Guerrilla

(Two Weeks Later)

On the muddy landscape on Jabiim was Camp Aurek, a Nationalist base recently recaptured by the Separatists and now teeming with droids. One of the droid officers was busy issuing orders as a fresh weapons supply shipment arrived. "Place the blaster rifles in the eastern storage. Commander Stratus has the Republic forces on the run, and we need to be prepared for their retreat," the droid said in its mechanical voice.

"Roger, Roger!"

Sitting in the mud less than a mile away, Jaden and Aubrie waited patiently for the weapons and droids to be unloaded. Jaden observed the activity through his macrobinoculars. "Four AAT-1's are being delivered," he noted. Aubrie looked concerned.

"Is it a good idea to attack such a heavily defended base?" she asked.

Jaden smirked. "Trust in your master," he said, earning a playful push from Aubrie. After a small chuckle, he regained his serious expression. "We need the blaster power cells, the thermal detonators, and the dozen STAP speeders they have," Jaden explained. "Without those supplies, our forces will be done for." They had been ambushing Separatist patrols and small bases for weeks, trying to aid the main Republic force that was in full retreat. But things had been difficult, as the weather had cleared up for a time, allowing the Separatists to land reinforcements.

"We can't afford to let the Separatists get any more heavy armour," Jaden said, moving onto his knees. "Those AAT-1s will be a game changer if they get them operational."

Aubrie nodded, understanding the gravity of the situation. "What's the plan?"

"While they are distracted, we move in. We'll disable their communications first to prevent them from calling for reinforcements," Jaden outlined.

"That sounds a little too easy," Aubrie commented.

"Most plans usually are," Jaden commented. He then grabbed his holo-communicator and turned it on, the image of Lock appearing on it. "Are you in place Lock?" He asked.

"Yes General, the ambush is ready," Lock replied.

"We're moving in now," Jaden said before putting it away.

Jaden and Aubrie emerged from the mud, their movements swift and silent. They used the Force to silence their footsteps and increase their speed, a technique Jaden had taught Aubrie. They moved quickly down to the base, keeping low and avoiding any lights.

Once at the perimeter, Jaden and Aubrie split up. Jaden directed Aubrie to disable the communications equipment. She nodded and slipped into the shadows, moving silently toward her target. Jaden continued toward the middle of the camp, keeping to the shadows and hiding behind cargo crates. He silently took down droids with a vibro-dagger, the blade humming softly as it sliced through metal and circuits. Each strike was precise, aimed at critical joints to ensure a swift and silent kill.

As he got closer to the centre of the camp, Jaden noticed a stranger among the droids. The man wore dark robes, but what stood out most was the lightsaber on his belt. Jaden watched as the man mounted one of the STAP speeders and zoomed out of the camp. His departure raised questions but provided a distraction.

Jaden continued his mission, sneaking up behind the command droid, identifiable by the yellow tips on its shoulder and head. He double-checked that no one could see him before reaching out with the Force and pulling the droid into the shadows. Before the droid could make a noise, Jaden used the Force to disconnect its vocal modulator. Quickly, he connected his splicing kit. The hacking process was arduous. Jaden ran into various firewalls and security subroutines that nearly fried his kit. He worked methodically, bypassing each security measure. The command droid's systems were complex, designed to resist tampering, but Jaden had cracked through worse defences back on Coruscant. After several tense moments, he successfully infiltrated the droid's mainframe and took control.

He uploaded new orders into the droid before sending it on its way. The commander droid started issuing new directives to the other droids. Instead of stockpiling the new supplies, they'd be transporting them immediately. A few of the droids reacted with confusion. "Wait, what? We're moving them now?" one asked.

"But we just got them!" One of the other droids complained.

"Are you sure that's right?" another droid queried, its voice full of scepticism.

"Get to work!" The Droid Commander ordered.

"Roger, Roger," they eventually said, complying with the commander droid's orders. The route for transport was uploaded to each droid, and they began moving out.

Jaden watched with satisfaction as the supplies started leaving the camp, heading south where Lock and his clones awaited them for an ambush. Once the supplies were clear of the base, Jaden began planting the explosives he had brought with him, meticulously setting each charge in key locations. As he worked, he grew overconfident and scavenged a few rare materials that he thought could be put to good use.

"Hold it right there!" a droid shouted, raising its weapon as it spotted Jaden. He frowned and quickly threw his vibro-dagger, severing the droid's head. But it was too late—the droid had already alerted the others in the area.

Jaden activated his communicator. "Jaden to Aubrie, retreat. We've been discovered."

"Yes, master," Aubrie replied.

Jaden drew his lightsaber, feeling a whisper from the Force warning him of danger. He deflected a blaster bolt back at its source, destroying another droid. Moving with incredible speed, he leapt onto a cargo crate and then onto a higher platform, evading incoming fire. His lightsaber flashed through the air, slicing through a droid's torso. He spun, using the momentum to kick another droid off balance, then decapitated it with a swift stroke. Jaden continued to deflect blaster bolts, each one sent back with precise accuracy, taking out the droids that fired them.

Jaden flipped off the platform, landing behind two droids. His lightsaber arced through the air, cutting them down before they could react. He dashed forward, ducking under a volley of blaster fire and taking cover behind a stack of crates. With a quick push from the Force, the crates toppled over, crushing several droids beneath them. He leapt over the fallen crates, engaging another group of droids. He vaulted over a barricade, slashing through a droid's limbs and using the fallen droid's blaster to shoot another in the head.

He had broken through the main camp and was now heading south, deflecting the odd blaster bolt as he ran. "Katarn to the Hammer," He called through his communicator.

"CT-0267 ready and waiting General," The Clone called back.

"Purge the area," he instructed.

"Yes General," he replied.

"Aubrie, are you out of the camp?" Jaden said hailing her on her comms.

"Yes master I took the western exit," she replied.

"Head south, we can help with the ambush," he ordered.

A slight rumble in the air alerted Jaden that his orders had been followed. Suddenly, the base was bombarded with heavy blue plasma bolts slamming into the ground. Jaden was lucky he'd already left the camp, not eager to get caught in the crossfire again. He saw droids rushing to their battle stations and scrambling into their anti-artillery vehicles.

At this point, Jaden pressed the detonator on his wrist pad. Huge explosions rocked the camp, destroying the remaining tanks, ammunition, and power generators. The blasts took out a large number of droids, leaving chaos in their wake. The destruction was immense, effectively crippling the base's defences and ensuring their mission's success.

Jaden continued south, running for around twenty minutes before arriving at the ambush site. The scene was chaotic, with clones and Jabiimi loyalists engaging the battle droids in fierce combat. Clones had taken place upon a nearby hill and were firing down at the Droids slaughtering them despite their greater number, and hidden in the mud behind them was a contingent of Jabiimi soldiers armed with scavenged weapons who moved from their camouflage when the droids passed them and engaged the separatist forces in a classic flanking manoeuvre.

The sounds of battle were almost deafening even from this distance as blaster bolts flew across the area illuminating the dark skies with red and blue. Jaden covered his eyes when the explosion from a thermal detonator created a bright flash, burning his retina. "Master!" Aubrie called out from behind him as she joined him at the edge of the battle.

"Did you manage to disable their communication?"  He asked.

She nodded. "Then let's get to work," he said as he drew his lightsaber again and ignited it, Aubrie doing the same.

When they rushed in they saw the clones moving down the hill. He wondered why they'd give up the tactical advantage, but then saw that the droids were trying to use the tanks and speeders. "Aubrie stop them from using the tanks I'll deal with the ones going for the speeders," he instructed before rushing to the left of the column while Aubrie went to the right.

As he ran he encountered various battle droids, they weren't even a challenge. Most weren't facing him and he cut them down quickly, those who were fired off a few bolts at him, but he deflected them away before slicing their bodies in half. He caught sight of Scout and Zule at the front of the clone charge cutting down droids easily.

He was most impressed with Zule, she had adapted well to combat with her new arm. He had increased the amount of connectors in the prosthetic which in theory would increase the amount of nerves it bound to and make it far more responsive than her old one.

Zule sliced a droid down the middle before deflecting another blast. She pointed her left arm towards the battle droid, her hand bent down and a blaster appeared firing a bolt at the droid smashing straight into its head. She then lunged towards another group of droids firing as she ran, a super battle droid tried to fire a rocket at her but her forces leapt over the explosion; when she landed she rolled and then grabbed the super battle droid's arm with her cybernetic hand ripping it off and smashing it into another nearby droid. Zule was proficient in Form V before she had lost her arm, but now with her enhanced cybernetic prosthetic, she was a monster.

Scout was no slouch either, she rushed through the battlefield sliding through the mud cutting droids by the legs and slashing their heads off before they even hit the ground. Most Padawans did not truly delve into enhancing their body with the force until their later years when they'd become Jedi Knights. Scout was different, she had low aptitude in almost all aspects of the force. Her only skills were in precognition and physically enhancing her body; she had also put a lot of time into her lightsaber skills gaining great skill in Form IV.

She slashed through a droid before bending almost unnaturally backwards and cutting a droid in half while also dodging a bolt. Twirling her lightsaber in a spherical manner she deflected five bolts, though the sixth one brushed her shoulder. She jumped flipping backwards and onto one of the supply vehicles, she concentrated on reaching through the force and triggering one of the thermal detonators on one of the droid belts.

Scout back looked down after looking away to see Jaden rushing through the smoke. "Hiya Master, everything goes to plan!" She asked with her usual excitement as she jumped down.

"More than I expected," Jaden replied sending his arm forward and pushing down a group of droids that were trying to surround a Jabiimi squad. Jaden jumped running along the side of the supply vehicle before jumping up. He saw four droids hopping onto the speeder, he reached out with the force dragging them off, slicing them all as they came towards him. He landed on a super battle droid and stuck his lightsaber down through its head, before throwing it towards another one, Scout jumped to his left destroying another battle droid squad.

The Separatist forces had nearly twice their number but the ambush had all but decimated them. He watched as the Clones and Jabiimi wiped out the last of the droids, he saw Lock drawing his blaster pistol out and executing a few bottomless droids, he had stayed up top with his rifle; he was a much better long shot than he was up in close quarters.

"Lieutenant, good to see the ambush went well," Jaden commented as he strode up to the Clone Trooper.

"General," Lock saluted.

Scout looked from the side as Master Katarn and Lock spoke. She found it funny how Lock t spoke of the other Jedi, but when it came to Jaden he saluted him every time he approached. He didn't salute the Padawans and would only reluctantly follow their orders. Jaden seemed to have earned his respect and with it his undying loyalty; though she couldn't blame him, she very much felt the same way after what happened two weeks ago.

****

(Two weeks ago)

Scout felt numb, she had watched the Holorecording again just to see if she'd missed anything, a hidden message, an indication that head had been sent reinforcements. She received nothing, nothing but disappointment, nothing but hopelessness. They were being left behind, they were being forgotten and sacrificed.

"Damn your Senate! Damn your Jedi Council! Damn, your Republic! And damn the Supreme Chancellor!" Captain Orliss growled out as he slammed his fist into the holotable repeatedly. Every Jabiimi in the room shared his feelings, even the clones watching felt betrayed by the system they were fighting and dying to protect.

But none felt more betrayed than the Padawans. They had been forced to enlist by the Jedi Council and sent off to war to protect the Republic, now they were being left to fend for themselves. The Jedi Council weren't fighting for them to be saved, they all felt lost. They tried to tell themselves that this was the will of the force, but they couldn't, in this moment they realised the will of the force was oftentimes synonymous with the will of the council.

"Stratus was right, damn you all for proving him right!" Captain Orliss spat out. They'd remained loyal to the republic, even after he'd watched so many of his people die in this war. So many lost only for the republic to abandon them anyway.

'Just pawns in the grand game,' he thought to himself as he walked outside.

Jaden who hadn't spoken followed Captain Orliss outside. "What are you doing Captain?" He asked in a low tone.

"Pulling my men back, we've lost, I can only hope to negotiate with Stratus now," Orliss replied.

"You'd negotiate with that psychopath, the man who justified killing thousands of his people, the man who just purged one of his cities," Jaden said his voice getting a little heated.

"Tens of thousands of people buried beneath tons of rubble, you want to negotiate with the man who gave that order."

Captain Orliss turned around fury in his eyes and he approached Jaden getting close to him. "What choice do I have? Who else is there?! The republic has abandoned us! If we keep fighting we are all going to die!" He shouted, drawing attention from the clones and Jabiimi. Murmurs in the crowd started to echo out through the camp, people asking if what he was saying was true. Some cried as they realised they'd been abandoned by their supposed saviours.

Jaden could sense the turbulent emotions around him. The hopelessness that seemed to infest all those around him. Even the Clones seemed to have lost hope; they would fight and die for the republic, but like any life form, they wanted to live and die for nothing on this hellish planet that took all the fire from their souls.

"It's not over," Jaden whispered. He then turned to address everyone, standing on a small cargo container. "It's not over!" Jaden shouted loudly. He saw the Jabiimi commanders, Padawans and Lock come out of the command centre and look at him as he spoke to everyone.

"Is it true?!" Someone from the crowd asked.

Jaden sighed but nodded. "Yes it's true, the Republic has informed us that we will not be receiving any reinforcements, we are on our own." The sounds of crying and anger could be heard emanating from the crowd.

"I will not try and sway you with sweet words... you've been betrayed, the republic has abandoned you..." Jaden said cutting through their sobs and violent outbursts.

"But It's not over, we do not need the republic!" Jaden shouted. This shocked them and they all started to pay attention once again.

"They may have abandoned you, but I will not, I will fight for you until my last breath, I will fight so you can return to your homes," Jaden spoke from the heart, and by doing so had unintentionally started channelling his battle meditation. Soon their hopeless cries stopped and small sparks of belief started to ignite within them.

"Why..." Captain Orliss asked, loud enough for everyone to hear.

"None of you come from this planet, you lose nothing if you escape, but if you stay you'll most certainly lose your life," He stated. Everyone looked at Jaden, they wondered the same question, the clones were not seen as people just soldiers that followed orders. But the Jedi could leave, they had nothing to gain by staying especially when the Republic and Jedi Council had written this planet off.

"You asked for help..." Jaden replied.

"After what I've seen since coming to this planet... how can I turn my back," he said with sincerity.

"That's it?" Orliss said sceptically.

"Does there need to be any other reason?" Jaden asked.

"I won't ask any of you to fight with me, even the Clones, as your General I give you the freedom to leave and try and find safety." This shocked everyone more than anything else Jaden had said. The Clones especially, though most were confused more than shocked, the idea of deserting was foreign to them, almost as much as the idea of choosing for themselves. Lock understood though, he had long since known that people did not see him and his brothers as people, just tools of war to be sent against the enemy and die by the millions. Jaden saw them as people, people no different from himself; although he didn't know it Jaden had just inspired undying loyalty from the Lieutenant.

"I won't make false promises of victory, but I will say that if we go down it'll be to the last breath!" He shouted loudly.

The camp was silent for a moment taking in what Jaden had said. One man stepped forward. "To the last breath," he said raising his hand.

"To the last breath." And another.

"To the last breath."

"To the last breath."

One by one the Jabiimi and clones voiced their support. Even the injured Jabiimi from Choal limped forward, willing to fight for their planet placing their belief in Jaden.

Jaden watched as the Padawans stepped forward, voicing their support. It ate at him, the idea of letting them back into the war. They were children, they didn't belong there 'So are you,' a voice that sounded irritatingly similar to Satele echoed in his head.

"To the last breath," Orliss said choosing to believe once more.

*****

Scout wouldn't forget that moment, she'd never seen someone inspire people like that. What he had said affected her deeply, especially when he mentioned the reason for helping them. 'Because you asked for help...' Master Katarn was a true Jedi, more than anyone she'd ever met.

"Come on everyone, get this stuff packed and head back to camp, we can't afford to wait for them to realise what's happened," Jaden commanded.

"Yes, General!" The Clones and Jabiimi called out.

"Scout, you and Zule start loading up the slightly damaged droids, I'll meet you back at the Hammer," Jaden replied.

"Okie Dokie Master," she mock saluted, before heading off the find Zule.

...

Aubrie trudged through the mud heading back to the Hammer having been called there by Jaden. After creating a hill she finally saw it; the AT-TE they'd fixed in Choal looked a far cry different from how it did two weeks ago. She found it hard to believe Jaden wasn't an engineer or that he didn't have any experience in construction other than what he'd learned himself. He had spent a week retrofitting the AT-TE; Captain Orliss had been more than happy to give him whatever he needed as well as the manpower.

In his own words, he said 'We need something more agile, manoeuvrability will be our advantage.' He had removed all of the legs from the tank and completely changed them, the AT-TE now had four heavily armoured collapsible legs, he'd made them this way so they'd have the ability to grow shorter and longer depending on the situation. It was also because of the heavy repulsorlifts on the bottom of the ship. He'd taken them from one of the ships at the base, it wasn't capable of space flight and with the constant storms, it was useless.

Not only had Jaden increased its agility, but he had increased its firepower too. He'd taken a trip to Shelter Base with Aubrie just to scavenge the weapons off the experimental AT-AT; he'd taken three more main canons off AT-TEs that had been destroyed and equipped them all onto his one. With three main canons on top and one underneath, it was capable of raining hell on any position. The AT-AT canons were damn powerful as well, they managed to take out a Separatist AAT-1 with a subtle shot.

Of course, all of these modifications proved to be a massive drain on power. It was easy to add weapons and repulsor engines but if you couldn't power it then it was just a lump of metal. This was when Jaden had truly shocked Aubrie, much more than he ever had before.

****

"Master I am no engineer but even I know the energy drain will be too intense to support all this new equipment," Aubrie commented to Jaden as she watched him fiddling around with the engine, which looked strange she had it admit.

"You're right, but I've made some modifications to the engine," he replied as he worked with his hydro spanner.

"This is a tri-engine set-up, I've connected two ion engines to the fusion reactor in the centre, and both work to accelerate the fusion process generating more power, if I've calculated it right there should be a 70% increase in power, more than enough to power everything here," Jaden explained.

"That's impressive, where did you get the specifications for such a thing, the Jabiimi?" She asked.

Jaden shook his head. "I came up with it."

*****

After seeing the AT-TE in battle for the first time the Jabiimi had started to call it 'The Hammer'. After it bombarded and destroyed nearly a hundred droids in less than five minutes it wasn't any surprise. Aubrie jumped up onto the hull greeting the saluting clones as she jumped down into the hull. Inside was quite different too, after removing the seating where the clone squads would sit; Jaden had decided to turn it into a command centre. Standing around the Holotable was Jaden and Lock, they were looking at a map of the surrounding lands.

"The main force has fallen back to Cobalt station," Lock commented.

"Stratus is no doubt going to attack, and with how outnumbered they are...' Jaden frowned.

"They'll be wiped out," Lock finished.

"What're we going to do Master?" Aubrie asked announcing herself to the two. Though with their growing bond, he could already feel how close she was.

"We should attack from behind, flank them, it'll be our best chance of winning," Lock suggested.

Jaden shook his head. "We'd just be killed as well... no we need to turn Stratus' attention away from them and onto us."

"How can we do that?" Aubrie asked.

"We attack," Jaden said looking towards her.

"We strike right at their heart," Jaden said swiping across the map showing the Capital of Jabiim, Colsitice. It had been where Alto Stratus had killed all the politicians in the Caucus Chambers, it's where they had set up their main base, and it was likely the most heavily defended base.

"How would that stop their attack?" Aubrie asked.

"It wouldn't," Lock commented. "But it would split their forces."

Jaden nodded. "Alto is a prideful man if anything, if we destroyed his base then he'd take it personally enough to retaliate himself.

"When he arrives I'll take him out myself..."

(AN: Guerilla warfare, it's effective especially when you know what you're doing. It's what Alto did against the republic when they first arrived and it's now what Jaden is doing against them. Expect more battles, more deaths, more sith. I hope you enjoyed the chapter.

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