The first sign of trouble was during a shift change. Jac and the other clones serving under Rtj-lyr had barely stumbled out of bed and gotten into uniform. They looked bright and alert, but they moved and spoke mechanically, they were not yet fully awake. They would liven up in a few minutes, certainly by the time they started working, but for now, looking competent would have to suffice.

Today, they had been assigned to work near the ship's engine, maintaining the equipment there, and replacing anything that was beyond repair. It was work that could technically be done with droids. But, whenever there was the chance, it was preferable to have living people look the stuff over. Droids tended to be thorough and almost never made mistakes, but they didn't tend to look for unexpected damage. If something wore out that they were not programmed to check, or if it was damaged in a way that their standard methods didn't detect, it could spell doom for the cruiser and all aboard.

Still, clones couldn't help but find the work demeaning. They were meant for combat, not cleaning detail. In fact, they tended to view it as a kind of punishment, and it often was. But that was no reason not to do their job to the best of their ability. They'd just complain about it amongst themselves.

Except Jac. Among the clones serving under Rtj-lyr, he had become the replacement for Pariah. Besides his tendency to associate with the deceased, Jac also typically had a different view on almost anything from the others. His experience caused him to measure situations more carefully, and to tactically consider all angles. The accepted method of handling a problem was not always his preferred one. And so, Jac tended to work alone. He found a spot away from the clones and did his job, avoiding contact with them as much as possible.

It was this aversion to his fellow clones that caused Jac to do other than what clones (and droids) normally did. Instead of starting at one end of the room and working his way to the other, he picked a spot somewhere in the middle. At first, he didn't notice anything too remarkable. There were some cables that were in severe need of being replaced, but that alone wasn't enough to raise any suspicions in his mind. Not even knowing that these were the power cables for the proximity alarm for the core.

In fact, he didn't think about that at all. Instead, he simply located a maintenance droid and dispatched it to fetch new cables. While he waited, Jac moved on to inspecting and maintaining other pieces of equipment. Then the damaged cables began to nag at him. This ship was well maintained in all other respects. The dreadful condition of the cables was inexplicable.

Jac went back for another look. A closer one this time. At first, he'd only casually examined them, enough to know it wasn't worth it to try and repair them. This time, he made a closer inspection. This examination revealed tampering, intentional damage to the cables.

That meant only one thing.

A less experienced clone might have gone to check if there were intruders to the core area, or called the guards near the core. But Jac knew better. When it came to sabotage, seconds counted. He didn't even pause to speak to the other clones in the room, but went directly to the emergency button and hit it, and a moment later was detailing his suspicions to the alarmed officer on the bridge.

The alarm and flashing emergency lights were then added to by a clone voice announcing over speakers that there were intruders on board, suspected to be somewhere between the engine room and the power core.

"Hey, what are you up to now?," one of the others asked accusingly "haven't you caused enough trouble for one life time?,"

"I haven't caused anything," Jac explained "come on. We've got an intruder on board,"

"Only intruder I see is you, calling yourself a clone,"

"I never called myself anything," Jac said evenly "people around me never needed my help doin' that,"

It was fortunate that clones were given to obeying orders, regardless of what they were or where they originated. A number of Jedi's lives had been saved by this, as they unknowingly gave orders which made no sense to the clones, to the point of them thinking they had been ordered to commit mass suicide. But, though they might be given to grumble amongst themselves about their orders, clones did not disobey or disregard them.

Trouble found them at the doors to the core area. A squad of droids had been standing guard there, having expected the arrival of clone troops from the start, and knowing that it wouldn't be long as soon as they heard the alarm. Droids might be dim bulbs, but they weren't entirely clueless. Just close.

"Blast them!," the droids opened fire as the clones took what scant cover the corridor offered.

"I thought you said an intruder!," yelled one clone "As in one!,"

"These aren't intruders, they're packing material!," Jac shouted back good-naturedly.

"What!?,"

"The intruder is inside the core area," Jac said "the droids are on the outside. So-,"

"Shut up, I get it,"

The clones had destroyed most of the droids by the time Rtj-lyr arrived with another squadron.

"You keep the droids busy," Rtj-lyr ordered them collectively "the intruder is mine,"

To this, the clones did not object. They knew it was likely that the intruder was whatever the opposite of a Jedi was. The only thing more terrifying than a Jedi was an enemy possessed of the same mysterious power they referred to as the Force. Clones would engage such an enemy, certainly, but if they could leave it to a Jedi, that was their preferred tactic.

Rtj-lyr cut his way through the droids, who were now appearing from other guard positions, drawn by the sounds of the fight. He didn't bother to destroy them, just to get past them. In his eagerness, he failed to take any kind of note on the nature of the intruder he was running to fight. Otherwise, he might have been less inclined to rush to battle.

For the intruder was not Grievous, or any Sith Lord, but a mere man in a suit of armor carrying a blaster. It was not even so fancy as the armor of the clones, but it looked like it did the job. Rtj-lyr could not see his opponent's face, but he didn't have to.

He was surprised by his own emotion on seeing his foe for the first time. It was instant, passionate loathing. He hated this person, even though he didn't know them. He despised what he saw, because it was a pure reflection of himself. Rtj-lyr did not shout for the saboteur to stop, but merely drew his light-saber and went on the attack.

Reg Olith anticipated his move, having seen the scaly face contort with undisguised rage. In fact, Olith had been uncertain that this was a Jedi until he saw the light-saber, the expression was so uncharacteristic of the breed. Olith dodged out of the way of Rtj-lyr's first strike with the light-saber, and brought his own weapon into play.

A blaster is more forgiving of a wild attack than is a light-saber, and Olith was more pleased than angry anyway. He had secretly hoped for a chance at a Jedi, confident in his own ability to defeat them.

Rtj-lyr blocked the shots with his light-saber, and his fury mounted as he found himself forced to go on the defensive instead of the offensive. In response to this feeling, he advanced on Olith, even as he continued blocking his adversary's attack. Olith, for his part, backed away rapidly.

It was during this strange dance that a blast bounced off Rtj-lyr's light-saber and found its way to the core. An emergency warning siren sounded, adding itself to the din of the intruder alarm. Steam poured from the damaged area, followed by a dangerous flare up of blue fire.

With some horror, Rtj-lyr realized that he had just done the saboteur's work for him. He hesitated for a moment, glancing uneasily at the intermittent flame. Olith took this opportunity to make his exit. He dashed from the area, and would have walked right into a pack of clones had their not still been droids left standing. As it was, he managed to slip past them, or most of them.

Jac noticed him, and knew at once that this was no Sith Lord. That leveled the playing field. Though the emergency siren was screaming, Jac had no way of knowing if the ship was well and truly doomed. He made a split-second decision to go after the intruder, lest they do more damage.

"Where the hell is he going?," one clone snarled angrily "the fight ain't over,"

Jac pursued Olith down several corridors, and realized that they were heading for a launch bay. He reported this via radio, recommending the area be sealed to prevent the intruder's escape. It was then that he learned the ship was not only doomed, but was lurching towards one of the other ships faster than the other could get out of the way. All hands were abandoning ship.

Reluctantly, The Clone broke off his pursuit and turned back to let his fellow troopers know. The loudspeaker near the core had been damaged in the firefight, so they didn't know that they were meant to be getting off the ship. They didn't know they were supposed to disengage the enemy.

Halfway back, Jac ran into Rtj-lyr, and tried to tell the Jedi that the ship was going to explode. The Jedi didn't let him get a word in edgewise, instead ordering him to follow to the launch bay. The Clone bent to the Jedi's will without protest, even as he knew that the intruder was already as good as gone, and they would both be killed if they didn't get off this tub.

When they entered the bay, they found that Olith had been lying in wait for Jac, and would surely have killed him, had the Jedi not been there. As it was, Olith fired his blaster, but the shot bounced off a carefully placed light-saber. The fight, which had begun near the core, continued.

There wasn't much for Jac to do, truth be known, save take cover and look for a clear shot. But Rtj-lyr and Olith moved around one another so fast that there wasn't one. Then the ship groaned and shook sickeningly. Ceiling supports came crashing down, and flames erupted in various places.

Jac was thrown to the floor as the great ship shuddered again, then its bow hit the other ship broadside with tremendous force. Jac was flung against a bulkhead. His vision swam, and he lost his grip on his rifle. Smoke filled the launch bay, he could hardly see.

Groping in the near darkness, Jac struggled back to his feet. He saw a still form nearby, and swiftly identified it as that of Rtj-lyr. He staggered over to the prone Jedi, the ship bucking beneath his feet. Rtj-lyr was unconscious. Olith was gone.

Jac lifted the Jedi, and pulling an arm around his shoulders so that he could more easily carry the dead weight. As swiftly as the pitching ship would allow, he made his way to a fighter. He put Rtj-lyr in the gunner's seat and took the pilot's for himself.

This'll be fun, he thought sarcastically.

The force shields which kept air inside the ship were beginning to flicker as their power faded. A single shot at the control panel brought them all the way down and Jac piloted the fighter off the ground and out of the launch bay, a task which was easier said than done as his exit bounced around. It was like threading a needle with thick thread and shaky hands.

But they made it out.

It was then that Jac discovered he had a new problem. Grievous, seeing that chaos reigned on the Republic ships, took his chance to come and destroy what remained of the fleet. Jac had managed to fire a single shot to get them out, but he couldn't hope to dodge fire and return it at the same time.

He was virtually defenseless inside the fighter.

"I was always told there'd be days like this," Jac muttered to himself, fighting the controls.

He was a trained pilot, but he had nothing of the skill that Jedi often showed. He could have used a little of that piloting skill about now, but he had to do without.

"Who's fighter is that?," Obi-Wan asked, noticing the stray fighter dangerously near the blazing ships.

"It's one of ours," was a report of a pilot nearer the craft "I dunno who it is. Looks like the gunner's dead, it's not shooting back,"

Obi-Wan's response to this was to lend the unfortunate fighter some defense with himself and another fighter closing on either side of the defenseless one, both drawing fire and returning it. As soon as he was able, the pilot identified himself. It turned out that his so-called "gunner" was not dead, merely unconscious.

"Get yourself out of this mess," Obi-Wan instructed "you can't do any good out here,"

"Roger that, General," was the relieved sounding reply.

The Republic forces had managed to back Grievous down, if only barely. A fresh fleet of ships had arrived at just the right time. Though Grievous didn't know it, Olith had escaped with his life.

On awakening, Rtj-lyr received a report on what had happened, and what his clone had done, but not by Jac. Obi-Wan told him what had happened. Jac had also given a report to Obi-Wan, detailing what had happened on the ship. While Jac did not intentionally incriminate Rtj-lyr, he also did not try to hide his superior's actions. On being pressed, he also gave a report on what had happened in the caves.

"You're being relieved of command, pending investigation by the council," Obi-Wan said "your troops have already been reassigned. A supply ship will be arriving shortly. You'll be on it when it leaves,"

"You can't pull me out of this war!," Rtj-lyr shouted "you need me!,"

"Not when you endanger the lives of others because of your senseless obsession," Obi-Wan returned "we do not need generals who drive their troops to death for no reason,"

Rtj-lyr did not get on the supply ship. Instead, he managed to steal a fighter and slip away virtually unnoticed. He had a score to settle with Olith, the cause of his disgrace. And, to a lesser extent, with the clone who had betrayed him by reporting his actions to Obi-Wan Kenobi.

The Clone could wait. Right now, Rtj-lyr wanted to get his hands on Reg Olith.