"Dang clankers, there's too many of them!" I yelled frustratedly. We had been ambushed in the middle of the night, and things weren't looking good. Commander Tano, for some reason, hadn't noticed that she cut her ankle in the vents, and now it had swollen more and turned a distressing shade of red. General Skywalker called for reinforcements, but there was no reply.

"Tell the men to retreat, Rex. Ahsoka and I will hold them off." the General ordered. The droids were starting to advance, and many of the clones had fallen. I ushered my men behind the sand dunes and told them to begin the strenuous climb up the cliff, where only the tanks would be able to reach us. After destroying most of a battalion, I spotted two bright lightsabers flashing, unaware of a tank behind them.

"Fire the rocket launchers on the left flank! Tank!" I hollered. A clone loaded up the launcher and aimed it carefully at the tank's cockpit, blowing it to smithereens. The Jedi just kept fighting, ignoring the billowing smoke from the explosion. I droids from atop the cliff, noticing just in time that three tanks turned their fire towards us. Five clones knelt down next to me with launchers, but they were too late. A bolt hit the cliff, causing a decently sized chunk to fall as well as some of my poor brothers.

The battle exhausted us, and after an hour, we were beginning to fail.

The Jedi were cornered, and so were we.

Suddenly, a gust of wind knocked me over. Reinforcements! I clambered up and ordered my men down the cliff and charged. The gunships swept down and destroyed the advancing armada. My brothers and I cheered and clapped. We'd live another day.

"So much for sneak attacks." Anakin mused. "The Seperatists will know for sure the Republic is onto them."

"We can still sneak in anyways." Ahsoka piped up. "They'll be expecting a full on siege, not a stealth mission."

"With all due respect, the Separatists are smarter than you think, Commander. They know our tactics pretty well. Sneaking, especially on stealth ships, is a classic; they'll have high security." Rex said gravely, shaking his head. "We may as well have abandoned the mission."

Anakin thought for a while, then grinned.

"But they'll never expect an underground ambush."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Master, are you sure these tunnels.. are... uh... safe?" Ahsoka asked warily. They headed through the dark and cavernous area as the cold enveloped them.

"I'm sure." He replied confidently. "The holo-map indicates we're almost there. These are sure to be sturdy; they were built by master Raarsis construction companies almost a century ago. They served as Death Storm shelters."

"Some 'master' builders they were." Ahsoka huffed contemptuously, as she looked at the wobbly pillars that supported the tunnels. They were poorly cut out of what seemed to be sandstone, and some had already collapsed into a heap of dust.

"Sir, what's a Death Storm?" A clone asked, shuddering.

"Imagine a tornado mixed with a sandstorm along with some earthquakes thrown in, then lightly sprinkled with heavy, sandy fog. That's what the locals here call a "Death Storm." It's a suitable name." Anakin said tightly, wincing at the thought in his head. His insane fear of sand would not let him forget that horrible image. They emerged from the tunnels into the left wing.

"Remember, men, we're here to destroy the command centre to deactivate these droids. They are connected to a central computer as they are an older version of elite droids." Anakin cautioned his men, "They had certain problems unlike other central-computer droids that required them to have their "life" force connected to it. If we destroy it, we are all good. Don't shoot unless you have to."

The 501st, took out their grappling hooks and shot them to the ceiling. The narrow area allowed them to carefully maneuver to the right, while the pushed against the walls. Below them, security droids, painted a saturated blue, marched along. Anakin and Ahsoka jumped to the ceiling and they crept. After inching along for an hour, their arms were quite sore.

"There's the control centre!" Ahsoka whispered excitedly, her arms ten times sorer due to bruises and abuse. She spotted several strange machines walking around, and it took her a few seconds to register that they were actually droids. They looked strange. They were similar to B12s, only they had four arms. On the end of each arm was a blaster-like funnel, and the arms coiled around their bodies, held in a stiff position like that of a droideka's. On their back they wore bent metal rods, and a solid, hexagonal blue sheet was spread on it.

Wings? Strange.

"Hey!" A droid called. They all froze in fear. "You're not supposed to be here! What are you doing on the ceiling anyways? I just painted it and you're ruini-- AHH!"

He was immediately shot. The others turned around and began to shoot. Red bolts raced past their faces. Men fell, and so did droids.

Ahsoka ran forwards and killed several, but more poured in. She had one chance to get into the control centre- one chance to guarantee her team went out alive. She ducked under a droid and killed another, then rammed her fist into the grid. She smashed everything in her path. Just as one of the modified clankers raised its arm to shoot her, it shut down.

"Everyone, out!" Anakin ordered. "We'll have to go outside and deal with the rest of the Separatist army."

Ahsoka felt a strange and unnerving pain in her chest. Although it was painful, it felt... different. She couldn't stand up without feeling dizzy.

What was happening to her?