Star Wars - Clone Wars Story Part 5


Chapter 1: Catch Up
   We took the day after arriving off… we were in dire need of some rest after spending weeks on the run. We barely got any sleep or a proper meal since we were stranded on the Rishi Moon. This camp of deserters and refugees ain’t that bad, if you consider the circumstances. At that their are reliable sources of food and water nearby, as well as the structures the people built are sturdy enough to withstand most weather conditions. I didn't’ wanna get my hopes up, however… there is always a change that the Empire may find this planet… and we are in no way able to hold off an attack. The squad may look like they are relaxed, but I knew we were on alert… keeping an eye on the sky, watching the Shadows in case we get some unwanted guests. 
   But alas, there is no rest for the weary. Cassandra's old Master, Iris, still wants to know more about how we escaped, and I think Cassandra feels the same way about Iris. Although most of the Jedi were destroyed, no plan is 100% perfect, and some of the strongest Jedi survived. As the following morning after our day of rest, we got geared up and headed down to the command tent of the base. Some still eyed us… including that no good Rodian that almost caused a scene a couple days ago. 
   “Ah, there you all are. Hopefully you got settled in yesterday.” Iris greatest us outside the tent.
   “Hello Master, we are fine, thank you.” Cassandra smiled. “We have a lot of catching up to do.” She added.
   “Why yes, we do…” Iris laughed. “Very well, come on in, all of you.” We nodded and entered the tent. It was pretty sizeable, and by the looks of it, the refugees were planning to upgrade to a full Command Building, as seen by what looks to be foundation walls in place. Regardless, we all sat down around a large table in the center of the tent. We talked for what seemed like hours, about how Iris narrowly escaped with her life from her band of traitors. Apparently, the Star destroyer she was on had a navigational mishap that actually brought the whole thing here, after witch she escaped in a pod as the Star Destroyer itself crash landed on a planet on the other side of the solar system. Iris was one of the first settlers of this small town, alongside her Non-Clone Admiral Asaga Bladerunner. Their first order of business was to setup some kinda long range radar system so they could monitor activity on the other Planet. Soon, more and more refugees mysteriously arrived, and the small camp became a functioning town. Just then, a human in a worn Officer uniform, most likely Asaga, walked to the Table.
   “Ma’am, I’d hate to interrupt, but we got some blips on the radar.” Asaga warned.
   “Blast… any idea on who it maybe?” Iris swore under her breath.
   “If anything, it is not the Empire, it is too small to be one of their battleships. I suspect it maybe pirates, looking to salvage what’s left of the crashed Star Destroyer.” Asaga reported. Suddenly, Iris got an idea.
   “You all came on a stolen ship, correct?” She asked.
   “Yes, even did our best to remove anyway for the Empire to tack us.” I replied.
   “How about you all go to the other planet, and deal with these pirates. We can’t risk the chance of them relaying our location to anyone else.” Iris offered. 
   “Seems simple enough…” Quicksilver shrugged.
   “Good, if that’s the case, then you won’t need any Jedi going along with you.” Iris gave a look to Cassandra. 
   “Way to go…” Kicks whispered.
   “Besides, it would be a perfect moment to test your loyalty to us… given the circumstances.” Iris explained.
   “Alright, we understand. We’ll get set up and depart within the hour.” I replied. Iris nodded and dismissed us, continuing her conversation with Cassandra. 






Chapter 2: Hunting Party
   As the squad was setting everything up in the Pelta Class, Cassandra paid us a little visit. And let me just say, you don’t need no mind tricks to know she’s a little… out of it. 
   “I sense you worry of me…” Cassandra read my mind. I hate it when they do that…
   “I can tell you're worried for us, General.” I replied… Cassandra sighed.
   “It’s just… going out on your own and all… because of my Master…” She sighed.
   “Ah, don’t worry about us, if we can deal with Clone Commandos, we can knock a few Pirates around around.” Quicksilver walked up beside me.
   “And don’t worry about you're Master, she’s only be careful.” I admitted. Even after everything so far… I can understand why some people would be… weary of us. More so a Jedi.
   “Regardless, I came to wish you luck on your mission.” Cassandra smiled at us.
   “You can count on us, Ma’am.” Lightweight carried off a box of ammunition onto the ship. Cassandra sighed and left us. I put my helmet on and walked into our ship. 
   “Alright kicks, how we looking?” I asked, walking into the cockpit.
   “All systems online, ready when you are.” Kicks replied.
   “Fair enough, let’s get going.” I took my seat in the Co-Pilot chair.


   As we approached the planet, it looked like a exact opposite of the one we are living on… bright blue and green with a light white atmosphere. But we had no time for sightseeing. 
   “Alright everyone, I’m taking her in. Brace for entry.” Kicks announced as we entered the fluffy white clouds. AS we got past the first blinding layer, we were meet with another… this tim, a dense black smoke.
   “Whoa… what the hell!?” Kicks jumped in his seat.
   “I guess we found the Pirate ship…” I mumbled as Kicks make a hard left turn to avoid colliding with the massive flying junkpile. After knocking down some giant tree, Kicks gained control and did a slightly unstable landing in a field about a mile away from a old, rusted crashed Star destroyer.
   “A… another happy landing…” Quicksilver caught his breath. I looked out the main windshield of our ship and saw the local wildlife has slowly been taking over the ship, with bright green plants covering parts of the ship. We all geared up and walked outside… and the Pirate ship we almost slammed into on entry was just to the left of it.
   “Well… what’s the score boss?” Lightweight readied his weapon.
   “Everyone not in this squad is hostile. Lightweight, Kicks, take the ship. Me and Quicksilver will take the Destroyer.” I explained. Kicks and Lightweight nodded and started their approach. I shared a look with Quicksilver, and we started our advance.
   “Any idea on how much they got?” Quicksilver asked as we crept through the bushes. 
   “No idea, but don't underestimate them... They can still be deadly.” I replied, before raising a fist. I pointed up to a whole in the side, where at least three of them were gathered. Quicksilver got his DC Long Rifle ready. “Think you could take them out?” I asked. He smiled.
   “Just say the word.” Quicksilver took aim. 
   “Steady… steady…” I kept my hand up… as it looked like one of them were leaving inside the Destroyer. As soon as he disappeared, I gave the single. Quicksilver had one down, and the 2nd before he had a chance to even react. Just as I was expecting, more of them spilled out of the hole.
   “Whelp… here we go!” Quicksilver shouted as he got his DC standard Rifle out. I laughed to myself as I pulled out my Z6 Cannon… it’s been so long since I used this, and it all came back to me like muscle memory. Regardless of if it’s part of a Army of just Bounty Hunters, we were trained to fight… that’s what we are doing. I could hear explosions in the distance as a Fireball grew from the Pirate's ship. I looked back and I could see one of the smiley fuckers running…
  ‘I got him!” Quicksilver holstered his weapon and chased after him. Meanwhile, Kicks came walking back, holding a damaged Data Pad. 
   “Where’s Lightweight?” I asked.
   “Salvaging what he can… but I figured you'd wanna see this.” He handed me the pad. I took it… but it was barely functioning… I had the slap the damn thing to get it to turn on. But what I saw…
  “It’s a bloody hit list… of other outer rim systems to hunt…” My eyes widened under my helmet. 
   “Yeah, and it’s bearing the Empire’s markings…” Kicks pointed out. Just then, Lightweight got on comms.
   “Guys… you might wanna get here… now!” He sounded desperate… but before we had a chance to react, another Empire Pelta Class came into view…
   “Son of a… everyone, back to our ship! I believe the Refugees lended us some rockets” I clipped the pad to my belt and made a run for our ship. The other’s ended up catching back up… but the Enemy Pelta class out flew us… clearly. It hovered a mile in front of us, and I saw Clone...ish… soldiers drop down. I grinded my teeth and got my Cannon ready.
   “We can’t let them take out ship! Everyone, Charge! Cover to cover, but don’t stop!” I shouted. We kicked into high gear and bursted into a sprint. As soon as we got in range, Kicks, Lightweight, and Quicksilver opened fire.
   “Who the…?” One of the unknown Soldiers yelled.
   “They look like those old Republic Era soldiers!” Another picked up his rifle, only to get shot in the chest. So, we are already in a new Era huh? I rolled my eyes and got behind a rock formation. Peering around the side, I saw Lightweight activate his jets and legiet jump on a guy, kicking off his helmet and stomping on his face, the proceed to leap into the air again. I broke from my cover and gunned down one of the mystery soldiers, looked to my right and narrowly dodged a Vibroblade aimed for my neck. I swung my weapon around, nailing him in the lower torso with the barrel of my gun and kept running, leaving him in the fetal position behind me.
   Alas, our Petla class came into view. Quicksilver and Kicks got there first, and cleared out the zone as I got a rocket from storage, Lightweight went straight for the cockpit. I took aim… held my breath… and fired. The air around me fell silent as the rocket screamed towards the enemy Pelta Class… nailing the cockpit and I hope incapacitating the pilots.. Or at least disporienting them. Thankfully, the enemy ship ended up spinning out of control, landing with a loud CRASH over a hill somewhere north. 
   “Alright guys, that’s out cue, let’s go!” I waved the squad in. As soon as we were all accounted for, Kicks took the controls and dusted off. Like a blur, we broke orbit and were already on our way home. 


Chapter 3: Nowhere is Safe
    “You sent us into an Ambush!” We stormed into the command tent. Iris, Cassandra, and Asaga were going over some old documents. “As soon as we reached the planet, Imperial Dropships entered the planet, almost cutting us off from our own ship.” I added.
   “What do you mean Imperial Dropships?” Cassandra asked. 
   “We got ambushed by a Imperial Pelta Class, it dropped some sorta kill squad.” I explied. 
   “Was it more Clone Commandos?” Cassandra rubbed her chin.
   “No, these guys looked… different.” I sighed… just then, Quicksilver held up a strange looking helmet.
   “I found this sitting in the cargo hold of our ship, it belonged to the hostile I knocked out before throwing him out the rear door.” He explained. It resembled a Phase 3 Clone helmet, but with a more sinister looking design and bigger air filters near the jaw.
   “So, the New Empire’s army is already growing… it’s only been what, a couple months?” Asaga sounded concerned. 
   “And now they are even hiring Mercenaries to scout outer rim planets…” Iris swore under her breath.
   “It’s only a matter of time before they find us then…” Cassandra fell into a chair behind her, holding her head.
   “We need to leave… befo-” I was cut off by a explosion rocking the camp.
   “Jee, before we are too late, huh?” Quicksilver gave me a look. I rolled my eyes and w e all ran outside, to see the Armory in flames, Burisur motionless on the ground in a puddle of blood. Looking up, I could see the shape of a Imperial Star destroyer above… followed by Gunships heading right for us. 
   “I always feared this day…” Iris grinded her teeth.
   “We need to save as many as we can and get the hell outta here!” Kicks drew his rifle. As if on cue, Rocket and Rosetta found us.
   “Fuckign A, half the camp is on fire!” Racket shouted.
   ‘Did you find any survivors on the way over here?” I asked, both shook their heads.
   “We need to get to our ship, the Pelta Class should be more than enough to hold all of us.” I explained. Everyone shared a nod, but before we could make a move, an Imperial Gunship landed about a mile in front of us, in our way. Iris and Cassandra activate their Lightsabers, and even Asaga pulled out a DC-17 blaster from her belt. The gunship door opened and more Imperial Soldiers flooded out, charging the remains of our camp.
   “Here we go…” Quiksilver mumbled.
   “CHARGE!” Iris yelled, and we broke into a sprint. As soon as we got close, the air erupted into laser file. We all took cover as Iris and Cassandra kept the enemy soldiers busy. As a force of habit, I looked around to see any flanking opportunities… the trees and thick bushes should prove decent cover for advancing, and our ship is not too far off. I went for my Z9… but realised I left it back on the Pelta Class… I sighed and pulled out my D17s. off to my left, Asaga pulled out a Thermal Detonator from seimmely her back pocket. 
   “Where’d you get that?” I asked her.
   “A Officer is always prepared.” She winked, and gave it a good wind up before tossing it, taking down a couple hostiles with it.
   “Kicks, Quicksilver, we should be able to flank around the left, though those trees there.” I pointed to a dance gathering of the fruit trees, the nodded. “Lightweight, Racket, cover us, everyone else, hold the line!!” I looked back to the others, they nodded and the three of us started advancing. We all took our positions, perfect flanks on the Imperial Soldiers. I opened fire, pumping a dozen lasers into the first one, and before they could even react, Kicks and Quicksilver gunned down the rest. We broke cover, but as soon as we started advancing, I heard a distant hissing sound before an artery shot landed barely 5 feet in front of us, knocking the three of us to the ground. Even though it wasn't a direct hit, my vision was still blurred, and I had  deep rigging in my ears… so bad I had to rip off my helmet. Even the others who were further away were rocked and disoriented. I tried by best to stand up, but I felt as if I was drunk… stumbling and falling back over every two steps. My vision returned just barely enough to see a landed Gunship in the distance… and more of those Imperial Soldiers slowly walking towards us… as if they were making fun of us.
   “Save the Jedi and the Captain and… it’s open season on the rest.” The Commander of the Imperial Soldiers scoffed. I looked to left to see Kicks and Lightweight… two of my closet brothers… just get gunned down… to my right, Quicksilver charged the Commander and decked him across his helmet. Behind me, Iris and Cassandra held their ground as they were forced to flee… I think I heard Cassandra call out, but I couldn't tell. I turned back to get a rifle butt to the face.
   “Sir what about the Jedi?” I heard one of the soldiers comment.
   “Forget them, drag these two in the Gunship and let’s get off this rock.” Was the last thing I heard before blacking out…