Life Of War

Chapter 63

"Droids!" Saw shouted in warning at the sight of a battalion approaching.

"Take cover!" Rex ordered as they began shooting at us. Obi Wan and I flipped back with a blast before us and ignited our sabers, standing protectively to deflect blasts. They were quickly overpowering us and we had to take cover. I jumped to the side, crashing into Rex as I took cover beside him. With a quick apology we focused on the attack at hand.

"It appears the training is over." Obi Wan commented.

"I'll take the left flank if you take the right." Anakin started making battle plans on the spot.

"No, Anakin. We can only protect them. We cannot fight this war for them." Obi Wan reminded. "There are too many. But Anakin, Ahsoka, Lyra, and I can hold them off while you get your people out of here." He told Steela the instructions.

"You didn't teach us to run." She reminded him with determination. "Saw, use your disruptors to take out the droids." Steela ordered out.

"I'm on it. Ready disruptors. On my mark. Now!" They threw explosives underneath the incoming droids.

"What is that?" One droid asked.

"It looks like an explosive."

"How can you te—" the bombs blew up underneath them, cutting them off.

"Not bad." Anakin commented proudly.

"That is only the first wave." Obi Wan reminded everyone. Everything began to blow up around us as a tank entered the field, destroying everything.

"Take cover!" Rex shouted, pulling me down from deflecting shots. My back rested against the box while I awaited my next orders, breathing heavy from the intensity of battle.

"We'll handle this." Obi Wan told Steela.

"No, I will." She stated sternly. "Duck!" She pointed her sniper in the direction of Obi Wan and Anakin as she shot the gates open for the animals to run out.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Ahsoka called out to Lux and Saw as they ran towards the tank.

"What you taught us." Lux answers with a proud smirk. Both men used their training and delivered the bombs to their hatches, Ahsoka using the force to save them from the blast as the explosion went off.

"Looks like that's the end of this battle" Rex commented, standing up and offering me a hand. I took his hand, pulling myself to my feet as I dusted off my robes.

"We, uh, need to clean you up." Steela helped Lux to stand after the battle had ended.

"I like it. Now you look more like a soldier than a politician." Saw commented.

"Well, maybe a good politician needs to get dirty now and then." Steela said next.

"Take confidence from this victory. But rest assured, there will be more droids coming now that they know your position." Obi Wan started to the group of rebels we had all gathered around.

"It doesn't matter. You're ready now. We are going to take the fight to the droids. You don't have to hide in the jungle any longer." Anakin cheered to them.

"Droids were a bit dim, more so than I imagined." Saw noted.

"They make up for it in numbers. They're designed to overwhelm." I explained their purpose to Saw who underestimated the droid army.

"But they're not designed to deal with our approach." Anakin added.

"We hit them where they least expect it. And before they realize what happened—"Lux started.