005. PLAN OF DISSENT

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BURST LEANED UP AGAINST ONE OF THE UMBARAN VESSELS AS FIVES CONTINUED THE MODIFICATIONS FROM UNDERNEATH. Fives looked up at Burst in annoyance and gestured to the toolbox on the ground behind them. "You could help, you know."

Burst couldn't help but laugh. Bits just about fell off his own crate in laughter and shook his head. "Yeah, that's not a great idea. Burst here could take on a hundred clankers by himself, but hand him a wrench and he's entirely helpless."

Burst shrugged as he agreed with the comment made. Fives sighed and resumed his work as Hardcase approached, sneaking away from Krell who walked past with Rex, Ace, and Dogma at his side. "Hey, how's it coming?"

Fives sighed again. "Tricky piece of hardware. The work would go alot faster though if I had some help." He shot another accusatory look toward Burst and Bits.

"Krell's got Jesse stacking ordnance," Hardcase informed.

Fives scoffed, "I'm still waiting for Krell to thank us for handing this base over to him."

"Like that's going to happen." Bits rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

The four jumped as the ground shook from a series of explosions, presumably from the boundaries of the compound.

"Those Umbarans don't give up, do they?" Burst asked rhetorically.

"Good thing we don't either." Fives said as he returned to his work.

Burst's comm crackled to life and Ace's voice could be heard. "Burst, gather up some of the men. We've been given a new set of instructions to relay."

"Right." Burst nodded his head in affirmation despite the fact that the captain couldn't see him.

"We'll meet in the hangar in a few."

"See you soon." The conversation ended and the comm went silent again.

"What crack-pot scheme has Krell thought up now?" Bits complained with a huff.

"We could always give him the benefit of the doubt." Hardcase's suggestion was dripping with sarcasm. The four looked at one another before laughing as if the idea were more ridiculous than the strategies that Krell had come up with himself.

As said, Ace and Rex met with the gathered troops a few minutes later within the hangar. The frown on Burst's face grew larger as each part of Krell's newest plan was unveiled. Although he wasn't the brightest bulb, he'd had a bad feeling about the general the moment that they met him. R'avida had been nothing like her master. For that matter, she was unlike most Jedi he'd met before actually. She wasn't stiff and controlling, but free-flowing and fun. He hadn't gotten to know her as closely as some of the others, but being part of her personal squad had its perks. Like the kid. Ari had alot of her master's spirit in her and getting to spend time with the kid was definitely the best part of his day. He was closer to her than most, and even though she'd been gone for less than twenty-four hours, he missed her already.

"Those missiles have 100 megaton yield." Fives tried to persuade Rex that by following orders they'd be making a mistake. "We won't even make it to the delta."

"What can I do?" Rex threw his hands up in exasperation. "I've tried to reason with him. Those are the orders."

"Great." Jesse rolled his eyes. "Another suicide mission. The capital is too well armed."

"Why does it seem like he has it out for clones?" Tup looked up from the wing of the Umbaran ship that he'd been working on.

"I think you're all overreacting." Dogma added his own input. "Obviously, General Krell knows what he's doing."

"That one's a little too tightly wound," Burst leaned over and whispered to Ace. The captain shot him a look but didn't disagree.

Dogma continued to ask, "Do you really think he doesn't care if he loses men?"

"I'm not saying that." Jesse shook his head. "But I do think his desire for victory has blinded him to the fact that there are lives at stake. I've never seen a general with these kinds of casualties."

"He's out of control!" Fives exclaimed. "He's not acting like the other Jedi. He has no respect for us."

"Listen," Rex stepped forward, "I don't agree with him either, but I don't have a better plan."

"What about using these starfighters to destroy the supply ship?" Fives suggested as he gestured to the Umbaran ships.

"Our fleet has been trying." Rex shook his head. "The Umbarans have it as protected as the capital."

"But we've got their access codes and their own hardware." Fives pointed out.

"You were able to crack it?" Rex raised an eyebrow.

"Mmm-hmm." Fives nodded and hit Jesse's shoulder plate in affirmation. "We can sneak right past their blockade, get where our ships can't. If we take out that supply ship, then we cutoff arms to the capital."

"It's not a bad idea." Ace nodded his head. "It's at least worth bringing up to the general."

"Keep working on those ships." Rex nodded his head in agreement. "We'll discuss this plan with General Krell."

Bits approached Burst as Ace and Rex left the room. "Do you think he'll reconsider?"

Burst shrugged. "It's the better plan, he should."

"That doesn't mean he will," Skid interjected with his own opinion, "Some are just too stubborn to admit when they're wrong."

There was a beat of silence. Burst looked between the two in thought. "We all agree that we aren't letting anymore brothers die without reason, right?"

They both nodded their heads in agreement. However, Skid held up a finger as if trying to make a point. "Refrain from alerting Ace though if you're planning to do something reckless and stupid."

Burst chuckled. "You'll soon learn that everything I do is reckless and stupid."

"Oh, I know." Skid nodded his head quickly. "I can't count on my hands how many trips you took to the infirmary within the first week of being assigned to the 107th..."

He trailed off and a bittersweet silence followed. So many memories surfaced that Burst pushed to the back of his mind. He was on duty, now was not the time to grow nostalgic. However, he did notice that Bits's gaze hadn't lifed from the ground. The young clone's first assignment had been Devaron, of course his bad memories outweighed the good. Though now that he had time to get a good look at him, Burst noticed that he looked far younger than most of the others clones he knew.

"How old are you?"

Bits looked up in confusion. "Sorry?"

"How old are you?" Burst repeated his question.

"Eight?"

Burst's eyes widened in shock. "Eight?! Well, no wonder you're not fully grown. I thought they couldn't assign you to a battalion until you were at least eleven?"

Bits shook his head. "They lowered the age as more troops were needed."

"Force," Burst swore under his breath and shook his head.

"You're taller than the average clone," Skid noted bluntly.

"Are we just pointing out all of our flaws now?" Bits asked in confusion.

"May as well, we hardly know each other after all." Skid shrugged. "By either luck or extreme misfortune, the four of us were thrown together. We've only known one another for a week really."

"A pretty messed up bunch we are, huh?" Bits chuckled bitterly, his gaze falling back down toward the ground.

"There's no other squad that I'd rather be part of though." Burst said firmly.

The doors slid open to the barracks and all in the room turned their attention to Rex and Ace who entered the room. The disappointment on their faces revealed how well things had gone with the general.

Rex sighed. "The assault on the capital will continue as planned."

"So that's it?" Jesse asked. "We just march into those missiles?"

"Oh, there's another option," Fives protested, "We go ahead with our plan, and suffer the consequences."

"You would be court-martialed." Rex sighed again. "If it were up to me, and we had the time and the training, I would say, 'Do it.' But it's out of my hands and the truth is, you are no pilots."

"Come on." Jesse retorted. "If Hardcase can fly one of these things, we all can."

"Yeah, he wasn't really flying," Tup scoffed, "More like avoiding crashing. We'll be blasted out of the sky before we get anywhere."

"Not if we're in their fighters," Fives insisted, "No one's gonna be shooting at us."

The barrack doors opened again, and Jesse quickly cleared his throat. "Here comes Dogma."

Dogma looked around skeptically. "Uh... What's going on?"

Tup rubbed the back of his neck and tried to look innocent. "Er... Nothing."

Dogma looked unconvinced, but didn't say anything. Rex stood and left the room. Fives followed after him. Although the specific words of their argument couldn't be heard, their tones could. Ace motioned for Shadow Squad to step aside with him.

"I don't want any of you near those fighters," Ace ordered, "I'm already busy enough as it is, I don't need you blowing yourselves up while my back is turned."

"We're not cadets, Ace." Burst rolled his eyes, but then jokingly added with a cast glance toward Bits. "Well, most of us aren't."

Bits frowned and crossed his arms. "He was talking to you, laserbrain."

"I was talking to all of you," Ace interjected but added, "but yes, especially Burst."

Despite his direct command, the moment that Ace left, Bits and Burst immediately walked back out into the hangar to get some more work done on the fighters.

"All right. Okay, there." Fives motioned for Hardcase to test out the modifications. "Try that out. It should be a little easier."

"I got it." Hardcase nodded as the fighter lifted in the air. However, within seconds he had lost control over the vessel, knocking several crates to the ground. "Whoa!"

"Hardcase, what are you doing?" Fives shouted to be heard.

"If I knew, I wouldn't be doing it!" Hardcase exclaimed.

"Look out!" Burst dove and pulled Bits out of the wing's path as it dipped down toward their heads. Several more crates were thrown aside.

"Great," Fives muttered. "This can't get much worse."

He was immediately proven wrong as Krell's voice was emitted from the comm system. "Trooper, what's going on down there?"

Fives quickly motioned that he was going to take over. "Hey, hey, I got this."

"Report, Trooper."

"Er... Yes, sir. Everything's fine in the hangar, sir. Nothing's out of control down here."

"Then why have the alarms been triggered?"

Fives stuttered as he scrambled for an excuse. "It's just a drill, a safety drill, sir."

"Safety check occurs at 0600. Who authorized this drill?"

"Uh... We are decrypting the alien hardware, sir. Standard operating procedure."

Hardcase kept trying to regain control over the fighter. Several other fighters fell to the ground as he crashed into them. "That didn't work." To make matters worse, the blasters fired without restraint.

"Who is this? What's your CT number? Trooper, identify yourself!"

"Okay. How about this?" Hardcase readjusted his grip; however, he activated one of the missiles. "Oh no, no, no, no, no."

"Is he trying to kill us?!" Bits shouted. Fives shot him a look as he again tried to persuade the general that nothing was out of the ordinary.

The weapon charged and the missile fired toward the hangar doors. Hardcase winced. "That's gonna leave a mark."

The doors exploded and those in the room were forced back to avoid the raining debris. Only after the damage had been done, did Hardcase finally figure out how to maneuver the fighter.

He set the fighter back on the ground and landed. "Got it. I got it. It's easy. Just level your hands."

"What, are you crazy?" Fives asked as he approached. "You could've gotten us killed. Not to mention ruining our hopes of flying this mission!"

"It's a malfunction," Hardcase insisted, "no harm done."

"Explain this," Krell commanded, "Now."

Fives hesitated, but Hardcase jumped in with an excuse. "Sir, we were decrypting the enemy craft when what appears to be an enemy booby trap went off."

"A booby trap?" Krell looked between the two unconvinced.

"Yes, sir." Hardcase nodded and built on his lie. "The fighter went haywire and had I not been able to get control of it, and aim the missile at the doors, something worse might've happened."

"Is this true?" Krell looked over at Fives.

Fives nodded. "Uh, ye-yes, sir. That is what happened, no doubt."

"Well, Captain Rex, looks like I was correct." Krell appeared almost smug as he spoke. "The Umbaran fighters are dangerous and not fit for flight."

"But, sir, we now know how they work," Hardcase protested, "We just need practice!"

"Lock down these fighters," Krell commanded, "I don't want anything else exploding."

"Nice work." Fives shoved Hardcase. "Now we know how to fly them, and we won't be able to get near them."

"Oh, come on. That won't stop us." Hardcase brushed the thought aside. "It's just procedure. We can sneak in and be out before Krell knows anything."

Jesse clapped as he approached and chuckled. "I thought the plan was to destroy the enemy ship with the fighters, not blow up our own hangar."

"Why did we think it was a good idea to let him fly?" Burst asked.

"Because we wouldn't have any of the hangar left if you had tested it," Bits retorted.

"Look, I agree we should go through with this," Fives interjected, "So, are you four volunteering to be my pilots or what?"

"I'm in regardless of the consequences." Hardcase nodded.

"No backing out from Bits and myself," Burst said and pulled the younger clone into a headlock.

"Flying these fighters beats blindly walking into a bunch of missiles, so, I'm in." Jesse nodded in thought. "We just need a plan."

"Already got one. General Skywalker blew up a droid control ship when he was just a kid," Fives explained as he picked up some of the fallen debris, "And he told me the trick was hitting the main reactor from the inside."

"Oh. Well, that won't be so tough." Hardcase replied.

They didn't pack much, only the few supplies necessary to pull off their planned mission. Fives led the group out past the fence line where Rex was commanding a patrol.

"I want a full perimeter sweep. Be on high alert." Movement from the corner of his eyes caught Rex's attention. "Fives, what are you doing out here? You should be in the barracks."

"I found my pilots." Fives gestured to the group. "We're going after that supply ship."

"Are you out of your mind?" Rex asked. "It's a suicide mission, not to mention against orders."

"It's the right thing to do," Fives contradicted, "We have to try."

"It sounds like you intend to go through with it."

"If you're going to try to stop us, we need to know."

Rex sighed. "I can't help you when you get caught. Especially, if you're not my men."

"We understand the risk, sir," Burst spoke up.

It wasn't difficult to sneak past the guards since they knew the rotational shift; however, adjusting to the modifications took a little bit more time than Burst thought it would.

"These things are trickier than I imagined," Jesse noted once they left the atmosphere. "I hope this is a good idea."

"Well, it's better than Krell's plan," Fives retorted.

"I'm only doing this because I don't like him," Jesse admitted.

"That's reason enough," Fives agreed.

Hardcase laughed. "I'm just doing it for fun."

Although faint, Burst could hear Bits mutter from behind. "I'm not watching anymore brothers die without cause."

The battle that appeared before their eyes was sudden. Fives exclaimed, "Whoa! What the... Try to fly steady. We're going in!"

"I'm really not liking this." Jesse uneasily checked his shoulder.

"Easy, Hardcase," Fives reprimanded, "Don't get an itchy trigger finger."

The true test came as they approached the main ship. Four Umbaran fighters flew up from behind. However, after a moment, they turned off and flew back toward the fight. Jesse sighed with relief. "Looks like they think we're Umbaran, all right."

"How you doing, Bits?" Burst glanced over his shoulder.

"Fine..." his voice sounded queasy though, contradicting his words.

"Well, don't hurl on me," Burst chuckled.

"There's the supply ship!" Fives pointed out. "Follow me!"

"Let's do this." Hardcase spoke with grit and determination.

As they flew through the hangar, the alarms blared overhead. The shutter doors slowly began to close. Each of their eyes widened, but Hardcase was the one to voice what they'd all been thinking. "Why do they have to go and do that?"

Hardcase shot one of his missiles and blew up the door, unfortunately the debris backfired and hit the wing of his ship. Burst looked over at the smoking wing with concern. "Should it be doing that?"

"Probably not," Bits replied, however, Fives cut him off.

"Reactor core locked, prepare missiles," Fives instructed, "Fire missiles!"

The missiles were fired, but the ray shields that were turned on deflected the blasts. Fives shouted with urgency. "Ray shields. Hit the deck!" A barrage of fire came from behind as the present battle droids fired at them. Fives looked around uneasily and admitted, "This may have been a bad idea after all."

An alert flashed on Jesse's screen. "Our shields are sure taking a beating."

"We can't turn back now!" Hardcase shouted and turned off his shield. He slipped out of the cockpit seat and pulled the missile launcher that he'd detached from the ship toward the back. "Cover me!"

"Hardcase! Fives shouted. "Get back on your ship!"

"Trust me! I've got a plan!" Hardcase insisted. "This is for the 501st! Don't wait for me!"

"Hardcase!" Fives was unable to do anything but shout. "No!"

"You've disobeyed enough orders today, sir," Hardcase noted before shouting, "Follow this one. Get out of here!"

"If I know Hardcase, we'd better leave," Jesse warned.

"We can't leave him!" Bits shouted.

Fives looked back and forth between Hardcase and the exit. With a sigh, he gestured for the others to follow him out of the hangar. Burst understood the sacrifices of war better than most. He'd pulled stunts much like Hardcase's on several other occasions. Normally, he would've stayed to fight, but then images of Ace and Ari flashed across his mind, and he knew what he had to do. He made his decision and flew after Fives.

"Burst!" Bits shouted. "Go back! He won't survive!"

The flames from the explosion chased after them and they barely made it out of the hangar in one piece. Burst cheered for a moment; however, immediately fell silent as he remembered what the cost of victory had been. Hardcase's final words echoed in his mind.

"Live to fight another day, boys. Live to fight another day."

The flight back was easier than the flight there. Minutes later and they landed back at the Umbaran airbase. Rex and Tup greeted them as they approached. Tup looked between them and noticed that one was missing. His expression fell. "Where's Hardcase?"

"He didn't make it." Fives shook his head.

Jesse added, "We couldn't have done it without him."

Each lowered their heads in a moment of silence in respect for their fallen comrade. However, it was interrupted as the bay doors behind them slid open. Sergeant Appo stepped forward. "General Krell would like to see them in the tower."

The troops led the group up to where Krell and Ace waited for them.

Rex hesitated. "You wanted to see them, sir?"

"Indeed." Krell gave a curt nod of his head. "It seems they have accomplished a very brave act. Unfortunately, they've also committed a serious crime by directly disobeying my order."

"With all due respect, sir," Rex shook his head, "the order to attack the cargo vessel was mine. If there's a punishment to be given, it should be directed toward me. I'm their commanding officer."

Fives interjected and stepped forward. "General, sir, Captain Rex is attempting to take the blame for actions that were clearly mine."

"Fives!" Rex reprimanded.

Fives ignored him. "I request that his admission of guilt be denied, and full blame placed upon me."

"Oh, do you?" Krell looked skeptical and took several steps toward Fives. "You willfully countermand my direct order, and now you have the audacity to request who should bear the punishment of your insurrection? Let me be clear about the punishment for the treason committed by ARC trooper 5555, CT-5597, CT-8175, and CT-9725. They will be court-martialed, they will be found guilty. And they will be executed! Make no mistake. For crossing me, you will pay the price."

Krell looked at the group with a burning threat in his eyes for a moment longer before dismissing them with a wave of his hand. As the doors slid closed, Burst watched as Krell pulled Ace aside to speak with him. Burst gulped as they were led down toward the prison cells. Things had taken a turn for the worse.