"The capital city's too fortified; we need your battalions to help us take it! We've gathered intel on an airbase to the west; it is resupplying the capital's defenses. If you could capture that airbase it would sever the capital's supply line, allowing the rest of our forces to move in...remember, the entire operation depends on your battalions."

As Zelina stood on the edge of the cliff, she thought back on Obi-Wan's words about the said airbase just a few klicks away. Beside her stood Rex, Cruiser...and Krell, unfortunately. The tension between the two still had not eased, and Zelina doubted that it would. Krell was too blindly set in his ways, and she had already gathered that he was used to being obeyed no matter what; something he wasn't going to find with her.

Zelina glanced back at the 501st and the 105th while Rex did a scope of the forces guarding the airbases. The 501st was obviously worn and downtrodden, while her 105th just seemed slightly weary; she'd been making sure that they didn't end up in the same perils that Krell kept putting the 501st in, but they still had to keep up with the 501st and make sure they didn't suffer the casualties Zelina was sure they would suffer if they were left alone with Krell. She shook her head sadly, turning her attention back to the sprawling, rocky, misty landscape in front of her filled with the strange red glowing, twisting plants all around them.

"There's a base there all right," Rex was saying. "And it's heavily guarded. At least three tank divisions, plus guns."

"We'll advance along the central gorge," Krell said with a definitive nod. "And engage their forces on a full-forward assault."

Zelina fixed Krell with a sharp eyes as Rex kneeled down to take a look at the gorge. "Your last full-forward assault didn't go so well Krell; I don't think that's the best option here."

Rex chipped in. "The gorge is narrow, Sir. We'll only be able to move our platoons in single squads...Perhaps a closer recon will tell us if there's a more secure route."

"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," Krell growled, turning away. Instead, he found Zelina standing firmly in his path.

"Have you learned nothing, Krell?" she asked him with a cocked eyebrow. "One of the most basic principles we're taught as a Jedi is patience, yet all I seem to hear from you is the excuse that there's no time so we can only do the most reckless and casualty littering options. If the men do a recon, they can find a quick, easy, and efficient way with the least casualties."

She bit back her smart-mouthed comment about Krell obviously not valuing life as he should.

Krell's expression darkened. "Do what you will with your battalion, Du'ahn, but I am in charge of the 501st; and they're going through that gorge."

Krell stepped around her, and Zelina glared openly at his retreating back before she turned to Rex and Cruiser, who were watching her expectantly. Zelina sighed, running a hand down her face. "All right Captains...Rex...go ahead and follow Krell's orders...for now. I'll send some of my men ahead to find a better route, as well as infiltrate the base. The rest of us will stay just within reach so that if you need support—which I doubt Krell will give—you've got it."

Rex snapped to attention. "Thank you General." Zelina nodded.

"At ease. Cruiser, send Dash, Aalto, and Salvor to infiltrate and scout. I want Gambit, Bruiser, Keen-eye, Pollix, and you up front with me when we set out. Nex, Hardball, Zedge, Var, and Darrius I want to lead the group on one side of the 501st; keep out of sight and out of the way, but on hand should I make the call. We'll be on the opposite side, and we'll both make a wide berth to come up on the base's sides but stay close enough to the 501st so we'll be there if they need us..."

************************************

Everyone was in their assigned positions, and Dash had recently made contact to inform Zelina that they were nearly at the airbase. She'd given them strict instructions to get into the base quietly without drawing any attention, and hoped that they would succeed in being quite. That's why she hadn't assigned Hardball and Gambit to that mission; she knew they tended to be a little more...flamboyant and loud.

Zelina cast a disdainful glance back towards the cliff, quite a ways away from where they were now. Of course, Krell was staying back and watching the proceedings from a distance, not even taking part in the danger that he was forcing upon the men like any other General would have the decency to do. Even Yoda in his eight hundred something years with his cane and tiny form stayed right up front with his men. Then again...it was Yoda.

Pollix, Bruiser, Gambit, Keen-eye, and Cruiser stayed right behind her as they crept through the strange Umbaran terrain, with Zelina keeping her Force senses attuned to the land in an attempt not to be surprised by the Umbarans. Cruiser quickened his pace until he was right beside Zelina.

"General, if I may have permission to speak?" Cruiser asked, his voice slightly muffled by his helmet. Zelina cocked an eyebrow at him, appraising the Captain.

"You know you don't have to ask permission Cruiser, go ahead and tell me what's on your mind," Zelina said slowly. Whatever was bouncing around the Captain's head, it had to be good for him to ask to speak.

"I'm just wondering ma'am...it seems like your starting to purposely counter General Krell's orders," Cruiser said slowly.

"When I deem them idiotic, yes," Zelina said, glancing at him again.

"I was just wondering; is Krell truly your superior? He said the first day that he was above you because he was a Master in the Jedi Order but you're not...is that true? Is he really your superior? If so, what's going to happen because you keep undermining his orders?"

Zelina turned his words over a few times in her mind. "In the Jedi Temple, yes, he's a Master, and I'm just the humble, still learning Jedi Knight. But on the battlefield, just like I said, we're on even ground, and we're both Generals. We both have the same amount of jurisdiction out here...though truthfully, I've never been in this position on the battlefield. If he was to take this entire ordeal as a complaint to the Council...I actually don't know what would happen. Maybe they'd look into it; if only to keep the peace, maybe I'd get a firm reprimand...I don't know."

Cruiser was quiet for several heartbeats. "Why didn't you counter Krell's order to go down the gorge?"

"Because; I can't just counter every bad call he makes, it'll start looking like I'm looking for excuses to undermine him. Pick your battles wisely, Captain; a lesson best learned before you get caught up in war, and a lesson I learned before I was six. So those orders I can't counter...I'll just do my best to make less devastating, like right now. What the 501st can't do for themselves, I'll try to do for them. Like Rex wanting to scout ahead; Krell won't let the 501st scout ahead, so I'll send some of the 105th to scout and share the information with Rex so he can use it to the advantage of the 501st."

Cruiser absorbed her words in silence for several long moments, nodding slowly. "I see your point General."

Zelina inclined her head. "Everything I do usually has a purpose Cruiser. If it doesn't have a purpose, it's because I'm acting on a prompting in the Force and I don't know the purpose yet."

Cruiser didn't say anything, and Zelina had to stifle a small smile. Cruiser didn't understand the ways of the Force, but he did his best to understand the way his General operated, knowing that the Force was a big part of her life.

Suddenly, Zelina stopped. She had a faint sense of warning that was growing steadily stronger, and she held up a hand to signal that everyone else should stop as well. No one said a word, simply waited for her call as Zelina tilted her head to the left in the direction of the 501st, narrowing her eyes.

"Keen-eye," she said suddenly. The trooper was at her side in an instant. "See what's going on down there."

Keen-eye didn't argue; he looked through the scope on his rifle. "It's all quiet General...wait...something's going on, Captain Rex had the men stop for some reason..."

As soon as he said that, Zelina and her group felt a telltale tremor in the ground, one that was obviously mild compared to the tremor that knocked several members of the 501st to their knees down below. Zelina maintained her balance, staring down into the gorge with narrowed eyes.

Keen-eye swore.

Down below, giant, armored, centipede shaped...things, driven by Umbarans, started to erupt from the ground right in the path of the 501st. Guns adorned their back and the head of the centipede weapons and, as it was soon discovered to everyone's horror, the thing was also ray-shielded. Zelina's mind jumped several places at once as she observed their current predicament. The normal weapons obviously didn't work, she could already see that from her spot up a ridge roughly a klick away...

"Get some rocket launchers up here!" she shouted back. "Cruiser, relay that order to Nex on the other side!"

"Yes ma'am!" Cruiser said, his personal com unit already in his hand. Zelina watched as a few more of the centipede machines burst through the ground.

"Let's get that firepower up here fast!" Zelina shouted urgently just as some of the rocket launchers arrived. Zelina took one and handed it to Keen-eye while she took another for herself, aiming down below with her own well practiced ease and with a little help from the Force to be sure she didn't miss. "Aim for the heads," she shouted.

Her and Keen-eye fired about the same time.

Two of the centipede creatures went up in a fiery display, leaving three more to take care of. While Keen-eye and Zelina re-loaded, two shots came from the other side. One missed, but the other hit home and narrowed the targets down to two. Zelina ground her teeth; hopefully her men hadn't given their position away too soon.

"General, I've just received word from Dash that they've infiltrated the airbase," Cruiser reported as Zelina straightened up to take aim again.

"Good, tell them to await my orders; I don't think we need what I have in mind yet. See if they've found a safer route into the base."

BOOM.

Another centipede creature went down, courtesy of Keen-eye. The 501st were taking cover, though it looked like they hadn't had that many casualties; or at least not as many as Zelina suspected they would have had if Zelina battalions weren't on the ridges on either side of them.

"We're going to have to make good time and get a new position so we don't fine the enemy bearing down on us too, now that we've given our position away," Zelina told Cruiser right before she pulled the trigger. The last centipede creature went up in flames down below. Zelina sighed, handing the rocket launcher back to the trooper that had brought the guns up to the front in the first place. She could feel the relief and gratitude down below from the 501st.

"I didn't know you could handle such a heavy weapon, General," Keen-eye said in a tone that caused Zelina's eyebrows to rise. Several of the other troopers snickered at the look that she gave Keen-eye as she shook her head.

"So many smart comebacks, so little time," she said in a mock mournful tone. In the next instant she was serious again. "Come on troopers, we need to double time; we don't want the enemy to know our position on these ridges so that we can continue to give the 501st cover."

As they set out again, Cruiser appeared by her side. "General; Dash reported that the airbase was heavily fortified all the way around, but it's possible to use the trees to get inside the base. Some thermal detonators placed along the base of those trees, when blown, could also take out sections of the base's electric fencing. They were able to get in without any body count on either side, so for now they're well hidden."

"And they'll stay hidden until I give the command," Zelina said firmly. "I have the feeling we might need some of that Umbaran high tech in that airbase. Three, however, isn't enough to take it down, so they're not to make any strategic moves right now other than to stay hidden. Get me in contact with Captain Rex so I can tell him what I have in mind."

Cruiser made the connection, handing the device over to Zelina as Rex's small blue figure showed up on the handheld device. "General Du'ahn; I want to thank you for covering us back there. You saved a lot of lives."

Zelina smiled just slightly. "Don't mention it Captain. I wanted to tell you that some of my men are already in the airbase and awaiting further orders. When we get to the base they can sabatoge it from the inside, and if we need to they can hijack some of those lovely aircraft the Umbarans have been using on us as well."

"That sounds like a plan to me General," Rex said, the smile obvious in his voice. Another trooper appeared within range of his com.

"Sir, we've got a problem," the trooper said. Zelina looked up, back down into the gorge, just in time to see a plasma blast come flying through the air.

"Get down!" Rex shouted, and the link was abruptly cut short as the plasma blast made an impact. Zelina traced it's path back to two large six-legged machines that were stomping through the gorge menacingly, advancing mercilessly upon the troopers that were trapped in the narrow space. Plasma bolt after plasma bolt rained down on the 501st, and Zelina whipped around to her men.

"Rockets! Again! Now!" she shouted. They were in her hand the next instant, and she took, aim, fired...

It didn't do any damage.

With a frustrated growl, Zelina handed the weapon back to the trooper who had handed it to her. "Keep them as distracted from those men down in the gorge as you can; I'm going to go down there and see what I can do. Cruiser, tell Dash that now would be a good time for that air support," Zelina said, unhooking her lightsabers from her belt. "Relay those orders to the other side as well, and try not to hit me too."

"Yes ma'am!" Echoed throughout the group, and Zelina took off in a sprint enhanced by the Force towards the two gigantic machines, taking in the plasma cannons on the top, the laser cannons, the eight legs...

Zelina could feel the rapid-fire of deaths in the Force as the machines laid waste to the 501st, and by the time she reached the machines she was set in fierce determination to take the two monstrosities down as soon as possible.

Like some possessed rat-monkey, Zelina climbed up one of the machine's legs, flexing backwards and grabbing on with both her legs and her arms at different points in her climb. Once she'd made it to the top, Zelina activated her lightsabers; the Umbaran's panic could be felt clearly through the Force at the sight of the Jedi weapons. She imbedded her green shoto blade into the top of the machine to keep herself firmly on top of the machine, and then used her violet blade to cut right through the plasma gun, effectively putting it out of commission. She heard the troops give a relieved cry of victory down below at having one less plasma gun to worry about, and couldn't help but smile a little at the sound before she pulled her shoto blade out of the top of the machine, using the Force to propel herself to the top of the second machine and repeat the same process; at least now they didn't need to worry about the plasma guns.

Zelina deactivated her shoto blade so she could maneuver to a different spot on the machine, but it seemed the Umbaran had been waiting for that, because on a signal from the first machine, the machine Zelina was on suddenly lurched, and Zelina was sent tumbling down towards the ground. She landed flat on her back with a grunt, rolling out of the way of one descending foot, another...

Halfway through a roll, both of the machines shot a laser at her to keep her from rolling out of their reach, and her vision was suddenly filled with the sight of one of the machine's legs. On pure instinct alone, Zelina's hands shot out in front of her and she called on the Force. The foot froze in midair just mere centimeters from crushing Zelina, and she was suddenly very aware of the fact that her heart was pounding erratically in her chest, her breathing shallow, her eyes wide.

She needed to calm; she needed to calm, and lift this thing enough to give her a chance to get out from under it.

Calm...calm in the middle of a battle field; how did she calm down in these near death moments?

She thought of Anakin.

You look absolutely gorgeous...

The foot lifted a little higher.

"I'm just standing here, trying to look pretty." "You're doing amazing then."

Dirt fell on her face as the foot lifted a little higher; she could hear the troopers shouting, but her focus was not broken.

"...Strange dream...felt so...real...thought...Padme was...with me...thought she...kissed me...it...felt so real...so nice...pleasant..."

The foot rose even higher, and she could breathe comfortably again. She couldn't move though; she was too focused that moving might break that focus and get her crushed.

"...Hey, it's alright Zelina, I'm here, nothing's going to hurt you...I'm here..."

Tightening her grip on the foot and strengthening her resolve, Zelina slowly rose up to one knee.

"Thank you...I'm honored, really, I am..."

With a powerful shove, Zelina bought herself enough time to launch herself backwards and out from under the foot, which landed with a heavy crash where she'd been just moments before. She found herself grasped in strong arms and pulled to safety, looking up to see it was Rex. Once he'd stopped dragging her, she stood up, brushing herself off.

"Thank you Rex; I owe you one," she said breathlessly, holding out her hand and reaching out with the Force to call her fallen lightsabers to her hand. Once they were both securely in her grip, she hooked the shoto to her waist and activated the other.

"You don't owe me anything General Du'ahn," Rex told her with a sharp nod. "That was rather impressive."

"It wasn't easy either," Zelina replied, deflecting a few lasers that came flying their way.

"When's that air support supposed to be here?" Rex asked; he was hunkered down behind one of the trees, turning around every now and then to open fire on the giant machine.

"Just about...now," Zelina responded as the sound of aircraft finally reached their ears. Three Umbaran ships appeared, and a relieved shout rang through the gorge.

"The big guns have arrived Sir!" one of the troopers shouted. Zelina smiled.

"My boys have never let me down," she said with a grin as the three ships opened a relentless peel of fire on the two monstrosities, flying albeit a little wildly, but hitting true to their targets. "Get back!" she shouted, and everyone rapidly backed out of the way of the aircraft's fire and the now flaming machines. They ripped right into the machines, and soon explosions rent the air as the machines were finally defeated, kneeling over and exploding into thousands of pieces in a fiery wave that sent everyone to the ground for safety. Everyone slowly got to their feet, cheering on the three soldiers as they spun care-free through the sky, the three's shouts of excitement and adrenaline faintly reaching her ears.

Zelina placed a hand on Rex's shoulder. "Gather your men; I believe this was their main defense, so it should be a relatively clear shot to the airbase from here. I'll regroup with my men, we'll come at the base from the sides while you guys come down the middle. Once we're all safely on the base, I'll make sure your men get the much deserved and needed rest they've been due for a while."

"Thank you General; I can't begin to thank you for everything you've been doing for my men," Rex responded humbly. Zelina smiled.

"Call me Zelina," she said sincerely. "And on the thanks...just keep doing what you're doing; that's all the payment that I need," she said with a smile. She started to walk away, then turned to give them a two fingered salute.

"I'll see you all at the base," she called.

Rex nodded, turning to his men. "All right, move out!"

************************************************

The air base was firmly in Republic control, and Zelina stood comfortably with Cruiser, Dash, Aalto, Salvor, Rex, Hardcase of the 501st, and Fives, all talking about the flying from earlier.

"You saved a lot of lives. Despite Salvor's flying, you all did wonderful," Zelina said with a grin, chuckling at Salvor's offended look.

"Hey, I wasn't that bad; I was flying it upside down!" Salvor said in his defense.

"That's an accomplishment?" Zelina teased. "I thought that was a mistake?"

"Aalto was the one that looked green when he got out of the thing," Salvor shot. Aalto pursed his lips.

"At least I could fly the thing," Aalto shot back.

"Boys, boys," Zelina laughed. "You both did good, all right?"

Unfortunately, Krell chose that moment to appear. "Captain," he barked. "Report; what is our situation?"

You would know if you actually took part in the battle instead of cowering behind all the troopers you throw to the fire, Zelina couldn't help but think to herself.

Rex stepped forward. "General, we've taken the base and cut off enemy supply lines to the Capital," Rex said, standing straight and tall.

"Luck has smiled on you today Captain; consider yourselves...fortunate," Krell said.

That obviously rubbed everyone in the small group the wrong way.

"It wasn't all luck Sir; a lot of men died to take this base," Rex said firmly.

"The price for such victory; perhaps someday you'll realize this."

Rex didn't say anything. Instead, he clenched his fist.

"Dismissed," Krell said with a wave of his hand, turning his back on them.

"Perhaps one day you'll learn lives aren't something you just throw away," Zelina said in a low but deadly calm voice.

"He's the one who will never realize," Fives said just as quietly, and they all collectively stared after the Good General in mutual distaste.