—
Hell. That's a good word to describe what life was like back in those early days of the legion.
What started out as a small battalion of clones at the first battle of Geonosis turned into a hodgepodge of clones, convicts who chose to fight to either end their sentence or to avoid one all together, and then civilians like myself, who'd volunteered for various reasons. And most of us 'civvies were usually farmers or craftsmen of some trade, who'd never even held a blaster in their life.
Our equipment was terrible, our supplies and weapons were mostly whatever anyone brought with them, and what was supplied to us was mostly outdated pre war stuff. And the pay…don't even get me started. You were lucky enough to even get any pay most of the time.
Then there was the leader of the legion, the human Jedi Ravoc Calo. Never had there been a more incompetent or temperamental leader of a military force. His only tactics were to directly attack the enemy, regardless of loss of life. And if and when he failed, which he did a lot, he always blamed his subordinates and his own for it and never took blame! This caused a great anger amongst us in the legion, which had it not been for Ravoc getting killed in battle, it would have turned to a mutiny.
All of this led to a mixture of anger and dissent that made the legion one big bomb that was ready to explode. But on the day that it looked like the fuse had been lit, the change walked in and snuffed it out… SSgt. Jas Hein, a human male native to Coruscant, assigned to D platoon, 369th legion, Grand Army of the Republic.
—
The triangular dark grey and green Jedi starfighter exited hyperspace in a flash, disconnecting from its hyperspace ring and then proceeding on. As Jake piloted his fighter, he observed the fleet ahead of him that he was to take command of.
From what he could see, the fleet consisted of three venator-class star destroyers, six acclamator-class assault cruisers, and around eighteen assorted ships ranging from light corvettes and cruisers to destroyers and medium frigates. The assorted ships all bore the republic insignia, and some even had several signs that they'd been in engagements before, but many also looked somewhat poorly equipped and maintained.
That would be something for him to find out about, and he was about to do just that, as he began to land his fighter in his new flagship, the venator-class star destroyer Invincible. Once he landed on the flagship, he made his way to the command bridge. As soon as he reached the bridge, one of the crewmen noticed him.
"Attention, General on deck!" the crewman announced. All of the crewmen immediately respectfully snapped up to attention. Jake looked around for a moment inspecting the crew, and folded his hands behind his back.
"As you were" Jake ordered with a nod, and the crew went back to their duties. Jake then proceeded to the front of the bridge, where a human officer was waiting for him.
"Admiral Lee, I presume?" Jake said. The officer, dressed in the standard gray uniform of the republic navy with his hands folded behind his back, nodded.
"Yes sir, General Delarus" the admiral replied, giving the new General a salute. Takyda Lee was fairly young for an Admiral, given command over the relatively small navy that was a part of the 369th. While he had only been in small engagements so far in the war, he had a very good record from the Republic academies on Carida and Coruscant, and he was already well respected by those whom he commanded. He was much shorter than General Delarus, standing at five feet nine inches tall with a very good muscular build for his size, definitely fit for a soldier. His short jet black hair was in somewhat of a round style, and he had a pair of dark brown eyes that helped make his firm, stoic gaze.
"Pleasure to meet you Admiral, your record speaks promise. I look forward to serving with you" Jake complimented.
"And I you, General. The Jedi council says you have great potential" Lee replied. The two then turned and faced the bridge's main viewport.
"And you may trust I have no intention of disproving their judgment in that matter. Now tell me Admiral, what am I taking command of here?" Jake asked. Lee briefly glanced at Jake, and then back to the viewport.
"Chaos, sir" Lee simply replied, knowing no better and more honest words to describe their situation. Jake glanced thoughtfully at Lee, and then back to the viewport.
"I see. What is the cause of this…chaos?" Jake asked inquisitively. The admiral slightly sighed.
"Many things I'm afraid, sir" Lee began, as he turned from the viewport and slowly started walking across the bridge deck, Jake following his stride next to him. "Our forces are in disarray. We are…ill equipped, underfunded and quite frankly sir…barely trained. And there seems to be a divide between the clones and volunteers".
"Our legion consists of nearly all loyalist volunteers, hence why they are so undertrained" Lee continued, as the two of them reached the large holographic table at the back of the bridge.
"And our clone forces?" Jake asked.
"We have ten thousand combat capable clone soldiers assigned to this legion, bringing our total ground troop count to roughly thirty thousand" Lee replied. "The clones are already battle hardened, seeing as how they were one of the first units sent to the frontlines at the start of the war".
"And who is the acting ground commander for this legion?" Jake asked.
"That responsibility falls onto both Captains Chance and Kellharra. Chance is the commander of the clone forces, and Kellharra is the commander of the volunteers section. You'll find them both to be incredibly stubborn, but also undoubtedly good soldiers".
"And what of our naval forces?" Jake asked.
"We currently have twenty seven ships in total. Three star destroyers, six supportering assault ships, ten medium frigates, and eight light cruisers of varying classes." Lee replied.
"And their status?" Jake asked.
"Roughly the same as our ground forces, sir. However, the divide between clone and volunteer in our navy seems to only go so far as friendly competition among each other, unlike the ground forces" Lee replied.
"I see," Jake said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Well admiral, I commend you for what you've done so far. Lesser officers may have crumbled under the circumstances you've been given".
"Your praise is greatly appreciated, General Delarus" Lee replied with a grateful nod.
"If you don't mind, I'd like to personally inspect the ground forces now," Jake said. The Admiral nodded.
"There is a gunship in the main hangar ready to take you to the surface," Lee replied. Jake nodded.
"Thank you, Admiral" Jake said, as he started towards the hoverlift. "Have the fleet ready to move tomorrow, we'll be leaving as soon as I help the situation on the surface get resolved".
"At once, General," Lee replied. As soon as the general was off the bridge, the admiral turned to a nearby officer. "Lieutenant, alert all ships to be ready to move as soon as o-eight hundred hours".
"Right away Admiral" the officer replied, and then went to a nearby console, as the admiral folded his hands behind his back, and strolled back to the bridge's main viewport.
This new Jedi general of theirs was a hard one to read, and admiral Lee was usually good at reading people. The general seemed to care about his new forces, unlike their previous Jedi commander who didn't really give a damn about them, but there was something odd about general Delarus. In the way he carried himself, and the way he seemed to think, there was a sense of battle experience about him. And to the admiral's knowledge, no Jedi before the war had such experience; yet the general seemed to carry the experience of more than a few conflicts, a most peculiar thought indeed. Whatever the case was, admiral Lee could only hope that general Delarus could help turn this mess of a military force into something respectful.
—
"GET DOWN" the voice of a commander clone yelled,just as an artillery shell landed nearby and exploded, sending mud in all directions, the commander instinctively covering the face of his helmet with his arm as he got some on him. He lowered his arm when the mud settled, and watched the scene unfold before him.
Hellacious. That was a good word to describe the mess that he and his men found themselves in. This was the second time they'd attempted to take the last separatist holdout on Sagar, but to no avail. Across the battlefield, burned craters from artillery shells and bodies of clone soldiers were scattered everywhere. Red and blue lasers shot back and forth across the sky. A clone with the blue markings of a sergeant scurried over and crouched down beside the commander, who was knelt down behind a fallen tree.
"Captain, the enemy defenses are too strong. We don't have enough manpower to break through" the sergeant reported urgently, as another artillery shell exploded nearby, causing the sergeant to instinctively duck. The unfazed, already veteran Captain Chance scowled under his helmet.
"Where the hell is Kellharra!?" he yelled. "He should be reinforcing this attack!".
"I don't know sir. No one's heard a word from him since before the assault" the sergeant replied, slightly concerned at his Captain's anger. Chance let out an agitated sigh.
"Of kriffing course" he growled, and then regained some composure. "Tell the men to gather the wounded, and fall back to camp".
"Right away Captain" the Sergeant replied with a nod, and then hurried off, careful to avoid any stray blaster or artillery fire. Chance let out an angry grunt.
This was ridiculous, Kellharra had disappeared…again! Chance would surely have some strong words for him the next time he saw him. And to make matters worse, they were to be expecting their new Jedi Commander at any time, as if they didn't have enough hell to deal with already. Their last Jedi commander had all but used them for cannon fodder. And if they failed an objective, which they regrettably did quite a bit, he would blame them and not his own idiotic tactics.
Chance watched from his cover as the last of the visible wounded soldiers were recovered and taken off the battlefield. Once the last of his men were leaving the field, Chance carefully slipped away and started back towards their camp. Right now, his blood was boiling, not just because the attack had failed…again, but also because of the possibility that they might have succeeded if Kellharra had brought his troops like he was supposed to.
Chance didn't know where Kellharra was, or if he was even still alive, not that he cared right now. But what he did know was that he would find him one way or another. If he was dead, Chance would spit on his corpse and leave it to rot. And if he wasn't, he'd get the ever living hell beaten out of him…and wish he was.
—
Several hours had passed since the second failed attack, and it was now dusk on this part of Sagar, the cloudy sky being a nice peaceful combination of orange and purple, with several stars already being visible. But the peacefulness in the sky did not mirror the feeling on the ground.
Chance stood at the holographic table in the makeshift command center in the republic camp, surveying their current situation, his blood still boiling after the events of the day.
"What's the casualty report?" Chance asked the sergeant across from him.
"Twenty two dead, eighteen wounded, and twenty unaccounted for, sir" the sergeant replied. A scowl fell upon Chance's current uncovered face. He then let out a sigh.
"Damn it to hell. We'll let the men have some rest, and attack again tomorrow at O'eleven hundred. Send out two search patrols to look for the missing troops. I want them back in three hours, we don't need to lose anyone else" Chance said. The sergeant nodded, and then headed off to attend to other matters within the camp. Chance picked up his helmet off the table, carrying it between his right arm and side of his chest, and headed out.
Their camp was situated in a large, very thick boreal forest, the same one as the enemy base less than three miles away. The Republic camp consisted of mostly makeshift tents and shelters, a primitive sight compared to the normal prefabricated structures most republic armies used.
The 'command center', merely consisted of a holographic table under a makeshift canopy, and Chance stepped out from under it onto the muddy ground. Over the last two days, there had been a very heavy rainstorm that had only finally moved on that very morning, leaving the entire surrounding area muddy and miserable. A perfect reflection of how the soldiers of the 369th felt right now. Miserable, tired, and very angry at both the enemy and each other. And that anger was about to boil over.
As Chance turned the corner of a tent at the center of camp, he spotted the very person he'd hoped not to. Standing nearby conversing with a rodian volunteer, was a tall, well-built ebony skinned man…
"KELLHARRA!".
Kellharra turned around to find an angry Chance advancing towards him, and a scowl fell upon his own face.
"What do you want now, Chance?" Kellharra asked disdainfully. Chances teeth grit together.
"WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU TODAY!?" Chance roared, as he stopped right in front of Kellharra.
"We ran into enemy forces while we were trying to flank the main target," Kellharra replied shortly.
"You weren't even supposed to be flanking them, you were supposed to be aiding us in the assault!" Chance replied angrily.
"Yeah? Well I saw a better opportunity, so I took it" Kellharra replied. By now several onlookers, both clone and volunteer, were watching the ever hotly growing exchange between the two commanders.
"You were supposed to be following orders! Do you even know how many men, how many of my brothers I lost!?" Chance growled. Kellharra snorted.
"Well…maybe if you had led them better, more of them would be alive," he replied hotly. And that caused a snap.
In one quick move Chance had let his helmet drop down to his hand and swung it, hitting Kellharra right in the left side of his jaw and sending him sprawling to the muddy ground. Kellharra shook off his momentary daze, and touched the long thin bleeding gash now visible on his jaw, it having been caused by the fin on the top of Chance's helmet.
Kellharra looked at the blood on his fingers, and then clenched his fist and grit his teeth. Quickly he sprang up and lunged at Chance, managing to tackle him and send the two of them rolling into the muddy ground. Punches were thrown by both combatants, each of them fighting with great fury, as Kellharra managed to get on top of Chance and start waylaying him.
A clone who had been watching the ordeal, ran up and grabbed Kellharra and threw him off into the mud, only to get tackled by a random volunteer. And after several moments, the entire center of the camp was engulfed in a massive brawl, clone versus volunteer.
And at the center of this brawl was still Kellharra and Chance, who were both still viciously beating each other. Chance reached up and grabbed Kellharra, and, using his military training, landed several well placed hits on Kellharra's chest and head, sending him to the ground.
As Kellharra tried to recover, his survival instincts kicked in. He reached to his right thigh, and drew a survival knife, and lunged at Chance. But the hits he had received made him slower than normal, and made it easy enough for Chance to grab both his wrists and hold him back.
But as they fought each other, each trying to gain an upper hand on the other, they suddenly felt both of them get pushed away, and get sent onto the muddy ground. Each looked up in stunned amazement, to see every other pair of soldiers fighting around them get separated by some invisible force.
When all of the soldiers recovered, they looked around in disbelief, and even Chance and Kellharra were unsure of what had just happened. Then, a snap hiss drew all of their attention, and the mud covered soldiers turned to see a large man in silver metal battle armor, with a green bladed lightsaber humming brightly at his side in his right hand. After their attention was all on him, the Jedi deactivated his lightsaber and placed it on his utility belt. He folded his arms behind his back and looked around at the scene before him, a cross look of dissatisfaction on his face.
"I am General Jake Delarus, the new commander of your legion" he began, as the soldiers all listened with rapt attention. "I have been told of your history in this war thus far, and what you've had to endure. It takes valiant and resilient warriors to endure the hardships you all have. I am not like your last Jedi commander, for I value your lives far more than he ever did. And seeing how things are, I do promise changes for the better. And mark my words…there will be changes".
"Starting with this" Jake continued, gesturing with his arms towards all the soldiers gathered around. "This rivalry between clone and volunteer will end. All of you are just like me…a soldier, just trying to live to the end of a war. I do not blame anyone here for following the examples set by your leaders, as that is what they are for. And because of that, none of you here will be held accountable for this mess today. But make no mistake…if this does happen again, there will be no rank or level of power or prestige that will protect you".
"Is this understood?" Jake asked, and was met with many heads nodding in agreement, some hesitant, but others not. "Good. Now get yourselves cleaned up, and get some rest. For we have a battle to win".
As the onlooking soldiers dispersed, Jake walked over to the two mud covered captains, who were both slowly getting up off the ground.
"Captain Chance, Captain Kellharra, I presume?" Jake asked. The two men slowly nodded. Jake looked to Kellharra.
"Put that knife away, and both of you come with me" Jake said tersely, and then headed for the command center. Chance picked up his mud covered helmet and followed the general only a few paces behind him, and Kellharra, after slowly brushing the sides of his knife blade on the leg of his pants, begrudgingly followed the other two as he sheathed his knife. The three gathered around the holographic table, Jake on one side and the two Captains on the opposite.
"I'm not impressed in the slightest by that brawl out there. As I said, commanders are to lead by example, and that was a very bad one. Explain yourselves" Jake said. The two commanders were silent, unsure what to say to their new commander.
"I see. Well then soldiers, allow me to explain how this will go; I will let today go for the time being, you two will not be stripped of rank, and will continue to command your respective divisions. But if I am given any reason to suspect that either one or both of you must be replaced, I will do so without hesitation. Is that understood?" Jake asked sternly.
"Yes sir," Chance replied immediately.
"Yes sir," Kellharra replied hesitantly.
"Good. Now will you two be so kind as to debrief me on our situation here?" Jake asked, as he placed his palms on the holographic table and leaned forward on it. Chance pressed several buttons, and the display came to life.
"The last separatist position is less than three miles from here. They've managed to fortify themselves, and we estimate they have three to five artillery guns in place, and several repeating blaster nests scattered around their perimeter" Chance said.
"Normally, we would've had an orbital bombardment wiped them out, but our recon teams found the enemy is less than two hundred yards away from a populated town. With lasers sometimes being highly inaccurate, it's too dangerous for us to risk blowing them off the map" Kellharra continued.
"We've already assaulted them head on twice, and gotten beaten back both times" Chance said. "Now we're out of ideas".
"Hmm" Jake hummed in reply, as he continued to study the holographic map of the area. "What's the status of our support artillery?".
"Nonexistent, sir" Kellharra stated bluntly. Jake looked at the captain puzzled, and then looked at Chance.
"Tanks?" Jake asked.
"Five in total, but only three are operational right now," Chance replied.
Jake let out a sigh, this was going to be more complicated than even he thought. He placed his hand thoughtfully on his chin, and continued studying the holo-map for several moments. Chance and Kellharra remained silent, waiting for their new commanders first battle orders.
"Well then. Given our few resources, we'll have to get creative" Jake finally said.
"What do you have in mind sir?" Chance asked.
"Each of you will gather twenty of your best men. Along with two of the tanks, we'll attack them on the eastern flank" Jake replied.
"Attack them with only fourty men, that's suicidal!" Kellharra exclaimed. Jake held an arm up to Kellharra.
"Easy captain," Jake said calmly. "Our attack will only be a diversion. We'll attack at that flank, and make them believe we're the main attack. Once we have their attention,the main group led by Captain Chance will attack directly at their center, and we'll be able to smash through their lines".
"Sounds risky, sir" Chance said cautiously.
"Every battle plan is, Captain. And yes, this one is no different, seeing as how it relies on us drawing their attention enough, and the main force being able to get through their lines quickly enough" Jake replied.
"When do you want this attack to take place?" Chance asked.
"Just after dark…tonight. The cover of darkness along with the forest will help hide us until we're ready to make ourselves known" Jake replied. Chance nodded.
"Very well sir" Chance said.
"Good. Now if the plan is clear, Captain Chance, get yourself cleaned up and get your men ready. Captain Kellharra…stay here" Jake ordered. Chance nodded, and turned and left the command center, while Kellharra remained. A moment of still silence passed as the two men eyed each other down.
"How concerned do I need to be about you Captain?" Jake asked. Kellharra's brow furrowed.
"Excuse me sir?" Kellharra asked back.
"I find that I have to be at least somewhat concerned when one of my commanding officers tries to gut his fellow officer during a brawl. I just want to know how concerned I might need to be" Jake replied crossly, as he folded his arms over his chestplate. Kellharra scowled
"With all due respect, General, you don't know a damn thing about me, or any of us" he spat back, and started to storm off.
"Tavdari Kellharra".
Kellharra stopped in his tracks. No one, not even the last Jedi commander knew his first name. He was always Kellharra to everyone in the legion, and he wanted to keep it that way.
"Born twenty four years ago on Coruscant. Your father was a successful civil engineer, and your mother a popular holonet actress. Parents died when you were fourteen, leaving you and two younger siblings orphaned" Jake continued.
Kellharra slowly turned to Jake, and failed to hide a look of shock on his face; while Jake bore a stoic, yet calmer expression on his face. 'How the hell does he know all that?' Kellharra thought to himself in semi-bewilderment. And though he'd never admit it, this man was starting to scare him in a way.
"You spent the next three years on the streets of Coruscant, taking care of your siblings by working an odd job here and there. And then you got involved with a crew that talked you into helping them rob a bank, and made empty promises of riches to a struggling kid who had what probably felt like the weight of the galaxy on his shoulders".
"The only problem was the job went sideways, and you all got caught. While the older guys started doing time, you got offered a choice between prison or the military, in which you wisely chose the latter. Then in the Republic army, you saved every bit of money you could, and got your siblings a better life than what you'd been given. And once the war broke out, you became one of several 'convicts' to be assigned to this legion…and here we are".
Silence once again passed between the two; Jake waiting for a response, and Kellharra trying to come up with one.
"Still think that I don't know a damn thing about you, Captain?" Jake stoically asked after a few moments. Kellharra slowly started to hide his shock.
"How do you know all that?" he asked, doing his best to hide the quiver in his voice with anger.
"The Republic usually keeps good records on its officers, Captain" Jake replied, as he moved a nearby chair over and sat down. "I read your file on the gunship ride here from the Invincible. Plus, I happen to be a fast reader".
"I see…and you just so happen to read up on me? Bet you didn't even glance at Chances file" Kellharra accused hotly, letting his anger come back. A thoughtful look appeared on Jake's face.
"You mean CT-117? One of the very few regular clones to ever be personally trained by the infamous Kal Skirata. You mean the first ever clone to achieve the rank of Captain, a rank that he first made use of during the battle of Geonosis?" Jake replied.
'Okay what the hell? This guy's starting to sound like a protocol droid with the way he's talking,' Kellharra thought to himself, though this time, he hid his surprise better.
"I care about my officers, Captain. I care about my soldiers in general. But I have to know, and be able to trust the commanders that will lead my soldiers into battle. And I need that trust to be returned." Jake said. Kellharra was silent, as he thought and tried to figure out this Jedi General.
"I will not act like I know you Captain Kellharra…because I don't; and the same goes for Captain Chance. Just because I read information on a datapad, doesn't mean I know what you men are like, how you think, or how whatever any of you have been through affects you; and the same applies to me. I hope we will be able to come to trust each other, Captain. You are dismissed" Jake said. Kellharra said nothing, and slowly walked away, his mind filled with a lot to think about.
Jake let out a deep sigh. 'Why have I suddenly found myself dealing with a bunch of hotheads recently?' he thought to himself, even allowing himself a small, amused snort at the thought.
He stood up from his chair and decided to continue his inspection of the camp, something he was doing until he was interrupted by the brawl. Tonight he would see what these downtrodden soldiers had in them.
—
A few hours later, under the cover of darkness, the two large AT-TE tanks slowly traversed through the large forest in a single file formation.
"All tanks, hold position" Jake said into his wrist comm. Hearing the order from their commander, the tanks obediently came to a stop. Jake changed the channel on his comm.
"Captain Kellharra, we'll dismount here. Take your men and cover the left flank" he said into his comm.
"Yes sir" Kellharra replied over the comm.
"Alright men" Jake said, as he turned off his comm. "Dismount and take positions on our right".
The twenty troops that filled the tank, half of them volunteers and the other half clones, all stood up and grabbed their equipment. Jake reached over and pressed a button, which opened a part of the tank, and let down a set of boarding stairs.
Skipping the stairs, Jake leapt down onto the muddy ground as he was the first one out, his boots landing in the squishy, but thickening mud. He looked behind him to see a now bandaged, and slightly bruised Kellharra dismounting with his troops from their tank, and then quickly spread out to their left side.
His eyes turned back to their surroundings. Large coniferous trees surrounded them and blocked most of the moonlight, making the forest very dark. And there was an eerie quiet about it, with only the occasional breeze or the sound of some kind of small creature filling the still damp air. He took a deep, calming breath, for in a few minutes this quiet would be replaced with the sounds of battle and death.
"Nine-Two, take position ten yards to the right. One-O'Seven, take position fifteen yards to the left. All tanks hold fire until I order"Jake said into his wrist comm.
As soon as their boarding stairs retracted back up, the tanks obeyed their commander and began taking their respective positions. Jake turned to Kellharra, who had come up to his side.
"We'll keep our troops about thirty yards ahead of the tanks" Jake said, resting his hands on his belt for a moment. "That should put us within four hundred and fifty yards or so from the separatist's position".
"You're sure this'll work, General?" Kellharra asked, an eyebrow raised. Jake looked away for a moment thoughtfully, and then back to the captain.
"Only one way to find out Captain" he replied, as he gave Kellharra a pat on his shoulder pauldron, and then started towards their front line.
"When they're infantry fire on us, have your men throw everything they've got at them" Jake said, as he kept walking. "We've got to put on a convincing performance".
Kellharra watched in somewhat hidden surprise, as this new General made his way to the front of their line. "Calo never took to the front, I wonder if that man even came anywhere near the front of a battle" he thought to himself. Checking his blaster rifle, Kellharra headed over to his troops to await for the approaching battle to begin.
Jake looked to his troops, watching as they formed a defensive line, taking cover behind large trees or rocks, or whatever they could. Seeing that his troops were ready, he raised his wrist comm to his face.
"Nine-Two, One-O'Seven…fire at will".
A few seconds after the order came through, the two AT-TE tanks adjusted their main cannons, and fired shells almost simultaneously. The shells struck the ground in the distance, illuminating where they'd made impact.
But after consistent shelling for about three minutes, several red energy blasts were fired back at them, striking the ground and nearby trees around them, one blast even managing to wound two soldiers, who were quickly pulled to safety by their comrades.
"All tanks fall back forty yards to the rear!" Jake ordered. The tanks obeyed, and continued firing as they slowly backed up. The enemy counter fire stopped however, signaling one thing.
Jake moved behind a nearby rock, and looked off in the darkness towards the enemy positions. Because of the eerie quiet that permeated the air, one could faintly hear the sound of battle droids slowly marching towards them. And because of this, he drew his lightsaber to his hand…this was it.
Suddenly red laser bolts began zipping towards them, striking two clones and two volunteers, killing them instantly and causing them to slump to the ground. The laser bolts grew in great ferocity, striking all around them, and barely highlighting the silhouettes of the machines from which they originated.
"RETURN FIRE…RETURN FIRE!" yelled the voice of Kellharra, as he fired his DC-15C blaster rifle, launching blue energy bolts towards their enemy.
The soldiers quickly joined their commander, as a mixture of blue energy bolts from the clones weapons, and red bolts from some of the volunteers' weapons were zipped towards the battle droids, downing a few B1's and B2's. But the enemy continued pushing forward, a mixture of B1's and B2 super battle droids leading the way.
As the separatists moved closer and closer to the defensive line the Hellfighters had formed, Kellharra looked for their Jedi commander. He had been at the front of their line at the start of this battle, but now was nowhere to be seen.
The separatists pushed further and further, downing more republic soldiers the closer they got to the defensive line, and just as Kellharra started to wonder where General Delarus was and how he had possibly abandoned them…he found him.
As a B2 super battle droid passed a large rock while firing its built in wrist blaster, a beam of emerald green energy suddenly sprang to life and was slashed down the droid's center, splitting it in half. Jake then quickly stood up, and effortlessly sliced through several nearby B1's.
Finished with those, the new General turned and looked to his soldiers, half expecting them to have begun breaking from the pressure of the separatists counter attack. But to his pleasant surprise, not a single soldier had begun to run or give any kind of ground to the enemy at all.
Satisfied, he looked to the advancing enemy. There was a mixture of B1 and B2's still advancing on them; but they were weaker than he had previously expected, and now he would make them pay for it.
"Forward men!" Jake called, gesturing forward with his lightsaber. "Your victory is at hand, now take it!"
And with that, he valiantly dashed forward towards the enemy. His troops, inspired by this new form of leadership, one by one began following the general, cutting down any droids that lay in their path.
But as they advanced towards the separatist base, a torrent of red laser bolt's were suddenly hurled towards them, striking three men in front of General Delarus and leaving bright glowing holes in their chests, as their now lifeless bodies quickly fell forward into the muddy ground.
Reacting quickly, Jake and his troops quickly headed to whatever nearby cover they could find, as red laser bolts zipped all around them furiously. Jake, having gotten behind a large nearby tree, cautiously peered around it, and spotted a repeating blaster turret that was setup in a dugout in front of them. Thinking quickly, he turned on his wrist comm and brought it up to his face.
"Nine-Two, advance and take out a turret nest. Fire at point one-one!".
Nine-Two, having moved up alongside One-O'Seven with the infantry, adjusted its main turret and fired a shell towards the dugout. The shell struck true, and the dugout exploded into flames.
"Good shot, Nine-Two" Jake complimented, then switched the channel. "Captain Chance, we have their attention-".
Suddenly a large red laser shell went flying overhead, striking Nine-Two in the forward leg and sending it crashing forward into the mud. What followed was a hail of red laser bolts, as many more battle droids began another counterattack on the Republic soldiers' advance.
"COMMENCE YOUR ATTACK, I REPEAT, COMMENCE YOUR ATTACK!".
By now the sound of blaster fire and exploding shells had become so loud, that Jake couldn't even hear the affirmative from Chance.
Jake then quickly dashed from his cover, and blocked several blaster bolts as he made it over to Kellharra, who was taking cover behind a nearby rock. Channeling his basic knowledge of defensive form III Soresu, Jake assumed a defensive stance in the line of fire.
"This is as good a place as any to make a stand" Jake called to Kellharra.
"Yeah, but how long can we?" Kellharra yelled back, as he fired his blaster rifle several times, downing two B1's.
"As long as we must, Captain" Jake replied fervently, as he deflected one blaster bolt after another.
Several loud cracking sounds drew both their attention, and they both looked to see a separatist AAT making its way towards them, pushing down a few small trees that lay in its way as it did so.
"We should retreat!" Kellharra cried. Jake's brow furrowed.
"Not today!" he yelled back, and then charged towards the tank. Kellharra watched, as the Jedi moved swiftly and deflected several stray blaster bolts that may have struck him.
He then acrobatically leapt onto the advancing separatist tank, and swiped his lightsaber blade through the tanks main cannon, cutting the barrel in half. Next, he plunged his saber directly into the tank and began moving up towards the turret, cutting through the tank as he did so, and causing its hover generators to give out, which made the tank drop into the ground and slide to a stop.
Just as he was about to reach the top of the turret, he retracted his saber and then force leaped over the top of the turret, cutting down the tank commander droid who'd popped out of the hatch as he did so, and landed behind the tank.
As he briefly surveyed the now inoperable tank, he looked to see two more identical tanks rapidly approaching the republic position. And so, with a raise of his free arm, the republic soldiers watched in amazement as the disabled tank seemed to be effortlessly lifted up off the ground.
And with a throw of the generals arm, the tank flew through the air and crashed violently into one of the advancing tanks, crashing and crunching up its hull, leaving it only a destroyed heap of scrap.
The second tank, having stopped only for a moment when it's fellow tank had suddenly been violently destroyed, continued its advance to possibly succeed where it's previous counterparts had failed. But just as it was about to unleash everything it had on the Jedi knight that stood defiantly in its path with his blade raised, a blue energy shell suddenly struck its center, causing an explosion that sent its whole turret flying off to the side and leaving the rest of it a burning husk.
Jake looked to his lines far left, and watched as the third of the legions' tanks joined their remaining forces, accompanied by several dozen clone and volunteer soldiers being led by Captain Chance.
"We're ready for the attack General" Chance said, as he joined the general, a DC-15C blaster rifle in his hands.
"Nice of you to finally join us, Chance" Kellharra remarked offhandedly. The clone commander's helmet hid an annoyed scowl.
"This is no time for any of that," Jake replied sharply. "Now let's finish this".
Jake then stepped forward, and after extinguishing his lightsaber, raised both of his arms up towards the last destroyed tank. The tank began to rise up off the ground, and after little visual considerable effort from Jake, the burning wreck flew off towards the separatist base, crashing violently into one of the artillery cannons that guarded the base and caused a considerable explosion that left a large gap in the base's perimeter wall.
"Let's go, NOW!" Jake roared as he reignited his lightsaber, and then started towards the separatist base. After a moment of awe, Chance signaled with his hand forward to his men and started after the general, Kellharra promptly doing the same…
—
Led by both their Jedi general and commanding captains, the republic soldiers of the 369th legion had valiantly charged forth to the last separatist base, enduring the ensuing blaster and artillery fire that its defenders had tried in vain to use to repel the attackers.
Now, with the base seized and the last of the battle droids destroyed, General Delarus had ordered that the casualties be immediately taken care of, and the makeshift camp they had been using be swiftly packed up. And by the time the sun had begun to rise where the camp had once been, the republic troops were gone and already back to their fleet in orbit of Sagar…awaiting the next orders of their new commander.
"What's the final casualty report?" Chance asked. The male medical officer in front of him looked down to the datapad in his hands.
"Thankfully better than the last engagement, Captain," he replied. "Final casualties were thirteen dead, and twenty eight wounded".
"And the status of the wounded?".
"Only twelve suffered any kind of severe injuries. But even then, they should make a full recovery just like the others" the medical officer replied.
"Very good, carry on then" Chance replied. The medical officer nodded and went back to his duties, as Chance left the medical bay.
"Attention, all personnel prepare for jump to lightspeed. Repeat, all personnel prepare for jump to lightspeed. Jump is in thirty minutes, I repeat, jump is in thirty minutes" a voice called over the Invincibles intercom.No sooner had the intercom gone off, when Captain Chance's wrist comm started going off.
"This is Captain Chance," he answered.
"General Delarus wishes to speak with you on the command bridge, Captain" a voice stated.
"Very well, I'll be up there at once. Chance out" Chance replied, and turned off his comm. And with his helmet under his arm, he made his way through the familiar barren halls of the Invincible to the command bridge.
When he entered the back half of the bridge, he noticed Kellharra at the holographic table, with his back turned. Having no intention of interacting with him, Chance just casually walked past him to the rest of the bridge, missing the brief side eyed glare from Kellharra.
When he entered the front half of the bridge, he saw the crewmen milling about and working at their stations like normal. Admiral Lee, a person who Chance actually respected, was over nearby with another officer helping prep the fleet for their lightspeed jump.
And standing at the far end of the bridge, with his hands clasped behind his back as he looked out of the main viewport, was General Delarus. Taking a deep breath, Chance made his way over to him.
"You wanted to see me sir?" Chance said, as he stood only a couple of feet behind the general.
"Yes Captain, I did" Jake replied, as he slowly turned to Chance, a pensive expression on his face. "I have a special task for you and your clones".
"My men are up for it sir" Chance replied stoutly. "What's the task?".
"I want to have full confidence that every soldier in this legion is battle ready" Jake began. "However upon my further inspection, I've found that many of these volunteers have never seen combat, and those who have are few in comparison. Therefore, I request that you lead your clone brothers as drill instructors to ready these men for combat".
Chance's expression showed slight concern and confusion. "Sir with all due respect, my men weren't trained as instructors, just as combat soldiers. Do you really feel it a wise decision to put them in that role?".
"I do, Captain. Because even the limited amount of training you and your men have endured is far more than many of these volunteers have. If we can only instill in these soldiers the very basics of a soldier's training, it will be a good start" Jake replied. Chance still had a look of doubt for a moment, but then quickly sobered and nodded affirmatively.
"Very well sir" he replied stoutly. "When do we begin training?".
"Once we reach Carida, which is where we're heading to now. We have just three weeks to train and prepare, and then we'll be back on the frontlines" Jake replied.
"Then I'll begin prepping my men immediately, General" Chance said.
"Very good, carry on then Captain" Jake replied, as he turned back to the viewport. Chance nodded, and then turned on his heels and headed for the turbolift.
"Oh and Captain…one more thing I almost forgot" Jake said, still looking out through the main viewport and only turning his head slightly, "I've instructed Captain Kellharra with the same task as you. The both of you will be working together during our training".
Chance momentarily froze as he heard those words, and he wanted to express his displeasure at that notion; but being the good soldier he had been quite literally made into, he respectfully suppressed both his displeasure and a frustrated growl, and coolly replied, "We will do our best, sir".
"I expect nothing less," Jake replied firmly. "That will be all, Captain Chance".
As the captain walked away, Jake could sense the very frustration emanating from him. And he too had even questioned his own decision to assign the two feuding commanders to such an important task, but he remained firm in his belief that through time and a new direction of command, the two of them would be refined into better soldiers, and better men for that matter.
His thoughts then returned to the small fleet before his very eyes. And as he looked over the various ships, his mind began to plan how he would expand his new military forces. He felt that he already had the beginnings of a great supporting staff; and with training, better equipment, and battle experience most importantly, he would have at his disposal a force to be reckoned with, one that could be respected all throughout the Republic.
'He that is prideful is blind. But he that is humble sees all'.
The words from one of his favorite military history books echoed in his mind, disrupting his brief thoughts of future grandeur. Those words were true when he'd first read them, and they remained true now.
Jake would take this command further one step at a time. For only with time and patience, could this war be ended…and the elusive Sith Lord found and destroyed.
"General Delarus, we're ready to make the jump to lightspeed at your command" Admiral Lee said, standing not too far behind the general. Jake turned his head to the admiral.
"Very good, Admiral" he replied with a nod. "Let's be on our way, we have little time to spare".
The admiral nodded respectfully, and then turned on his heels and went to the back of the bridge, as Jake looked back to the viewport, planning out his training regime for his troops. And after only another two minutes or so, the Invincible shot off into the stars in a flash of light, the rest of the fleet following their commander off into the stars…
—
After we took Sagar, things started changing bit by bit.
The biggest being that there were fewer squabbles amongst the troops; probably because some of them had seen what General Delarus was capable of with his Jedi powers, and they thus spread the word throughout the ranks.
From that very first day when he'd walked into our camp in the midst of a brawl, one that I happened to be apart of no less; you either respected him for his compassion he shared for the soldiers that he bravely and courageously led into battle, or you feared him for his ferocity in pursuit of victory and the firm disciplinary wrath he would unleash on those who had earned it.
Personally, I respected him. Because of the way I'd see him care for his soldiers, the way he carried himself in a humble, but disciplined way. And most importantly, his willingness and firmness to uphold his own belief that he should not command his soldiers to do anything he himself would not do, and that he should treat his soldiers as the living beings he himself was.
I've heard much good praise about other commanders in the war like Skywalker and Kenobi, who I do believe really earned and deserved the praise they were given. But in my mind, there never was, and never will be another general I'd want to follow to the edges of the galaxy…or to the gates of hell for that matter, like general Delarus… SSgt. Jas Hein