Unknown Planet
Unknown Time
Commander Cody pushed down his helmet mounted binoculars for the thousandth time. His eyes scanned the plains and beyond the edge of the woods, yet they never entered it. Rex marched past Cody and gave a heavy sigh.
"You're going to trip if you don't put away those binoculars." He warned, noting the long gangly roots creeping out of the forest. Cody moved his mouth to answer, but stopped before he said anything. Rex noted that silence as well.
"You've been quiet since the Twilight crashed. Is everything all right?" The captain paused for a moment.
"Remember what I said to commander Tano on the ship?" Cody spoke softly.
"Yes. Why?"
"Well, before we boarded, I was speaking to General Kenobi about my theory. I think that the disappearing clones and the mysterious distress signal are linked." Cody suppressed a shiver as best he could. Rex watched the clone carefully.
"So…you think that the captured clones are here?" he interpreted.
"It's logical. Master Unduli reported two clones missing from her squad on Alzoc III. That's not too far from here. Well, you know what I mean. But she sends them off for recon and they suddenly go off the grid. Can you explain that?"
"No. I suppose I can't. But we know nothing about this planet yet. I think we'll get all our answers in time."
"But what if that's too late?" Cody insisted as they began to move again.
"That's a risk us clones…and Jedi alike take." Rex said. He raised his arm to use the comlink to contact Skywalker. The signal was eerily silent, but eventually he reached the Jedi.
"Rex is everything all right? We've been trying to check in with everyone, but I can't seem to reach Jesse and Kix. Where did they end up going?" Anakin's voice panted, as if he was running.
"Jesse and Kix went into the deep woods. I haven't heard from them since either. And everything is all right, we're just checking in as scheduled sir." Rex kept his eyes moving around the woods. He thought he heard something rustling in the leaves above. Cody was looking right up into the trees. Obviously he had heard it too.
"I'm worried about them. We headed up the mountain for a better view, but it didn't work out. We're coming back down." Another rustle in the leaves prompted them to look up.
"What the hell is that noise?" Cody whispered, leaning over to Rex. The other clone shrugged, but drew a blaster and remained on high alert.
"I can contact Ahsoka and see if she can reach them. Maybe our comlinks are out of range." Cody moved to be back to back with Rex, in case something ambushed them.
"All right, but stay in frequent contact. I'm getting a weird feeling about this place." Anakin's voice cut off right after his sentence. The comlink turned to soft static.
"Rex." Cody said.
"General? Are you still there?" He ignored Cody for a moment as he tried to reestablish connection.
"Rex." Cody said again, mounting fear in his tone. Rex finally snapped his head up.
"What?" Cody didn't answer, but instead he pointed to a clump of leaves high above them. Rex's eyes followed up the trunk of the tree, toward a few recently snapped branches. Two leaves gently began to fall to the earth in a graceful swirling dance with the wind, but the fact that they were falling was unsettling.
"We're being watched…" Cody whispered. Rex drew his second blaster and kicked off the safety. The other clone's finger rested apprehensively over the trigger. High above, the sounds of claws on wood echoed in the vast space. Rex slowly began to turn toward the trees and back away, gently guiding Cody away with him.
"Whatever it is, it's hiding in the trees high above." The captain said, closing off external communications to speak only to the commander.
"Should we fire into the canopy?" he suggested, switching off his externals as well.
"No, that's too brash. Use infrareds, maybe we can see it that way."
"Right." Simultaneously, the clones switched to infrareds and examined the canopy. Slowly a shape manifested, big, and inhuman.
"Damn it Rex! That's a Trandoshan!" Cody hissed.
"Does it see us?" Rex asked. Suddenly, as if to answer his question, the large reptilian plunged down through the trees, its claws scraping on the way down to lessen the force of the drop.
"Shoot it!" Rex demanded. Both clones opened fire as the Trandoshan touched down to the ground. Before it was hit, it ducked behind a tree. Giving a hostile hiss, it drew a net gun, a Conner APNG3 to be precise. It waited for the cease fire before lunging behind another tree to get closer to its targets. The clones moved backwards away from the place it was hiding.
"Move away from each other." Rex ordered, beginning to leave from Cody's side. The other clone looked at him incredulously for a moment before doing as told. Behind the tree, the Trandoshan rose up drew a small blaster, hoping to scatter the two clones and make them seek cover to get them out of the open and closer to him. Leaping out from behind the tree, the Trando fired several shots near Cody's feet, trying to push him further from Rex. In a blur, the reptile dashed off in the commander's direction and fired the net gun directly at its target. Caught by surprise, Cody did little more than stumble back before being ensnared in the electric net.
"Cody!" Rex shouted. None of it mattered, in a split second the other clone fell unconscious to the ground in a flurry of electricity, dropping his blaster and laying in a tangle of net. The Trandoshan turned its focus to Rex. It hissed and its tongue slithered out of its mouth sinisterly.
"One down, one to go." He said.
"Not if I can help it." Rex snarled under his breath. Drawing both of his pistols, he aimed at the reptile and unleashed a barrage of blaster fire. The Trando growled and leapt out of the way, hiding behind a thick tree in order to reload his net gun. Rex stopped firing. He would've rushed to Cody's side, but the fallen trooper was too close to the bounty hunter. He didn't want to be captured as well, then who would rescue them? Rex trained his gun on the place he last went, ready to kill. The woods and plains behind him were eerily silent as he waited. His arms didn't shake. They held fast. Suddenly, the Trandoshan lunged out from behind the tree, merely feet away and pulled the trigger to the net gun. Rex fired at that exact moment. Moving to dodge the net, the clone tucked and rolled to escape faster. The Trando shouted in pain and anger as one of the blaster bolts hit him in the arm.
"You'll pay for that soldier boy!" he snarled, reloading the gun another time. Rex jumped to his feet and fired again, moving closer to Cody. In the distance, a shrill whistle sounded, distracting the reptile for a moment. Seizing the opportunity, the captain fired at its head. Unfortunately, the Trandoshan reacted quickly enough to save its life. Rex's guns clicked as he pulled the trigger, indicating that he was out of rounds. In a single moment, the reptile thundered across the ground toward Rex, skidded on the dirt, and launched the electric net dead center around the clone. The captain had no time between events to react. Everything happened too fast. He dropped his blasters as he became paralyzed. His body dropped to the ground with a thud, going limp. The Trandoshan gave a pleased, fanged grin and activated his communicator. He received a response immediately.
"Yes what is it?" The rather strained voice of a man came through.
"I got your prizes with me." The Trando stated proudly.
"Excellent! Bring them to me at once! I wish to examine them!" the voice grew even more strained as his excitement peaked.
"Yes, boss." He hissed and turned off the comlink. He untangled the clones from his nets and carefully coiled them up for later. Their guns and comlinks went into the small backpack he kept in the woods while stalking them. With the backpack was a large speeder. The clones were quickly placed in the speeder as the whistling in the distance grew louder, and more shrill. He did not wish to be out here longer than necessary. It was a dangerous place full of unsettling beasts. Cody and Rex's wrists were cuffed with binders. The Trandoshan started up the speeder and began to maneuver the deep woods, back to the base.
Unknown Planet
Unknown Time
Fives and Echo stumbled over black roots jutting out of the dirt. The deep woods proved most difficult. Earlier, they past a gruesome swamp, with scraggly black trees half sunken into murky brown water. Echo swore he had seen movement. Not just one single object, but the trees, the branches, and even the water moved. Fives shook it off as an illusion and the two veered far from the bog to avoid getting stuck in the revolting sludge.
"So what are we looking for again?" Fives spoke, "please remind me." Echo tore his right leg away from a clump of thin, prickly roots that he had stepped in and stumbled back.
"General Kenobi said to look for a base of operations. Or if there's any suspicious activity, report it to them immediately." He replied.
"Right. Now that I'm in here, I regret deciding to conquer the woods." Fives ducked low as a couple clawed branches hung down.
"I can try to contact Jesse and Kix and we can band together. I'd feel less vulnerable if I knew I had them by my side." Echo said, lifting his comlink up.
"What?" Fives drawled, "am I not good enough anymore?" he laughed it off and kept moving. His armored boots sinking in the soft ground. It gave him an uneasy sensation. He always preferred a hard ground beneath him.
"Kix, this is Echo. Can you hear me?" There was a short spell of static. After mere moments, Kix's voice came over the line.
"Where are you two?" Kix asked. "We've been running circles since we entered this blasted forest."
"Um…" Echo looked about for a landmark of some sort. He remembered the thick swamp. "Have you two encountered a thick, black bog yet? We just veered east of it and continued along for about a mile." A stick in the wood snapped and Fives lurched into action. He had his blaster ready to fire as he moved back to back with the other clone.
"No. We haven't encountered a swamp. We've been trekking through pretty rooted ground." He paused for a moment. Before Echo could speak again, Kix suddenly said,
"Have you heard a whistling sound in here by any chance?" The trees above seemed to leer over the two clones sinisterly, almost if waiting for something.
"Now that you mention it, yeah. We heard something whistle early on when we first came in here." Echo moved his free hand to his blaster as Fives's back touched his. The two were tense as the forest became more active.
"Stay where you are. Jesse and I are coming to you." Kix's voice said before the line went dead.
"What's going on here Echo?" Fives said in a low voice.
"I-I don't know…" His voice went even lower. Echo drew his blaster, feeling an oppressive wave of dread creep around them. Suddenly, a shrill whistle emitted from the north. Both clones turned to face that direction. Though the sound was loud, it was faint.
"What was that?" Fives asked. Echo didn't answer, his arms trembled as he held his blaster. Far above Echo in the nearest tree, a small silver tube slid out of a hollow notch in the bark. The small device maneuvered to aim for the clone trooper's exposed neck area. Immediately after locking onto its target, it silently fired a pin with a small bulb on the end. Echo flinched as the needle point pierced the body glove and bit into his skin.
"Ah!" he exclaimed as his fingers clumsily grabbed at it.
"What happened?" Fives grew more defensive as he whipped around to face his comrade. Echo pulled the silver pin from his neck. As he did, the object split into several pieces in his hand
"Echo what was that?" he looked around to find the source. The tiny device in the tree had retracted. In place of it was a camera peering down at the two clones. Diagonal from the tree housing the camera, another device emerged from a crevice in the bark and aligned itself with the erratically moving clone.
"I-I don't feel so well…" Echo's blaster slipped from his grip as he fell to his knees. Fives tried to hold him up as his legs gave out.
"Echo? Hold in there brother!" He let him down on the ground and followed to his knees before trying to contact Jesse and Kix.
"Kix! Jesse! This is Fives. Echo's just been hit with some sort of pois-" The comlink suddenly played back a voice that was not Jesse or Kix's. The hair on Fives's body rose as he listened to a deep, gravely, inhuman voice speak into the comlink.
"You are mine." It said. Echo had fallen unconscious beneath Fives, breathing slowly. For a moment Fives stared in a mounting panic at his comlink. Something had just taken control of it. And he was now alone to face whatever was out here. Another snap in the woods compelled him to grab his blaster. He held a defensive stance over Echo, preparing to defend both of them if he had to. The silver device lined up with the other clone's neck and waited a moment before firing the second needle. Fives flinched violently as he felt a sharp prick in his skin.
"Ow!" he growled, tearing at his neck. The pin shattered the instant his fingers touched it.
"Damn…" he said, his voice growing weaker. Just then, several dark shapes emerged from the thicket. Fives's eyes blurred, as if he was spinning around without pause. He fell to his knees beside Echo as one of the figures approached him. His fingers went numb and he no longer felt the blaster in his hand. Weakly, he raised his head in hopes of seeing his assailants. He had no such luck as his eyes closed on him. The last thing he heard was,
"We have secured the trespassers."
Unknown Planet
Unknown Time
Kix and Jesse lightly jogged through the woods. In this part of the woods, the branches did not grow until midway up the tree. Even so, the roots had found their way to the surface as they worked to trip any who dared to pass. Jesse was relieved when they finally escaped that part of the woods and onto the firm ground and brightly colored leaves dusting the earth.
"Where did they say they went?" Jesse asked. Kix answered immediately.
"They said they were near a bog. I don't know about you but I sure smell one. Besides, the woods we just came out of had that shrill whistling."
"Yeah. I'd hate to meet up with whatever was lurking in there." Jesse tapped his comlink with his finger. After they split up his communicator had stopped functioning. It would turn randomly on and start making static noises. Both clones decided as long as they never left one another's side, Jesse could turn it off and rid themselves of the irritating and unsettling noise. Kix moved toward a small incline. Even though it was a small crest, perhaps he could spot something from here. Jesse followed closely. The last thing he wanted was to be separated here with no means of communication. Kix scoffed.
"I can't see anything. The trees are thick."
"Let's just follow the smell of the bog." Jesse suggested. "Eventually we'll find what they were talking about."
"Yeah, but what if we come out on a different side of the bog and go the wrong way? Or what if there's another bog?" Kix stepped down off the incline. A large, rotting stump sat below the hill.
"Maybe we weren't smelling the bog." Jesse gestured to the stump.
"Not the right smell. The stump smells like moisture and earth. The bog should smell rancid and muddy."
"Then we're on the right track." Jesse stepped on a few crunchy leaves as he looped around the hill. Kix turned his back on the other clone for a moment and listened to the surroundings. At least here there was a fresh breeze, and even the sun managed to penetrate the thick leaves. Despite the smelly log, it was more comforting here than any part of the forest they had been, or that had been described to them. He hoped his fellow comrades had better luck than them. Kix raised his comlink to his face. Jesse walked around the stump, sidestepping and walking backwards to look at it. Kix decided to contact Kenobi and Skywalker first. He was eager to know what they had been up to. The comlink turned on for a moment before shutting itself off. That's weird. Kix thought, turning it back on. Jesse backed up a few more steps. The comlink turned on for another mere second before shutting off. Damn it. Kix tapped it angrily. In the next second, the peace in the forest was shattered as something broke through another, a loud crunch scaring Kix. Immediately after the crunch was a piercing shriek of agony. Kix whipped around to see Jesse- Jesse's left leg standing through a sheet of metal. The sharp edge of the metal was lodged crookedly through Jesse's foot, and through the ankle to the calf. The clone dropped to the ground in a second, shaking in pain and screaming. Blood coated the metal, the armor, his leg and the leaves all around them.
"Jesse!" Kix shouted and sprinted back over, sliding onto his knees beside his brother. Jesse was shaking violently in pain and trauma. The metal was still shoved up inside his leg. Kix glanced at it for a moment. It was a trap. The contraption lifted up. It was a small circle with a sensitive pad that would eject a sheet of metal into anything or anyone who set it off.
"Jesse! Jesse! Can you hear me? You're going to be all right!" Kix reassured to calm them both down. Although his words had little effect. They were alone out here, with no supplies. And this injury would result in nothing but torment even if he survived. Kix froze for a moment. He didn't know whether to wrench the metal out of his leg or try to call for help and wait. Jesse's screams paused only for a moment to catch his breath before going into convulsive sobs. Just when Kix thought it couldn't get worse, a gun clicked behind his head. Slowly, he raised his arms to surrender.
"You should be glad I forgot a trap then." A male voice said behind him.
"Just shut up and bind this one." Another said. Kix grunted as a pair of strong steel hands wrenched him onto his feet. His wrists were clamped into binders and a gun rested by his temple. Battle droids? He thought in bewilderment. He wasn't far off. There were four commando droids that circled around the two clones including the one holding Kix. Jesse's bleeding form still lay on the ground. Sobs rocked his body as his injured leg trembled uncontrollably.
"Get that one back to base. We'll take this one too." One droid sporting sergeant markings demanded. He had white lines painted along his chest, legs and around his eyes.
"He won't last long." Another commented. He was bent over Jesse, examining the wound. The third droid came around and hoisted Jesse upwards under the arms. The clone wailed in pain, but didn't fight. Kix jerked in the droid's grip before the threatening click of the gun subdued him. Don't hurt him! He wanted to say, but considering his condition…
"Grab him. I'll pull." The droid at his head lifted him up while the droid by his feet took hold of the frame of the trap. Together, they yanked in opposite directions. Kix winced and shivered hearing the slick sound metal sliding out of the cut followed by Jesse giving another agonized wail. Damn! Damn! Kix squeezed his eyes shut. The droid holding the trap expertly deactivated it and held it by his side as he and the sergeant moved on. The droid holding Kix dragged him along. Jesse was lifted into the arms of the commando droid holding him. We're going to die…Thought Kix.