alright," said Secura, "We need a plan. Our defenses won't hold forever against the droids, and those creatures are probably going to show up as well."

"What are those things anyway?" asked Shinji.

"They're called Acklay," answered the Jedi. "They're very strong and very vicious."

"What we need," said Red, "Is something that can help us put the droids on the defensive. This AT-TE isn't working right now, but it's not because of damage. The power source ran out. If we could find another one, we'd be all set."

"But where are we going to find a power core just lying around?" asked Secura. Shinji thought for a moment.

"Hey," he said, "Didn't our scouts say that they found a destroyed LAAT around here yesterday?"

"Yes," said Secura, "It had the 182nd Legion's logo painted on it. But how does that help us?"

"Well," explained Shinji, "LAAT's and AT-TE's use the same kind of power core. If the LAAT still has it's core..."

"Then we can use it for the AT-TE!" exclaimed Red. "Brilliant!"

"But," said Secura, "The power core may be broken. In fact it might not be there at all."

"It's a chance we'll have to take," said Shinji. "But there's still one problem. Even iff we find it, how will we get it out of the ship. And if we get it out, how will we carry it safely back here?" They all thought for a moment on this.

"Wait," said Red, "What about that thing?"

"What thing?" asked Secura.

"That thing," said Red. "You know Shinji. That thing you used on Mygeeto, that what did you call it? That EVA." Shinji couldn't believe he had forgotten about it. However, he still had doubts about using it.

"Is there really no other way?" he asked.

"No," said Red, "Not that I can see. That thing has the best chance of doing it. Its armor is as good as the AT-TE's, plus it's loaded with weapons. I know you don't like using it Shinji, but it may be our only chance." Shinji only needed a moment to think it over.

"Alright," he said. "If it's the only way." He had kept it inside an LAAT, which was used to transport it. He and Red went to go get it. Ayla Secura followed, curious as to what it was that they had been talking about. Shinji opened up the side door of the gunship, and there it was. Ayla Secura was,to say the least, surprised to see a giant droid in the LAAT.

"That's what you were talking about?" she asked.

"Yes," answered Shinji as he removed his helmet and got inside. He activated the EVA. It's sensors pinpointed the exact location of the downed LAAT, which showed that the power core was still active. "Alright," said Shinji, "I'll get that core, you guys lead the ground troops in defending that AT-TE

"Good luck," said Red.

"May the force be with you Commander," said Secura. Shinji nodded and started for the LAAT. Even with the EVA's advanced vision, it was still hard to see. The fog wasn't as bad now, but he still had to put up with the dense jungle of fungus-like plants. He tore through the jungle in search of his target. After a few minutes of searching, he found it. The LAAT was damaged beyond repair and half buried in the ground. Shinji ripped open The back of the ship and found the power core. He grabbed it, and headed towards the AT-TE. He got close, only to se it recieving heavy fire from the droids. Many of the clones were pinned down, unable to move from cover because of the relentless droid attack.

Shinji smashed through the droids, causing much confusion amongst their ranks. He delivered the energy core, turned around, and began fighting. The droid fire was now concentrated on Shinji, leaving the clones plenty of opportunity to a: start fixing the AT-TE and b: start firing at the distracted enemy. Shinji fired rockets into the droids, causing large amounts of damage. He fired the wrist blasters simultaneously and Charged up the chest cannon. He fired the cannon, destroying at least a dozen droids at once. Suddenly several Tank Droids tore out of the jungle, followed by heavy fire. Shinji started blasting at the tanks.

"This is Red," said a voice over the EVA's communicator. "We've got the AT-TE fixed."

"Good," replied Shinji. Suddenly, one of the large blasts that were coming out of the fog hit the EVA in the chest. Shinji recoiled from the blow.

"Are you alright?" came Red's voice.

"Yeah," replied Shinji, "Just find out what's causing that fire." Moments later Red's voice Came over the communicator again.

"The fire's coming from turrets," said Red. "We're gonna go take them out." The AT-TE started moving. It's main cannon fired, and there was an explosion somewhere in the mist. "That's one down," said Red, "And scanners say just five more to go. The AT-TE kept moving towards the mist. Shinji destroyed a few more droids and then ran into the mist as well. He found a turret very soon, and ripped it right out of the ground. He tore the cannon part off, and hurled the rest of it at an oncoming Tank Droid. He searched around and found the next turret. It fired at him, but he dodged. He then fired several rockets at it. The turret exploded.'Alright!' thought Shinji. 'Three down, three to go! We can do this!' However, his cheerful attitude didn't stay long.

All of the noise had attracted several Acklay. They burst out of the jungle and began to attack. Unfortunately, they didn't bother the droids unless they happened to get in their way. They couldn't see or smell any meat on the droids, so they knew that they were no good to eat. However, those things running around in the white shells had proven delicious in the past... They began to attack the clones. One of the Acklay charged at Shinji. Shinji used the cannon that he had ripped off earlier like a baseball bat. He swung it at the creature's head, fracturing its skull. Two more Acklay charged towards him. Shinji used the cannon like a spear next, and impaled the creature on it. But before he could pull it out of the body, the second one reached him.

The creature jumped on top of the EVA and stabbed at its chest with its crab-like claws. Shinji couldn't move, as the Acklay had pinned down the EVA's arms and legs. The creature's first jab did nothing. The second dented the metal. And the third stabbed straight into the metal. And Shinji. Shinji looked down and saw his chest area bleeding. The Acklay hadn't hit any organs, but had torn through Shinji's armor and made a very long, deep scratch. The creature smelled the blood and it went into a frenzy. It bit and clawed at the EVA, trying to get at the potential meal inside. 'This is it,' thought Shinji, starting to grow dizzy from the blood loss. 'I'm going to die.' His life flashed before his eyes. As Shinji lay there, unable to move, he got a strange feeling. He felt the presence of someone. It felt like... Rei. His mind was filled with thoughts of the blue-haired girl. It felt suddenly like she was right there, holding onto him tightly like she had done on Coruscant. Then he remembered his promise. 'I'll be back Rei.' The words ran through his head over and over.

The EVA's hand shot out and grabbed the Acklay by the throat. "Sorry buddy," said Shinji. "I made a promise to Rei. And I intend to keep it." The Acklay screamed out in pain, and its legs began thrashing in the air. Shinji got up, still holding the creatures neck. The EVA's hand squeezed tighter and tighter. The Acklay kept trying to fight back. But it failed. The Acklay went limp, and Shinji dropped it. Shinji forgot about the cut in his chest, and began fighting as if nothing had happened. Several Acklay had been nearby, and had witnessed Shinji's attack. They fled in terror from the EVA. Shinji chased some of them down and made examples of them for all of the other Acklay to see. Soon the Acklay had all disappeared. The droids tried to make a 'tactical retreat' as well. The clones took advantage of this, and began firing heavily. By now, there was only one turret left. Shinji located it and destroyed it.

The clones gave a loud cheer. They had just had a major victory over the droid army. Shinji got out of the EVA, and the clones cheered louder. Shinji smiled. Then, he fainted.

888

About a week later, the 501st were rotated out of Felucia. Shinji was fine by now, but he retained a scar on his chest. When his skin had healed completely, the only evidence of the creature's attack was a long, thin line that ran from his left shoulder down to a few under his right arm. The EVA was still damaged, but it would be repaired soon enough. The 501st couldn't have been happier to be leaving Felucia. When they left, Ayla Secura personally saw them off. For some reason, The clones seemed to look at the ground when she was speaking to them. They were all wearing helmets, but Shinji could still see that they weren't looking directly at her. He couldn't figure out why, but he figured it probably wasn't important. Ayla Secura came to him last. She shook his hand and smiled.

"I told the Jedi Council about your performance on the battlefield last week," she said. "They said that they were impressed. Congratulations General Shinji." She had said it. Shinji had heard her say it. But he couldn't believe it.

"I'm sorry," said Shinji, "But, what did you just say?"

"The Council promoted you to general," she answered. "You are now the commander of the 501st." The clones heard her, and started cheering. Shinji couldn't believe it. Him? A general? He got into an LAAT, which took him up to the 501st's capitol ship. General. The word kept traveling through his mind. He couldn't believe it. He, Shinji Ikari, the boy who had followed Obi-Wan to Kamino and then had somehow ended up fighting on a desert-planet called Geonosis, was a general. Shinji somehow made his way to his room on the ship, still lost in thought. Maybe he would believe it tomorrow.

888

Rei was having a bad dream. She couldn't see anything, except for a yellow mist. Eventually she saw Shinji through the mist. He was in some kind of machine. It was some kind of robot. The Shinji/robot was running through some strange looking plants. Suddenly, a grotesque face appeared, and screeched loudly. Rei woke up, frightened. The creature she had seen was horrible. She looked around, and found the teddy-bear Shinji had given her on the floor. She picked it up and hugged it tight. She suddenly began to feel a lot better and in a few minutes, she was asleep.

Moments later, Shinji dropped the nightmare creature's dead body.

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Whoa! Shinji's a general now! And he's got the scar to prove it!

So, more EVA use, plus a strange, symbolism-filled scene with Rei. What more could you ask for(don't answer that)? I'll try to have the next chapter up in a day or two. Next time- Kashyyyk: no turning back!