Behind Enemy Lines

Behind Enemy Lines


Chance walked out of his meeting with General Arligan Zey and slammed his fist into the wall. The pain brought back most of his reasoning, but he still couldn’t believe it. Why is it the 91st always gets the suicide missions? He thought angrily to himself as he looked at the dent he had put in the wall out side the Generals door. He chuckled to himself as he rubbed his armor fist and walked towards the barracks.


“Attention!” Cassus barked at the regiment as Chance walked in. Technically he was their CO, but he never thought of himself as such. “At ease gentlemen.” Chance said as he walked over to Cassus. “Its good to see you son.” He said as he clapped the ARC trooper on the shoulder. “Heard the last mission was though.” Cassus didn’t say anything, but Chance could tell he was still grieving his brothers who he has just lost.


Chance turned to the others. “Alright men, we have been tasked with taking out a Separatist super weapon on the planet Dxun. This is a Jungle planet, or moon I should say, is in the Onderon system. According to Intel the Seppies have decided to build a lab there and think of different ways to kill us. We have been assigned the task of stopping them. But before we can do that we need to find the kriffing thing. So I have been ordered to pick a team and scout out the place before the rest of you arrive. This is most likely a suicide mission.”


“Huh when isn’t it?” came a voice from the troopers in front of him. “Congratulations Quin, you’re the first one to volunteer.” Chance said. Buy now he knew every clone in his squad by name and the minor accents that they all seemed to have. They were all clones, but they weren’t all the same. Quin stepped forward. “Glad I could be of service sir.” He said with a smile. Chance nodded at him “Before we continue I thought I might add that we have the pleasure of entertaining two Jedi on this mission.” Chance saw Cassus’s jaw tighten and his fist clench at the mention of Jedi involvement. He noted that and continued with his orientation. “Do we have any more volunteers?” Cassus stepped forward. Chance nodded at him, glad that he had chosen to go with him.

Just then Chance’s comlink chimed at him. “Alright men, we will continue this later, but be thinking about it. Dismissed.” As the clones dispersed Chance walked over to Cassus. “So I take it you don’t like the fact that we have two Jedi with us.” Cassus’s jaw clinched. “They are the reason Joad and Rock didn’t make it back. Led them into a kriffing ambush and left them to die!”
“Easy now son. It wasn’t these Jedi.” Chance said trying to calm down the ARC trooper. Cassus barked a harsh laugh. “They’re all the same. They play general while the rest of us suffer for it. They don’t understand what it is to lead.” Chance couldn’t help but agree with Cassus. “I know son, but they are the generals so we have to listen to them for the most part.” Cassus nodded and walked out of the barracks to the mess hall.


“So is just now learning that the Jedi use us at every possible point to further their gain?” Clone marshal Commander Neyo asked Chance as he entered the barracks. “Hes just upset that we lost Joad and Rock.” Neyo chuckled “They are better off dead. That way they don’t have to go through the bell you are about the put these men through.” Chance let out a small sigh and leaned up against the wall. “Theres a reason Zey sends us on these missions.”
“Yah, we can do better than anyone else with the least casualties. That’s all he cares about.”
“Huh your probably right. Well I assume you’re here to introduce me to the new Jedi Generals.” Chance said as he put his helmet on. “Your correct on that lieutenant.” Neyo said as he lead him down the hall to the meeting room. “This will be an interesting briefing, just try not to kill them before the mission lieutenant.” Neyo said over his shoulder. “Wouldn’t dream of it.” Chance said smiling under his buy’ce.

Talon was on edge. He always was, but more so than usual. He hated suicide missions. Too many pointless deaths of men under his command, some of them he even made emotional connections with, a rare thing indeed with a Jedi of his calibur.



Talon Starlight was not known for socializing. He was known for getting things done that felt were right, and nothing more. The only people he related to were people like him, people that would stop at nothing to do the right thing.



Perhaps that's why I relate to so many clones. They stop at nothing to complete their missions, and they alwasy feel like they're doing something right.



Though Talon knew the real reason. It was about what the clones did, it was about why they did it. They did it for a much more complicated purpose than doing what was right-they were forced to. Talon felt they had been wronged by the Republic and the Jedi and wanted desperately to fix it, to do right by them. Perhaps his naturally gruff nature didn't help, the clones in his past may have thought him the worst, cruelest Jedi ever.



But, some of them, the ones had had gotten close to, had seen him for what he was, and known his true feelings about the clones. He missed those few men. They were all dead probably by now, or had been transferred to another part of the Grand Army of the Republic. He could use men like those on the coming suicide mission...



Breaking his thoughts, a clone and a Mandalorian entered the room. The Mandalorian immediately eyed him with distaste that was well-hidden but not well enough, and Talon tipped his infamous hat at him. His hat, a common hat worn by smuggler's and petty criminal's and even rumored to be the same type of hat of the infamous Cad Bane, had made him a despised legend in the Jedi Order for numerous reasons. Some felt he was representing the very evil the Jedi fought against, but he just felt the Jedi should stop worrying about symbols unless they were truly important and move on. Not to mention, I love this hat Talon smirked to himself.



"So who am I and now we waiting for now?" Talon asked the clone, a commander by the looks of him.



"Oh, another Jedi. She'll be here soon."



Oh great, another Jedi that will most likely lecture me about my views and so on. Wonderful.



"Alright," Talon said with an uncomfortable smile, "I can wait a bit longer." And with that, Talon let his hat droop over his face and discourage any conversation. He was here to help lead a mission, not socialize.

Marilee Sunstar walked into the briefing room after being deterred fifteen more minutes than expected for the latest briefing. She silently noted that the other men in the room who would be accompanying her on this lovely suicide mission. First was Talon Starlight, rogue Jedi, kind of a loner. Mari wasn’t too familiar with him, but she’d heard that he is very loyal to the men he works with. She nodded a greeting and took her place at the briefing table.

A Mandolorian stood to Talon’s right, speaking quietly with a clone trooper in the corner. She took into note his armor. ‘Part of the 91st Reconnaissance Corps..’ she thought to herself. Marilee was fairly new as a Jedi Knight. She was only 24 standard years old…not very old for a Jedi Knight. But apparently the Council thought her old enough for this mission. Either that or they were desperately out of Jedi.
‘Figures.’ She thought cynically, ‘Put the young, inexperienced Jedi on the suicide mission. Such a great way to be welcomed into a war.’

Marilee had only been in a handful of battles without her master since being Knighted. She got along well with the Clones, as she had spent much of her own training overseeing the training of the new Clones. Now that she was actually out on the battlefield, the war felt so much more real than it already was.

Friends who didn’t come back home, war-hardened commanders and generals, Separatists who wanted to destroy everything you’re working so hard to protect, it all became very real and in Marilee’s face. She didn’t realize how much it affected her until the commander of her squadron was killed in action. That was when Marilee realized that war was a very, very real thing.

She glanced to the Jedi General to her left. ‘Talon Starlight….’ She thought to herself again, ‘don’t know much about him. All I know is that the Council doesn’t always approve of his methods. But is he wrong? He’s mysterious….and he has a nice hat.’ She smirked at her personal comment, and snapped back to the present.

“I apologize for the delay, we had technical problems with our ship.” She said in a clipped, professional tone.

The Mandolorian replied smoothly, “No worries. But I think it’s time to get down to business.”

Chance was discussing some logistic issues with Neyo when the Jedi General showed up. She was much younger than he expected. 'Guess the Jedi finally realize we are losing this war.' he thought to himself as he watched her sit down.

“I apologize for the delay, we had technical problems with our ship.” The Jedi said “No worries. But I think it’s time to get down to business.” Chance replied motioning to Neyo to begin.

"Thank you Lieutenant." Neyo said as Chance took a seat at the table. " Im sure that you all know the details about the mission. We are heading to Dxun to destroy a Separatist Science lab that is currently producing a WMD, Weapon of Mass Destruction. Our job is to make sure that they dont get the chance to use it on us. We are sending in a small team to recon the area before we begin landing troops." He looked at General Talon. " Since you have more battlefield experience than General Marilee you are the CO on this mission." Talon nodded. "You will be leading a small squad of ten troopers under the command of CC-3423 and CC-5564." Neyo continued " Your objectives are to locate the Separatist base and place a homing becon in the heart of the facility. If you are able to do this we can start landing troops. Are their any questions at this time?"

"Yeah, what are their names?" Talon questioned with a hint of sarcasm in his voice, "I'm not going to blab some ridicuously long number to the men just to let us get blown to shreads while I'm only halfway through."

Neyo looked astounded and a bit confused for a second. Talon thought he might motivate him.

"What, you think just because my robe's more of a light jacket with all it's major tears that I don't bother to fix and I wear the goofy hat I'm dumb? Honestly, EVERYONE knows clones have names, even those rich Coruscant banthas that live in their fancy, high-up apartments claiming they know what life is like. So, what are their names?"

This time, the Mandolorian, not Neyo who Talon had so far been reffering to spoke up. "Commanders Cassus and Quin are currently picking out the men you will lead to Duxn. Those are the only two I know for certain that are going with you." The mandalorian paused for a moment, then hoarsely replied, without enthusiasm in saying it, "I'm sorry I can't be of further service, sir"

Talon noted the Mando's shock, immediate dislike, and most surprisingly, minor respect in his tone as he said that last part. He had apparently never met a Jedi quite like him. Then again, there were few Jedi quite like him.

"Well, I guess I'll be meeting up with Cassus and Quin then." Talon focusing off the Mandalorian and everyone else on the room as he stood up and walked out.

Neyo obviously didn't know at all what to think of him, and Marliee was obviously appalled by his nature. Save it for another time General Sunstar, I've heard it all before, both by newly knighted Jedi like you who don't even know the true meaning of Jedi yet, and by the "professionals" like the Jedi Council. I've got work to do.

"Commanders Cassus and Quin are currently picking out the men you will lead to Duxn. Those are the only two I know for certain that are going with you.I'm sorry I can't be of further service, sir"

Chance hated the words right after they left his mouth. He could already tell how this mission was going to go down. Neyo recovered from his momentary loss for words and finished the briefing without any other questions from the two generals. Chance just watched in silence. I could be training these men to survive this encounter, but no. Im stuck with two Jedi Generals who are going to run this mission into the ground. He had looked up Generals Sunstar and Starlight during the briefing. Sunstar had been a clone Trainer for most of the war and Starlight was the "Uncle nobody talked about" in the Jedi order. He smiled to himself beneath his helmet. It seemed to him that the Jedi order was in a win win situation regarding these two. If they both died, it was no real loss. But if they succeeded then it was just another win for the Jedi.

As soon as the briefing was over Chance quickly exited the room saying that he had to go brief the men. If the generals wanted to follow they could ask Neyo. Chance made his way to the mess hall and quickly found Cassus and Quin along with the rest of Wraith Squad as the other clones called them. He sat down and began to eat discussing the details with his charges.

Talon had said he was going to meet with the men in the briefing, but he wasn't going to do so yet. He could tell the Mandalorian would want to first, and he had no problem with it so he wasn't going to interfere.

So to pass time, he sat on a supply crate in the hangar, inspecting his two lightsabers once again. He rarely cared about image, but the one thing he had always kept clean and as good as new was his lightsabers. He felt if he was going to wield a weapon, he would do so right. A master of the Jar Kai form, Talon was a formidable opponent in lightsaber combat, but he felt that his weapons appearance should reflect his suage of them. So he kept them spotless and in good condition.

He activated his blue one for a moment, but before he could take a good look at it, he saw someone coming. He deactivated his weapon, and immediately said,"What do you want, General Sunstar" He said general with great sarcasm, he felt anyone her age was not fit for such a high position.

"Yeah, I was wanting to know more about you." Sunstar replied crisply.

"Well good luck with that, because I'm not going to talk." Talon said without even looking at her.

"I figured as much, but I'm not going to take no for an answer. If I'm going into combat with you, I need to know more about you. So if you don't mind, why are you so disliked among the Order? What do you do that causes so much fuss?"

For once he looked at her, "Listen, I don't know how much war experience you have, but I'll tell you one thing, the only thing you need to know about me are that we're on the same side, and we're hopefully going to have the ability to blow up this blasted Seppie science lab and all go home in one piece. Understood?"

Sunstar tried to say something more, but Talon had had enough. He simply stood up and walked away. It was nothing against her personally, but he'd had enough Jedi like her ask the same thing then immediately reject him once they knew the answer-he might as well not be a jedi, he believed that the Order was corrupt and he did his own misions regardless of the Counsil's approval, seeking his own wisdom instead of what they taught simply because he'd realized that the Jedi Code was only good until so far and when you entered and saw real life was practically useless.

And as far as he was concerned, she didn't need to know that before entering actual combat with him-the only thing worse than fighting an overwhelming enemy, was having your own side not trust each other and break the chain of command. Though he suspected, that may be about to happen anyway if that Mandalorian has his way. Talon though about that and decided that enough was enough-he was going to meet with his troops whether the Mando liked it or not.
Talon entered the mess hall to find the troopers, and sure enough, there they were, still talking with their Mandalorian leader. Talon personally didn't have a problem with Mandalorians, but this one sure seemed to have a problem with him.
As Talon got some food and sat down in a nearby table, the table across from him went silent. The Mandorian and the clones gave him a long stare, but Talon merely gave them a quick glance and begin to eat his food.
As he figured, they soon went back to their discussion, but in a much quieter tone. Well so much for getting to know the troops. For all I know I'll be shot in the back by one of them before it's all over with, though considering it's a suicide mission anyway, it might be a blessing. Talon gave a brief smile at his dark thoughts, but the Mondalorian noticed it and asked "Something you want to share?" It came out with great sarcasm, but Talon hardly noticed
"Well it's not like you've not been doing the same thing over there. Look, I'm not going to press an issue over whatever you're talking about over there, so at least give me the honor of doing the same thing for me, all right? As long as we don't have a problem, why don't we just go back to what we we're doing?
"What if we do have a problem? What are you going to do, whip out some of your infinite Jedi wisdom at me? Or wait, I forgot, you do the exact opposite don't you?" the Mandalorian insulted. Apparently he just was planning on getting under his skin, seeing what he would do as a rogue Jedi and all, but Talon wasn't going to let him have it. Talon merely went back to his meal and didn't say another word. After a minute, the Mandalorian did the same, though Talon wasn't blind to his persistent stare that would stop looking at him every chance it got...

Marilee stormed back toward the briefing rooms in annoyance.
Who does he think he is? She demanded to herself, I asked a simple question! If I’m going to risk my LIFE with the man, can’t I know a bit more than his name???

Marilee calmed herself down and stole a look at her chrono. She sighed. In fifteen standard minutes, she would be entering a battle with a bunch of people she didn’t know. Marilee wished for the billionth time since arriving here that she was back on Kamino, serving to the war effort training clones. She HAD fought in battles, but she didn’t like them. No one did.

Marilee soon found out that the Jedi Council had a cruel way of thinking. They were putting a very inexperienced young Jedi like herself, on an important suicide mission, that could make or break the great Clone War.

Of all the people they could put on this mission……she muttered to herself, why pick me? What did I do? I’m not anywhere near experienced enough for this! I’m lucky to have survived the few battles I have been in!!! I’m in way over my head this time. C’mon, think Sunstar, think! How can you get outta this?

Mari snapped back to the present as a Clone Trooper approached her to tell her that a final briefing would be in five standard minutes.

As she walked back toward the briefing room, Mari thought about how she could gain the trust of these men she would be working with. The Clones she had no problem with. It was the Mandolorian and the Rogue Jedi she had a problem with.
The best way to go about this…..she pondered to herself, would be to gain their trust. It’s obvious they don’t think I’m experienced enough for this mission, nor that I could hold my own in battle.

Deep down Marilee knew that she truly wasn’t experienced enough, though she could easily hold her own in battle and as a quick thinker in tough situations.
Earn their trust….how do I do that? The Jedi won’t talk to me, and the Mando is as stiff as a brick. Marilee shook off her thoughts and entered the briefing room once again.

She was slightly surprised to find only her and Talon Starlight in the room. Mari could hear the other troopers and most likely the Mandolorian coming down the hall, but first she turned to Talon.
“Master Starlight?” she said professionally, sitting straight and looking at the strange Jedi.

“What do you want now?” He snapped, causing Mari’s temper to spike slightly. She smiled slightly and said, “I’d simply like to tell you that I am at your disposal Master. I’d be willing to learn all you could teach me about battle strategy.” Talon’s eyebrow lifted in curiosity, but he didn’t respond. Marilee nodded curtly and turned as the other men entered the room.

“Generals.” Chance (enter last name here) clipped, turning his helmeted head in their direction. Mari inclined her head in greeting, and glanced to General Starlight, who didn’t seem the least bit phased.

“If we are all briefed and prepared, I say that a battle strategy is in order.” The Mandolorian said, signaling to Cassus, Neyo and Quinn to come forward.
One of the Clone Commanders drew a large holo-map from the briefing table with a press of a button.

“This,” Neyo said, “Is the Dxun Lab. It’s highly dangerous, with some of the Separatist’s top scientists working there.”

Talon looked up and muttered with sarcasm, “Welcome to bell.”

Talon saw the plans and realized just how serious the seps were. It was a multi level complex with about 15 different labs and all sorts of droid garrisons. There would be no way to keep a good spot to plant a beacon. Unless...

"Hmm, I have an idea." Everyone looked at him in surprise for coming up with a stratgey so fast. "If we can lower the main reactor cores power enough so that it's not noticed but won't drown out the beacons energy readings, we'll be killing two mynocks with one blaster bolt. We'll get the beacon planted in a secure posistion, and the bonus of having a little bit of power drained from the place. This might be able to make the full assault much easier, since we're going to have to rely on manpower then firepower, what with all those lethal chemicals boiling in that bucket of bolts. The only problem will be penetrating all the way down there for me and my men, but that's my problem, not yours."

Everyone was quiet for a moment, until Neyo broke the silence. "Well, if you feel that's best, general, don't let us stop you." Talon felt that Neyo really didn't care whether or not he risked his life by doing this, but he also didn't care if Neyo had a full-out death wish on him. He was going to do this, if only to give the message that just because he's a rogue Jedi he's just as good as a "normal" one.

"Well," Chance said,"I suppose that's that then. Once you complete your part of the mission, our men can secure the positions here, here, and here to capture the overall facility." Chance pointed to an important looking lab complex, the lab mainframe room, and the central droid garrison.

"All right," Talon agreed, "I'll hold the reactor chamber until the rest of the facility's secure. If you don't mind, I'd like to get this party started."

Everyone nodded in agreement, and began to file out towards the hangar where everyone would be loaded.

Along the way, Talon caught up with Mari. He came up behind her, and apparently had startled her, but immediately began to talk. "So, you want more about battle? Well, alright, I'll tell you this, and any good military leader should know it. This isn't a game of dejarik. You don't waste pawns, you find a way to keep 'em standing and functional and will eventually learn of a way to use them again to full capability. Battles aren't won by bait, not in the sense of completely letting your bait be destroyed. Battles are won by keeping your men alive, no matter the cost, so that they can fight another day for the overall war. Don't ever see your men as expendable."

Mari thought about this for a couple of seconds while they were walking, but then nodded in agreement. "Ok, I understand." He somewhat expected her to persist in the conversation, but she strangely kept silent. For that much, she was beginning to deserve his respect.

Chance walked towards the hanger with the rest of Wraith squad. He had his assignment and his men had theirs. Now if this Jedi can pull off dropping the power core and not killing us all when he does it we will be fine He thought as stepped on board the LAAT/I that would take them to the Majestic . He looked at his men, about 20 in all, and smiled behind his buy'ce. All of them had volunteered for this mission and he felt a keen source of pride from this fact. These were his boys, and he wasn't going to let anything happen to them.

“Prepare for docking procedures.” Said the clone pilot over the Tac net. “You heard the man!” barked Cassus “Strap it down shiny’s!” Some of the newest members of Wraith Squad started strapping down the equipment in the cargo bay. The whole conversation had taken place over the coms in their helmets, completely unheard by the Jedi riding along with them. Chance couldn’t help but wonder if Cassus had meant it like that.

Out of habit Chance checked his weapons before they had landed. He made sure his DC-17 pistols were secured and in easy reach within their holsters along with running a diagnostic on his gauntlet mounted weapon systems. All showed green. He saw Quin and Cassus doing the same and smiled. He had trained them well. As soon as they larties doors opened Chance stepped out onto the hanger deck and started directing his men to unload the larty. The Generals, he noticed, went over to the admiral and started talking to him. He ignored them and continued directing the supplies.

As soon as they had unloaded the supplies for the mission, Chance walked over to the Generals who were just wrapping up their discussion with the Admiral. He waited silently till the Admiral had briefed them on the SitRep and had headed back to the bridge. By the look on their faces it hadn’t been good news. “Generals, If you don’t mind, I was going to start training the men for the mission. They are going to need all the help they can get. Plus it gives them something to do over the next couple of days.” He saw Mari perk up when he mentioned training. He turned his T visor towards her. “You are welcome to join us General Mari, if you so wish.” She smiled and nodded “I think I would like that.” Talon snorted and mumbled something about discussing the situation with the Admiral and walked off towards the bridge.

The blade came whistling down towards Chances head. He brought his beskad up just in time to turn the blow to the side, leaving his opponents left side wide open for a strike. He backed up. “No! Keep your head Cassus. Don’t let your feelings control your motions, again.” Cassus backed up and took his stance again, the short blade in his hand in a reverse grip. He swung the blade at Chances left side and Chance blocked it with ease. They circled one another, every once in a while making short jabs at each other. Suddenly Cassus charged swinging his blade from the right. Chance moved to block it, but realized to late that it was a feint. He had enough time to dodge the actual attack at his left side by turning his body sideways, but Cassus had anticipated that and had thrown his arm out. Chance slammed into it and hit the ground with Cassus on top of him. Chance let out a fierce laugh and slapped Cassus on the shoulder. “That’s my boy!” Cassus smiled and helped Chance up. “I learned from the best.” He said with a smile. Chance looked at him “No you haven’t son, General Mari,” He said looking at her from where she had been watching the sparring match. “Would you care to show him what a real swordsman looks like?” She let out a small laugh. “Im not sure I should considering the weapon I was trained on could cut through him like flimsy.” Chance took off his helmet and stared at her smiling. He shook his head causing his dark hair to fly around his head. “Then how about me? You will find that your lightsaber doesn’t have the same effect on me.” She looked at him skeptically and he smiled back. “Don’t believe me huh?” he said walking over to her. He pointed to her lightsaber. “May I?” She slowly unbuckled it from her belt and handed it to Chance. He activated it and held out his arm, then without warning swung the blade down on his gauntlet. Mari let out a startled gasp as the blade struck the Besk’gar and skittered off of it leaving a small line where it had hit. “So, do you want to show the boys how a real swordsman looks like?” Chance asked still smiling at her.

Chance and Mari circled each other inside the training circle. Chance had donned his full armor while Mari had opted to stay in her Jedi Robes. She had promised not to use the force and Chance had turned off most of his HUD displays that might help him. He knew that at some point that Mari would instinctively use the Force so he had to be ready at anytime just in case.

Mari was the first to strike. She feinted to the right and struck on the left so quickly that Chance had trouble seeing the blade, let alone blocking it. He just barley managed to role out of the way and swipe at her legs with his bes'kad. She easily jumped over the blade and stood back to let Chance up. Chance had been waiting for this moment. Using his 360 view in his HUD he lept backwards right into Mari, the weight of his armor knocking the wind out of her as she hit the ground with Chance on top of her holding his blade to her throat. "First mistake of fighting a Mando," Chance said as he helped her off the floor. " Never show quarter. We wont." Mari grimaced and nodded while she sat down on a ammo crate. Chance took off his buy'ce and clipped it to his belt. "Alright boys, hit the rack, Training will start again in 6 hours."

As the clones walked off Chance saw Gerneral Talon walking towards him and Mari. "General Talon, Whats the situation?" Chance asked the frowning General.

"Alright, listen up, I'm in a bad mood already and I hate having to repeat myself. The operation is going to be implemented imminently. If we don't attack now, the planet will have rotated enough to hold us off for another month. No rest, no extra supplies, no nothing. We will be there within the hour, and will have to be ready as soon as we get out of hyperspace. I need you all to get all supplies, weapons, and yourselves into the gunships as soon as possible. No questions, no excuses. Understand?" Talon said to Wraith Squadron.
The immediate chorus of "Yes, sir" rang out, and the men quickly rushed to get the job done. Chance and Mari stayed where they were though.
"Something wrong?" Talon asked.
"Yes, this entire thing is, we're not fully ready yet." Chance stated.
"Listen, I don't like this any more than you do, but if the admiral's telling me the correct information, we have to strike now." Talon said
"I don't like this. We need to be completely ready for this operation, not in the state we are now. We don't have all the supplies yet, and our men need rest before they go out there. I know because I've helped train men like these." Mari emphatically declared.
"Listen, we only need to focus our supplies for the covert part of the operation. After that, the Majestic can bombard the bloody deathtrap and anything left can be fixed by reinforcements that I plan to call in after that. I know it'll be stretched but we need the element of suprise more than extra troops or supplies. Now let's get moving along before we're left behind."
With that, Talon began to board a gunship, leaving Chance and Mari to discuss anything about it they wanted to. He'd made up his mind already, and nothing they'd think or say would change that. He knew what he was doing...at least mostly.

"Is he out of his kriffing mind?" Cassus said to Chance as they walked towards the hanger. "He cant expect us to be ready for a covert mission behind enemy lines in a couple of hours!"
"Im sorry son, it cant be helped. The intel the General has is correct. We either go in now, or not at all." Chance said as he sent the intel package to Cassus HUD. Cassus fell silent as he studied the intel. As they entered the hanger bay Quin approached the duo. "Sir," He said with a salute. "We have the cut the shinys from this mission, they are only going to get in the way and get killed down there." Chance sighed. He knew this would happen. "Alright, I'll inform the general, What are our numbers now?"
"Almost a third of the force is green sir. We just got them in from Kamino and they have yet to see any action." Chance cursed under his buy'ce "Well I admire their courage, but we cant have them on this mission. Feirfek this just keeps getting better and better." He said as Chance walked towards the general.

Chance saw Talon and Mari in a discussion as he approached. They stopped speaking when they saw him. "Generals," He said with a nod of his head. "Due to the recent Intel, I'm going to have to cut our troop numbers again. About half of our men just got in from Kamino and have yet to see any action out side of training. They will just be in the way and probably end up dead." Talon muttered somthing under his breath while Mari looked towards the Larty. "Sir do I have your permission to cut them from the mission?" Chance said.

Talon hated hearing that news. The poor rookiees were more harmful than helpful at times, but he still felt for them. His answer was going to make him feel even worse.

"I hate to say it, but I think we're going to have to send at least some of them down there or we're going to have little to no men at all. I'll be sure to give them a break and put them in the more simple positions so they won't get killed."

Talon stopped though, and began to develop an idea.

"Unless," he continued, "my co-general here, whose had a bit more experience with rookiees like these, wants to propose somethinge else."

Mari froze for a second, completely uncomfortable with being put in the spotlight like so. But after a couple seconds, Mari spoke up.

"What if we leave a squadron of our rookiees with the landing craft to both keep our one and only escape route safe and give the boys some needed experience on the abttlefield. It'll be the safest position, and it they see any action the gunships' weapons are more than capable of dealing with anything they can't handle."

Talon stayed silent for a moment, but then told Chance, "Well, I think we have a good plan here. Unless you have any reservations, I suggest we move along."

Talon was unsure what Chance's true thought's and intentions were, but the Mandalorian gave a quick nod and ran off to alert the rookiees on their mission. Now that Talon had Mari alone for a second, he gave her a tip of his hat and said, "I must admit, I'm impressed. it appears you're earning your general's rank after all."

"Thank you." She said no more, so Talon began to walk off, but Mari then called out again saying, "Oh, and try not to do that again. I rather hate having to be suddenly thrust into decisions like that."

"Oh, if you didn't like that, then mark my words, this mission is going to test you...all of us." Talon's comment surprised even himself. He hadn't said it out loud before that, but he knew very well the truth in his words. This mission was much more than a mission. It was where certain fates would be decided.

"Is he out of his mind?" This time it was Quin complaining. "We will have our greenest troops guarding our only way off that rock!?" Chance spread his arms. "What do you want me to do? If I cut them from this mission, I defy a direct order and drop our numbers down to below 15. We need to men for this mission."
"But they will get slaughtered down there! We dont even know what we are getting into!" Chance couldn't help but agree with Quin on this point. "Look," He said. "Im trying my best here. General Mari has a good plan that might work, but we will need some vets with the shinys other wise were kriffed. There only needs to be five men left back at the Landing point, Echo will stay with them and keep them in line and they will be fine. Now stop worrying about that part of the plan and start worrying about the part where we have to travel through a jungle where everything is going to try and kill us." Chance could tell Quin wasn't happy with the decision but he would accept it. "I dont like this anymore than you do son, but sometimes we have to do things we dont like, and I have a feeling that this will be one of many on this trip."

"Prepare for entry!" came the voice of the pilot over the comms. This is it Chance thought as he grabbed the handle above his head. "Lets do this!" came a voice over the Tac Net. Chance noted it was one of the rookies. "Soldier whats your name?" He asked the clone. "Names Radar sir! I can find a signal anyplace at anytime." Chance noted by the cleanness of the armor that Radar was one of the Rookies. "Good, stick close to me when we hit the ground."
"Copy that sir."

The two lartys landed in a clearing at the base of some rather large looking hills. As soon as the doors were open Wraith squad was clearing out and securing the area. Chance could hear the roars of creatures off in the distance. There landing hadn't gone unnoticed it seems. tonight should be interesting he thought to himself as he started helping the unloading process.

General Talon walked out into the cold night, ready to get moving. There was no turning back now, no more time to think. As if an answer to his thoughts, a monstrous roar cried out in the darkness, but was too far away to worry about.

"Alright, rookiees!" Talon yelled. A group of young clones ran to him straight away. "Ok, as your CO must've told you, you're staying behind to defend this landing zone. The final decisions on position and methods are up to your squad commanders and a couple of Wraith Squadron troopers who'll also be with you. I'd recommend though placing snipers not far away from here and using the supply boxes, once they're emptied out obviously, as a defensive barrier in fron of and behind the gunships. Any questions?"

"No, sir!" answered the clones.

Talon let the men run off to help with the unloading, but he felt Chance's gaze on him from behind. He turned around and approached him. "I sense you're uncomfortable with the general's decision about the rookiees?"

Chance didn't reply, so Talon pressed in a litle. "You know, I know you don't have any respect for any Jedi down from a Padawan to Grand Master Yoda, but I do want you to understand something. I'm not sure what type of Jedi CO's you've had in the past, but I'm not like them. I actually care about you men for the human beings you all are, and I'll even go as far as to order you to say what's on your mind if it's their best interests."

Chance looked at Talon, then said, "Some of us feel that this is a stupid decision puting our newest, least experienced men defending our only escape route out of this deathtrap."

"I'm uncomfortable with it to, don't get me wrong," Talon agreed, "It's defnitely risky. But I have a question. Would you rather they be here where they'll probably not see much action to begin with, or would you want them out there where they'll get in your way and get themselves killed and possibly us? Not to mention, some of your men and the combined power of the guships will more than suffice to keep the LZ safe. In my opinion, we need to worry more about your veterans who'll be going with us to place the beacon. Between Separatist forces and local wildlife, many might not come back. What do you want to do about it?" Talon left the decision up to Chance. He knew he was still probably frustrated about the LZ dilemma, but he also knew it was only going to get worse from there.

"With all due respect sir, the Rookies shouldn't even be here. We all know this is a suicide mission and even if they are in the safest place here it wont help them if the Seppies come raining down on us." Chance said vehemently. "And despite what you think, you are just like the rest of the Jedi Commanders. Your decision on the Rookies proves it. All you Jedi focus on is the Mission, not who gets killed. Yes you might say that you 'care about the men' but in all honesty they are just means to and end. So dont patronize us, we know our job. Val nu norac jorhaa'i Val nu jorcuse gotal'u Val vaabi a kash'amu lo yaim be kyr'am, Jetsii." Chance said as he walked back towards the rest of the men.

Talon was actually beginning to find the Mandalorian humorous. His hatred of the Jedi was eventually going to trip him up one day, especially when he found one that was perhaps the common ground between him, a rogue Jedi who was practically not part of the Order, and the Jedi both he and the Mandalorian despised-the Jedi who don't try to realize what life is really like.

But despite most of Chance's words to him being drawn by hatred, he did have a point. If the Seppies found out the LZ's location, it would be disatrous. But Talon also needed the extra men or else NO ONE would be coming back alive. He needed to solve this riddle, and solve it quickly before anything...permanent...took place. He had no idea what to do at this point, and bringing up anything with the Mandalorian would get nowhere at this point. Mari and anyone worth listening to were still on the Majestic and it left Talon absolutely alone in the situation.

But for now, he began edging in nearer to Chance in his men to hear what he was saying. He had a feeling that the Mando might be of inspiration when not trying to bring up an ancient past that at least Talon had forgotten between their cultures.

As Chance walked towards his men he bit down on his anger. It wasn't good to have the men see the officers arguing. Cassus glanced up at him from his data pad as he approached. "What are our standing orders then?" Chance grimaced behind his buy'ce. "The rookies are staying behind to watch our backs with a couple of vets. They will be guarding the LZ while the rest of us get to take a walk in the jungle." Cassus was silent for a while, but then nodded. "Ill go get Tal and Zek and tell them they got a new assignment." Chance nodded and watched him as he walked over to where the men were unloading the larties. He opened up a comm to Quin. "Quin, whats our equipment sitrep?"
"You want the good news or the bad news first sir?"
"Shab, just give it to me"
"Yes sir, We have two functional AT-RT's one of them being yours. The crate of DC-15's made it here safe and sound along with all the ammo we could need." Chance was puzzled, "Then whats the problem? That all sounds like it should." Quin chuckled." You know that third Larty thats supposed to arrive at any moment now with the BARCs?"
"Let me guess, No BARCs?"
"Got it in one sir, we get to hike to our objective."
Chance let out a string of curses. "Well I guess we will just have to use what we got. Lets get this camp set up so at least we can start off strong."

Talon sat in a dark corner in one of the gunships. Only one squad of experienced troops, no fast transportation, and a whole bucketload of wild animals and CIS forces ready to kill them. And he thought that his war was with droids, but it turned out that logistics would be the first enemy in this mission.

He still had no idea what to do with the rookiees. At this point, Mari had made the decision to keep them at the landing zone and it was better than letting them hike out with the rest of the men.

If the LZ was in a safer spot, he wouldn't feel as uncomfortable. But he couldn't just move the LZ...

Why, I believe I've found it! Talon knew what to do. He would clear it with Chance first though to hear his opinion on it.

He stood up and began to wlak up to him.

"Something you want to talk about, General?" Chance asked.

"Yes. How would you feel if we moved the LZ to a different spot? It would prevent the Separatist from getting a lock on the gunships, the rookiees would likely see no action while we're gone, and we can give the order to return here at the camp once we've done our part of the mission. So what do you say?"

Chance pondered the question for a little. "That might work, if we can find another LZ that the Seppies wouldn't know about. We would have to send a team to recon the area before we brought the larties in."
"Good," Talon said. "Get your men and lets head out now before we lose any more time." "Yes Sir." Chance said with a salute. "And general, thank you for asking for my opinion." Talon nodded and headed back to the Larties.

"Alright lets move it." Chance barked at the clones. "Cassus, Heavy, Breaker, Vin, load up. We're heading out." The selected Clones started getting their gear Chance walked over to the rookie Radar. "You ready for your first mission son?" Radar looked up from his comm pack that he was working on. "Sir, yes sir!" He said. Chance smiled "Good, get your gear and stick close to me, its going to be dangerous out there and nothing like your training." Radar nodded and slipped his helmet over his head. "Alright, Lets move!" Chance said and the five clones walked over to General Talon. "What are our orders sir?" Chance said.

"Orders are simple. Find a new LZ so that the Separatist are gonna have a hard time finding it. Once you find a suitable spot, get the rookiees and move the gunships there. All pilots are to wait for my signal for evacuation once the mission is completed. Let's move along now, daybreak is approaching." Talon said.

The others began to move out, but Talon stayed where he was. Time was indeed running short-they would lose the element of darkness by about two hours. They would have to ready the men for the main mission immediately.

Talon approached Wraith Squad, and began to say, "Alright men, get loaded up for a hike as soon as possible. We move out for the Separatist lab the second the pilots and rookiees are in place."

"Yes, sir!" they replied.

With nothing left to do but wait, Talon found a relatively quiet spot on the edge of the campsite and began to meditate.