Of Love and War Book 3: In The Thick of Battle

Chapter 43: Season 6 (To Be A Leader)

After so long being out of the field due to recovery, or running smaller missions far from the main crux of the current war, Zelina was finally sent back to the front lines. There was no easing back into things when she was sent to Ringo Vinda, as there was an intense struggle happening there between the Republic and the Separatists, most of the fighting centered on a massive space station that circled the planet of Ringo Vinda like an artificial planetary ring.

And, Anakin was one of the Jedi leading the charge against the Separatists here.

She wouldn't have her return to the middle of the battlefield any other way.

Currently, they were in progress for a final push, one that, if successful, would cripple the Separatist grasp on the planet and lead to the Republic taking control once more. Zelina, Anakin, and two Jedi twins named Tiplee and Tiplar were the ones making the push, as well as the 501st, the 105th, and Commander Doom's men, of course.

Zelina didn't think anyone had bothered to tell her what unit he was leading—

She had to physically dodge a blaster bolt when she was too distracted to deflect it with her lightsaber.

Now was not the time to try and think of what Doom's unit was called. She had more immediate matters that demanded attention.

Like the onslaught of droids her and her men were currently cutting through.

"Don't you have enough scars for your war story collection, General," Dash teased after he'd shot the droid that had almost hit her.

Zelina scoffed. "You can never have too many stories, Dash. My scars just say I've seen a lot of exciting things."

As she spoke she dashed forward, cutting through two basic B1 droids while the third, a droid commando dodging the attack. She still took him out with her second lightsaber, unhooking the weapon from her belt just long enough to impale the droid through the chest before returning it to it's spot at her side. She continued forward with just her violet blade, her men laying down cover fire as she pushed into the ranks of the droids coming at them. She felt much more useful attacking instead of simply standing back and deflecting blaster bolts all the time.

Spotting some droidekas preparing to roll to the front of the attacking force, Zelina barked out some quick commands.

"Keen-eye, rollers! Nex, Gambit, Hardball!"

A few seconds later, shots fired over the heads of the advancing droids towards the dreaded droids. Meanwhile, Nex, Gambit, and Hardball all dashed forward with thermal detonators, throwing them into the throng into the paths of the oncoming droidekas.

"Sentry, Zedge, Darius!"

The members of her men who had been given shields for this campaign jumped to the front before she even finished calling them, covering Nex, Gabit, and Hardball from the oncoming fire they'd been momentarily exposed to. Zelina retreated from the ranks of the droids before the detonators could go off, standing in front of the shields since she could deflect with her lightsaber.

A small explosion rocked the hallway as the detonators went off, taking out the droidekas before they even reached the front lines of the droid force coming their way. Once the explosions were over, the shields dropped away, and by then the arc troopers were prepared with heavier guns, unleashing an unrelenting fire on the droids advancing their way. Zelina darted forward once again, weaving between the fire of her men to cut down any droids that managed to dodge the onslaught. Other soldiers, like Cruiser, Dash, and of course Keen-eye, kept her covered, shooting down any droid they thought came too close to their General.

The end of the hallway came in view, where there stood a door that they needed to reach, as their rendezvous point was on the other side.

"Almost there, boys!" Zelina shouted.