Star Wars The Clone Wars: Cuy'Val Dar#Wattys2016

Sixteen

Galen was escorted out of the building by two Republic Officers and the sergeant followed them outside, spotting the rest of his squadron along with the Jedi standing across the street near an alleyway. He also noted that both hostages had been safely returned and were standing over with their families and a couple of bodyguards. Sarge paused as the officers turned to take Galen to their speeder, then he jogged across the street towards his squadron. As he slowed to a stop, nodding courteously to the Jedi General who stepped forward.

"I commend your work, Sergeant. You and that of your men. You have helped recover two hostages and avert a political crisis," she said in that same deeply arrogant tone. He could just image her as a Bothan politician looking down her nose at him as she spoke, like he was some underling. He ignored it, though. Chain of command required him to treat all Jedi with the same respect and obey their orders regardless.

"Thank you, General," he said. The Jedi dipped her head slowly and gently, then turned on heel. Sarge walked over to Null, who stood a little bit apart from the group.

"I got the hint about Sira," the ARC said quietly. Sarge nodded. By then the street had been cleared and General Fas was already moving onto their next orders. Sarge listened halfway, hearing her but not focusing on anything she said. He'd remember it when necessary. Instead he as focused on another noise. It was distant for the moment, but heard oddly like the sound of battle droids. At first the Sergeant ignored it, thinking it to be some sort of strange speeder or another harmless noise, but it kept growing louder and nearer until there was no mistaking it for any other sound. The Sergeant heard the Jedi still talking, and knew better than to interrupt her, so he instead turned his head slightly, activating his scanner which soon picked out fifteen different droids.

"General!" Sarge said, raising two fingers for her to see. He hated to interrupt, but war called for blasters, not manners.

"What is it sergeant?" the Jedi asked, sounding a little annoyed.

"We have droids inbound from the south side," he said.

The Jedi crossed her arms and cocked her head to one side giving him a doubtful expression. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, ma'am, I'm positive."

"South side you said?"

"Yes, ma'am."

Fas looked over the group. "Send some men to check on it."

Sarge cut her off quickly as she finished her sentence. "No time, ma'am, they're heading this way already. I can hear them."

For a long moment, Fas was quiet and didn't answer, then she pulled her lightsaber off of her belt and ignited it.

"Ready your weapons men! We have a fight on our hands," the Jedi yelled. Sarge already had his blaster in hand and he turned just in time to see the first droid's head appear on the horizon. He would've shot it if the horizon hadn't been over forty meters away. Fas and her padawan dashed to the front of the squadron, running towards the droid squadron. The boys eyes were glinting with happiness as he rushed to the fight. Sarge raised his blaster, following the Jedi but ordering his men to be a bit more cautious; jedi had the force, clones didn't. As soon as both squadrons, droid and clone, were withing twenty meters of one another everyone opened fire. Red laser bolts flew through the air, countered by blue blaster bolts. Sarge ducked under several of the shots, the air just crackling with tension and adrenaline. He raised his blaster, firing off near to five shots, three of them hitting their marks. The droids were not more than fifty in number, but thirty droids is always more than it seems. Sarge saw brilliant flash of light to his left and saw one of the Jedi slice a droid in half before spiraling to their left and stabbing another. He quickly returned his focus and shot the droid in front of him. Dropping on one knee, he avoided being shot in the shoulder and managed to trip the droid running towards him, sending it to the ground in a pile of flailing arms and legs. Standing the sergeant turned and shot it in the head before whirling around to shoot the next droid. All around him the battle raged on, the clones slowly pushing the droids back. Red laser bolts often came dangerously close to Sarge's head, but he somehow managed to avoid them, his armor deflecting the rest and keeping him from harm. He continued across the street, shooting the droids he could see and doing his best to navigate the narrow street that was their battlefield. Suddenly he heard his comm click on.