Time's up! (A Clone Wars Fanfic)

Part 35- May the Force be with us

•••••••••••••
Time skip: about 3 weeks
•••••••••••••

Slashing.
Blocking.
Shots.
Slashing.
Blocking.
Shots.
Watch out!
Move!
Wounded!
Shields up!
The same thing. Over and over and over again. For several rotations already. Melian was tired of it. And so were the men. Tired of the same things for days. Tired of walking around in a loop around Ringo Vinda. Tired of giving all of themselves, and yet, they gained no ground. Even with a Jedi Knight, two Jedi Masters and an advanced Padawan, there was no success. Now they were mounting a desperate offensive, though Melian couldn't see how it was any different from the last milion tries.

"Push forward!" Anakin encouraged his men as they neared a point where they'll rest. Melian jumped around, slicing the nearest droids, trying to make a quicker passage. She turned around to take a look at all the men, see how they were doing. But she saw Tup jumping on Fives after noticing one of the droids on the ground wasn't destroyed fully. She took the opportunity and ran up to it from behind, slicing its head. Tup helped Fives get up and Melian nodded at them.
"Thanks you two, I owe you one"
"You owe us a lot more than one" Tup chuckled. After their little moment, the three continued the battle.

Finally arriving to the resting point, the talking part started.
"Don't get too comfortable, this battle hasn't been won yet"
"Master Skywalker, we must get to the command post. Admiral Trench has sent for reinforcements. We must take this post before they arrive" Master Tiplee calmly explained. It always surprised Melian just how calm Tiplee and Tiplar are, but she liked it.
"It's time for phase two. We're in this position" the four Jedi kneeled over a holo map.
"Tiplar, you'll take your men down this passageway" Anakin moved his finger across one of the three lines.
"Tiplee, you'll move along here" he moved his finger across the second line.
"They'll have to divide their forces to counters us, and when they do, Melian and I will press thru the middle" he finally looked up.
"If we time it right, we'll all converge on this spot at the same time and the droids won't know what hit them" he pointed on the command post they talked about earlier.
"If we're making a run, we'll need backup. My men are severely depleted" Doom, the Commander who served under the Twin Masters said. Anakin looked at Fives who stood to his left.
"Fives, you and Tup take ten of your best men and support Master Tiplar"
"We're on it, sir" Fives nodded.

As Anakin turned the holo map off, Melian looked at Fives and Tup, sad that they have to part ways. Tup was rubbing his eyes and he didn't look good. She walked over to him and put a hand on his shoulder.
"Tup, you alright?"
"Yeah" he looked at her.
"I... I just-"
"Come on, this is a textbook battle" Fives slightly hit his shoulder
"We've run through this a milion times before in training"
"Yeah, I-I know, I just... I don't feel like myself" Tup rubbed his eyes again
"What do you mean" Fives silently and slowly asked him. Tup's gaze on Melian hardened, it scared her, she let go of his shoulder.
"Jedi..." Tup sharply whispered. Fives gently moved Melian out of the way and stood in front of Tup.
"Tup, what's the matter with you"
Tup shook his head when he saw that Melian caught up to Anakin.
"Uh, nothing, I'm fine" he put his helmet on his head and seemed normal again.
"Come on brother, don't wanna be left behind" the two caught up to Master Tiplar and her troops.

Tiplee went through the right hallway, Tiplar through the left and Anakin and Melian through the middle one. Every once in a while, Melian would look to the left to check up on her two friends. Tup's behaviour from earlier really scared her, he was always so nice to her. Something was wrong, and you didn't have to be Force sensitive to know it. But she was gonna take care of him later. Right now they all had a battle to win. Moments later, they all entered the command post they talked about before. The area was huge, with more droids than Melian has ever seen in one place. To the right, a big window with a beautiful look on Ringo Vinda itself. So beautiful, and yet, every second, a ship passed by. Whether a Separatist or Republic, it didn't matter. Another planet which will have war scars forever.