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Chapter Text

For my Grandpa Perry, who fought in WWII as one of the last of the American mounted Cavalry.

When most people saw Cavalry, their first reaction was always 'Where'd you get the armor, kid?' Her response was the same every time. 'I got it with the rest of my squad on graduation on Kamino.'

Compared to the rest of her brothers, Cavalry was... Different. They were all tall and strong and grown up. She was a slim, wiry, slip of a girl. Almost fourteen years old. Her brothers, with their tanned and rugged features were a far cry from the pale girl, with mousy brown hair in a braid that wound around her head under her helmet. But she had the same childhood as her brothers, the same training.

The captain, with his not-so-shiny armor walked up and down the ranks of the troops. He wanted to pick out a select few of the new graduates to join his company in the 501st legion, under General Skywalker. He stopped in front of her.

"Why are you here, kid?" He growled. She took off her helmet, and looked into his face. The same face as her brothers.

"I'm here with the rest of my squad, you wanted to see the graduates." She answered, holding his gaze and forcing her tone level. His eyebrows raised.

"So you're the 'special recruit' I've heard about." He scoffed.

"I guess I am." She retorted, a touch of anger coloring her voice. She knew that she should be more respectful to a CO, especially since he was looking for recruits, but this was the third captain she had seen, and like the others he would probably just laugh her off.

Most of her squad had shipped out, one by one. Only her and one other was left, her favorite brother who went by Neon. She was getting tired of the other clones looking down on her. Most who knew her didn't but those who did really got under her skin. She mentally wished, not for the first time, that she had been assigned to Special Operations after she received her training.

To her surprise, the captain smiled. "I want her, and whoever is left in her squad." The Taskmaster in charge of her graduation smiled.

"Good choice, sir. Cavalry and Neon are two of my finest students." The captain beckoned, and Cavalry and Neon fell out of ranks to follow. A troop transport with some other new soldiers was waiting on the rain soaked landing platform. As soon as they were aboard, the panels on the sides closed down and the dim red lights lit the small cargo hold where the troops stood.

"Atten-tion!" The captain who had chosen her stood up at the front. They all snapped to attention. "My name is Captain Rex of the 501st. I have selected all of you for my command under Torrent Company. I want all of you to tell me your numbers, names, and training profession." He barked. As he walked down the line, Cavalry got a head count. There were eleven new recruits in all."

"CT 6782, Tup, infantry."

"CT 7623, Dogma, infantry."

"CT 6622, Hardcase, infantry."

"CT 8433, Scythe, Evac."

"CT 7080, Neon, heavy infantry."

"CT 5745, Cavalry, infantry and special operations." She had been given specific training to go off book. It came with being small. The captain nodded and turned to the next in line.

"CT 4789, Bomb, heavy infantry."

"CT 4478, Scatter, Pilot."

CT 3784, Weasel, Pilot."

"CT 4864, Axel, infantry."

"CT 7463, Rush, infantry."

"CT 6457, Whiteout, infantry."

The captain nodded, and returned to his post at the front of the hold. "At ease, we will reach the Resolute shortly." The troopers milled around little, greeting friends from training and such. Cavalry sat on a crate in the back of the transport, and took off her helmet. Neon sat across from her, doing the same.

"Well, squirt, this is it. We're going on the front lines." She smiled at the pet name.

"Neon, my name's Cavalry, and I think I earned it fair and square." She said, mock indignant. Another trooper plopped down next to Neon.

"Who are you?" He asked. Cavalry had been asked that so many times today, but the trooper in front of her was so childlike in asking she couldn't help but smile and tell him.

"CT 5745. Cavalry." She replied. "Hardcase, right?" He nodded.

"You don't look like a clone." He asked, looking around the hold. He was so bouncy and jittery it was almost comical. Neon, though, took offence at his comment.

"Yeah, she doesn't look like a clone. But she has the same training as all the rest of us, so back off." He cut in bitterly. Hardcase seemed almost startled at his sudden upfront attitude. Cavalry scowled at him.

"Be nice Neon, he was just asking." She chidded, hiding how much she really hated that particular question. Neon glowered at the ground.

"Sorry about him. He still sees me as his little sister. I was left on Kamino about twelve years ago. Jango Fett decided to put me in with the rest of the clones." She apologized to their new friend. Hardcase's face went from startled to excited in seconds.

"Oooh, cool!" He smiled and stood up, walking around the hold to talk to others. Once he was gone, she rounded on her squad mate.

"Neon." She didn't have to finish.

"I'm sorry. It's just... I'm tired of us being treated like we're defective just because you're here." He grimaced. Cav pressed her lips together. She always felt guilty that the previous squads she'd had been with were treated poorly if she was with them. Most of her squads before Carbon squad with Neon had hated her. She forced herself to smile and punch Neon on the arm.

"Hey, buck up. We're soldiers on the frontlines now. Now if they have issues with me I can prove that I'm not a drag." She grinned at him, hoping he believed her enthusiasm. The ship shuddered as it entered artificial gravity, and the floor beneath them gave a thud as it hit the ground. Neon sighed and scooped up their helmets, passing hers to her.

"I hope you're right."

Cavalry stood and put on her helmet. The panels on the sides opened, the fluorescent light blinding after the dim red of the hold. Taking a breath, she stepped out of the ship. She wasn't the little kid on Kamino anymore.

She was a clone trooper.

Chapter Text

Outside the LAAT stood a young man and a togruta girl. She looked to be about Cavalry's age.

"Welcome troops. I am general Skywalker, and this is my padawan, commander Tano." He grinned softly to himself. A private joke, she guessed. "Other generals normally give some sort of really professional speech about how I'm glad I'll be fighting side by side with you and bla bla bla... I'll tell you this, as long as there isn't another jedi around, we don't really stick to protocol here. More like..." He trailed off. Commander Tano smirked at him.

"Loosely cling?" She said sardonically. The general smiled.

"Yeah, sure. Captain Rex will show you the barracks, and debrief you on how things work around here." He jerked a thumb at the captain that stood at parade rest beside him. "I look forward to going into battle with you." Cavalry was very confused. This informality... She didn't know whether to be startled or to laugh. She liked these people. She liked her comrades. She didn't know if she could bear to watch them die.

Stop with the negativity. You're the Cavalry. You are above death. It was one thing to think that when she was blasting the target droids, or scaling the citadel wall, and embrace that fearless, reckless, wild joy that had got her her name. That same thought though, when she was standing with the other soldiers, felt weak and distant. Like a dream.

She fell in line with the others and marched back to the barracks. The bunk beds surprised her. They were actual beds. The containers that she and her brothers slept in were little more than plastoid slabs covered in a sheet.

She found hers, a simple bottom bunk with a blanket and a locker at the foot. A trooper sat on the top bunk. He took of his helmet revealing white-blond hair, and skin so pale it almost matched his armor. A rarity among clones, but the defect must have been so minor that the Kaminoans didn't care.

"What's a little girl doing here?" He growled.

"I am here for the same reason as you. I suppose you are Whiteout?" She asked, trying to keep her voice level. Just like she told Neon, she would have to answer that question a thousand more times than she already had.

"So the republic was so desperate that they have started recruiting children? I thought the purpose of us clones is to be the army of the republic." He said, sliding off the top and standing upright. He had to be at least a foot taller than her. "So tell me, where's your mummy, does she have to give you a kiss goodnight." He glared down at her. So this is the way it would be. He would push her around until he found what made her tick. And then he would push at that. Two could play at that game.

"No, I never knew my mother. Maybe I could ask yours instead?" She growled, taking a step closer so that they were almost inches apart. His lips curled into a sneer. She knew most clones had a sore spot when it came to parents.

"Troops, what's going on here." It was the captain. Rex stood, leaning against the bunk next to them.

Whiteout looked away. "Nothing sir." Cavalry couldn't pass the chance up.

"Whiteout here had some questions about why I was here." She said, a smile teasing at her lips. Rex gave a small smile himself. So the stone cold captain wasn't ice all the way through.

"CT 5745. The Cavalry. Adoptive Daughter of Jango Fett who was released into the care of the Kaminoans to be raised among the clones. Trained to follow orders with the best of them and assigned later to Special Ops as a secondary major. Has emergency skills in first aid and heavy artillery operation. Also, as noted by her overseers, is not to be allowed to prepare anything more complex than a dry ration." He chuckled a little. Cavalry flushed, looking at the ground. Yeah, food was never her speciality.

Whiteout scoffed and climbed back to bunk."Look at her. She'd probably pass out at more than a cut from those little things on her arms. Gonna poke a clanker to death, kid?" She glared at him. She glared at him, but opted to simply dress down a little instead. She took off her major armor platings, preferring to keep her gauntlets and other smaller, less encumbersome armor on. She stored it in the locker, finding paint in the bottom of the locker. She decided to ignore it in favor of exploring her new home.

She found her way back to the main hanger, but got suitibly lost from there. She almost ran straight into Commander Tano.

"Sorry sir!" She yelped, jumping back and snapping to attention. Commander Tano seemed shocked, and took in her remaining armor and blacks.

"Oh, you're a... Clone?" She asked, obviously confused. Cavalry decided to just go with it.

"Yes sir, CT 5745, Cavalry." She said, still at attention. Commander Tano blinked.

"Uh, er, At ease, trooper. Please call me Ahsoka." She stuttered. Cavalry moved to parade rest. "I'm guessing that you're new?" Cavalry nodded.

"I just arrived today. I'm supposed to be new blood to help with the Umbara campaign." She said. Ahsoka gave a sad smile.

"I wish I was allowed to go, but I can't. They said Umbara was no place for padawans. Why don't you come with me, I'll show you around." She said, her face lighting up. Cavalry smiled and nodded.

"That'll be great. I'm thoroughly and horribly lost." She chirped, pasting on what she hoped was a happy grin. Thankfully Ahsoka bought it.

"Follow me!" She said, taking off down the corridor at a run. Cavalry jumped back, startled, but remembered the games she played with the rest of the clones as cadets. She took off after the togruta and let herself be thirteen again, if only for a few minutes. She could go back to the ice-hard trooper later.

Chapter Text

Ahsoka... Well... The breakneck chase that she had led through the corridors would have made any of her instructors snap and growl. She was glad to make a friend that was close to her side. Even if it was a half-crazed togruta jedi who was extremely fast. They had ended the 'tour' in the mess hall with dinner. She ate with Neon and Ahsoka, and Rex eventually suck his head out of the command center to grab a bite with them. She liked the captain, when he wasn't a tough-as-nails military CO.

Whiteout hated her, some some odd reason. Of that, she was absolutely sure. She didn't know when she had realized that he hated her, it could have been when he tried to trip her when she got her rations like a cadet, or when she had found her helmet with bright green where the others had blue.

In the three days since arriving at the Resolute, it had been drills, drills, drills. They were going to launch a siege on Umbara, and everyone, both captain and shiny, was going through the training again. She had heard that Umbara was like nothing she'd faced before. She spent most of her down time now going over everything about Umbara, the language, the people, the tech, everything.

There wasn't much.

Umbara was an enigma to most of the records. She had found a lot of tall tales, and almost no actual reports. It was a shadow world, with very poor visibility and a lot of mist. Som scary flora and fauna too.

"Burning the midnight oil, Cav?" She nearly jumped out of her skin. Ahsoka leaned on the frame of the library door, backlit by the lighting in the halls. "Gosh, turn some light on vampire." She said, flicking on the overhead lights in the room. Cavalry squinted, the light so much brighter than the small holotable that she was using. She let out a playful hiss at Ahsoka.

"I'm attempting to study Umbara, but there's a pretty big gap in the records." She said, and the togruta came to stand next to her. Ahsoka was three years older than her, but she was actually shorter than Cavalry. She supposed that 5'7 was fairly tall for a normal human female. Most of the clones still towered over her.

"Anyway, I hate to break up the study session, but me and some of the clones were going to pull some pranks on the other officers. What do you say." Cavalry raised her eyebrows at Ahsoka's offer.

"We leave for Umbara in two days, do you really think this is the time to-" Ahsoka cut her off.

"If you're going to be a stick in the mud, that's the fastest way to get pranked." The padawan gave a malicious grin. "Are you in, or out?" Cavalry pretended to think for a second.

"I'm in." This was going to be the best night ever, and she knew that she would most definitely regret this.

"Good. Me and Fives have a treasure trove of contraband items just begging to be used." Ahsoka skipped of the library. "Meet me in the weight room at ten standard time." She called over her shoulders. Cavalry looked at a chrono on the wall. It was just after nine.

She opened up the search engine and went through her notes again, trying to learn anything she could. Information was valuable. It would be imperative that she got all there was to learn. On a whim, she looked up biographies of Umbaran senators. The little amount of flash training she had received had told here that there were a few of them, but she couldn't remember much else. She wished she had made a better effort to remember that stuff.

She made her way to the weight room fifteen standard minutes early. Ahsoka was already there, practicing her lightsaber strokes against a special target that would stand up to her lightsaber, when it's power was on low, at least. As time ticked by, more and more clones left and a few more came in. Ahsoka looked around, and then at the chrono.

"Good we're all here." She said, a manic grin spreading across her face. Cavalry took a count of who all was there. Hardcase, Neon, Bomb, and Scatter she recognized, along with a few more who introduced themselves as Tup, Jesse, Fives, and Kix.

"Well, are you guys ready to brave the storage closet?" Ahsoka asked. Jesse groaned,

"You mean we actually have to open it?" He complained.

"Don't worry, me and Ahsoka got it taken care of." Fives said, leading them out of the weight room. They didn't have to go far, and Ahsoka opened the door while Fives stood in front of it, bracing himself for something. That something became apparent as the Captain, bound and gagged, fell out of the closet. He was grunting and squirming as Fives dragged him away and set him up against the wall by the closet.

Ahsoka pulled out an innocent looking crate from the back of the closet. Mist poured out dramatically as she pulled the lid open. Rex was squirming and grunting through the rag that was tied around his head. Fives removed the gag.

"Don't bother yelling Rexie, there's no one down this hallway to hear you." Ahsoka patronized. "May I present the most dangerous weapons to ever fall into clone hands. Whipped cream, a ball of nylon cord, neon paint, spray goo, airhorns, butter, rubber chickens, and the worst of all." Ahsoka pulled out a jug of something. "Triple. Shot. Espresso."

They all bathed in the glorious light of the espresso jug, and Rex had gone very, very, pale. Ahsoka passed the neon paint to Jesse, Fives, and Kix. They each got special markings on their faces, apparently from other prank sprees.

Cavalry and the others got simple yellow marks under their cheeks, with promises that they would earn their own special colors with time.

With that, they set off. The night was young, and they were out for mass destruction.

Chapter Text

She had her assignment. The barracks were to be thoroughly boobytrapped by her and the ARC trooper Fives. She tossed the stick of butter between her hands as her and Fives approached the barracks. She knew what she was doing was a little selfish, to seek revenge against one of her brothers. But she would not stand to be treated like a little girl when she was just as capable as them, if not in the same areas, then in her own.

Fives looked at her out of the corner of his eye and jumped, his mischievous grin sliding off.

"Somebody has a vendetta." He said Cavalry was startled out of her revery.

"What?" She said stupidly, looking at her brother.

"For a second there, you looked down right scary. I said somebody had a vendetta." He said. She nodded.

"One of our brothers has been making my last couple days... Difficult." She skirted. A dark gleam came into Fives eyes.

"Who?"

"The clone I share a bunk with, a pale vod named Whiteout. Think he has albinism or something." She said. Fives fished around with something before pulling out a firecracker. Cavalry caught her breath. There was contraband, and then there was contraband. Must have cost him a fortune some place planetside, considering they had to trade with the civvies instead of pay. Anything from droid hands to vambraces was acceptable, she heard.

"So let's get him extra good." He said. Cavalry flashed him a grin. The opened the door to the barracks and Cav approached her own bunk, and looked to be sure that Whiteout was there. He was, snoring, drooling, and cuddling with his pillow like a teddy bear. Cavalry couldn't help herself. She pulled out a datapad and snapped a picture, saving it to her holodisk. Fives snickered.

"Poor, poor Whiteout. Send me a copy of that, will you?" He grinned, and began picking the lock on the lockers. He rigged the cans of spray goo in a few of them, Whiteout's included. Cav unwrapped the butter and began to slide it on the rungs of his ladder. "You are cruel. I like you." Fives's eyes twinkled at her. He pulled some glitter glue out of the same pocket as a the firecracker. She didn't know where he got it, but he tossed it to her, and she knew what she was going to do with it.

"Can you jimmy his locker open?" She asked, pointing to Whiteout's locker. Fives obliged. Sh took out his helmet and began to decorate it, like he had done hers. She also took some paint and gave him some other decorations on his chestplate, as well as rigged an airhorn into his locker with the goo. Fives hung the firecracker from the ceiling, taping the pull cord to to a light panel. Who ever tried to pull it down would be in for a surprise.

"I think that wraps it up." Fives said, gesturing to what would be mass chaos in the morning. It was nearly midnight, according to the bright chrono on the wall. They headed back to the infirmary, where a couple other groups were back already. There was no sign of Ahsoka, Rex, and Neon, but everyone else appeared back.

Cavalry pulled out her data pad and forwarded the photo of Whiteout sleeping to everyone who had been involved in the prank attack. Fives was drawing on the sleeping clones faces, and now Bomb, Scatter, and Tup were all rocking giant doodlestaches.

Fives pulled out his datapad, and found the photo of Whiteout sleeping. He went over and sat with Kix and Jesse, taking turns playing mindless games on the datapad. Jesse fell asleep first, his head resting on Kix's shoulder. Fives fell into sleep not long after, his head in Kix's lap. Cavalry shook her head with a rueful grin. She snapped another picture of them all cuddled up, but kept this one to herself.

Rex, who was now untied and had butter all over his hands walked through the infirmary doors with Ahsoka and Neon right behind him. Cavalry raced over, dragging Neon off into her little corner to talk with him.

"How did you guys do?" She asked. Neon grinned.

"Well, we buttered the tables, rigged airhorns and spray goo inside the doors, and Ahsoka mixed espresso into the mush-er... rations." He said with a smile. Cav grinned right back, and began to describe how she had buttered the rungs on Whiteout's ladder and messed with his armor. She showed him the picture of her quarry sleeping, and it took Neon a full minute to recover. His war paint was smeared into raccoon eyes, and now it ran down his face as he cried with laughter.

"Hey, where's our leader?" He asked, finally managing to get a grip on himself as he looked around. Hardcase, the only one who was still awake at this point besides themselves, answered.

"They have their own rooms, and so elected to sleep there instead of here. I bet though that they're both in Ahsoka's room snuggled up against each other. It's a wonder how they think that their secrecy is foolproof. I bet half the cruiser knows." The three shared a laugh, and Neon yawned.

"I'm tired, and I'm terrified of going to the barracks so I think I will stay here." Neon said, sliding down the wall and into the corner, and Cavalry sat next to him. Despite being chronologically older than most of the clones, she considered herself to be the little sister of the group. The clones humored her as such too. Or, most of them did, and the others she painted glitter all over their armor and took embarrassing photos of. Ahsoka had been right, this was worth the break from studying for Umbara.

The screams from her brothers that woke her in the morning from her puppy pile on Neon and Hardcase made it even more so.

Chapter Text

First impression of Umbara, it was dark. Cavalry struggled to stay upright as the troop transport shuddered with each blast that his it. Neon's hand rested on her shoulder, but she wasn't sure if it was for her sake of his. His hand trembled violently with each jolt. Rex had a note in his hand, probably from Ahsoka. Cavalry missed her friend desperately. Padawans couldn't go to Umbara, but she could, despite being younger than Ahsoka. Padawan or not, she would have been more comfortable with another jedi to fight beside.

The panels on the sides of the LAAT slid open, revealing a dark world with mist covered ground right below them. One by one, the troops tumbled out, and found themselves in the middle of the battle field. Cavalry hit the ground and rolled, managing to get to her feet. Blaster fire showered the plain with flashes of blue and green light. She hefted her blaster, flicking through comm channels trying to find her orders. Finally, Skywalker's voice crackled over her comm.

"We've overshot the landing zone by about three klicks to the north. Form up on me. We'll have to press through the enemy lines to get back. Kenobi will need out help." Cavalry turned to the south, where the landing cite appeared on her HUD screen.

She and the rest of the troops followed skywalker into the fray, staying in formation until the terrain forced them apart. She ran through the fire, shooting at where ever green light burst from. The shots didn't matter to her any more. This was her job.

She almost stepped on an Umbaran who was hiding in a depression in the ground. He grabbed her foot and threw her back, pinning her arms to the side with one hand as he raised a blaster with the other. He never got the chance to shoot. Rex shot him in the chest and all but threw him off of her. He finished him off with brutal swiftness. If she didn't know the man under the mask, she would have been terrified of him.

Rex nodded at her, and she returned the gesture. Getting to her feet, she scrambled for her blaster only to find it in pieces a few feet away. She pulled her two long knives and ran back into the fray. The umbarans certainly weren't expecting a little girl to charge and disembowel them.

She saw dim white glints of her brothers. She saw too many of them fall, and too few rise again. A green blasterbolt hit her, searing the spot between her armor on her left arm. She gasped and stumbled, nearly falling flat on her face. It was a flesh wound, it wouldn't kill her. That didn't stop it from hurting like hell. More green shots streaked around her, coming close to hitting her on several occasions. Gritting her teeth, she grabbed her knives again and clambered to her feet.

She ran forward again, trying to catch up to Skywalker and the scattered remains of the uniform legion. Her armor, which she kept meticulously clean was scratched and dusty, black scorch marks around the armor on her left arm.

She finally crested the top of the hill she was climbing, and saw the dim white lights of the landing zone in the distance. Half a klick away, maybe less. She ran down the hill, letting gravity help her gather speed.

During her mad dash, she perceived an almost tunnel vision, only seeing her goal to reach the lights. To reach the temporary base. She ran faster, and slammed into an Umbaran soldier. Her momentum carried both of them to the base of the hill, where she cut his throat.

The umbaran looked at her, gasping and clutching his bleeding neck. She found his eyes, pale behind his green gas filled helmet. He chattered something weakly, and grasped her hand. She was stunned, she had dismantled droids, but this was different. His eyes were starting to glaze over, and his hand fell from hers, not having the strength to hold on.

"Cohbana mi." Cavalry barely caught the words. Huttese. Forgive me. Why had he asked her to forgive him? She shook her head and stood.

She heard a scream, a human one this time, and ran over. It was one of her brothers. His armor was more red than white, and his right arm was gone up to the shoulder. A grenade had gone off in his hand by the look of it. It was a gruesome sight. She knelt down next to him, the wound burning but not cauterized. He would bleed out if she didn't do something.

She removed what was left of the armor on his stump, as well as his chestplate and back plate. He was coughing, and the sound rasped through his external speakers. She was no medic, she had some supplies in her pocket, but nothing to fix this. She had to cauterize it, or something to stop the bleeding. She pulled a metal fire striker out of her emergency supplies and lifted the trooper's helmet.

It was Whiteout.

She shook her head, the time for childish pranks was over. "Bite on this." She commanded, and pressed the metal rod between his teeth. She cursed herself for traveling so light. She only had a few rolls of gauze and a pocket torch, and no bacta. Then she had an idea.

She pulled out one of the knives and began to heat the blade. It glowed red from the mini torch after a few seconds. "Brace yourself." She said, and Whiteout nodded. His silvery hair was damp with sweat and stuck to his forehead. Stealing herself, she pressed the knife to the bleeding stump.

Whiteout's screams were horrible, and she threw up a little in her mouth at the smell of burning flesh that even her filters couldn't hide, but she forced herself to ignore them and not to get sick. Finally, the blood was stopping, but it was everywhere. Whiteout coughed and spit out blood and a tooth, as well as her striker. She wrapped the stump up the best she could.

"Ow." Whiteout deadpanned, his voice hoarse and dry. Cavalry laughed, her own injuries forgotten in the moment. They came back, burning and painful. Her arm throbbed. Cavalry took off her own helmet, and gave a slightly hysterical laugh.

"Y-yeah, ow sound about right for your situation." She suddenly came aware that there was no more blaster fire. She picked up her helmet and slid it back on, catching the last of Skywalker's command.

"-for an emergency census and casualty report." He said. Cavalry flipped through the channels until she heard Kix's voice.

"Sorry to interrupt you Kix, but I found Whiteout, it's bad. Sending you our position now." She said, her voice shaking a little. Whiteout appeared to be trying to get up. "Oh no you don't, your arm will start bleeding again." She reprimanded, putting a gentle hand on his chest and pushing him back to the ground.

"What arm?" He asked sullenly, the reality of his condition hitting him.

"I hear you Cav, but we're a bit tied up at the moment." Kix's voice crackled through the speaker, "In case you didn't notice, we just finished a battle. How bad?"

"His arm's gone. I patched it up the best I could, but he needs a medic now." She assessed, looking at Whiteout. He groaned, and his eyes were flickering. She was losing him. "Hurry Kix!" She yelped, gently slapping Whiteout's face. His eyes opened again, but he was going into shock. "I'm losing him!"

"I'm here." Came a voice as Kix slid came up next to them with a gurney in tow. "You're right, he is in a bad way. Help me get him up." He commanded, grabbing him under his good arm. Cavalry grabbed his feet and they got him situated. She ran behind Kix as he pulled the stretcher, and they got him into the makeshift base, and Kix unwrapped her hurried bandage job. "You cauterized it?" He asked, examining it. She nodded blankly. "Good thinking, you may have just saved his life. I can stabilize him, but he needs to get back to a real medical center."

She was ushered out of the room as Kix started to apply bacta and rewrap his stump. A medic from the 212 came over and fixed her arm, telling her that it should be mostly healed by the next morning.

She stumbled back to the temporary barracks, and didn't even bother to take off her armor. She just collapsed on her bunk and passed out. Too much blood for one day.

Chapter Text

Cavalry was up as soon as Captain Rex threw the doors open. She rolled out of bed and forced her poofy hair into a messy braid. She started to kit up, putting on her nearly unpainted armor. Fives slid down his ladder from the top bunk of the bed next to her and began to kit up as well, getting done before she was.

She winced as she separated her tangled and snarled mess of hair and braided it up. Per regs for female natties, she could have it as long as she wants as long as it's up and out of the way. She finished her armor, settling the last piece in place and tucking her helmet under her arm as she made for the doors to the temporary barracks. Fives tossed her a ration bar as he fell in line beside her.

She hastily unwrapped the food and bit into it, finishing it as fast as humanly possible before jamming on her helmet. She stood among her fellow troopers, studying the map to commit it to memory with a clenched jaw her helmet hid. It was going to be a hard day's march, that much she could tell. As they moved out, she fidgeted with her knives and her 16, no longer over her shoulder but in her hands, ready to fire at a moment's notice.

"You doing alright, Cav?" Fives asked, dropping back from his position right by the Captain to walk by her. Cavalry was already sweating slightly, but she nodded, glad that her annunciator wasn't picking up her slightly labored breathing.

"Just peachy." She grumbled. "This forrest has me on edge." Fives chuckled.

"You and me both."

Cavalry shivered as the fauna made itself known, several piercing shrieks splitting the eerie stillness. She shuddered and put her head down, focusing on the march ahead of her.

She almost let out an audible sigh of relief when the trench came into view. She slid down the embankment and leaned against the wall. Neon slid down next to her after a minute. She smiled under her bucket.

"Getting tired?" She teased. Neon grunted.

"I'm not the dust mite here." He quipped back, patting her on the head. She squawked in indignation and shoved him. Like her push did much.

Neon raised his hands. "Am I wrong? I got six inches and a hundred pounds on you, Squirt." Cavalry unsheathed a knife strapped to her wrists.

"And I've got the sharp object." She lazily pointed the knife at his exposed throat, the only piece of copper flesh visible under the bodysuit and armor. Neon laughed as she put the knife away.

"Yeah. Sharp enough to cut butter maybe." He sassed.

"Sharp enough to cut you then." She poked him in the sides. Neon snickered at the bad joke. He took his bucket off and pulled out his thermos, taking a drink of the lukewarm water before offering Cav the bottle. She removed her own helmet, growling slightly as her messy hair fell out of its braid. She took a drink and wiped her mouth on the back of her hand roughly.

"I'm two seconds away from just hacking this all off." She growled, wincing at the tangled mess as she finger combed through it and rebraided it around her head. Neon sighed and pulled a small rubber band out of his holster.

"Don't cut it off. It looks nice. You're the only clone in the army who can have it longer than their chin, be proud of it." He admonished, tying the end of her braid for her.

Cavalry rolled her eyes and jammed her helmet back on. She passed Neon back his canteen and stretched, her already sore muscles complaining a bit. She noted absently that she had a cramp in her left shoulder.

Their moment of rest was interrupted by a yell from a scout roughly thirty meters away. The yell became a broken off scream as he crumpled to the ground, an Umbaran blaster bolt cutting cleanly through his armor. A small scorpion like thing scuttled through the trenches. Cav paid it no mind at first, until it stung a trooper near by and continued on towards her. The trooper screamed as electricity crawled across his body.

Cavalry had her blaster out and was firing at the thing, but she couldn't hit it. She fell backward and scrambled away on all fours as it scuttled towards her. Until Neon stepped on it and it squished under his boot, fluorescent blue slime spreading out from under his boot in a smoking puddle.

He quickly moved his foot and scraped off the blue acid on the ground, offering Cavalry a hand.

"Thanks." She panted. Neon shrugged.

"That's what big brothers are for, right? Stepping on spiders or... acidic electro scorpions?" He made a face at the slime puddle, scooping up his helmet and offering Cavalry a hand hat she took. He helped her up out of the ditch.

"I'm guessing that's our cue to leave." She grumbled, the two of them falling into rank as they abandoned that trench and pushed forward. The whine of gunships could be heard over the din of blasterfire as clones and Umbarans alike opened fire. Cavalry slid into cover and popped off a few shots before the gunships made a low dive, releasing their payload over the trench they were just in.

"Good ol' Oddball, always on target." An older clone with a republic cog on his helmet muttered next to them. Jesse, as Cavalry recalled.

They continued their march to a small clearing, where a gunship set down in front of them. A tall Bezalisk stepped out and greeted General Skywalker. The two of them exchanged words that Cavalry didn't hear, and General Skywalker stepped into the gunship, which left them alone with the Bezalisk shortly there after.

Captain Rex fell a customary half step behind the Bezalisk, who instantly snapped at him sharply. Cavalry moved a bit so see what was going on.

"Listen up." The Bezalisk said. "I am general Pong Krell. I will be taking over for General Skywalker in the interim as he attends to matters on Corascant."

Fives was beside Rex, his bucket tucked under his arm.

"You will stand at attention while I address you." General Krell snapped. Cavalry, along with the rest of the gathered 501st, instinctively stiffened to attention. "That is all. Dismissed."

Cavalry pressed her lips together as she moved to parade rest and fell in line. So Skywalker was the oddball among the generals. At least she was prepared to follow orders like Krell wanted.

She shivered. She kept her thoughts to herself, but if she was being honest? She prefered Skywalker.

Chapter Text

Cavalry gritted her teeth as General Krell marched ahead, yelling for them to keep up. She reminded herself that this was how generals were supposed to act. She shouldn't have gotten lazy with Skywalker like she did.

She flinched reflexively as bat-like shrieks echoed above her. She shook her apprehension off. One foot in front of another. Just put one foot in front of another. Good soldiers followed orders, and she had orders to march.

Fives glanced back at her before quickening his pace to talk with the Captain. The two seemed to bicker back and forth, Fives eventually dropping back with a hard set to his shoulders.

"I don't think Fives likes the General very much." Neon muttered, his voice low and crackling though his annunciator.

"He's no Skywalker, that's for sure." She grunted back, trying not to sound too out of breath. "Then again, we were trained specifically to follow leaders like Krell. If he wants perfection, we give him perfection." She pointed out. Neon scoffed.

"Are you saying you'd rather Krell over Skywalker?" He asked incredulously.

"Well, it is kind of nice to have a General who follows the regs for a change... but I wonder why he isn't sticking to the plan." She flexed her ankles, walking on her toes a couple steps to give her knees a bit of a break.

"I can't believe you. Skywalker has been nothing but- wait, what do you mean not following the plan?" Neon asked. Cav shifted uncomfortably, then lowered her voice.

"Well, we were supposed to advance in two klick blocks, to account for the difficult terrain and so we could scope it out better as we go." She whispered, panting a little. "But we just hit fifteen klicks without stop. We've been marching straight through for hours and only the General knows what's ahead."

Neon sighed. "That is... you're right." Cavalry tried for a joke to lighten the mood, even though she was growing increasingly more uneasy.

"As per usual." Neon squawked.

"As per usual! Excuse me, how many times have we almost gotten in serious trouble because of your stupid stunts going wrong?"

Cavalry opened her mouth, but before she could say anything the shrieking of the animals resumed.

This time, they attacked. Cavalry blinked and then she was thirty feet off the ground, sharp talons scrambling at her armor as she was lifted into the air. She gave a shrill scream as her arm slipped and she dangled from one shoulder. There was a second scream, one from the animal this time.

A meaty fist slammed into the animal and the next thing Cav knew she was falling. She hit the ground and instantly stifled a cry as something sharp twisted in her foot. Fives had his arms around her. Had he caught her? She glanced down at her ankle and flexed it, wincing.

She pushed the pain aside as Krell himself stalked up to her.

"Anybody else want to stop and play with the animals?!" He roared, stepping on the last creature. It squeaked as it kinda... smushed, under his massive foot. His gaze locked onto Cavalry, who automatically stiffened to attention.

"What is this... child doing here?" He growled menacingly.

"I am here to take Umbara with the rest of my brothers, Sir!" She replied, her words clipped to a military perfection. The Kaminoans would be proud. Krell, wasn't.

"Are you a clone?" He asked suspiciously. She nodded.

"CT 5745, Cavalry, Sir!" She barked, her still visor gave her the impression that she was staring straight ahead. Krell scoffed, turning to the Captain, who had come up behind them.

"And this is the type of troops you choose for your company?" He chided him, his voice filled with thinly veiled contempt. The Captain's voice was strained, a hint of a snarl in his words.

"Sir yes sir."

Krell glared at him critically as he waved his hand dismissively. "Resume march."

Cavalry stumbled a bit as she fell into ranks. Fives caught her, the ARC lieutenant instantly having her put an arm around his shoulders. It was a little awkward because of the height difference, but her ankle throbbed and would barely take her weight.

"Easy, kid." Whispered words crackled over his annunciator. "Krell has to let us stop soon. We'll get Kix to look at your foot then. You landed on it, didn't you? That's a tough fall. You're lucky it's just your ankle." Fives chattered, clearly trying to distract her. Cavalry picked up a stick from the pathside and began using it as a crutch, hobbling along.

They kept going for hours. Eventually, Fives waved the Captain back.

"Sir, we can't keep this pace forever. The men are getting worn down." He said quietly, making a not at all subtle nod in Cavalry's direction. Anger prickled through her and her eyes welled up unbidden with hot embarrassed tears. She was being a burden. Dragging the whole platoon down. She dropped the stick.

"I'm fine." She said, her words almost level if not for the slight hiss of pain. Cavalry shifted her weight to both feet and tried to take a step. Her ankle gave out and she crumpled, adding to her frustrated and embarrassment. Fives carefully picked her up and set her on his back.

Cavalry muted her external microphone and let out a soft sob, hating herself for not being able to keep going. A few screamed mando'a oaths made her feel a little better, and she guessed Fives heard the last bit despite her muting herself, the way his shoulders shook silently.

The Captain moved to address the General, and heated words were exchanged. Cavalry slid off Fives's back with a grunt, hissing as she hit the ground. Just in time too, because the general was looking back.

"Look back, see those platoons? Their mission is to take the capitol, and take it swiftly. Time and rest are luxuries that the Republic cannot afford." He roared.

"We are the key to this invasion. The other battalions are counting on us for support. If we fail, everyone fails. Do you understand this, do all of you understand this!" He yelled, finally getting out of the Captain's face and addressing the group as a whole. "Now move it!" He growled, the need for yelling gone. You could have heard his command, soft as it was, for miles. They obeyed and moved it.

He did give them a ten minute break when they got out of the trench. Kix made his way over to Cavalry and took off her boot, examining the already swelling foot.

"Congratulations. It's broken." He said listlessly, already splinting it up. He sounded as tired as Cavalry felt.

"Oh yay." She sighed back, hissing as he wrapped it up. "Just what I hoped."

Chapter Text

Cavalry hobbled along on her splinted foot down the central road, avoiding the mines Fives had pointed out ahead.

She trusted Krell knew what he was doing and she didn't openly question his orders, that would be treason. But this plan seemed to be suicide for all of them.

Then again, how many times had her squad broken regs and done something that seemed disastrous and worked out well? Krell had a plan. It wasn't the plan she was familiar with, but a plan was better than nothing.

She stifled a yelp as another mine went off a few feet away from her from a kicked stone by Neon. Everyone turned back to look at him.

"Sorry." He muttered. Cavalry muted herself. Embarrassing noises weren't a good thing at the moment.

Fives dropped back beside her and tapped his helmet. Cav got the message, switching to a private channel on her internal speakers.

"The Captain is trying to find a way around this mess. There's practically a wall of mines ahead of us." Fives's voice crackled in her ear. "How are you holding up, Kid?"

"If I blow my foot off will it stop hurting?" She grumbled back. She bit back her following comment. Barely. Treasonous thoughts make for a traitor's mind. But still- no. Control. You keep your mouth shut, your head down, and you follow orders.

Fives chuckled at her comment. "The great Cavalry admitting to pain?" Cavalry said nothing. Fives cautiously stepped over a mine. "Gotta admit Kid, I was a little wary when Rex brought you along. But look at you. Broken ankle in a minefield and you still are keeping up just fine."

Cavalry huffed, hiding a wince. "The minefield is probably why I can keep up. Can't slow us down if we're already going slow." She hobbled around a second mine.

"Get down!" The captain's yell of warning came just in time as blasterfire erupted around them. Cavalry turned towards the blasterfire, raising her modified rifle and shooting into the darkness. She shuffled forward and blinked twice in rapid succession to switch to infrared view. She wished she had gotten a rangefinder, because the dark, misty jungle was so choked with organic matter it was almost impossible to see through.

She stumbled and fell sideways, instinctively freezing with a squeal as she connected with the ground. Thankfully, it didn't explode under her and she scrambled back up.

She heard the order for retreat go up among the din and crackle through her helmet. She fell into ranks as they fell back, her ankle throbbing.

She almost stepped on a mine when Neon yanked her back, saving her life. They made it nearly fifty feet before the enemy closed in behind them.

She pulled out her metal fire striker, thinking on her feet, and turned around just long enough to chuck it behind her and set off a mini reaction, which got them some breathing room.

Krell was not happy when he found out about this. Cavalry was in pain and starving, dehydration from the thirteen hour march and the battles fought and lost that day making themselves known. The bezalisk General began to advance on the Captain with a roar, and Cavalry forced herself to tune back into reality and pay attention.

"CT 7587, do you have a malfunction in your design?" He roared. Captain Rex flinched. "You pulled back your men from taking the capitol!" He stared at the general, his mouth open behind the helmet in shock. Fives noticed his captain's plight and stepped in.

"With all due respect sir, Captain Rex just saved this platoon!" He yelled, stepping towards the bezalisk. Krell pulled out one of his lightsabers, still folded, and activated one end of it. The brilliant green end was dangerously close to Fives's helmet.

"ARC 5555, Stand. Down." He growled, his voice dangerously soft.

"Sir. Yes. Sir." He snarled back, mimicking the general's tone. Krell put the lightsaber away, and turned back to the Captain.

"Sir," Captain Rex began, tipping his visor up to meet the jedi's eyes. "I followed your orders, even in the face of a plan that was in my opinion, extremely flawed!" His voice rose. "I have a duty to follow your orders, but I also have a duty to my brothers. We lost men today, not clones," He tore his helmet off and stared the general right in the eyes. "Men! Men that I swore to protect when I took the captains pauldron on my shoulder."

Krell didn't seem surprised, to his credit. He scoffed. "I suppose your loyalty to your men is to be commemorated. Well, Captain Rex, your bold disregard for my orders seems to have struck a chord with them. Dismissed." He spun on his heel and marched away, leaving Captain Rex standing there.

"I think he almost complimented you." Fives mocked, glaring at the general's distant form. The Captain shrugged tiredly.

"Who can tell anymore."

Cavalry shut her mouth with a click she was glad her annunciators didn't pick up. The rare show of emotion from the Captain and his haste to defend Fives was not something she was accustomed to seeing. There was a moment of awkward silence and everybody shuffled their feet. A clone from her shiny batch, Dogma, spoke up.

"You heard the General. Dismissed. We need to set up camp for the night. Captain?" He turned to Rex for directions. The older clone seemed to be lost in thought for a second before he spoke.

"Stay close. Let's find a good natural shelter in the area and settle down. For you Walking Wounded, see a medic and get as best patched up you can. Food, water, and Rest now are our priorities for the moment." He said. There was a round of salutes and 'Sir yes Sir's that went around.

Chapter Text

Cavalry sat on a rotted log, leaning her head back and gritting her teeth as Kix rewrapped her ankle. It wasn't a bad break as far as she could tell. Just a pain to deal with.

She hissed as he manipulated the joint a bit before splinting it again. Kix passed her two small tablets.

"Don't have anything stronger to give you, trooper. Stims have to be saved for the badly injured." He said. Cavalry lifted her helmet off and swallowed the tablets dry. Her olive skin looked grey in the red light of the flora around them.

"Thanks, Kix." She said softly, closing her eyes for a second. Kix was probably the only one here outside of the captain that saw her as an equal.

She unsheathed her knives and began the long process of cleaning and sharpening them. The last thing she needed was to lose her edge right now. She kept her blaster close. She was a sitting duck if they were attacked while she did this.

She inspected the edge of one blade, shaving a little bark off the log with it. Almost. Not enough.

"Taking a moment for upkeep?" A familiar voice asked. Cavalry felt herself relax as Neon's familiar presence settled next to her.

"And sanity." She chuckled, finishing that knife and moving to her other blade. The familiar sound of the small sharpener and rag she kept with her filled the air.

"Yeah. If we're gonna make ARC we gotta keep at least one of us sane." He joked Cavalry sighed.

"Neon, only four other troopers have risen to ARC without being made for it." She reminded him.

"And two of them belonged to this battalion. Not to mention the semi mythical Captain Rex. I swear, you can feel the power radiating off him." Neon sighed and shook his head.

"He's not a god, Neon. I wonder how good he really is though, for the kaminoan's to keep him with the mutations." Cavalry hummed, hissing with annoyance as her thumb slipped and she nearly cut herself. Yeah. That should be sharp enough. She put her sharpener and rag away, the knives still laying flat across her lap.

"What do you mean? Yeah, so what if he's blond?" Neon shrugged. "I mean, sure it was probably tough for him, but if they didn't kill him immediately it must not have been too bad."

Cavalry huffed. "He's shorter than the rest of us, excluding me. His cheekbones are sharper and his armor seems just a little too big around the shoulders. His hips are narrower too. His kama has a pleat in the back to make it fit." She looked at the scattered forms of their brothers around them either tending to small stuff or making the most of their seven hour sleep time set up.

"Ooh Cavalry, checking out the Captain's shebs." Neon teased. Cav gagged.

"Neon, he's our brother!" She smacked him on the arm. "Ger-oussss!" She said in a cheesy outer rim accent some of their instructors spoke in.

"Hey if it's legal on Lystra-" Neon started.

"That's it. I'm taking a nap." She rolled her eyes and sheathed her knives, jamming her helmet on and sliding down the log to lean against it, her eyes closing behind her visor.

"Hey, you know I'm kidding, Squirt." Neon chuckled from above her. Cavalry said nothing. "Squirt?" She refused to answer him. "Cavalry?" Nope. Not giving in. "Some pretty tasty rations you left over-"

"If my rations are touched I start killing." She snarled.

"...right. Not touching those." He slid down next to her. Neon laughed under his breath, and something leathery and heavy was draped over her shoulders. She cracked open an eye to peer at the makeshift blanket through her helmet's wideview. It was one of the massive leaves from the trees around them. Neon took another leaf and wadded it up under his head for a pillow.

"Neon, if I wake up with a rash or something-"

"They're safe. I promise." He said. "Get some sleep, Squirt. You did good today."

Cavalry snorted. "Of course I did good. I'm the Cavalry." She leaned against his shoulder, her eyes drifting closed.

She was awoken mere hours later by a blast of blue light all around them. Brothers scrambled moved, hectic orders were shouted, and chaos reigned. Neon dragged the both of them to their feet. Cavalry's kit was shoved at her chest which she slung over her shoulders, falling into ranks at a run. Fire rained down around them.

It was devastating, lasting for an hour before it stopped. Recon was sent out and orders from the Captain crackled in their ears minutes later.

"They're trying to keep us on our toes, exhausting us of resources and rest. Buddy up. One person can rest while the other keeps watch. Looks like we only get an hour of rest at a time men."

Cavalry sighed at the order. Neon would partner with her and make her sleep while he kept watch and would refuse to switch. Her ankle throbbed from the excitement and her back ached from sleeping in armor.

Neon touched her shoulder and she nodded. A silent agreement.

Cavalry smiled under her helmet. If the universe burned around them, at least they had each other.

They fell into a pattern for the rest of the night. Sleep for an hour or two while the other watched, follow routs mapped out on their HUDs when the umbarans decided to shake things up by raining fire on them with starfighters.

Cavalry sat up for her third watch of the night, or was it day now? She just knew she was starting to feel it. Neon was passed out with his head in her lap, helmet clutched to his chest like a plushie.

Their kits sat nearby, ready in a moment's notice. Her knives were strapped to her wrists and her hands itched for the familiar hilts.

Neon stirred a bit.

"Neon, you took the last three watches on your own. You need a little rest at least." She whispered to him.

"Just wound up. Sorry, Cav." He muttered back, eyes blankly staring at the forrest above him.

"Sleep before I make you sleep." She said. Neon shut his eyes.

"Sir yes sir." He grumbled. Cav's hand moved to a pressure point behind his ear in a threat. It was all better she didn't, in the end.

They would need every soldier they could scrounge conscious for the battle that was sure to ensue as the ground exploded barely a hundred feet away and a centipede like tank crawled out of the earth.

Chapter Text

Roll, come up on a knee. Toss a droid popper. Lunge off to the side, dive for cover from a mortar. Pop off a couple shots at one of the three tanks. Voices crackle in her ear. Screams burst through her audio feed. It didn't register that every scream was a brother that she wouldn't be racking out with in a few hours.

A actual umbaran seemed to jump out of literal void and land in front of her. There was a slight drag on the edge of the knife in her left hand as she cut through his wind pipe. Blood splattered her visor, her HUD scrambling to counteract the sudden vision impairment.

Her ankle throbbed. She stayed mostly on her knees now, cutting through any black armored entity that got near her. She almost cut the hand off a brother that grabbed her shoulder and dragged her back to their line of defense.

This canyon was a box trap.

She scrambled back on hands and knees into the little crack in the canyon wall they had claimed as a small base to regroup at. Cavalry took her helmet off and sat by Neon. He took in her soot and blood smeared armor and said nothing. He looked little better, but the blood on his was more red than blackish green. There was a nasty cut on his cheek.

"Grenade." He said at her look. "Took out another shiny nearby me."

"Don't think we're shiny's anymore, Ori'vod." She said quietly, cleaning the oily blood off her knives with a rag. She looked at her helmet and sighed. "Got a clean rag?"

Neon leaned over and grabbed a used sanitary wipe. "Not spotless, but it'll clean the worst of it up." She took it gratefully.

"Thanks." She cleared her visor of blood and got the rest off of her knives. Rust was not her friend.

"We need to get you vibrablades or something. Durasteel is going to rust." Neon voiced her thoughts aloud. Cav strugged, unwrapping a ration bar and biting into it with a grimace. Stale.

"Don't like vibrablades." She said around a mouthful of ration, crumbs spraying everywhere. "Vibrations make my hands itch."

"Don't speak with your mouth full." Neon reprimanded her. She swallowed and curled her lip at him, letting some of the post battle angst and regret fall away.

"Yes Buir." She groaned. "You're as bad as Jango, I swear." She muttered.

"You haven't seen Buir since you were six." Neon grunted, glancing out as an explosion lit up in the distance.

"You haven't met him at all." Cav pointed out smugly. Neon rolled his eyes at her.

"Shut up."

"You don't outrank me, Ori'vod. You can't make me do anything" She teased.

"No, Cavalry. Seriously, be quiet." He said harshly, making Cav flinch. Neon rarely raised his voice at her, and almost never out of anger. She was quiet. The rest of the vode around them were also settling into silence.

The Captain was walking into the small crevasse and looking around at the men. The only sounds were distant explosions and the low moans of the wounded the medics had managed to drag back to this temporary shelter.

The Captain took off his helmet, his face a grim line.

"Those tanks have got to go." He said quietly, the words ringing out like a shout in the near silence.

"No duh, sir." Fives spoke up from a ledge a good seven feet above the ground and claimed as his own. He was currently sprawled on his back dropping little pieces of balled up ration wrapper onto a increasingly more annoyed Jesse who was slumped below him.

"Our orders are to stay on course though." Dogma protested. "We have to take the capitol and take it swiftly." Captain Rex's face was tired and cold. He said nothing. Fives spoke up for him, sitting up and kicking his feet over the ledge, causing a spray of gravel to hit Jesse and make him squawk in irritation.

"Sorry Jess. Look around. This little crack is what? Ten feet wide and thirty deep? There's barely eighty men here." His voice was rough. "I don't know how many of you have realized this, but we're all that's left of Torrent. We landed on Umbara a hundred and fifty strong, and now we're down to almost half that."

Cavalry was silent, as was the rest of the men. She slid her knives back into her sheaths and sat forward on her elbows to see Fives.

"We've got to fight with every thing we've got. Not for Krell. Not for the republic. Screw the republic!" He yelled angrily. Neon flinched beside her. Fives's words were borderline treasonous. "We fight for each other. For our Vode. And if we want to make it off of this skrag pit of a planet, we've got to fight with everything we got to keep each other alive."

His words rang in the stillness, broken only by distant explosions rocking through the distance. Cavalry bit her tongue and shifted a bit.

"Everybody gear up and get ready to move out before they collapse this cave." The Captain's words were soft. Dangerous. He shot a look at Fives, then jerked his head at the mouth of the fissure.

Cav swapped the power pack in her DC16 for a fresh one and snapped her helmet on. Neon stretched and stood up, offering her a hand and pulling her to her good foot. The splint was holding for now but she hissed as she took a couple limping steps.

Neon sighed and jogged over to Kix. Cavalry flushed under her helmet, limping over to a spot she could sit again. Now that the adrenaline was draining away, every part of her was stiff and sore. Close calls throbbed across her body and if she dekitted she was more than sure that her usually clear skin would be painted in hues of red and black and violet from being tossed around.

Kix approached her. His skin was pale and sallow in the reddish light. Cav dimly wondered when he'd last slept. She managed a weak smile behind her visor before breaking the seal on her helmet again.

"Well? Am I dyin' Doc?" She asked in a fake outer rim accent. To her credit, it made the overworked medic crack a smile.

"You might be." He said, adjusting her splint and making her hiss a bit. He sighed, them moved his hands up more towards her sides. "May I?"

She nodded, chewing her lip. She flinched back as he felt along her bruised hips and ribcage. There was a pinch just above the neck of her blacks and she yelped. Neon snickered as he finished administering the painkiller.

"Laugh it up." She snarled playfully. Kix just chuckled and shook his head. He did a cursory examination but Neon was alright aside from the cut on his neck and some minor bruising. He got a bacta patch and was sent on his way.

Cavalry went to follow but Kix held her back. "Actually, you'll be staying more towards the back with me." Cav opened her mouth to protest, but Kix cut her off. "You're walking wounded, and while you can hold your own in a fight even now, maker knows I don't want to be anywhere near those blades, but you don't really have a sense of caution and I'd at least like to keep you alive, with minimal broken bones."

Cav sighed. "You can just say it's because I'm weak and tiny compared to you." She fidgeted with her knife handles.

"No, that's not it at all." Kix folded his arms. "Cavalry, look at me." She did. "I know you think you've got something to prove because you got a chip on your shoulder, but thar doesn't mean throwing yourself blindly into fights and hoping for the best. You've got a big brain. Use it! I already deal with Fives and Hardcase. I don't want to have to babysit you."

Cav shook her head. "You won't." Kix smiled.

"Good. That's what I like to hear."

Chapter Text

Cav watched as the centipede tanks tore through her vode, fighting down an encroaching nausea as Kix and a few others worked to drag the wounded back. Some were only stunned with minor cuts. They were lucky. Others, all she could do was try to keep them comfortable as they bled out.

She'd heard her instructors say that some soldiers would cry for their mothers as they died. Clones didn't have mothers, but they sometimes called for others none the less.

"Where's Tips?" A clone Cav had dragged back cried. "I want Tips!" She cradled his head in her lap. His legs were gone from a mortar that hit home, and there was nothing she could do. "Tips, why did you leave me?" He whispered, coughing and sobbing weakly.

He died minutes later. She closed his eyes and slipped his helmet on him, sliding out from under the body. A clone who later limped over for a bacta patch, which she was running increasingly low on, sighed and shook his head when he saw the body.

"Sorry, Verren." He murmured, hissing as she cleaned a nasty cut on his leg. "I heard him yelling. Tips died in a training accident two years ago."

"At least they're together now." Cav sighed, finishing up and jamming on her helmet. "Once the fighting dies down again, take that to Kix. I don't know how to give sutures." The clone nodded and limped away. She jammed her helmet on with a sigh. Her armor was more red-ish black than white now.

She stood up, hobbling on her broken ankle. It wasn't even a very bad break as far as she could tell, but enough to keep her from doing her best this campaign.

Cavalry blinked a couple times to flick through the comm channels. Explosions and yells that they needed rocket launchers assaulted her ears. She turned her comms off and hobbled over to where Kix was.

"They're leading them here to the tree line. Some runners came ahead to scrounge up all the droid poppers they could, they're going to bottle neck those centipede tanks and try to obliterate them. The spider droids will be a problem, though." Kix sighed, scrubbing at his face tiredly. His hands left dark trails across his cheek and nose.

"Spider droids?" Cavalry asked. "I haven't heard anything about that."

Kix gave her a side long look. "You haven't been listening to comms." He accused, smiling a little.

Cavalry hung her head. "I have not been listening to comms." She agreed. "There's enough death happening in front of me. Don't want to be listening to it too."

"I know the feeling. It's a different kind of hurt, hearing our vode in pain and not being able to help them." He said.

"I... didn't think about it like that. I just couldn't concentrate on my work if somebody is constantly screaming in my ear." She said.

Kix chuckled. "You'll just have to get used to that. Trust me, even on the Resolute there's always somebody looking to yell at a medic. You're not to bad, y'know." He leaned his head back tiredly, closing his eyes for a second. Cav flinched as she heard a whistle coming towards them and hit the deck. A mortar hit about a hundred meters away, exploding in green and blue light. Heat washed over them.

Kix didn't so much as flinch.

"For kriff's sake, can I have one moment of rest!?" He yelled without opening his eyes.

"We need to move, sir." Cavalry said, standing and offering him her hand. He took it and let her haul him to his feet.

"It's Kix. The rank of Sargent means nothing to me." He grabbed his helmet. "Get everyone who can move ready. We need to regroup with the others." Cavalry saluted him and went about her work. She turned her comms back on and breathed a sigh of relief as she heard shouts of triumph. So the centipede tanks were taken care of.

"How's it behind lines, Cav?" Five's voice crackled over the line.

"You guys need to stop getting hurt. Coming up to your location now." She saw the twisted and smoking forms of the tanks up ahead.

"Right- Skrag!" Fives swore and cut the connection. Cav picked up her pace, drawing a single knife. Two spider droids were after the men. Umbarans swarmed out of the darkness, cutting the victory short.

There was a jerk at her knife hand and the hilt slipped from her grasp, she turned to see a Umbaran with a glint of silver durasteel. There was a faint grin at her, all tooth and triumph. He was trying to take a trophy.

Oh, she'd give him a trophy. The other knife buried itself in his chest rather nicely. She collected both. Another Umbaran seemed to melt out of the darkness, staring at her crouched over the body.

He chittered at her in his odd language and vanished. Cavalry pulled the knife out of the dead Umbaran's chest, wincing at the slick slide of bloody flesh on her blade. Always so messy to clean. She wiped as much blood off as she could. Didn't want that to set for long.

The helmet of the Umbaran was partially off, and green mist was seeping out. Cavalry removed the rest of the helmet on impulse, looking at the face.

She was surprised by how human he looked. Of course, there were a few glaring differences like his grey-white skin and hairless head. But he had two eyes, a mouth, a nose... just like her. He was young too. Not quite as young as her, but he was maybe as big as an eight year old clone... so sixteen standard years? She studied his face impassively, then brushed his white eyes closes.

He was an idiot for trying to take her knife, but he was also so young that he at least deserved some rights.

"I'll remember you." She whispered, her words soft and crackling over her annunciator.

She stood. One more Umbaran down, the rest of the planet to go.

Chapter Text

Spider droids were a problem. They were definitely a problem. Cav was struggling to deliver the rocket launchers to the clones, and being shot at while dodging mortars on a broken foot is not fun. she was definitely going to be sore tomorrow, that is, if she survives today. Or is it already tomorrow? She had lost track.

She hoped Fives came back soon. Him and Hardcase had been sent on some sort of mission to supposedly help them against these monstrosities. Kix was furious, shooting at the fauna that tried to swarm the body of a clone.

Another explosion rocked the earth. Cavalry's head ached. Dehydration and loss of sleep gave her a double whammy as she tried to focus. She dropped off another launcher and retreated once more.

She caught a glimpse of the captain in doing so. Her breath caught as she watched. He was cornered by two droids. A dodge at the last second followed by a shot from a rocket launcher to knock out the canon on one. He slid underneath the disabled one as the other tried to lock it's sights on him.

He had an edge to him that Cavalry had yet to see. She'd seen some impressive stuff but his grace and skill in battle made nearly everything else look like bumbling toddlers with blasters.

"Somebody made him right." She mumbled before retreating back to Kix.

Things were not looking good. Kix forced her to fall back after she collapsed for the second time on her broken ankle. She stumbled away from the fray, risking lifting her helmet off partially to take a couple of drinks of water. This was almost to the third hour of constant fighting and it was showing.

There were more explosions from the fighting and Cav flinched to the ready, her rifle aimed at the forrest around her and a few of the other wounded.

She hit the deck as an Umbaran starfighter flew erratically over head, dive bombing them and spinning drunkenly in the air over head.

"Take that ya clankers!" A voice crackled in her ear. Fives. She looked back up to the fighters and blinked a couple times, her HUD zooming in on the crafts as best it could without a set of macrobinoculars or a range fighter.

Yeah, those were clones in the cockpits alright. Fives and Hardcase were crazily spinning off of the direction of the airbase.

"Ev- Everyone get ready to move out." The captain panted over the comms. "The airbase is ours."

The last stretch of marching before they arrived was torturous. Cav's leg ached with every step and she wanted nothing more than to sink to the ground and sleep for a week.

As they got to the airbase, Krell and the other platoon of men were already there. Despite her want to be grateful that they were alive with minimal casualties, she found herself despising the clones with sparkly clean armor. She bet they haven't even fired a single shot during the three days they had been split up.

She stumbled to the barracks with a ration bar and a double ration of water. The barracks were surprisingly comfortable, much better than the ones on the resolute. Umbarans knew how to make stuff well.

There was a bunk by the door where she dropped her stuff. A quick trip to the showers and back and she plonked onto her bed and fell over. Her ankle throbbed and she flung an arm over her eyes to keep the light out.

She heard the doors hiss open and closed, and footsteps in. She ignored the brother, probably some other poor soul like her looking for actual sleep. Maybe Neon would come and talk with her before lights out.

"Cavalry?" A hoarse voice asked. She removed her arm from her eyes and blinked the blurriness away to look at the figure.

Clean white armor, despite this being obviously designated as Torrent's barracks. Her eyes traveled upwards. The unnatural stiffness in one arm, helmet tucked under another. Pale skin, ice blue eyes and light hair. Whiteout's face and neck were now partially covered in blast scars.

"Whaddaya want? I'm tired." She hissed at him angrily, already annoyed and they haven't even started fighting yet.

"I know." He said quietly, looking uncomfortable. "Fives and Hardcase and Jesse broke open a couple of flasks and are celebrating the capture. They wanted to know if you would join us." He said.

"Will you let me sleep afterwards?" She asked, kicking her feet over the edge of the bed.

"Yeah. You can."

She grunted tiredly, glancing at him. Something about his normally cocky attitude had changed.

"How's the arm?" She asked eventually. Whiteout shrugged.

"They gave me a metal one. It... it feels like the first one is still there and hurting." He said after a moment. "They gave me crutches for some reason. Don't need 'em. Kix told me to give 'em to you." He muttered on. Cav winced as she limped after him.

"Crutches would be welcome." She supplied.

They made their way to the courtyard where Fives and Jesse and Hardcase were drinking out of a silver flask. Cav sat with them and made small talk, Neon eventually drifting over. The captain was there too.

"Nevermind Hardcase's flying, I guess I owe you thanks for saving us." Neon said, shaking Hardcase and Fives's hands. Cav snickered next to Whiteout.

"Awe, That wasn't so tough." Hardcase said, taking a swig from a silver canteen.

"You sure?" Jesse elbowed him. "You looked a little green when you crawled out of that fighter." They all chuckled. Cavalry reached for the flack, but Neon slapped her hand away.

"Uh-uh. No liquor for you. You're too young." He admonished. Cav shot him a dirty look.

"Too young? I'm the oldest one here thank you very much." She scoffed, but she was smiling.

"She's got a point." Whiteout gave her a half smile, to which she rolled her eyes. She wasn't sure where this polite and respectful person came from, but it wasn't the Whiteout she knew and disliked. Their conversation was cut off as Krell marched into the courtyard

"Captain, Report." He growled, getting in the captain's face and ignoring the other six. "What is our situation?"

"General, We have taken the base and cut off enemy supply lines from the capitol." He said, coming to attention smartly. Cav forced herself not to pull a face, slightly torn between her trust in the general and her anger for how he disrespected her captain and brother.

"Luck has smiled on you today captain. Consider yourself... Fortunate." He sneered.

"It... Wasn't all luck sir. A lot of men died to take this base." Rex said somberly. Krell raised an eyebrow.

"That is the price for such a victory." A hint of amusement crept into his voice."Perhaps one day you'll realize this."

Cav desperately wishes real life had a mute. Even for a general like Krell, that was a bit much.

"Dismissed, captain." Krell said, walking away. Cav took the flask from a stunned Neon and stole a drink, cringing a bit as the alcohol left an unpleasant burning feel in her mouth and throat. There was a line of frustration in the Captain's shoulders. For a moment, the two met eyes.

Cav tipped her head to the side a bit, silently asking what he was going to do about the general.

Captain Rex just shook his head, staring at the floor. The message was clear.

He couldn't do anything to make this better. Cav shivered.

Krell was a mastermind. She just hoped he was really on their side.