Chapter 4
(A/N: I apologize if I'm screwing anything up. I haven't written fanfiction for awhile. Usually, I write original stuff. I still do, actually. However, I just couldn't get these kinds of stories out of my head. Also. Spoilers: Y'see, It's AU Star Wars. In this universe: Mace Windu didn't kill Jango Fett, someone else did.)
In the minutes before landing, he always felt nervous. Not scared, just nervous. He gripped his rifle tightly as he felt the small ship land on the surface. The cargo bay door opened and the five armor-clad men sped out of the ship, weapons raised.
"Form a perimeter," Artyr ordered, calmly as they got out and formed a perimeter around the ship. They scanned the area as they looked out across the frozen wasteland. In the distance, you could see mountains rising above the earth, going high into the sky.
They looked around for battle droids.
"Sector 1, clear." Alyx reported.
"Sector 2, clear." Longshot reported.
"Sector 3, clear." Samson announced.
"Sector 4, clear." Tyr said.
"Sector 5, clear." Artyr said.
"Master, landing zone's clear. No sign of clankers anywhere." Artyr reported on the COM channel.
"I'm coming out, now." Master Almira told him.
"Roger," He said.
He sighed as he looked up at the sky. It was cloudy with patches of blue. He could feel the crisp cold through the armor. Thankfully, they arrived on the daytime side of the planet, so it should have been much warmer.
The planet reminded him of Othur and Ilium. Ilium was a world where the Jedi got their khyber crystals for their sabers. Othur had been a battleground. He recalled how there had been, of all things, wampas on that planet. He had to scoff. Just who in the their right mind, would want to import wampas, kriffing wampas, from Hoth... to Othur? I mean, they had been at the least, a major pain, but at the maximum, they had been a major menace to both Republic and Separatist soldiers.
He grunted as he felt a pain in his head.
A mostly white shattered moon hung in a night sky. A pair of torturous red eyes with black 'whites' looked at him angrily. He heard screams of pain and death as a city burned. He saw monsters that were entirely black with red eyes and white armor over their faces.
A large chamber came to mind, filled with statues of monstrous aliens fighting what appeared to be other monsters. The former aliens held what appeared to be light sabers as they battled their foes. In the back of the chamber was what appeared to be some kind of metal ring with something in the middle of it, floating. It looked like some kind of crystal or something.
"Sir?" He heard someone say to him. He opened his eyes as he looked up. Tyr stood right next to him.
"Sir, are you alright?" Tyr asked, worried.
"I'm fine, Sargent." The padawan told him.
"Are you sure, sir?" Tyr asked.
The Jedi nodded. He turned as he heard the sound of footsteps on metal. Master Almira walked out of the ship, dressed in a white, fur-lined coat, white gloves, a hat that covered her ears with snow goggles over the cap, white pants and boots. Her lightsaber hung at her hip.
She looked at him and then at Tyr.
"Sargent, have your men move forward." She ordered.
"Yes, General." Tyr said, nodding. The squad started to move. He was about to when she stopped him.
"Artyr, I sensed something happen. Are you alright?" She asked, walking up to him. She looked at him worried.
"Yes, ma'am. Nothing serious. Just had a bout of fear was all." Artyr lied.
"Don't lie to me, Artyr. You had another one, didn't you?" She asked. He looked away from her gaze.
"What did you see, padawan?" She asked, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"I'm fine," He said.
"You've had them since you were a child," She started to say.
"I said I'm fine, Master." Artyr snapped, looking at her.
"There's nothing to be worried about," He lied.
'Nothing to be worried about for you, master.' He thought. They walked forward, catching up to Paladin squad.
"So, Tyr." Artyr asked, going on a private COM channel to Tyr.
"Where did you, Odin, Baldur, Loki, and Thor get your names?" He asked, walking next to the squad leader.
Tyr chuckled.
"We got them from our instructor, Byro Oros." He explained. He looked like he was remembering something.
"I don't think any of those names are Mandalorian," Artyr said, thinking.
"They're obviously not. There were more of us, actually with those kinds of names: Freyr, Ymir, Fenrir, Sleipnir, Grimnir, Fir, on and on." He said, gesturing.
"He never did tell us where he got those names, where they came from, or why he named us them." Tyr said.
"Odin said he disappeared shortly after Geonosis," Artyr remarked.
"Ah, so Odin did tell you about him." Tyr remarked, looking at the padawan.
"I tried to find out what happened to him if it was within my power... of course, no one I asked knew anything about what happened to him." Artyr said.
"Believe me, we tried too. Intelligence couldn't help us, so we uh..." he looked at Almira as he paused.
"Promise me you won't tell the general?" He asked.
"I swear on my honor," Artyr said, nodding.
"We actually tried asking questions to the shady kind of people. Not even they knew," Tyr explained.
"Well, shit. I would've loved to meet the guy who trained Hunter."
"He was an absolute bastard, but we loved him." Tyr said.
"Didn't he once decide it would be a great idea for you guys to legit go monster hunting in Kamino's oceans?" Artyr asked.
"Oh for kriff's sake, I never want to be reminded of that again." Tyr said, shaking his head. Artyr grinned as he recalled Hunter squad talking about all the crazy shenanigans that happened with their instructor.
"Hey, was Oros Mandalorian?"
"Maybe. He spoke Mandalorian... but I don't think he was." Tyr said as they walked.
"He didn't get along with Vau, Skirata... everyone else. Hell, not even Jango liked him, I think." Tyr reminisced. Artyr was silent when he heard the clones' genetic father be talked about. Jango Fett, one of the most dangerous bounty hunters, father of the clones, a Mandalorian... and a Separatist in the employ of Count Dooku.
Artyr gritted his teeth.
The sounds of battle roared around him as he cradled the body of his master. Bellophoron looked up at the sky with glassy eyes and an open mouth. Artyr cried as he held the alien male. Blaster marks were on his clothes and the man's head. High above them was Dooku's private box.
Blaster fire, sonic blasts, screams and lightsaber slashes were heard. The thirteen year-old looked down at his dead master, the man who had been a father to him.
He felt other Jedi fall in the force. He then heard something directly behind him.
He heard a blaster pistol click.
"I'm sorry, kid. It's nothing personal." He heard the bounty hunter's voice say through his helmet.
Artyr fumed. He felt something change inside of him, something hot. He growled, turning from human to something inhuman. He heard the blaster fire and felt something hit him in the back of the head. His body jerked forward. He slowly got back up and glared at the armored man as he felt his body change.
"It was personal to me, you son of a bitch." He growled, his voice now deeper than a human's. Jango stepped back as he aimed both pistols. He started firing again and again as the padawan rose, now rising taller than his old form. He was now the height of a man. He didn't activate his lightsaber as he charged at the bounty hunter.
"I'll kill you!" He roared in his inhuman voice. He got on top, feeling the rounds hit him in his stomach. He didn't care, he wanted this scumbag dead to rights! He roared in Fett's visor and put both hands on the man's helmet, crushing it. He felt something hot and burning under him and he stepped back, seeing his tunic on fire.
"YOU BASTARD!" He roared as he pounded the bounty hunter into the ground, hearing the man's armor and bones break under his fists. He saw the helmet crack under the blows and then ripped it off, showing the Mandalorian warrior look up at him. His nose was now bloody.
"What... the hell... are you?" Jango asked, weakly. Artyr merely bashed the man's head into the ground, making the back of his head into a bloody mess. Artyr breathed heavily as he stood over his master's murderer.
"Dad!" He heard a kid scream. He looked up to see someone looking down from an alcove. Hiding in its shadows was a kid who looked a lot like Jango Fett. His hair was longer. Artyr looked at him in shock and then looked down at the bounty hunter he had just killed. His body shrunk back to its original human form, his clothes now torn and burning.
"I'll kill you, Jedi! You hear me?! I'll kill you for this!" The boy shouted, pointing at him. Artyr looked back up at the kid.
"You wish," He coldly said under his breath. He shifted his gaze to see Count Dooku look at him in shock.
"I'll get you someday for this, old man." He threatened, pointing at him. He felt disturbances in the Force at that moment: fear, despair, horror, sadness, and even death.
He sighed as he shook his head. So much had happened since that day.
"What?" Tyr asked him.
"Nothing, nothing." Artyr lied.
After a few hours, they arrived at the objective. The mountain the base was built into was massive. Artyr took out his binoculars and looked at the base. There were guard posts built into the mountain, along with a massive sealed gate. Droids guarded the outside with barriers. There was a landing pad near the mountain's summit.
"We are sure this is a research base, right?" He asked, taking the binoculars off and looking at his comrades.
"That's what the intel said," Tyr affirmed. He looked at it.
"Master, what's the plan?" He asked, handing her the binoculars. She looked at it and then produced a holoprojector, showing the details of the base.
"The intel we were given shows that there are only two ways in: the landing pad up there," She said, pointing at the pad.
"And that gate,"
"There's no secret entrance in?" Artyr asked. He grimaced and swore as he realized something.
"I should've asked that at the briefing! Damn it!" He hit his head, the metal making a 'clang'.
"Why can't I ever think of this shit at the time?!" He said woefully, clutching his head. The clones looked at their master who grimaced.
"Padawan, it's not your fault. We're making a plan, now." She said.
"What about the guardposts?" Alyx suggested.
"We're still going to have to deal with those clankers... what do they have guarding the front?" Tyr asked, grabbing the binoculars. He was silent for about a full minute.
"Droidekas... kriffing droidekas... and super battle droids..." He said, flatly. He put it down and looked at her.
"Well, we can't just walk right up to the Force-damned door, guns blazing."
The Jedi looked at eachother, an idea forming.
"Alright, I've got EMP grenades, and both of us can use the force. About four should do the trick." Artyr said, taking out his EMP grenades.
"Then, we go up a guard post." Almira added.
"Plus, if we go through the front gate..." Longshot said, thinking as he rubbed his chin. He winced.
"Yeah, that would be a huge kriffing problem if it turns out there's a shit ton of droids right inside."
"Alright!" Artyr said, clapping his hands.
"Let's do it!"
XXX
If D-492909839 had been organic, he would be complaining about the cold. Of course, droids couldn't feel cold. They couldn't feel pain. They could think somewhat like organics, but that was about it. They couldn't love, of course. He and the five other Super Battle Droids and four droidekas stood out on guard duty for Republic forces. Not that anyone would even want to be here.
Of course, if it had been a regular battle droid, it would be wondering just what the kriff they were doing way out here in the Force-damn Outer Rim. Nobody knew how important this place was, yet it had heard that Count Dooku had an interest here for some reason. In fact, the Confederate Head of State was coming in sometime today. Provided nothing else got his attention.
It then noticed something flying through the air. It looked up, its head built into its chest. Three small balls flew threw the air. It shifted its weight curiously.
It scanned the objects just as they came close to him. The balls looked like thermal detonators, only a bit different in color.
It then realized what they were.
"Grenades!" It announced in a mechanic voice as it raised its arms to fire. The balls fell among the droids. He was about to fire on them when there was a pulse of light. It felt its systems shutting down. The last thing it saw was the ground rushing to meet it as it fell.
