Alright, this oneshot here is for Movie-Brat again. I chose this one because he gave me slightly more detail than the other one he gave me, and it allowed me to use one of my favourite Clone Wars characters. It also meant I got an opportunity for Suzie to do something other than stand around and slash cards and shout for ice-cream.
Every Fifty
Oneshot 4:- Suzie's Stand
Rating:- T
Worlds:- Digimon Tamers, Star Wars: The Clone Wars
The asteroids spun lazily through the Rogue Antar system, just as they always did. Not many ships liked to come to this part of space, as it was practically littered with the floating rocks, and contained numerous mynock ready to feast on the power cables of most ships and space stations. The war hadn't really affected this place as a result and it was therefore neutral space.
But there was one place that the pestilent mynocks had learnt to stay away from. Floating along with the asteroids, and surrounded by powerful repellents to keep them away, was Black Stall Station. It was small, and relatively undistinguished - a miniature space station with a shape similar to a cross, with docking clamps at the tips of two of them, while the other two made up part of the large, single central room.
Presently attached to one of the docking clamps was a modified Telgorn dropship, which was about the same size as a minibus and was quite featureless, except for the huge docking clamps at the back. There were no windows other than the cockpit. It was called the Sleight of Hand.
Both the station and the ship would have provided a tasty morsel to any mynock, but it was the owner of both that they had learnt to avoid.
Inside the station, lounging in his chair and with his feet resting on the desk in front of him, a figure dozed. Nastha-hide tunic, durasteel boots with jetpack thrusters, wrist gauntlets imbued with several control devices, LL-30 blaster pistols holstered at the waist, cybernetic breathing tubes embedded in his cheekbones and the bizarre cowboy hat that he'd pulled over his eyes identified the figure, even though you couldn't see the blue face, blood-red eyes and fangs of the Duros Bounty Hunter underneath.
Cad Bane.
One of the many scourges of the Republic, Bane held the title of the most ruthless Bounty Hunter in the galaxy, and he was eager to defend it. He worked for the credits, and only for the person who gave him the most. He held no loyalties whatsoever, except for himself, and nobody who attempted to cheat him ever managed to survive for longer than a week.
Even Jedi didn't bother him.
Bane hadn't had any missions for a few days now, but that was about to change.
There was a beeping and a flashing as a button lit up and blipped earnestly at him. Bane raised his hat and regarded it imperiously, as if wondering whether to bother answering the call he received. But, if it was another client, then that meant he'd get paid.
Not bothering to remove his feet from the desk, he pushed the button. The holographic image of a male Nautolan appeared before him.
"Bane," he said. "It is good to see you again."
"Spare me the welcoming committee, Fong," Bane smirked. He knew this person to be Fong Do, who lived in the Coruscant Underworld and often sent out others to do his dirty work for him, not because he was inefficient at doing it himself, but because he couldn't be bothered to leave the bars where he could get a lot of drinks, and something else too. "What do you want?"
"I should think that would be obvious, Bane," Fong smirked back. "I have another target for you."
"Let me guess," said Bane, tipping his hat back down and putting his hands behind his head. "Is it someone who you attempted to make a deal with, but who scarpered before he paid you again?"
"You know me too well, Bane," the Nautolan said. "And as a result, you should know that I am a criminal of my word and will pay you handsomely if you go out and ensure that this doesn't happen again."
"There's a blaster bolt with his name on it already," Bane said. "So, whose brains do I blow out this time?"
"His name is Fnarrg Klefpor," said Fong. "He's a Rodian smuggler who thought he could get the better of me. But I know better. I did a little bit of rooting around to find him and I believe that I already know where you can find him. He has a small base of operations on the planet Makem Te. Just head there and I'm sure you'll be able to track him down."
"Has it every occurred to you to go and find him yourself if you already know where he is?" asked Bane casually.
"Why would I need to do that when I have you on my side?" asked Fong.
"Has the Twi'lek dancer at that bar you stay in accepted your invitation yet?" Bane raised his hat and leered mockingly at him.
Fong scowled. "No, but she will, let me assure you of that."
"Oh, I'm sure that she'll crumble eventually," Bane lied. Twi'lek dancers got many advances and were used to staving them off. "Now, about my pay."
Once negotiations had been settled and Bane had forced Fong to unhappily raise his amount, Bane entered the dropship. After leaving the place under the charge of his Techno-service droid, Todo 360, Bane climbed into the pilot seat and lifted off from the station. He shook his head. Fong Do was a fool and was very lazy, but at least he paid good money thanks to the numerous deals he made. And he made so many that naturally some of them weren't all that legitimate. This was the fourth time he'd called Bane to get him to chase after someone who'd refused to pay.
But Bane didn't mind. He enjoyed what he did.
Swinging the ship around and getting out of the asteroid field, Bane hit the hyperdrive and shot of towards Makem Te.
But he wasn't the only one heading there.
The Negotiator jumped out of hyperspace, along with six other large Venator-class Republic cruisers forming a phalanx behind it. The large, triangular vessels moved slowly and majestically forwards, defying the gravity of the planet below, like giant majestic birds soaring across the sky, except that they were still up in space.
It had been a few months now since the Second Battle of Christophsis, where Jedi Knight Aayla Secura had first met the interdimensional being known as Renamon, who'd helped them to pull off a spectacular victory with almost no casualties. Since then, the combined forces of the Aayla and the 327th, Anakin Skywalker, Ahsoka Tano and the 501st, and the three Digimon, had become the main driving force of the Republic armies.
But that didn't mean that, occasionally, a Digimon and a tamer might sometimes go and perform a separate mission with another Jedi. Other than the usual A-Team, Anakin's former Master Obi-Wan Kenobi was the Jedi was the Jedi who most frequently found himself in the company of at least one child and Digital Monster.
Just like now, as the Jedi Master looked down on the planet below.
"It looks like Ryloth," said Suzie Wong, the little girl from Earth that had recently turned to the double-digit age of ten, and liked to remind everyone at every possible opportunity. "It's all dry."
Obi-Wan looked down at the little girl by his side. She was often chosen to accompany him for two reasons. Firstly, children like Suzie might irritate some people, but Obi-Wan couldn't imagine why. He had a never-ending patience, which you needed if you took on Anakin Skywalker as a Padawan. He seemed to work with small children as well. Both skills might be needed when dealing with Suzie Wong.
Suzie also insisted the Obi-Wan reminded her of her dad – who she hadn't seen since she'd arrived in this universe from her home planet of Earth.
"What's it called?" asked Suzie.
"This planet, little one," said Obi-Wan, "is called Makem Te. It's home to the Swokes swokes."
"Pardon?" asked the little bunny-like creature standing next to Suzie. She was about half Suzie's height, brown, except for her pink hands, feet and parts of her massive ears, including the three-fingered tips. She had three horns on her head, and black, friendly-looking eyes. This was Lopmon, Digimon partner to Suzie, sister to Terriermon and, if you wanted to go into human terms, sister-in-law to Renamon.
Of the three Digimon that Obi-Wan had met, Lopmon was the quietest, and also the most calm – just like himself, which was presumably why she'd been partnered with Suzie in the first place. This was a stark contrast to her brother, Terriermon, who had no manners at all, except when he wanted them. Renamon was like Lopmon in many ways, but she was more headstrong and warrior-like.
"That sounds like you tried to say something with a mouthful of bubble-wrap," she said, glancing up at him.
"Yay! Bubble-wrap. Have you seen any around?" Suzie asked.
"If I do, I'll let you know straight away," chuckled Obi-Wan, sending himself a mental note to ask Lopmon what bubble-wrap was later on.
"Sorry to say this, Suzie," Lopmon looked to her partner, "But I don't think we'll really have time for popping bubble-wrap. We've got a mission to take care of... again. But afterwards, how about we go find some cake?"
Suzie cheered.
"I apologise for the repeated missions that you get sent on, Lopmon," Obi-Wan said sincerely. "But you are providing a wonderful addition to the war effort."
"It's not a problem," said Lopmon. "It's actually good to get away from the Resolute and the Intrepid for a bit. It's become a madhouse recently."
"Oh?" Obi-Wan cocked an eyebrow. "How so?"
"Well, let's give you an example," Lopmon chuckled. "When I left, Captain Rex and Commander Bly were trying to figure out how to unstick Ahsoka's feet from the floor where Anakin and Terriermon had pasted it."
"The prank war is still going then?" Obi-Wan shook his head. "Who's winning?"
"It's pretty much even-stevens," piped up Suzie, "but Ahsoka does a bit more than Anakin. So, what's the mission this time?"
Blinking at the sudden change in topic, Obi-Wan took a few seconds before he answered. "You were right when you said this planet was like Ryloth. It's a slightly similar scenario. Do you remember the Skakoan leader we captured on Ryloth, Wat Tambor?"
"Yeah," nodded Suzie, eager to show her willingness.
"Well, he was the leader of the Techno Union before capture," Obi-Wan continued. "And the Techno Union is huge, so his capture didn't end it. Right now, another Skakoan known as Domb Treetor is taking charge after the capture of the previous leader."
"Right," said Suzie, determined not to get lost.
"Domb Treetor is setting up a base on the planet below. Makem Te is a Separatist-aligned planet, but the native Swokes swokes aren't too pleased with this move and asked for our assistance. If they're ready to swap sides, then we should by all means help them. We need to destroy that base."
"So, how are we going to do that?" asked Lopmon.
"The hard way, I'm afraid," Obi-Wan shook his head. "We're going to have to go in on foot and take it out from the ground level. No bombing from above."
"Why can't we just make it go boom?" asked Suzie, confused.
"Because we want the Swokes swokes on our side, and if we did that then they wouldn't help us."
"Sorry, you've lost me," said Lopmon.
"Maybe this'll help. Every single Swokes swokes who dies is afforded a place in a giant graveyard known as the Tract of Makem Te, which covers a tenth of the entire planet."
"A tenth?" whistled Lopmon. "That's one big graveyard."
Suzie shuddered. "Graveyards scare me," she said. "I'm sure I saw a ghost in the last one we went to."
"Yes, Suzie," said Lopmon patiently. "That was a Soulmon, remember. I blasted him into data for you."
"Oh, yeah," Suzie grinned. "I remember that. He had a weird hat."
"Yes, he did," said Lopmon. "Now, Obi-Wan, you were saying?"
"Yes," said Obi-Wan. "As I was saying, they take this graveyard very seriously, and Domb Treetor had built his fortification right in the centre of that graveyard. They are not happy at all with this, which is why they asked for our help. If we simply sent in the bombers and destroyed hundreds of Swokes swokes graves then we wouldn't be getting any favour from them."
"A clever strategy," mumbled Lopmon. "It means that taking the base will be that much harder."
"Indeed," Obi-Wan smiled wryly. "Which is where you two come in. Thanks to the impressive amount of secrets we've been keeping, the only Separatists who know about you are in prison. Wat Tambor never got the chance to tell his associates how he'd been defeated."
"Alright then," Lopmon nodded. "When do we start?"
"Right away," said Obi-Wan. "Commander Cody," he turned around to address one of the clones, yellow paint on large parts of his armour and a visor on his helmet. "Are the gunships ready to take us down to the surface?"
"Ready to leave at a moment's notice, sir," Cody nodded dutifully. "We gonna go scrap some clankers now?"
"Indeed we are, Commander. Once again. Hopefully we'll be able to thin their ranks a little with this assault, but I can't help but wish battle droids weren't so easy to make. The number of times we come up against overwhelming odds..." he sighed.
"But, sir," said another nearby clone, Boil. "It's no fun unless the odds are overwhelming."
"He's got a point," added Waxer.
"And it's even more fun when you've got a few surprises up your sleeve," nodded Lopmon.
"If you've got them," added Suzie.
"Come on then," Obi-Wan nodded, offering his hand to Suzie, who took it and trotted along beside the Jedi Master as he led the way down to the hangar. Lopmon took up her usual position on top of Suzie's head as they went.
Lopmon sometimes felt uncomfortable when going on missions with other Jedi. There was a reason why only a few of them taught the numerous younglings at the Temple. Master Yoda and Master Obi-Wan were easily the best when handling Suzie, along with Aayla and Ahsoka.
Lopmon also couldn't feel the comforting presence of her brother and his mate when she got too far away from them. She knew right now that Terriermon, Henry, Renamon and Rika were helping to defend the planet Devaron from Separatist invaders, but she didn't know if they were okay. She didn't know if anybody had been killed or injured, or whether they'd already won.
She forced herself not to think about that and concentrated on what was coming ahead. They had a potentially difficult task ahead of them if they needed to destroy a whole Separatist base without doing too much damage to the area around them.
"Now, remember Suzie," she said to her Tamer. "When we get on the ground, you need to stay with the tanks and keep safe. I might not be there to protect you if you get into trouble, so try to stay away from it, alright?"
"Okiedokie," Suzie nodded. "I won't go wandering off."
They reached the hangar and stepped into the gunship along with Cody, Waxer and Boil. Dotted around all seven hangars were numerous LAAT gunships, as well as several LAAT carriers with the metallic clamps around the Stun Tanks that would be descending with them. These were smaller, hovering versions of the giant SPHA-T walkers, with enormous laser cannons on their backs that were capable of immobilizing a droid or an enemy ship in much the same way as a Droid Popper. AT-TE walkers were too destructive for this operation.
"Let's get underway then," said Obi-Wan.
"Copt that, General," said the pilot.
Suzie always enjoyed the sensation of flying in a gunship. As the blast doors shut around her, she got the feeling that you might expect if you were standing in a fast-moving lift. Because she was so small and couldn't reach the clamps attached to the ceiling which were designed to allow troops to steady themselves, she clung tightly to Obi-Wan's hand throughout the ride to keep herself steady.
The squadrons of gunships and carriers entered the atmosphere of the planet below and skimmed downwards towards the surface of the planet. Nothing was shooting at them as of yet, which was always a good sign.
"I don't want us to get too near to the facility by the air," Obi-Wan was saying. "They're bound to have some type of anti-aircraft cannons, and we aren't exactly built for speed in these things. Pilots, set the gunships down a good distance away from the facility so we can approach on foot."
"Sir, yes, sir," chorused a bunch of clone voices.
"Cody," said Obi-Wan. "Open the blast door. I want to see what we're up against."
Now that they were inside the atmosphere, Cody knew they'd be fine as he pushed a large red button and the blast door slid to the side, allowing them to peer out and look below. They were over the Tract of Makem Te, which was dotted by enormously long, precisely placed, parallel, curved lines of graves. They were very elaborate graves, nothing like the slabs back on Earth. Every one of them was like a monument, with a similar round design but different patterns and colours on each one. Some were tall, others squat, but all were huge and covered the entire grave instead of the head.
And quite a way off, an enormous building rose up from the large gravestones.
"Well, they've certainly been busy," whistled Lopmon.
"We've got to attack that?" asked Suzie.
"I'm afraid so," said Obi-Wan grimly.
The facility was a huge construction consisting of numerous spires. There was a tall central spire right in the middle, with two spires almost as tall on either side. Surrounding them were many spires that were about half-as tall, jutting upwards towards the sky, and around those were even more spires, half as tall again. The facility was surrounded by a large thick wall, the only entrance to which was a thick blast door, just like the entrance to the palace of Jabba the Hutt.
The gunships came down to land amongst the graves. The spaces between the lines were just large enough to admit them and the clones poured out in their numbers. The Stun Tanks were also lowered carefully to the ground, and their carriers lifted off to head back to the cruisers.
"Alright men," shouted Obi-Wan. "Let's push for the factory. And stay alert. You can bet the Separatists won't just let us march up to their front door."
"Suzie, stay with the Stun Tanks," Lopmon reminded her charge as she leapt off her head and landed on Obi-Wan's shoulder, where she would be near the front. Suzie nodded and trotted over towards the nearest tank, so she could walk along beside it and have a plain view of everything.
"Alright, form up and let's get moving," Obi-Wan set off towards the towering structure. The fact that Lopmon was riding his shoulder did nothing to decrease his authority. Every clone there knew that the little bunny could be deadly when provoked. They'd seen it firsthand.
Domb Treetor rolled along, inspecting his new base. Construction had almost been completed and he was very pleased with the results. He'd not only got a place where he could start harvesting the treasure of the wealthy Swokes swokes, but it was also a small droid factory, a fortified structure that could spew out droids with ease. He had yet to install a deflector shield, but the entire structure was laced with giant proton cannons other defensive structures.
Like Wat Tambor and all other Skakoans, he wore a pressure suit that they would die without, but the basic design of his had been intended to copy Wat Tambor, who most of the Techno Union still looked up to and thus make himself seem more imposing. His long, flowing robes were red instead of blue, as blue was reserved only to the Emir, a title which he was wondering if Tambor deserved.
After all, the Skakoan leader had been captured and held prisoner for some months now. No escape attempt on his part had succeeded. Treetor was a major in the army now, but if Tambor stayed where he was for much longer, he might declare himself the leader of the Techno Union and grant himself the new Emir.
As he watch the assembly line assemble many, many destroyer droids, Treetor was approached by a tactical droid – his own personal tactical droid known as TA-163. As he spoke to the droid, his voice was slightly higher pitched than Tambor's – sometimes he did have issues with being taken seriously be his forces.
"Sir," said TA-163. "We may have a problem."
"What is it?" Treetor rolled his eyes.
"As I calculated, we have some company," the tactical droid droned. "There appears to be a legion of Republic troopers heading this way."
"This is quite soon," murmured Treetor. "Sooner than I anticipated."
"I calculate that the native Swokes swokes are unhappy with you decision to build this facility on their burial ground," suggested the droid. "They must have made a plea to the Republic for assistance in your removal."
"Then they are traitors," Treetor said hypocritically. The Techno Union had once been part of the Republic after all, and he was planning to supplant Wat Tambor. "And traitors must be dealt with swiftly. Are the Republic forces coming by ground or by air?"
"By ground, sir. I estimate that they do not wish to do too much damage to the surroundings for fear of upsetting the natives. They have no AT-TE walker with them – only Stun Tanks."
"Ha!" Treetor crowed, overconfidence spilling from him already. "Their need to maintain good relationships with everyone will be their undoing. They don't stand a chance against this heavily-fortified installation. Still, I suppose it wouldn't be that great of an idea to let them get too close with such numbers. The less damage they do, the better."
"We have twelve regiments of droids ready to march into battle," stated TA-163 helpfully. "And seven more are well on the way. What are your orders, sir?"
"We need to send out something to thin their ranks. Deploy all the forces we have and get them to kill every clone they can find. We outnumber them at around three-to-one. They will probably come out on top, but we will easily be able to defeat what remains with our proton cannons."
"Of course, sir," said the tactical droid. "But I estimate that a large portion of our forces will be lost to the Stun Tanks. They will be able to perform sweeping movements to deactivate large proportions of our forces."
"We will lose roughly the same amount of droids as we would if they brought walkers with them. We don't need to worry. Not unless they have some secret weapon that our weapons are no match for, and I highly doubt that."
"I shall set the production of droids to maximum capacity," said TA-163. "We will be able to regenerate some of our losses by the time they reach us."
"Do it," nodded Treetor. "They will come to fear the Techno Union.
A few minutes later, and the huge blast door slid upwards. Behind it, the entrance was literally packed with droid lines, which marched out in perfect synchrony, blasters ready to fire and feet slamming the ground. They huge, unbroken lines separated into several separate columns and moved down the rows of gravestones like many, giant, winding worms.
Lines of B1 battle droids were followed by lines of Super Battle Droids. Along with them marched lines of Dwarf Spider Droids, and dotted amongst the lines were numerous Crab Droids. There was no sign of any Droidekas, but that was only because they were so much faster that they were remaining behind until they could roll into battle and be there at the correct time.
Cody, from his position riding on one of the Stun Tanks, peered through his macrobinoculars at the giant Separatist base up ahead. The loyal clone commander was quite tense, knowing that they'd certainly have a job on their hands trying to get inside a place like this. He pushed a little wheel on the macrobinoculars that caused them to zoom in. He took in the giant spires, unforgiving and imposing as they lanced into the sky.
He could see several ledges along each one, lined with proton cannons ready to fire down and cause devastation. Such cannons had stupendous range, and it wouldn't be very long before they found themselves near enough to be blasted at.
Then, Cody lowered the macrobinoculars towards ground level. The enormous lines of battle droids approaching was quite obvious for him to see. There were no tanks, but there were an enormous number of droids.
"Sir," he called down. "Droids inbound. And there are a lot of them."
"Well, I expected something like this," mused Obi-Wan, bringing the advancing clones to a halt and rubbing his beard thoughtfully. Unfortunately if we keep advancing much further we'll end up being assaulted by their cannons too."
"What are your orders, sir?"
"Well, this may be a little unconventional, but," Obi-Wan turned to look at his passenger. "Lopmon, are you up for a challenge?"
Lopmon blinked. "A challenge?"
"Yes. I believe that it would prove most beneficial. We must ensure we take out the factory, and I have a plan for doing so, but it relies heavily on you."
Lopmon nodded. Determination broke out across her face and she said, "Point me in the right direction and I'll do what I have to do?"
"Glad to hear it," said Obi-Wan. He turned around and addressed everybody. "Alright everyone. We'll stop here and wait for the droids to come for us. That way, we won't have to deal with them and the proton cannons. While we take on the droid forces here, Lopmon will sneak around the enemy lines. Her small size we'll mean that she'll probably go unnoticed.
"Lopmon, I want you to sneak up to the main facility. Once there, I want you to digivolve and take out the cannons. After the clones and I have dealt with the droid army, I shall lead the charge forward and we'll take the base."
"Consider it done," nodded Lopmon. "Suzie," she called. "Stay at the back and be ready. I'll need your help to digivolve. Just make sure you stay away from the droids."
"Okay," Suzie nodded.
"Waxer!" Cody called. "Boil! You two guard Suzie. Protect her with your lives. Any clankers who get too near to you, shoot 'em up."
"Sir, yes sir!" called the two.
"Alright then," Lopmon jumped down and landed on the ground. "I'll catch you guys later." With that, she took to the air and, staying low to the ground as she could without crashing into it, she soared off to the side, through the many giant graves, until she was some distance off and past the clone and droid lines, before veering off and turning towards the facility. She landed on the ground and began to run. It would be easier to escape notice on the ground.
"Alright men," Obi-Wan called. "Battle positions."
When the droids came forwards, they were met with a hailstorm. The brave clone troopers opened fire on their ranks, dropping them to the floor like pieces of scrap. A bird couldn't have flown through the storm of bolts without getting hit. The droids were bombarded and holed, dropping to the ground in heaps.
As a result, they began to return fire, though their aim was slightly less accurate. Many of them managed to strike graves rather than clones. Nevertheless, there were so many of them that many dozens of clones were also being felled across the lines.
Cody wheeled around from behind a grave and dropped four droids in rapid succession before moving back again. "Check you fire!" he yelled. "Try not to hit the graves if possible!"
The clones moved forwards, taking it in turns to duck behind the giant ornamental stones while others took turns to launch a barrage upon the droids. Several clones sporting Z-6 Rotatory Blaster Cannons moved up to the front of the line and each weapon became a maelstrom of blue flashes, pouring bolts into the droid forces, who weren't bothering to take cover and just kept marching forwards in a relentless tide.
The Spider and Crab Droids began to close the distance between the two lines, but Obi-Wan Kenobi made his move then. The Crabs had to go, they could too much damage on the graves with their giant limbs. From his position atop one of the Stun Tanks, he directed them to shoot at the giant, orange droids. The heavy lasers on the back of each tank lowered and sent concentrated electromagnetic pulse beams into the droids, sizzling them to the spot where they stood.
Then the Jedi charged forward, leaping on top of a giant grave. Giving a mental apology to the Swokes swokes it belonged to; he dived into the mass of droids, his blue lightsaber flashing into life. One of the Crab Droids reared up, determined to smash him under its feet, but Obi-Wan swung upwards, slicing off both feet and then plunging the blade deep into its belly. As it collapsed, he leapt forwards, deflecting several bolts before carving through a droid, sweeping through another, spinning to one side to take out three at once and then neatly cutting two more in half.
Ob-Wan moved with grace as he sent two bolts whizzing back into their castors, picked up two droids with the Force and sent them shooting back through their lines. Stun Tanks beams whizzed over his head and the shots of the clones flurried all around him, taking out the myriads of opponents. Obi-Wan picked up another droid with the Force, using it as a shield as he carved through two more, then dropped the droid and sliced through yet more – left, right, left. His blade was like a living being in his palm, or an extension of his arm, which he used to stab between the nearest Spider Droid's photoreceptors.
Waxer and Boil stood back as the carnage unfolded before them. They stood on either side of Suzie; blasters raised and ready to ward off any potential threats. A stray shot from a Spider caused Waxer to duck, and he and Boil opened fire on it.
Suddenly, a whirring noise, made them turn around. Three droidekas had just rolled in from the side, going around the main clone force to strike at them from behind. Immediately, the clones got before Suzie and opened fire. They managed to take out one as it was uncurling, but the remaining two got up and expanded their shields, opening fire.
Boil pushed Suzie firmly behind the nearest Stun Tank as Waxer ducked behind a grave. The droidekas kept up their renowned, relentless firepower, determined to give the clones more holes than Swiss cheese.
"I really don't like that kind," Suzie moaned.
"Waxer!" Boil cried. "We have to protect Suzie! I'll hold their attention here. You circle around!"
"Right!"
Waxer nodded and dashed off to the side amongst the graves. Boil stepped out momentarily from behind the tanks and fired several shots. The droidekas turned their attention to him and he quickly stepped back.
As he did, Waxer dashed past the droidekas several metres to their left, until he was behind them. Then he turned around and inched forward, quietly so as not to gain their attention. He inched through their deflector shields and raised his blaster. With a quick movement, he shot the first in the back of the curved face, and then the second.
Boil sighed in relief, thankful that they'd succeeded. "How's Lopmon getting on?" he asked Suzie.
Lopmon had found it no trouble at all to sneak past the droid lines, though she's had to dodge to one side to avoid being run over by a droideka which hadn't noticed her. But she'd reached the walls of the facility undetected. Looking up, she could see the giant cannons facing the fire fight going on in the distance.
"Okay, Suzie," she said. "I'm in position. I'm ready when you are."
"Okay then," Suzie replied, pulling out a card. She paused and asked, "Normal or blue?"
"Considering the size of this place," said Lopmon. "I'd go with blue."
"Okay," Suzie nodded. A brief moment later, the card in her hand flashed, turning deepest blue. Grinning with satisfaction, she swiped it through the D-Arc.
"Digi-modify! Matrix-Digivolution Activate!"
Lopmon burst into light and felt a surge of strength as she promptly began to get much, much bigger.
"LOPMON MATRIX-DIGIVOLVE TO... ANTYLAMON!"
Antylamon flexed her long arms, her eyes narrowed. Compared to the facility, she was still small, but the raw power of her Ultimate Form coursed within her now. "Time to bring home the bacon!" she cried, as he hands morphed into double-bladed axes. Very large ones.
She jumped straight upwards, shouting "BUNNY BLADES!" She slammed them into the nearest wall, right next to an opening with the proton cannons stood and it promptly collapsed under the tremendous impact.
Domb Treetor shuddered at the colossal impact outside, and almost lost his footing. TA-163 had to grab the wall for support.
"What was that?" he asked.
"I cannot calculate any possibility, my lord," the droid hummed. "It does not compute."
Treetor hurriedly rushed to the nearest balcony as quickly as he could and looked outside. The battle between the clones and the droids was still a very long way off, but right beside the Temple was something that couldn't possibly be there, an enormous rabbit-creature, with a white face, a red tunic and axes for arms, and it was wreaking havoc on his facility.
Antylamon dashed across at a mind-boggling speed, walking straight over graves as if they weren't there with her long legs. She was spinning wildly as the she ran and every half-rotation was followed by another pink blade of energy streaking from her axes. She was like a maypole of destruction, and everywhere that a proton cannon jutted out of the facility was smashed by a single blade of energy, which was all it took to blow the area apart.
"I bet you weren't expecting someone like me!" she roared as she ran along, sending two more Bunny Blades slicing into the walls. The outer structure of the place was already beginning to fall apart under her brutal assault. Stones felt, metal was crushed and bits of cannon dropped to the ground.
"Shoot it!" Treetor cried. "Shoot it quickly!"
Proton cannons were slow movers and as they began to turn towards her, most of them were wiped out before they finished turning, cut up by her manic and accurate energy blades. Antylamon whirled like a tornado, striking everywhere as she ran around the facility, cutting up every single proton cannon she could find.
One of them managed to set sights on her and let loose a blast that could blow apart a gunship right at her. Antylamon spotted it coming. She could easily have dodged, but if she did that then it would take out several graves, and that couldn't be allowed. So she did the other option.
She blocked it.
Her axes came up and formed a barrier that it slammed into and bounced right off. With a spin that was almost faster than thought, she whirled about and brought one of her axes slicing through it before it could rebound anywhere and it instantly dissipated.
Treetor was dumbstruck.
Antylamon smirked.
She looked up at the horrified and, it had to be said, resigned battle droid manning the cannon that had fired at her. "Do you want to see my heavy blast?" Her axes morphed back into her hands and she brought them over her head, and then swung them down with a cry of "ARM BOMBER!"
As she did, two large balls of condensed shockwaves appeared out of nowhere behind her and thundered towards the cannons. It, and a good proportion of the facility around it, were instantly blown apart by the attack, scattering over a wide area as debris.
"That's not possible!" cried Treetor.
Antylamon's keen ears picked that up, and, as her hands morphed back into axes, she said, "Where my kind are concerned, anything is possible. Now, let's demolish the last of your cannons, shall we? BUNNY BLADES!"
Obi-Wan sliced through one of the last remaining Supers and stabbed through the chest of the nearest B1. Around him, the clones and the tanks finished off their rest with their bolts and beams, shoot them down and frying their circuits respectively.
Cody moved over to stand by Obi-Wan. "Well, that was quite a fight, General," he said.
"Indeed," nodded Obi-Wan. "How many tanks do we have left?"
"Only one of those got hit, sir," Cody replied. "We still all the rest. Of course, we still haven't time to count all of our men."
"Very well. Leave the dead here for now. We'll come and pick them up later." He fished a pair of macrobinoculars from his belt and looked through them at the facility. He could see the large bunny that he knew to be Antylamon easily demolishing the place outer walls and what remained of the proton cannons.
"Well, our Digital fried is certainly giving them a hard time," he chuckled. "What say we go over there and help her give them an even harder time?"
"I like that idea, sir!" Cody nodded. "Alright, lads. Let's go!"
The clones and the Jedi charged, and the tanks hovered forwards after them. Waxer lifted Suzie onto his shoulders and joined in the charge. Suzie whooped at the ride. Waxer laughed. Boil rolled his eyes under his helmet and had to stop himself from chuckling.
It took a few minutes for the clones to reach the facility. Antylamon had easily dealt with the proton cannons by that time, so no giant red lasers came lancing forwards to smash them to pieces. The clones drew level with the walls and Antylamon, sending a Bunny Blade at a balcony where some battle droids were trying to shoot at her, ran over to join them by the enormous blast doors.
"Glad to see you could make it," she said, towering over all of the identically high clones and Obi-Wan. None of them even came up to her knee.
"Good job, Antylamon. I don't think any of us could do it better."
"I know that none of us could do it better," said Cody.
"Praise indeed," Antylamon smiled.
"Now, we just need to get inside," said Obi-Wan.
"Done," said Antylamon. "BUNNY BLADES!" She whirled around and slammed her axes into the enormous blast door. It might as well have been made of cardboard. It crumpled certainly, but instead of pitching backwards it actually snapped and shot backwards, ploughing through the many lines of battle droids that had been waiting on the other side.
"Is there anything you can't do?" asked a clone.
"I can't make an omelette," shrugged Antylamon. "That skill has forever eluded me."
The clones laughed.
"Suzie," Obi-Wan called over. "You stay out here with the tanks. Everyone else, follow me!"
"I'll meet you on the other side," Antylamon nodded and, in a single bound, she leapt upwards and flipped straight over the wall. Suzie watched as Obi-Wan ignited his lightsaber and led the clones in a surge of white armour, spilling through the doors like a tidal bore and disappearing into the facility.
Eventually, she was the only person left outside the walls except for the clones driving the tanks, but she couldn't see them. She shivered as she listened to the sounds of yelling men, blaster fire, and loud explosions and crashes that could only by Antylamon from inside. Despite the fact that she knew that the war was necessary if they didn't want to get overrun by droids, she still didn't think she'd ever really get used to it. The sight of all the dead clones would be a memory she could never forget.
She was just glad she didn't have to be part of the action.
The droids fell under the unstoppable onslaught of the clones. There was nowhere that they could turn to that wasn't filled with at least two gun-toting men. Cody was in the thick of things, slamming droids with his blaster when they got to close and burning myriads of holes into all the others.
Obi-Wan slashed and hacked, parried and thrust with his blade. The droids were attempting to concentrate on him, knowing full well that he was a Jedi, but they just couldn't hit him. He either dodged or blocked their shots, batting them aside like insignificant flies. The droids that weren't hit with their own bolts were sliced to pieces by his lightsaber. Obi-Wan ran forward and leapt onto the back of a Super that had grabbed hold of a clone, plunging the blade into its front.
Antylamon, with her massive size, should have been an easily target, but the bad aim of the droids coupled with her great was more than enough to stop her from getting hit. She didn't even need to hit the droids with her axes; she could just run through a horde and crush countless droids under her giant feet. However, there was one new tactic that she particularly liked doing which she used now to full effect. After ploughing through several droid lines, she whipped around and picked out the biggest cluster of them.
Running over to them, she raised her axes above her head and with a cry of "BUNNY BLADES!" she brought them slamming into the ground. The result was an enormous shockwave that threw all the droids she didn't slice or crush into the air. Usually she saved this for vehicles, but there weren't any vehicles around.
Treetor watched all this happening with despair from his little balcony. TA-163 stood beside him. The tactical droid turned to Treetor and hummed, "Sir, I calculate that our best option now would be to retreat."
"I agree," nodded Treetor eagerly. Hurriedly, the two of them turned and made their way swiftly towards the shuttle that could take them away.
While all of this was going on, there was a second drama that was playing on the surface of the planet. A drama that actually that wasn't far away.
Running towards the facility as fast as he could, was Fnarrg Klefpor. A Rodian smuggler who had ticked off the wrong guy.
Fnarrg had started the day as he normally did, right up until the point that he'd got an emergency call from a friend of his. A Quarren male with a fake eye known as Lauli Wahlo had managed to tip him off about something. He'd been in a bar when he'd heard his name being mentioned by a Nautolan man. When he'd listened in, Wahlo had overheard the Nautolan telling a Klatooinian that he'd just made a request for a Bounty Hunter to go after him.
A Bounty Hunter named Cad Bane.
When Fnaarg had heard that Cad Bane had been sent after him, he'd almost had a heart attack. Cad Bane was extremely well known throughout the criminal underworld. His reputation knew almost no bounds. Word was that he had managed to get the better of many Jedi on his travels and errands. Few Bounty Hunters, not even the famous Jango Fett, could claim that and be telling the truth.
And so, immediately, he'd taken off running. He'd run to the nearest city to the hangar where he kept his ship, only to find that it had been blown up by something. That meant that he was stranded on the planet, and he'd looked around desperately for another ship, but there was none forthcoming from the Swokes swokes, who had always regarded him with distaste anyway.
After this, he'd felt despair. His ship exploding could only have been caused by Bane, unless it was a remarkable coincidence, which he doubted. Bane always worked from the bottom up, getting rid of all escape routes for his quarry before he went in for the kill.
But then, he'd spotted the Republic gunships in the distance and he'd felt hope. It didn't appear that Bane knew exactly where he was, so maybe he could head to the Republic and beg for help. He'd take prison over Bane any day.
But in order to reach the Republic troops, he had to cross the Tract of Makem Te. The Republic had apparently sent forewarning of their arrival to the Swokes swokes, so they'd been able to take everyone living out of the Tract so they wouldn't be caught in the crossfire. Clambering over the wall, Fnarrg began to run towards them at top speed.
Every so often he would glance over his shoulder, but he hadn't seen anything.
Until now.
On his last check, he'd been sure that he saw a shadow slip between two graves behind him. He doubted it was a droid or a clone, and probably not a Jedi either. And he'd been sure that the shadow had been wearing a very large hat.
Fnarrg picked up speed and, gasping for breath, he plunged towards the facility. It wasn't far to go now. He could make it. He could make it if he just hurried.
Almost there. Almost.
Almost...
Suddenly, there was the sound of a blaster being fired behind him and a red bolt smacked into his shoulder. With a strangled cry, the Rodian dropped to ground, the sucker-like fingers jumping up to clutch at the burn mark. His arm had suddenly gone slack, leading him to believe that he might have just received nerve damage. He groaned at the hideous pain.
Fnarrg turned to look around, slowly and painfully, trying to put as little pressure on his arm as possible. He had to see the identity of the person who'd shot him.
His cold-blood ran even colder.
Cad Bane smirked as he strode towards his quarry. He was in no rush at all, and the slow striding towards the doomed increased the levels of fear in their hearts. It made them see him like a harbinger of death. It let them know that he knew there was no escape for them now.
Bane twirled his pistol in one hand and unholstered the other one, brandishing them as he pulled to a halt before his target. He sneered down at him.
"Fnarrg Klefpor," he said. "You gave me a better chase than most, but I've got you now."
Suzie was listening carefully to the sounds of battle from inside. Every now and then she would pick out the sound of Antylamon shouting out an attack name over the furious and constant sounds of blaster fire.
Suzie was getting braver by the day, what with everything that she'd been through since coming to this universe.
But even so, she still felt suddenly petrified at the sound of a blaster being fired from behind her instead of in front. The blaster sounded louder than the others, but whether that was because it was closer, not muffled by walls or just louder anyway, Suzie couldn't be sure.
Suzie whipped around and stared out at the winding gravestones. At first she couldn't see anything and she stared around, wondering if it really had been a ghost. But then she spotted them. Two figures, one on the ground and the other standing over the one of the ground. They were about a hundred yards away and off to the right, and Suzie couldn't see them clearly.
Curious, terrified, Suzie squinted at them. She thought about telling the clones, but the only clones nearby were in the tanks, and she couldn't get into one of those without any help.
She wasn't sure whether it was curiosity or madness that moved her feet, but, almost unconsciously, she began to move towards them.
Fnarrg's large multi-faceted eyes stared down the barrels of two large LL-30 pistols, clutched in the unforgiving hands of the Bounty Hunter. He couldn't help but gulp in fear. The eyes were sadistic and merciless, red all the way through with no pupil, iris or whites. Fnarrg knew that he was done for.
"Do you have anything that you want me to relay to Fong Do after your death?" asked Bane.
"Don't – don't shoot me," pleaded the Rodian. "Let me live. I beg you. I implore you."
"Sympathy votes don't work on me, Rodian," Bane sneered. "There hasn't been a target yet that has managed to win me over with pleading, and I've killed dozens of men and women. Most of them, I have to say, were much more imposing and dangerous than you, but a job's a job, right? Even you should know that – after all it was your job that got you into this mess."
Fnarrg was breathing heavily in fear an pain. "Please... no."
"I'd say sorry," Bane knelt down to look the Rodian in the eye. "If I were. Now, brace yourself. I'll take no more than a moment. I can assure you of that – I've seen it happen many a time."
Bane stood back up and took a step back, raising his pistols. "So, I'll ask again, do you have anything worthwhile to say?"
Fnarrg was about to say something that would probably be very stupid, but he got interrupted by a loud, high-pitched scream of "NO!"
Bane's attention was distracted and he turned his head to see a small human girl running towards them. Bemused, he watched as the girl dashed in quickly and planted herself firmly between him and the Rodian. "You can't kill him! Don't kill him!"
Bane blinked. Even he was momentarily startled by this suicide-like motion from the child. What was she thinking? Did she think that he'd just back down?
After his moment of shock, the smirk returned to the Duros' face. "Well, hello there, little girl. And who might you be?"
"My name is Suzie Wong," the little girl replied, glaring defiantly at him despite the pistols. "And who are you?"
"Well, your certainly feisty for such a small child," Bane conceded. "Brave too. But you're very naive, you know that?"
"I'm not little," Suzie pouted. "I'm ten years old. And I'm not naive, whatever that means."
"Naive means that you don't have much experience, kid," Bane chuckled. "Every child is naive. But you, now your something different. What kind of child stands in front of someone else to take a laser?"
"I'm not inexperienced," Suzie protested. "I've seen lots of things. I've faced monsters. I've been helping to fight in the Clone Wars for four months."
"The wars?" Now Bane was interested. "You're with the Republic forces over there?"
"Yeah," Suzie nodded. "And when they finish, they'll come out and take you to prison."
"Where I belong, no doubt."
"Listen... to the child," Fnarrg said desperately. "Have you no mercy?"
"Not a scrap," Bane replied. "But why would the clones be lugging a little girl along after them? Why would they bother looking after you? And what help can you bring?"
Suzie was about to reply, but she caught herself and said, "It's a secret."
"Oh?" Bane asked. "What a pity."
"You still haven't told me who you are." Suzie pointed out.
Bane glanced down at her, and, in a mock thespian style, bowed and said, "My apologies, your littleness. I am Cad Bane, notorious Bounty Hunter, and nobody messes with me, not even children like yourself."
"Cad Bane?" Suzie gasped, stepping backwards. "I've heard of you. You're the one that stole got into the big building with all the Senators and captured some of them."
"Yes, that was me," Bane smirked. "I'm glad to see that my fame is spreading. Now, if you don't mind," he raised his pistols and pointed them at Fnarrg, through Suzie. "Step aside, child. I have a task to carry out."
"No! You can't."
"She's right," Fnarrg cried. "Listen to her." He was attempting to crawl away now.
"If you kill him," Suzie said. "Antylamon will come and cut you into little pieces."
Bane laughed, not bothering to try and contain it. "I don't know who Antylamon is, but I assure you I'll be long gone before anyone has a chance to cut me out. Now get out of the way. I'd rather not kill a child when I'm not supposed to."
"You couldn't kill a child," Suzie stepped closer to the floored Rodian. "Nobody's that bad."
Bane sighed. "Look, kid," he snarled. "If I don't put a blaster bolt through some part of that Rodian that will cause him to die, then I won't get paid. And I like getting paid. As long as I get my money I will carry out any task I'm given regardless of what I have to go through to do it. Right now, you're getting between me and my profit, and if I have to put a hole through your brain to get may pay then you won't stop me. Now, this is your last warning. Step. Aside."
Suzie looked shocked. Suddenly, throwing herself between the Bounty Hunter and the Rodian didn't seem like such a good idea. The idea of killing a child just to get money made her feel a little ill.
"Why do you want to kill him?" she swallowed. She was extremely nervous now.
"He's guilty of attempted rip-off," Bane replied. "Now, are you going to step aside?" He stepped forward lowering the pistol towards Suzie, his finger tightening slightly on the trigger. Suzie stared up at him, into the fierce eyes that glared back, one-hundred percent serious.
"Suzie!"
Suzie whipped around, just in time to see Waxer and Boil sprinting towards her at top speed. She was momentarily relieved. Everything was going to be alr-"
Bane took immediate advantage of her distraction and lunged forward. Shoving Suzie roughly to one side so she hit the dirt, he shot Fnarrg straight in the chest. The Rodian gasped in shock and collapsed, dead as a log.
"Well, kid," said Bane, suddenly lifting into the air on his jet thrusters. "It was a pleasure to have a conversation with you. Too bad your foolish act didn't work."
Waxer and Boil stopped and fired on Bane. The Bounty Hunter dodged to one side and sent off a volley of bolts that forced the two clones to duck behind the nearest grave. Bane didn't stick around, he'd completed his goal. He wasn't being paid to kill the clones, so why bother. Instead, he turned and soared back across the graveyard and back to the city, where he'd left his ship.
"Suzie, are you alright?" Waxer dashed over to her and knelt down beside her. "Did he hurt you?"
"No," Suzie whimpered, unable to look at the dead Rodian. "But he killed... he killed..."
"Bounty Hunter scum," Boil spat. "You're lucky we decided to check up on you, or you'd be dead. Don't get mixed up with them, Suzie. You'll only get yourself killed. They don't have a conscience."
Suzie was too upset not to contradict him and buried her face in Waxer's armour.
Treetor never got to escape. He was just nearing his shuttle, along with TA-163, when a voice called out, "Hold it right there, Skakoan!" Treetor turned to see Obi-Wan Kenobi, Commander Cody and three other clones emerge onto the landing platform.
"Surrender now," Obi-Wan pointed his lightsaber at Treetor, "And we may go easy on you."
"You're too late, Jedi," Treetor exclaimed. "You may have won the day, but you cannot stop me from escaping in my ship."
"Ship?" Cody chuckled. "What ship?"
Treetor turned around, to find that his ship was already in the air, grasped in the arms of Antylamon and being lifted into the sky. Antylamon tossed the shuttle aside like a piece of garbage, where it smashed against the wall and exploded.
Treetor panicked and turned to flee, but his route was suddenly blocked by an enormous axe slamming into the ground in front of him. The second axe slammed into the ground behind him, cutting straight through the tactical droid. The remaining space that wasn't filled with the rest of the giant bunny became filled with clones pointing their blasters at him.
"Still don't want to surrender?" asked Antylamon.
Treetor was marched out of his facility, two clones with firm grips on his arms and Obi-Wan walking behind him. The giant bunny had shrunk into a much smaller one and was now riding the Jedi's shoulder.
Lopmon spotted Suzie. She was curled into a ball and looking a little distraught, while Waxer and Boil were attempting to comfort her. Concerned, the bunny jumped off Obi-Wan's shoulder, sailed over Treetor's head and landed beside her.
"Suzie, what happened?" she asked.
Suzie shook her head, not wanting to say anything. Her mind was firmly closed to Lopmon, and the bunny hadn't been paying much attention to what was going on in there during the battle – she'd needed to concentrate on not getting hit. She looked to Waxer for an explanation, and the clone hesitantly relayed the story as he understood it, finding Suzie standing between a Rodian and Cad Bane and then Bane pushing her aside and shooting the Rodian dead.
"Oh, Suzie," Lopmon wrapped her ears round her partner. "What were you thinking? You know how dangerous people can be. There is a reason why you're mum tells you not to talk to strangers."
"I know," Suzie sniffed. "But I thought... I thought..."
"That he'd listen?" Lopmon shook her head. "I've never met Bane by I know that he's committed to his pay. You're lucky that he didn't just shoot you."
Suzie nodded but said nothing.
"Come on," said Lopmon, pushing Suzie to her feet gently but firmly. "Let's get back to Terriermon and the others."
Suzie nodded again.
It took a couple of hours, during which time Obi-Wan put his renowned negotiation skills to work and met with the Swokes swokes, managing to convince them to rejoin the Republic. With this very much earned victory, Obi-Wan took the two of them to rendezvous with the Intrepid at Devaron.
As they pulled up alongside the cruiser and walked down the crossbridge that formed between the ships, they were met by Aayla coming the other way. She smiled at them and said, "Welcome Master Kenobi. You may find that Anakin and Ahsoka are... momentarily indisposed. I have no idea how, but Ahsoka managed to fill Anakin's chambers with nerfs from the planet below and they're... relieving themselves all over the place."
Obi-Wan rolled his eyes.
Aayla looked down at Suzie and Lopmon, and her expression shifted to one of concern. Leaning down, she said, "Suzie, what is it?"
Suzie responded by throwing herself into Aayla's arms and telling her everything that she knew. Aayla listened patiently to how she'd confronted Bane, and then lifted Suzie into the air, holding her in her arms.
"I understand why you're upset," she said. "But there are two important things that you can take away from this experience, Suzie."
"What are they?" she sniffed.
"The first is that you are an extremely brave person," Aayla said firmly. "Even with a blaster pointed at your head you stood your ground. You have immeasurable courage for such a young child."
"I'm ten."
Aayla smiled. "Yes, I know. Secondly, that there is good in everyone, even Bane. Despite the fact he could easily have killed you, he didn't. He pushed you aside instead. Remember that, Suzie. Nobody is beyond hope."
"Not even Dooku?" asked Suzie.
"Not even Dooku," nodded Aayla.
Suzie looked heartened. Aayla looked down at Lopmon, who winked up at her and gave her a thumbs-up. Aayla smiled back.
And as for Suzie... the little girl took those lessons, particularly the second one, to heart. Never would she forget them, and considering what was in store for her, Lopmon, Aayla and all the others, this was going to be important.
Ooh, makes you wonder what's coming next, doesn't it. This oneshot was my chance to get Bane to actually succeed in his mission, considering he didn't get the credit he deserved in my main story so far. I wasn't quite sure how to end this one, so I decided to do the scene with Aayla because it begins to introduce Aayla's for defusing stressful situations, which is also quite important later on.
Hope everybody enjoyed it, because now I'm taking a long break for exams.
Fergus Flamacron, signing off until the end of June or beginning of July.