The Clone's Hero (Star Wars: The Clone Wars)

Punishment (Intro pt4)

Weakness in wartime is intolerable. So morality is sacrificed.

The short siege on Naboo was coming to a close. Jedi General Anakin Skywalker and the 501st legion were doing a good job holding the capital city of Theed.

However, they had some troubles when the Separatists decided to introduce a new deflector shield dome. It made taking their base camp harder more difficult.

So reinforcements were called.

Krell and the 304th were dispatched to help push back the remaining Separatist forces and take out the improved deflector shield.

Much to Krell's disappointment because he wanted his legion to be at its fullest when they're deployed to Mustafar again.

Luckily for them, the 501st and Nabooian army did most of the dirty work. So by the time the 304th arrived, they just needed to fight one battle. And that was to destroy the shield activator.

Steele was asked to accompany Rex to disable the shield while the rest of the army focused on combatting the droids. Krell harshly reminded Steele to not get further injured before he left.

"Captain, place the deactivator!" Steele shouted at Rex, captain of the 501st and General Skywalker's right-hand-man.

Rex quickly took out the deactivator from his bag and put it in place on the shield activator. Behind him, Steele and a couple of other clone troopers were covering him from incoming droid fire.

"Done!" Rex gave a quick thumbs up.

The clones all made a mad dash out of the Separatist base. Seconds later, the deactivator did its work and the deflector shield disappeared.

"Forward!" Anakin commanded his troops as soon as it happened.

The clones all rushed into enemy territory. The battle was quick with minor casualties. Eventually, the Separatists were pushed back beyond their base. And sent terms of surrender to the Nabooian government.

~ O O O ~

"The Separatists are going to resolve this diplomatically now," Nabooian Senator, Padme Amidala, explained to Anakin and Krell. "Hopefully everything works out ok."

"And if not?" Krell questioned.

"Well, then we'll just handle them the easy way," Anakin patted the lightsaber on his belt.

Senator Amidala gave him a glare. Anakin just smirked in return. Standing next to their respective generals, Rex and Steele took note of the interaction between Anakin and Padme.

It definitely felt like something more than friendship.

The conversation between the generals and the politician ended before long. They soon headed their separate ways. The Senator went to report to the Queen and the generals returned to the Republic base.

As soon as they reached there, Krell pulled Steele by his arm and whispered to him.

"Any wounds you have, get it fixed now. I don't know when we'll be deployed to Mustafar again but you'd better be in top shape when we are!"

Looking behind his shoulder, Rex saw the Besalisk general whispering—rather harshly—to his clone commander. He watched as Krell squeezed the commander's arm before leaving him be.

"Everything ok, Rex?" Anakin caught sight of his captain staring behind them.

"Huh? Oh, yes, general. I was just—making sure everything was ok between General Krell and his commander."