"𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙛𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙨, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙛𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙮, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙛𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙛𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙮."

The world of Cradalo had become a bit of an annoyance in the war recently. One of the Separatist's head strategic bases was stationed there. Infiltrating it wasn't going to be easy.

A fleet of fighters broke through the blockade and allowed us to enter the planet's atmosphere. Obi-Wan gave us the details of the mission on the cruiser that now hovered over the green world.

"We will have to land a few miles from the base so we don't get detected," Obi-Wan explained. "Cody, gather a team of nine to take out the base's defenses. The rest will arrive when we've done our part."

"Yes sir," Cody nodded.

Cody and I approached the troopers we decided to bring along for the mission. After assembling our team, we boarded the gunship and flew for the surface.

"We'll have to go down the rest of the way on our own," Obi-Wan shouted over the wind coming in from the gunship's open doors. "We can't risk alerting the base of our arrival."

With that, he dived out of the ship without any gear.

"Show off," I muttered.

"Jedi will be Jedi," Cody replied.

The rest of us ignited our jet packs and flew out of the gunship. We made our descent and landed on the marshy world of Cradalo. I was almost knee deep into the water that covered the ground. Tall grass sprung out and gave us cover.

"Let's go," Obi-Wan said. He grimaced at the condition his boots were in due to the marshland.

"Now's no time to be worried about your designer shoes, Obi-Wan," I joked.

"They are Jedi issue, Sil," he corrected me. "Nothing fancy." Obi-Wan nodded his head in the direction we had to go in.

Cody and I shared an amused look, not believing the general's words.

Getting to the base proved to be difficult. Everyone kept losing their footing in the wet marsh and stumbled over hidden plants.

"Agh! This planet is eating me alive!" Trip shouted as he strained to pull his leg out of a muddy hole.

"Stay close to the trees," I suggested. "There's more firm ground over there."

"Could've said that earlier," Trip mumbled to himself.

The sky darkened overhead. Leaves in branches started to rustle. A fat drop of water splashed onto my nose and I flinched visibly. I looked around startled.

"Relax, Sil, it's just the rain," Waxer chuckled at my reaction.

"I know it's the rain!" I countered. "I'm just... not used to it."

I wiped the drop of water with my sleeve and brought my jacket around myself. A light rain began and pattered on the troops' armor.

A wall came into view and my heart leapt in relief. We finally arrived at the Separatist base. Battle droids were stationed at the top of the wall, guarding the entrance. The perimeter was large and the walls were thick. Good thing we brought explosives with an extra kick.

"I'll take out the main entrance," Obi-Wan whispered. "Wooley and Trip on me."

Wooley and Trip nodded as they moved to Obi-Wan's side.

"Sil, take west wall and Cody you take the east," Obi-Wan added.

"All right," I replied. "Cody, you take Waxer and Boil. I'll take Twist and Shout."

We moved to our positions along each of the walls, keeping out of sight of the droid guards. The one good thing about this marsh world was the cover it gave us.

We ran along the side of the west wall and dropped the explosives.

"This is going to be beautiful," Shout grinned at the idea of a big explosion.

"Flowers are beautiful, Shout. Not bombs," Twist growled back. The two started bickering. My eyes caught sight of a droid nearing our spot at the wall and I sucked in a breath.

"Will you two shut up!" I shouted quietly at them.

Their helmeted heads glanced towards the droid and they froze. The droid came closer and it would see us soon.

"We have to get in the water," Twist whispered and quickly shoved Shout into the wet terrain.

"I don't want to do this," I wailed quietly. I stared at the disgusting water and mentally prepared my funeral.

"You can whine about it later," Twist said and pushed me under the water.

The three of us held our breaths and tried to hide in the thick weeds. The droid peered over the wall and then left.

I broke out of the water and started spitting out the taste of the marsh that had seeped into my mouth. Twist and Shout ripped off their helmets and gasped for air. Once we gathered ourselves, we got away from the wall and arrived at a safe distance. I put a hand in my hair and grimaced at how gross it felt. Shout did the same and grew furious.

"This is all YOUR fault!" he tackled Twist at the base of a tree.

"Will you two stop it!" I threw Shout off of Twist, but now he was wrestling me to get back to his opponent.

"If you three are done fighting, we are all standing by to detonate," Obi-Wan sighed disappointedly through the comlink.

I looked to my wrist to see Shout pressing on my comlink. His eyes widened and he backed off.

"Yeah, we're ready as well," I grumbled into my comlink. "Light it up."

A moment passed and blasts could be heard for miles. The stone walls blew apart and flew across the marsh. Shout stared at it with wonder in his eyes while Twist glared at him for enjoying what he thought was a horrific sight.

Obi-Wan contacted the cruiser and the rest of the 212th arrived at the base in gunships. Twist and Shout put on their helmets and we regrouped with the others at the entrance.

"What happened to you three?" Waxer laughed at the drenched state we were in.

"Don't ask," Twist grumbled.

"I know we got out of having to go to Mon Cala, but it looks like you guys had your own aquatic adventure," Wooley laughed.

"You guys are really getting a kick out of this aren't you?" I said smiling.

The rest of the attack battalion arrived and we took over the base quickly. Many of the outer defenses had been destroyed by the explosion which only left us with clankers to blast. A specialized team would arrive the next day to see if they could extract any information from the Separatist base. That meant we had to hold it for the night.

Cradalo was soon covered in darkness and the sounds of creatures in the marsh filled the air. The only light for miles came from the base.

My comlink buzzed and Obi-Wan asked for me to meet him in one of the buildings. I walked over and saw him staring thoughtfully at a datapad, probably reading Cody's report.

"You wanted to see me?" I asked.

He put away his datapad and faced me. "Yes, I did. Tell me, are you getting along with the men?"

His question surprised me. Of course I got along fine with them. Obi-Wan must've been referring to the scuffle that happened earlier.

"Yeah I'm fine," I replied. "It was just a silly incident, but it wasn't a problem."

"Good," Obi-Wan said. "I just wanted to make sure."

"Is something wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong," Obi-Wan said. "But you having good relations with the clones is of great importance. You don't realize it, but you are like a buffer between the Jedi and the clones," he explained.

"I don't get what you mean," I said confused.

"What I mean is, you are a soldier, like the rest of them, but you are also an Antarian Ranger, a companion of the Jedi. You offer a connection between these two worlds and, well, I have noticed it puts the men at ease," he said. "It is why the council supports having you rotated with Master Plo and Anakin."

"But they're all loyal soldiers and they care very much about their generals," I countered. I hardly thought my presence made a difference in the mindset of these men. "They would follow you to the end."

"You're right, Sil," Obi-Wan agreed. "They are the finest men I've had the privilege to work with. Even then, there tends to be a subconscious feeling of separation, but you seem to help bridge that gap. I just want to make sure you realize that."

"I see," I let his words sink in. "Well you've got nothing to worry free about, Obi-Wan. The clones are some of the best people I've had to work with," I smiled.

"That's good to hear," he smiled back.

I bowed my head before leaving the room. I thought carefully about what Obi-Wan said. I wondered if I really was an intermediary. My train of thought was broken when I reached the boys gathered around a small fire they made. They were snickering about something and I was pretty sure I heard my name.

"What're you guys laughing about?" I crossed my arms and hid my smile.

"Oh, uh, it's nothing," Wooley stammered.

I raised an eyebrow at him and glanced over to the rest who had sealed their mouths.

"We were making guesses about who your favorite general is," Trip revealed.

"That's obviously General Kenobi," I said with a confused expression. Who else were they expecting?

They all made faces of disappointment which confused me even further.

"What? Were you expecting me to say General Grievous or something?"

"Nah," Cody smirked. "We were thinking you were going to say General Skywalker."

My face heated up and I attempted to hide the smile creeping up on the mention of that specific person.

"You guys are crazy," I managed out. They started laughing without control.

I shoved Cody roughly on his shoulder causing him to almost fall over. I sat down in the space next to him and pulled rations out of my pocket. I munched on them to stop myself from having to say anything else.

"Fine, fine," Cody said. "But we're your favorite battalion, right?"

"You were until about two seconds ago," I replied.

The boys let out dramatic gasps.

"Oh Sil," Waxer clutched his heart. "How could you?"

"I'm joking, guys," I laughed along with the rest of them.

I don't know why Obi-Wan ever doubted my relationship with these guys. They were my best friends.