A group of insurgents hide in trenches in a muddy field in Jabim.

"The Republic troops are on the move again."

“I know…I heard they have Jedi.

"To be honest with you right here and now. Until recently, I didn't even think the Jedi were real.

“Are you kidding me?

"Maybe, but it's true," one soldier turned to his trench mate and asked. "Is it true that they steal babies?"

The second soldier just hummed. “Yeah. They cut the women in half with laser swords.

"You heard they keep soldiers in barrels? They have a platoon of super soldiers. Riding giant quadrupedal monsters—"

When both the first soldier and his friend sensed something, he stopped talking.

"What was that? An earthquake?

"No...something's coming...something big..."

Then the two of them looked back to see what caused the earthquake.

Many AT-TEs and AT-ATs make their way across the muddy terrain as they begin firing at the enemy.

"It's the Republic!" one soldier shouted. In response, the rebels began firing at the newcomers.

"That armor is too thick!"

"retreat!"

"Back off! Get to the defense line!

The insurgents quickly ran back as fast as they could through the mud of the battlefield. Some were shot down, while others were unfortunate enough to trip over the uneven ground they hit.

Pursuing them were soldiers of the 41st and 212th Regiments, supported by the 734th Battalion, led by General Leska.

In the line were Jedi Masters Luminara Unduli and Obi-Wan Kenobi, along with the former's Padawan Barriss Offee and a dozen other Jedi Masters and their Padawans.

"Remember, our goal is to take them down quickly and get them to the evacuation zone," Kenobi yelled amid the chaos of the fight, deflecting blaster rounds left and right.

"That's easier said than done," Leska said. "No doubt they'll think we're just going to capture them and torture them.

"Either they succeed, or they die at the hands of that Ultron robot," Commander Gerry said, his white and green armor covered in dirt and mud.

By this time, most of the clones' armor was stained from the dirt that kept being kicked up by explosions all over the battlefield. Others had either fallen through the horrible muddy ground or ducked from blaster cannon fire.

"Boiling, Waxmaker, bring a squadron of men to reinforce the left wing," Commander Cody called out, and his two senior lieutenants nodded and barked orders for dozens of clones to follow them.

"The Nationalist line is on that ridge." Jedi Master Sirus shouted, pointing ahead.

"Barriss, you and Gerry take most of the men and head toward the center." Luminara instructed her Padawan. "They'll be targeting AT-TEs and AT-ATs. We need to keep them away from us.

"Yes, Master," Barris looked at Gerry and nodded, the Clone Commander nodded as the two walked over to the location, with most of the 41st following behind them.

"General Kenobi, we are capturing the main battery. I suggest you send out a flanking force to prevent the enemy from retreating," said the clone commander working under Leska.

Kenobi nodded quickly, pulled out a transmitter, and called over a Padawan from Leska's entourage.

"Cas, this is Obi-Wan Kenobi! Your unit is closest. Get around the back of that hill now!"

"We've been waiting for hours!

“Sorry for the delay. We’ve been having too many problems on our end.

“There are a lot of issues here as well. At this point, they’re mainly just trying to stay alive.

The battle continued for another hour, with the Republic slowly pushing back against the Jabiim nationalists.

With the swift actions of Cass Todd, the 212th and 41st Legions spearheading the attack, and the larger, more imposing presence of the Republic walkers, the Republic was finally victorious on this battlefield.

Now, the Nationalist soldiers are being rounded up by the Republic, and multiple helicopter gunships arrive to help clear the area.

From the gunship came Anakin and Ahsoka, who were running around with the 501st Legion, helping their clones and Loyalist allies.

A young female Jedi Knight, about the same age as Ahsoka and Barriss, knelt beside the wounded trooper that had just been shot down.

"Hold on a little longer, soldier. This will all be over soon.

However, the Nationalist soldier tried to crawl away from her. “Don’t… don’t touch me.

Master Sirus stepped forward and knelt beside his Padawan. "Relax, my Padawan Aubrey is one of the best healers in the Jedi Temple."

"He'll live, Master—just to fight us, you know," muttered Aubrey Wing.

"Just give him the treatment, Aubrey. Then we'll talk to General Kenobi." Sirus said, leaving his Padawan to do her duty.

She was so focused on healing the trooper that she didn't realize another Jedi had walked up to her and knelt beside her.

Aubrey Wing blinked and saw olive green hands hovering around her.

The young Padawan looked up and saw none other than her new companion, Padawan Baris Aofei.

"Barris?" Aubrey said in surprise.

"I didn't know you had the ability to heal like I do." Barriss said happily. "I knew it was a rare ability among the Jedi."

The young Padawan suddenly felt a little shy, she lowered her head and concentrated on treating the nationalist soldier.

Barris observed her fellow Padawan at work, then glanced down at the soldier who was staring up at the sky, clearly not wishing for such sympathy.

"I'm sorry this happened to you," Barris said softly. "We'll keep you safe, I promise."

Aubrey looked a little surprised at the little comment, and the Jabiim nationalist looked up at the Jedi Knight in confusion.

"Why are you helping us?" the Jabiim nationalist muttered bitterly. "You Jedi freaks are nothing but dogs of the Republic."

Barriss didn't respond at first because her arm was injured.

“We help because it is our duty,” Miriam Padawan said firmly after a few seconds of silence. “It doesn’t matter where you are from.”

The nationalist had no reaction to this and simply chose to lie there and let the two Padawans treat him until he could be taken away with the other prisoners who were rounded up.

"I think this is the last of them. No one is left out." Anakin pointed out, watching the Nationalists being rounded up by the Clones and Loyalists.

Off to the side, Ahsoka spotted her friend Barriss and quickly trotted over to her side.

"Hey, Barriss," Ahsoka greeted and her friend gave the Togrutan a small smile.

"Ahsoka," she nodded, standing up. "Where are the Avengers?"

"They're taking out a battalion of Ultron drones, attacking a city on Jabium." Ahsoka told her with a frown, her mood becoming a little depressed. "This city... half the population..."

Barris' eyes widened slightly at this and he lowered his head with a frustrated look on his face.

"They are with the Force now," she whispered to herself.

"They weren't meant to be." Ahsoka muttered, her fists clenched tightly. "Ultron...he was just rampaging around the planet.

"The Avengers did warn us of his intentions," Barris reminded her softly.

"I know. We saw it," Ahsoka said, grimacing. "I just..."

The sentence was left unfinished between the two, for Barriss understood how much Coruscant had affected her, and she couldn't blame her friend. She was dealing with the same thing right now, like so many across the galaxy.

As if the war wasn’t enough, now there’s a new wild card who has played his cards and is already well on his way to securing another win.

"Come on, Ahsoka, help me tend to the wounded," Barriss said, motioning for her to follow, which Ahsoka did without hesitation.

Honestly, helping some soldiers was a welcome temporary relief from anxiety.

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