Author's note: ATTENTION! ATTENTION! ATTENTION! If you are reading this then good, unfortunately I have bad news. Starting tomorrow I will be taking college classes again so that means that updates will be coming out slower once more. However I will continue writing this story it will just take time. Good news is that in the summer I will have time to update the story more frequently. I hope you enjoy this next chapter. I do not own star wars or any of its characters.
-time: 1320. Location: new Republic staging area-
Invasion of Christophsis: day 5
Shortly after the energy dome was taken out, the last of our forces and the heavy cannons wiped out the rest of the droid army. My team and I personally took out another 30 droids and two tanks. Just in time, Republic reinforcements broke through the atmosphere, Republic gunships immediately deployed fresh troops to secure a landing area as a acclamator capital ship landed nearby unloading wave upon wave of tanks and soldiers. General Skywalker and General Kenobi issues a general order for all troops in the 501st and the 212th to gather their supplies to be moved off world. I saluted Joker and Ka'rta and watched them head back to their squad. I proceeded to meet up with Denal and his men as they were gathering their gear onto gunships.
"Hell of a battle eh Prowl?" Denal asked me once the gunship closed its doors and we headed into orbit.
"Yeah no kidding, I'm glad we managed to get out of the battle mostly intact," I said solemnly.
"Don't start with that depressing crap brother. We did the best we could and we did survive," Denal said sympathetically while placing his hand on my shoulder. I thought on his words and tried to get out of the funk I was in.
"Yeah you're right. Sorry, that rear guard mission still bothers me. But you're right, we survived and we need to keep fighting for the fallen," I stated in a determined tone. Denal slapped my shoulder a couple times in agreement.
"Now there is the average sniper I know and hate dearly," Denal joked.
"Sounds like someone is still mad that they never made ARC," I said nonchalantly while looking off to the side.
Everyone inside the LAAT started laughing at my reply. It was a well known fact on how much Denal hated that I made ARC before he did. Denal grumbled and shoved a few of his men in frustration.
"Next person that laughs gets triple laboratory duties," our lovable sergeant said coldly. That quickly shut everyone up.
Soon enough our gunship stopped moving and the doors opened to reveal the gray interior of an acclamator hangar bay.
"All 501st soldiers! Report to living quarters area 2 for to unload and secure bunking space!" The intercom system announced.
All the members of the 501st looked at each other before heading off to the designated area for our legion. Denal and I walked together in comfortable silence, we had always bunked together even during training days of Kamino. Each room only had enough space for 4 beds, we never cared for our other roommates and we usually got along with them anyway. Denal and I unloaded our gear and armor, we then put on grey navy and sat next to each other on Denal's bed.
"So what do you think our next battle will be?" Denal asked while laying on his bunk with hands behind his head.
"I don't know, I just want to be on leave already," I sighed tiredly while reaching for my data pad.
"Don't you ever get tired of reading about Mandalorian culture?" Denal asked jokingly.
"Nope, why get tired of the life I'll live once the war is over," I replied. Denal sat up and punched me in the shoulder.
"Well you might as well tell me more about it since I'll be with you," Denal stated with a smile.
"Well you remember the man that we are based off?" I asked. My brother nodded.
"Well apparently, he was the person to pick up Jaster Meerel's legacy and lead the super commandos for a brief amount of time," I explained. This information surprised Denal.
"Whoa whoa whoa. You're telling me that the bounty hunter that General Windu killed was also the guy who supported and practically was a part of the belief we want to live after the war?" the sergeant asked incredulously.
"Yup," I answered. Denal opened and closed his mouth a couple times, trying to find the right words to say.
"So then...are we supposed to hate General Windu?" Denal asked. I opened my mouth to reply but then left it opened as I pondered the question. This confused me as well.
"I'm...not sure. I know that Mandalorians generally dislike Jedi so maybe but I don't know. This would be a hell of a lot easier if we had someone who actually is a Mandalorian," I sighed in frustration.
"You know I heard some of the clone commandos had Mandalorian trainers," Denal pointed out helpfully.
"Well if we run into them we'll ask," I suggested.
For a couple of hours we continued talking about what would we do when we got on Mandalore. Being bounty hunters was the profession we wanted but we were unsure if we should keep it to ourselves or make a bounty hunter organization. Denal came up with a few ridiculous names such as fodder hunters and the bloody duo. Each name earned him a punch to the shoulder. Seriously, no one can just come up with those type of names by accident. Suddenly our cabin door opened, revealing General Skywalker and Commander Tano. We both got out of our bed and saluted the two.
"Denal, Prowl. Ahsoka will be staying in your cabin until we reach our next destination," Skywalker explained to us as Ahsoka took the other bottom bunk.
"Sir what exactly is our next destination?" I asked the General.
"We're heading to the planet Teth. Apparently Jabba's son has been kidnapped and the kidnappers were seen at Teth. We are to rescue the small hutt in hopes of making a treaty with gangster," the General sneered in disgust. Denal and I nodded. The General then left, leaving us with Commander Tano.
"So this is the youngling you told me about?" Denal asked me.
"Stop calling me that! I'm not a youngling I'm a Padawan. Say it with me, Pa-da-wan," Ahsoka tried to explain in frustration. Denal and I looked at each other. Denal then looked back at the Torgruta.
"Young-ling," he sounded it out as calmly as possible. Then both Denal and I were laughing hysterically while Ahsoka hit herself in the face with a pillow.
"Relax rookie we're just messing with you," I said while chuckling. Ahsoka stopped hitting herself to glare at me but then her expression changed to realization.
"Weren't you the ARC trooper I met earlier on Christophsis?" Ahsoka asked curiously.
"Yup thats me," I answered while sitting back down and getting my data pad. Denal sat next to me and looked at the information as well.
"What are you guys looking at?" The Commander asked curiously while sitting on her bed.
"A data file on Mandalorian culture," I replied while still looking at the information.
"I've heard of Mandalorians from the history lessons back at the temple. Didn't they hate the Jedi and fought against the Republic?" Commander Tano asked.
"Yeah but not all Mandalorians wish to stick with their brutal warlord ways. A Mandalorian by the name of Jaster Meerel wanted to have a system of balance between peace and still being a warrior," I explained. Hearing this made Ahsoka tilt her head in confusion.
"I've never heard of Jaster Meerel. All we learned in the Jedi temple was that either Mandalorians wanted war or peace, not a middle ground," Ahsoka stated.
"Why would the Jedi withhold that kind of information? Its like they want to have Mandalorians looked at in a bad light," Denal questioned suspiciously.
It confused me as well, I thought Jedi were supposed to be the peacekeepers. Yet from what Ahsoka and the data file was telling me that the Jedi had some sort of grudge towards Mandalorians.
"Well we'll have to fix this. We can educate you with as much knowledge that we know if you want," I offered. Ahsoka nodded.
-time: 1580. Location: in orbith above Teth-
For the rest of time we were in hyperspace, we talked about the super commando codex. Surprisingly Ahsoka thought the codex was a wise ideal for the people of Mandalore. However, she felt that the Jedi had the right to act towards Mandalore the way they did in the past. Given that she was a Jedi, she would support them. Denal and I believed that a better solution could of been found. At the moment, a platoon size force of men were gathered in the hangar with the General and Commander standing in front of the crowd. Myself and Rex were standing next to General Skywalker.
"This is the situation. Someone managed to kidnap Jabba's son and is holding them on Teth. It should be a simple operation so a small platoon under the name "Torrent Company". Unfortunately this cruiser doesn't have the fuel necessary to stay once we have arrived so we will be on our own until General Kenobi gets here, any questions?" Skywalker asked after giving the briefing.
"Sir what type of weaponry will we have access to?" One of the troopers asked.
"Standard armament. We need mobility if we are going to get Jabba's son in time. Any other questions?" Skywalker asked.
"We'll we have any tanks with us?" Another soldier asked.
"Two walkers will be assigned to the company but that's it. We've already wasted enough time we need to move now," Skywalker ordered.
Everyone immediately dispersed and got on board the gunships that were available to us. Rex, Skywalker, Ahsoka and I all got into the same gunship as well as a few troopers. When the other troopers got on board I realized that most of Torrent Company was made up of the survivors of my original platoon. Rex must've realized because when he saw them he began talking to them. I was never really close to the other members of the platoon since I stuck with Denal and Rex but I did care for them. The gunship doors closed as the vehicle lifted off the ground and flew out of the hangar. The rest of the gunships followed after us. Through the blast shields I could see all the clouds littering the blue sky as we raced down towards the surface. I turned back to see the hologram pf General Kenobi wearing a brown hood.
"Alright Anakin here's the story. Jabba has given us only one planetary rotation to get his son back home to Tatooine safe and sound," General Kenobi explained.
"Won't take us that long Master," Skywalker replied nonchalantly.
"Well take extreme care. We have no idea who's holding Jabba's son. When I finish negotiations with him I will join you," Kenobi stated, when he finished speaking the hologram cut off.
We continued flying for a few minutes in silence, everyone's mind on what possibilities we could be facing.
"Stay close to me, if you can," Skywalker said confidently to Ahsoka.
"It won't be a problem Master," the Torgruta replied with equal confidence.
"This isn't practice Ahsoka," the General stated in a serious tone.
"I know. And i'll try not to get you killed," Ahsoka replied with a smile. Hearing this caused the General to smile back.
Suddenly the ship shook violently as the sound of explosions echoed all around us.
"Sir, we're taking heavy fire," our pilot exclaimed.
"Close the blast shields pilot and get us under those guns," Skywalker ordered.
"Yes sir!" The pilot replied. Immediately the gunship cabin became dark and was then bathed in a red light. The clones immediately began to get ready for the attack.
"Ridge you're coms got static,"
"Got it,"
"Red light, stand by,"
Everyone readied their rifles for the probable firefight we were about to jump into. The gunship began to slow down as we got closer and closer to the ground.
"Welcome to paradise rock jumpers," the pilot called out to us.
Soon enough we landed on the ground. As the light changed to green the doors opened.
"Go go go!" Rex ordered to all the troops.
Quickly everyone poured out into the forest. I set my scope setting to maximum as I took by a tree to see what we were facing. Battle droids and dwarf spiders were encamped on a huge ledge over looking our position and firing down on us. Unfortunately my rifle didn't have the range to make any shots from our position. Our troops continued moving forward while our tanks were returning fire for the rest of the company. I looked to my right and saw Ahsoka wielding a green lightsaber, deflecting any blaster bolts heading her way.
"Commander! We need to meet up with the rest of the men!" I shouted to her.
She looked at me and nodded, deactivating her lightsaber and running to the foot of the mountain. I followed her as more and more bolts and explosions rained down around us. When we got into cover a droid collided with the ground, it tried to stand up only to be hit in the head with a pair of macro binoculars. I stood next to Ahsoka while watching this happen.
"So, this is where the fun begins," Ahsoka stated casually.
"I'll race you to the top," General Skywalker challenged.
"I'll give you a head start," Ahsoka smirked.
"You're mistake," the General replied.
"Ascension cables!" Rex ordered.
Every trooper attached a cable mount to their rifle and fired just directly below the mountain's edge. I didn't need a cable since I had a jetpack, so I activated it and flew upwards while dodging blaster fire. From time to time I would hover in the air to try and return fire although I doubted that I was actually hitting anyone. I heard the crunching of rock as the tanks began to climb up as well. I continued hovering in the air providing suppressive fire for the men when I heard the sound of groaning metal and an explosion. I looked and saw that one of our tanks had been hit and was plummeting to the ground. I turned to the other tank to see the gunner getting shot out of his seat. I was surprised to see Ahsoka latched onto the tank and then jump to the cockpit of the walker and defend against any blaster fire heading her way. I flew over to the tank and slung my rifle over my shoulder as I sat in the gunner's seat.
"Mind if I help out Commander?" I called out as I fired the main gun and succeeded in hitting a dwarf spider.
"Not at all Prowly," the Torgruta joked.
"Ah no no no, no nicknames!" I shouted over the cannon firing again.
"Whatever you say Prowly!" She shouted back while laughing. Oh I was so getting her back for that later.
Over the firefight I began to hear a high pitch humming noise heading right towards us. I looked to my left and saw four STAPs flying towards us. I took out my blaster pistol and fired as fast as I could. Unfortunately they all dodged my shots and fired back, hitting the ground underneath the walker's front legs. Ahoska tried to block some of the shots but most managed to get past her. A small smoke cloud appeared as the ground underneath the legs weakened. The walker began to lean backwards as it had no support holding it down. I was practically thrown out of the gunner's seat and was hanging on to the back of the seat with just one hand. I looked up and saw that Ahsoka was barely holding on to the top of the cockpit.
"Hold on Commander!" I shouted frantically.
"Oh yeah because I was just about to let go!" Ahsoka snapped back fearfully.
I could hear the STAPs coming back for another attack as the walker continues to try and right itself. I activated my jetpack and flew up to the Commander, reaching out with my hand. The Padawan immediately grabbed on and I helped her get back onto the cockpit. I was still in the air and aimed my rifle towards the STAPs just when the General jumped onto the walker and lunged at the flying droids. He hopped on each one like skipping stones while slicing off their heads, when he got to the last one he simply kicked the droid off and stole the STAP. The general then flew past the both of us while looking back at Ahsoka.
"Got to keep up," Skywalker called out as he continued flying up the mountain.
"Hey! No fair!" Ahsoka shouted in frustration. She then turned to the driver and started pounding on the window.
"Get this thing moving! Ahsoka shouted as the walker had its front feet back on the mountain.
It took us at least five minutes to get to the top of the mountain. Fortunately we didn't have to worry about anymore resistance since Skywalker pretty much shot any droid he came across when he was flying the STAP. When our walker reached the top I saw the General surrounded by destroyer droids.
"Blast it Ahsoka. I told you to stay close to me," Skywalker said while reading his lightsaber.
I chose that moment to fire the main gun, obliterating the destroyer droids.
Once the droids were destroyed the General looked back to see the walker along with myself and Ahsoka standing next to the cannon.
"I can't get much closer Skyguy," Ahsoka stated while crossing her arms.
"I knew you'd get here Snips, eventually," the General tried to act casual about the whole thing.
"Always in time to save your life," Ahsoka replied while getting off the tank.
"Whoa whoa whoa. I was the one who fired the cannon. Don't take credit for my kills rookie," I said jokingly while jumping down from the walker.
"He has a point Snips," the General pointed out.
Ahsoka just looked at me with a pout while crossing her arms.
I simply shrugged and continued walking around, surveying the area while pointing my rifle at the fallen droids in case they weren't really destroyed. The rest of the men soon started climbing to the top and were securing the area and checking for any potential threats. Captain Rex walked up the the General.
"All clear General," my brother stated.
"Nice work Rex. Have some men look after the wounded," the young Jedi knight ordered.
"Roger that sir. The gunships have returned to the cruiser and will depart momentarily," Rex stated.
"I'll go organize the wounded Captain," I said to Rex. Rex nodded in thanks.
"Denal! Get four of our men to start moving the wounded to the courtyard," I shouted to Denal who was standing with one of the men.
"Copy that!" Denal replied.
I headed over to where one of the wounded troopers were. He had taken two bolts to his left leg and could barely stand let alone move. I offered him my arm to help him up and then slung his arm around my shoulder as I carried him towards the courtyard. After five minutes, Denal and I had moved the wounded to a shades spit with the courtyard towards one of the walls. Our wounded totaled up to 3 while our KIAs were around 6, not including the lost tank crew and killed gunner. At the moment Denal and I were just standing next to each other.
"How did all these battle droids get here in the first place?" Denal asked while gesturing to the pile of broken droids.
"The Separatists don't just let their war machines have free reign. This probably was all planned out by the enemy," I answered while checking the charge pack in my rifle.
"Yeah but whats the purpose of it all? Why not hire bounty hunters and then send in their droid armies to make the Separatists look like the good guys?" Denal wondered while sitting against the wall.
Denal brought up a good point, something wasn't right with this entire operation. We sat down against the wall in silence, watching as the rest of Torrent Company get settled. The walker was moving into the courtyard while all the troopers organized a perimeter. I saw a sergeant head over to Captain Rex and speak about the perimeter, Rex then went and spoke to the General. A few minutes later the General's star fighter landed in the middle of the courtyard being driven by R2.
"It must be cool having an astromech," I stated suddenly.
"How?" Denal asked in confusion while stopping his examination of his carbine.
"Because its like having a super smart tech friend and look at the General and his droid, they've been together since the blockade of Naboo," I explained. Denal thought about it for a moment before going back to check his rifle.
"Yeah that is a good point," Denal reasoned.
We heard the sound of something crying towards the center of the courtyard. We both looked up and saw General Skywalker and Commander Tano securing Jabba's son to a Republic backpack. I had expected the gangsters son to be young but I was surprised to see that it was an infant.
"Denal and Prowl! Head towards the front of the monastery and watch for any ships coming in," Rex ordered from the other half of the courtyard.
Denal and I both stood up and walked over to the front of the monastery, the surrounding forest and clouds expanding all the way out to the horizon. Suddenly we heard the screech of a star ships engine heading towards us. We both looked up to see droid landing crafts as well as fighters heading towards us.
"We need to get back to the courtyard!" I said frantically to my brother.
He nodded and we both ran back inside towards our company just to see a droid fighter come in and destroy the General's fighter.
"We got spiders inbound!" A trooper shouted.
Denal and I looked back to see a dwarf spider along with battle droids marching into the hangar. I got down on one knee and fired a quick burst into a super battle droid. The bolts hit the droid in the arm, causing the charge pack in its arm to explode, blowing off the limb of the droid. Denal fired a couple shots into the growing mass of droids, knocking down a couple tinnies. A couple destroyer droids rolled up to the front of the formation only to be destroyed when our tank's main cannon fired at war machines. I took a thermal det from one of my pouches and lobbed it into a group of battle droids, scattering their parts all around the battlefield. Unfortunately a pair of dwarf spiders managed to get lucky and kill the AT-TE driver causing the entire tank to collapse. With the destruction of our only armor support casualties were mounting rapidly. I switched my gun to automatic and hosed down the entire front row of droids, destroying at least ten clankers. Denal fired a couple well aimed shots, taking down a super battle droid.
"Fall back!" The General shouted to us.
"Denal go I'll cover you!" I yelled over the battle.
Denal didn't bother to reply and just ran while I slowly walked backwards while still firing my rifle. It was beginning to glow hot as it fired nonstop but it was worth it when two more super battle droids went down. My gun suddenly clicked as I held down the trigger and I knew that the charge pack was empty. I immediately turn and ran towards the closing gates of the monastery. As I ran back I saw a trooper go down who was trying to hold back the enemy. At the moment it was just me and the General still outside. I dove to the ground and activated my jetpack, propelling me against the stone floor but getting me inside the monastery just when the General got in as the gate closed. Denal helped me to my feet as the General stood up on his own. Skywalker walked over the Rex as everyone huddled around the two. I reloaded my rifle as the two began to talk to each other.
"Captain, we'll stay here until General Kenobi arrives with reinforcements," Skywalker stated. The Jedi knight turned and saw his Padawan staring at him who was still holding the Huttlet.
"What?" Skywalker asked.
"Do you honestly think we can hold them off? We've got to find a way out of here," Ahsoka said.
"Our mandate is to protect this Hutt and thats what we're going to do Ahsoka," Skywalker stated stubbornly.
"Our mandate was to get this Hutt back to Tatooine and time is running out!" The Torgruta persisted defiantly.
"I suppose you have a plan," General Skywalker said. R2 just chose that moment to start making his array of beeps and rings.
"Yes. Or so I think so, R2 willing," Ahsoka explained optimistically. Skywalker let a small smile form on his face.
"All right Snips. I'll trust you on this one. Captain, hold them hear as long as you can," Skywalker ordered Rex.
"Will do sir. You heard the General! Get ready to turn those clankers into scrap metal!" Red shouted inspirationally.
This caused everyone including myself to let out cheers of defiance towards our enemy. But deep down I knew this battle was going to be tough. As we were now, we only had 17 troopers with us, the rest had died in the fighting to take the monastery or to defend it. To make matters worse, another two soldiers had been injured, making the amount of men capable of fighting be twelve. I took cover behind one of the struts supporting the ceiling and aimed my rifle towards the door. We waited anxiously as we could hear the droids try to cut their way into the thick metal door. I was surprised when Rex opened a private channel to me over our helmets.
"Prowl. When the fighting starts and we start to get overwhelmed, I want you to take Denal and as many men as possible and retreat further into the monastery," Rex said calmly. I had to stop myself from staring right at Rex.
"What are you talking about?! I'm staying here to hold the line with you and the rest of our brothers!" I hissed at the clone Captain.
"You and I both know we won't be able to hold them back. Its best if a few of us use guerrilla tactics on the enemy," Rex countered.
"Then let me stay with the men while you take Denal and a few others," I argued stubbornly.
"The men look to me as someone who will stand and fight to the end. If they see me run then they will lose confidence and morale. The men see you as someone who will do whats necessary to win the battle even if it means to retreat," my long time friend pointed out.
I sighed and clenched my rifle tightly, Rex was right, it was the best plan we had. I wasn't comfortable knowing that my brother could quite possibly die and I was supposed to leave him behind.
"Fine. But don't you dare die," I growled in frustration. Rex just chuckled from his end of the channel.
"I wouldn't dream of it brother," Rex replied. We were interrupted when the gate began to open.
"They cut the lock!" A trooper towards the front shouted to everyone.
Every soldier pointed their blasters towards the door as it slowly opened allowing light to enter. My heart was racing and my skin was clammy from anxiety. My brothers and I have been in close calls but none as close as this last stand that we were in the middle of.
"Here they come!" Rex shouted as the door was open enough for the droids to start pouring in.
They droids opened fired as soon as they could, causing me to duck as three stray bolts impacted right where my head was a moment ago. I aimed with my Westar and fired a long burst, taking down two super battle droids. I continued focusing on the heavy variant of the battle droid since they were more of a threat. I drowned out the sound of my brothers shouting back and forth to one another and continued taking down B2s but there were two many droids. We started taking more and more casualties, soon there wouldn't be anyone. To make matters worse, dwarf spiders started to pour in as well. We were being overrun, there was no other way to say it.
"Prowl go now!" Rex shouted to me as he fired his twin blasters. I yelled in frustration while taking down one of the dwarf spiders before turning to Denal.
"Get what men that you can and fall back deeper into the monastery!" I shouted to Denal. The abruptness of my statement caused Denal to stop firing his carbine and stare at me.
"That was an order soldier!" I shouted louder at him, my anger beginning to be evident in my voice.
Denal shook his head and turned to three soldiers towards the rear.
"You three with me now!" He yelled to the men while running towards a hallway leading deeper into the building.
The three soldiers looked at each other before running after the sergeant. I turned back to the battlefield and emptied my entire charge pack into the oncoming waves of droids knocking down several clankers. Unfortunately it had no effect towards changing the outcome of the fight. For a moment I just stood and watch as my brothers desperately tried to hold the line, helpless to do anything to help them. A bolt landing near my feet brought me back to reality and I ran towards where Denal went while reloading my rifle. I wasn't surprised to feel a couple tears running down my cheek, leaving your family to a possible death tends to do that to people. I eventually found Denal pacing back and forth angrily while the other three soldiers tried to take in what had happened to make them run from the battle. When he saw me he marched up to me and pushed me hard.
"What the hell is wrong with you?! How could we leave Rex and everyone else behind!" He demanded while pushing me more and more. I was tired and angry and I let it out.
"Because Rex gave me the order to take you and as many men as possible and run! You think I wanted to leave my brothers behind to die! They are my family to Denal!" I shouted back at him angrily while pushing him off.
Denal seemed to actually hear what I was saying and stopped for a minute. He just stood there taking in all the information.
"Why would Rex tell us to run?" He asked quietly. I walked up to him and pulled him into a one armed hug.
"Because he wanted as many of his brothers to live while he gave his life for us," I said softly but loud enough for the troopers to hear it as well.
We were all brought back on edge when the sounds of clanking metal and annoying droid voices could be heard close to us. I let go of Denal and turn towards the end of the hallway.
"I don't know about you guys but I want revenge for our brothers," I said while slamming a new charge pack into my rifle.
"We're with you," Denal said coldly while taking cover behind a strut holding the wall.
Everyone took cover as well and hid within the shadows despite our white armor.
"Don't fire until we know exactly how many there are," I said quietly over a comm channel I just made for our small group.
We waited in the dark, cold, lifeless hallway as the droids slowly began to walk past us. It was a small patrol of five B1s and three B2s.
"Those clone cowards should be around here somewhere," one skinny droid stated. Immediately I began to get angry, being called a coward wasn't helping with the fact we left Rex and everyone else.
"Lets just find them, capture them and move them with the rest," another droid commented.
This made me just stop completely. Droids rarely take prisoners, in fact the Separatists had no use for prisoners. It didn't make sense why they would take our brothers hostage but I wasn't going to question it when there was a chance to save Rex. I ran out of cover while firing my rifle at point blank. Even the B2s formidable armor couldn't withstand the devastating punishment, the first one fell back onto the second super battle droid and the third turned towards me with its cannon. The entire hallway lit up as the as the soldiers fired on the last B2. I didnt bother to see the result as I turned my rifle onto the startled battle droids and hosed them down in a volley of blue bolts like they had done to our brothers. Denal stepped forward and fire a long burst into the super battle droid that was pinned down. The rest of the soldiers all met in the middle with us.
"Was that droid telling the truth?!" One of the troopers asked incredulously.
"We have to find out ourselves while getting past the droids," another trooper replied.
It wouldn't be easy but it seemed like fighting past the droids we had run from was the only option we had.
"Hey! There is a hatch up there!" Denal called out to us.
We all turned in surprise to see Denal pointing to a ladder built into the wall leading up. I walked over and pat Denal on the back.
"Thats how we will do it, we'll climb up and hopefully get to the roof of the monastery," I said confidently.
I was beginning to feel optimistic about the situation, I had feared the worst but there still may be a chance that Rex was alive. I could tell everyone else felt the same since the depressing mood from earlier had all but vanished.
"Denal you're on point," I ordered while getting behind him.
Denal nodded and held his carbine with one hand while climbing up with his other. We followed him upward for a few minutes until he reached the end and opened a hatch. We all waited as he peaked his head out to survey the area, we were surprised when he ducked back down quickly and put a finger to his helmet. Seeing the universal signal to be silent, we all quietly got out and onto the roof of the monastery and we saw why Denal had warned us. The entire courtyard that our men had occupied earlier was full of droids. B1s, B2s, dwarf spiders and even vulture droids were patrolling the perimeter. I kept searching for any sign of our captured brothers until I saw Rex and what was left of Torrent Company being held at gunpoint near the wrecked Republic tank. We were all surprised as most of the vulture droids took off and into the sky. We looked up to see a Republic cruiser and incoming fighters.
"We need to move soon if we are going to save Rex and everyone else," I said quietly to everyone.
I looked down towards Rex when I heard his wrist communicator begin to beep.
"Did you hear that? It came from the prisoners," one of the droids said while moving closer to Rex.
"Let me show you how it works clanker," Rex said while holding his arm out.
The droid leaned in forward only to get backhanded hard enough its entire head was spinning rapidly.
"Now!" I shouted.
I quickly aimed and fired a few shots, taking down two droids and causing the rest of the droids to focus on our group. Denal and the men quickly opened fire bringing down more droids before they could return fire. Rex and his men quickly overwhelmed the occupied droids, taking their own rifles and destroying the last of their captors. Rex looked up at us and waved in thanks, I returned the gesture with a two fingered salute while my men cheered. Unfortunately it wasn't over for us since the entire courtyard was still filled with more droids and most of them were know aware of what was going on. The rest of the army began to move towards us while firing. Rex and his men took cover within the downed tank while Rex answered his communicator.
"Focus fire on any concentrated groups of droids! Leave the stragglers for Rex and his men," I ordered while spraying a few bursts towards a group of B2s.
My group immediately targeted the super battle droids, making them focus their attention on us rather than Rex's group. A stray red bolt suddenly impacted my armor where my collarbone was, knocking me onto the ground of the roof. The collision took the breath right out of me
"Man down!" One of the troopers called out.
I moves my hands towards the entry wound to find that the armor and pauldron had held and only went in slightly.
"I'm alright focus on the battle!" I ordered sternly while struggling to my feet.
I walked back over to the edge and kept firing at the droids but pretty soon we would run out of ammunition. I saw Rex take down a vulture droid and move his men to take cover between it and the tank.
"We need to get down their now!" Denal shouted to us.
"Lead the way sergeant," I stated while gesturing for him to go first.
Denal jumped off the roof and landed into a roll and sprinted towards the men while being shot at. We followed his lead and fired from the hip as we ran over to meet Rex and the rest of the company. Once we were all together I counted our numbers and realized that we were just nine men out of a company of thirty. I took cover against the walker and fired at a dwarf spider causing it to stop in its advance towards us as the blaster fire made it stumbled.
"I'm glad to see you alive Rex!" I shouted to my lifetime friend while destroying the dwarf spider.
"Likewise Prowl! We got to hold out until General Skywalker arrives," Rex shouted back to me while firing at a couple B2s.
"I saw a Republic cruiser heading our way. Reinforcements must've arrived,"
I stated while tossing my last thermal det towards a group of battle droids. The explosion decimated the entire group but there was still too many for us to handle.
"You hear that boys? Reinforcements have arrived!" Rex roared to our brothers over the raging battlefield.
All the men cheered and roared back, we all fought with a new found feeling of optimism and hope. One trooper's gun suddenly stopped working and he tried to beat a super battle droid to death but the droid simply picked him up and shot him twice to the chest and tossed him aside like garbage. Seeing such a sight filled me with rage as I set my gun to automatic and fired a long burst into the chest of the droid, burning a clean hole through it. Unfortunately another trooper got hit in the arm and leg, causing him to the fall to the ground in pain. A trooper to my life took a hit to his lower abdomen and the soldier next to him had a clean hole through his helmet. We continued firing and destroying as many droids as possible we were just outnumbered and outgunned, eventually it was just Rex, Denal, and I standing on top of the downed vulture droid while everyone else was dead or wounded. All the droids stopped firing as they surrounded us, we stopped firing as well but we had our guns trained on them if we needed to use it.
"Surrender Republic dogs," one of the droids ordered.
'I guess this is it then, never thought I'd go out like this' I thought to myself in defeat.
"We've got you outnumbered!" Rex countered. Now this made me stop and try to process what Rex just said. It was just three against at least fifty.
"Outnumbered? Wait, one, two-" the droid began to count but was then blasted apart by a laser cannon.
We all looked up to see General Kenobi's star fighter fly past us as the General jumped out and began tearing apart the droids with his lightsaber. I didn't stop to think about our luck and began blasting whatever droids that were left. Rex and Denal soon followed my decision and we all started providing General Kenobi support as he blasted apart whatever droids he wasn't facing. Eventually as I was beating a battle droid with my rifle stock I heard the sound of Republic gunships coming in. They slowed down as they came by us and more clone trooper rappelled down from the LAAT, as soon as they had hit the ground they immediately took up positions and began firing at the enemy droids. I ran over to Denal while he was taking cover by the tank and firing on a few battle droids. I crouched next to him and helped him destroy the droids.
"Denal! Gather a squad and guard our wounded!" I ordered over the blaster fire and explosions.
"On it!" He shouted as he ran off to gather the men.
The battle continued for another few more minutes with more and more droids getting wasted and blasted. I supported Commander Cody and a squad he was leading while at the same time taking down any dwarf spiders and other heavily armored droids. I saw General Kenobi speaking with Rex before moving off into the Monastery, most likely looking for General Skywalker and Ahsoka. I asked one of Cody's men for an extra blaster, one of them gave me a DC-15a. I thanked them and took, then ran towards Rex's position. I slid into cover with him and offered him the rifle.
"Figured you would want some Republic hardware over Separatist garbage," I said. Rex tossed the droid rifle and eagerly grabbed the DC.
"Thanks Prowl," Rex replied while firing at a super battle droid.
Rex and I stayed in cover, firing at whatever droid was in our sight. When i took cover to reload I saw Denal organizing an improvised field hospital a few from Rex and I, using the downed tank as cover. The squad he had with him were providing cover fire for the few medics working on the wounded. A few minutes later as Rex and I were firing at the enemy General Kenobi appeared next to us.
"Captain, I understand General Skywalker escaped," Kenobi stated.
"Yes sir, on some beat up old spice raidsr," Rex replied while moving his head to avoid getting blasted. I turned and fired at the offending droid in retaliation.
"I'll be surprised if he makes it to Tatooine in that junker," Rex stated.
"If anyone can fly a bucket of bolts through hyperspace, he can" General Kenobi assured.
"Knowing the General, he will probably crash onto Tatooine," I joked while firing at a super battle droid.
Neither replied but I saw Kenobi smirk slightly. With Kenobi here the battle was now going extremely in our favor as we continued cutting down the droid ranks but the amount of droids there were would take time. Rex took out a thermal det and dove under a dwarf spider and planted the bomb onto the droid. He then ran away and rolled as the explosion knocked out the dwarf spider as well as a vulture droid that was near it. Unfortunately for Rex there was another Vulture droid looming over the Captain. I rolled out of cover and got on one knee while aiming my rifle and fired a single shot. The bright neon blue round went through the skull of the vulture droid, causing it to topple backwards and crush a few droids behind it. Rex looked at me and nodded his head in thanks. The battle was almost over as we surrounded the last pocket of droids. Most of our forces pinned them down as three troopers lobbed grenades into the mist of them, the explosion sending broken droid parts all over the battle field. All the troopers let out cheers of joy as our part of the battle was over. Rex walked over to me and slung his arm around my shoulder while leaning on me.
"Its over," Rex sighed.
"Its about time," I sighed in content while agreeing with my brother.
-time: 0930. Location: G.A.R hospital, Coruscant-
After the battle of Teth, Kenobi ordered the gunships to pick up all the soldiers and return to the cruiser. All the wounded were taking to the medical section of the ship while Rex, Denal, and I found a room to stay in during our time aboard the ship. For the most part we stayed within our room, we only went out to eat and to visit our wounded brothers. All the survivors of Torrent Company including Rex, Denal, and I were from the same platoon from our days on Kamino. To see the very last people that had been with me since birth almost completely gone, I took the time out to learn their names and talk to them more than I did back on Kamino. Once we had picked up General Skywalker and Ahsoka, our cruiser headed back to Coruscant. Once we had landed Rex, Denal, and I went with our brothers as they were transported to one of main hospitals for injured troopers. As our brothers were escorted into the hospital, Denal put his hands on both Rex and my shoulder.
"You know what we should do after we check on our brothers? We should go to a cantina," Denal suggested.
"The last time we went into one on leave you got shit faced," I said while rolling my eyes.
"I did not," Denal argued while crossing his arms.
"You got into an argument with the Bith band because you wanted them to switch the song they were playing," I stated.
"Yeah so?" Denal asked nonchalantly.
"The Bith band was on break at the time," Rex deadpanned. This got Denal to shut up for a moment.
"Well I still th-" Denal began to counter but was cut off as the entire front of the G.A.R hospital exploded, debris and broken material flew outward as the shockwave knocked the three of us to the ground.
Nearby citizens and other off duty clones gasped and took cover from the confusion. As I got to my feet I cursed that I had to wear a Navy uniform instead of my standard ARC armor. I helped Denal up as Rex got to his feet.
"Are we under attack?!" I shouted while looking up to the sky for any incoming Separatist ships.
"Can't be, otherwise there would be air raid siren going off," Rex pointed out while looking around frantically.
"O-our brothers were in there.." Denal stated quietly, completely in shock from the attack.
His statement immediately caused me to stop moving and process what he said. He was right, our last immediate brothers had just been admitted into the building before the bomb went off. I began to lean on Denal instead of the other way around, the shock was just too much. The last of our immediate brothers had just been killed in a fucking hospital. The worst part was that it didn't even appear to be the result of a CIS attack. Anger started to fill my entire body and mind, I began to think of anyway that I could get back at the monster who killed my family. Suddenly I remembered my training and that a good way to pick up information would to head to a underworld cantina. I suddenly let go of Denal and ran towards the nearest air taxi port.
"Prowl! Where are you going?!" Rex shouted.
"To find answers! Don't wait up for me!l yelled back as I continued running.
-time: 1301. Location: lower levels of Coruscant-
I spent close to four hours looking for answers. It felt like I had visited over a hundred cantinas, just sitting and waiting to hear of anyone knew who caused the explosion or if anyone was dumb enough to take credit for the attack. I made sure my brown cloak covered my entire uniform and that my DC pistol was still strapped to my belt. I pulled my hood over my face and entered the latest cantina. The atmosphere was even worse than the last cantina. The air was thick with smoke and spice fumes, the floor was practically covered in spilled drinks and a fight was going on in the corner of cantina. I took a seat in one of the booths that was close to the middle of the cantina and eavesdropped on the conversations I could hear.
"We need to get that spice shipment to Tatooine before mez decides that we aren't worth keeping around,"
"Bartender! Get us another round!"
"If you keep staring at me asshole I'll show you what a vibrobalde can do to Rodian flesh,"
"I wonder what the boss has planned next. That hospital was a pretty big hit,"
I stopped listening and just focused on that one gruff voice that mentioned the hospital. From the how close the person sounded I could guess that the person was in one of the booths next to me.
"Keep it down with that, we don't need the CSF knowing it was us that we did it. Anyway we need to go contact the boss at the base," another voice interrupted, this one sounding more cunning than the last.
The sound of three people getting up behind me let me know that the criminals were on the move. As they walked past me I could tell that they were three males, each one bald and wearing the same black jacket and pants along with minor light armor. When they had their backs to me I continued watching them, once they had left the cantina I got up and quickly followed them. As we were walking through the busy crowd of Coruscant I made sure to keep a reasonable amount of distance between us. The group suddenly turned into an alleyway, causing me to lose sight of them. I quickly pushed my way through the crowd and leaned against the wall that was next to the alleyway. I peaked my head out slightly to see that the three criminals weren't in the dark and dank alley. I didn't give it a second thought and rushed down the alley to catch up only to feel a sharp pain to the back of my head that caused me to collapse to the ground. I couldn't even process what was happening as my vision immediately blackened as I slipped into unconsciousness.
Denal: What the fuck!
Deathz: wha
Denal: you can't just end the chapter on a damn cliffhanger!
Deathz: Prowl doesn't seem to mind
Prowl:...
Rex: That's because he is unconscious
Deathz: I rest my case then. Please leave any comments or reviews to help improve the story. PAR KOTE BAL IJAAT BE MAND'ALOR