The Wolf Pack

Chapter 13

The enemy had set up an energy field far behind their lines, which progressively expanded its diameter. This was a new issue altogether, the heavy canons were the only real artillery left because apparently, Skywalker had decided to send the ships back for supplies. Even if the cannons could do a lot of damage, they could not get past an energy shield. So we were faced with a heavily armed, well protected enemy who was closing in on us and could possibly take out the last line of defense we had.

"We need to keep them from the canons at all costs and figure out a way to fight them even with that shield up." Said Master Kenobi.

"If it's going to be such a problem, why not take that shield generator down?" Asked Ahsoka.

"Easier said than done." answered Rex.

"Well, I -for one- agree with her." said Skywalker.

"Well since you just volunteered yourselves, I'll leave the shield to you." said Master Kenobi. "Rex, Kriari and I will attempt to draw the enemy into the buildings."

"We will still be overwhelmed easily..." Said the captain.

"We could divide our forces into three teams and outflank them while Master Kenobi and I draw their fire." I suggested.

I continued to explain how, if we placed troopers both to the north, south, and west, and then engaged the enemy in the middle, they would most probably concentrate fire on us and let the troopers do their jobs.

"That is a sound strategy, young one. What do you think, Captain?" He asked, turning to Rex.

"It's worth a shot."

We then moved on to organizing the medical triage. We only had two medics left, but that was enough. We would station one of them at the site of the triage and one in the frontlines for first aid. The triage would be guarded by three troopers and the rest of us would be at the frontlines. We would hide in the buildings and wait for the shield to pass us before engaging, and then, it was all up to Master Skywalker and Ahsoka.

Captain Rex would lead the southern team, Master Kenobi the northern one and I would lead the ground assault. Mine was the biggest team, and as such the one that would have the most losses. Captain Rex made some introductions and then left to take his position. The only names I'd been given were those of the medic, Kix, and the lieutenant, Happy.

I gathered our division for one last briefing.

"Well boys, unfortunately we will have no time for introductions today," I started. "Our aim will be to delay the enemy as long as we can and keep them away from the canons until reinforcements get here."

They all listened attentively and nodded along to what I was saying.

"I will try and draw as much enemy fire as I can, so make your rounds count, gentlemen." I continued. "Oh, and something else: no one, and I mean no one, gets left behind. If there is a trooper down I want him taken to the medical triage. This might be a difficult battle we are about to face, but each of your lives count, and I plan on protecting them. Understood?"

"Yes, Commander." they chorused. I smiled.

"Well boys, let's show these scraps of metal what real soldiers are made of."

...

We all held our breath. I could hear a trooper beside me trying to do breathing exercises to calm his nerves. Across from where we were hiding, behind a fallen ship, another trooper seemed to be talking to himself. Tensions were high, the anxiety to get this over with, overwhelming. Seconds dragged along, minutes seemed like an eternity. I put my hand on the shoulder of the clone beside me and smiled when he looked up. We can do this. He nodded sharply.

Then, the blasts started, and that was our cue. I leaped from behind the speeder and rushed onwards. Deflecting blast after blast and taking droids down with their own shots. And then, I reached their lines. I'd never made it that far in a battle. During Geonosis, all of my squadron's fighting had been at a distance, never actually engaging. This was much different. Not only did I have to be aware of blaster fire but make sure I wasn't grabbed, or hit. It was amazing how my training kicked in on it's own, at this point I was running on muscle memory, instinct and the Force. But as we had expected, the droids started concentrating fire on us Jedi, and soon enough I was forced to retreat to where my division was.

"Get back to your troops and fall back!" yelled Master Kenobi from a few meters to my right.

"Are you coming, Master?" I asked over the noise of the battle, still cutting down droids.

"I'll be right behind you, now go!"

So I did, and told our forces to fall back. We needed to regroup. Once we made it into the buildings, Rex's men started to arrive, and there were a lot of them missing.

"The enemy has overrun our position, we lost most of our division there." He informed us as we took cover behind some furniture.

"You two will take the men and regroup, protect the canons at all costs. I'll delay the enemy..."

Rex and I started to protest but Master Kenobi cut us short.

"That was an order you two! Get out of here!"

He turned to take down a droid that had reached our position.

"Don't you dare die on me on our first day, Master!" I yelled back as we retreated further into the buildings.

All I heard before we turned the corner, was his laughter.

...

We made it back to where our men had set up their lines, a little ways off from the heavy cannons. They were all waiting for us and asked for instructions the second we got there. We needed to hold our position, we needed to keep the canons safe. But we were also sustaining heavy losses, and I wanted to do something about that. We were out in the open, and there was very few hiding places where we could station snipers. But it was worth a shot. So I asked Rex what he thought of that. For all his obedience and loyalty, Rex was a very independent, confident man, and he never shied away from expressing his opinions. I appreciated that greatly.

"We have a few guys who are good enough shots. And outflanking the enemy is always a good idea, but we are running low on men and firepower," He started. "We could always employ your last strategy: you draw their fire, we cover you."

I sighed and contemplated the idea. The enemy would be onto us any minute and we had to come up with something now.

"Do we have any explosives left?" I asked.

"Some, yes. Why?" He asked.

The plan wasn't failsafe, in fact there were many ways in which it could go wrong, but at this point we were short of options. We decided to take advantage of the structural damage some buildings had endured and use that to bring them down on both sides of the road. That way, there would be a smaller gap through which the droids could advance, reducing the fire our troops ould take and forcing them to advance slower and in fewre numbers. I would take point and guard the opening, a first line of troopers would take cover amongst the fallen buildings, and a third would be stationed on a ridge right before the canons.

And then, we waited. I stood in the opening, eyes closed and feeling for the enemy that was approaching steadily. I felt Rex beside me.

"What are you doing here, Rex? Go take cover."

"All due respect, kid. I'm staying right here." he said, taking both his blasters and taking off the safety. "If a seventeen year old is going to go down protecting my brothers, then I'll be right beside her."

I smirked a little.

"What makes you think I'm protecting your brothers, Captain?"

The first blast flew across the road and right towards Rex's head, but before it could take him down, I deflected it with my lightsaber.

He smirked.

"Just a feeling."