A Soldier's Secret

Part 2

"Cedar, it's an order" Rex added

"As you may have noticed, I said no. I've dealt with my squad's death, the funeral of my General, and the insufferable amount of apologies from everyone. No thank you, I will not come down since trees do not expect formalities" I closed the link. I could practically hear Rex fuming from here, and I smiled at the prospect. Leaning against the trunk, I swung one of my legs and watched the three of them talk. I, needing a breath of unfiltered air, pulled off my helmet, and let my hair out.

My hair, which I have carefully cultivated to be a short, diagonal bob, is wheat coloured. I'ma defect, and I'm goddammed proud of it. No dumb rules were going to stop me from protecting Benny. But with getting transferred, and my new platoon that didn't know, I had to cut it. I couldn't risk being seen with long hair. So I whipped my knife out and exhaled, raising it to my head, and cut away the longer parts, leaving buzzcut sides and a longer top. The small handful of my hair had to be gotten rid of, but dropping it might lead to some confusion. So I tucked it into a hollow knot in the tree and started climbing higher, away from Rex and the Generals. I put my helmet on again, feeling the comforting weight of it.

"Cedar, come down right now" Rex demanded

"How many times do I have to say no? No" I snapped, then tested the branches above me. One was relatively sturdy, so I pulled up and restarted the process.

"When did you get so good at climbing trees?" Rex asked. I was a solid hundred feet above the ground

"Practice" I growled, and I found a good branch. I examined the branches on the tree next to mine, and I prepared

"Don't tell me you're going to jump" Rex sighed 

"Screw you!" I ran on the branch and jumped onto the next tree, slamming into the trunk

"Holy-" Someone other than Rex, who I presumed to be one of the Generals, I heard over the comm. Then I sat down, and looked up at the sky, the sun coming through the canopy

"I give up" Rex said "Apologies, Generals"

I watched them walk away. Finally, some silence, which was interrupted by the loud droning of a ship. It didn't look like any of the cruisers I knew, so I opened my comm

"Rex, were we expecting any other ships?" I asked

"No. Why?" He sounded confused

"Cause a big one is currently on its way down," I said

"Seps" Rex cussed, and then the entire beehive started rushing around "Cedar, come down right now. If Seps are on the planet, we need everyone to kick them out"

"Fine" I growled, then started making my way downward, picking branches carefully, then stopped and opened my comm "Rex, if I stay in the trees, I can tell you troop positions"

"Let me ask the Generals" He went silent for a minute, and I heard the sound of marching metal

"We don't have long. They're unloading!" I said, 

"How far out?" Rex asked

"I don't have a clear visual, but they sound a good five minutes out if they cut through the trees," I said, then drew my blaster from its sheath "I'll try and find a better vantage point"

"Cedar, don't risk it-" I closed the comm and prepared to jump

I flew through the branches, and I found a point where I could see the ship. The solid thing of black metal was unloading tanks, bellowing smoke and ash as they went. I scanned the area, looking for an exact number. I saw a command centre, a few more tanks, and a lot of droids

"Rex, I count six squads of droids and five tanks," I said "Three squads are headed to you"

"The other three?" He asked

"Reinforcements. It looks like they want to pull a circle on you" I looked for the command, and saw it leaving with the tanks. Made no sense, but I had seen weirder. I looked back toward the trees I came from, and heaved out a breath before I jumped

By the time I had reached the camp again, I was short of breath and ready to sit down. But the battle was in full swing and they needed me. I was on the ground when the shot clipped my in the shoulder