Okay, really sorry for the long update-wait, I got banned from the computer for a while. But, thanks to Eregnar for being my mini beta reader! I really appreciate it! On other terms, most of the choices on my poll are still tied, so I might release the current results just to boost some points. Tell all of your buddies on the sight about it! (I already took my votes) ^^" I'm afraid I'm not very good at writing battle scenes, so tell me if something doesn't seem right. Let's see what happens next to our troop…
Late afternoon sunlight stung Nirisa's eyes as she exited through the wide entrance. She looked to see where Kiki and he group had landed, which was only a few feet from her area.
"Glad to see you made it out. Are you alright?" Kiki asked stepping towards Nirisa.
"Yeah, we're all fine." The images from Nirisa's vision played over and over in her head. She wanted to tell Kiki, but Nirisa wasn't sure how she would react if Kiki knew what would happen in the future. The last thing Nirisa wanted was for Kiki to over-react.
"Are you sure?" Kiki asked, concern twisting her features. She always was good at reading Nirisa's emotions.
"Yeah, let's get going," said Nirisa. She hated the feeling she got about having to lie to Kiki, but it couldn't be helped. The Force was telling her that whatever was going to happen was inevitable, and spreading around the sense of impending doom was not going to help with their mission. Kiki still looked skeptical, but listened to her twin anyway.
The ground shook with the force of a blast from the main city of Verocia. Anakin could see smoke rising from multiple points on the horizon. "Come on, we have to move it!" Anakin dashed forward through the last line of trees and underbrush, the rest of the team following.
What they arrived to was complete mayhem.
Anakin hadn't expected the battle for Verocia to get so fierce this quickly. Parts of the 212th ,501st and 686th Battalion were scattered between buildings, trying to keep back the flood of Kirzmin Lizards while awaiting reinforcements. Their numbers were dwindling fast, and with one of their Jedi already dead from a blast*, their chances of winning were slim.
"Obi-wan!" Anakin called as he ignited his lightsaber and joined the fray. Kiki, Nirisa, and their men were close behind, striking down the droids that got into their path. "What's been going on, Master?"
"Anakin, you've finally made it!" Obi-wan said above the noise of grenades. "We've managed to push the Kirzmin back, but I don't know how long we'll be able to hold this position. We need reinforcements now."
"Grenade!" Rex shouted, rolling out of the way of the projectile. The nearby men cleared the immediate area, narrowly missing the blast. One of the houses beside Rex lit into flames, the roof crumbling inward. "They're targeting the civilian homes—" Rex cut himself off when he saw the woman leaning in the doorway, blood running down her temple.
"H-help me…plea—" She fell to the dusty ground, her screaming child writhing in her arms.
"Medic!" Rex yelled, moving to cover the still woman. "Someone get me a medic!" He knew that there were brothers who would probably need a medic more urgently, but Rex was not going to have a civilian death on his hands, no matter how inevitable it was. The child continued to scream and cry, its small body half pinned under its mother.
This battle was going to be costly, Rex realized it as soon as the Kirzmin Lizards began attacking the homes and running inside to take hostages. He fired as quickly as he could, but he knew that they were severely outnumbered, with the Republic clones fighting both the numerous battle droids and the agile Kirzmin Lizards. They couldn't call in air support because of the risk of collateral damage, and the grenade use for the clones was the bare minimum.
Still no medic arrived, and Rex took it upon himself to check the woman's vitals. Flicking his eyes to the body scans on his helmet, he aimed the scanner at the woman. But he already knew from the unnatural way she was laying still that it was too late. Her child continued to cry, smoke from the nearby burning home filling its lungs. "Medic!" Rex's voice was getting hoarse from all of the yelling he was doing. A soldier came over—a medic from the 212th.
"What's the problem, sir?" he said, fixing the straps on his shoulders.
"Get that child to a safe place—safer than here. The mother is dead, and I don't know how much longer the house is going to last. Go!" Rex pointed to the prone body on the ground. The medic had a look flick across his face, Rex could tell from his body language. Flames were creeping up the woman's clothing, filling the air with even more smoke as the acrid smell of burning flesh took over Rex's helmet before the air filters kicked in.
In a few seconds, her entire body was on fire.
The medic wrenched the child free from its mother's arms, pulling it tight to his chest. Its crying had slowed to small hiccups as it looked at the flaming home. The medic ran farther back, behind the line of heavy guns and crates of charges. He opened the door to the first inhabited home he came upon to be met with the end of a crude blaster aimed at his forehead.
"What are you doing here?" the female behind the weapon asked, her accent lilting her words.
"I mean no harm ma'am, but…" the medic was at a loss for words as her looked sadly to the whimpering toddler in his arms.
Understanding flashed across the young woman's face as she looked at the little toddler. She pulled it free from the medic's arms and nodded to him, closing the door as she turned away.
"General, we need to clear the civilians away from here now! They are being targeted as hostages!" Bliz yelled over the din of exploding grenades.
"Commander, tell your men to surround the houses. Don't let any of the Kirzmin in!"Kiki ordered, striking down a super battle droid. There was absolutely no way to clear out the civilians—they would only be lead straight into the battle. The bloody battle had been going on for hours now, and the men were getting run down. The sun was well below the horizon, the only things keeping the field lit were the flashes of lasers, and the automatic streetlamps that came on. One of the lamps exploded by Kiki's head, a few further down following suit. The primary source of light for the battle was fading quickly, and in a few moments, it was complete darkness, save for the streaks of lasers and lightsabers, and the brief light from grenade explosions. Kiki sliced into a Lizard before it could attack a home. Almost immediately, the nearby men began moving closer to the houses, taking cover in the alley-ways and providing cover fire.
The next seven days could only be described as pure hell.
Just when it seemed as if the Jedi and clones couldn't hold out any longer, reinforcements came—unfortunately, they were not only for the Republic, but also for the droids and the Kirzmin Lizards.
"How much longer is this going to go on?" Kiki asked no one in particular. She was tired, she had received more injuries than she cared to count, and the prolonged exposure to the death of the clones around her was only making it harder and harder to bear.
"That depends on how many teenagers the Kirzmin plan on sending to fight in this battle!" Old Man said from the sidelines, helping a medic with a wounded clone. For the past few days, Kiki had almost completely forgotten that Old Man was even with them. He had proven to be useful when it came to helping with the injured, and although the clones didn't trust him at first, they quickly learned to accept his help.
Something rippled in the Force, and Obi-wan did not like the message he was receiving through it. One second too late, he realized what it meant. "Torpedoes! Everybody get down!"
Bliz had just finished helping patch up a civilian child he had pulled away from the danger of the battle outside. Can't blame them for getting hurt, he thought. This whole mess is literally right on their doorstep. He ran outside to rejoin the fray just as Obi-wan called the word "torpedoes". Bliz looked up to see the torpedo shaped weapon speeding down to their sector. Everything around him was moving as though time was slowed down, and the only things he could hear were the thudding of his own heart, and the rushing blood in his ears. He knew that he was too close to possibly survive the force of the blast—they all were—but he wasn't sure how he would get the message out fast enough in order to save everyone. Bliz turned around, intending to make it back as far as possible before it landed, at the same time relaying the message over the HUD in his helmet. He caught a glimpse of the same little boy he had helped earlier peeking out through the doorway, the medic behind him rushing to pull him back. He's too curious for his own good, Bliz thought, turning his head to see the torpedo come at an alarming speed to the ground. The world snapped back to regular time, sounds and sights flooding Bliz's senses as he pumped his legs to move faster. I'm not gonna make it, an unnervingly calm voice said in Bliz head. He made the mistake of looking back to the Twi'lek boy in the doorway. He's not gonna make it! Bliz thought, terror ripping through him. The Twi'lek boy's eyes widened in complete fear at the projectile. At the last second, Bliz tripped over a body.
The torpedo hit.
Bliz didn't even have any time to react. The initial force was enough to blast him farther down the street than he thought possible. The second blast was worse, pushing Bliz into the wall of one of the small homes on the side of the road. He heard something snap, and then break, and his body was slammed full force against the solid wall. Damned wall, Bliz thought, groaning within his head. Why couldn't you be softer? His vision began fading in and out, the pain in his body finally registering with his brain. Bliz moaned, then screamed as he felt the multiple broken and torn parts of his body continue to pull at each other. His armor was cracked in multiple areas, having taken the brunt of the impact. Despite the terrible pain in his head and neck, Bliz craned his head to see what was left of the battle. Something wet and warm ran down his head and into his eye, blurring what little vision he had left. The primary image he saw through his flickering HUD screen was that of bright orange and yellow engulfing the center of the capital. Where… are…others? Bliz thought, his own words sounding sluggish to him. The chances that no one had not survived that blast were high, higher than Bliz would have liked. He scanned the remnants of what was left of the capital of Verocia, from the completely obliterated homes of the native Verocians, to the dead bodies of both the clones and the Kirzmin that littered the ground around him. Two pairs of rough, scaly hands grabbed his arms and legs, upsetting his already painful injuries. Bliz cried out in protest at the sudden movements, writhing to try and break free. Something hard knocked into his head, setting off a frenzy of pounding in his skull. Ow ow ow ow! Bliz groaned, his thoughts turning to the rest of the team. I hope they're having better luck than I am…
Kiki had barely had any time to react when the torpedo hit. She saw Nirisa turn and run toward the heavy guns, carrying a limping clone with her. No, don't go there, they could explode! Kiki thought in alarm. She reached a out a hand to try and stop her sister from taking another step. A loud booming noise sounded off behind her, knocking out her senses for a few terrifying seconds.
Then came the crash.
Kiki felt hot flames singe the clothing on her back, burning the skin under it. She saw one of heavy guns come flying at her, and by a pure stroke of luck, managed to turn his body and have her side absorb most of the impact. She felt ribs crack inside her as she slumped to the ground, her vision beginning to go black. No no no! Kiki screamed within her head. She struggled to shift her head, the last image she saw being that of Nirisa's limp form on the ground.
Kiki fell into unconsciousness.
Again, sorry for the wait, but now that I'm out of school, I should get these out much faster. This is going to be one of the last chapters of the flashback, and then we get back to the present time. I might put in some Rex/Kanari fluff in, and if I do, I'm sorry, but in the end it'll all tie in nicely. :D Until the next chapter (which should come sooner than this one)…
~AAx