Wow, tenth chapter already and over 2000 views. I just want to say thanks to all my readers, but a special thanks to Achilles453 and teresa. spanics for staying with this story from the beginning.
I was hoping to post this chapter on May 4th, but I took a fastball to the hand while umpiring a baseball game and haven't been able to type as fast. Sorry.
Also, I'm planning a sequel/prequel story that will take place about 15-20 years before this one at the North Pole. Slight teaser: It revolves around Ahsoka, Rex, Lux Bonteri, and other Clone Wars characters. I'm going to start writing it soon and publish it shortly after this story is done.
Okay, this chapter will have language, violence, and a MAJOR CHARACTER DEATH. Be prepared. Remember, feel free to leave a comment/review and I'll answer it in the beginning of the next chapter! I hope you all enjoy this!
Achilles453 - I'm glad you liked the suspense I threw into the last chapter! In my comments for the last chapter, I was only confirming that whatever was in the greenhouse was not Gooti, but it couldn't be Ketsu either because she and Jyn were in the rec room and made eye contact when the lights went out. Both of them, either of them, or none of them could still be a Thing. I was thinking of an electricity test, but I kind of already backed myself into the blood test version back in Chapter 2. The idea's still on the table for the above mentioned prequel to this story that I'm planning. I hope you enjoy this action-based chapter!
teresa. spanics - I'm glad you loved the last chapter! The action comes to a head here, so I hope you enjoy it!
McMurdo Station, March 13, 1987, 0225 Hours
Commander Ahsoka Tano sat in the bar at McMurdo, talking with Hera and her husband Kanan Jarrus. Kanan had recovered from his illness, but Ahsoka was unable to return to Outpost 17, the weather was too bad. The intercom clicked overhead and Derek "Hobbie" Kilivian, McMurdo's radio operator, called out. "Commander Tano. Please report to the radio room immediately."
Ahsoka glanced at Hera and Kanan who shrugged. Hera said, "It might be Ketsu. Maybe the weather's clearing."
"I hope so," Ahsoka sighed, "I just can't shake the feeling that they're in trouble."
Entering the radio room, Hobbie turned in his chair, "Commander, Captain." He nodded to Ahsoka and Hera, "I received a transmission from Outpost 17. It was garbled, lots of static, and it barely getting through. There was one clear portion, though I'm not sure you'd like what it contains."
He turned the dial on the speaker up and white noise filled the room. Ketsu's voice came over, repeating the message, "... Ma...ay! ...day! Can an... ...ead me? Th... US ...avy Out... 17. ... We fo... s...thing in ... ice! W... ...ed some hel... ...own here. Ca... ...ny...ne hear me? We fou... some...ing! ... found s... ...nd something."
Ahsoka's brow furled, 'They found something? What could be found in a place where there's nothing?'
Hobbie paused the speaker, "The clear portion's coming up. I don't think you'll like it though." She sighed, "Put it on anyways. I need to know."
Sure enough, Ahsoka's confusion turned to horror as she heard a clang and something hit the floor. Someone yelled before several gunshots sounded. There was the whoosh of a flamethrower and a piercing screech before the radio died, and all that could be heard was silence.
US Outpost 17, March 13, 1987, 0220 Hours
The Thing hid in a room. One of its brethren had been revealed by that infernal bitch Sabine Wren. Oh how it seethed in anger when it thought of that woman. In order to remain undetected, it had to remain hidden. Luckily for the Thing, there was a lone human being running in fear towards its hiding place in the chaos.
It leaned out the door and wispered harshly, "Hey! Get in here!" Luckily, the human complied, there was safety in numbers after all. Or was there? The human looked at the Thing in disguise and whispered, "We've got to do something! What weapons do you have?"
The Thing maintained a look of calm and smiled at its victim. It placed a "reassuring" hand on the person's shoulder.
-0-
The arm and leg-Things converged on the radio room. From the air vents, they could move without danger of being killed. They began to merge together, that way it would be easier to take out these two humans. One was watching the door in fear, listening to the prowling of Split-face roaming the base. The other was bent over the radio in the room, desperately calling for help. Neither was watching the air vents.
The arms and legs of what was once Zare finished coalescing into one being, growing to about the size of a small human. It smashed through the air duct right behind the humans. Time for some fun.
-0-
Ketsu and Ezra heard the crash behind them and turned to see the Thing in their midst. It immediately went for Ezra because of the flamethrower he was carrying. Ketsu yelled a warning before she pulled out her Beretta 92, a carryover from her career as a police officer. The gun was usually kept in Jyn's cache, but she had gotten it before heading to Saw's shack with Sabine and Gooti.
Ketsu fired and emptied a whole magazine into the Thing. It screamed in rage and lashed a tentacle out at her. It missed, but Ketsu was forced to disengage and dive under cover. Ezra also slid under a table and overturned it, the Thing in between him and Ketsu. Ketsu jumped back up and fired multiple shots at the Thing, before nearly getting her head taken off by a taloned claw. Ezra was able to get his first good look at the Thing, it had shed it's human-like appearance and become something unworldly. Three blood-red eyes gazed at him in hatred from a blue face as he lifted the flamethrower. The Thing shot a clawed tentacle at him and grabbed the nozzle of the flamethrower.
Ezra pulled the trigger anyway, singeing the arm to a crisp. It blackened in the flame and fell back. Ketsu rounded the room and vaulted over Ezra's table, crouching next to him. She got back up and fired, drilling bullet holes into its face. Two of the three eyes exploded as hot lead bored their way into the Thing. The Thing screeched in pain and hatred and charged directly at Ketsu.
They jumped to the side as it plowed through the table, a tentacle wrapping around Ketsu's gun and crushing it in its grasp. It grabbed Ketsu, but the tentacle was unable to burn through the thermal gear she was still wearing. It threw Ketsu against the radio equipment, destroying the radio, knocking the wind out of her, and it advanced on her. She grabbed a flare off her jacket and lit one of her molotovs. She hurled it at the Thing, causing the front of it to light up. It screeched even louder and halted abruptly. It unleashed a tentacle, attempting to spear Ketsu between the eyes, but she dove to the side. She had to keep moving, and smashed the chair against the Thing. The small size meant the Thing fell to the floor.
But the Thing's hatred was so intense that it had devoted so much attention to Ketsu, and had allowed Ezra to get back to his feet and fire. A broiling stream of flame erupted around the Thing as it was on the floor. It jumped up, its chest opening up into a large mouth as it charged through the flames. The mouth clamped down as it neared Ezra, but he jumped back at the last second. The Thing's jaws bit down on the nozzle of the flamethrower and Ezra fired again. The stream of fire flooded through the Thing's insides as it recoiled in intense pain. The Thing desperately tried to put out the fire, but it was burning from the inside out. The Thing screamed in agony as it fell to the floor, never to move again.
-0-
Sabine and Kallus ran out into the hallway, seeking out the Split-face Thing. They had to stop it and kill it before it got another one of them. Exiting the infirmary through the lab, Sabine and Kallus passed the radio and map rooms. Moving down the main corridor, they passed the hallway leading to the sleeping quarters. A gunshot rang out, and a bullet flew right over their heads. Jyn stepped out, rifle raised at the both of them. Jyn was geared up for a war. She had one of the outpost's two Heckler Koch HK93A2 pressed against her shoulder and one of the Mossberg 590A1 shotguns slung on her back. She had several frag grenades from her cache clipped to her jacket and several thermite charges hooked to her belt.
She looked at Sabine, who opened her mouth. Jyn relaxed slightly seeing the fillings still lodged in place. "You two okay?"
Sabine nodded, "For the moment. How bout you?"
"Not yet I'm not." Jyn tossed the shotgun to Kallus.
"We find it. We kill it." Sabine started down the corridor again, followed by her two compatriots.
A screeching erupted from somewhere through the vents and they heard gunshots and the whoosh of a flamethrower. Sabine turned, keeping a rear-guard as they continued down the corridor.
They passed each room, slowly clearing it. Slowly, but steadily, they moved down the main corridor towards the ad building and Ahsoka's office, otherwise known as the "command center". Jyn and Sabine entered Ahsoka's office, only to realize Kallus hadn't followed them. Kallus thought he had heard something coming from the kennel and went to investigate, thinking Jyn and Sabine were following behind him. Finding nothing in the kennel except snow, and nothing in the supply corridor, Kallus began to walk back to the fork.
As he passed the hole in the roof made by the kennel-Thing, the roof exploded inwards. Split-face charged at him. By some case of extreme reflexes, as well as dumb luck, Kallus barely dodged the Thing by a few centimeters and scampered down the hallway. He stopped by the rec room to realize he had put the Thing right between himself and Sabine, the only nearby person with a flamethrower. He was doomed, all he had was a shotgun, and that would not kill the Thing. Looking back, Split-face stalked into the main corridor. It screamed at him and prepared to charge, so Kallus did the only thing he could, and started to unload the eight shell magazine at what was once Zare and Jai. The magazine clicked empty and the Thing was still alive, only slightly injured if at all. He could have swore that that damned Thing was smirking at him, if it could out of that deformed mouth. Kallus swore, hastily reloading the shotgun.
-0-
Jyn and Sabine were inspecting Ahsoka's office when they heard the commotion out in the hallway. Jyn looked at Sabine and said, "Cover my back." Sabine nodded, sweeping the flamethrower over Ahsoka's office as she backed out behind Jyn.
Jyn stepped out to see Split-face tanking multiple shotgun rounds from someone who had to be Kallus.
"Hey! Over here!" She shouldered her weapon and fired. "Sabine, get out here! NOW!"
The Thing halted as it heard a voice and felt 5.56mm rifle rounds slam into it. It turned to see Jyn firing bullet after bullet at it. She unclipped a frag grenade and threw it at the Thing. The explosion blew off one of the Thing's scorpion legs, but did not kill it. Jyn threw another grenade, and the Thing scuttled back to escape the blast. The leg reattached itself, causing Kallus to raise an eyebrow in realization. That was it's weakness! Sabine stepped into the corridor as well, and prepared to fire.
Split-face saw Sabine and screamed at the two women in hatred and rage. There was the bitch who had revealed it and thrown a monkey wrench into its plan. Split-face charged, snarling in fury and lunged right at Sabine. Sabine fired, but the narrow passageway hampered the effectiveness of the flames. The Thing unleashed two tentacles from the remnants of its shoulders through the fire. They flew right for Sabine's face, and Split-face would have smirked if it was still in the form of a human. She would be too late to dodge with that heavy flamethrower on her back. And it would take too long for her to drop it.
There would be no escape for her. The Thing knew it would make her suffer before she died. Sabine Wren was doomed.
-0-
Sabine saw the tentacles flying straight at her, and fired at them. The tentacles crisped in the flames, but still flew true. Inside, Sabine knew she was done for and braced herself for the end. She grabbed a stick of dynamite off her jacket, ready to blow herself up once the Thing stabbed her.
However, instead of the stabbing pain of the tentacles impaling her face and chest, Sabine felt someone forcefully push her to the side, the flames still flying from her torch scorching the wall of the ad building. She heard a pained cry to her side and saw Jyn, with two tentacles lodged in her torso. Sabine gasped and ran for Jyn's side.
Jyn pushed her away and pulled out her tactical knife. She quickly severed the tentacles, but parts of them were still lodged in her chest. She could feel the tentacles clawing inside her, and knew the Thing's cells were now coursing through her bloodstream. It was only a matter of time now. She looked at Sabine and screamed in agony, "Sabine! RUN!"
Jyn threw Sabine off her and shakily got to her feet to stare down the approaching Split-face Thing. The Thing jerked from repeated shotgun blasts coming from behind it. Kallus had reloaded and was firing away. Split-face ignored him and continued to stalk towards Jyn and Sabine.
Jyn pulled out two frag grenades and flipped off the pins. Being a Marine, she knew the dual explosions would detonate the other charges on her body. It was now or never, the Thing cells had reached her heart and were pumping to all corners of her body. Jyn turned to Sabine and gave her a small, sad smile. "Live to fight another day, Sabine. Live to fight another day."
"Jyn! NO!"
Jyn took off running, straight towards the Thing. She slammed shoulder first into the Thing, pushing with all her might. She forced both herself and what was once Zare and Jai into the ad building. The Thing's chest opened up and a tongue-like tentacle dragged her torso into a mouth. Jyn let it. She felt no fear, only satisfaction. The Thing had been tricked into swallowing the explosives. The grenades exploded, igniting the thermite hooked to her belt. Both Jyn and the Thing began to burn in the intense heat of the flames. The HK93 still strapped around her body began to melt.
But Jyn's didn't feel it. She blocked out the pain and what was happening to her. Jyn touched the crystal around her neck and smiled. Her last thought was one of inner peace. She had saved her friends, and had no regrets as the fire and explosions consumed her.
-0-
Sabine screamed and watched in horror as Jyn threw herself into the Thing. She had seen the grenades in Jyn's hands and knew instantly what the marine corporal was doing. She began to run towards Jyn, but she had pushed Split-face into the ad building. A muffled explosion sounded and Sabine knew Jyn had done it. Jyn had saved Sabine and Kallus, but lost her own life in the process.
Almost in a trance, Sabine walked to the doorway of the ad building and sank to her knees. There was nothing left of Jyn, and Split-face had been blown apart. Its severed head lay on the ground, with the various other limbs lay on the ground. They burned, everything in the ad building was burning. Kallus walked up behind her, a similarly shocked expression on his face. Tears were in his eyes, the two were very close. Corporal Jyn Erso was like a younger sister to Kallus and he put a hand on Sabine's shoulder. He steadied himself on the doorframe, before breaking down crying.
Kallus' eyes had widened when he had first seen Jyn jump in front of the tentacles that were meant for Sabine. She had cut them off, but then inexplicably dove for the Thing, pushing it away into the ad building, and away from himself and Sabine. Jyn's last words still rang in his ears: "Live to fight another day, Sabine. Live to fight another day." He knew it then, Jyn was being assimilated and did the only thing she could. She had sacrificed herself for them, and they had to make sure that her sacrifice was not in vain.
Gooti and Mart ran up, brandishing fire extinguishers. They saw the carnage inside and immediately turned away. Gooti yelled at Mart, "We've got to put out that fire!"
Sabine had slowly gotten up and said, "No. Let it burn. Let it all burn." Her voice was empty, hollow. Gooti and Mart knew immediately what had happened, "She killed it didn't she?"
Sabine nodded and stepped aside, Gooti and Mart ran in and fired their extinguishers over the room. Satisfied that the fire had been put out, they looked at Sabine and Kallus in the doorway.
A light skittering sound occured from behind them and they saw the head of Split-face skittering on insect-like legs towards the corner. It could hide there and find a victim later. Mart saw it and said, "You've gotta be fucking kidding me!"
Sabine took one look at it and narrowed her eyes. She pulled the trigger. The Thing burst into flames, and she relished in the feeling. This Thing had killed one of her close friends and comrades. She wanted revenge. She wanted all these Things to burn and to suffer. She hated them, and relished the feeling that burning the head gave her. She kept the flames flying, burning the head as it screeched in pain and agony.
She would have emptied the tank, but Kallus put a hand on her shoulder and motioned to himself, Gooti, and Mart. She knew, she had to keep some fuel in case one of them was a Thing. She shut the flame off and Gooti and Mart put out the fire.
All the while, Kallus watched the burning remnants of the Thing with interest. He nodded to Sabine and motioned he wanted to talk. Sabine turned to Gooti and Mart, "Get to the rec room. If you're not there when I arrive, I'll burn you on sight."
They nodded and turned down the corridor. Sabine spun to Kallus, flamethrower leveled at him. "Don't try anything. What do you want?"
"I think I've figured something out about the Thing."
"I think so too. But lets see what you think."
"Okay, remember back to the kennel attack," Sabine nodded and Kallus continued, "there was a tentacle that had been severed. It was squirming even after it had been cut from the body. And before, when it somehow sensed Jyn coming in with the torch, half of it split off and escaped. When you tried to burn Zare, the limbs that caught fire broke off from the main body. I'm thinking each part of this Thing is a whole. How to exploit that? I don't know."
Sabine thought it over, "Jai was close to the answer. He realized that only a small part of the Thing is needed to attack someone. But he didn't get close enough, or put the pieces together in time. When Jyn cut those tentacles off her, they remained lodged in her chest, squirming. And the head, it tried to save itself. I think I have an answer on how to exploit it. Now get to the rec room and keep an eye on Gooti and Mart. I don't trust either of them. Or you for that matter."
Kallus nodded and left. Sabine was about to move to the radio room and get, or burn, whoever was in there, when she saw something on the floor of the hallway. Kneeling down, Sabine picked up a small whitish-clear crystal. Sabine had seen it before, it belonged to Jyn. The Marine had always worn it around her neck, it must have been blown here by the explosion. Sabine wiped all the blood off it and clutched it close to her chest, shedding a few tears. Jyn may be dead, but Sabine promised herself there and then that she would not let Jyn's sacrifice be in vain. "I'll finish what you started, Jyn. I'll do whatever it takes to kill it." She said to herself.
She would kill this Thing, or die trying.
-0-
Ezra and Ketsu had hunkered down in the radio room. They had heard gunshots, screeching, an explosion, and lots of yelling, but they didn't dare leave their safe, well somewhat safe, haven. Ezra turned to Ketsu, "You think they're all dead?"
"I don't know. I hope not."
A pounding at the door snapped their attention to the corridor. A voice yelled through, loud and threatening. "Ezra! Ketsu! I know at least one of you are in there! It's Sabine! Come out of there. Now!"
Ketsu walked up to the door, "How do I know you're not one of those Things?!"
"You don't."
Ketsu scoffed, "Then why should we let you in?"
"Because if you don't, I'll just kick the door down and burn you two. Now open up!"
Ketsu backed away, racking her brain whether to comply or not, when a scraping sound was heard from the door. She turned to see Ezra removing the barricade. "What the hell are you doing?!"
"Opening the door." Was Ezra's reply.
"What the hell for? She could be one of those Things!"
"And if she is, I have a flamethrower."
Ezra opened the door to find Sabine, flamethrower raised. The nozzles of both flamethrowers were pointed at each other's heads. Sabine saw the charred Thing on the ground and immediately clicked the igniter trigger and a small bit of flame protruded from the end. She had the torch aimed at the two of them. She could see that the Thing on the floor was dead. Completely dead. But were they? "Put that torch on the ground. Now Ezra!"
Ezra shook his head, "Give me one reason I should."
Sabine retorted, "Because if you don't I'll burn you here and now." Her voice was devoid of all emotion except one: pure, raw determination.
Ezra knew she wouldn't hesitate to kill him, even if they were engaged. "Would you really do that?"
"Yes. Jyn sacrificed herself to kill it, I'm not letting her death be in vain. That Thing on the ground there. It may be dead, or it may be in one of you. If you won't comply, I'll kill you."
Ezra sighed and lowered and unstrapped the weapon. Sabine smiled, "Smart. Now the both of you lead the way to the rec room." Her grin turned menacing and there was a mischievous glint in her eye, "I've got a little something planned."
Next Chapter: The Blood Test