"𝘽𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙛𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨, 𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙚."

"So we're going in with the Bad Batch," I said taking a sip of the blue milk I smuggled into the hangar. "You've worked with them before?"

"Once," Cody answered taking a swig of his milk as well. "This is some good stuff by the way." He extended his arm to look at the bottle more closely.

"You're welcome."

We continued drinking the blue milk in silence. I contemplated the mission we were about to go on. Obi-Wan had business with the Council which left me to go with the 212th on this upcoming mission to Eriadu. However, this mission was not to be taken lightly. Eriadu was not only the home world of Admiral Tarkin, but was also a staging point for a lot of battles the Republic led. Grievous dispatched a ship of droids that had landed outside the capital city and we were being sent to stop the advance.

Anakin approached Cody and I who sat on the floor of the hangar against a gunship.

"Are you guys ready to go?" he asked.

"Yes, sir," Cody answered putting down his bottle.

"We're just waiting for the Bad Batch to show," I said and pulled my bottle away from my lips.

Anakin smirked. "You've got a milk mustache, Sil. Here, let me get that for you."

My eyes widened in surprise as he crept towards me. I pressed myself further against the gunship to get away. Anakin realized Cody was still there and stopped his motion. Sighing, he finally spoke.

"I, uh, I don't have a napkin," Anakin said to cover himself.

"It's fine." I wiped my mouth with my sleeve and Anakin looked disappointed.

There was a lingering silence until Cody cleared his throat.

"Good luck on your mission," Anakin said and nodded curtly at Cody and I. After we acknowledged, Anakin turned and left.

Once he was gone, Cody whistled. "What was that all about?" he asked suggestively.

"Nothing," I hissed.

"Nothing?" Cody asked smiling. "Tell that to the guys."

I turned to see Trip and Wooley standing at a distance with grins on their faces. Trip wiggled his eyebrows. I retaliated by making a face at him. Next to them stood our shiny, Pinup. It looked like his eyeballs were about to fall out of his face.

I stood up abruptly, suddenly feeling a new wave of impatience. "When are those troopers getting here," I said checking the time.

As if on cue, the Bad Batch showed up. I'd never seen them before, but who else could these unique looking clones be.

"Finally! What do they even call you the Bad Batch for? They should call you the late Batch," I exclaimed and their leader raised an eyebrow.

I walked past them briskly, gesturing for the 212th to start boarding the cruiser. I could hear Cody's laugh bounce across the walls as he walked over to meet the specialized clone force.

***

Our gunship left the hangar bay of the cruiser that brought us to Eriadu. The ship descended with its doors open and flew past the polluted city. An orange haze settled over the atmosphere and made the once glorious city look like a wasteland. Toxic fumes spewed from the tops of factories and refineries making my eyes burn.

"I thought this city was supposed to look fancy," Crosshair spoke up. "It looks like the refresher after Wrecker used it."

"Hey!"

Hunter quickly hushed them. The gunship flew past the waste zones and stopped at the mouth of a river that flowed through the city. It wouldn't be easy to deploy the troops on the hard, rocky landscape right where the Separatists were. Instead we were dropped off further away.

Once we touched the surface, we were on our way to meet the battle droids. The rugged terrain made that considerably difficult. We climbed over sharp rocks only to climb down them on the other side. It became repetitive, dangerous, and we all grew tired.

Trip lost his footing and toppled onto another trooper who crashed into someone else. Soon, there were three troopers groaning on the harsh surface.

"Aw Trip, you klutz!" Boil shouted in annoyance.

They clambered to their feet and we continued on our way towards the droids. Instead of engaging them right away, Cody had us stop for the evening to attack sometime later during the night.

"Kiwi, Pinup," Cody said getting the troopers' attention. "Go scout the area."

"Yes, sir," they responded and I watched as they left.

Nearby, Hunter and Shout were messing around with knives. Hunter twirled a blade between his fingers while Shout made attempts to snatch it away. Shout lunged at his opponent, but his offense appeared very defensive.

"Shout, you've gotta accept the fact that you're going to get cut if you're gonna disarm someone from their knife," I said, thinking back to the training I received as a Ranger.

Hunter nodded in agreement. "She's right. Unless you're fighting with an idiot, then you'll probably get away unscathed."

"Yeah, yeah," Shout grumbled. "As long as you don't cut me while we're practicing."

Hunter chuckled and the two continued their knife play. The other Bad Batch members interacted with the rest of the 212th. Boil laughed with Wrecker. Trip and Wooley stood on either side of Tech, staring at his datapad with deep interest.

Cody and I chatted until his voice fell. "It's been almost an hour since Kiwi and Pinup left," he said unnerved. Cody activated his comlink and raised his wrist to his mouth. "Kiwi, Pinup, come in."

"Who's Pinup?" Crosshair asked amused.

Cody ignored the comment and called for them again. There was no response, just static. Cody and I exchanged a worried glance and we rose to our feet.

"Maybe they got lost," Wooley suggested with a snicker.

Cody shook his head and strode in the direction Kiwi and Pinup had gone in. I ran after him. We followed the route they had taken and traced the rocky landscape. All seemed fine until I saw a helmet on the floor.

"There!" I pointed and we ran towards it.

Behind a rock lay the smoking bodies of Kiwi and Pinup. Fiery red blaster holes dotted their armor. They lay sprawled on the ground. Lifeless.

My lip quivered as my gaze fell over them. Cody knelt down beside the troopers and hung his head after confirming they were dead. I swallowed the sobs that threatened to rise and helped Cody bring the bodies to the river. We couldn't bury them since the terrain was all rock. After seeing their bodies submerge, we drearily headed back to camp. The guys knew something was wrong and held back any jokes they had been waiting to tell.

"Kiwi and Pinup are dead," Cody announced. "I want a full squad to secure the area. Shoot anything that moves."

Boil nodded and motioned for his men to follow him. I sighed wondering how this had happened. The droids seemed to be getting deadlier as the war continued.

I saw Cody disappear behind a ledge. After a while I went to check on him. I heard a sniffle and I froze. Cody was crying. He was without a doubt blaming himself for the lost lives of those young troopers.

I peered over to see Cody's helmet was off as he stared at the ground. We had been through some emotionally draining battles, but Cody refused to let anyone see him without his helmet on during those times. It made me wonder how many times the commander cried when nobody could see him.

It was clear that Cody needed some space. I drifted away from the ledge and found my own spot to sit. I dropped my head into my hands. Why did war have to be so brutal?

***

Before the sun could break through the horizon, Cody got us all up to go after the battle droids. Tech informed Cody and I of the droid unit trekking through one of the rocky canyons. It was taking those droids a long time to reach the city which worked to our advantage. As annoying as the terrain was to us, it was even worse for the droids.

We hiked quietly up the rocks, taking shortcuts until we finally had a view of the droids marching in the canyon below us towards the capital city.

Cody spoke quietly. "We're gonna pick'em off one by one from up here. Then I want Boil's squad to meet them at the end of the canyon-"

"That's a nice plan," Hunter said cutting Cody off. "But we don't have time for that. Those droids will reach the city before you're through with them. Let us catch them by surprise and then you guys can join in."

Hunter looked at Cody expectantly and he gave in. Cody knew his plan wasn't time effective. He nodded and a grin spread across Hunter's face. He slipped on his helmet and pointed to Wrecker.

"Alright, Wrecker, do what you do best."

"And what would that be?" I asked.

"He's a tank sized human, what do you think?" Tech answered calmly.

Wrecker leaped into action. He threw himself over the ledge we had been hiding behind and landed on a few droids below, flattening them completely.

I stared with my mouth hung open while Hunter looked on amused by Wrecker's charge. Trip came over to get a better look and nearly dropped his blaster seeing Wrecker rip apart droids like pieces of paper.

Trip's voice came out weak. "Did he just... jump in there and..."

"Yeah." I gulped as I watched Wrecker bowl through the droid force, looking completely at home. I wondered if he knew what death was. The way he took control of the situation made me believe that dying was probably the least of his worries. Assuming he even worried about anything.

Hunter laughed seeing our expressions. "You'll get used to it," he patted my shoulder and stood up. He gestured to Crosshair who shot a line. The two of them slid down to meet the droids and engaged in a firefight.

Cody and I shared a look and decided it was time to join in. We lightly bumped our blasters, a gesture that had become tradition. We hopped down and let our jetpacks ease our fall. The rest of the 212th followed to take out the droids.

The fight had gone by at least three times faster than I had anticipated. The presence of the Bad Batch was an obvious factor.

I waited for the smoke to finish trailing out of my blasters before holstering them. I looked around to see the men gathering themselves as they waited for further orders.

"That wasn't the only platoon," I said turning to Tech. "How many more until we reach the ship they landed in?"

"There's one more between us and their ship. I suggest we destroy them and then make camp. Their ship is still a day away and we'll need our full strength to infiltrate and destroy it."

Cody nodded at the information and ordered everyone to get moving. We headed for the next group of droids and managed to blaze through them without much difficulty.

As Tech had brought up, it would be in our best interest to take a rest before making our final attack. The guys got settled in for the evening and I slipped out of sight. I activated my comlink and tuned it to reach the channel I was looking for.

"Anakin?" I asked softly.

"Hey, Sil," Anakin's tired voice reached my ears. "How's the mission going?"

I paused at his question. "We took some losses," I said thinking about Kiwi and Pinup. "But the Bad Batch has proven to be very helpful, so I guess we're not doing too bad."

Anakin released a sigh. "I wish I could say the same."

"Why, what happened?"

"Someone's bombed the Jedi Temple hangar," Anakin answered and my jaw dropped. He continued, "We lost Jedi, clones, crew workers."

I brought a hand up to rub my temple. "Why would someone do this?" It was hard for me to conceive of a reason for such extremes. I knew people weren't always happy with the Jedi, but this was disturbing.

"I'm glad you weren't here," Anakin said. "If you had been in that explosion-"

"But I wasn't," I cut him off. "Don't worry too much," I tried for a smile even though he couldn't see it. There was a moment of silence and I spoke again. "How's Ahsoka? Is she doing alright?"

"Actually, she's standing behind my door thinking I don't know she's listening in," Anakin said amused.

I laughed as I imagined Ahsoka stiffening at hearing Anakin's statement.

"I actually have to go update Obi-Wan on the investigation," Anakin said. "You can talk to Ahsoka if you'd like."

"Alright," I replied smiling.

Anakin said his goodbye and I was speaking with Ahsoka.

"So... you and Skyguy," she started playfully.

I released a groan. I wondered how many people would figure this out before it became dangerous.

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone," she added.

"I know you won't," I smiled knowing Ahsoka's nature.

"But it does surprise me that Anakin has someone as wonderful as you," Ahsoka said and I laughed. "I mean, why do you even like him?"

My eyes were shining and I pressed my lips together as I thought of an answer. "I... I'm not exactly sure what it is, but something draws me to him. And I really enjoy spending time with him."

"Okay, forget I asked," Ahsoka said and I shook my head smiling.

"And how are you doing, Ahsoka?" I asked her. I had a feeling she was talking to me about Anakin as a way to distract herself. Anything she wanted to know about us, she probably knew. "The bombing must've been horrific."

There was a pause and I waited patiently for Ahsoka to speak. "I was raised in the Temple," she started slowly. "It's my home. And someone has attacked it. I'm not sure how to feel."

"That can't be easy to take in," I replied softly.

"It's not," Ahsoka sighed. "Well, I should be getting back to my investigation. I'll see you when you get back, Sil."

"Good luck, Ahsoka. I'll see you then."

I ended the transmission and ran a hand through my hair. I walked back towards where the troops were resting. Most of them had fallen asleep by now.

I found myself a vacant spot and sat down amongst the snoring clones. I lay down and grimaced at feeling the rocky surface poke through my clothes.

"It's not very comfortable, is it?"

I opened my eyes to see Trip standing over me. I pulled myself up and nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, it sucks."

"It might help if we try what some of the other guys are doing," Trip said tilting his head towards the clones who rested on each other's shoulders, laps, or thrown together in piles.

I smiled at the sight of them. "Let's try it."

Trip and I shifted around until settling in a position we both found comfortable. He had removed his upper armor and we sat back to back, heads resting against each other. I let my eyes slip close and I could feel warmth radiating off of Trip. This brought me comfort and I was finally able to drift off.

***

After everyone awoke, we quickly made for the ship the battle droids had arrived in. It sat in a clearing with droids guarding it from outside. There would be plenty more inside. The most efficient way to take care of this situation would be by blowing it all up.

"Do you have the explosives?" Cody whispered to Wrecker.

"Is that even a question?" he grinned and stared excitedly at the pack sitting in front of him.

"So, what's your plan?" Cody asked Hunter who sat thinking.

"I'll need to borrow two of your guys," he said and the troops behind us grew nervous. "Wrecker will throw them past the droid's flanks and then we'll blast them from three sides."

"This is insane," Jojo muttered from behind me.

"Hey, if it works," I shrugged.

"Alright, I need two of you." Cody faced the boys. He pointed to Trip, Shout, Boil, and Wooley. "You four, figure it out."

They sighed in defeat and and played rock, paper, scissors to see who'd have to get tossed by Wrecker.

Shout and Wooley lost their matches and surrendered to Wrecker. They were thrown over enemy lines. After shaking themselves out of their dazes, they jumped into action. We reacted quickly by firing on the droids and taking them completely by surprise. In what felt like seconds, the first wave was over.

"We need to get those explosives inside!" Cody shouted and led the men into the ship.

We bounded down halls and dropped the explosives at every corner. Any droid that came our way was shot down as quickly as it appeared. Until someone started expertly firing back.

Right next to me, Shout dropped to the floor, completely still. Up ahead, more troops fell dead and I told the rest to retreat. We hid ourselves at the end of the hall.

"Cody," I spoke quickly into my comlink. "I think we've got a bounty hunter."

I waited for the shooter to appear, but a grenade rolled onto the floor and spewed smoke everywhere. My anticipation grew astronomically.

More troops cluttered to the floor as laser fire pierced through the thick smoke. I calmed my head and tried to slow the rapid beating of my heart. I reached out to feel for a life source other than the familiar presence of the clones around me. My senses zeroed in on a distinct figure and I moved swiftly towards it.

Before they could fire again, I shot the blaster out of their hands. The bounty hunter spun around in surprise and threw a punch which I dodged. They landed a kick on my shin and I pivoted my feet to get around their body. I caught the attacker's arm and twisted their elbow forward in an arc. A cry rang out and I grinned at the sound. I kicked out their legs from under them and the bounty hunter fell face first on the floor. I picked up a random blaster and fired sloppily through the neck.

I breathed hard as I recovered from the fight and turned tiredly to see Cody.

"Finally," I gasped. "Where were you?"

More droids entered the hall and blaster bolts ripped through the air. Sharp pain flared right above my knee. A burning sensation radiated along my entire leg and I collapsed as dizziness hit me.

It seemed like the floor moved away from me until I came back to my senses and realized Cody was dragging me across the smooth floor, pulling me away from the gunfire with a strong grip on the hood of my jacket.

I pushed away the pain and raised my arm to shoot the droids who chased us. I covered Cody and the others as we stormed out of the ship. I could see the orange sky and rocky terrain again as Cody lifted me up by the arm. I leaned onto him as he supported me off the ship. Once it was empty and we were far enough away, the ship blew into spare parts.

Now that our mission was complete, we waited for gunships to pick us up and take us back to the cruiser. Jojo patched us all up as best he could. He was able to stabilize my leg for the time being.

It was mostly silent. So many troops died today and it was taking its toll on me. We succeeded in our mission, but I felt like a failure. This small, little win. It hardly seemed worth the lives of the men who would never open their eyes again.