Hevy POV, Location: Arcadna Ridge

Hevy dove for cover as the droids let out a spray of blasterfire on the camp. The last thing he had heard was one of his brothers yell out "AMBUSH" before getting gunned down by the droids. He now took cover behind some boulders with the rest of his brothers as the droids began to advance towards them as the sun began to rise. He held his Z-6 steadily in his hand as he shoved on his helmet. He looked around for Cutup and Droidbait, but they were nowhere to be found. Beside him were Halo and Rift.

"Kriffing clankers! They've set up an ambush!" Halo yelled.

"They have us surrounded!" Hevy heard Rift say. Hevy gritted his teeth.

"Not for long they don't." He stated firmly. He looked out. The droids were coming towards them in waves of B1s and B2s. Behind them were several tanks surrounding the clones from all sides. If they didn't break up the droids soon, the clankers would form an unbreakable perimeter around them. Hevy moved to step away from the boulder before Halo grabbed his shoulder.

"Are you crazy?" Halo exclaimed as the dust and ash shot up from the ground around them as the droids opened fire. Hevy smirked inside his helmet.

"Only a little." He said. "Cover me!" He yelled, stepping away from the boulder and letting his Z-6 whir. He let out a yell as he opened fire on the oncoming waves and waves of droids. Flashes of red and blue whizzed past Hevy as the fire from both sides spread across the ridge.

Hevy's heart pounded in his chest as he charged forward, his cannon blazing as he mowed down the advancing droids. Rift and Halo emerged as they fought at his side, their movements fluid and precise as they formed up, their blaster fire tearing through the ranks of the enemy.

But the droids kept coming, their numbers seemingly endless as they swarmed over the rocky terrain. Hevy gritted his teeth, determination blazing in his eyes as he pushed forward, his mind focused solely on the task at hand. A wave of B2's began to approach, and behind Hevy, a blaster bolt nailed one straight through the head. Hevy looked back to see Cutup and Droidbait fighting droids atop the ridge. Hevy and Cutup exchanged a nod, before Cutup and Droidbait continued fighting from above.

Cutup and Droidbait seemed to hold their ground, their blaster rifles blazing as they unleashed a hail of fire upon the enemy. With each shot, they carved a path through the droid ranks, their movements synchronized as they fought side by side, just as they had during the final test back on Kamino.

Hevy could feel the weight of exhaustion settling in his bones, but he refused to give up, drawing on every ounce of strength and courage he possessed. As the battle raged on, Hevy watched two shapes leap from the ridge, with blue and green glows lighting up their faces. The General and Commander. The two began taking down the takes with ease and precision. Behind Hevy and the others, Marker ran up.

"They've got the tanks! Focus on the droids!" He ordered. Hevy nodded, and he and Rift took to the front, gunning down the droids as they approached. Hevy blinked twice as he struggled to keep his Z-6 steady.

Halo and Marker fought back to back, their blaster rifles unleashing a relentless barrage of fire upon the enemy. With each shot, they cut through the droid ranks. They clearly knew each other well enough to not even have to call out maneuvers. Cutup and Droidbait made their way down to where Rift and Hevy were holding off the droids, joining their perimeter.

But as the battle dragged on, fatigue began to set in, weighing heavily on the shoulders of the clone troopers. Hevy could feel his muscles burning with exhaustion, his breath coming in ragged gasps as he fought to keep pace with the relentless onslaught of droids. He didn't know how long he could have kept up this kind of pace. Suddenly, as he began to grow weary and his head pounded, there was a shout from Rift.

"Look! It's the 634th!" He yelled, pointing. Hevy looked off to the north and a smile crept along his face as the 634th sped towards them on speeders. The General of the battalion, Natabre Morin, leapt off her speeder, immediately turning her attention to the tanks. The 634th weaved in and out of the battlefield with their speeders, blasting down the remaining droids as they did so. Hevy also noticed members of 501st Tide Company arriving. His eyes widened when he saw Fives and Echo pull up on a speeder together. The two jumped off and ran up to Hevy and the others.

"Couldn't have saved some droids for us?" Fives asked. Hevy rolled his eyes as Echo elbowed Fives.

"Cut the chatter! We can talk later!" Echo said, and Hevy smiled as his batchmates circled up with the rest of Alpha Squad, fighting side by side. Eventually, as the last of the droids fell silent with the help of the 634th, Hevy looked around at his comrades, a sense of pride swelling in his chest. Fives and Echo stepped towards him, Droidbait, and Cutup.

"You kriffers!" Cutup yelled. "We thought you could be dead!"

"Nah. We just took a wrong turn." Fives quipped. Echo elbowed Fives. Hevy looked behind him to see Marker approaching. They formed a line with the rest of Alpha Squad. Hevy hadn't noticed that Coric had quietly joined them. Rift and Halo stood on the other side of Droidbait. Marker addressed the group.

"We have orders from General Skywalker and General Morin. General Morin's forces will lead a frontal assault on the capital along with Rush, Tide, and Wave from here in the 501."

"But we're Torrent, sir." Rift pointed out.

"Very observant, Rift." Halo said sarcastically, nudging him. Rift shook his head. Hevy smirked under his helmet. Echo let out a cough to get everyone's attention. Hevy and the others all looked over at him.

"What are Torrent's orders, sir?" Echo asked. Marker nodded.

"Good question, Echo. There are several shield generators spread out around the city, preventing the Republic from launching an orbital assault on the capital. Torrent will be divided up by squad and led to disable the shield generators. We're to take a tunnel system into the city and scope out any and all shield generators. Once we take them out, that will make way for Master Tinn's forces to swoop in from above and take out the city." Marker explained.

"So, the frontal assault is a distraction from what we're doing, then?" Droidbait clarified. Marker nodded. Hevy nudged Droidbait.

"Yeah. Cause we're the best of the best." Hevy remarked. Droidbait shook his head, slightly exasperated. Marker let out a small chuckle.

"Ehh I wouldn't go that far. Denal and Del have good crews. But, I have faith in you men. We'll pull through. Now come on. There are several tunnels leading into the city. We're rendezvousing with Platoon B Beta at the nearest tunnel." Marker said, motioning with his hand for them to follow after him. Curiosity struck Hevy, as he walked up to ask Marker a question.

"Sir, what kind of tunnels are we talking about here?"

Fives POV, Location: Arcadna Sewer Tunnels

As Fives trudged through the sewage tunnels, he almost gagged in disgust at the sight of the water they marched through. It was dark in the tunnels, and there were several twists and turns. Del and Marker were each leading their squads down the tunnels. Fives had familiarized himself with the Beta members. Del was the Sergeant, and then the rest of the squad was compromised of Nax, Ridge, Zeer, Attie, Cole, Aiden, Hayden, and Chap. Fives and Droidbait marched towards the back alongside Aiden and Hayden, who were arguing back and forth.

"Would you just change it, already! It's a stupid name anyways!" Hayden exclaimed. Aiden snorted.

"Yeah right, you're just jealous." Aiden retorted.

"As if!"

"Would you two shut it! Some of us are actually trying to see down here!" Cole yelled from in front of them. Fives and Droidbait looked at each other. Fives leaned over to another Beta clone, Chap.

"What's their deal?" Fives asked.

"Well, Hayden and Aiden were batchmates back on Kamino. Hayden picked out his name first. Saw it in an article on the holonet and thought it was good. Aiden, meanwhile, was still looking for a name, and he likes to annoy Hayden. So he picked a name that sounded extremely similar to Hayden's, just to annoy him. Hayden's been trying to get him to quit it ever since." Chap explained. Fives smirked.

"We have… a similar situation." He said, nudging Droidbait and gesturing over to Echo. "That one's Echo. Used to repeat every order we heard over the comms each day. Got kriffing annoying. So we nicknamed him Echo, and it stuck." Fives said. He smiled when he heard a grunting noise from Echo from towards the front. Suddenly, towards the front, Del and Marker halted.

"Wait." Marker said. "Do any of you hear that?" He asked slowly. Fives' raised his blaster slightly. Suddenly, there was a splash near Fives. He squinted, trying to examine what had made the splash. He heard a gasp behind him.

"GRENADE!" He heard Hevy yell from the middle of the group.

"Look out!" Someone yelled from behind Fives, and he felt himself being tackled into the water as an explosion went off behind him. He sunk into the water as he saw flickers of fire from inside the water. He heard shouting and blaster fire distantly. He blinked as he was suddenly hoisted out of the water by two arms.

"Fives! Fives, are you with me!?" A voice yelled. Fives looked up to see Echo examining him, he nodded.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine." He assured Echo. Suddenly, blaser fire whizzed past their heads. Hevy stepped in front of the two, his Z-6 whirring. Fives glanced off to the side. Halo and Rift provided cover fire for Coric as he leaned over a Beta medic. Chap. Coric just shook his head at Marker and Del sadly, and took cover. Fives shook his head, and focused on the battle in front of them. The droids were ambushing them from behind. He lost track of where the other members of Beta were, and where his fellow Alpha members were. Fives started backing up through the tunnels along with his brothers.

"There's a turn up ahead! We can take cover there!" Cole yelled, before getting shot straight through the chest, and falling into the water.

"Cole!" Hayden yelled, reaching for him. Aiden pulled on his arm.

"Hayden! We have to go!" Aiden yelled. Echo looked at Fives, and gave him a nod. The two ran over to where Aiden and Hayden stood, providing cover for the two of them.

"Go! Move!" Fives yelled back at the two. He let off several more shots into the dark, still nod able to clearly see his targets through the dark tunnels. Aiden was dragging Hayden down the tunnel. Fives and Echo started moving back, letting off a few more shots before reaching the turn in the tunnel. Fives took a look around. Beta had lost Cole and Chap. But the others were gathered around, panting. Ridge and Nax looked to be injured, but otherwise alright. What about Alpha. Fives did a headcount. Rift. Halo. Marker. Hevy. Echo. Cutup. Wait. Where was Droidbait?

"Where's Bait?" Fives asked, turning to Echo worriedly. Echo gestured to the left, where Coric sat hunched over Droidbait. Droidbait's torso was half above the sewer water, half under. Fives walked towards him worriedly.

"Bait! What happened?" Fives asked him urgently.

"He was the one who tackled you. He took a nasty hit from the grenade blast though." Coric muttered to Fives. Fives looked at Droidbait, astonished.

"You kriffing idiot! Why would you do that?!" Fives yelled. Droidbait, who's helmet had been removed, let out a light chuckle.

"You'd prefer to be blown up?" He asked, coughing as he spoke. Coric placed a hand on Droidbait's chest, easing him. One of the Beta members, Attie, walked up to them.

"Sorry. Hate to interrupt, but we kinda kinda got a pressing issue. Clankers are still inbound." He pointed out, now addressing the full group.

"We can blast our way through them!" Another Beta, Zeer, exclaimed. Fives glanced at Hevy, who seemed to share the same sentiment. Del and Marker both shook their heads.

"We need to be rational about this, boys." Del said. Marker nodded, and turned to Coric.

"Coric, can Droidbait, Nax, and Ridge walk?" He asked. Coric looked up at him and nodded. "Good. We can't stay in this position. Too dark. Too many droids inbound." Marker decided. Fives stepped forward.

"But Bait is injured, sir!" He exclaimed. Marker nodded.

"I know, Fives. But we have a mission at hand. We need to get above ground and take our targeted shield generators. Us taking the capital depends on it." Marker stated firmly.

"But-" Before Fives could continue, he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Let it rest, Fives. I'm okay." Droidbait said, wincing as he pulled even with Fives. "Now. Let's find a way out of these sewers." He said.

"I like where your head's at, Bait." Marker said. He pointed to Halo. "Halo. Find us a path out of here." He ordered. Halo nodded and began yelling out directions. Beta and Alpha started running through the sewers. Fives took to the rear as he ran, making sure Droidbait would be okay. The crazy kriffer had tried to take a grenade blast to the back for him. Fives would make sure he didn't pull any stunts like that again.

Cutup POV, Location: Shield Generator

The group sat crouches behind some crates a few yards away from the shield generator. They gathered around Marker to hear their plan of attack. Cutup sat crouched anxiously alongside Hevy and Echo.

"Okay. We just need a few grenades to take this thing out. It looks like it has some heavy firepower guarding it." Marker stated. Cutup glanced over the crate at the two tanks and B2 battle droids guarding the shield generator. Heavy firepower was an understatement. Marker gestured to each member of the group.

"Echo. Hevy. Halo. Distract the enemy. Concentrate their fire on your position. Fives and I will provide cover fire from the left. Cutup will provide it from the right. Rift will sneak up from behind and blow up the shield generator with grenades while the clankers are distracted. Coric, stay here and protect Droidbait." Marker ordered. Cutup nodded, affirming that he understood the Sarge's orders. Droidbait on the other hand, shook his head vigorously.

"No, sir. I can do this. No need to coddle me." Droidbait said. Marker shook his head.

"No, Bait. You're resting here with Coric, and that's an order." Marker said. Droidbait sighed, and Marker gave the signal for all of them to move out. Before Cutup started crawling to his position, Coric lightly punched him in the shoulder for good luck. Cutup nodded his appreciation before moving along.

Cutup crouched behind wall of crates, his eyes narrowed as he surveyed the battlefield ahead. Hevy, Halo, and Echo moved with precision, their movements calculated as they advanced towards the looming droids and tanks. The three paused, waiting for Marker's signal to advance. Cutup double checked that he had his rifle ready, and watched through the scope.

Ten B2 battle droids stood sentinel around the generator, their sleek metal frames glaring in the harsh sunlight. Two tanks, massive and menacing, flanked the droids, cannons ready to unleash heavy fire upon any who so much as approached the shield generator. Cutup was starting to lose faith in the plan fast. But he had to trust Marker. The Sergeant knew what he was doing. Cutup looked to where Marker and Fives were positioned.

With a subtle gesture, Marker signaled to the men, and Cutup's heart pounded with anticipation. He adjusted the scope of his blaster rifle, his gaze fixed on the nearest droid. As Hevy, Halo, and Echo started their advance on the droids. Hevy let out a warcry, just to make sure the droids knew he was here. Yeah, way to distract, Hevy, Cutup thought.

As the B2's realized the clone's presence, Cutup provided cover fire from his vantage point, each shot ringing as he hit his mark. The droids reacted with mechanical precision, returning fire with lethal accuracy. Cutup didn't know how the hell they programmed the things to be so damn accurate. Luckily, while most of the droids were lethal, they were also stupid, so he guessed that evened the playing field. Bolts of blaster fire whizzed through the air, sparking against the crates nearby Echo, Halo, and Hevy. One of the B2's approached Halo, and Cutup steadied his rifle and fired. The B2 clattered to the ground as Halo looked behind him, spotting Cutup and giving him a nod. Cutup gave him a two fingered salute in response.

Hevy, Halo, and Echo pressed on, their movements coordinated and fluid as they engaged the droids in close combat. Fives and Marker were providing cover fire well, and most of the B2's had been disposed of. On the battlefield, Cutup watched and felt a swell of pride as he saw Echo take aim and gun the last one down.

Suddenly, one of the tanks lurched forward, its cannons swiveling to target Hevy and Halo who had pushed ahead. Cutup's heart skipped a beat as he took aim, his finger tightening on the trigger. He let off a few shots, damaging the tank, but not destroying it. Suddenly, he saw Hevy jump onto the tank and toss open the hatch, letting loose an array of blaster fire upon the turret operator. Hevy let out a laugh as he did so. Cutup just smirked. His brother was one heck of a fighter.

But their victory was short-lived as the second tank unleashed a barrage of firepower, the ground trembling beneath its mighty treads. Cutup gritted his teeth and opened fire on the tank, targeting its weapon's system. Suddenly, the tank swiveled towards him and fired. Cutup let out a yell as he dove away from the crates he had been hiding behind. The blast echoed behind him as he felt himself hit the ground roughly. Knowing the tank would let off another shot, Cutup scurried up from the ground, picked up his rifle, and ran. He looked down towards the battlefield to see Hevy, Echo, and Halo closing in on the tank. Cutup began approaching them, aiming his rifle towards the enemy. Hevy threw open the second tank's hatch as he climbed atop it, and Cutup, with a precise shot, shot the turret operator right through it's droids eyes.

"Is that all of them?" Cutup asked carefully. There was silence, and then they all jumped as the shield generator erupted in a giant fiery explosion of fury. Cutup stumbled back a bit, surprised at the magnitude of it. Rift walked up to the group that was on the field.

"Like my handiwork?" He asked.

"Looks good to me!" A voice called out. Cutup looked to see Droidbait hobbling over to them, being supported by Coric. Beside them, Fives and Marker approached. Marker removed his helmet, a clear look of pride on his face.

"Good work, boys. That was the last of the city's shield generators. Now Master Tinn can begin his aerial assault." Marker reported.

"And we can get off this rock!" Hevy cheered. Marker nodded.

"You've all done a great service to the Republic today. This campaign hasn't been without its losses, but we do make a great team. I'll be happy to fight beside you for many campaigns to come." Marker smiled. Cutup beamed happily as the squad stood in a circle as the fires of the shield generator burned brightly behind them. "To Alpha Squad!" Marker yelled. All of the boys raised their weapons happily towards the sky as they began to see Republic fighters in the distance.

"TO ALPHA SQUAD!"