004. THE GENERAL

∘₊✧───────────────────────────✧₊∘

BITS SLOWLY UNCOVERED HIS HEAD BY PULLING HIS HANDS AWAY FROM HIS EARS; HOWEVER, THEY IMMEDIATELY RETURNED TO THEIR ORIGINAL POSITION TO BLOCK OUT THE SCREAMS OF HIS BROTHERS FROM AN EXPLOSION THAT COULDN'T HAVE BEEN MORE THAN A FEW FEET AWAY. The Umbaran fighter pilots above were relentless in their attacks. Furthermore, their blasters had little impact on taking the machines down. Although muffled, he could still hear the shouts around him.

"We have got to move before those fighters come back."

"Rex! Rex, over here!"

"Jesse, take the right flank. Dogma, take the left flank."

He knew that he shouldn't have hunkered down into hiding behind some of the native plantlife; however, he couldn't face what awaited him once he stepped back out into the open. A hand grabbed his shoulder and he turned in confusion to face the individual that held him. Beneath his helmet, his eyes widened and his mouth gaped open in horror.

"Zephyr?" Bits whispered as if speaking to a ghost. Though, considering his batchmate had died on Devaron, he may as well have been. "Zeph, how—what—"

He was unable to formulate a full sentence and he was interrupted as the other clone's hand slid across his helmet. He collapsed in Bits's arms, creating a trail of blood as gravity dragged him toward the ground. His breathing hitched as he was shaken out of his daze to the concerned face of Skid.

The medic shook him once more for good measure. "Snap out of it, Bits!"

"Where's Zephyr?"

"Who?" Skid looked around in confusion before a look of realization crossed his face. Without hesitation, he pulled off Bits's helmet and shined a light into his eyes. "Zephyr's not here. Do you remember where we are?"

Bits slowly nodded his head. "U-Umbara."

Skid nodded his head. "You snapped into some sort of memory daze. Now there's several wounded that need my help. Are you going to be alright for a minute?"

Bits nodded his head again, this time quicker. Skid nodded in confirmation before throwing his helmet back over his head as he ran out into the open. Bits readjusted his helmet and slowly rose to his feet. His grip tightened around his blaster to hide the tremor of his hands.

"There you are, Shiny!" Burst exclaimed as if relieved. "Lost sight of you there for a while."

"Not a shiny," Bits mumbled half-heartedly under his breath.

"My bad, Rookie," Burst corrected himself before nudging Bits with his elbow as if urging him on to follow. "Ari wants us to regroup over by the general."

Bits nodded his head and proceeded to follow Burst where the general and the commander were hunkered down behind cover with a few other clones. However, he did take one last look downward at his chest plate to ensure it really had just been a trick of the mind. Although stained by mud and grime, there wasn't a drop of blood present. The commander looked up from the wounded soldier she stood beside, and a look of relief flashed across her face at the sight of the clones of the Shadow Squadron in one piece.

"You're going to be okay, buddy." The 501st medic jabbed a pain reliever into the neck of the wounded soldier. "This will ease the pain."

"The capital city's too fortified. We need your battalion to help us take it."

"Resistance from the Umbarans has been greater than anticipated," General Krell replied to the request of General Kenobi over the holocomm, "We're holding our ground at the moment."

"We've gathered intel on an airbase to the west. It is resupplying the capital's defenses."

"Incoming! Incoming!" Ace shouted to be heard as a series of explosives went off nearby. "Get down! Get down!"

"If you could capture that airbase, it will sever the capital's supply lines, allowing the rest of our forces to move in."

"I'll see to it that the airbase is placed under our control."

"Remember, General Krell, the entire invasion depends on your battalion."

"Captain Rex, Captain Ace," Krell looked between the pair of clones, "have those coordinates mapped and all troops ready to move out immediately."

"Yes, general." Rex nodded his head in affirmation. Ace looked back toward Burst and gestured for him to follow. Bits took a step closer to Skid as he watched Ace, Burst, Rex, and Fives follow the general to the edge of the cliff to recon the lay of the land ahead of them.

"What do you suppose they're strategizing?" Arimiya asked as she snuck up and joined the pair.

They both jumped in surprise, but Skid was the one to reply. "I suppose we'll find out soon enough. The general is fairly vocal about his plans."

However, they weren't given the satisfaction of an immediate plan. Instead, Krell gestured for Arimiya to join him at his side and the girl did without hesitation. Meanwhile, Rex and Ace gestured for the troops to press on. They walked a bit further before Rex held up a hand and the troops halted. He pulled off his helmet and stood before the group of soldiers that had gathered around. Ace joined him at his side.

"All right, listen up. We'll assemble the squads into two divisions. We'll move straight up this gorge towards the airbase at the far side."

It had taken a bit of time, but Bits had managed to learn the names of the soldiers who tended to stick close by Rex's side. He looked between them as they protested the insane strategy that had been proposed.

"The casualties are going to be high." Kix removed his helmet to show his displeased expression.

"Is Krell trying to get us killed?" Tup asked.

"You know, I wasn't sure that Krell was crazy before," Jesse scoffed, "but now, I'm positive."

"We had to retreat from the capital because the general pushed a flawed strategy," Fives agreed with what had been said, "Now this?"

"I don't know, could be fun." Hardcase grinned and lifted his Z-6.

"Well, I for one agree with the general's plan," Dogma disagreed with the group, "We're running out of time, and this is the best option."

"No recon? No air support?" Jesse questioned. "We don't know what we're up against. They have weapons we've never seen before."

"A few of General Skywalker's plans seemed reckless too," Rex pointed out, "but they worked."

"Yeah, but General Skywalker is usually leading his men up in the front," Fives pointed out accusingly, "not bringing up the rear like General Krell and his padawan."

Ace frowned at Fives's additional comment. He stepped forward and pressed a finger against his chest plate. "If you have an issue with the general, fine, but leave Commander Delaway out of it. She's got nothing to do with any of his decisions."

Fives frowned and spoke between grit teeth as he looked beyond Ace toward Rex. "A full-forward assault would leave us too exposed."

Rex looked around with concern as he noticed that the other troops began to mutter under their breath as they grew riled up. Rex gestured for Fives to step aside with him. "Fives..."

Burst leaned in closer to Ace and whispered, loud and harsh, "Even I know this is a terrible plan."

Ace held a finger up to his lips and pulled the others of Shadow Squad off to the side. "We keep our comments minimal and quiet. You all understand what happens when you step out of line."

Bits quickly nodded his head, and his mind went straight back to the first moment that they had met Krell. He couldn't help but shudder. However, in his brief absence of mind, it seemed that the others had wandered back over to Rex. Bits jogged to catch up with Rex, Fives, Hardcase, Ace, and Burst. Skid had walked off in the opposite direction to help Kix with some of the wounded. Unfortunately, by time he caught up with the group, Bits had already missed the important parts of the conversation.

"Is everyone clear on plan?" Rex asked, "Hardcase?"

"Yes, sir." Hardcase nodded.

"Fives? Are you clear?"

"Yeah," Fives begrudgingly agreed.

"All right, get in your groups." Rex stood and the others followed suit. "Let's move out."

Bits sighed as he was forced to jog back down the side of the hill as the others regrouped. Fives and Hardcase split off from the rest of the group. Burst gave Ace an affirmative nod and followed after the other two. Ace approached Skid and whispered something inaudible. Bits looked between the two directions torn. He took a deep breath and decided that it'd be best to split the squad evenly, so he followed after Burst.

"Everybody stay alert," Fives instructed, "Fingers on the trigger."

Several Banshees flew past overhead. Kix noted, "They look spooked."

The ground rumbled and Bits found it hard to keep his footing. "What the..."

A large metallic insect sprang forth from the ground. Burst grabbed the back of his arm and barely pulled Bits from harm's way in time.

"Oh, skrag!" Kix exclaimed, "Blast it!"

The creature mercilessly took out troops left and right with ease. Despite the continuous fire, no damage was made. Hardcase swore under his breath. "Its head is ray-shielded!"

"We need rocket launchers!" Five shouted before repeating the order into his comm, "Mayday, mayday! Rex, we need rocket launchers now!"

Bits looked over in time to see Burst laugh maniacally as he was handed one of the rocket launchers. He nodded toward Bits before setting up and taking aim. A moment later, the creature's head caught fire as Burst managed to hit his target.

However, Bits's eyes widened as one of the trees overhead came crashing down toward him. Noticing that Bits had frozen, Burst dove and pulled him away from being smashed for yet a second time.

Bits refused to open his eyes. "Am I dead?"

"Not yet." Burst groaned as he stood and dusted himself off. "Keep freezing up and you will be soon though."

"Everyone regroup, now!" Rex's voice called out. No one dared disobey. Each soldier sprinted toward cover as Rex and Ace motioned for them to pick up the pace.

"We're safe for the moment," Fives noted, "but they'll be coming around any second."

"Bring up the launchers," Rex instructed, "spread detonators along that corridor. Trap them into the bottleneck. We're going to blow those things sky high."

Without hesitation, Fives opened Kix's pack and began to hand out the detonators. "Hurry up, we only have a few seconds."

"Here they come!" Burst shouted to alert the others.

A chorus of united voices shouted to draw in the creatures. "Hey, come on! Over here!"

"Let's see how tough you are!" Burst goaded.

Once close enough, Rex manually turned on the explosives with a push of a button. Immediately, the creatures went up in flames. The troops didn't stick around long enough to watch though as they sprinted off to try and regain some ground to make their next strategy. Once the flames died down, they made their way back around to pick off the survivors while also trying to find some of their own.

The head of one of the creatures blinked with a few remnants of power remaining. Rex gestured toward it. "That one's still got some juice in it, waste it!"

"Sure." Hardcase took a knee before firing one of the few remaining rockets into the head. It exploded with green flames and the pilot flipped out onto the ground.

"No juice left in him either." Rex didn't take any chances and shot the Umbaran.

Kix sprinted off toward a flock of Banshees that had begun to scavenge from the scattered bodies on the ground. "Hey! Still hungry? Chew on that!"

Skid moved to run to his aid, but Ace prevented him. "Everyone, keep moving."

Rex addressed his own medic, "Hey, Kix, leave it... We've got a problem."

Several large tanks approached from around the bend and fired toward the troops. The large electrical blasts tore up the ground and the debris flew several feet in each direction.

"Fall back!" Rex commanded. "Fall back now!"

Krell's voice crackled over the comms. "Captain, continue your attack!"

"Sir, we're overpowered," Rex explained, "We need reinforcements!"

"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."

"Sir, we can't possibly—"

"You must stand your ground! Do you read me? Captain, are you listening? Do not fall back! That is an order!" The comm went silent as Krell cut off communications between them.

Bits winced at the sound of the nearby screams that erupted from the soldiers' mouths as they were vaporized instantly at the electrical contact. Skid placed a hand on his shoulder to comfort him before turning to help the injured.

Rex turned toward Kix. "Keep the wounded as quiet as possible. All right, you heard the General. Let's go."

"You can't be serious." Jesse turned back toward Rex.

"I used to think General Krell was reckless," Fives retorted, "but now I'm beginning to think he just hates clones."

"The Captain is right," Dogma insisted, "Now let's move out."

Rex took a step forward, but Fives held out a hand to stop him. "We can't take them head-on. We need to find another way."

"You got any ideas?" Rex asked but Fives only shook his head in response. "Then this is it."

"Okay. Let's do it!" Hardcase charged.

Bits took a deep breath and ran back out into the fray. The blue bolts from his blasters didn't make a dent, nor did the rocket launchers that Burst fired off from beside him.

Burst shouted out in frustration. "The rocket launchers don't work on these things!"

"Help me with the wounded!" Kix hollered as he dragged a soldier from the rubble. "We got to get these guys out of here."

"Forget it, we have to leave them!" Rex insisted and pulled Kix back by the shoulder.

"We can't just leave them, sir!" Kix tried to protest.

"You don't have a choice," Rex retorted, "That's an order!"

"You sound like General Krell," Kix muttered bitterly

"Look, Kix," Rex sighed, "it's more important to save yourself right now. If we survive, you can patch up the wounded later."

"We're finished." Tup looked toward the ground, realizing just how hopeless the situation was.

"We've still got some fight left in us, Tup," Rex contradicted, "and I've got an idea."

Fives moved closer, "What were you thinking?"

"Remember what you were saying about finding another way to destroy those tanks?" Rex asked.

"Yeah."

"Well, I have a mission for you." Rex motioned for Fives and Hardcase to step off to the side with him. Ace pulled Burst over and joined in on their conversation. The tone was kept quiet so that no one outside of their small group could overhear. Honestly, Bits found it frustrating.

"That could work," Ace said with a nod of his head as the group started to disband.

"It's the best we've got," Fives agreed, clearly more satisfied with their idea than with Krell's.

"See you soon then." Rex nodded his head. Fives and Hardcase snuck around the edge of the firefight and left the group.

As Burst turned to follow, Ace grabbed him by the arm and spoke in a low tone. "I don't like the idea of you going alone."

Burst checked his shoulder and Bits noticed a grin on his face, that quite frankly made him uneasy. "I'm not gonna be alone... I'll take the shiny with me."

"I'm sorry, what now?" Bits's eyes widened beneath his helmet.

Burst chuckled and threw his helmet back over his head. "I'll explain on the way."

A feeling of dread formed in the pit of his stomach. Only making matters worse, Ace shrugged and motioned for him to follow after Burst who had caught up with Fives and Hardcase. Bits took a deep breath but did as instructed and followed after Burst.

"What exactly are we doing?"

Although wearing a helmet, Bits could tell that Burst had given him a blank stare. "Um..."

"You don't remember?!" Bits asked incredulously.

"I may have been distracted," Burst admitted with a shrug.

"I'm gonna die," Bits spoke aloud to himself, "I'm gonna die alone in the dark."

"Have a little faith," Burst protested and slapped him on the back, "There's a chance that you wouldn't have survived any longer back with Ace and Skid."

Bits deflated. "How comforting."

They walked in silence a little while longer before Hardcase broke the silence. "The second they spot us, I start blastin'."

"Hardcase, can't you take it easy for once?" Fives asked, "Stick to the plan instead of guns blazing."

"I'm sorry," Hardcase apologized, "it's just how I am. My commander on Kamino said my growth acceleration chamber had a leak. Made me hyperactive, I guess."

"Is that what happened to you?" Bits sarcastically asked Burst as he referred to the clone's overly friendly attitude toward fighting.

Burst chuckled and shook his head. "Some say they left me in my pod too long, might explain the height difference... though it looks like you weren't left in yours long enough, Shiny."

"I'm not—" Bits tried to protest but was interrupted.

"Shh! There's the airbase." Fives held up a hand to stop the others from moving forward. "Hmm. Some kind of sensor wall. Use the tree to get over the sensor wall."

"Uh, how am I supposed to do this exactly?" Hardcase asked.

"Figure it out," Fives retorted.

Moments later, Hardcase could be heard muttering complaints to himself as he scaled the tree. "Figure it out, Hardcase. Figure it out. What's to figure out about climbing up a tree? How about you try it next time?"

"I can hear you," Fives harshly whispered to Hardcase who immediately quieted.

"Alright, bite-size," Burst looked over toward Bits, "Your turn."

"I swear if you throw me up that tree—" He was lifted and thrown up into the tree before he could even finish his sentence.

Bits dusted himself off and looked around with annoyance. He muttered sarcastically, "Nice view."

Hardcase chuckled in agreement as he slid down the plant to land on the other side of the electrical fence. "I prefer a good fight to all this sneaking around."

Burst and Fives had managed to scale the tree and were prepared to land on the other side when a rogue Banshee interfered with their efforts. Fives nearly fell from the branch; meanwhile, Hardcase caught the grappling gun that had been thrown from Five's grasp. Without hesitation, he fired the gun and nailed the Banshee to the tree.

Burst and Fives quickly joined Bits and Hardcase on the other side. Fives looked between the others and admitted, "I never thought that would work."

The quietly snuck past the guards onto the flight grounds where several vessels simply awaited the return of their pilots. Fives pressed a button on the control around his wrist and the explosives that he'd set around the tree earlier went off. The Umbaran guards that remained ran off to see what all the noise was about.

"So, how do we start this thing?" Hardcase asked as Fives took a seat.

"Well, how should I know?" Fives asked and then instructed, "Start pushing buttons."

"There's got to be a more calculated approach than that!" Bits exclaimed but wasn't given the opportunity to elaborate as Burst shoved him into a seat.

The shield lit up the moment that Burst took the seat in front of him revealing that the particular vessel they had chosen was a two-seater: one to pilot and one to handle the weapons.

"Whoa!" Hardcase laughed as he was lifted from the ground. It didn't take long for the Umbarans to return and begin firing at them. "Glad these things are ray shielded."

As the three Umbaran ships floated into the air, they fired off a few rounds of bolts that forced the Umbaran guards to retreat.

"I don't think I can do this!" Hardcase exclaimed.

Bits could feel his face paling by the second as the vessel flipped practically out of control under the guidance of Burst. As Bits fired another round off of the weapons, Burst turned his head with disappointment. "I want to shoot!"

"Focus on flying straight!" Bits shouted in reply as the ship did another somersault. He could feel his stomach turning inside out.

"Let's hope this trip was worth it," Hardcase grinned.

"All right, let's go!" Fives agreed as they flew back toward where they'd left the rest of the platoon.

The 501st, plus Ace and Skid, were heavily gunned down and outnumbered. It looked as if they wouldn't last much longer, that was until they arrived and "effortlessly" took out the Umbaran tanks.

"The big guns have arrived, sir!" Hardcase exclaimed over the comms.

Although it was chaotic and messy, they took care of the Umbaran troops and cleared the way for their own platoon to move forward and take the airbase.

The moment that they landed, Bits dove from his seat and kissed the ground more than once. Skid chuckled as he and Ace regrouped with the rest of their squad. "I swear you've never been happier to see the ground."

"I never want to fly again," Bits shuddered.

"I don't think that can be entirely avoided," Ace chuckled, "Though we may be able to do something to keep Burst from piloting again."

"I think I did a bang-up job," Burst protested, still grinning.

Rex and a few of the other 501st troops joined them. "Despite Hardcase's flying, you four saved us all."

"That wasn't so tough." Hardcase dismissed the comment with a wave of his hand.

"You sure?" Jesse asked with a sly smirk. "You looked a little green when you came out of that fighter."

"Captain, report." Krell approached with Arimiya in tow. "What is our situation?"

"General," Rex replied, "we have taken the base and cut off enemy supply lines to the capital."

"Luck has smiled on you today, captain," Krell retorted, "Consider yourself fortunate."

"It wasn't all luck, sir," Rex protested and took a step forward, "A lot of men died to take this base."

"The price for such victory. Perhaps someday you'll realize this," Krell turned and waved his hand with a flick of his wrist. "Dismissed."

"He's the one who will never realize," Fives muttered just so that it was audible for the group of soldiers around him.

Bits turned to face the others but noticed that Ace had raised an eyebrow. Without an explanation, the captain followed after Krell. As if unable to leave his side, the other three followed.

"Something is troubling you," Ace said as Arimiya drifted behind her master to speak with her squad.

She looked down toward the ground. She didn't immediately reply. Bits found that he'd clenched his fists and directed his gaze toward Krell as if trying to determine if the Jedi had done something to hurt her. He looked around and noticed that the other three had done the same. As if he noticed the four pairs of eyes staring him down, Krell turned and marched back over to the squad.

"I suppose you should be informed that Padawan Delaway will be returning to Coruscant."

"What?" Bits couldn't contain his question. "Why?"

"Direct violation of an order that revealed she is not mentally stable enough to remain here on the battlefield," Krell answered the question, although it was clear that his patience was running thin. "I won't have such mistakes cost us this battle."

Arimiya lifted her eyes from the ground. "You... won't be coming with me."

Bits was quite surprised by that comment. He didn't realize how attached the padawan was to their small squad, so much so that she would request that they accompany her back to Coruscant away from the dangers of battle.

"I will give you a moment," Krell said before adding, "but the pilot will not wait long."

Arimiya nodded her head as Krell walked away. Her eyes had begun to water and a second later those tears slid down the side of her face. She quickly jumped up and wrapped her arms around all four of them, pulling them close together.

"Please, stay safe."

Ace smiled fondly at the girl. "Stay out of trouble."

She nodded her head and sloppily brushed the tears from her eyes. The stunning blue pair drifted toward Krell. "I know he's not the warmest person... but he's all that I have left of her. Watch over him?"

"We will."

Ace agreed before it could be discussed. Bits frowned slightly as he looked over at the general. He was hard around all the edges, and he wasn't quite sure if even his heart had a bit of softness to it. However, he probably would've seen it as a weakness anyway.

Although he hadn't known the girl for very long, it was clear that she cared for each of them dearly, more so than anyone he'd met before. Despite not knowing why, the General was important to her; therefore, he should be important to them. She was so young and had already been through so much. He wished to ease her suffering even the smallest bit but looking after Krell... even that seemed like too much. From the expressions of Burst and Skid, it seemed like they agreed with him. Only Ace seemed to stand by his statement.

Arimiya waved goodbye as she boarded the ship, and moments later she was no longer on the planet's surface. At least they could rest easier knowing that she was out of harm's way. They'd successfully taken the base and made progress toward their march on the capitol. He'd remain optimistic with the thought that things could only get better from there.