blast! → the clone wars

xvii. enter clone force 99

⋆☆.* ✧✰ .✦⋆*☆

SIX MONTHS HAD PASSED SINCE THE BATTLE OF KAMINO, and they were officially two years into the war. Most fortunately, Stellar had recovered quickly from his head injury, but it was a small victory given how many men they would continue to lose each battle. Snap was gone, along with many other men she had gotten to know during their time in her squad. Of course, she couldn't know them all, but they all had different presences in the Force, and she felt the difference with them gone. With each battle, the number of casualties grew.

This one in particular, Tara could feel, would end in heavy casualties, too. They were in the outskirts of the main city on a little planet called Pijal, where the Separatists had started an occupation and the Republic was doing everything they could to end it. Evidently, the Separatists weren't keen on just giving up, and they were pushing harder than ever. The Commander Droids were getting craftier with each battle; they would study the battalion's moves and report it into the database for future use. The 107th tried to flank the droids, but the droids were a step ahead and made it impossible for them to do so.

"Blast!" Tara swore, which she rarely did, though the habit was growing more frequent (she had both the war and her men to thank for teaching her such habits). "Time to switch to plan B." Stellar looked at her, and even with his helmet on she knew he was exasperated.

"I thought this was plan B!" he shouted over the din of the battle. "These damn clankers are always one step ahead of us!" Tara's eyes twinkled mischievously.

"C'mon, Stellar! Where's the optimism?"

"Honestly?" he began, then a chuckle escaped him. "I think I left it back in that pit on Geonosis." A thermal detonator was vaulted from the sea of droids, and without hesitation Tara used the Force to vault it back toward them. It made a dent in their forces, but a small one.

"Where are our reinforcements?" she shouted, and Tracker was the one to reply.

"Five minutes out, sir!"

"Great," she huffed, and not even she was sure whether it was a sarcastic or genuine reply. Then, she had an idea. "How many detonators do we have left?" Stellar scoffed.

"Not many, but a good few. What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking we try something we haven't done yet. Get Jazz and Niner back here, clearly there's no use for them trying to flank again." A minute later, the two ARC Troopers were behind her, patiently awaiting their orders. For the moment, the battalion was using natural formations as cover as they fired shots across the field in which the battle was taking place. She turned to face them all with a determined expression. "I have a plan. It's incredibly dangerous and may not work, but I think it may just be our best chance if we want to make it until our reinforcements come through." The troopers looked to each other, then back at her.

"We follow your lead, always," said Stellar. She gave him a nod of thanks, then continued.

"Xen will stay here and provide cover for the troopers just as we always do. The four of us, however, will press forward."

"Alone?" questioned Jazz. Tara donned the faintest of smirks.

"Not exactly."

And so she explained her plan and they were soon venturing beyond the front line, Tara leading with the other three clustered behind her, firing shots while staying behind the safety of her lightsaber. She could feel the nerves of the men behind the front line; they were both terrified and intrigued to see how her plan would play out, and honestly she felt the same way.