Chapter 26

Turns out having no intel on something didn't mean it wasn't there, just like Cody had pointed out. So having no reports on weaponry in the southern hemisphere didn't mean there wasn't any. Getting through the blockade was hard enough, the 212th lost two gunships and the 501st lost one. That was almost a hundred men we had lost even before landing. I tried my best not to think about it and to close myself off the Force so as not to feel their pain, their agony, their sadness and anger. I held onto the overhead handle even tighter, closing my eyes and forcing myself to breathe even more deeply. Then, I steeled my resolve. They would not die for nothing. I opened my eyes to see T.H. looking at me, he tilted his head as the gunship shook from a nearby explosion. He wondered if I was okay. I looked right into his visor with determination and nodded sharply.

The pilot announced we were two minutes away from the landing site. The blast doors opened and the men retrieved their blasters from where they had been hanging on the ceiling. I had been assigned a single platoon. That was four teams of nine, thirty six men, thirty six lives that were mine to protect. Thirty six soldiers that were mine to lead. The LAAT/i shook one last time as we touched down and the light turned green as the doors opened.

Master Kenobi had already landed with the ground assault troops, and Master Skywalker was right behind me with the tanks and heavy weaponry. We got to work immediately, setting a perimeter and securing it as the rest of the gunships and equipment arrived. We knew we had a limited window of time before the seppies sent their ground forces to try and take us down, so we decided on sending our patrols early.

I did disagree with the plan, we had not been expecting fire this heavy when we first came up with the it, separating our forces now would be suicide. Even more so when we had a single company trying to make a dent in a planet that was already occupied. But I was outnumbered, the mission was to take as much of Felucia as we could before the rest of our forces arrived and the fastest way to do that was to spread out. Master Kenobi understood my reluctance and told me it was not a decision they made lightly, even if it looked like it to me. The entire GAR was being spread past its capacities and we were not the only ones who seemed to be going into a blaster fight with a single bioblade. But orders were orders, and I could only bend the rules so far when it came to protecting the troops' lives. Ahsoka was given the western patrol and I was in charge of the eastern. We each took a platoon and, in no time, we departed.

True to their word, T.H. Waxer and Boil flanked me as we made our way through the Felucian forest. I did my best to expand my awareness of the terrain through the force, feeling any disturbances within the flora or fauna that may give away the presence of droids. Things were quiet, a little too quiet for my liking. It wasn't that I believed we would be jumped upon by droids any time, no. It was the kind of trepidation where you can feel something bad is about to happen, but not to you.

"I want someone monitoring comm chatter, I have a feeling we'll be needed back at central." I said out loud, knowing someone would take the directive.

I could feel the clones' reluctance to leave command with so few troops to guard them, and I understood. I felt the same way. Being sent on a planetary invasion with a single company was suicide, just like the mission to Teth had been. Rex -from what little he had told me- didn't look back on the battle with much joy.

Time passed differently on each mission. The Abregado system was crystal clear in my mind's eye. Christophsis had gone by way too quickly, as if I had been in a fever dream. Orto Plutonia had been a strange mixture between slow motion and real time, some things I remember very clearly and others are a complete blur. This mission seemed like it was going extremely slowly, as if my mind was trying to have me remember everything from the color of the plants to the sound of the soil beneath my boots. I guessed it all depended on how my psyche decided to process the situations I'd been through, but a humanoid's brain was a curious thing for sure.

I sent two teams out -one to the north and one to the south- to set up the marker beacons that would make up our perimeter. Each team would set the beacons within a two click range from our current position and then return. Once that had been accomplished, we would be going back to central to, hopefully, receive the rest of the invasion forces. Meanwhile, the remaining teams and I decided to scout ahead for possible enemies.

As it turns out, we found two probe droids lurking around, which -fortunately- had not seen us before we took them down. For the first time in quite some time, our mission had been completed without any casualties or wounded, and every threat we had found had been neutralized. The two teams I had sent out came back in one piece, they had both completed their assignment and one of them reported to have taken down yet another probe.

This concerned me a little, if there were so many probes in this area, it meant the seppies were scouting the area for something. One of the possibilities was that they had been trying to establish a safe route towards central in order to box us in. But at this point it was all speculation. Now, we just needed to go back and reinforce the other two platoons that had been left with the Masters.

"I'm not saying this to try and test Murphy's Law, but I don't like it when things are this quiet." Said one of the troopers behind me. And I couldn't agree more. Even when I had expanded my awareness of our surroundings and had kept it that way the entire time, things were too quiet.

"Me neither, trooper, so look alive, I think things will definitely get more interesting whether we like it or not." I answered. "We'll report the probes as soon as we get there. There were too many for my liking."

"Yes, Commander."

…

"Three hours," I yelled, taking cover from the tank fire we were receiving. "I leave you alone for three hours and I come back to this?"

My men spread out to reinforce the perimeter central had created. The floor was hot alright, Master Kenobi and Master Skywalker had been attacked from the north, as I had expected and were now trying to fight off wave after wave of battle droids.

"Spare me the lecture, Kriari, did your troops complete the mission?" He asked deflecting blaster fire with his lightsaber.

I huffed, having lost my patience.

"Of course we did, we found three probes as well, which is not good. I think they were scouting for a safe route here." I said adjusting my position and the grip on my own lightsaber. "I think we'll be outflanked in no time, and I do reserve the right to say 'I told you so' when it happens."

As if on cue, the comlink on my wrist started beeping. I had made it a habit to wear the earpiece at all times, so when I pressed the blinking button, I was the only one that heard what Boil had to report.

"Better call off the invasion and ask for reinforcements instead, Master." I said moving in front of a trooper to shield him from a stray blast. "The marker beacons to the south east picked up at least two droid battalions headed our way."

I thought I heard him curse under his breath, but I couldn't be sure. Master Kenobi didn't strike me as someone who would lose his temper over something like this, but we all had our bad days, and this one had certainly not been a good one. We were sustaining very heavy fire, and the tanks we had brought didn't seem to be enough to make a dent in enemy ranks. I covered Master Kenobi as he retreated to make the call, we all knew we wouldn't make it out of Felucia if we didn't get reinforcements or an extraction team.

I continued to serve as a shield to the troopers while they fired on the droids. there was such an amount of them that it seemed the battle would never end. Lines upon lines of shiny yellow battle droids kept advancing as we tried to make a dent. Behind me, Waxer, Boil and T.H. fired round after round and their concentration was such that they didn't even have the time to curse, yell or even complain about the entire situation.

"All done, an extraction team will be here soon," Said my Master, retaking his position and activating his lightsaber. "Where is Ahsoka?"

Right, Ahsoka. I hadn't been in contact with her since we left for our patrol, and I felt a little guilty for forgetting about her right then. I had been too busy to notice she hadn't returned yet.

"She isn't back from her patrol, she will though." Said skywalker as he returned blasts back to their source.

I tuned out the rest of the conversation after that, concentrating on keeping myself and my men alive. The separatists were advancing steadily and the distance between them and us continued to reduce. One of the droids had managed to shoot one of the tank operatives, so I signaled one of the nearest trooper to follow me.

"Get that tank operational, I'll shield you from blaster fire!" I yelled.

I had a much better view of the field from atop the tank, and it did not look good for us. For a second, I lost my concentration. Someone was reaching to me through the force, someone familiar. A presence I had not felt in a long time was trying to reassure me. I am here now, it said. And I knew exactly who it was.

"Master!" I yelled. "The 104th has arrived!"

I heard the troopers yell in relief and renew their fighting effort. Extraction team was here, we only had to make sure we were here to be extracted. But the enemy was splitting up their forces, which was never good. They were either going to regroup with the two battalions five clicks northeast of our position, or they were going for Ahsoka.

"Boil," I said as I tapped the closed channel I had with my three shadows. "How far out is the enemy northwest of here?"

I heard grunting and panting on the other end of the comlink before I got an answer.

"They should be here in ten minutes, Commander- eat laser maker damned tin cans." He said under his breath.

Ten minutes. I had to report to my master, but before I did I heard someone yelling my name. A vulture droid was spiraling out of control and headed right towards me. Before I could think about it, I took the trooper from the driving seat and threw us both off the tank. I managed to soften our landing a little with the Force, but the blast still knocked the air out of my lungs. I was panting for air when I asked the trooper if he was okay. He was, thank the force.

"Kriari, are you-"

"The droid battalions to the northeast will be here in ten minutes, Master." I interrupted as I helped the trooper to stand up. "We need to get the men out of here."

I tried to dust myself off as best I could and when I went to grab my lightsaber, it wasn't on my belt. I sighed, already done with the damned planet. The last thing I needed was to lose my lightsaber.

"Commander!" yelled someone from across the perimeter. "Catch!"

The trooper threw my lightsaber in an arc towards me and returned to the fight before checking if I'd caught it.

"Thanks, Waxer!" I yelled back.

"So," I turned to see the amused smirk on my master's face. "Where the hell is Ahsoka?"