Dear Reader, A short chapter before Thanksgiving. Very busy lately, but I hope I can start posting more frequently after the holidays. Still, I'd like to be done with Umbara by the end of the year. Enjoy! CS

Chapter 97 Towards the Capitol

"Always do everything you ask of those you command."

General George S. Patton

The main road was eerily quiet. Unnaturally quiet. Never a good sign.

Jesse had been around long enough to recognize the difference between an easy silence and a silence that could not be trusted. This silence most certainly fell into the latter category. Normally, such a situation would have aroused his concern, but he would not have feared or dreaded the advance. With General Skywalker and Captain Rex at the leading edge, and his squad mates at his side, he would have felt fairly secure in the undertaking – or at least, at peace with the idea that he would die in good company.

But that was not the case on this mission. General Skywalker had been called away. And although Jesse always considered himself level-headed and generous in his appraisals of others, he could find no better description of General Krell than that he was an egomaniacal bastard whose drive for victory stemmed not from a desire to further the war effort but from the desire to bolster his own reputation and standing.

As if that were not enough, add to it the fact that Captain Rex was letting the general tread all over him. He wasn't standing up for his men. He wasn't standing up for General Skywalker's plans. He was giving in way too easily. This wasn't the Rex Jesse had known over the past two years.

But then, that wasn't really fair. Jesse could not deny that his own view of the current situation was being colored by what was going on with his own squad. With Pitch and Kix now up and walking alongside himself and Hardcase, he had imagined he would feel a bit more at ease. He'd even had a sort of apologetic air-clearing with Kix. Yet, things were not right. They hadn't been right in a long time, not since Top had to take his new position—

"Sir, why aren't we sticking to the original plan and probing the city defenses?"

It was Tup who had asked the question. He and Dogma had been walking slightly behind Jesse as the column moved towards the city. Jesse had heard them talking in low voices, but he hadn't paid much attention; he'd been too engrossed in his own thoughts.

Now, Tup's inquiry brought him out of his self-absorption; but before he could say anything, Hardcase spoke up.

"We can do this. Let's take 'em."

Jesse chuckled. "Yeah, leave it to Hardcase to dive in headfirst."

Fives, up ahead, turned and spoke definitively. "The General's new plan is reckless."

Dogma averred. "You ever think that maybe the General knows what he is doing?"

Fives did not bother responding. Instead, he sidled up next to Rex. "I know you think this is a bad idea."

Rex replied evenly. "I raised my objection to General Krell's plan, but he didn't agree. So, this is it."

But Fives wasn't ready to give up that easily. He respected Rex. He admired him more than he admired any other leader, including General Skywalker. And the part of him that harbored respect also knew that he would be doing everyone a disservice if he did not voice what many of his fellow troopers were thinking but would never say. He felt it was incumbent upon him to show that sometimes it was necessary to question authority. He just hated the fact that it was Rex he was putting on the spot.

"What if he's wrong? Then what?"

Regardless of what Fives might be thinking regarding his role in questioning authority, Rex made clear, by his answer, that he was in no mood to accommodate a discussion. He was already contending with the fact that Krell's plan had called for an approach strategy that he simply could not comprehend in that four companies had been sent along the main road as a spear point while the rest had been held in reserve with General Krell from the relative safety of an observation point. The decision had infuriated Rex to no end, but there had been nothing he could say to change the general's mind.

His response to Fives was more curt than he'd intended. "This isn't the time for a debate. Right now, we have to stay alert."

The battalion continued to advance, a walker in the lead, the men walking in two loose columns.

"Enh, it's too quiet out there." Tup once again.

Then, as if in answer to Tup's assertion, the night and the silence were blasted asunder by two consecutive explosions. From within their midst on the roadway, great clouds of debris went up and then came wafting down in the dust-laden smoke.

Rex and Fives dropped down onto their stomachs – an action for which Rex immediately berated himself. He knew damned well that the explosions had been caused by mines and that a crouch was the proper stance following a detonation, as opposed to throwing one's body on the ground—a posture that increased the likelihood of contact with another explosive device.

His error only drove deeper the effect this place was having on him. Being constantly on edge was dulling his sharpness, muddying his reflexive reactions.

Beside him, Fives shouted, "Mines! Nobody move!"

Everyone was perfectly still for a few brief seconds, then Rex got to one knee and motioned his men to check on the fallen.

There were two troopers, clearly injured, lying awkwardly in the road. The two troopers nearest them moved in for a better look.

"Oz is down."

"So is Ringo."

Rex knew the difference between "down" and "dead." When a soldier was unmistakably dead, there would be no hesitancy to say so, to use the word. Down, on the other hand, covered the remaining possibilities, from injury to uncertainty of a soldier's condition.

"Get a medic up here," Rex ordered. "Make sure someone clears the path ahead of him."

He then turned to Fives. "Can you sweep 'em?"

Fives withdrew a device from his belt. It was a crude form of bomb detector, one that scanned for changes in composition versus actual explosive material. But it was what most non-EOD soldiers carried and was considered sufficient in a pinch.

As he swept the beam across the road, he felt his throat tighten. There were bombs—or what looked like bombs—all across this stretch of road for at least the next ten meters, which was as far as the beam reached.

"There are more over here. Looks like the whole road's been booby-trapped," he warned, wishing very much that someone like Pitch were up there with him at the moment. An EOD specialist would have better equipment and know better what he was looking at.

Rex opened a battalion-wide channel. "Everyone, we've got mines up here. Each company, put your EODs up front. And watch your step."

Very slowly, the lead elements began moving forward again behind Fives' careful probing of the road, but they'd gone no more than a few steps when the tell-tale sign of enemy mortar fire—the ringing bell-like sound—met their ears, and an explosion much greater than those generated by the land mines obliterated one side of the road behind them as the mortar made impact.

All hell broke loose as the Umbarans opened fire. The land mines had been an ambush bottleneck, meant to slow down the advance and trap the Republic troops along a stretch of road where they couldn't even be sure where to take cover due to the presence of the mines.

It was a classic tactic, one that Rex had feared might be lying in wait.

And now, his fears were being realized.

"We're completely exposed!" Tup shouted, sounding panicked and very Shinie-like.

"Hold your ground!" Rex ordered, his own twin pistols drawn and blazing in his hands. He was finding it hard to pick out targets in the murky light, but if he followed the path of incoming blaster fire, he could at least have some hope of hitting marks.

Hardcase, on the other hand, was not interested in precision or finesse. He had his weapon on fully automatic and was blasting away with abandon. "You want a piece of this?!"

Another mortar came in, barely missing where Kix had been trying to drag the still-alive but gravely injured Ringo off the road into the meager protection of a cluster of short, thick-stemmed trees.

But while the round may have missed Kix, it sent two other troopers flying. And so, as soon as Kix got Ringo out of the line-of-fire, he headed back out to check on the other two. He heard Jesse over his helmet comm.

"I think Hardcase made 'em mad."

Kix grit his teeth in anger. There was something in Jesse's voice—an unserious, dismissive humor—that struck him as terribly out of place. Or, maybe it only seemed out of place coming from Jesse. The Jesse Kix knew would never make light of a situation like this. He would never resort to gallows humor. He would never—

"Get your fekking head down unless you want it blown off!"

Kix felt someone grab him and pull him down behind a pile of twisted metal that was all that remained of one of the walkers. Turning, he saw it was Double Barrell.

"There's a man down over there," Kix protested. "I need to get to him."

"There are men down everywhere," DB replied. "You'll be one of them if you're not careful."

"I need to get over there!"

"You won't make it," DB warned. "They're going to overrun our position. We need your firepower right now."

Kix hesitated for a moment, but then he unslung his weapon and fell in beside DB. "After this, you're going to help me bring them in." It was not a request.

"You know I will," DB replied.

As the battle continued, the Umbarans closed the distance until they were engaging at point-blank range, even going so far as to attack with hand-to-hand combat. No matter where along the road the four hundred men of the four companies were making a stand, they were finding themselves being overwhelmed. Losses were mounting.

Rex had lost count of how many Umbarans he had already killed, and yet more kept coming. They were fearless and maniacally aggressive—a result of the gas, no doubt—and they gave no indication of weakening in the course of their attack.

"You will not stop, and you will not turn back, regardless of the resistance you meet. That is my order, and you will follow it explicitly. Do I make myself clear, CT-7567?"

Yes, the general had made himself abundantly clear.

"Regardless of the resistance . . . "

"They're coming from all directions!" Rex recognized Dogma's voice somewhere on the periphery of his awareness.

"We don't have any cover!" This was from Fives.

"You will not turn back . . . "

To hell with that. Staying on the road would mean the complete annihilation of his companies. He was not going to let that happen, not when other options were available. He would deal with General Krell later. "We need to Fall back! Get them to follow us! If we can draw them out, we can see them. "

Jesse took up the train of logic. "If we can see them, we can hit them!"

"All squads, fall back now!" Rex shouted, and there was no missing the desperation in his voice.

From his vantage point on a promontory overlooking the road, General Krell could see what was going on below. And he was not at all pleased.

"Feeble-minded clones," he groused. Then, turning to Lieutenant Sixer, whom he had held in reserve command with the remaining four companies, "Get in there and save their necks."

Sixer dutifully advanced his companies. As he headed down towards the road, Sempe at his side, he turned to his long-time squad mate and friend, "If Krell had sent all companies together, we wouldn't be in this situation."

Sempe went one further. "If he'd stuck with General Skywalker's original plan, we wouldn't be in this situation."

"Get ready. Here they come!" Fives warned.

The Umbarans had pursued the retreating clones nearly two kilometers down the road. The rear companies had been forced off the road altogether and taken up positions in the woods on the west side. Now, as the leading elements came even with the area where the rear elements had gone into the woods, Rex had felt this was a good place to make a stand. The rear elements were able to join with the forward elements in forming a cordon across the road and a west flanking ambush.

As Rex set the stage, he left it to Fives to "keep them coming." And Fives, along with a handful of men, had done just that. He'd made sure the Umbarans continued their pursuit by lagging back just enough to string them along.

As soon as Fives' bait element had cleared the front line, Rex gave the order. "Hit 'em with everything you've got."

The air grew increasingly vaporous from the sheer volume and heat of blaster fire. Blue and green streaks cast their own light through the spaces in between the warring armies.

"We're right behind you, Captain Rex."

Rex recognized Sixer's voice.

"Good, good," Rex replied with more calm than he felt. "We've taken heavy losses. I need more firepower." But then he noticed, with muted surprise, that the green streaks were coming with less frequency.

He heard Hardcase laughing, "Where you going? Get back here!"

A glance showed him Hardcase still firing furiously and almost gleefully.

"They're falling back!" Fives called out.

And slowly, the sounds of battle faded, turning what had only moments before been a raging inferno into the quiet smolder of dying embers.

Embers easily reignited.

General Krell, not once seen during the course of the battle, now stormed past the bemused troopers and went straight to Rex, who had barely holstered his own weapons.

"CT-7567, do you have a malfunction in your design?"

Rex, his expression gratefully hidden beneath his helmet, turned and regarded his commanding officer.

Krell continued his tirade. "You pulled your forces back from taking the capitol city. The enemy now has control of this route. This entire operations has been compromised because of your failure!" As he spoke, he jabbed the captain in the chest several times, knocking him back.

But while Rex absorbed this indignity, Fives had seen more than he could tolerate.

"General Krell," he ground out. "In case you haven't noticed, Captain Rex just saved this platoon! Surely you won't fail to recognize that."

General Krell's response was unexpected and shocking. He withdrew one of his two dual light sabers and ignited the green blade and held it over Fives' shoulder.

"ARC-5555." His voice was low, cool, and assured in the threat being conveyed. "Stand down."

More angry than fearful, Fives stepped away. "Sir, yes, Sir," he sneered with disgust.

Rex, seeing that things were getting out of hand, stepped forward. The last thing he needed was a confrontation between General Krell and Fives. There was no question how such a contest would end. And truth be told, he did not need Fives—or anyone else—standing up for him. He was perfectly capable of speaking on his own behalf. But unlike Fives, he also knew when to speak, how to pick his battles, and when to show the proper amount of emotion.

He did so now.

"Sir, if I may address your accusation," he began, maintaining his professional decorum. "I followed your orders, even in the face of a plan that, in my opinion, was severely flawed. A plan that cost us men!" He removed his helmet and his voice rose. "Not clones, men!" He paused as Krell turned to face him. As he prepared to speak again, the quiet came back to his voice, the tenor of the obedient soldier. He had made his point with inflection. Now, he drove the point home using the earnestness that had been his trademark as far back as ARC training school. "As sure as it is my duty to remain loyal to your command, I also have another duty . . . to protect those men."

And if Rex were any judge, his words appeared to have an effect. The general seemed to be listening and absorbing. His next worlds were taken as confirmation of this.

"You have a spark of tenacity, Captain, I'll give you that," Krell conceded. "I know I don't command like the Jedi you're used to serving, certainly not like General Skywalker, but I have my way. It may be difficult, but these are difficult times. And it's proven effective." A pause. "I suppose your loyalty to your men is to be commended. They seem to admire this. That's important to an effective commander. Alright, Captain Rex, your opinion has been noted. Dismissed." With that, he turned and walked back towards the rear.

It did not go unnoticed by Rex—and those within earshot—that this marked the general's first use of Rex's rank and name as opposed to his number. Yet, it did not make Rex feel like he had any more solid footing than before. He viewed the general's approbation as conditional, and that was no way to head into battle – wondering when the support would be pulled out from under him.

Fives approached. "I think he almost complimented you."

Rex was not willing to go that far. "Enh, it's hard to tell."

The ringing sound of enemy fire suddenly rose up.

"Incoming!" Hardcase shouted an instant before the mortar impacted in the midst of a group of clones not more than ten meters from where Rex was standing.

The battle was on again.

Rex lamented his battalion's failure to pursue them as they retreated earlier. The minutes of Krell's dressing down could have been used to chase down and destroy the enemy. Now, instead, the Umbarans were launching another attack.

Rex's voice was cool as he spoke over his battalion-wide comm. "The Umbarans must have regrouped for a counter attack. Everyone, we must hold this position."

Fives had other things on his mind besides holding the position. He was thinking of the objective. "You think General Krell still intends on taking the capitol using this strategy?"

Rex answered truthfully. "I don't know. I'll get back to you on that if we survive this battle."