Chapter 121: The General
The path of ignorance is guided by fear.
Recap: Turning the tide! As Separatist control over vital but isolated supply routes expands, Republic forces invade a key planet, the darkened world of Umbara. In the midst of helping Obi-Wan Kenobi's battalion conquer the Umbaran capital, Anakin Skywalker and Storm are called away to Coruscant. Their battalion is temporarily placed under the command of Jedi General Pong Krell, a shrewd and temperamental leader. Krell's reckless strategy forced Captain Rex and Commander Sark to retreat with his platoons in a disastrous defeat.
The battle was still going on right where we left off. Commander Sark and Captain Rex were attempting to hold their ground against the incoming Umbarans as they were raining fire on the platoon of clones. The enemy was now calling in their fighters as they fired on the area where the clones were as many screamed and were taken out. Sark and Rex popped out from a nearby plant as they aimed their blasters at the fighter, trying to aim at the pilot before it flew away and prepared for another driveby.
"We have got to move before those fighters come back," Rex said to the men with them.
"Rex! Rex, over here!" shouted Fives as he was with Richochet and Claude as they jogged ahead with someone on their shoulder.
The group emerged as they began to follow the three.
"Jesse, take the right flank. Dogma, take the left flank," instructed Sark.
The clones all stood and held a position as they provided coverfire for the three clones to retrieve some more injured comrades and take them off the battlefield.
"It'll be okay, buddy. This will ease the pain," said Claude to his comrade as he pulled off his helmet and injected some medicine to ease his injury.
The clones were now standing before the ones healing the injured as they slowly took some steps back while shooting. Behind them was Krell; he pulled out his communicator as the image of Obi-wan appeared.
"The capital city's too fortified. We need your battalion to help us take it," said Obi-wan.
"Resistance from the Umbarans has been greater than anticipated. We're holding our ground at the moment," replied Krell as he looked about the field before him.
"We've gathered intel on an airbase to the west. It is re-supplying the capital's defenses," said Obi-wan.
"Incoming! Incoming!" shouted Richochet as an explosion occurred next to them; the group all turned their heads to look away.
"Get down, get down!" shouted Sark as they fired after avoiding the explosions.
"If you could capture that airbase, it will sever the capital's supply lines allowing the rest of our forces to move in," stated Obi-wan to Krell as Rex and Sark were nearby and heard that too.
"I'll see to it that the airbase is placed under our control," stated Krell.
"Remember, General Krell. The entire invasion depends on your battalion," said Obi-wan as the transmission ended.
"Captain Rex, Commander Sark, have those coordinates mapped, and all troops ready to move out immediately!" instructed the Jedi to the pair.
"Yes, General!" shouted the duo as they left.
Once they managed to escape from the battle, the battalion of clones was now trekking toward the destination of the airbase that Kenobi mentioned. They soon came to a ridge as they looked out, and in the distance, there was a shining light shooting upward. It was the airbase that Kenobi said as the Jedi and clones had found their target. Fives and Claude gave Sark and Rex binoculars as they looked through the device to zoom in.
"There's a base there, all right, and it's heavily guarded," said Rex.
"At least three tank divisions, plus guns," added Sark as they saw where the enemy was.
"We'll advance along the central gorge and engage their forces in a full-forward assault," stated Krell.
"The gorge is narrow, sir. We'll only be able to move our platoons in single squads," said Rex as he bent down to look down below them.
"Perhaps a closer recon will tell us if there's a more secure route," suggested Sark as he was with Rex, that they would be in the same mess as before by going with Krell's plan of attack.
"Obi-Wan and the other battalions are holding off the enemy right now while they wait for us to take out this base. We don't have time to look for a more secure route!" said Krell to both clones as he ignored their requests and left.
"Yes, sir," replied both clone commanders.
They were rounding up the whole platoon as the clones rushed down the ridge to where they needed to be gathered. Once everyone was assembled, Rex and Sark removed their helmets and addressed the men.
"All right, listen up. We'll assemble the squads into two divisions," said Sark.
"We'll move straight up this gorge towards the airbase at the far side," continued Rex.
"The casualties are going to be high," shouted out Tup.
"Is Krell trying to get us killed?" shouted Richochet as he agreed with his comrade.
"You know, I wasn't sure that Krell was crazy before, but now I'm positive," stated Jesse as he expressed concern about this plan.
"We had to retreat from the capital because the General pushed a flawed strategy. Now, this?" said Fives as he, too, questioned the pair.
"I don't know! Could be fun," said Dogma as he was all on board for Krell's plan.
"Well, I, for one, agree with the General's plan. We're running out of time, and this is the best option," another clone voiced his opinion.
"No recon? No air support? We don't know what we're up against!" cried Jesse as he expressed his discomfort. "They have weapons we've never seen before.
"A few of General Skywalker's and Storm's plans seemed reckless, too, but they worked," said Rex to the men.
"Yeah, but General Skywalker and General Storm are usually leading their men up in the front, not bringing up the rear like General Krell," voiced Fives to his two commanding officers, "A full-forward assault would leave us too exposed."
Soon more clones began to mutter as they aired out their frustration. However, some were on board with Krell's plan as soon a huge massive chatter began to happen as the clones began to shout at one another. Rex and Sark looked about the men as they could hear some concerns.
"We have to look at other options."
"It's going to be a meat grinder."
"Fives," called Rex as he and Sark pulled the soldier to the side to speak privately.
"It would help if you eased their minds," said Rex.
Oh, you mean coax them into following another one of Krell's suicide missions? We lost a lot of men last time," said Fives to the pair.
"Krell may do things differently, but he is effective in getting them done. He's a recognized war hero," responded Sark.
"He may have had some victories, but have you seen his casualty numbers?" stated Richochet as he and Claude felt they needed to be a part of this private conversation and address their commander.
"More troopers have been killed under his command than anyone else!" shouted Fives.
"That's the price of war, Fives," Sark sighed.
"We're soldiers. We have a duty to follow orders and, if we must, lay down our lives for victory," added Rex.
"You believe that, or is that what you were engineered to think?" countered the ARC trooper.
"We honor our code. That's what we believe," stated Sark as they left the get the men ready.
The duo then began to divide the battalion into two groups as instructed. The first group would be placed under Sark and Rex, while the other would consist of Richochet, Claude, Fives, and Hardcase. The three now scouted ahead as they laid down behind some shrubbery. Rex looked through some binoculars as he sa a lay of the route.
"Is everyone clear on the plan? Hardcase?" asked Rex to the clone on his left.
"Yes, sir," responded Hardcase immediately.
"Fives, are you clear?" Rex asked the clone on his right.
Fives didn't answer immediately as he was still thinking about the earlier conversation. Soon he gave a sad sigh.
"Yeah," responded the ARC trooper bitterly.
"All right, get in your groups. Let's move out," stated Rex as they turned back.
The trio then made it back as their comrades were waiting. Rex and Sark signaled the battalion to move as they began marching. Fives, Hardcase, Claude, and Riochochet took point as they were the first group to enter the forest. The clones marched along the gorge, their eyes peeled for any surprises.
"Everybody stay alert. Fingers on the trigger." instructed Fives.
The clones then noticed the same airborne creatures from before as they flew above the group and headed back the way they came.
"They look spooked," said Richochet as they passed by.
Just then... some rumbling was heard.
"What the..." said a clone as they felt the ground shake.
Popping out from behind a clone was a large caterpillar that seemed to also be a tank. The creature growled as inside was an Umbaran operating the machine.
"Oh, skrag!" shouted a clone as he saw the thing up close.
The tank growled as the laser cannons on the back of each segment began to fire.
"Blast it!" shouted Fives.
The clones fired at the creature, but their shots seemed to be doing nothing, especially to its head. The creature, however, could fire and inflict some shots of its own as it took out some clones who collapsed to the ground. Even the AT-RTs weren't doing much to the creature tank as it shot the clones on them and even destroyed their machines, adding more casualties among the dead.
"Its head is ray-shielded! We need rocket launchers!" stated Fives.
The creature was popping out of the ground, making it even more difficult for the clones to deal with. Some were even run over by the creature as they screamed.
"Mayday, mayday! Rex, Sark, we need rocket launchers now!" shouted Fives into his comlink.
The pair were above them as they saw what was happening.
"Get those rocket launchers down there! Move it, troopers!" shouted Rex as he gestured for the men to hustle.
The clones were running as the creature appeared behind one of the clones holding the rocker launcher. He charged into the clone as he dropped to the ground underneath the creature. While he wasn't run over, he still felt pain from being shoved to the ground.
"Take it, take it," said the clone as he couldn't stand.
"Thanks, buddy," said another clone as he picked up the weapon from his injured comrade.
"I got him, I got him," said Claude as he flipped the clone over so that he could drag him by his shoulders away to do some medical care.
"Go! Go, go, go! Keep moving, keep moving!" shouted Rex as he and Sark ran with the clone carrying the rocket launcher.
They got close to the creature crawling toward them as Rex and Sark drew its fire before they all ducked behind some trees. The clone was loading up the rocket launcher as he gave a signal to the commanders. They nodded and popped out as the creature was on top of them; the clone pointed and fired as the rocket launcher hit the caterpillar point blank in the head, as the entire front exploded. The explosion, however, was up close as the creature was starting to fall on the three clones. They all got up and ran as they managed to leap out of the way of the falling creature.
"That was close," said Sark.
"You got a point there," replied the clone who fired the rocket launcher.
"Move it, trooper," stated Rex as they began to move. They soon found the other group.
"Everyone regroup, now! Take cover!" stated Fives as he saw the two clone commanders coming at them. "Move it! Move it!"
The rest of the men hustled as two more caterpillars were shown, firing lasers in all directions. The clones had taken some cover behind some trees that the creatures couldn't enter.
"We're safe for the moment, but they'll be coming around any second," stated Richochet.
"Bring up the launchers, spread detonators along that corridor," Sark instructed the men. "Trap them into the bottleneck. We're going to blow those things sky-high."
The clones then approached the ones carrying backpacks and pulled out some detonators.
"Hurry up, we only have a few seconds," said Fives as he told the men who rolled the bombs in front of them.
The beeping from the bombs was heard as soon as a massive spray of them was positioned. The caterpillars were coming as the clones began to retreat.
"Here they come!" stated Tup.
The creatures continued to crawl as the clones egged them on and made arm motions to get their attention.
"Hey, come on! Over here!"
"Let's see how tough you are!"
"Hey! Hey! Hey!"
"Right over here!"
"Over here!"
The creatures all growled as they continued to fire at their targets. The clones all raced back as Sark and Rex stood firm. They pulled out the detonator switch, and with the push of a button from both, the bombs went off. The caterpillars were caught in the line of sight as they exploded and crumbled to the ground. Upon seeing their enemies being defeated, the clones all began to cheer.
Watching from afar was Krell, as he could see the explosion. The clones were now rushing back even more as the explosion spread. Rex and Sark were sprinting with the explosion on their tails as they leaped into the air. The force of the explosion sent them forward a few feet as they landed in front of their comrades, who had taken cover behind a rock before falling flat on the ground.
"We got them! We got them!" Claude informed the rest of the men as they picked them up.
"Good job! All right, let's move out," stated Sark, as they still had a mission to complete.
The group was now marching in between the caterpillars as they observed the damage done. All around lay debris as a result of the massive unrest that ensued. A light from one of the caterpillar's heads was flickering on and off.
"That one's still got some juice in it. Waste it!" instructed Fives.
"Sure," replied a clone carrying a rocket launcher and fired.
It took out the head as the opening was left. An Umbaran was shown as he stood there before collapsing to the ground.
"No juice left in him either," stated Richochet as Rex pointed his blaster at the Umbaran on the ground and shot him for good measure.
They kept walking as they came to some of the creatures they saw flying in the air before the caterpillars popped out.
"Hey! Still hungry?" shouted Hardcase as he rushed forward and began to unload on the creatures with his minigun. "Chew on that!"
He took out two of them as the last one was flying in the direction of the others; Sark merely aimed and shot the creature several times as it fell to the ground.
"Everyone, keep moving," said the clone commander as he put his pistols away.
"Hey, Kix, leave it," said Rex to a clone who still had his blaster aimed at the dead creature Sark shot, thinking it would come back alive. The clone soon let up as he followed the rest of his comrades.
The clones continued their march as they stopped as Rex and Sark took a few steps ahead. They looked through a pair of binoculars as they saw what was coming. Emerging from a rock was the next wave of hazard for the clones as it was Umbaran spider cannons.
"We've got a problem!" said Sark.
The spider cannons aimed and fired.
"Fall back! Fall back now!" yelled Rex as he and Sark ran and just barely missed the shot as it landed meters behind where they were standing.
The clones were retreating as some more men were lost. All around, shots were fired as they exploded and took out massive numbers of clones. Watching through a pair of binoculars was Krell as he zoomed in on the battle area and saw the clones falling back.
"What are they doing?" growled the Jedi as he hated seeing the men retreat. He then began to contact both clone commanders.
"Captain! Commander! Continue your attack!" shouted Krell as both too cover.
"Sir, we're overpowered. We need reinforcements!" stated Rex.
"The rest of the battalion is holding the entrance to the gorge, Captain. They're guarding it, so your troops can break through to the airbase," stated the Jedi sternly.
"Sir, we can't possibly..." said Sark as he was cut off.
"You must stand your ground! Do you read me?" threatened Krell. "Captain! Commander! Are you listening? Do not fall back! That is an order!" yelled Krell as he shut off the comlink and stood there watching with his arms crossed.
Behind Krell, the clones lined up as they had finished getting into position.
"The platoons are in the formation you requested, General. Should I send them to support Captain Rex and Commander Sark?" asked a clone.
"I'll give the order when I give it, Sergeant Appo," said Krell as he would decide when it was time to help the men down below.
He continued to watch the explosions. Down below, it was a massacre. Clones screamed as they were disintegrated by the zap cannons of the spiders. Suffering even more casualties. The sound of their comrade being taken out could be heard as the remaining clones gathered behind some cover.
"Keep the wounded as quiet as possible," explained Rex to Claude as he had to tend to some injuries. Rex addressed the rest of the men, "All right, you heard the General. Let's go."
"You can't be serious," stated Jesse to his superior officer.
"I used to think General Krell was reckless, but now I'm beginning to think he just hates clones," confessed Fives as he was getting sick of this.
"The Captain is right. Now let's move out," said a clone.
Rex and Sark were about to rush out when Fives stopped to address them.
"We can't take them head-on. We need to find another way," suggested Fives.
"You got any ideas?" responded Sark firmly as Fives said nothing and shook his head. "Then this is it."
He and Rex ran out.
"Okay. Let's do it!" said Richochet as the others joined them.
The clones popped out and began to fire at the spider cannons. A rocket was launched as it collided with one of the spider cannons. It wobbled a bit but still remained on its feet. Another took aim and fired as it exploded around the clones. Another shot was fired a piece of the landscape from above fell. Fives saw it as he jumped out of the way, as did a few others while some were crushed under it.
"Watch your left!" shouted Rex to the men who were close to the spider's legs and shouted at them to avoid being squashed.
The Umbaran inside the machine kept marching as he saw the clones in front of him; he seemed to be laughing at them, scurrying like small insects. Rex and Sark led their group to where the rest of the men were stationed; when they passed by, the clones holding the rocket launchers took aim and fired. The rockets collided with the spider cannons, but like before, they only made the creatures wobble as they marched. Another was fired, as it didn't seem to phase the creatures as they turned and shot the clones holding the rocket launchers as they fell.
"The rocket launchers don't work on these things!" shouted Richochet.
The spider cannons got to where the wounded were as they shot a clone. Soon it brought its foot down as one of the clones was squashed under its weight. It lifted his foot as the clone was still alive, as he had his arm reaching out. Claude managed to grab it as he began to pull his injured comrade out from the rubble.
"Help me with the wounded!" shouted Claude as Rex and Sark rushed ahead.
Rex took a position as he aimed his guns and fired at the air creatures that landed as Sark was helping Claud to drag an injured clone away from the field.
"We got to get these guys out of here," responded Claude as the clone they were dragging groaned.
They made it as Claude was looking to return and get the others as Sark stopped him.
"Forget it. We have to leave them!" said Sark as he had his hand on Claude's soldier.
"We can't just leave them, sir!" stated Claude to his superior.
"You don't have a choice. That's an order!" stated Sark to his man.
"You sound like General Krell," stated Kix as he saw the commander walking away.
That comment ticked Sark off.
"Look, Kix, it's more important to save yourself right now. If we survive, you and Claude can patch up the wounded later!" shouted Sark at the clone for making that comment.
Rex was looking through binoculars as he saw the airbase in the distance.
"We're finished," said Tup as he felt they were moments away from being killed.
"We've still got some fight left in us, Tup, and I've got an idea," Rex said as he continued looking at the airbase.
"What were you thinking?" asked Fives.
"Remember what you were saying about finding another way to destroy those tanks?" asked Rex.
"Yeah," responded Fives.
"Well, I have a mission for you," said the captain as he was looking at Fives along with Richochet and Hardcase.
"CT-7567, CT-1221! Where are you?" demanded Krell.
"General Krell, we've come up with a plan to infiltrate the airbase," stated Rex.
"What is your plan?" asked Krell.
"We've dispatched three men on a stealth incursion into the airbase. They've been ordered to co-opt starfighters and use them against the tanks," said Sark.
"You what? You've put this entire assault on your hope that three clones can do what your entire group could not?" shouted Krell as he was unhappy by what both clone commanders said.
"Sir, the rocket launchers don't work on these tanks, and it'll be easier to slip by undetected while the rest of us keep the tanks occupied," said Rex, trying to convince Krell of his plan.
"Captain, Commander! You will launch a full-forward strike immediately! Or you will be relieved of duty!" threatened Krell as the transmission ended.
"We need to hold out as long as we can," said Sark to the rest of the men.
"We're trusting Fives, Richochet, and Hardcase to pull this thing off," said Rex.
The three clones selected for the mission were currently walking in a field.
"The second they spot us, I start blasting," stated Hardcase as he pointed his weapon out to make his point.
"Hardcase, can't you take it easy for once?" asked Fives.
"Stick to the plan instead of guns blazing," said Richochet.
"I'm sorry, it's just how I am," said Hardcase as he gave a small apology to the pair, "My commander on Kamino said my growth acceleration chamber had a leak. Made me hyper-active, I guess."
"Did he tell you anything else?" snickered Richochet.
"Shh! There's the airbase," said Fives as he got the two to be quiet.
The three jogged forward as they made it to the compound perimeter. The airbase was surrounded by an electrical fence, one shock, and it would be immediate death.
"Hmm..." said Fives as he examined the area around them and the fence. "Some kind of sensor wall."
They all began to run forward as they were coming to a tree.
"Use the tree to get over the sensor wall," stated Fives.
"Uh, how am I supposed to do this, exactly?" asked Hardcase as he didn't see a way for him to get to the treetop.
"Figure it out," shouted Richochet as he immediately fired his blaster, as the cable shot out. It attached to the tree as the clone ascended up the line.
Hardcase then did the same as he aimed his blaster upward and fired the cable. It attached and locked on as he ensured the cable was steady for him to climb. Meanwhile, Fives was planting bombs he had gotten from Hardcase's backpack as he planted them along the tree.
"Figure it out, Hardcase. Figure it out." said the clone mockingly at the pair, making fun of him for not knowing how to get up there. He then began to climb the cable. "What's to figure out about climbing up a tree? How about you try it next time?"
"What was that?!" shouted Richochet as he heard Hardcase mumbling.
"Nothing!" groaned Hardcase.
"That's what I thought," said Richochet as he extended a hand for Hardcase to grab and pulled him up.
"Great, nice view," said Hardcase as he and Richochet began to walk toward the tip of the tree that would lean over the fence once they walked on it.
Fives had finished setting up the bombs he placed as he began to climb up.
"I prefer a good fight to all this sneaking around," said Hardcase as he and Richochet balanced on the tip as it leaned over.
"Well, don't worry. You'll get plenty of that if we're caught," stated Richochet as they made it over the fence and landed safely.
Fives had made it to the top as he began to pull up the cable as the blaster was still attached to it. He put it away and held the weapon as he began to cross. However, a creature from before looked to swoop at Fives, who ducked and saw the creature coming around to strike at him. He tried to swing at it as he wobbled a bit and dropped the blaster to which Hardcase caught it. Fives now hung on for dear life as the creature circled again.
Just as the creature was about to attack, Richochet took the shot as he fired the cable, and it pierced the creature into the tree. Fives then dropped as he hung to the end of the tree. He let go as it flung back into position.
"Wow, I never actually thought that would work," said Fives as the three turned toward the airbase.
Rex and Sark were still holding their positions as the spider cannons removed their remaining forces and squashed any clones underneath their feet. Fives, Richochet, and Hardcase, were running along the hangar as they stopped before the doors. Fives peeked in as they began to move in. They quickly ran to one of the machines and hid behind a leg. Some Umbarans stood guard near the machines; Fives then pushed a button on his comlink as the bombs he planted earlier went off.
The tree had explosions at its base as it leaned over and fell on the electric fence. An alarm was triggered, which got the Umbarans to run out and check what was happening. The three clones then began to make their move. They were about to approach some fighter when an Umbaran appeared to which Fives punched him in the face as it allowed Hardcase to shoot him. They soon arrived at one of the fighters.
"So, how do I start this thing?" asked Hardcase as Fives sat in one.
"Well, how should I know?" shouted Fives as he had no clue.
"Start pushing buttons! That always works!" said Richochet.
The two left as Fives did what was said as a shield appeared around him. He removed his helmet and began to tinker with the controls. Hardcase and Richochet each approached their fighters as they took off their helmets to see better. They pushed some buttons as a shield appeared around them before they began to start spinning.
The Umbarans now saw them as they began to fire at the clones.
"Glad these things are ray-shielded," said Hardcase as the blasters weren't doing anything.
Fives was still moving his hands about, trying to figure out how to work the fighter. Soon his ray-shielded bubble locked in place with the fighter behind him.
"I don't think I can do this!" shouted Richochet as they were still trying to figure stuff out.
Soon the fighters began to move as they dragged along the ground. Eventually, they lifted off the ground but still kept spinning. The guns fired from the fighters as the trio destroyed the airbase unintentionally. They were all laughing and chuckling as they kept on firing. Soon they managed to stabilize the fighters as they began to zoom away.
"Let's hope this trip was worth it," said Fives as he led the two back to where their friends needed help.
Rex was shown with a rocket launcher as he fired it at one of the spiders. It exploded as the Umbaran inside muttered some words at the clone captain. A foot was lifted as Rex saw it and dove out of the way to avoid being crushed. Kix then aimed his blaster up at the enemy as he let out some screams.
"Hey, Kix, put it down. You're wasting heat!" said Sark to the clone, as their blasters weren't doing anything to them. He then pulled the clone with him as they avoided a foot about to fall on them.
Rex panted heavily as he was on his back and aimed at the spider with the rocket launcher. He fired as it collided with the tank; seconds later, it emerged unscathed as it was looking to bring its foot down on the clone captain.
"What the..." said Rex as he spotted something in the air.
The Umbarans, who had surrounded the clones and boxed them in, looked up from inside their tanks. Flying overhead were the three fighters that were confiscated.
"Clear out, Captain!" instructed Fives to Rex.
"The big guns have arrived, sir!" shouted Hardcase as Rex and Sark began to pull back whatever men remained.
The fighters began to shoot as they dealt real damage to the spider tanks. All around, explosions occurred as some tanks tried to shoot down the clones inside.
"Take that!" shouted Hardcase as he enjoyed blowing stuff up.
"That's the stuff!" exclaimed Richcohet as he and Fives also enjoyed seeing the massive explosions and destruction they were causing.
"Whoo-hoo!" shouted the rest of the clones at seeing the fighters destroy the tanks. They all began to cheer, with some shooting into the air as a celebration.
"Way to go, boys!"
"Attaboy, Hardcase!"
"All right, let's bring them home," said Fives to the other two as they began to withdraw.
"Impressive," said Krell as he saw what went down through his binoculars. "Sergeant, their defenses are down. Send in the rest of our forces. Attack the airbase!"
"All units, move out!" shouted Sergeant Appo to the rest of the men guarding the gorge's entrance.
The clones began to march on as Krell stood there with his arms behind his back and a smile on his face. His eyes were shown as the blaze of fire was in his pupil.
After taking the enemy base and capturing any Umbarans, Rex and Sark met with their men.
"Despite Hardcase's flying, you three saved us all," said Rex.
"That wasn't so tough," replied Hardcase.
"You sure? You looked a little green when you came out of that fighter," teased Tup as Richochet gave Hardcase a hard pat on the back as he was chuckling.
"Captain. Commander. Report. What is our situation?" asked Krell as he appeared and wanted to know the status of the mission.
"General, we have taken the base and cut off enemy supply lines to the capital," stated Rex.
"Luck has smiled on you both today. Consider yourself fortunate," stated Krell.
"It wasn't all luck, sir. A lot of men died to take this base," responded Sark.
"The price for such victory. Perhaps someday you'll realize this," stated Krell as both Sark and Rex glared at the Jedi, even having their hands curl into a fist as they held their helmets to their side.
"Dismissed," said Krell as he turned his back on the two and walked away.
"He's the one who will never realize," said Fives as he, Tup, Kix, Hardcase, Richochet, and Claude all stepped forward to stand behind the two clone commanders.
The whole group watched the ruthless Jedi general leave as they were far from done. In fact, it was only beginning and going to get worst with Krell in charge.
Author's Note: We continue on with this ruthless and bloody war. Showing how gritty things are getting, even with Krell's warlike tactics that are what a by-the-book Jedi should be doing. That means keeping himself away from the frontlines to keep himself safe and command the other forces; in war, your generals are more valueable than the footsoliders because you rely on them more than the troops upfront. And course the debate of knowing that you're losing friends and comrades and having to question yourself what are you fighting for, cause the clone's main function is to fight this war and nothing else. As always, leave a review expressing your thoughts and comments.