Quick note: Apparently, Padawans attain the rank of Commander in the Republic while Jedi Knights and Masters are Generals. Thank you Guest for pointing that out. I even looked it up and their right. Seriously if theirs any inconsistencies in my stories regarding how things are supposed to go, please let me know so I can fix them. At some points I may go a bit off-canon but still I'll let you all know when I do if I can. When I can, I'll go back and correct the previous chapters but for now, let's do this.
Taking down the Malevolence was a setback for the Separatists that we surely needed. Our movements are no longer limited or as cautious anymore so we can properly move around without fear of sudden attacks by an enemy that can kill us barely any effort on their part. The Republic is back on track in properly taking the fight to the enemy but even without their secret weapon anymore, the Separatists aren't lacking in any crazy plans to try to destroy the Republic and decimate our troops whenever they can.
Case in point has to be the new attack that took place on the Rishi moon outpost not too long ago. The outpost is an early warning tracking station that keeps an eye out around our core worlds for any enemy movements that may try to attack us. What happened on the Rishi outpost was the fact that the Separatists tried to commandeer the base in order to give a continuous all-clear signal so they can amass their fleet directly towards Kamino without any opposition to go against them. Thanks to the efforts of Rex, Cody and the survivors of the base, they were able to destroy the base, gaining our attention and move our forces to it where we were able to come smack dab in the middle of the invading Separatist armada and halt their progress cold.
That doesn't mean we're in the clear though as now the brass are paranoid to all kinds of levels on anymore plans our enemy may implement to attack the clone facility on Kamino. If we lose that place, we may as well lose the entire war as it is. No clones, no army to fight the droid army so that's why we are not taking any chances in defending that facility. It was further cemented when we intercepted a transmission from General Grievous that just proves they have another plan of attack in place. Currently, while Ahsoka is back at the academy, my master, Skywalker, Cody, Rex and I stare at the fuzzy holographic form in the middle of us.
"We are decrypting the audio, Sir." A clone technician informs us all as he works to get the image to work but mostly so we can hear what's going on in this transmission we managed to nab. Seconds later, we hear it.
"The clone planet of Kamino will be a dangerous target." 'Ventress.' I can't help but growl in my head at the voice of the Sith that took my weapon. 'If she's here, I'd like to get my weapon back.'
"Just make sure you hold up Your half of the mission." General Grievous can be heard as his gravely cyborg voice can be heard. "We must stop the production of new clones If we are to win this war." As soon as Grievous finishes saying that, his form fizzles out but the message is clear as day for us.
"Kamino." Master Skywalker gravely says.
"They're going to attack our home planet." Rex states the truth of what's going to happen.
"The separatists are taking quite the chance even considering this." My master comments and he's right. We have a massive fleet protecting the planet and if the enemy doesn't have pretty much double the ships we have, their going to get scrapped.
"With all due respect, General," Rex begins to say, "If someone comes to our home, they better be carrying a big blaster."
"I concur with Captain Rex, Sir. This is personal for us clones." Cody says, agreeing with the Captains sentiments on their home.
"We'll make sure Kamino Is secure. Tell your troopers in the 501st …They're going home." Master Skywalker tells them. Rex is only a captain of the 501st in charge of Torrent Company in the battalion but he still commands a number of troops who are now going to be tasked with defending their home.
"Yes, sir." They both salute and walk off to prepare to go back home.
"This isn't going to be easy, will it Master?" I ask once they leave the bridge, in which he shakes his head no.
"When it comes to Grievous or Ventress, it never is. Especially when its such a critical target on the line." My master grimly states.
"Doesn't mean we're not going to try regardless." Master Skywalker states confidently.
"True. The Kamino cloning facility is without a doubt a vital piece of the Republics army and we must defend it no matter." My master says in agreement. Seeing the both of them firm in their beliefs to defend the clones home planet, any worry I had before is dashed away.
My eyes slowly glide over to where the hologram transmission was before that we had intercepted. I can't help but gain a small smirk as I remember one of the speakers. 'Payback Ventress.'
Moving as fast as we can, our transport ship, an Arquitens-class light cruiser makes it to the facility on Kamino where we Jedi, plus Cody and Rexm along with his regiment of clones, disembark and are greeted by one of the native Kaminoans here on the planet along with being the Prime Minister of the people that work here, Lama Su. Along with him, Jedi Master Shaak-Ti, the Jedi stationed here to look over clone production along with overseeing their training and seeing them off to be true soldiers of the Republic comes to meet us. They come to greet us as we all stop in front of each other.
"Masters Kenobi and Skywalker, Welcome to Kamino." Master Shaak-Ti greets.
"Greetings, Generals." Lama Su offers his greetins as well but pleasantries will have to wait.
"I wish our arrival wasn't under such circumstances." My master gets right down to it. "We believe Grievous is planning a Separatist attack on Kamino."
"But the republic blockade Is far too strong. They would not dare." Lama Su doesn't really believe it but whether he believes it or not doesn't change the transmission we heard and somewhat saw.
Master Shaak-Ti gets a curious thinking look on her face at what might transpire here while the storms here on Kamino thunder momentarily.
It is a bad omen. Regardless I examine the facility around us before stepping to the side of my master. "Master, is it alright if I go with Captain Rex and Commander Cody to check out the facility. If there's going to be a fight here, I'd like to know the layout."
"That sounds like an excellent idea, my Padawan. Commander, you mind giving him a tour?" My master asks the yellow armor painted trooper.
"How 'bout it Rex?" Master Skywalker asks Rex as well.
"Yes, sir!" Both clones salute their respective leaders and wave for me to go.
"C'mon, Mat. We'll show you the layout of the place." Cody says as we begin walking away from everyone else.
"Maybe we can even show you where we're made."
"Geh!" I almost trip at that statement from Rex before righting myself in time. As I walk with them, I can help but shake my head with a smirk and point at him. "You know, if a non-clone person had said that to me, this would be very awkward."
While the trio leave, Shaak-Ti can't help but stare at the Padawan and notice some things about him not seen in other Jedi. "Master Kenobi, who was that, exactly?" She asks her fellow Jedi.
"That's Matthew Morrow. Anakin and I were both assigned Padawans for us to teach and that one preparing is mine." He informs her.
"Hmmm, okay. Now another question: why is it that he has blasters and no lightsaber?"
At that question, Obi-wan sighs and shakes his head. "He lost his original lightsaber to Ventress and hasn't had the chance to replace it. Until then he's been making do with some of the clones weapons."
"I'd say more than make do." Anakin adds his own thoughts on the Padawans skills with a blaster. "You should have seen him when he was fighting on the Malevolence. He's really gotten the hang of taking down droids with clear precision with his pistols. He's really taking to his training with the men." He finishes saying with a smile.
"The clones? Shouldn't it be you who is supposed to be training him? Not the clones?" She asks the question directed to Obi-wan, who nods at her.
"Because of this war, I haven't been able to give him as much time to train as I'd like. Obviously, I can't train him with a lightsaber since he doesn't have one yet. I have been teaching him how to act when it comes to dealing with important dignitaries and leaders but besides that and reminding him of how Jedi is supposed to act, there isn't much else to teach him in the time we have available." Obi-wan proceeds to explain as best he can to his fellow Jedi Master about his teachings since its definitely unorthodox for a Jedi to be trained by clones but he doesn't really have much choice.
Shaak-Ti glances one last time to the departing Padawan before he is out of their sight.
"Man, this is pretty big." I comment after the last hour we spent of the two clones giving me the tour of the place.
"Yeah, it is. Place kind of has to be in order to pump out the amount of men we use in the war effort." Rex says.
"That's true."
"Still, its home sweet home to each and everyone of us that are born here." Cody fondly states proudly as we continue to walk. In the time we've been going, they've gone and shown me where the barracks are, generators, the giant tank room where each clone is grown in, training rooms, DNA chamber, and the armory. Those are some of the immediate important places and locations of the facility but there are so many twists and turns, corridors, side rooms and hallways that lead to each one in different directions. Not to mention I haven't seen the hangers or the direct routes outside and such so while I have a general idea of everything, its hard to keep track of everything on such short notice.
"No kidding. Still amazes me on how well this facility operates to give us such amazing soldiers." I compliment both the men and this place period.
"Thank you, sir." Cody says but before we can continue walking with the tour, his commlink goes off making him answer it. "Cody here."
"Commander, we need you and Captain Rex in the operations center to finalize the troop layout." My master orders over the comm.
"We're on it, General. We'll be there in five." He replies.
"Master, what about me? Do you need me for anything?" I quickly ask before he shuts off the commlink.
"Not at the moment, no. You can continue to familiarize yourself with the facility in the meantime."
"You got it, Master." I pull back so Cody shuts it off. "Well, I guess the tours over." I comment a little sadly.
"Not necessarily." Rex says with a smile, making just a little confused on what he means. "Echo! Fives!" He shouts somewhere towards behind me. I turn around to see two other clones walking towards us. These aren't your average day clones as these ones have blue stripes going the length of their armors along their sides with one of them having a large hand print plastered on his chest plate. If I remember correctly, both these soldiers were also the ones that had survived the Rishi moon outpost attack. It's because of their actions along with the actions of their fallen brothers that we actually have the opportunity to defend this place. Both clones look confused before Rex nods his head for them to come over to us.
"Yes sir. What'd you need?" One of them asks.
"The Commander here needs a proper tour of the place so he's not running blind when the attack starts. Commander Cody and I are needed back at the ops center for final troop movements so you two are going to help get him familiarized with our home. Sound good?" He asks the two clones.
"Yes sir! We're on it." The other clone states as they both salute us.
"Good men. We'll see you later sir." Rex says as they begin to talk away.
"Have fun." Cody pats me on the shoulder as they both head off to do their jobs.
I turn back to the two soldiers as they salute me. "Hello Commander. I'm CT-21-0408. Echo for short." The clone with the hand print states his name.
"And I'm CT-27-5555. Fives for me." Fives gives me his name. "If you'll follow us we can—"
Before they can continue talking, I hold my hand up to stop them. "Enough with the formalities. I'm calling you guys by your names and you can call me by mine. My name is Matthew Morrow. Mat for short. It's a pleasure to meet you two." I properly greet them as I walk closer and extend my hand for them to shake. The both of them look surprised at the pleasantry towards them but smile and each shake my hand. "Now, as Rex had said, I need to get a good idea of this facility's layout so let's continue to tour shall we?"
"You got it." Echo says and gestures for us to start walking.
And so, with my new tour guides we I begin to get more familiarized with the facility and have a better layout of it all, much to my relief. As we continue to go Echo and Fives start to become more relaxed with me after telling them to drop the formalities around me. Soon enough we end up walking through some clear tube hallways that overlook a large part of the inside of the facility.
"Ah, look around, Fives. Feels like yesterday we were here, heading to target practice." Echo comments between the two as we walk with me to their left. He mentions the last part as a small group of cadet clones walk by.
"Heh, remember that?"
"Do I ever." Echo turns to me. "What about you, sir? Have memories like that when you were training? If you don't mind me asking."
I shrug my shoulders a little as I remember. "Somewhat. We would have classes and groups of us practicing on how to use the force and how to sense when blaster bolts were coming at us and the techniques to block or deflect them. As we got older did we start to have more independent training before it culminates to what I am now, the Padawan to a higher-ranking Jedi." I explain the best I can to them of training life in the Jedi temple. "Your training is always in mass and groups right?" I ask, in which they nod.
"That's right. Always working with our fellow brothers in all types of scenarios." Echo says.
"Also helps speed the training along without having to focus on each and every soldier." Fives adds. I guess since the higher ups immediately think that all the clones are the exact same, they don't think to give any sort of too much focused training. Not to mention without how long and brutal this war is going on, its preferable to get as many troops out of here as fast as they can.
"I guess your right." If theirs one thing I've seen when it comes to the clones is that at least some of them are unique in their own way. 'Sucks they can't find the more impressive clones and such during their training but we don't really have a choice without how relentless the enemy is.' My thoughts are interrupted as a nearby defected clone drops a load of blaster rifles.
"Hey, 99." Echo calls out to the clone.
"Ha, Echo. Fives." 99 greets them.
"You actually remember us." Fives comments in somewhat surprise.
"Oh, I remember all my brothers." 99 states and I can't help but smile at the commitment to his brothers. 'Although considering how many of them go through this place, hard to keep track really.' "And uhhh, who's this?" He asks once he takes note of me.
"99, this is Jedi Commander Matthew Morrow. We're giving him the tour of the place." Echo introduces me. As soon as he hears I'm basically his commanding officer, he steps to a salute as best he can given his misformed body.
"Oh! Sir, I'm so sorry."
I chuckle at the action before I wave him down. "Relax 99. No need for that around me. Just getting the lay of the place and the people that are here. Nice to meet you." I simply tell him and go to shake his hand. He relaxes when he hears that and shakes my hand.
"Thank you, sir." He looks at Echo and Fives. "Anyway, is Hevy here? Where's he?" He asks them but the sad looks they have shows it's not good news.
"There was an incident on the Rishi moon outpost." Fives begins to explain.
"He saved our lives, but he gave up his own." Echo finishes. Both 99 and I crane our heads down in sadness at the news. I know clones are meant to die in this war but it's still sad nonetheless to hear it, especially from those closest.
"Oh… Uh, I see." 99 mutters sadly as he pulls out a gold medal with green and white coloring on the cloth.
"Hevy gave you his medal?" Fives says as he sees it.
99 stares at the clone for a second, most likely remembering the one brother that gave him the medal, before looking back to his brothers. "So why have you returned to Kamino?" He asks.
"The generals received word of an impending attack here." Fives informs him.
"We intercepted a transmission that pretty much guarantees an attack here." I add.
"Well, how can I help?" He may be defected, but he's still just as willing to fight and help as another clone as he straightens, determined like any other.
I think for a second on what he could do. He can't really use blasters properly or fight in open combat like his brothers, but I think I know at least some way he can help. "You are basically the… janitor of this place, right?" I ask him.
"That's right, sir. Cleaning up and moving supplies as needed."
"Hmmm, that means you know the layout of this place fairly well, correct?"
"Heh, like the back of my hand." He confidently claims.
'Perfect.' I smile and reach behind me. "Then that's good." I pull out a spare commlink and hand it to the defected clone. "I've been shown this place somewhat but I don't know everywhere or every single turn. Should I need to be somewhere, I'll contact you where I'm at and you can tell me where to get where, okay?" I propose he do for me.
He looks surprised at the offer of aid for me as he looks at the device for a second before looking back at me. "You… mean it, sir?" He asks surprised and I nod. He takes the device and puts it in his pocket.
"I do. And please, just Mat is fine." I turn to the other two. "And remember that goes for you two as well. Just Mat will do." I make sure to remind my tour guides of that fact.
"You got it, si- Uh, Mat." Fives says.
"Mat." My commlink goes off as my master contacts me.
"Yes, Master? What is it?"
"Signals are coming in out of hyperspace. I need you back at the bridge."
"On my way Master." I shut off the device before looking at the others. "Tours over. Get ready you three." I grimly order them. All three nod as we go our separate ways.
As my master had states, the Separatist fleet has arrived and the city is put on high alert. All of us Jedi, Lama Su, as well as Rex and Cody are here watching the hologram that depicts the battle going on overhead.
"Shore up our defenses." Cody orders.
"The fleet is not as large as I expected." Master Shaak-Ti comments and she's right. In order to try to take this facility, much less destroy it, they'd need a much bigger fleet and ours is outnumbering them fairly well. "Begin the air strike." She orders our fleet to do. Already the hologram of the fleet begins to show the progress of the battle as both sides battle each other out. Our side easily outnumbers the enemy three to one and it shows as pieces of Grievous's fleet begins to tear apart.
"Warning! Falling debris." The warning system of the city goes off as it begins to tell us of the torn pieces of the Separatist fleet falls to the planet.
"Grievous appears to be sacrificing his transports in favor of protecting his command ship." Master Shaak-Ti points out that little fact and she's right. Already the various ships of their fleet are mostly transports and their tanking most of the hits.
"Something's not right." As my master says this, the foreboding feeling hasn't gone away on how… simple this plan is going for the enemy. Already more and more pieces of debris from the enemy's fleet continues to rain down on the planets ocean waters.
"I'm gonna press the attack, Master." Master Skywalker informs my master of what he plans to do.
"No, Anakin. Wait. It's too easy. Not even Grievous would attack so recklessly." My master tries to stop him and point out that little fact. If what I've heard about the Separatist General, he's cruel, horrific but he's not stupid.
"Master, the battle's up here in space, not down there." Master Skywalker retorts, fully committed to the battle up top.
"The debris from the destroyed Separatist ships is the key." My master says as he points to the falling debris and the impact points on the hologram.
"There is a lot of it." I add.
"What are you thinking?" Master Shaak-Ti asks.
"I think I'd like to go for a swim." He proposes his plan. As he turns to get ready to go swimming, he looks at me. "Mat, I need you to go and keep an eye out outside in case the enemy does do something sneaky."
"You got it, Master." I agree with the plan and follow him out.
"Anything, Master?" I ask over the commlink as I look through the binoculars. All I see is the crashing waves of the ocean so if there's anything that's going to happen, my master should see it first in his submersible.
"Nothing as of yet."
"Only you could be worried about the ships I already shot down." Master Skywalker says from his continued fighting in space.
"Pays to be cautious, Master Skywalker." I comment right back. We go back into silence as well all focus on our current tasks until my master speaks again.
"Wait a minute. Aqua droids. Looks as though they're assembling assault craft."
"What?" I mutter at the info. 'Assault craft?'
"Anakin, I was right. Those downed transports were hiding ships for an underwater assault. Anakin, come in!" My master tries to contact him but we get now reply.
"I think we're getting some interference from the storms Master. I can't contact him either."
"…"
"Master?" I go to call him again but like with Master Skywalker, I can't talk to him. "Not good." I start to move back inside and start going to rally whatever troops I can.
I soon find myself in one of the hanger areas of the facility and get ready with the troops to prepare to defend this place from the enemy's assault.
Suddenly, loud thuds and machinery movement can be heard. "What was that?" One clone asks.
I run out side and I am met with the view of seeing the Separatists Trident drill assault crafts jumping out of the water and latching onto the various buildings. "Whoa." I mutter as the equipment they decided to use for this engagement against us. My moment of awe is interrupted though as one of the ships jumps right in front of me and latches against the side of the building. It rears itself back to stab into the hanger… that's right behind me. "Holy—!" I shout and throw myself as hard as I can to the right. I move out of the way just in time as the giant machine rushes right where I just was and tears a giant hole through the side of the building and large door. Lots of dust and pieces of metal rain down around me and once the tearing of metal is done, I turn myself around and look at the machine that almost nearly killed me. "Wow, crap." I grunt as I get back up to my feet. A quick look around shows I'm completely cut off from the hanger from here without a clear entrance of getting back in. "Great. Just great. Need to find another way back in." I mutter out loud as I start running, hoping to find an entrance where I can start engaging the enemy directly. As I go I keep noticing the sheer amount of droid crafts that continue to jump out of the water and attack themselves to the various buildings. "This is not good." I mutter to myself. As I continue to run, its then I notice that one of my blasters is gone. "Oh c'mon!" I angrily shout as I two hand my last blaster.
As the battle for Kamino continues to rage on, several groups of the Jedi and Republic continue to fight and hold on against the enemy to keep them from destroy key structures of Tipoca City. Anakin Skywalker has already made his way back to the planet and has joined his former master in taking on the groups of droids that have moved in. Master Skaak-Ti is defending their central command area while the majority of the clones try to destroy the aqua droids that continue to be dropped from the assault crafts. Two clones, Echo and Fives, continue to fire from a vantage choke point position against a continuous column of aqua droids going up to them to protect the bridge.
"Fives, keep firing. We can beat these guys." Echo encourages his brother as they both continue to fire from prone positions on the enemy. Coming from their right, the defected clone known as 99 comes hobbling over to them with a pack strapped to his back filled with some gear for them.
"I… I brought you some ammo." He tells them.
"Is there a better spot than this, a better defensive position we can take?" Fives asks his brother. Right now their doing alright in holding the area but the enemy is relentless here. If there's anyone who can give them a better positioning idea of the cloning facility, it'd be 99.
"Droids! Behind us!" Before either of them can answer, Echo warns them as a small group of B1 battle droids come from the same direction that 99 just came from.
"Look! Grenades!" He points to the spilled open backpack with its grenades clear as day for them to see. Fives quickly runs out and grabs one of the grenades before throwing it at the B1 droids, destroying them all in an instant.
"Thanks, 99. Good job." Echo compliments his defected brother.
"More of them!" 99 suddenly shouts down the other way as more droids begin to make their way to them. Fives is about to throw another grenade but a flurry of blue blaster bolts impact the droids from behind. All three clones look at each other confused before the shooter rounds the corner. "Mat!" 99 shouts happily at seeing the Jedi Commander jog up to them.
"Watch it!" He shouts and aims behind them as he spots some figures moving in the smoke from Fives first grenade throw. They all aim and wait to see who it is and it's a good thing they did because it turns out its some clone cadets that emerge from the smoke.
"Cadets. What are you doing here?" Fives asks them, especially considering they aren't supposed to be out and about when theirs actual fighting going on. They may be clones but they haven't completed their training yet.
"We got separated From our group." The lead cadet informs them.
"Where were they taking you?" Echo asks.
"The barracks."
"Oh, I know the best way there." 99 chimes in.
"Lead the way, 99." Mat says and the group begins making their way there.
Because of his near perfect knowledge of the layout of this place, we make it to the barracks without any other complications. The cadets all take a breather as do I.
"What are we gonna do?" One of the cadets asks.
"A separatist victory means death for all of us." 99 states the obvious truth to everyone here. Not only would losing this place would mean we lose the war but also the thousands of other clones that still haven't even been finished growing yet in their defenseless vats. "The cadet is right. What are we gonna do?" He asks.
For a second, none of us have much to say. "We fight." At least until Rex and Cody make an appearance.
"Rex! Cody! Good to see you!" I walk up and pat their arms in greeting.
"You too Commander." Cody replies as they return the gesture
"But our training's not finished." One of the cadets makes the excuse but right now we can't have that.
"Look around." Thankfully, Fives has the right idea. "We're one in the same, same heart, same blood. Your training is in your blood. And my blood's boiling for a fight." He gives a short but confident speech to the cadets.
"This is our home. This is our war." Echo adds to the last of it. I smile at the both of them for their words in inspiring these young soldiers.
"What about weapons?" The cadet asks. He's not wrong. We're kind of low on weapons and ammo. Pretty sure my pistol is down to its last power cell.
"The armory. It's just a few corridors away here in the barracks. I can retrieve all the firepower that we need." Again, 99 saves the day. "Hah, so who wants to blast some droids?" He confidently asks the rest of us. There is no shortage of nods from everyone in taking down some droids before they turn to me.
"Alright then, Commander Morrow, how should we proceed?" Rex goes into full soldier mode as he and everyone else straightens up, ready for me, a commanding officer, to give their orders.
Instead of immediately giving them some orders, I stare at them all for a few seconds as I slowly look around the room, examining the bunk area of the clones. The place where they rest up, train and get ready to take the tests for them to become full clone troopers. As my eyes linger on the still young clone cadets, I sigh and take the DC-15A blaster rifle laying against the ladder into my hands. I stare at Rex before shaking my head. "No, Rex, Cody, Fives and Echo. What are YOUR orders?" I ask as I straighten up to them instead.
This gets a surprised and confused reaction from everyone here. "Sir?" Cody asks but I place my hand on Rex's shoulder.
"This… is not my planet. This is not my home planet. This is yours. All of you." I sweep my hand towards every single one of them. "I am not going to give you all orders on how to defend your home when I know your just as capable and driven to do it already." I give each and everyone of them a long hard stare with my words before laying the rifle against my shoulder. "So I ask again: What are your orders? Where do you want me?" I smile as I ask them.
It was one thing to get blaster training from the clones. Now I'm going to be taking orders from them on a battlefield. No doubt their confused a little from this development, but they smirk nonetheless as they dawn their helmets.
"Ha, here it is. Everything we need is here." 99 comments as we finally make it to the armory, just like he said and led us to. As the name of the room suggest, there is a plethora of weapons and gear for us to use and aid us in our fight and to implement our plan. From blasters to cannons and grenades, we have them.
"Excellent work, 99." Rex compliments him before we start to gather all the explosives and blaster rifles we need to use and arm everyone.
As I look around the weapons for us to use, one particular set catches my attention. As I begin to think on the area where we'll be fighting in and who we're facing. At the thought, this is the perfect opportunity for me to use this particular weapon. As I grab the necessary power cells for my pistol, I grab a couple for my primary weapon and heft it into my hands. "Whoa really, sir?" Cody asks in surprise as he spots me with the weapon.
I chuckle at his surprise and smile at him. "You tell me any other opportunity I can possibly be in that'll let me use this thing to its full effectiveness?" I ask him.
"…" The clones all think for a second as they remember where we are before they realize it.
"That's what I thought." I walk out the room hefting my new weapon to use.
Cody shakes his head before he picks up a pack. "Hurry up. The droids have almost reached the barracks. Let's get into position." He calls out and we start making our way back to the barracks, waiting to put our ambush into action.
"Open up."
"Get those doors open and scare the remaining clones out of hiding."
"Roger, roger." The droid obeys its order shoots the controls but we are already prepared for it. We open fire on him and any other droids we see in the doorway. A few of them fall instantly to our fury.
"Blast them." The droids try to shoot back but we take them down as well as they try to get an angle on us. It's when they start to cluster in and push through the door that we are forced to retreat. We run through the hallway until we make it back to the main area of the barracks. As the first one of us readies himself behind cover do the droids begin firing on us. I send a few shots back with my pistol as we run into cover. Rex, Cody, Fives, Echo and I engage the enemy while the cadets and 99 lie in wait. We move back one at a time as we take turns in suppressing the enemy in order to let us move back. Rex and I manage to make it to 99, who gives us grenades to toss while the enemy continues to advance. As the others up front pull back, Rex and I toss some grenades at the droids. We purposely let the droids gain so much ground until they walk right into our trap.
"Cadets, now!" Upon his order, the sleeping tubes where the clones rest and recuperate open up right behind the droids from above, revealing the clone cadets as they open fire on the backs of the enemy's. The droids try to shoot on both sides but its the scrap heap for them as we catch them in a cross-fire.
"Now for an even bigger cross-fire." I mutter with a grin and grab my primary weapon from the ground. Holding it in both hands, I step out. "Eat this!" I shout as the barrels of my Z-6 Rotary cannon spool up for a second before a flurry of blue blaster bolts fly out of the multiple barrels of my weapon straight at the enemy. With the added fire, the droids begin to fall even faster due to the narrow path they are forced to take in this place. The sheer volume of shots that fly from my weapon is exhilarating and I can't help but smile as the droids continue to become perforated. The fun and feel of springing the ambush though must come to an end as we start to lose the momentum. "Reloading!" I call out and move back behind cover where I begin the task of replacing the power cell. It's not as simple as other blasters so it takes me a second to get it ready to fire again.
In order to cover me, Rex jumps out and tosses another grenade before coming right back in. He goes to grab the last grenade. "Last one, Commander. Make it count." Rex says as he tosses the last grenade to Cody.
"I'll get more." 99 says and before anyone can do anything, he starts running to go find more grenades.
I hastily move to finish reloading as Rex tries to stop him. "99, you can't!"
"I'm a soldier like you!" He replies still determined to move.
"99, don't!" I yell after the clone but he continues on. While I admire his will to continue doing what he can to help us, I don't like how out in the open he is.
"Eaahhh!" It's when he gets shot in the leg that my heart sinks.
"99, no!" Echo yells out as he opens fire on the droids with everything he's got, doing what he can to tear apart the droids so they don't fire on the retreating clone.
But there's too many of them.
Because of our connection to the force, Jedi can sense the energy that flows through the air when it comes to blasters. That's why we can deflect all types of blaster bolts with ease because we know where the shots are going to fly and land. And right now in this moment, I can see the shots heading straight for 99.
My teeth grit.
My hands tighten on the handles of my cannon.
"NOOOOO!" The words flow from my mouth loudly as I step out completely. I step out in the open and open fire with everything I have against these blasted droids! "Ah!" I yelp as one shot nearly hits me but it just pass over my shoulder left shoulder, the extreme heat leaving a small burn but only an inconvenience. The red blaster bolts flow around me as I continue to fire regardless while I make myself the sole focus of the droids attention, shielding 99 as best I can while more close blaster shots nearly hit but never actually. "AAAHHH!" It's when a shot grazes my right shoulder harshly that I finally falter.
"Commander!"
"Mat!"
The clones all shout in concern at the hit I take. While they renew their attempts to open fire to cover me, I don't care to admit it… but I'm angry. As I turn back to the droids, I stare at them as I've had enough of this. 'Its time to end this!' I pick my cannon up before I throw it as hard as I can towards the droids. "ECHO! FIVES! CADETS!" Both clones turn from their onslaught to see me throwing my weapon… and pulling my arms back. "DOOOOWWWN!" They take the initiative and push themselves against or retreat into their cover. The force concentrates around me… and I unleash it.
"HRRRAAAA!"
"Hm?" Ventress stops her walking amidst the dead bodies of the clones she's killed at the curious force signature. 'Interesting… I feel like I've felt that before.' She thinks on the sudden spike. However she doesn't dwell on it too long as she moves to complete her objective.
Master Shaak-Ti freezes at the sudden flare up of power in the force. She stops focusing on it as she continues to deflect blaster shots.
"Huh?" Anakin too stops in his tracks and tries to feel the signature again but its gone now. "What?" He mutters confused before running on.
Obi-wan blocks a lightsaber strike from General Grievous before pushing the cyborg off of him and force pushing him away. Before he can push, he feels it.
"Mat." He mutters at the power spike he feels from his Padawan. 'What happened?' His questioning thought gets interrupted as the General tries to take his head off, forcing him to block it.
"Haaaa… haaaa… haaaaa…" I let out tired breaths.
Fives and Echo peel themselves off the wall as the power of the force exhibited on them pushed them against their cover. They groan from the pressure placed on them but move about to loosen themselves up. Its when they move out into the open that everyone sees what happened. Scratches adorn the sides, a couple panels almost fall off the walls, but it's the dreads almost embedded into the far off wall, along with my cannon, that shows what happened. "Wooaaah." Echo moans in stunned surprise.
"You can say that again." Fives agrees with the sentiment.
"Nuh." I grunt as I fall onto one knee.
"Commander!" Rex calls out as both he and Cody ease me against the wall to rest. "Take it easy sir."
"Ow." I mutter as now that I'm not focusing on the battle, the burns start to sting. Besides the one to my shoulder, none of them actually hit me but came way too close to hitting me in general.
"Commander!" 99 comes hobbling in next to me. I'm relieved to see him alright but seeing the blaster scoring on his leg still makes me worried. "Here. This should help." He pulls out a bacta bandage from the pack and gives it to Cody to place on my most serious wound. These bandages have a powerful liquid material in them called bacta that is a powerful healing element that can stabilize and heal nearly any type of wound people can sustain. Many clone soldiers would even be completely submerged in the stuff in tank vats to make sure for a more accelerated and effective means to heal them. However this is reserved for the critically and more life threatening injuries that they would sustain. Most often you'l be treated with bandages and patches laced with the stuff to focus that one area's healing rate. He doesn't get the chance to place it on me though as I put my hand on him to stop him.
"99 first."
"What?! No sir! You take priority and—" Before Cody can finish arguing, I grab the front of his chest plate and pull him close while giving him a glare.
"Him first. That's an order soldier." I strongly tell him without any room for argument. For awhile now I've been willing to let some things slide with those I fight with, not willing to keep a full on soldier aspect and show I don't see them as just soldiers. Now it seems I'll to make sure they know I'm still the leader.
He stares at me for a moment before he nods. "Yes sir." He moves back to the injured defected clone and begins to bandage his leg. While he does that, I decide to do my own form of healing. With the force, some Jedi have abilities to do all sorts of things when used right and some of those just happens to be a form of healing. I close my eyes and concentrate as I begin to steady pace of healing my wounds. When hearing about how we're going to fight, I had decided to learn more about how to heal wounds using the force and while its not at the more advanced levels of use, I only know the basics so it takes a while and some firm concentrations to make sure it gets done right. The burning pain eases up from the rest of my body but my shoulder still stings before I have to stop. The push I did earlier did a number on me. Letting out a breath I was holding, I open my eyes and look to see their done helping with 99's leg. "Alright. He's stable sir. Should make a full recovery. Now you." I don't argue as I let him move my clothes to get at the shoulder graze. Without wasting anytime, he places bandage on the blaster burn before making sure it's firmly stuck to my shoulder and ready to heal me.
As soon as it's placed, the relief is immediate as a cool feel hits me right there on the burn. I smile in satisfaction. "Ahh, thank you."
"You got it, sir."
"Can you stand?" Fives asks as he offers his hand to me. With a smirk, I grab his hand and let him pull me to my feet. As soon as I do, I roll my shoulders and my neck a couple times before nodding to him.
"Wow." The cadets begin climbing down from their positions and take in our impromptu area of combat. "We did it. We held them back." One of them says excitedly on the fact they were in a firefight and won.
"That was a close one 99." Rex says as he pats the clones shoulder. 99 smiles at the words but for some reason he still looks… down. While I would ask what's wrong, we still got more to deal with.
"Yes… uhh, sir?"
"We're good here but we still have a whole facility to deal with." I begin to say and start giving orders. "Cadets: Stay here and defend this place. Think of it as a safe haven and defensible position for any other clones that come by." They nod as they hold their weapons up. "Echo, Fives, Rex, Cody: Move out and start mopping up any and all droid detachments you can find. Make sure to stop by the armory to resupply. 99: Go out and find more of our men and resupply them wherever you can. If anyone hears anything on where the droids may be going or attacking, let everyone know on the comms." I hold up my commlink as an example. "Move out everyone." I finish and begin moving.
"Uhh sir, what are you going to do?" Echo asks before I go too far from them. I stop and pull out my pistol before looking back at them.
"Classic warfare strategy: go for the key infrastructures. And I can think of a few that are unique to this place specifically." I mutter the last part to myself but they get it and nod.
"We'll get it done sir." Rex acknowledges my orders as he holds up his carbine.
"Good." I bow to them all. "May the force be with you all." With the Jedi way of saying 'good luck' to them, I turn right around and run to my destinations in mind.
"He's… really… not like other Jedi is he?" Cody asks out loud as they keep staring where their Commander just left.
Rex for his part, turns to the defected clone 99, who is also staring at the wounded leg he sustained when trying to help more than he may have. "No, he's not."
Ventress has finally made it to her destination. While General Grievous and the clones were all meant to distract and cause as much destruction to the facility as possible, Ventresses job was to move through the enemies lines and find the one thing that the Republic has that there is nowhere else in the entire galaxy: the DNA chamber housing the key component of the entire clone army. Under no circumstances is she to destroy it, as much as she thinks it'd be preferable, as finding out more about the DNA that makes the clone would unlock new possibilities for the Separatists. Something that the Republic and the Jedi cannot allow.
Ventress strides into the DNA chamber without any complications or retaliation against her. As soon as she steps up to the console, she feels a presence come up behind her, making her smirk. "I was beginning to think my presence went unnoticed. But your too late, I already have what I need." She says and just as she says that, the chamber opens up with the cannister holding primary DNA code of one Jango Fett, the heart and soul of the Republic clone army. "… What?!" She yells angrily as the cannister that was supposed to come out doesn't. Its empty.
"Looking for something?" The voice asks, making himself known and not just any presence. Ventress whirls around in anger as she spots Mat of all smiling smugly at her.
She scoffs at him. "You… I don't care about you. I don't have time to deal with the likes of you." She brushes him off and goes back to the computer to trying to figure out where her objective was taken.
"Oh… looks like your prize was taken. I wonder where it went?"
"…" Her hands freeze above the console at the tone that the Padawan speaks to her in. The way how he was talking puts her on edge and makes her think that he had something to do with the missing DNA. "… Where… is it?" She asks very angrily and crossly as she turns back to him. Even now as she's staring at him with pure anger, the smirk doesn't leave his face.
"What? The focal DNA that makes the clones. Yeah I had a feeling something like that was going to happen… so I took it."
"WHERE?!" She yells and ignites her blades but he chuckles.
"Ah ah ahhhh. I was the one that took the cannister from there and only I know where it is."
"And what's to stop me from getting the information from you painfully?" She threatens but he isn't deterred by it as he shakes his head.
"Because you don't have the time to do so."
*Boooom*
A distance explosion can be heard going off. "See. Already your troops are being destroyed as we speak and you do not have the time to torture me for the information nor can you afford to kill me since I know where your objective is."
"…" As much as she would like to cut him down and be done with the thorn in her side, he does present some valid arguments to her that while she doesn't want to believe are right, she doesn't have a choice in the matter. Not if she wants to complete what she was tasked to do. "Well, seems you're not as pathetic as I thought."
"I feel soooo relieved." He answers sarcastically, which sparks her ire but she reigns it in.
"What is it you want?"
"My lightsaber, now." He demands instantly without hesitation.
She stares at him for a few seconds before she reaches behind her and pulls out his weapon. A smile graces his face as he finally lays eyes again on his weapon. "Here it is. Now where is it?" She demands as well.
"No. Give me my lightsaber and I'll tell you where it is. Even show it to you." He offers to her but she gets a cross angry look.
"No. You go get it, bring it to me and then I'll give you your weapon back." She counter offers but Mat will not have it from her.
"You think I'm stupid?" He states annoyed. "You're a Sith. If I bring you the DNA container, there will be nothing stopping you from cutting me down without so much as giving me my weapon."
"And how do I know I can trust you to keep your word?"
"Because I'm a Jedi." He states with certainty. "I think you know enough about us to know that its not really in a Jedi's nature to lie or deceit someone when given their word basically." He explains as best he can to her. Between a Jedi and a Sith, it's the user of the Dark side that'll more likely lie to you than a Jedi will and so he is not budging on the topic.
She clenches her hands tightly against her lightsaber and the one belonging to Mat. The idea of this… child giving her orders now makes her blood boil at the action. But in the end, his arguments, and his caution are all valid and she lets out an angered sigh. "Fine. Here." She tosses the lightsaber to him. He catches it easily enough one handed while still holding his pistol in his left. For a moment he doesn't move with his weapon in his grasp until he turns it on.
The familiar sound as a lightsaber turns in is music to his ears seeing as how its by his own hands and his own weapon. He smiles as he stares at the blue blade and swings it a couple times around to get a feel for it again back in his possession. "Nice. Thank you for taking care of it."
"Quit stalling!" She yells at him angrily. "You have your lightsaber back. Now show me where it is?!" She angrily demands yet again.
After admiring his weapon a bit more, he looks back at her as he turns his weapon off. He gets a look of thinking as he tries to remember where it is. "The DNA container… right. What I promised to give you if you gave me back my weapon… I don't think so."
"… What?" Its only one word but the sheer amount of anger that seems to be rising in her can be felt by him in droves. "What do you mean, you don't think so?" She quietly asks but its from restrained anger.
"By what it means, I'm not going to show you where it is."
Her hands clench tightly, almost drawing blood at the change Mat has given her. "You gave your word." She states.
Remembering that little part, he smiles and nods. "Yeah, true. I gave my word. But you know what else?" He says it as a question but he answers it anyway. "I really don't care about you."
"… I will make your death…. Extremely painful." She brings both her arms up to grab Mat but he's already one step ahead of her. He opens fire on her, forcing her to forgo using the force to push or choke him and bring one of her blades up to block his blaster shots. He doesn't let up on the shots before she's had enough and charges him. "HRRAAAAA!" She dashes forward and jumps, her red lightsaber poised in a thrusting strike to end Mat in one fatal blow.
He in turn ignites his own weapon and slashes.
The red lightsaber stabs through the door and stops an inch from my face. I step back from the deadly blade and look to the side at the door controls. A single burning cut goes through the control panel, forcing the door to close and stop Ventress from hitting me. "Phew. That was a close one." After pissing her off, it was a real gamble to do that and halt her attack but I'm glad it worked out. Reaching behind me, I pull out the DNA cannister I had on me the whole time. "Perfect." I mutter as I toss it into the air and catch it. Another lightsaber stabs through the door and both blades begin running along the sides of the doors. "Not perfect." I run as fast as I can down the hallway and a couple more as far away from the murderous Dark Jedi looking to lop my head off. 'Gotta get out of here. But most of all I have to make sure she doesn't get this thing at all costs. But ho—?' "Oof!"
"Aah!"
I suddenly find myself crashing into someone and falling to the ground. After a moment for both of us to groan, I look to see who it was that I crashed into. "Master Skywalker!" Thankfully its someone I know.
"Ow. Oh, Mat. Good to see you. Listen I could use your help in protecting—"
"TheDNAcapsulecontainingthegeneticcodeoftheclones I know. Way ahead of you." I quickly tell him as I hold up everyone's objective in hand. His eyes widen as he stares at the container that I should not have.
"What are you doing with that? That's supposed to be in the DNA chamber where its supposed to be."
I go to respond.
"WHERE ARE YOU?!"
I tense up as I hear the loud voice of a pissed off Dark Jedi not far from me. Master Skywalker looks in the direction I just came from before looking back at me. "I may have pissed off Ventress when I got this thing and she's chasing me."
"You what?!" He asks surprised but I quickly shush him.
"Shhhhhh! Quiet! Alright, listen sir. Without a doubt, she can't have this whatsoever nor can she destroy it so here's what's going to happen. I'm going to lead her away with this empty one," I pull out the empty one from behind me. "While you keep this safe."
"What? No. No way am I letting you take Ventress on all by yourself, let alone be a decoy for her." He doesn't like the idea and means to not go through with it.
Before I can properly explain why this has to be, I can hear her footsteps running down the hallway. "There's no time, Master!" I shove the DNA into his hands and push him into a nearby room before I lock the door. I can hear his protests on the other side as he tries to open it again but can't. I step back away from the door before turning back to the corner and see Ventress staring deathly at me. "I've got your prize Ventress!" I hold the empty cannister up while pulling out my pistol. "You want it?! Come and get it!" I challenge her and shoot at her, forcing her to defend against my attack and give me the chance to put some distance against her. I run and shoot and while my shots are not as accurate, they do force her to keep her guard up in order to defend against me and any lucky shots I may land. Either way, it's exactly what I want for her to chase. At least in this instance.
I continue to lead her around until I manage to find a path leading outside. As soon as I make it, I look around for any other way I can possibly go to escape and try to find some backup but the wreckages of some of the assault crafts are blocking both ways to either side of me. I turn around to head back but I stop as now something else is blocking me. "Nowhere to run now." Ventress hisses to me as she has a sick demented smile on her face. Taking one last look around me in hopes of finding another route, I still find nothing that can help.
I sigh and stare at her as I clip the cannister to behind my belt. "Well, it was only a matter of time." I mutter as my pistol is in my left hand and I pull out my lightsaber in my right. "Shall we have a proper duel now?"
"Hm, we'll see if you can make even a little effort against me." She taunts as she turns on her blades. While I may be ready to fight her, my confidence in my ability to isn't on par with my words to be honest. It's been awhile since I used a lightsaber and since then I was focusing on my blaster use. Now after so long I have suddenly use the blade again. With both our weapons ready to attack, we slowly circle each other as we gauge each other and do what we can to read our opponents carefully and what they might do.
Ventress is the first to attack as she charges at me with a war cry. I open fire on her as she moves, forcing her to deflect the shots back at me but I'm one step ahead as I dodge my shots and bring my own blade around to strike her. She blocks my side slice with both blades before pushing me off and striking to cut me from multiple angles using her two lightsabers. Because of the two she has, I am unable to properly attack her as I focus entirely on defending myself from her continued onslaught. She attacks with one after another as I can only defend myself from the repeated strikes to cut me from my sides. I even try to shoot at her a couple times but she easily dodges the close proximity blaster shots until I make a fatal mistake.
I block both her blades from a single attack and push her off me and aim my gun right at her as she moves back. As I pull the trigger to shoot her, she leans back, dodging my telegraphed shot before bringing one of her blades up and slices the barrel of my blaster in half before following up with a kick to my stomach. A couple elbow strikes to my face and a punch to injured shoulder are all that she needs to take me down before she knees me in the stomach.
"Ahh." I hiss after the beating she gave me as I kneel on the ground. To further taunt me, she walks over and grabs my lightsaber again.
"You really don't deserve this." She tells me and picks up the cannister. "Finally." She says to herself with a smile after finally obtaining her objective. Its when she gets a feel for the weight that the smile disappears and mine begins. "Wait… this is…" She shakes it's a few times in her hand before she angrily clenches it tightly in her hand. "This is empty!" She states angrily and throws it into the ground.
"Oh, really. Wow I didn't notice. Ack!" I say to her sarcastically before I suddenly feel a constricting motion on my neck. All of a sudden, I'm lifted into the air with Ventress force choking me again.
"Quit playing games with me." She hisses in my face as she holds me close to her but doesn't let up on the choking. "Where did you leave it?" She requests but I only chuckle, further sparking her ire.
"Somewhere where you'll never get it." Is my reply and from the further tightening of on my throat, it was not what she wants. She stares directly into my eyes angrily. For a few seconds the cutting of my oxygen begins to worsen as my vision begins to darken and I start weaken considerably. Already I've been taxed harshly this whole fight and its getting harder to stay conscious. Even so, I can still here one last thing.
"Mat?"
"And where your going, they'll never get you." She threatens one last time and before I know, my entire body is completely weightless as she throws me.
"MAT!" Anakin calls out at the last minute as he watches the Padawan go sailing through the air and off the edge of the facility towards the water.
"Ohhh, poor boy." The sarcasm in Ventresses voice can be heard clear as day as she turns around to the Jedi that was too late. "So sad. But… that's life."
Anakin grits his teeth as he pulls out his lightsaber and turns it on. "Your going to pay for this Ventress." He threatens as he glares at her.
"Ha ha ha ha." She lets out a low chuckle as she pulls out both her lightsabers and ignites them. "Let's see you try Skywalker." She replies and the two charge each other. She tries to cut him from the left but he deflects her attack and strikes to her but she blocks the hit and tries to counter him but he blocks her in kind. He pushes her back and goes for a low strike to her from the left but she jumps up to dodge the slash. They trade lightsaber blows again and again with Anakin's strikes fueled by a bit of anger after watching Mat plunge to the rough waters down below. He pushes her back and tries to hit her but her dual lightsabers makes her just a step ahead in defending against him. After one particular block, she kicks him in the stomach that sends him sliding back away, giving them a moment to breathe and take stock. "Are you angry, Skywalker? Don't like that I just killed a promising pupil?" The taunts to him. "I didn't really see it. He couldn't stand up to me even a little."
"Shut it, Ventress." He growls at her before readying himself again to fight. "I'm going to make sure you never do anything like that ever again!" He threatens her, malice in his voice.
Ventress chuckles again as she too gets ready to attack him again.
"It's alright Master Skywalker!" Suddenly the familiar voice of the Padawan they thought was dead comes in over the commlink.
"Mat?" Anakin replies confused but also slightly relieved.
"I'm fine Master! I'm safe. Don't worry about me." He quickly assures the Jedi Knight he's alright before cutting off the connection.
With a smile, Anakin turns back to the assassin with his own smirk to her. "Well, Ventress. Looks like you failed… again." Now he taunts back to her now.
Now its her turn to feel unbridled anger that she wasn't even able to kill the nuisance to her.
"Phew." I sigh in relief at the close call. I look around from my spot on the side of the building. After Ventress tossed me away, I reached out and was able to launch one last subtle force pull and bring my lightsaber back into my hands as I fell. Then it was a matter of reorienting myself as I fell against the building in order to activated my lightsaber and stab it into the building to stop myself. Now I am hanging here against the smooth surface of the building with my lightsaber being the only thing keeping me from plummeting straight down to the harsh waves down below and either I die on impact with the water or drown to the waves. "Real close." I mutter as I stare back up top to see the edge where I fell from. "Alright, now I just need to figure out how to get out here. Quickly." I tell myself as I look around. Problem is its pretty high up and my arm is getting tired from holding on. I grab the handle with both hands and try to pull myself up. "Okay. I need to pull myself up and hopefully figure out how to- Oh! Crap! Noooo!"
In trying to pull myself up, I pressed my feet against the wall to try to climb up but the rain has made the smooth surface slick and lose my footing as I slam down. In my haste to grab the handle, my finger brushed against the button to turn off and on my lightsaber and now I find myself falling down the side of the building. "No no no nononononoo!" I repeatedly say over and over again as I try to grab a holding but my plummet remains constant. Before I can try to stop myself again, I land on a small incline of the building itself and find myself sliding down a curved rounded section of a rooftop like the ones up top. Even so, I can't stop myself still as I roll down the roof. I start to feel dizzy from the rolling and I can't stab my blade into the roof because I'm jerking around too much. I grunt as I fall push myself for a moment off the roof so I can land on my back and slide some more, this time without the rolling. My thoughts try to come up with ideas in order to figure out what to do but soon I watch the edge coming close and close to me. "Crap! No! Come on do something!" I berate myself. Like before, I stab my lightsaber back into the roof as hard as I can to stop myself from falling off completely.
Unfortunately, my momentum was too fast as I'm still moving as my lightsaber tears a large swatch against the metal surface. "Come on stop! Stop! Stop! Stooop!" I almost plead as I come dangerously close to the edge with no signs of stopping. "Arhh! Son of a—!" I yell as I fall off the edge with my lightsaber catching the edge just before I go off. My entire body pulls into the underside of the roof as it tears off and I tumble through the air. Like with the rolling, the dizziness returns as I flip through the air towards the ground. This time I can't fix myself until…
*Crash*
"Oof!" I slam hard onto the ground on my back. On top of my vision spinning in circles from the rolling, the vertigo hits me hard as even though my body is still, everything feels like its moving. "… Aaaahhh. Oowww." I hiss and groan in pain from the abuse. 'I want some time off after this.' I don't know if Jedi can get time off, or Padawans for that matter, but I really really don't wanna do anything else right now… or ever.
"Mat?! Come in! Where are you?! I can't see you!"
"Anakin, what's wrong? What happened to Mat?" Master Skywalker talks over the comms with my master shortly after, no doubt concerned with the questions.
"It's okay." I bring my arm in front of me and calmly reply. "I'm alright… kind of." I groan a little.
"Kind of?" My master questions.
"Took some hits, banged up a little, but nothing serious or life threatening. Just really tired." I give the best explanation I can given what I feel right now. Nothing feels broken or torn just probably bruised a lot.
"Where are you? We'll come to you." Master Skywalker says. I crane my head forward from my laying position to see where exactly I landed. Like the rest of the city, I'm pretty sure I landed on some sort of landing platform but an old one to be exact. It's not as well maintained as the rest of the place as theirs green moss and mold having grown over sections but mostly the edge of the whole platform.
"Hard to say. I'm on some old platform. Lots of moss and seaweed all over the place so I don't think anyones used it in a while. Its on the lower section of the place so try going down basically." I explain as best I can given my view.
"Alright, we're coming to you now. The Separatists have already been defeated so just sit tight."
"See you soon."
"Later." I reply to my master and Skywalker before letting my arm fall back to my side. I proceed to close my eyes and just lay there to get my baring's again. "Ughhh. Wow that was… ahhh." I lightly groan as I continue to lay here.
"Are you okay?"
My eyes open at the soft new voice I hear. Opening my eyes, I see a Kaminoan standing over me. From what I can tell it's a she from the voice and face. "… Somewhat." I simply reply.
"How did you get here?"
"… I fell." Its not a perfect answer, but it's all I can think of to say in this situation. Plus, I have no idea what else to say.
She stares at me curiously before she cranes her head up to look at the large roof structure over us. She looks back down at me. "That must be painful."
"It kind of is."
"Do you need help?"
"…Please." She extends her hand for me to take. Grabbing it, she manages to pull me to my feet while I groan all the way up. "Ahhh… thank you. Who are you anyway?" I ask, curious to why she's here when their was a battle.
"I am Nala Se. I am a Doctor here as well as one of the Chief Medical Scientists who works on the creation of the clone troopers that fight alongside you. May I ask who you might be?" She introduces herself to me and asks.
Seeing as who I have in my presence, I grunt as I straighten myself up and speak, "I am Padawan learner Matthew Morrow. But you may call me Mat for short. What are you doing out here? Shouldn't you be somewhere safe?" I ask.
"I and the rest of my colleagues have reassured us that the enemy has been defeated and we are free to move again, as well as provide aid to the wounded soldiers that protected us." She says before taking a closer more careful look at me. "Why don't you come with my young one. I can help tend to those wounds of yours." She offers.
I grab my shoulder that took the hit earlier ago and wince at the soreness. "I'd very much appreciate it." I agree with a grateful smile.
"Come with me then." She leads me as I walk with her as she leads me away.
I limp a little as I walk but thankfully I'm not in any serious danger or chance of injury. If she was allowed to roam outside of the bunker she and her colleagues were placed in then hopefully I won't have to be on my guard right now. "Hm?" However that still doesn't stop me from being curious as I spot something shiny in a pile of seaweed on the platform. "Hold on a second."
"What is it?" She asks as I walk away from her and head to the mysterious object.
It's clustered at the edge of the platform where I go and crouch to dig it out of the small pile of gunk its trapped in. After several pulls of the gunk off the item, I grab it and bring it up to my face for me to examine it. The entire thing is in a weird L shape and is covered in vegetation and moss, giving it a weird feel to it but small patches of it remain untouched, giving some of the silvery but still dirty metal. As I grab it a bit more though, pieces of the green covering begin to fall away and its then that I realize that I have in my hand is a blaster. "What the?" I mutter at what this is doing here. "Ma'am, was this pad used by anyone before?" I ask without looking back.
"Yes, it has. Unfortunately we were informed some time ago that they had lost their life at the beginning of the war, so the platform has fallen from most of our memory's."
"Hmmm." I moan as I try to peel the stuff off it but its caked on there roughly. "Eh, I'll save it for later." I stand back up and walk back over to her. "Sorry to keep you waiting. Shall we?" I apologize and gesture for us to continue to the doors.
"Let's." She agrees and starts walking with me just behind her to her left. As she leads me away, I pull both items in my hands for me to examine them again.
In my left, I hold the moss-covered blaster in my hand and in my right, my original lightsaber now back in my possession. Even though I feel like crap, I'm probably going to be laid out for awhile, but even so I can't help but smile nonetheless.
Again, surprised this took so long. Wasn't expecting to go this hard or this in-depth with the chapter itself but I am quite proud with how this turned out. From what some of you can tell, I did a little bit of changes to the overall timeframe of the episode itself to better suit how I wrote this out but I don't think its that much of a problem. During the lightsaber fights at the end I wanted to try to make them a bit more descriptive in the fighting but it was at that point I was starting to feel I drew the chapter out long enough and wanted to hurry up and get to the end. Hope it was alright.
Anyway, now Mat has finally gotten his hands on his lightsaber again and a new blaster for him to use. He just has to clean it up and fix it back to working order. If anyone can guess who the blaster belonged too, well, kudo's to you in that regard.
Here are the reviews:
BraveSeeker3: I would too. Hopefully I'll have something in the future. Wait, you did? I'm still unsure. I'm not sure what it is but the conversation just wasn't feeling right to me. Oh well. If you and everyone else liked it, I shouldn't complain.
Vulcran Stormblade: As much as he would like to make sure that doesn't happen, the enemy holds no reservations or the same feelings as he does in keeping his lightsaber with him. At the very least, he will get more harsh scolding from his master. No one likes that.
SAK-96: The clones are that good. After all, they were literally made for combat. Hopefully he will prove to be a force to be reckoned with on the water world.
Cf96: Thanks. I appreciate it.
RedHood001: It's one of those things I kind of like to notice when it came to the series. How these common expendable droids actually some form of intelligence over the others and I like it. Possibly expect to see 218 again in the future. That'll also be something I'm kind of looking forward to in the series. The awkwardness Mat will feel when in certain situations between Obi-wan and Satine. The first I remember seeing them they did argue like an old married couple. We'll see how Mat's place will make this… interesting.
When it comes to Maul, I have some scenes and interactions planned out for Mat to deal with the Sith and his brother. I don't know about you but Mat doesn't seem like the type to lay back and let a vengeful Sith kill his master.
Their will be a lot emotions going on through the series, as per the usual when it comes to Jedi and trying to stay on the path to the light side, and through trials and tribulations will Mat be forced into some dire situations that will test his mental fortitude beyond all levels. How that'll play out… we'll just have to wait and see.
Shadow Solaris: I'm glad you think so. I'm sure I'll come up with something more on those special droids and clones that shine above the rest of their compatriots. The Zilo beast is still a long way off, so you, as well as I, will have to wait and see how that plays out with the addition of Mat.
Guest: Wow. That is something I never knew. I've heard them referenced a couple times but I never really took much thought into it. I just thought all Jedi in the field were automatically given the rank of General but I guess I was wrong. Thank you so much for pointing this out.
Just to let you all know, remember that I'm done writing chapters for now for this story don't expect a quick update soon. I'm going to work one after another on all my stories now to get my work fleshed out for everyone I can. Also note, I'll be skipping a few episodes when the next chapter for this story is uploaded.
Thank you all for your support again everyone, I appreciate it. Go ahead and fave, follow, review, whatever you want, have a great day and as always, have fun reading.
