When the Cavalry Comes.

IXL

Cav strode into the same room she had been in earlier, to find Windu waiting there for her.

"There you are, Trooper. Master Mundi was dismissed to tend to other matters. It'll be just us for now."

Cavalry nodded, not saying anything.

"We've overlaid the old schematics to the new blueprints of the entire sewer system. It's been an... interesting find." General Windu didn't waste any time. He pulled up a hologram on the table, showing the comparison.

"A droid bunker from the Trade Federation Occupation? From when Senator Amidala was queen?" Cav noted, not realizing she had spoken aloud at first then cursing herself for doing so. Windu didn't seemed fazed by the protocol breach, though. Cav let out a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding.

"You know your history. Yes. It's a compound that was used to store SBDs and the standard B-1s you see all the time." The general continued. "It also connects to a vast underground network that we have yet to scope out. Scanners indicate life signs in a couple different locations, however. Two teams lead by myself and Knight Skywalker will investigate the tunnels." General Windu tapped on the table a few times, and two trails were highlighted in different colors. Red for himself, blue for Skywalker.

"You will be accompanying Skywalker, along with Lieutenant Fives." Windu indicated the blue line which disappeared into a layer of tunnels not on the hologram. "We don't know what's beyond here, but the Chief Medic from the 501st has just arrived not long ago. He will be on standby with a medical team at the ready if there ever is to be a problem that arises." Windu glanced at her. "I assume you've already met with him?"

"Yes sir." She nodded.

"Good. The teams are to set out at 0600 tomorrow to get a jump on scouring through the tunnels. The sooner the better. Kenobi could pack up and leave without us being any the wiser at any moment. We must be prepared." Cav nodded.

"Are there measures to keep him planetside?" She asked.

"Aside from the lockdown, no. And we can't keep the planet under wraps for much longer. Off world trade has ceased and prolonging it any more would be catastrophic to the economy." Windu sighed. "And anybody, let alone a former jedi, could get past a blockade."

Cav muted herself so she could give the appropriate amount of cursing the situation had earned.

"Who else will be on Skywalker's team?" She asked, unmuting herself once she was done swearing by the blood of the first Manda'lor.

"ARC Fives will accompany you, along with Commander Cody. My own Commander will be taking over in the interim. Skywalker should be getting out of the medbay now. Once he's ready to go, we shall leave." Windu supplied. "Dismissed, trooper."

She left the meeting room. Every time there was any sort of update or plan that came to head, they had to stop everything they were doing to call everyone together to let them know what happened.

Cav still wanted those ration cubes she left to Kix earlier.

Sighing, she grabbed a fresh plate of tasteless 3D squares and scarfed it down on the way to the barracks, where she began to check over everything and gear up for the trip to the sewers.

Officer's barracks were at the other end of the room, the door slightly ajar. Arguing could be heard inside, two clones by the sounds of it. Listening a little closer, she realized it was Kix and Fives fighting.

"-hasn't had near enough training yet! 'Difficult' has nothing on the work for that! A fourth of the nominees die in the first month!" Fives yelled

"She needs to learn from teachers that can help her grow! More than any of us could." Kix snapped back. "Fives, the girl survived Umbara. She would take this like any other challenge!"

"The girl that shipped out with us never left Umbara!" There was a horrible silence after that.

Her. They were arguing about her.

"Fives, none of us really left Umbara. Do you know how many sedatives I've prescribed for nightmares since then? That includes yourself, mind you."

Fives sighed.

"I'll forward the nomination to Rex when he get's back, but I'll tell you what he's gonna say right now." He said. The shadow from the door flickered. Thinking fast, Cav rolled off her bunk and hid under it, making sure Fives didn't catch her accidental eavesdropping. There was the hiss of a door sliding shut, and more muffled arguing she could no longer make out.

She cautiously crawled back onto the bed and finished checking over everything. Her comm beeped, Skywalker telling their squad he was ready and to meet him in the square they had landed in when they arrived in Naboo a week and a half ago.

Fives and Kix left the officer barracks, Kix looking downtrodden but Fives showing no such emotion.

"Hey Firecracker. You ready to go?" He asked, tossing her her helmet.

"Ready as I'll ever be." She said. "Did General Windu fill you in on everything?"

Fives nodded, pulling her to her feet. "Sent it all to my datapad. Me and Kix were just looking it over."

Cav nodded, not giving any indication she knew about the blatant lie. Kix cleared his throat as Fives and Cav left the barracks.

"Be safe. Both of you. I need my two worst patients to complain about to the other medics to appear interesting." Kix teased, although the worry never quite left his eyes.

"We'll be fine, Mom." Cav rolled her eyes. Fives laughed.

"Yeah, Mother. We'll come home safe, and we'll bring home the captain and commander."

"And the Chancellor." Cav added.

"Him too." Fives amended. "I guess he's kind of important. We'll see you when we get back. Or if we need to call in a medical emergency, depending on the captain and commanders' conditions."

"Or if any of you to di'kuts gets hurt, which will happen if you keep Skywalker waiting."

Cav snickered. "We're going, we're going." Jamming on her helmet, she let the smile fall from her face. What did Fives, and evidently Captain Rex, think she wasn't capable of?