Authour's Note: Alright, Alright. I wanted to post a document with story ideas so that people can look at what I was thinking about however I decided to run my ideas over my sister's first and they encouraged me to actually write this. I mean I did go a little overboard with plot detail and stuff when I was imagining it so... yeah it kind of got out of hand which might also explain why this chapter is so long. This is just a preview I guess? I don't know. I mean it IS the first chapter but yeah... Now I am rambling. I would definitely like to hear if posting ideas and plot lines for stories I haven't written and might not write yet is a good Idea. I want to spread some inspiration but i don't know if I should do it or not.

A Different Type of Soldier

Part One

Chapter One

A Clone with a Plan

The Avarice Battalion is stationed on the green planet of Resembool, known for the long harvest season and the ground's fertility. The Central Empire took control over Resembool thirteen years ago in order to help supply their troops with food. It is the only planet in the eastern quadrant held completely by members of the Extravagance Corp. known for their utilities in supplies and transportation. There are four posts on the planet each run only by a single company from the small battalion. Red Lion Company covers the Northern Quadrant, Yellow Lion in the East, Blue lion in the West, and Green Lion in the South. Small villages are separated under their protection from which they must collect their quota of crops to send to the Fleet. Each of the companies do not have an individual quota but rather work towards the one given to the Battalion as a whole which means that they often over shoot the necessity from collecting too much of the villages' harvest. This leaves the villages ransacked and hungry for the upcoming winter. Commanders of the companies tried to help distribute their extra food rations to the villagers, but it wasn't substantial enough for the villages to keep from sinking into ruin. Now the Commander of Green Lion Company, a young genetically unique clone named Captain ED-0001, has taken it upon himself to provide a new way of meeting the quota in time and returning what they had taken from the villagers. He designed a new species of seed, genetically superior to the crops that the villagers plant every year. Cloning the seeds and creating a stock hold, he plans on trading them for the grown crops the villagers already have. However as the Commander tries to repair the damage the Empire already caused, it might be too late to win the Villager's aid.

….

The Commander stared down at his writing desk with a tired look in his eyes. He had stayed up for the past few nights finalizing his research and now, he knew it was finally done. He smiled as he signed his number on the bottom of his journal and tossed the pen down on the desk. It was finished. A relieved chuckle left his lips as he leaned back and massaged his tired face. He did it, he really did it. There was a sudden knock on the door and the Commander looked to see the familiar face of Lieutenant Pitt walking into their shared room. It was very uncommon in the Central Army that a Captain would be sharing living quarters with anyone, especially a lieutenant but this was Resembool. Their outpost was so small that living space needed to be compacted together. He forced everyone to share and he wasn't an exception. It wasn't that bad honestly. It was nice to have company when your entire work day is filled with people being intimidated by you. And the Commander was willing to admit that he was by far the worse roommate of the two of them, staying up all night for his silly little experiments.

"What are you so happy about, Cap?" Pitt, or rather PT-3149 as his number was, asked him as he ducked in through the doorway. He removed his helmet and carelessly tossed it on his bed. Personal quarters or dining facilities were the only places Central troops were authorised to take off their helmets unless ordered by a higher officer. The Commander was quite relieved at that because if he had to sleep with one of those buckets on his head he might have just shot himself with his own blaster.

"Looks like you could finally get a good night's sleep now. I am done, finally done with all of this bloody paperwork," he chuckled happily. "It took some convincing with General Greed but it was worth it. The plan is a go."

"It is?" Pitt asked in amazement as if he wasn't expecting it to have been approved. The Commander was working on this project for nearly six months. That doesn't seem like a lot but when you are a clone six months is equivalent to nearly a year and more of physical aging. The Commander was the good half of seven years old now and his body appeared of that as an eighteen year old. Clones and Storm troopers usually aren't done training until they are ten years old and definitely don't get high leadership positions until they are at least twelve. However with all of the stuff the Commander has been through in his eight years of existence he could definitely say he earned the right to be a commander of a small outpost.

"Yes, the General was rather curious as to why one of his company commanders would be so concerned about how we run things but I just told him if we kept pillaging the villages the Eastern Rebels would definitely seem like the better force to side with. We don't want the villagers to be against us especially when this planet our main food source for the legion."

"Yeah right. Those blood seeking cowards?" Pitt asked as if it was blasphemous. He collapsed down on his bed without taking his armor off. His long legs hung off the too tiny bed making him look even larger than he really was. All clones from the same genetic father are the same height however due to a development error Pitt was nearly 6 foot, the tallest soldier in the entire army. He barely fit in the outpost let alone his armor. The Central Empire was not very lenient on defects in clones or even their Storm troopers, often sticking them in far outposts never to be seen again. Avarice Battalion and especially Green Lion Company was full of them, but as long as they get their work done the Commander could have cared less where they came from. After all, he was there wasn't he?

Pitt kicked off his boots carelessly as he continued. "The Rebels ran away when all of the Jedi were killed in the capitol on Centralia. Father's the only one who tried to stop it. If you think the villagers are going to side with the genocide causing Rebel's that's a bunch of-"

"Hey, I am just saying it's a possibility," the Commander interrupted him. "With the way the Avarice Battalion were treating the villagers before, blood seeking cowards doesn't sound like a bad choice. As long as we get the other three companies on board with us, we might be able to reach our grains quota with only simple trade. You are going to thank me after all of this is through."

"Oh yeah? Who in their right mind would trade several tons of crops for just a simple bunch of seeds from a Clone Trooper of all people? Especially one that looks like he came out albino-"

"Blonde. Everyone in my vessel was born this way, stupid," the Captain snipped back.

"Hell if I know what you are. You are the only Clone I ever saw to have freaking gold eyes. Are you sure you are not a Stormy?" The Commander rolled his eyes at the lieutenant trying to push off the man's stupidity. No matter how many times he told him, Pitt would refuse to accept that the Central Empire chose someone with blond hair and gold eyes to be a DNA donor for clones. The Central Army was made of a mixture of recruits who were taken as children to be trained as soldiers and clones who were specially developed for the military. The recruits were called Storm troopers as the military was originally supposed to be named while the clones were just summed up to be called Clone Troopers. Though they worked in the same force they had rather discriminatingly different names which caused even more trouble amongst the troops.

The Empire's heads never liked to make clones that resembled the majority of their staff in case they go rogue. All of the other clone variants had dark skinned and hair of some sort but not the Commander who was as pale and blond as one could get, nearly looking like the Supreme leader himself.

The Commander picked up his own yellow emblazed helmet which rested on his desk and threw it at Pitt who just yelped as he tried to defend himself. It hit the wall near his head and fell uselessly to the mattress.

"I am not a Storm trooper you idiot," the Captain shoved off. The lieutenant just shrugged as he picked up the helmet and tossed it gently back to him.

"I know, I know, but still. How will you get them to accept the offer? Even in the Central Empire we Clones aren't really considered valuable," he said, "Expandable really."

"No one's expendable, not it Green Lion Company," he scolded him lightly. "I am just going to have to try I guess. Besides, compared to pillaging villages and burning the place down, don't you think getting seeds would be a little more of an acceptable offer?"

"Hey, you never know. They are very superstitious. They could think they are cursed."

"The only thing cursed about these seeds is that they weren't made sooner. I took their design right off of the cloning process that made you and me. They grow three times as fast as regular seeds and are twice as fertile. They would be idiots not to take them."

"With your brains I would have thought they would have put you in the Acedia Corps not the Extravagance Corps. You must have fucked up big time to get sent here," Pitt laughed at him. The Commander frowned slightly and looked away, finding much more interest in cleaning off his desk than he did before. The smile on Pitt's face slowly faded as he realised what he said. "Oh… Sir… I…-"

"Don't call me sir you look stupid," the Commander snapped back. He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck tiredly. The conversation was getting to him, definitely making him feel all of those nights he stayed up before. It was a known fact between the Captain and the Lieutenant on why he came to be the commander of a small little outpost anyways. It was talked over only once when he first moved into his room with Pitt, notorious for being too curious at the wrong moments. When the Lieutenant, a Cadet at the time, saw that his left leg was metal rather than flesh like any other clones Edward told him, in gruesome detail. Pitt had a reason to be curious, anyone did. Clones were scrapped if they failed a mission to a certain extent. The Commander in a way did just that before he even became a Clone Trooper, but the Central Empire had use for him still. Lieutenant Pitt was the only one who knew about it in the Troops and the subject of how he lost it was never talked about again. It has been five and a half years since the incident, and the Captain would like to keep it unspoken of.

The Commander turned off his desk lamp and the room dimmed a bit. He moved over to his bed, gently collapsing down on it. He massaged his face tiredly and let his hair down from its bun for the evening. It was long but there wasn't anything of regulation for it since they had to keep it up in helmets all day.

"In the morning I need you to tell the squad leaders to prepare for the convoy. We can't wait too long into the season or else it would be too late," he told him. The lieutenant nodded his head, accepting the orders easily.

"Should we get in contact with the other companies?" he asked, their conversation returning back to its formality. The Commander tiredly nodded his head.

"Yes. Make sure they know we are going on our route."

…

The Commander walked through the motor pool where all of his men were trying to load the carriers with the bushels of seeds they had produced. It took very little time to make the seeds using a cloning machine that he and the Lieutenant put together for their specific creation however it seemed to be taking longer to move them than what they had hoped. They had ten villages to cover in a span of only a few days in order to collect their crops for the legion. He needed to make sure that they were ready to leave as soon as possible. Some of the men were checking off the cargo while others were fueling the vehicles to make sure they were ready for use. Some last minute maintenance was needed for one of the cruisers before they left. The Commander was angry that they were already behind schedule. He had told the Lieutenant to get the men ready for the convoy. Though he had full faith in the Lieutenant's ability to follow orders, he wasn't so faithful in the privates for getting it done.

"Sit on your own time!" he scolded a group of troopers that were hiting behind a few empty storage crates. At the sound of his voice and at the sight of his red pauldron on his uniform, the soldiers were sent scurrying back to their own work. He knew that being the Commander was definitely intimidating to the privates who had very little rank and little color to their armor, but sometimes it really came in handy. Though an officer usually wasn't out in the motor pool at all, with how far they were behind schedule, he needed to make sure all hands were on deck. If they didn't make this trip on schedule they would not only miss their deadline but also miss giving the seeds to the villagers at prime planting if they were to get another harvest in before the snow fall. If the villagers went hungry again for the winter because some of his troops were slacking off he would rip his company a new one and starve them too. He picked up an empty storage crate and tossed it onto its nearby assigned freighter.

"Put these to the back of the carrier. We would need to unload the seeds first and then we can fill the crates with the crops," he told the soldiers who were stacking them up in the ships. They all answered with a quick Yessir before the Commander was on his way again patrolling the pool for any slackers or misconduct with any of his female soldiers. As he was passing the gate once more he heard a sudden static come from the inside of his helmet.

"Captain ED-0001, this is Cadet RX-2234, over," he heard the young soldier's voice come in through the radio in his armor. The Commander lifted his wrist and pressed a button on his plating.

"RX-2234, this is ED-0001, Come in."

"Sir, we have received contact from Red Lion Company. They have sighted small groups of Rebel forces on their route, over."

"RX-2234, what is their status? over."

"Sir, they have not received hostile contact. Captain SD-0103 of Red Lion Company advises armed guard on the convoy, should we prepare?" The Commander frowned as he looked up and out of the motor pool's fences. Their outpost was located on a rather flat terrain where they could see effortlessly for miles around however, they weren't nearly close enough to any village to see any significant detail. The Commander didn't think the Rebels were stupid enough to make a direct attack on the outpost. He would have waited to see what was to come of their sudden appearance on the planet, however they needed to make the convoy now if they were going to make the quota. After giving one more look at the empty vastness of Resembool's farmland, the Commander returned to his radio.

"RX-2234, I will order the company to the armory after they are finished in the pool. Tell Captain SD-0103 to watch her ass, do you copy?"

"Yes Sir, I copy."

"Good, over and out."

The Commander frowned as he looked back at their progress on the carriers. They were still far behind and now they needed to get more things done in order to arm everyone. He straightened himself out and marched to the center of the motor pool.

"COMPANY! FORM UP!" he bellowed and suddenly there was a flood of privates running towards him in their shiny white unbeaten armor. The commander waited for them to get into formation in front of him, which took a little pushing and shoving. Though all of the soldiers were older than him by a good two years, they were still bumbling fools, maybe even fresh out of the academy. Once they were all done jostling around, the Commander sighed to himself as he looked upon part of his subordinates. They all waited silently for what he was going to say.

"I have just received a transmission from Red Lion Company. Apparently they have spotted a small group of rebel forces on their convoy. Security codes are now being changed from low to high. I need all of you to stay alert while working out here and on the convoy. Resembool is one of the largest sources of food for our legion. If it goes down our Avarice Battalion and many more will surely starve. We need to protect it. We also need to finish our mission and fulfill our quota," he sternly told them. He got some quiet whoops from the formation. They were bloodthirsty and eager privates, and Edward didn't blame them. They didn't get to do much on the quiet planet. However they gravely misunderstood the idea of combat. "After you stop lollydagging and start actually working for once and get these carriers fixed and filled. All of you need to go to the Armory and take up your assigned weapons. This convoy preparation is lagging to the point that I am absolutely disgusted that you dare say that you are working. Now get your butts in gear. This is a direct order from me. Fallout," he finished.

The formation dispersed faster than it was gathered and the Commander watched the soldiers haul ass back to the carriers to finish their work. He was at least glad to see that they saw the severity in the issue. He needed to get this company on route as fast as possible. All of the other companies were already beating the early fall heat and trying out the new trading system. With the Rebel's spotted in the north he knew something was up. All of the Lion Companies out right now are in danger. The sooner they got done the sooner they would be out of danger. If the Rebels were only in the northern quadrant, he knew that they were at least safe. But he didn't know how fast those bastards could travel.

…

"Sir-"

"Lieutenant for fucking sakes don't call me sir. I don't need it from you," the Commander scolded the lower ranking officer as they roared across the landscape towards their next village on route. They had finally taken off and were able to pass through several of their villages already. It had only been a day and they had yet to see any sign of the rebel forces they were warned about. His men were all on edge, expecting an attack at any moment, but if they weren't then he would be concerned for them.

All of the villages they visited had traded rather eagerly with them after he had explained the situation and the seeds to them. The seeds, if planted within the next few days, would give them another harvest before the end of the season. He was glad to see them take them and promised the same next year.

"Captain, Blue Lion Company just spotted the rebels on their route," Pitt told him.

"Did you talk to Red Lion recently?" he asked.

"No, they didn't respond to our transmission. We tried to make contact with Yellow Lion as well but to the same result. Do you think they made contact?" The Commander frowned as he heard this suggestion. The radio transmissions were not poor at all across the planet of Resembool as there were very few mountains to block their signals. They should have been able to reach the other companies even as far away as they were. He didn't want to admit it to Pitt, but there was definitely something wrong with this scenario.

"How much crop do we have?" he asked the officer.

"Excuse me?" Pitt said, as if he didn't hear him right.

"How much crop did we collect? We went to six villages already so we should have a substantial amount. How much do we have?" he repeated. The lieutenant looked down at his clipboard which papers were battering hard in the wind that was rushing through the carrier's open doorways.

"One thousand four hundred and forty bushels, Captain." The Commander cursed as he heard that number. They needed two thousand bushels to get their portion of the quota. They needed at least two more villages to reach that. They needed to finish their route. If they had their quota and gotten a surplus at the previous villages he would have taken their troops straight back to their post. However, they needed their quota or else General Greed would pull another one over on them which would be far worse than any rebels could do to them, or even worse it could have been Lieutenant General Lust. In many cases, more than there should have been, Clones and Storm Troopers who did not fulfill their missions were scrapped, regarded as waste and killed for treason in others. However it was just stupid of him to lead them right into the enemy where there could have been ambushes set up all along their route.

He worried about the other companies in the Avarice Battalion. Resembool was an important planet, a strong hold in the support of the Central Troops however it lacked protection. Only soldiers from the Extravagance Corps who specialised in supply, transportation, and support were stationed there. Though all of them knew basic combat skills, they had little protection from the Vainglory Corps who made up nearly the entire infantry of the Central Army. The Avarice Battalion's main objective was to feed the legion. Now that Red Lion Company and Yellow Lion Company were unresponsive, it was assumingly left to only two small companies of only forty men to protect the entire planet from the Rebel forces. Since the Central Empire took over the planet, they never made an appearance on Resembool until today, and the Commander found this extremely unsettling.

"Lieutenant, what should I do?" the Commander asked suddenly which greatly offset the man more than anything.

"W-what-"

"I am asking you as a friend, what is your recommendation," he rephrased.

"I… I…," Pitt stumbled not knowing what to say. It was unheard of that a Commander would ask a simple Lieutenant anything on their opinion. Soldiers of the Central Army weren't supposed to have opinions. After a little bit he cleared his throat. "Honestly I think we should follow through with this. Though they are out there, we are armed, we can fight. We won't go down easy. We weren't programmed to fail." The Commander smiled at that comment and chuckled.

"You're right with that," he laughed.

"Captain, you made something great and giving it out to the villager's definitely will make great progress in this bare planet, not to mention make our quota that much easier to obtain. We didn't come all this way just to pass up our balls in the hallway. If they come we need to show those scum what we can do, what we are really fighting for."

"Very well," he agreed. "the next town over should be Xenotime and then Liore. Let's finish this thing."

…..

The town of Liore was very quiet and Captain ED-0001 didn't like it. The shutters were locked on some of the houses and the square just seemed abandoned. He could have assumed that it was because they were coming to take away a portion of their crops and that they didn't want to be pillaged again like all of the previous times, but even for that the town seemed too eerie. He had his men unload the seeds and put them on small transports so that they could move them through the village. The quicker they got this over with, the better it would be for all of them.

"I don't feel good about this," the Commander said to Lieutenant Pitt as he hopped off of the carrier they were riding with his blaster rifle in tow. He never really liked blasters. They were too impersonal when you killed someone. It just felt senseless. He used it to get out of the academy he was placed in and never touched one since. Pitt nodded his head as they watched the company line up the small transports. "We might have to make a run for it after we get the crop."

"You know I can't run," Pitt told him nervously.

"Well try as fast as you can, if you can't make it I will carry your ass back to the post," the Commander grumbled. It was a known fact by many that Pitt could hardly run. With him being so tall, his muscles in his legs did not adjust to the new height. He was weak running anywhere and slow even at walking. It took all he could to pass the fitness test. Many of the other Soldiers made fun of him before the Commander got there as in all reality he should have been thrown out a long time ago like all of the other defective clones. However, the Empire managed to find use for him in the outpost in the middle of Bumfucking nowhere. Central often took soldiers who weren't behaving right to retrain or be reprogrammed in a clone's case. Green Lion Company was full of people who should have went a long time ago, their Commander included, but it was never reported. Their company was full of difference and that was exactly how he liked it.

"I will hold you to that," the man smiled.

The Commander and the lieutenant started to walk towards the trading post at the end of town with first platoon in firing squad formation. He thought it to be best if they weren't just bunched up in a mess where the potential Rebel forces could have just dropped a grenade on them and be done. The Commander ordered First platoon to head out first with Blue squad and Red squad spaced out on the left and right correspondingly. Second Platoon will follow and third would guard the carriers. He knew that in this way it could have been more difficult to take them out as a group and have to try individually. However, he just hoped that his precautions didn't have to come into play. This was their last stop on their route, their last few pounds of crops they needed to gather. This was the last place they needed trouble.

Their squad lead the officers to the door, quickly securing the area around the shop. Lieutenant Pitt handed him the clipboard that he carried at his side at all times which now held the inventory that they carried with them. He took it and looked it over once as the Lieutenant took up a position by the door.

"I got us covered out here, make it quick," he told him.

"Who's the Commander here? Me or you?" the Captain snipped but the Lieutenant just waved him off. The Commander took in a huge breath as he carefully opened the door to find the shopkeeper waiting lazily behind the counter like nothing was the problem until he saw their helmets. The man was absolutely mad during the whole exchange. He started cursing the existence of the Central forces and seemed even ready to fight him one on one though armed with nothing but his bare hands. They were definitely really upset by the Battalion's past treatment. The Commander had to calm him down from an angered rant in order to even explain to him what they were trying to do. He was very offset by this idea however luckily agreed to listen. The Commander tried to give the man his description of the genetically altered seeds but the man had absolutely no knowledge of science. He thought he was trying to trick him and the Commander had to constantly rephrase himself to get the point across. It was taking nearly twice as long as it should have and he felt his nerves reach their breaking point. He mentally apologised to the Lieutenant for not listening to his orders on being quick about it.

"And why do they grow so fast?" the man asked for the thirteenth time. The commander took in a deep breath to calm his annoyance with him.

"Okay, think about it like a vehicle right?" he said stiffly. "It can keep going until it runs out of fuel just like you keep growing until you reach a certain age. We just made these seeds more efficient to reach that point faster, like me. I grow to a normal maturity of 24 years of age in only ten years. This seed can be fully grown in only a month."

"And-" the man started in for another question but he angrily cut him off.

"Look the whole idea is that we are trading you this seed for the food so that you could plant it and get another harvest in before the frost. Why is that so hard to understand!"

BOOM! There was a loud explosion from outside that rattled the entire shop and sent both him and the keeper to the ground. The dull sound of blasters firing and screaming of orders could be heard through the walls and the Commander had a sinking feeling in his stomach. He stumbled to stand up but another explosion sent him back into the counter. The Rebels were here. They were waiting for them, all of Avarice Battalion was getting hit and they were the last target.

"But where were they hiding?" The commander mumbled under his breath. The Rebel forces couldn't have flown in or else they would have seen them and his troops would have signaled. He felt himself freeze up as he realised that they were already in the town. He was an idiot, he walked the entire Green Lion Company right into the middle of a trap.

He quickly tried to unhitch his rifle from its sling but before he could reach it he was pulled back, an arm reaching around his neck choking him. The Commander gasped as he tried to pull the store owners arm off from around him but he wouldn't let go. The man was too determined.

"That was a mighty fine deal you had there but your stupid troops have been ravaging our towns for too long," the man grunted through his teeth as his arm tightened around his neck. If it wasn't for his helmet he guessed he would have felt the man's blood thirsty breath on the back of his head. His lungs burned for air and he felt himself gag as his lungs started to give out. The man was stalling the whole time. He was stalling him in the store so that the Rebels could have gotten into position. He couldn't believe he was that stupid to fall for it.

The Commander struggled to reach down to his belt and grab his rifle where it was still slung. It was bulky and he managed to misfire into the wall of the shop as he tried to swing it around his side. The bolt sizzled harmlessly into the wall creating a scorch mark where it had hit. The Commander felt the arm tighten even more and he thought his neck might have snapped under the pressure as the store owner realised what he was doing however the man was too slow to stop him. With blind aim behind him he pulled the trigger purposefully and suddenly the arms fell slack and he gulped in air greedily through the filters on his helmet. His throat was on fire as if he drank an entire flask of Lava Whiskey. Though he definitely just saved his life, quite literally his neck, he didn't even want to look behind him to see the man he just shot.

Suddenly the door to the shop opened and the Commander raised his weapon at the person charging in. Before he pulled the trigger however, he stopped himself as he saw that it was Pitt. The man started to pick him up in a rush, jabbering about something incoherent to him.

"The squad, it's gone! We don't know where they are coming from-"

"The buildings. We need to find cover. We need to get back to the carriers," he ordered him. The Commander pressed the button on his communicator and brought it up to his face.

"Third Platoon, this is Captain ED-0001, get the carriers running! Get everyone on the transports, do you copy?" he yelled into it. There was static filled silence and he felt fear lick his nerves. He pushed the button in and tried again. "Third Platoon, this is Captain ED-0001, get everyone to the transports, do you copy?" But it was to the same result. He looked over to the Lieutenant who was checking the doorway to see if the coast was clear to make it through. The Commander didn't even have to look very far to see some of the soldiers from their squad laying flat on the ground, red coating their white armor. He rushed over to the lieutenant and grabbed his shoulder.

"Pitt we need to go, now," he told him. The man nodded his head and they rushed through the doorway. They ducked behind some barrels that were outside the shop. The sound of blaster fire was loud and near deafening in their ears. They tucked their knees into their chests so that they were completely covered behind the barrels. If their legs were shot then there was definitely not way they were getting out of there.

The commander peered out from behind the barrel and he saw some rebels race across the street in their stupid blue uniforms. He never knew why they wore something so bright with little armor at all but it surely made their jobs easier when they had to be. He shot a couple blasts out of his rifle and the two men fell cold amongst the white armor of his fallen soldiers.

He felt his breath hitch as he realised how many of them scattered the street. It looked like nearly all of first platoon was gone. He couldn't hear fire from the left or right meaning that his two other squads were gone. Third platoon was unresponsive so he could only hope that second was holding out. He just didn't understand. How could the rebels have killed so many of them if they were so spread out. The mortars couldn't have wiped out his entire platoon, it wasn't possible, and the rebels riflemen were terrible shots. There was no possible way, unless….

"They have a sniper," Pitt exclaimed as he fired a few shots into the fray.

"Where?"

"Up in the second story window, few blocks down lefts side!" With his directions, the commander quickly peered around the barrels they were behind and scanned the buildings. He caught sight of an open window on a cottage few blocks down. He could just barely see the tip of a blaster sniper rifle sticking out of it when red hot bolts fired in the direction he assumed were his men. He quickly picked up his communicator and tried to contact them.

"Second Platoon, this is Captain ED-0001 come in," he said into his communicator. There was static and he felt himself hold his breath. Was anyone going to pick up? Who was left? Just as he was about to try again he heard a scratchy voice through his helmet.

"Sir, this is Sergeant DD-9980, they are creaming us out here. We have nowhere to go, stuck on the corner of third, dead end alleyway, over."

"There is a sniper up in the cottage across from you, do you think you can get them?"

"Negative, they have us pinned down, we can't move-"

"What about Specialist Sharp?" the Captain asked.

"SP-0099 is dead, sir! We don't have any other expert marksmen anymore. They're gone!" The Commander sucked in a huge breath and looked over to where the Lieutenant was covering him. She could have put it any better. They were getting creamed.

"Sergeant, try to get your men out, I will try to take care of the sniper," he told her.

"But, sir-"

"Over and out, Sergeant," he finished. He reached over and grabbed the Lieutenant's blue pauldron and shook his shoulder. "Come on, we need to get over to that building. I need you to cover me until I get to that wagon over there. I will suppress fire till you follow, alright?"

"But Sir-"

"Don't call me sir, Pitt," he scolded him, "not now." The lieutenant nodded his head and shifted his fire to the buildings on their right. The commander noticed that there were some Rebels camped out in the windows. He would have to make his run quick. As soon as Pitt started firing, he was out running towards the wagon in the middle of the street where a whole bunch of rubble was piled up from the previous motars. He ducked and dove behind the structure and assumed his own position to cover his friend. He motioned for him to follow him and he started to fire at the men in the lower windows. He managed to get one of them but his fire soon caught their attention. Pitt slammed into the wall of the rubble next to him, slouching real low as his tall figure could barely fit behind it. He was panting heavily, the short run having winded him too easily.

"Where to now, Cap?" he asked as he peered over the wall of their cover just to almost be shot in the head. The Commander yanked him down out of the way as he got up and shot another soldier out of the lower cottage window.

"Where the second artillery round hit, there was some upturned stone and a fountain that would provide enough cover for us. It's father than it was to get here. Can you make it?" he asked him.

"Ye-yeah, I think I can do that," the Lieutenant huffed as he tried to calm down his breathing. The Commander glared at him and grabbed the chestplate of his friend's armor,bringing him right close to his face.

"Can you make it?" he asked him more sternly. There was brief silence but the Lieutenant nodded his head.

"Yes, definitely." The Commander looked him over once but then nodded his head in return. They needed to make it. If they didn't take out that sniper they were all dead. The Lieutenant picked up his rifle and began to fire rapidly, giving the Commander enough time to sprint off towards the new designated destination. He saw a few rebel soldier approach on land and he gave them a few blasts to the chest as he scrambled into their new position. It was a rather large outcropping of rubble, the stone was turned up in just away that if you stood in the center you would be protected on nearly every side they could have easily placed at least three storm troopers there. However, the Commander was still questioning how far the sniper could see down the street.

The Commander quickly set up a position and motioned Pitt to follow like before. He started to fire at the last few Rebels who were camping out in the windows. He didn't hear firing from any other forces. He didn't know where Second Platoon was, if they were still there or not. They were approaching where the Sergeant said they were but he couldn't see her or her subordinates anywhere. As he shot another Rebel out of the cottage he heard a sudden yell. It was familiar and the Commander felt his heart freeze. He didn't even have to look to know what happened. The lieutenant was hit. Pitt was hit. He dared himself to glance over and saw the Lieutenant lying just a few yards away from the makeshift cover with a pool of red blooming on his white and blue armor from his hip.

"PITT!" he screamed not knowing what to do. He saw the man's panting breath's through his armor. He couldn't run fast enough. The Commander cursed himself as he wrapped the sling of his rifle around his arm and fired one last shot, clearing the windows of the Rebels in the southern section they were running through. He quickly pushed himself up and sprinted out to where the man had fallen.

"I will never lie again," the man wheezed as he held his wound. It didn't look like it hit anything vital, but it needed to get medical attention quick. The Commander touched it lightly and the man winced.

"Shut up you idiot," the Commander scolded him and quickly lifted the man up slinging him over his shoulders. The man weighed a ton since he was so tall, but he forced himself to carry on. The man yelped as his wound was digging into his shoulder. Sprinting as fast as he could, he carried the man to cover and nearly threw him in before tumbling in after him. The lieutenant screamed as he landed, his wound jarring even more, spewing out what little part of it wasn't cauterized by the heat of the bolt. The Commander scurried over to him, keeping his head down incase there were any bolts aimed for it.

"I hate being so fucking slow," he groaned as the Commander started to rip off his armor to get a better look at it. Luckily their black under armor was designed to also work as a compression bandage as it was skin tight. He tossed the heavy armor to the side and looked at him. He was bleeding, badly, but it seemed to be only a couple inches deep, the armor taking most of the blow. To have penetrated their armor the bolts must have been high caliber or else they would have just dispersed like a huge sock in the stomach, leaving you breathless, but alive. The commander reached into his small personal medical kit and pulled out some creme to cleanse the wound as much as he could at that moment.

"Shut up, you will live," he huffed at the lieutenant as the man started whimper as he massaged the paste in as best as he could. It was nasty stuff and burned like hell, but if it kept you alive for a little longer they would do anything. "I promised that I would get you out of here didn't I? Even if I had to carry you."

"Cap…," the man mumbled after a long pause where the Commander was able to bandage his wounds up a bit. "I don't think any of us are getting out of here."

"Don't say that, Lieutenant-"

"You know it's true!" Pitt retorted.

"Yeah? Well I still don't need you to say it!" he yelled at him. "I am going to get you out of here! We will find second platoon and -"

"Sir-"

"Don't call me Sir!" the Commander shouted. However just as he finished he heard a hot sizzling crackle through the air. A red bolt of fire pierced his shoulder right between his plating and he was sent flying backwards with the force. He screamed as he felt the bolt burn his skin, his muscles, and even his bones as it went straight through him. He hit the ground and he felt his entire right arm go numb. He cursed the high heavens as he held his useless shoulder in pain.

"Sir!"

"Fuck off Pitt!" the commander cursed at him, fire and anger breathing out his nose. Keeping his head down he crawled back over to where Pitt was laying, rubbing dirt in his wound along the way. He go to Pitt's side and flipped over on his back. "Lieutenant, I need your communicator-"

"My.. but why-"

"I can't move my arm," The commander admitted to him.

"Your arm-" the lieutenant started but cut himself off as the commander nodded his head. He couldn't feel it at all. He didn't know if it was because of the bolt's energy, his adrenaline, or because it really was busted but he couldn't use it. He would have used his own communicator but he couldn't push the button if it was on his left arm and his right was out of use. Pitt, after a moment of acceptance, leaned over and held his arm near the commander's face. The Captain pressed the button with his working hand and called into it.

"Green Lion Company, this is Captain ED-0001, I am ordering all remaining troops to find safety. Get out of here if you can and return to the post, do you copy?" he said to anyone who would listen. There was static, but the lines were all silent. He felt a lump in his throat stick and he tried to clear it as he pressed the button again. "Green Lion Company-"

"Sir," he heard the Lieutenant's voice mumbled through his helmet. The commander looked up from where he sat and over to his partner. The blue emblazonment and pauldron symbolizing his rank and position stood dirty, bloody, from their failure of a mission. The commander could almost see the hurt in the clone's eyes through the dusty helmet on his head. They were pained, but not of his wound, of something even more substantial than that. "Sir, I… I think we are done."

The commander felt his entire being go numb as he looked around. The village that they were planning to feed, to save in a sense, stood in rubble from the fire fight. There was broken down buildings, fires scattered. Their whole plan was in ruins with nothing to show for it. All he wanted to do was to change it, to make it better, but now like Pitt had said, they were done. He didn't know how many soldiers died so far, but he knew in his heart that Green Lion Company was no more. He heard the patter of feet behind him and the light humming of charged weapons. He looked behind him to see the disgusting blue uniform of Rebel soldiers, pointing their blasters at them. Doubting they were set to stun, the Commander saw the Lieutenant raise his arms in the air. The Commander of Green Lion Company, Captain ED-0001, regretfully followed suite. They were through.