Whoo! Two chapters in one night!

Clone Wars (c) Lucas Arts

Dead Space (c) EA Redwood Shores

Isa's entire body trembled lightly despite huddling close to Vahn to share warmth. Time had been lost to them since they managed to take up shelter in this forsaken foxhole. But the time that had already gone by didn't matter; what mattered was how little time they had left. They wouldn't be able to stay in the freezer containers for much longer lest they risk hypothermia. However the world beyond this little patch of safety was riddled with monsters ready to pounce and tear them asunder.

"Heh… So this is how it ends…" Vahn let a grudging smile tug at his lips. His comment was met with a warning growl.

"Don't get started with that." Isa tilted his helmet to communicate his glower, "Unless you want to end up like them."

They had both seen the horrors up close and personal. There were far too many ways to get infected and mutated. And though despair didn't quite do it, it had led to several others falling prey to monsters that spread the infection. They remembered one that tried to run and found himself pierced through the heart and his legs impaled. Moments after his last breath his legs twisted and fused into a singular, powerful, tail tipped with a sharp club while his jaw split to form insect-like mandibles. After the metamorphosis he rose and leaped away like a rabid hound. Somewhere on Jericho that clone was crawling around, waiting to bloody that club of his.

"Trust me; I'm not going to end up like one of them. I'd rather be incinerated before that happens… But it's looking like we'll freeze before we fry."

"Will you cut it out?!" Isa's voice echoed painfully loud, making both fall still and listen hard. They waited… and waited… but nothing stirred. Isa let go of the breath he held and quickly busied himself with his com link. "I'm going to kick your ass so hard once all of this is over. Why don't you make yourself useful and help me see if there's anyone still out there."

"Fine…"

"Hello? Is anyone out there? This is Sergeant Isa and Private Vahn. We request rescue of the highest urgency. We are survivors and are uninfected. Repeat, we are survivors and uninfected. Send help right away. Is anyone out there?"

They had long since lost count of how many times this message was sent out. Each and every time it had been met with static or an eerie silence that had them feeling like something was silently listening. Once it was sent out they listened, expecting the result to be the same as it had so many times before.

There was static over the line, soft and foreboding. But then it started to sputter and waver. Both clones felt their hearts nearly skip a beat. The breaks in static continued and soon quiet whispers could be detected. The two hunched over the com link with wide eyes and held breaths.

"Sergeant Isa… Private Vahn… Th… is gener… ayed Kenja… We… ave your posi…on. Stay there for resc…e."

It took considerable effort for the two not to shout for joy. There were others that were alive! And they were getting rescued! Suddenly the chill of the freezer containers didn't seem so bad; they could hold out a bit longer. And from the sounds of it their savior was a Jedi to boot! They both knew it wasn't going to be over when they arrived though. No, they would still have to work their way to a shuttle and escape.

With that in mind, Vahn set to checking their ammunition and weapons. It was painfully low, but enough to get them to the nearest location for collecting inventory. While he was busy with that Isa took to studying a holomap he managed to smuggle in. While there was no way to assure its success he began to plan out a route and strategy for escape. Even if it didn't work, they were one step closer to freedom and safety...

And a haunting white figure began to notice the presence of the rescue team.