Star Wars: A Thing Of Beauty

Cavalry Arrives

The battle of Felucia is turning out to be a very, very messy situation for the Republic. Aayla, Riyarra and Jinang have died, and so have countless clones. Making things much worse, Shara'Dune and her padawan Kal'Agur have disappeared, along with most of their ash warriors army. And their desertion as been extremely costly, with Ki-Adi-Mundi all alone with only the dwindling numbers of clone troopers to try and fight this seemingly hopeless battle. And yet, the Republic is still willing to expend more resources to keep up the fight, as taking control of the hyperlanes could become a pivotal move for them in the entire war and their economy. Fortunately, there is a new hope for the campaign - master Yamato Izanami and Anakin Skywalker are on their way with Yamato's clone army, the 1009th, as well as the first Republic conscript army enlisted in 1000 years - known as the official Republic army rangers. The general of this army is Mathayus Narmer, a human from the planet Alderaan, who has served as his homeworld's chief of security for the last 15 years. Mathayus is personally responsible for the expulsion of all pirate activities in his home system, and is considered to be a very smart, brave tactician, as well as a highly skilled combatant. He's a hero worthy of high praise in the Core systems, and senator Bail Organa of Alderaan nominated him to lead the Republic rangers and he was voted in unanimously.
General Mathayus Narmer is a large, brawny man, tanned bronze with a bald head and a short, black beard. He is wearing the new Republic army ranger uniform, which looks similar to clone armor but with less plastoid parts and more cloth material, and the uniform is blue and white. The general is carrying a huge blaster hand cannon on his shoulder with one arm, and his helmet under the other, walking with a squad of rangers dressed just like him. In the air are a new line of gunships, LAAT-2s, painted blue and white to match the rangers. The clone trooper, Crackshot is there, feeling a little outdated with his banged up, Kaminoan armor, but he's also feeling a little excited because it seems like the Republic is done playing around with this campaign.
"General Narmer, I presume?" Crackshot says, approaching Mathayus. "Pleasure to meet you. And welcome aboard."

"Thank you, commander." The general answered, stoic and serious. There's something about Mathayus that oddly reminds Crackshot of Jinang. "I hope you haven't been waiting too long for our arrival. Generals Izanami and Skywalker will arrive shortly."

"Not at all." Crackshot answered. "You boys showed up just in time. We are planning an attack on an outpost the seps took back recently. With all of you here, the mission should go smoothly."

"Right. Let's get to it then." Mathayus says, nodding. "Lead the way."

Crackshot has not done so well in the last couple of years. Riyarra and Jinang were his very close friends, and most of the clones he trained with on Kamino are dead too. He's lost almost everyone, but he is pretty good at hiding the anguish he's feeling... Crackshot also took a nasty hit not long ago, leaving a huge scar on the left side of his head, an injury which has impeded his sniping abilities. It's just been a very hard time overall...
Crackshot leads general Narmer over to the holomap table that's been used to plan strategies here since the beginning of the Felucia campaign. There, the rangers' general is introduced to Ki-Adi-Mundi.

The venator star cruiser carrying Yamato and Anakin enters the Republic blockade of Felucia, and the two Jedi make their way to the hangar where a shuttle is waiting to take them to the planet's surface. Yamato is wearing red body armor under a sleeveless, red waistcoat that has fur around the shoulders. And Anakin is wearing dark brown Jedi combat garb with black Kaminoan armor pads. Neither Anakin nor Yamato have been doing so well either: Yamato came to Felucia to help her former padawan, Shara, work through her trauma, but Shara has disappeared and Yamato is entirely helpless to do anything about it. And Anakin's padawan, Ahsoka Tano, was framed for a terrorist bombing and sentenced to death. And she was going to be executed after a half-assed investigation and a short-lived trial, but Anakin was just barely fast enough to provide the evidence needed to prove her innocence. But Ahsoka was so hurt by the order's unwillingness to really try and defend her that she left the Jedi behind. And then Ahsoka showed up later that year, right around the time that Jinang died, to help the Republic once again in an operation to free Mandalore from the former Sith lord, Maul. However, she and Maul disappeared during that event, and she is presumed to have been killed by Maul.
"I can sense the turmoil in you, young Jedi." Yamato said, walking down a hallway, slightly behind Anakin. "I don't want to pry, but as we are working together, I will offer you counsel, should you need someone to talk to."

"Don't worry about it." Anakin answered coldly, staying focused on the mission.

Looking at Anakin, Yamato sees a troubled youngling that just needs love. She's always had a very motherly nature about her, and wishes she could help. This long waging war weighs very heavily on her though. She's lost a whole lot of people she cares about.
Yamato Izanami's master was the Jedi legend, Rox Odan, known to be one of the most powerful Jedi in the order's entire history. Rox also trained a Kaleesh man named Coffis Doqiir, who trained Riyarra Agdol. So Yamato thought of Shara and Riyarra as being sisters to each other, and thought of Jinang and Kal as brothers, and all four of them are gone. Coffis, who Yamato thought of as her brother, ended up in a maximum security prison, and Rox supposedly went mad with visions of the future and died in an event called the Ryloth incident. Yamato has indeed had a very hard life of many losses, and she always wants to help others as a way of compensating for all of the people she feels like she failed. But she carries on with the mission, and takes a shuttle down to the Jedi temple on Felucia. A few-miles-wide perimeter of jungle that once surrounded the temple is just flattened land now. Scorched, blasted and fried by the endless war. The heaps of destroyed battle droids of every kind grew bigger in size and number, and crashed ships lie all around as well. This place is really starting to suffer from this war, but Yamato and Anakin are here to put a stop to it once and for all.
The two new Jedi gather around the old holomap to meet Crackshot, Ki-Adi-Mundi and general Narmer. All of them ready to finish this fight.
"I know we've lost a lot of good people on this planet." General Narmer said, getting everyone's attention around the table. "A handful of Jedi, and countless good soldiers. The war has even torn this once beautiful jungle apart. We owe it to every life sacrificed on Felucia to make sure they died for something that matters. So let's fight at our best, and take the Separatists down, and drag the Sith with them."

With that, all of the clones and rangers cheered around, and Anakin half-smiled at general Narmer, nodding. In the midst of the cheering, Yamato even broke composure and gave a little cheer, raising her fists slightly. A new fight on Felucia has begun.