Pain. That was all the clone trooper could feel as he lay in the dirt and decaying leaves. Around him lay his fallen brothers, their white armor stood out in the darkness. As far as he could tell he was the only one to have survived the blast from the rockets that had come from the side. His left leg was trapped under a massive tree branch that had fallen when the second rocket hit. One side of his helmet had also been crushed. It was painful as the shards of the shattered helmet dug into already open wounds on his head and face.

Farther way he could hear the sounds of blaster fire as the clones and droids fought it out for control of the planet. With a busted comm. he was unable to contact anyone for help. He was to be forgotten, counted as one of the casualties.

Closing his eyes, he thought about what it would be like to die and just wished that it didn't have to happen the first time he was out in battle. He remembered how anxious he and the other "shinies" to prove themselves. Now… now his throbbing side and the sharp pains clouded his thinking. He groaned weakly.

The humid jungle seemed to be getting darker to him, though he wasn't sure if that was possible.

A sharp crack and a faint hiss caused him to raise his head slightly. But even this small movement made his head swim.

"Wh-Who's there?" he managed to croak out. Fumbling for his blaster his mind raced with the stories that he had heard his brothers telling at the mess tables of the man-eating beasts that made a home in those very woods. If he was going down, he would at least try and fight.

Squinting, he could barely make out three black shapes moving from body to body. He raised his pistol and fired off a reckless shot. The effort nearly blacked him out.

Before he knew what was going on, the three shapes converged on him. Panic set in as he felt his helmet being lifted off. He definitely wasn't ready to go yet. Blindly he swung his fist and came in contact with something that felt like a jaw bone. The same hiss as before came from the blackness as his head was sharply dropped.

A foot came down on his chest, causing him to cry out. From somewhere beyond this fresh wave of pain, a conversation between the three drifted through. It sounded like two males and a female but he couldn't understand, and didn't care, what they were saying. He just hoped that if they were going to kill him, it would be quick.

Apparently the conversation had ended because the pressure on his chest had lifted and now another attempt was being made at removing the remains of his helmet. This took some time, as the dark shape was trying to as gentle as possible. Something cool, a liquid, was put to his lips. Unsure of what it was he turned his head the slight bit that he could.

A few quick words were exchanged between what he had now determined to be humanoids at least and the stuff was taken away. Before the young trooper could realize it, the branch was being lifted from his leg while a young female voice spoke soothing words in an unfamiliar language. With the branch taken off his leg, more pain shot through his body. A curse slipped out of him. Now he just wished that they would put him out of his misery.

"Hang in there clone. You're going to make it."The same female voice told him in a common language as he was carefully placed in a makeshift stretcher. "What's your name?"

"Chopper." was the last thing that he mumbled before his body couldn't take the pain anymore and let him slip into unconsciousness.