Hey everyone! It's been a while. No, I promise that I haven't forgotten the story. I've just had to split my time between different projects. Anyways, here is the next chapter. As hard as it may be to believe, we are over the halfway mark.
So, without further ado, I give you chapter 14...
(Cascade Mountains: Oregon)
Lieutenant Pierce fought to keep his teeth from chattering as he reloaded magazines. While spring was starting to make an appearance everywhere else, it had yet to reach the mountain passes. Snow and ice clung to the ground as midnight winds ate through cloth and plasteel body armor alike.
As he slid a magazine into one of his pockets, he heard two guys start arguing behind him. Their voices were quiet but steadily growing in volume.
"Hey!" he barked, "Shut up, or my foot up your asses will be the only worry you two have."
"Yes sir," grumbled his man.
However, the person- a clone- was slower to respond. Before Pierce could say anything, Rex appeared out from the undergrowth.
"It'll be my foot as well if you don't shape up, Hardcase," he added just as sharply.
"Yes sir," the clone responded.
Satisfied, Pierced turned back and continued working. Rex found a spot next to him in the foxhole as he cleaned out the barrel of his pistol.
"Don't mind Hardcase. He's good, but he can be a bit arrogant sometimes," Rex explained.
"Humph. Weren't we all," Pierce grunted.
Rex started to speak, but quickly cut himself off.
"What-"
"Listen," the Captain ordered.
Pierced fell silent as he strained his ears to listen. Then, like the whisper of a ghost, he heard it float in with the wind. The mechanical wine was barely audible, but unmistakeable. Suddenly, as though to confirm his suspicions, the entire hillside came alive.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Every anti-aircraft battery within ten miles roared to life with echoing reports. Almost without thinking, Lieutenant Pierce and Captain Rex both began barking orders to their respective men. All of it could be summed up with one Sergeant's order.
"Incoming! Hit the dirt!" he shouted.
What had been a whisper was a full blown roar the droids roared overhead. The next several minutes were deafening as explosions tore into the mountainside. Through the chaos and death, one other noise caught Pierce's attention. Both training and numerous engagements with the droids brought one sound to to the forefront of his mind. The sharp hiss came from somewhere off to his right. The blue mist that jetted out from the canister told him what he needed to know.
"Gas! Gas! Gas!" he yelled as he produced his own mask.
In the moonless night, Pierce was forced to rely on muscle memory and training as he fit the gas mask over his face. The bitter taste of filtered oxygen reached his mouth as the mist washed over his foxhole. The officer turned into a statue as part of him waited for the symptoms to begin. Pierce knew he had gotten it on in time. However, there was a part of his mind that had insisted that it was too late. Yet, he was fine.
For the next several hours it rolled on. Squadron after squadron streaked across the mountains. Fires and death marked the trajectory of each droid. Finally, as morning came around the ground fell silent. There was no explosions and no droids streaking overhead. All that was left was a blue haze that sat over the mountain like a blanket. The only mechanical sounds came from a pair of Abrams tanks that picked their way down the torn up, icy highway. The two came to a stop at the first curve in the road. Their position was quite intentional. Here, two mountains dropped into a steep sided ravine with the road snaking down the north side. Anyone trying to climb the road would be caught between a shear rock face and two 120 millimeter guns. That wasn't counting the five mass driver guns on the south slope and self-propelled guns stationed higher up the ridge.
Headcounts were quickly started as the officers attempted to assess the damage. However, they were quickly interrupted as a voice cut in on the radio.
"This is Sentry 1 to Sentry 2. I have multiple hostiles moving up the highway. Can you confirm?" questioned the scout.
"This is Sentry 2, I can confirm. Command, there's at least three plus armor moving up the highway," confirmed the other scout.
"Roger that," acknowledged the General before addressing the Clone and "Regular" tank crews, "Call sign Anvil and callsign Warhawk, you two are on intercept. Weapons free when they're in range."
Clearly other orders were given off frequency, because the ridge suddenly came to life again. However, this time it wasn't AA guns. There was a series of shrill whistles as the artillery shells sailed overhead. The trees shook and geysers of rock and fire marked their landing sites. Looking up and slightly behind him, Pierce watched two machine gun nests quietly come alive.
The next few minutes were tense as artillery shells and hushed reports marked the enemy's position.
One of the clones was in the middle of giving a report when things changed, "...Wait… What the- Command they're splitting up. I repeat they are splitting into two groups. Armor's staying on the road, but most of the infantry units are breaking off into the forest on the south side of the road."
"How far south are they going?" Anakin demanded
"Not far. Their staying parallel in their movements," the clone responded, "Armor should be in sight-"
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Every tank in the area came to life at once. Energy and solid projectiles alike smashed into the lead tanks. As they crashed into the hard packed snow, it looked as though the offensive might stall behind a road block of its own tanks. Then came the second phase.
"There's droids moving into the ravine," called one of Pierce's men.
Looking over, Pierce saw them. As the tanks were exchanging rounds, the droids were marching forward unchecked.
"Weapons free. Weapons free," Pierce ordered as he shouldered his own weapon.
Just like that, the real show had begun. Bullets and hand grenades added to the chaos as red and blue lasers marked up the hillside. For every droid that went down, more seemed to take their place. Soon heavy weapons were forced to split their focus as the droids made their suicidal push up the ravine.
"Have they lost their minds?" Pierce shouted over his own gunfire.
"I quit asking myself that a long time ago," Rex answered as he left for a better position.
Pierce barely had to aim in order to hit something. He would kill a droid, shift the sight a couple inches and shoot another. A loud explosion suddenly sent his ears ringing. Pierce reflexively ducked and looked back as metal shrapnel kicked up dust around him. The Lieutenant's eyes turned to saucers as the crippled AT TE gave one last mechanical grone.
"Look out!" someone yelled.
Lacking anything else to do, Pierce threw himself down in his foxhole as the multi-ton walker started tumbling down the hill.
CRASH! BANG! BOOM!
All Pierce saw was dirt and fire as the tank rolled over top of him. After an elongated second, he ventured a look up… or rather down. Sitting at the bottom of the ravine were the twisted remains of a Republic walker and it's crew. As he turned back to continue fighting, Pierce nearly had a heartattack. As it had rolled down, the tank had deposited the crushed remains of the clone gunner inside his hole. He felt guilty for doing it, but Pierce simply pushed the man aside and continued shooting.
Over on the road, the droid tanks were able to find their momentum again as they forced way around the destroyed leaders. As they made their way into the cover of the corner, another tank joined the two on the road. However, they all backed up several yards. This gave the droid tanks time to redirect their fire. As a result, Pierce felt as though the entire world was breaking apart. Explosions sent geysers of fire and debris shooting up around him.
"Anytime those engineers want to start setting off charges, is great with me," Pierce shouted over the radio.
"Standby. They need to get a little further up," crackled a voice on the other end.
"Any further up, and you might as well give them the summit," he snapped back.
"Hardly… You might want to cover your ears," the man warned.
As if on cue, a perfect grid of explosions blasted the rock out from under the road. Pierce had to admit that the end result had a kind of twisted beauty. An entire quarter mile of road ceased to exist as rock and ice were thrown out into the valley. Those that weren't thrown everywhere were jarred loose. As they slid down, so did most of the CIS's tanks. Vehicles and droids alike were crushed and bent beyond recognition as they came crashing down. As if to spite them, the explosion touched off an avalanche that buried the majority of the tanks in a blanket of white.
"Told you," crackled a smug voice.
"Ya. Ya, you did," Pierce admitted as he changed magazines.
(Coruscant: Central Division Lockup)
Mace Windu hated this place. The prison was a massive fortress constructed just south of the Government Sector. The place felt about as tacked on as it looked. The building was hastily added to the previously existing building with the anticipation of war. The hurried construction was obvious through it's poor layout and resulting gaps in security. Nearly constant supply shortages made the place notorious for riots, while more than a legion of clones was required for general security alone. If a riot or other reinforcement requiring issue happened, those forces would have to be flown in from other places across the planet.
Waiting for Windu at the pad was Commander Fox. His red and white armor almost seemed to glow in the light of a setting sun.
"General, to what do I owe the pleasure?" Fox greeted.
"I'm here to see a prisoner," Windu declared as he continued into the building.
"Who exactly?"
"Doctor Nuvo Vindi," Windu answered matter-of-factly.
Fox didn't immediately respond as he attempted to pull the name from his memory.
"Nuvo Vindi," he mumbled before remembering, "Say, he's that nut who tried gassing Naboo."
"Yes. I need to speak to him, and I need his communication records," Windu requested.
"Of course. There's only one problem though…"
"What is that?" the Jedi demanded.
"He shouldn't have any communication records. He was transferred to the containment wing upon arrival," Fox explained.
Windu silently cursed as he stepped into the building.
"Then pull all of the communication records for this entire building. I want every communication transcript from day one of the war to now transferred over to the Jedi Temple by midnight," Windu ordered.
"By midnight, sir?" the Commander stammered.
"By midnight," Windu confirmed before lowering his voice, "Also, this is a very sensitive investigation. I expect the subject of today's visit kept need to know, and so far the only person that needs to know is you."
"Yes sir," the the Clone agreed.
"General, I have to ask that you surrender your weapon and comm link," requested a clone at the security checkpoint.
Master Windu nodded as he turned over his lightsaber and comm link.
"Thank you sir."
Upon passing through the security gate, the two men parted ways. Fox took off in one direction to secure Dr. Vindi and start pulling records, while another guard lead Windu into a solid grey interview room.
"The prisoner will be in shortly," the clone stated as he gestured toward the bolted down table.
Master Windu nodded and took a seat on the far end of the table. After what felt like forever, two more clones (Fox being one of them) lead Vindi through the energy field and cuffed him to the table.
"Ring the buzzer twice when you are finished," Fox instructed.
The Jedi nodded and Fox exited with his partner.
"Master Windu, is it?" asked the pale blue scientist.
"Yes."
"Tell me… What brings you to my humble home?"
The insanity dripped from Nuvo's voice as he spoke. The Alien's black "mask" and elongated features made the words all the more unsettling.
"Your virus is making an appearance again. I want to know how," Master Windu declared.
"It's simple. You take a few ingredients and mix them with some others and- and add electricity," the doctor flippantly explained.
Master Windu clenched his fists under the table as he struggled to retain his patience. Across from him, Nuvo looked as though he was about to burst out laughing.
"I read the after action report. I know how it's made. What I want to know how other people know," Windu corrected.
"Ah! Yes-Yes-Yes! Of course," the doctor began laughing, "You want to know how my work has is continuing on."
Windu nodded in conformation.
Almost instantly, the laughing ceased and Vindi leaned in, "And why should I help you?"
"Because, if you help me, I can get you into Gen. Pop." Windu offered.
Vindi began chuckling again, "You think I want out of here? I wouldn't survive two days in that mess."
"I have the authority to move you as I see fit. I can alter the deal if I have too," Windu warned.
The doctor paused for a minute as he contemplated his options.
"What can I say? Someone seems to appreciate the beauty of my work," Vindi replied with a wild grin.
For the next hour, Master Windu continued prodding. As soon as the doctor had stepped through the door, he had sensed the insanity. However, he had sensed something else underneath- clarity. This caused Windu to take in every tell that he could. Every word that the doctor spoke was examined for double meaning. His tone was constantly evaluated, and the Jedi was almost always searching the force for signs of deception or truth. Finally, at the end of the hour, Windu stood up.
"Leaving so soon?" the doctor asked.
"I think we're finished for now," Windu stated as he pressed the buzzer.
Soon Fox appeared with another trooper. As his partner stood up and re-cuffed the prisoner, Fox was pulled aside by the Jedi.
"Transfer him to isolation. He is not to be transferred unless I give the order," Windu quietly ordered.
"Yes sir."
(Jedi Temple: 12 hours later)
Morning came all too early for Master Windu. The minute he stepped out of his quarters, he was intercepted by an apprentice who informed him that Commander Fox had turned over the communication records as instructed. Upon giving orders to start combing through them, Mace Windu grabbed a small breakfast. After that, he was forced to forgo meditation in favor of a strategy meeting. Finally, upon completion of that depressing conversation, he made his way to the Council Chamber for another meeting. Master Windu was truly impressed. It took half of the meeting for someone to bring up his conversation with Vindi.
"Dr. Vindi is either an exceptional liar or he has isn't our leak," Master Windu declared.
"So where does that leave us?" asked one Council member.
"The potential of a leak from inside, there still is. Tell another prisoner or guard, he could have. Combing through the records, we are," Master Yoda answered.
"I want to know where they are making the gas at, and why they chose this new planet to deploy it on," Master Ki Adi stated, "I could think of any number of planets that would be better."
"Yes, but only that one planet stands between them and Coruscant," reasoned Master Plo Koon.
"What does the Chancellor think of this?" Ki Adi quizzed.
"Hmm… Tell him, we have not. Control of the investigation, we wish to keep," Yoda explained solemnly.
"Do you two really think that he would cut us out of the investigation?" Master Shaak Ti questioned.
"Given his actions of late, I would not put it past him," Master Windu confirmed.
"His sudden mass of power, worry us it does," Yoda added in, "Compromised by the Sith, we fear he may be."
"Could Palpatine himself be playing us?" Plo Koon proposed.
"We do not believe so. He is a politician through and through. We would know if he was. However, previous investigations have proven that he is still a risk to the integrity of this investigation," Windu clarified.
"Until told otherwise, leave this room, this information does not," Yoda instructed.
Silence immediately followed the direction as council members registered the weight of the suggestions made by Yoda and Windu.
"Have they been able to find any leaks in the units that raided the laboratory?" Plo Koon finally asked.
"We don't know. Next contact is due tomorrow evening. We'll find out then," Windu answered.
"I see."
For the next several minutes, ideas and questions were tossed around the council chamber. Some revolved around the virus while others were pointed at other issues. However, the general feeling within that spire was one of trouble and anticipation. The end was coming every Jedi in that room could feel it. It was simply a question of who made the first move.