"Do you remember anything about what happened to you in the prison while fighting with the Republic Army?" said the speaker.

"None. It's as if everything was a near-forgotten bad memory for me," said Taran.

"Continue on your story."

"After I got back and recuperated, we were sent to Kashyyyk..."


(Kashyyyk)

The landscape of Kashyyyk at night was truly beautiful. The LAAT was flying slowly through the thick tree branches of the giant wroyshr trees that blanketed Kashyyyk's landscape. The night felt cool and refreshing to the passengers on it.

Taran was looking out, studying the giant trees and branches that completely dwarfed their ship. It reminded him of the enormous Foggy Swamp in the Earth Kingdom he happened to travel through, meeting some very country Waterbenders.

Ahsoka watched him with a sense of worry and concern. It had been two weeks since he'd been back and he was already given another assignment. He also hadn't been feeling like himself, but he could scarcely remember what it was. Ahsoka had know idea what happened to him in the prison, but she wanted to find out as soon as possible.

Coming with them on the mission was Rex, Fives, Gunny, and two other men of the 501st named Link and Thrasher. Their mission was to go into a secret Separatist base that was confirmed to be on the planet and destroy it. If there were more droid forces than they could handle, they were to call in for reinforcements from Anakin and Obi-Wan that would arrive in mere minutes. The clones' armor was painted forest-green camouflage.

The gunship landed on a large tree branch where three Wookiee huts were located, along with Obi-Wan, Anakin, Cody, and two doors opened and the stealth team got out for a mission update.

"The Separatist base is on the ground near the beach. To get there, you need to stay near the mid-level of the forest levels. Once u reach a clearing a click from the base, you'll drop down and make your way in. Remember to contact us if you've reached any barriers. Two Wookiee scouts have volunteered to assist you. This is Gaartatha," he said indicating to the Wookiee on the left, "and Chewbacca."

"Chewbacca!" said Ahsoka, happy to see an old friend. Chewbacca roared in happiness and gave Ahsoka a crushing bear hug.

"Chewie...can't...breathe," said Ahsoka. He gently put her down, looking a bit bashful, well as bashful as a Wookiee can look.

"Glad to know you two know each other," said Anakin, forgetting this was the Wookiee that helped Ahsoka when she was captured by Trandoshan slavers.

"This is my friend, Taran," said, pointing to Taran. Chewbacca stepped up to him and hugged him to. Taran didn't know what was more painful: the hug or being suffocated.

"Nice to get to know you too," he choked out. Chewbacca put him down as Taran regained his breath.

"He sure is friendly," said Taran.

"Be glad you're not a Trandoshan," said Ahsoka, remembering full well what Wookiees were capable of doing.


(2 hours into the mission)

The clones, Wookiees, and Jedi trudged across the ground. They had gone over 15 clicks and still had another ten to go.

"You'd think we'd get dropped off a little closer," said Gunny as he stepped on a strange plant and ended up with a foot covered in orange gunk.

"The feeling's the same here Gunny," said Ahsoka. Taran was ahead of them all, clearing a path by slashing plants with a water whip collected with water from the ground.

"He's been awfully quiet since he got back," said Rex.

"Makes you wonder what they did to him in there," said Fives.

"Whatever it was, it must have been terrible," said Gunny. Even though they were quiet enough for them to not be heard, Taran could still hear them. In his mind, he knew they were right. He wanted to know what they did to him in the prison, but every time he tried to remember, there was nothing.

So far, no creatures, mostly vicious carnivores that inhabited the forest floor of Kashyyyk, had attacked the group. Taran and Ahsoka could sense them around, but they seemed to be leaving the group alone. As they continued walking, Ahsoka caught up to Taran.

"Everything good so far?" said Ahsoka.

"Yes. I can feel that we're getting closer, although I'm surprised we haven't been attacked yet," said Taran.

"You know the universe has a way of making things difficult once we have that in our heads," she said, smiling a little.

He chuckled. "Too true." They walked in silence for a time.

"Ahsoka, I'm trying," he said, looking at her in her eyes.

"I know," she said, her eyes looking on his with care.

"When I found out what they did to me, I promise I'll get the old Taran back," he said, forming a small smile at his last words.

"That would be great, especially since Rex seems to miss him the most," said Ahsoka. The two lightly laughed together. For a minute, he felt like his old self again, until the laughter died down. After that they continued on in silence.


Once they stepped out of the clearing of the forest, they saw the base looming like a spire in front of them. Surrounding the base was an electric fence and security turrets. Battle droids patrolled the inside perimeter.

"Just when you thought things would get easier," said Rex.

"Remember Rex, there's other ways to get in," said Taran. Backing up until he was covered in the darkness of the trees, he bended the earth under him. In little over two seconds, the beginning 25 feet of a tunnel was formed.

"Smart thinking," said Gunny. The plan was simple: Taran would bend the earth deeper into the ground, making a tunnel that would lead them under the base's defenses. The element of surprise was on their side.

The further underground they went, the darker it became. The clones switched on their helmet lights in order to see. When Taran felt they were right under the base, he began to slant the tunnel at an angle that everyone could simply walk up and not waste any energy having to climb up a shaft.


"Did you hear something?" said a battle droid.

"Probably from the reactor room," said another battle droid as the two patrolled the hallway.

"It sounded like it was underground," said battle droid #1.

"I doubt that, how could you even pick u-AH!" yelled battle droid #2 as the ground beneath him opened up and he fell right in. A flash of green was seen in the hole when he fell in.

"Halt! Put your hands up!" said the other battle droid. A well-placed blaster shot knocked his head clean off. From out of the whole came two Jedi, two Wookiees, and five clones.

"Alright, we're good to go. Should we split up?" said Taran.

"That might be a bad idea. We'll head down to the reactor and plant the explosives there. Link, you have them all?" said Ahsoka.

"Right here sir," said Link.

"Good, let's do this fast and get out of here," said Ahsoka. Without a further word the team raced away.


"Have they arrived doctor?" said a electronically scrambled voice.

"Yes."

"You know what to do."


Slicing through battle droid after battle droid, Taran cleared a path for the others, Ahsoka by his side taking down as many as he did. The clones got in very good kill-shots, dispatching many droids with just one shot, except for the occasional SBD.

They fought their way all the way to the reactor room. Once they got in, it was pitch-black.

"Why is it I can sense we're already in a trap before it even happens?" said Ahsoka.

"It's all too common," said Taran. At that moment the lights came on and three platoons of battle droids, each with a two droidekas and four SBDs, along with two Vulture droids, surrounded them in a circle. The group backed up to each other, facing all directions.

"Ahsoka, I'm going to hit the Avatar state," Taran whispered to her. She nodded and instinctively, she and the other clones got down as Taran's eyes turned all white-blue and before the droids even knew it, they were all flung into the wall as a colossal blast of hot air smashed them to pieces all over the wall. Taran's eyes went back to their normal forest-green as Ahsoka and the clones got back up.

"Alright, let's plant these explosives," said Taran.

"Sir, we have an incoming call from General Skywalker. Apparently there's a prisoner being held here whose Intel can be vital to us,: said Rex.

"I'll get him," said Taran. Before anyone else could reply, he was off towards an unknown part of the base.

As he went down the hallway, a tube shot a green gas at him that him full on in the face. Breathing in the fumes he steadied himself on the wall as violent coughing racked through his body.

"What the hell was that?" he said to himself once he was done coughing. He resumed running until he came down a corridor with ray-shielded doors.

"Simon says, this is it," said Taran. Thankfully the power cells were outside the doors and he slashed it to automatically turn the power off.

"Come on, we have to go," said Taran to the person inside.

"Is that anyway to greet an old friend," said the man coming out of the cell. Taran took a step back and gasped when he saw who it was.

"Zekk?"

It was Zekk. His brown-gray hair looked cleaner and more refined. It also showed he'd been working out a little with large arms composed of muscle.

"Well are we going to go or not?" said Zekk.

"Oh yeah, sure," said Taran. Finding a discarded blaster on the floor he gave it to him.

"I can't stay here very long, but I must tell you this now. That mad doctor, Vindi, he's planning something big for the Republic," said Zekk.

"Like what?" said Taran.

"A weapon of sorts. I'm not too sure about it, but I'll get you the details soon," said Zekk, walking away.

"Wait! You're not coming?" said Taran.

"No, but here's the Intel you needed," said Zekk, handing him a small chip. Without a further word, he left. Taran tried to follow him, but as he rounded the corner Zekk went down, he seemed to have vanished.

His comlink went off.

"Taran, where are you?" said Ahsoka, sounding as if she was in the fight for her life.

"Ok, I'll be there soon," he said. He took one last look at the corner before he ran towards Ahsoka and the clones last position.


"What happened then?"

"We took them all out. The base was neutralized and the Intel we had gave us a clue to what Vindi was up to. It was some type of gas that could be able to kill an entire planet," said Taran.

"Did you ever experience the gas?"

"Yes, it was also on the day that I would end up in this place," said Taran.

End of the chapter. Sorry for the insanely long update. College kills freetime. Tune in for the update that will happen this month.