Back with another chapter! To makes things a little more fun, look out for an RT Easter Egg I have put in this chapter. It shouldn't be hard to spot if you've been around watching Achievement Hunter ;)
Reviews:
Cy Man
Once again, thank you so much for the review! As for the latter part of your review, we'll need to wait and see how far the story can go.
Spartan-100
Yep, Duo is going to have a lot more appearances from here on out! Expect some more wacky moments from him soon!
A warm thank you to Cinderfall201, RangerWalkerN7, xKaizer, FateLancer17, Beowulf Anarchy, Casu4lDucK, Dressyone22, Anonymous8888 and Spiralling-Dragon for liking and favouriting the story!
Chapter 6: Fools and Blunders
Sometimes, you don't need help. You just need a little push in the right direction to find your way…
Fire in the Outer Rim!
The war between the Republic and the Separatists threaten to burn through the galaxy. With more young men and women willing to fight for the glory of the Remnant system, multiple armies are spread throughout the fronts, joining the clone armies in the fight against the enemy.
In a jungle planet, a force of young, eager Remnant soldiers prepares for an assault that leaves them stranded in the unknown wilderness, waiting for salvation to liberate them.
Sanctum's Pride,
The Salutation,
Mad'kin Rian,
Border of Remnant System and the Outer Rim Territories,
"I have a bad feeling about this." Never before had Pyrrha Nikos ever said those words before. She was always the optimistic one in the battle; before, during or after. She may have had some terrible times in fights before, but there was always time to cheer and rejoice over the many victories she made or reassure over defeats she suffered. It was that charm and spirit that made her so renowned among troopers under her command.
How fast things changed… Now, she was, for the first time in a long while, actually worried. Not for herself, but for someone else.
Pyrrha was waiting idly in her ship, which itself was docked inside a Venator cruiser right underneath the belly of the frigate. She paced around the brig of her ship, hands tied behind her back and taking slow steps, with a worried face. The once calm persona that she was so known for was clearly not seen as she seemed troubled by the person in mind.
She hadn't expected it to be this worrisome. She thought it would have been really simple to teach young Jaune Arc on how to fight in the field of combat. She'd already been through all the basic exercises she could show him. So far, he had been able to follow through and made sure he managed to come out feeling strong after a few rounds.
Now, after finally getting him fit for service, Jaune was tasked by Pyrrha to help defend a Republic installation on the planet Mad'kin Rian; a planet once ruled by a ruthless dictator many centuries ago. It has then become a cesspool for conflict when the Separatist armies invaded this protectorate of the Republic, almost a few parsecs away from the nearest Confederacy-controlled system. She never stopped worrying; a first in her usually confident stance of life. Something told Pyrrha that Jaune was going to stumble somewhere at some point. She felt the urge to go down to the planet and help him out. However, her soldier-like instincts told her that she had to leave him to put his training to the test.
"Madam." She turned her head to her side after being called by the co-pilot of the Sanctum's Pride, who stepped forward with her hands also behind her back, dressed in her brown uniform with floral patterns of yellow on the shirt.
"Yes, Cormé?" Pyrrha responded. The co-pilot of the ship, fresh from a short-lived holiday on her home planet of Naboo, spoke with a voice that immediately spelt 'authority' to her. Indeed, she was like a rare diamond; a tough, steadfast officer amongst the more peaceful Nabooian people, whose military functioned more as security than actual militaristic force.
"We have a visitor on board requesting your attention." Pyrrha wondered who could be coming aboard to talk to her at this hour. "Shall I let him in?" Thus, she decided to let the person in question to come on into the ship and speak to her.
"Sure thing." Pyrrha gave a nod, signalling the co-pilot to turn around and bring the visitor over. After Cormé left the room, Pyrrha returned to her trance of concern. She probably would have to go down there to accompany the Remnant troops anyway, so she could spend some of her supervision time to give Jaune some more guidance.
So many thoughts swam in her head. Was Jaune okay? Was he actually performing well under the orders of the military leader in charge of his detachment? Was he still struggling to maintain his posture and stance in battle? Anything had to happen, and as reports come in that there was confrontation with the droids down where he was sent to, she couldn't stop worrying about him.
She wished she could have kept him by her side, perhaps train him more before they could both go down to fight. Unfortunately, a little bit of ambition got in the way. She wasn't too open to trying out bold moves on her own, but this was probably one of the few times she cursed at herself for making the wrong choice. Sending Jaune to see if he could function as a soldier without her supervision was not going as well. At least, she thought it didn't. By now, she'd be getting a message from him, or anyone who was in charge of his squad or battalion.
She waited for hours for a single sign, or a word from an officer in charge. Nothing came, and that was putting her in the state she was in.
The worries had to be put aside, however. She headed for the ship boarding ramp just below her; just walk from out of the bridge and the ramp was right there over the railing. There, she found Cormé standing in front of a lone clone trooper, who was standing on the lowered ramp. Pyrrha walked down towards the ramp, heading for Cormé and the clone.
The clone had armour painted with cyan in the form of the usual trims lining up against the white plating at the chest and along the T-shaped visor, while also fully coloured at the shoulder pads. As soon as Pyrrha showed up, the clone turned to her and immediately stood at attention. Cormé left the two, knowing that the Commander would settle with the conversation by herself, and returned to the bridge.
"Commander Pyrrha Nikos. I've been given orders to find you." the clone introduced himself to the Mistrallan commander.
"Present and accounted for, soldier." Pyrrha nodded respectfully.
"CT-1788. Reporting in, ma'am." The clone stood straight, which puzzled Pyrrha. She didn't mind having a clone having to serve some purpose to her and her battalion, but she was quite curious as to why a clone was sent to her in the first place. Normally, her troop consisted of those who were trained from the many academies of Remnant. Not once had she been asked to lead clones in her force, even if there was no problem with it.
"And you're here for…?" she then asked.
"I've been assigned by command to be your personal assistant in management of any clone battalion at your disposal. I shall supervise whatever direction you have towards the clone army, just in case you're lost in how we function." Now, Pyrrha understood. Of course, it would make since for a non-clone military leader to have some form of help when it came to clone society and lifestyle. Since the clone army had only been revealed so suddenly a few months ago, not many ever understood about these mysterious troopers; where they came from, or how long they had been progressing, none of this knowledge had ever surfaced until almost recently. Pyrrha had no time to study the details, so help in the form of a clone advisor was more than welcome.
"That's very nice of them." praised Pyrrha before giving her attention to the clone. "Very good… Um…" However, something seemed to get stuck within the greeting.
"Is there something wrong, Commander?" the clone asked.
"Sorry." she sheepishly apologized. "I kinda forgot your identification code." It was sort of hard to memorize the numbers, given that all other clones had their own unique code.
"CT-1788, ma'am." The clone took no offense to the blunder, nodding understandingly and reminding her once more.
"Ah, yes! Thank you." Her memory refreshed, Pyrrha and the clone proceeded to get into the ship, so that the crew could raise the ramp. While they were at it, Pyrrha continued on getting to know her new advisor more, though the clone started first.
"I assume you're going down to Mad'kin Rian to inspect a certain soldier?" inquired CT-1788.
"Affirmative." confirmed Pyrrha. "What was your division, soldier?"
"The 212th Attack Battalion. I was under the service of Commander CT-2224 and two Jedi Generals during a battle on Christophsis." Pyrrha remembered a detailed report on a recent skirmish at the mentioned planet. From what she read, the Republic was undergoing a relief mission to nourish the civilian population of the planet Christophsis. It soon led to an all-out battle between the clone army, comprised mainly of the 501st Clone and 212th Attack Battalions, which proceeded to win the fight and repulsed the Separatist invasion of the planet. "We managed to push the Separatists back from the region. A hard-fought battle, if I must say." The warrior from Mistral felt very interested in hearing this clone's encounters with one of the first battles in this war, wanting to ask more of his experience in fighting in a hectic firefight between the clones and the droid army. However, she had more important matters to deal with at the moment. Accounts of past battles had to wait; she needed to prepare for whenever she would be sent down to find her partner, and help him through the battle below.
"So, now that we're all well acquainted, why not I show you around?" She motioned for CT-1788 to enter into the ship to get him used to the surroundings.
"Sounds good, ma'am." The clone had no objections. He could use a little guidance over his new station in the ship of his superior officer, and get used to the unfamiliar scene, away from the colourless, stale interiors of Republic cruisers or his own home at Kamino. Pyrrha led the way into her prized ship; one that gave Anima its grand reputation of naval superiority and orbital security. With a friendly and helpful crew in tow, Pyrrha hoped the clone would feel right at home in her ship for the duration of the war.
"Commander." Suddenly, the two were interrupted by Cormé, who exited the command bridge in an informative manner. She stood in front of the two, with a stern face as she delivered the news she had to offer. "We've received word from Captain Archwick of the 34th Unity Mountain Division. He requests your aid in dealing with a Separatist counterattack."
Pyrrha grew concerned. The 34th Unity Mountain Division was the unit Jaune was sent to, as of right now. Now, it was a good time to go down to the surface and help him out, after all. She had to make sure he was fine, otherwise, he'd end up being bug-squashed. She hated to think about writing an after-action report on the injury of an Arc, under her responsible tutelage. What a disgrace that would be for the both of them; Pyrrha, more so. She wouldn't only be responsible for any harm brought upon Jaune, but letting him down would do irreparable damage to the close relations between the Arc and Nikos families. The last thing she wanted was a familial face-off between two of Remnant's most renowned warrior dynasties.
"Well, looks like our tour will have to wait, CT-1788." She faced her new clone assistant with a face of sure determination, eager to help Jaune survive this ordeal.
"It's no problem. I'm ready to go down there, ma'am." CT-1788 followed with Pyrrha's need to liberate her combat partner from the troubles he was facing down there. Given the support to proceed, Pyrrha turned back to Cormé to set the coordinates and reinforce the front, where she could also rain down and rescue the man she was supposed to be fighting with.
"Set course for the surface, Cormé." The Nabooian co-pilot acknowledged and returned to her post and inform the pilot to set their course for the planet. Pyrrha then led CT-1788 into the bridge and towards their seats as the ship moved towards its location.
Orthyk Valley,
Mad'kin Rian,
Border of Remnant System and the Outer Rim Territories,
The jungles of Mad'kin Rian were not anything to admire as the centre point of its tourism. The vegetation of the planet grew to epic sizes all over the place, providing a grand habitat for wildlife to thrive. Colonization had been attempted before, for centuries; some attempts successful to some degree, but most others were only dashed by how vast the area of jungle was on the surface. The rainforests were just so rampant that nothing in this world could be classified as endangered. And such abundance of wild creatures roaming around the trees and understories would be the bane of anyone's existence; those who try to even make a living here were doomed to being hunted by them.
No wonder a dictator once found this place worth his time.
The only city thriving enough to withstand the test of time here was the capital itself. If you could call it a capital, given that other areas were practically dead, barely surviving against the elements. Nothing here was worth anything other than being a source for traditional lumber exports to be transfused into much needed carbon resources.
Other than that, it would not really hold any other significance to crisis or war, which was the bright spot of the civilization living on the planet. That was all about to change… As it so happened, Mad'kin Rian, a jungle planet in the Remnant System, stood right at the very border of the Republic with its non-affiliate neighbours; those who were susceptible to joining their enemies of the Separatist Alliance. Because there was nothing it could offer to both sides in terms of resources, strategic positioning through military efficiency was the only other motivation for the field of battle that was about to sweep the planet clean of its innocent and neutral status.
"AAAHHH!" If you'd look closely enough, you might catch a lone prey animal jumping out of the bushes from the sight of you coming closer to inspect like a predator. Instead, right now, the only thing running was a young recruit who was trying to save his skin from an incoming barrage of laser fire.
Jaune ran out of the thick bushes and back into the barren trenches where a line of troopers, wearing their knightly armour of Atlesian steel, were all standing by as they watched the cowardly soldier, along with several other retreating men, fall back into the trenches to fire back at the droid army raging behind them. The Arc jumped right into the trenches right away, ducking for cover right before the soldiers beside him fired towards the battle droids.
Both of his hands on the back of his head, he pushed himself down, fearing the chance of being shot in the head, though that didn't stop him from cowering in the face of the explosions that would eventually ring around the field.
Jaune was pinned down at all directions, squeamish at the slightest noise or sight of battle. Surely enough, when a lone grenade landed right next to him, his eyes widened with panic.
"GRENADE!" He didn't need to scream it out; another soldier spotted the explosive next to him. The callout quickly caused the troopers to disperse and run to avoid being either blown to pieces, or being shredded by the shrapnel that would follow.
Jaune leapt out of the way ahead of the troops, ducking down just as the grenade blew up a few feet away from him. However, though safe from the explosion, he was splattered at by blobs of mud, messing up the already dirt-stained white armour he was wearing. Worse yet, the mud eventually landed on the skin near his face, slapping him with little bits of dirt. Although he was glad to be safe from harm, the mud on his face gave him rather distressing disgust that really ticked him off.
"This… stinks." the Arc moaned unhappily. As soon as he rose, the rain continued to fall heavily all around him. He took caution and ducked a little lower to avoid a different kind of shower; the barrage of laser fire that was already tearing the defences apart. And this was where the worst had come…
Soon, he saw one of his fellow soldiers shot down instantly, dropping down as violent as much as how much a carnivore's claw could swipe; swift and fatal. Next, another soldier fell, shot to the chest and causing him to stumble back in extreme pain. It wasn't long before a second shot finally zapped through his head, throwing the now lifeless body down. One by one, Jaune was forced to watch as each of his comrades were shot down by relentless fire from the droid army. He had no time to see how near the droids were. There was too much he could handle with the horrid sight of soldiers dying around him, let alone watching the enemy come closer and closer with each man killed around him.
If it weren't for the banging noises of rifles going off everywhere, Jaune would have heard the marching noises of the battle droids getting clearer and clearer. The intensity of firepower bursting at him was pushing him down to not act against the enemy. He wanted to brave the fear and fight back, just as Pyrrha had instructed him. However, all he did was make small peeks over the trench line before hiding behind the cover at the next second.
Once he looked over at the hill behind the troops, he could see more reinforcements arriving to assist the front. Alongside the Remnant Coalition soldiers racing to help their brothers, they were backed by clone troopers, who were part of the main force defending the planet against the Separatist invasion. These were clones that were initially stationed here to prepare for the eventual offensive against the nearest Separatist planet to Mad'kin Rian. However, the Separatists were quicker than the Republic once thought, catching them by surprise and pinning them down before they could depart.
Mad'kin Rian wasn't the only case. In fact, Republic worlds across the borders to the Outer Rim Territories, just at the northern part of the galaxy, were being besieged right before the clone armies could either leave and engage, or even arrive on time to protect them, leaving them vulnerable to quick control by the enemy. So, essentially, the war had pretty much started with an advantage for the Separatists. Fortunately, Mad'kin Rian was already protected when the Separatists arrived.
Jaune was in the thick of a Separatist invasion that was rocking his fellow troops hard. Even with the additional forces en route to reinforce the front, the droids were still raging closer to overwhelm them. Unfortunately, he was still being hesitant to look up and fire back. His rifle was practically unused for the entire duration of the battle, ever since being stationed in the same outpost he had lost to the droids.
He was forced to watch people die all around him, adding up to the tension inside of him. The deaths of these stronger men and women made him feel even more vulnerable to retreat again, even if it defied orders from his commanding officer to fight back.
"Incoming attack!" The clones and other soldiers were alarmed when hearing the nearing droids coming forth, so the callout by one of the soldiers was not really needed. The soldiers had to peek out and fire their weapons, but that would result in more deaths. Jaune didn't have time to reassure himself of the bigger number of droids being totalled by his allies, nor was he feeling any safer with the emplaced turret firing back with rapid speed. The lightning-fast weapon would have made it even easier to fight back, but no one was able to anticipate how big the enemy's numbers were. It appeared that no one had learned from what had happened on Naboo and Geonosis, thinking that the battle that started this whole war, on the latter planet, resulted in the destruction of the droid factories that could have hindered the Separatists' ability to create more, large armies.
"EEK!" Jaune ducked down, just as soon as a stray shot grazed the mound he was hiding behind, with a whining noise ringing in his ear for being too close to it. He covered his ears to massage the nausea off, but was quickly interrupted when a clone shouted next to him.
"Stand your ground, troopers!" The soldiers resumed their defensive positions, retaking the line and firing back as soon as they come into contact with the droids. Despite his urge to run, he was soon met with another loud voice, booming towards him and forcing him to stay put and take the hit.
"You heard the clone, private!" The man standing right in front of Jaune was recognized as a gruff Duros with his wrinkly blue face and red eyes beaming down at him. The strict gaze was enough to give Jaune a few nightmares, ever since he was assigned to this division that so happened to be under that Duros' command. "Fire back!"
Now, Jaune was beyond terrified; so much so, that he was willing to actually fight. The fear of being reprimanded by the captain was almost enough to stir him into action, instead of dealing with him. Jaune grabbed his blaster, his grip vibrated from the hesitance to face the battle head on. He hurriedly poked up to feel the storm of lasers heading right for him. He had to brave the odds. Firing his weapon away, he did his best to maintain his posture, just as Pyrrha had instructed him.
He took a deep breath, peeped out and aimed his weapon to fire back. The blue streaks of energy bolts launched rapidly from the barrel, spreading out as he had the trigger pulled back. He did his best not to scream, cringing with paranoia over being shot down. Luckily, he was able to knock off a few droids, so that was a little satisfying. However, his urge to back down had caused him to stop and drop, all while his fellow soldiers continued to shoot the droids.
"Fire back, private!" The Duros captain continued to rant out orders, yelling at Jaune from right beside him. "Don't just cower like some pest!" Jaune could do without the simile, but the message was still making him very aggravated from the added tension. He really wanted to run off and hide from the brutality of war being thrown at him. However, he had nowhere to go; either face the harsh music of his superior's rants, or suffer from the violence in front of him. This was not what he wanted from honouring his family's legacy.
The defensive line was taking hit after hit, losing man after man, as they fell to the might of the droid army. The numerical advantage the droids had played almost against the prospect of living intelligence. Each second passed felt like an hour for Jaune, having forced to live with it throughout his stay on this wild planet.
He was practically trapped in a hell hole of violent death and destruction, on his first day…
He continued to take short turns in firing at the droids, only for him retreat back at the slightest moment when things got hectic enough. His weapon, though a popular design made by the joint efforts of BlasTech Industries and the Grobbe Pioniere Weapons Manufacturing of Atlas, held closely for him to fight the droids, but so far, he had only fired more stray shots rather than proper, directly-aimed ones. Droids were shot, but more began to take the places of the destroyed. With this overwhelming experience, Jaune was not feeling any braver than he wanted to be. This was going to be one of those days, where he would flunk out of another good service. This time, however, this failure would probably be his last.
"Look!" Then, another soldier, a younger female one, called out to everyone as she pointed to the sky to find that a miracle was about to arrive. Jaune perked up to see just exactly what that miracle was, and to his ultimate relief, it was the help he desperately needed.
The ship came diving down towards the ground with sharp speeds, raging through the grey storm clouds towards the droid armies down below. It then unleashed a flurry of rapid laser fire that rained down on the droids, decimating the lines completely. The swift pattern of blast sounds echoed throughout the area as the ship finished up its strafing run and flew right back up.
Jaune could finally sigh a breath of relief upon seeing the Sanctum's Pride coming to save the day. The Defender corvette zoomed away from the ground before turning back around to make another run at the enemy droids. This was probably the moment he prepared to move out, hoping the rest of the troops would see the advantage and move with him. Still, he was down on the ground, waiting for someone else to make the first move. Unaware that someone was snarling at him for his cowardice, the Arc took his time and eventually allowed the rest of his battalion to move out and take the fight to the enemy.
"Go, go, go!" The clones started the charge, leaving the Remnant troopers behind to act as firing support from the back. The white armour-clad soldiers raged towards the droids like old cavalry straight from the tales of wars of the past, while Jaune's own comrades safely fired with the protection of the clone army. However, Jaune still cringed at the sight of clone troopers being mercilessly slaughtered at the hands of the droids. How these strange beings were forced to race towards the droids, to end up being brutally killed by the enemy as they charged, Jaune could not fathom. For now, however, he could only stay behind and watch as his troop moved on without him.
While being held back by his own fears, he would soon receive a little rebuking of his own, even as peace slowly came back in a few minutes after the charge. Soon, as Jaune stayed breathing at the same mound he had been hiding behind, the Duros captain, who had been shouting at him the whole time he was on the planet, stomped towards him, with his feet flapping from stepping on the muddy ground.
Jaune could feel a chilling sensation running wildly up his spine, and it wasn't the cold rainy weather that was responsible for it. Suddenly, he was picked up by the collar and launched up to the face of Captain Archwick. The red-eyed alien, despite being middle-aged in his own biological standards, still looked quite healthy. If his strength at pulling up the meek Jaune Arc from the ground wasn't enough to describe it, the bright blue skin easily helped to identify the good condition he was in. The only thing unhealthy for the captain, was the short temper he had towards the cowardly soldier.
"Look here, you lousy excuse of an anooba!" the captain snarled, the same way he'd always do to Jaune ever since he'd been given the frustrating task of commanding this 'clumsy, bumbling brat'. "If I wasn't given strict orders to have you in my division, I would have sent you straight to court martialling for your worthless antics!" "In fact, you're still very close to seeing the last days of your shameful career as a soldier."
"Sorry, sir!" Jaune cried as he held his collar. "I-I did my best, didn't I?" The sheepish but pitiful tone of Jaune's voice was enough to really tick off the captain.
"You? Did your best?" Anger turned to mockery as the Duros laughed out pathetically at the boy for being trying to be optimistic when he made no effort to help his comrades in battle. "Hah! Don't make me…!" However, the grunting and the yelling were put to a halt. Suddenly, the two were notified of the loud, low blowing noises of a ship coming in for landing at a nearby open space. The large Defender corvette touched down just nicely over the mud, blasting away the dirt and mud all over the place. The two men withstood the strong breeze from the ship's hovering before finally relieved once the ship had powered down.
Even as Jaune felt safe with the arrival of his mentor, it would most certainly be lovely if Captain Archwick wasn't grabbing onto his collar and lifting him up. Thankfully, well, sort of, the captain let go of him just on cue before giving him one cold glare of warning.
"I'll deal with you later." He then stomped off to greet the commander who was going to join him. Jaune was down on the ground, sitting with his backside down on the ground. He got himself up, wriggling his fingers down to get rid of the mud stuck on them.
Jaune trailed behind Captain Archwick, just in time to see Pyrrha, wearing a dark-green camo cloak over her battle uniform, heading down with a clone behind her. Though Jaune wanted to come and greet her, he knew well not to get in the way of Captain Archwick as he made the move to welcome Pyrrha by himself.
"Ah! Commander Nikos!" the captain spread his arms out and jollily celebrated her welcome, ignoring the clone by her side. "I'm so glad you have arrived! It is an honour to finally have you fighting alongside us."
"The honour's all mine, Captain Archwick." complimented Pyrrha, shaking his hand. Then, she soon saw her combat partner just behind the captain. She noticed the dirt and mud stained on his armour and skin. His less-than-satisfied face and slumped body gave off more than she needed to know, as it seemed like the boy had taken a rather big hit to the gut over his battle against the droids.
"We are in a very tight pickle, Commander. I am sure you can provide us with the necessary firepower to help us out." As loud as Captain Archwick was, Pyrrha simply paid no attention to him. She only stared at Jaune, which the boy took notice of and responded with a sheepish grin and a goofy hand-wave.
"What happened to him?" asked Pyrrha, facing right at Jaune. The Duros captain turned around and found the pitiful sight of Jaune Arc, just behind him. He scoffed again, clearly having no interest in dealing with a subordinate, and was sure Pyrrha would do some good for him if she could be rid of him herself.
"Oh, him." he nonchalantly pointed at the boy, no heart or care for his own well-being. "This subordinate has been cowering in the face of battle. Hmph!" He continued to berate Jaune for his weakness in battle, speaking with high pride, as if trying to avoid being associated with such a nuisance. "What a fool. I'd say you go there and show him the way out, Commander. He doesn't even deserve to be here, in the army of our glorious Remnant." The captain idly waited, shifting his body to the side and awaited Pyrrha's actions against Jaune, expecting to see a much deserved send-off to a thorn to his side.
Unfortunately for him, Pyrrha did not seem to care about disciplining Jaune, let alone forcing him to resign. After all, she understood him, sickened by Captain Archwick's own opinion of him. No one is perfect; everyone stumbles. And for someone like Jaune, yes, maybe it'll be very hard to finally prevail, but sometimes, that moment of prevailing can come when one pours his or her heart into what they need to do. He definitely showed it back at his Academy, when he pushed himself to save a friend, overcoming his fears and putting himself in the firing line to win the battle. Jaune was probably denied of the chance, if Captain Archwick's lack of belief in him was anything to go by.
Jaune, however, understood that he had performed badly out there. Anyone in the military could see that; and especially people who have had tons of experience out in the field. Pyrrha could be very disappointed in him for doing exactly that bad. He just knew it; he was going to get in so much trouble for this.
Still, Pyrrha said nothing to the Duros, and just walked straight to Jaune. The boy arched back a little, ready for the comeuppance he deserved for failing her, all on his first day. Instead of a ridiculous tirade, however, Pyrrha just dusted off some of the dirt on his face and smiled. Jaune would have thought she would actually slap him for being such a nuisance. Again, he was reminded of how kind and optimistic she was. After all, he was the one she chose to be her partner, choosing him for his heart and soul, and not just the build of his body. Why would she ever yell at him, or even threaten to axe him out, if she was courteous to bring him under her wing in the first place?
Pyrrha then went on to ask as politely as she would always be.
"Are you alright, Jaune?"
"Just a little mud on my face, but I'll live." answered Jaune. As the two continued to talk, Captain Archwick was behind them, currently baffled. He didn't understand why Pyrrha was being nice to Jaune. Why would a prestigious warrior like Pyrrha Nikos, who had won so many battles for Remnant, attempt to connect with a failure like Jaune; no disrespect to the Arc family, of course. When CT-1788 came forth to observe the two, he was quite intrigued at seeing this small little kid, metaphorically speaking, could get that kind of care from an elite soldier like Pyrrha. No wonder she was a well-respected commander to bring in a poor mind of a man into her tutelage.
"I assume that must be Commander Nikos' combat partner." After hearing the clone trooper speak, Captain Archwick was shocked to hear his words.
"Combat partner?! Him?!" He couldn't believe that an incapable boy like Jaune could ever be the combat partner of someone so powerful. There was no way she would ever be paired with a waste of recruitment. It was certainly enough to make him laugh pitifully at the thought. "Certainly there has to be a mistake."
"I don't know, sir." CT-1788 was not as offended by the decision as Archwick was. "If Commander Nikos chose him, then there has to be a good reason." As reasonable as CT-1788 was, Captain Archwick didn't share his sentiment; not taking the notion to kindly. If you're a weakling, then the best place you could be is back home doing your chores like the kid you are, before growing up.
Other than Jaune, the captain didn't really take the clone's own opinion to heart. From what he knew, clones were born in vats, meant to be bred to not think, and fight without questioning anything about the orders given. They shouldn't be allowed to think openly; they should just do what they're meant to do. Fight, or die.
"What do you know, clone?" Not wanting to deal with these 'insensible' odds, Captain Archwick just turned around and walked off, hoping that the next time Pyrrha meets him, she would have seen the error of her ways and finally realize that Jaune Arc is the disgrace of the family. Unfortunately, he had also left a sour taste in CT-1788's mouth. Sure, he and all of his other brothers were cloned from a single template, but he didn't really feel like being like the template himself. He wasn't as straight serious or downright quiet and unemotional as most of the others; he was more relaxed and curious than most would think. He was still loyal, but that didn't stop him from gathering his own thoughts on the people around him. Well, he certainly had something to say about Captain Archwick.
"A whole lot more than you, monkey lizard…" He spat back with disgust, though not loud enough for the Duros to hear him. The clone trooper just walked over to Pyrrha, just as he was tasked to do. As he did so, the pair of partners were still in the middle of their talk.
Pyrrha had to admit it; even if Jaune had every right to face combat, he still had a lot to work with, now that she had heard everything from Archwick's comments alone. Jaune was still hesitant to move forward. She'd have to work on his spirit a little more, before putting him back in the frontlines.
"If you keep getting pushed around like this, you're not going to go far, Jaune." she commented. Jaune nodded shamefully, thinking he had upset her. Unbeknownst to him, however, the Mistralan commander wasn't any bit disappointed with him. She felt bad for the boy, knowing how much he had to go through after he was out of the Academy. Her training wasn't perfect; that much she knew. She couldn't expect Jaune to immediately grow out of the scared demeanour that he was forced to live with. He needed work, with more training and a little bit of motivation to keep him up to form.
For now, Pyrrha decided to comfort him, not intent on getting him worried about his own failures. She could always be more assertive of his skills when they're doing training, so now, she had to be a more caring figure before putting him back to shape himself up.
"So, how was your time here?" asked Pyrrha. As expected, Jaune wasn't really thrilled about the question.
"Like the mud…" Jaune forced a joke to try and lighten the mood. He was aware that the attempt didn't really work, as some many times before, when in doubt, he would always try and make others happy, when he himself couldn't. Too bad no one was ever fooled. He only ended up making others either worry for him, or see him more as an incompetent moron or coward, unfit to fight, as all of his ancestors did long before. Eventually, when he was about to finish his sentence, all he could do was simply be straightforward about it. "Miserable."
Pyrrha had her eyes looking down on the ground, kind of hurt that he was letting himself down. It personally affected her as well, as she felt that she was responsible for not doing enough. Perhaps it was too soon to send him to serve with the rest of Remnant's troops.
No. Nothing is for naught. Not yet. She had to confide with him to remain positive, for they were at war. They had to be at full spirits if they were to combat an enemy that far more mechanical than ever before. She had to make sure he was ready to fight, even if his heart was in the right place.
"It's never easy getting through such an environment, kid." Suddenly, they were interrupted by the voice of CT-1788, barging into the conversation while offering Jaune his own advice. "You've got to work on your endurance in battle, if you are to survive out there." Suddenly, he shook his head, remembering that he had just hopped on in without any warning whatsoever. "Uh, pardon me for intruding, Commander."
"No offense taken." assured Pyrrha, waving her hand insistently. She then realized that the two men on her sides hadn't met yet, so made the courtesy to introduce them to each other. "Jaune, this is CT-1788. He's going to make sure we make a good example in front of the clones."
"Nice to meet you." The two shook hands, finally bringing the trio together into a solid society of soldiers. The three soldiers were now a team, meant to become proper warriors to help the Republic face the droid army, and forge morale for others around them.
"Now that I'm here, let us work on that routine again." suggested Pyrrha. Jaune had no objection for more of Pyrrha's training sessions. No matter how similar they were to the army's own warmup sessions, he was fonder of hers, simply because she would rather instruct him with caution and understanding than through brutal reprimanding and rants about letting down the Republic.
"Yeah. Let's do that." agreed Jaune.
"You're free to join us, CT-1788." offered Pyrrha to the clone assistant.
"I've been trained in the simulators for years, ma'am. I'm sure I've plenty of experience enough." insisted CT-1788.
"Your loss." Pyrrha shrugged, taking Jaune with her while CT-1788 just followed behind. Jaune was fully ready to spend time boosting himself up with Pyrrha's help, rather than listening to the other soldiers and superiors berating him.
However, despite her kind words, Jaune still felt that he was still leagues behind any of the soldiers he was fighting with. He had been training for the past few days with Pyrrha, but he still couldn't get out of the hard shell that had been keeping him down from fighting a conflict that he needed to be in.
For that reason alone, he felt that he was still failing her, even if progress was made, it wasn't enough to fully show how much he had grown or learned.
Republic Outpost Foxtrot,
Mad'kin Rian,
Border of Remnant System and the Outer Rim Territories,
Once the Republic had repulsed the droid attack at the valley, it was all calm and quiet for the built bases defending the planetary surface. But when people say 'calm and quiet' in Mad'kin Rian, they are either completely insane, or are rather used to the extreme environment.
BRAKK!
A bolt of lightning speared right into the thick and dense jungle, causing a flame to ignite and immediately evolve into a blazing inferno in just a few seconds.
The rains of Mad'kin Rian were not enough to soak the firestorms that would occasionally occur throughout the rainforests. The overflowing abundance of oxygen in the air, as well as the rough breezes and frequent lightning storms, meant that fire could be easily spread throughout, burning their way into the forests until the rains do indeed extinguish them. It's no wonder then, that the people of the planet, and the Republic defenders for the matter, deployed base shields that surrounded their large complexes, protecting them from both the lightning strikes and the raging infernos, should they occur.
The fire burned brightly, but was still slowed by the raging rains. Eventually, the flames had reached their limit when coming into contact with a clear, bubble-like dome that covered an entire complex of landing platforms and structures, all built into a mountainous plateau.
Within the dome, clones and Remnant troops alike could move around safely without having to worry about being shocked by lightning, burnt by fires, or mauled to death by wild creatures. In fact, if anyone was too sensitive towards loud noises, then they wouldn't even have to worry about the roaring blasts of thunder, as the sounds were also blocked by the shield.
Everything was well kept underneath the shield, thanks to a military-grade generator, located just below the lowest landing pad, on the ground. The DSS-01 shield generator, built like three thick semi-circular pillars, connected together by large energy tubes that channel the power that make up the shield. The generator was under heavy protection, with Republic troopers on constant alert around the structure. A lone experimental walker was also seen patrolling from one end of the area to another.
Deep inside the base, however, someone needed a lot more than protective shielding to deal with the turmoil he was currently wound up in.
"OWWW!" Thrown to the ground, atop a spacious training arena in a sparring room, Jaune was once again going through a rough exercise session with Pyrrha. After practicing with inanimate objects and training remotes back in Pyrrha's ship, Jaune was now in the next level of training. This time, Pyrrha was the training dummy, but obviously, she was no mannequin. She was the toughest soldier out there in Mistral, and she wasn't going to stand still for him to keep him fit and focused.
Pyrrha rose above the defeated Arc, hands to her hips and shaking her head in disappointment over Jaune's quick fall. At the side-lines was CT-1788, sitting idly at a bench while watching the two spar against each other. He sat relaxed but did inspect the training very closely to find out more about their fighting styles. From his assessment, he immediately found how powerful Pyrrha was, even if it was only seen as an appetizer for what he had heard of about her. She definitely had a lot of strength for a woman, tossing Jaune around like he was some piece of cloth, and when he, haphazardly, fought back, she just threw him off and kept up the pressure.
Jaune, on the other hand, struggled to make any hit on Pyrrha, literally speaking. Every time he tried, the boy just got thrown around to the ground, flat on his back every single step of the way. The fresh private was clearly unable to make use of his training to further his combat skills, even for practice. He just couldn't bring himself to attack a girl, as his father had always instructed, much to the annoyance of his mother and sisters. This unfortunate sense of respect and dignity towards women in general had thwarted his devotion to win, to fight battles and see victory. This notion of justified reluctance was… ironically, pulling him down.
"You've got to be more in tune with your surroundings, Jaune." Pyrrha reminded. "What did I tell you back in the ship?" Jaune rubbed his head, trying to remove the collective giddiness he had sustained from his rough falls. He looked up at Pyrrha, helplessly struggling to find ground to resume his attempts at attacking his partner.
"Let the Force guide me. I know." he muttered annoyingly. "But couldn't the Force really make me better. Like… you know, give me some extra muscle or something?" It was Pyrrha's turn to shake her head, denying Jaune's hopes for a better way to fight his battles.
"That's not how the Force works, Jaune." lectured the Mistralan commando. She simply dashed Jaune's yearning to find some good in believing in the Force the way she did. "It isn't some miraculous power that gives you what you want. It's more of an energy field. It is all around us, shaping the galaxy as we know it. Reach out to it, and you can feel the peace of mind to help you focus." Once she had done explaining more about the Force to Jaune, she offered him a hand to get him back up, which he accepted and achingly rose up. He wasn't sure if he was ready to go on, but there wasn't any turning back from a sparring session with his Commander.
"I wonder that's how the Jedi Generals get so strong." At the side of the arena, CT-1788 expressed his thoughts on how the Force really worked. Given that he had seen the prowess of two such Jedi back at Christophsis, he wasn't surprised that they were truly capable of being able to use such unexplainable powers against the Separatist army.
"In a way, yes." affirmed Pyrrha. "But since we're not Jedi, we aren't able to manifest the Force into actual aspirational forms like they can. For me, there's only the belief, the understanding, and the connection. Nothing more, nothing less."
"Eh! I don't need the Force to fight my battles." To CT-1788, really, all of this was just some lousy mumbo jumbo to make the Jedi look great, despite the truth being evident to him.
"You're a clone, CT-1788." Jaune playfully retorted. "I wouldn't expect you to know voodoo or any magical powers, either."
"Spot on, kid." CT-1788 snapped his fingers, playing along with the joke. Pyrrha huffed mockingly as well, deciding to let the boys have their fun, as long as they respect her own beliefs in the Force.
"Now, let's go at it again." Pyrrha readied her shield and training staff, spinning the lone, rubbery pole while positioning her shield out at the front. Sighing, as he knew he had to resume another round of hardship and nauseating throws, Jaune couldn't back out or call quits. He had to toughen up before the next battle would come, so every bit of training had to count.
Alas, the two got back to their respective sides of the stage, ready to go at it again to bolster Jaune's strength in combat. Jaune prepared his defensive stance, knees bent down, front and back, shield out to strike out against any move Pyrrha would make. It was a new style he learned from her; one that was easily, and so obviously, exploitable to the mentor herself.
This could have been a free-for-all, no-holds-barred match, where Jaune should be adapted to making his own fighting style, instead, he was sticking to only what Pyrrha had taught him, not once thinking about even mixing up some new techniques. Unfortunately, he had no time to improvise or be creative; Pyrrha was already charging at him before he could ever have the chance. She wasn't going to be too hard on the boy, though that didn't stop her from being a bit rough to teach him a thing or two about combat.
But as Jaune steadied his shield to repel the charging teacher, he suddenly heard a loud and powerful echoing noise that completely threw out of focus.
ATTENTION! ALL TROOPS OF MY RED WRATH FORCES, PLEASE REPORT YOURSELVES FOR DEPLOYMENT, IMMEDIATELY!
The shrieking voice of Captain Archwick quickly frightened Jaune to make him leap in a panic. Pyrrha was quick to catch on with his fidgety jump and was forced to drag her feet to a spoiled stop. She had just slid past Jaune before coming to a stop, slightly stumbling forward from the force of her misstep. Once she recovered, Pyrrha turned towards the agitated Jaune, concerned over what spooked him.
"You okay?" She went to meet the boy and find out what was troubling him. Jaune shook off his fright and returned his attention to the attentive Pyrrha next to him. The voice announcement really crept him out, ever since the Duros started to yell at him in the most disrespectful tone possible. It was so discouraging that perhaps even Captain Soroleck back at the Academy would be put off just the same.
"Yeah. Just… a little distracted." admitted Jaune, looking a little shaken.
"By Captain Archwick?" inquired Pyrrha, remembering how berating the captain was towards Jaune, although she wasn't aware on how much he had to endure against him.
"Yeah. That guy kinda scares me." Jaune didn't want to play the victim card, knowing the intentions of Captain Archwick to be with good intentions, despite the ferocity of his threats. However, the fact that he found his tone quite aggressive still made it necessary to tell Pyrrha of what the Duros saw in him. "Ever since I've been here, he's been shouting down my face for 'failing him'."
Pyrrha thought just as much. Poor Jaune had to be humiliated by being scolded at by Archwick for being a poor excuse of a soldier. No wonder he was being so racketed with paranoia over his shrill voice. He wasn't afraid of the captain, but he was still a little ashamed that he was still being a total weakling in front of him, making him feel even more useless than he actually was.
She had to remind him once again, not to let himself be distracted by his own weaknesses. Captain Archwick may had been a captain, serving the Republic with the best of intentions, he was probably taking it one too far when dealing with Jaune. She wanted him to be capable of fighting, not to be ridiculed. He had to be a soldier, fighting against the droids and helping the army win the battle. If this kept up, Jaune would do no better than to run, cowering in the face of fear. He was hit hard enough, now the Duros had to rub it in some more. It was almost unfair to the Arc, since she was determined to make him stronger, not make him feel like some useless washout.
"You have to be brave, Jaune." she told him. "If you let Captain Archwick get to you like this, you won't be able to concentrate on any task you're given." For Jaune, however, it was more than just being able to maintain a positive outlook in his career. It was the desire to do his duties with colleagues who would see him as a worthy comrade. He knew it would take time to develop with other soldiers, but remembering what his father also taught him, first impressions were very important. All of that was wasted back in the Academy, so he would have thought that, with Pyrrha's training, he'd be able to finally put his lessons to good use. Obviously, he'd take quite a while to work on that, too.
"I just wish I can do better to impress people." added Jaune. "Show them I'm not some weakling."
"You're not a weakling." argued Pyrrha, not content on seeing Jaune punch himself so hard over his failures. "I don't think you are. You just need a little push in the right direction." She told him what she really thought of him; a hopeful who needed some direction to fulfil his goals. Jaune felt the warmth from her voice, heart finally settling to a calm. The feeling got even more touching when CT-1788 hopped in.
"Well, I've only just met you both, but if the Commander has that much faith in you, then I should too, I guess." Not as heart-felt as Pyrrha's support, but was welcomed nonetheless. A smile was seen, at last, on a boy who saw the comfort in having comrades behind his back.
"Thanks, guys." He warmly appreciated the support he was getting from the two more experienced soldiers. With his morale now boosted, Jaune nodded, heading back to his spot on the stage, while Pyrrha went her way towards hers.
The two lined up, ready for another round of sparring. This time, Jaune wasn't going to be distracted by anything else. His only focus was to better himself by fighting Pyrrha in this training session, and nothing was going to stop him.
ATTENTION!
Once again, Jaune was put off by the sound of the megaphones, from a clone officer shouting out to the entire base. With the volume much louder and widespread than Archwick's own call in the training room, the trio knew it was going to be very important.
ALL TROOPS! SEPARATIST FORCES ARE ATTACKING OUTPOST MIRIAM! ALL FORCES REPORT TO YOUR SHIPS, DOUBLE TIME!
"Sounds like trouble." Jaune didn't need to say anything. They all had the message, and they were required to comply.
"Let's go!"
Near Republic Outpost Miriam,
Mad'kin Rian,
Border of Remnant System and the Outer Rim Territories,
The armies were already raging within the jungles once more. An entire Republic outpost was already being shelled by multiple droid fire into it, almost to the point where its protective shields were about to fail, after being bombarded for an hour.
The defence of the building was tense, with the Republic barely able to push back the droids once more, with the entrenched ring around the base proving to be the deterrent needed to break the droid army to a retreat.
It was to be remembered that, due to the blistering weather conditions, it was almost impossible for transports larger than the average cargo transport ship to pass through. Only infantry craft like the LAAT gunships, which were able to deploy both troops and small walkers, could be slick and fast enough to get through the winds, only if they're lucky enough not to be struck by lightning. With this limited accessibility, it took the Republic almost years to set up an outpost.
The droids, on the other hand, could only deploy droid walkers, with the extremely rough muddy terrain making repulsorlift travel by hover-tanks completely difficult, and the aforementioned complications of the weather only added to the restricted deployment of the walkers.
Thus, the Republic technically had the advantage over the Separatists. Even so, that didn't stop the droids from taking over key structures near the enemy bases, taking advantage of the harsh conditions forced upon their organic, living counterparts.
That was what Pyrrha was sent for. She, Jaune and her new clone companion were sent to liberate a command radar station, situated at a cliff overlooking Outpost Foxtrot. The station was overrun by storming droids, with the building easily controlled with the lack of defensive capabilities; almost all of it being focused on the main bases themselves.
The radar station proved to still be essential, however, which was why Pyrrha and her team had to retake the building, by any means necessary. And for her, the necessary course of action was a quick, stealthy approach, without warning any of the other droid patrols she and her team had to avoid, on their way through the thick jungles.
Finally, she arrived, hiding within the thin, collective shadows of the odd, swirly leaves of a large plantain. She hooked her hand on one blade, lifting it to see just enough of the front entrance of the radar outpost.
She studied the entrance, determine how strong the guard patrol outside was, deduce the amount of pressure it would take to fight against it, and then find multiple vantage points, where she could secure the objective. Beforehand, she even studied the layout of the building, resulting in the clean-cut approach through the entrance, about to make sure to look out for the many possible openings she could exploit or remove any troubling guards.
Upon observation, she took a look around to find a decent amount of droids, walking about in the front metal pad, where crates and other containers were stacked all over. Two droids at the front door, standing on both sides while staring ahead at the front. Despite them being nothing more than B1 battle droids, easy to take out, it would be foolish to take them on, all at once. Other droids behind her would be alerted to the assault and the message would spread to the rest of the army.
To make sure her mission was to be successful, she had to do it the way she knew how. She could do it without fail; just rush right into the cover of crates, probably stab down the droids one by one, before lobbing a droid popper over to the last two guards outside. Plain and simple…
However, the only problem was… Her two comrades.
First, there was Jaune. From what she saw from him, Jaune had always been trained to handle open combat. He was pushed to battle when it was already being fought. No infiltration, no sneaking. Everything was done, weapons free. Pyrrha hated to admit it, but with his obvious weaknesses in his poise and combat stances, he was going to be a handicap.
CT-1788 was a clone trooper from an attack battalion, specifically made to fight in general combat. He was a standard soldier with no other specializations, other than assisting in social and communication efforts with other clones. She wasn't even aware of how capable he was in battle, even unsure of how he would fare in stealth.
Either way, both proved to be major worries. Nevertheless, Pyrrha kept her calm, breathing deeply while concentrating on devising a strategy to cope with the difficulties she was given. The two men, idly waiting behind her, were crept down, watching Pyrrha's back as she continued to survey the area.
"Okay. I see a good opening to get us in." informed Pyrrha. "Jaune, I want you to stay close."
"O-okay." Jaune nervously nodded, but Pyrrha decided to really emphasize on how close he really had to be.
"Really close. I need you in my sights at all times." Jaune couldn't help but feel a little humble when she requested him to be in her range. He felt a small pang of acceptance knowing that he wasn't fully trusted in handling things from a small distance, let alone being on his own. But he supposed this was how things were going to be. If he was going to be better, he was going to take it, one step at a time.
"Right, Pyrrha."
"CT-1788." Pyrrha then turned to her clone assistant. "Spot any targets for us."
"Look, I'm not against your orders, Commander." The clone voiced out his opinion respectfully. "How am I supposed to alert you if they're any droids close by? The moment I speak up, it'll raise suspicions." There was no way he was going to shout out or, at least whisper loudly to them. The occasional thunder would help to muffle his calls, but it wouldn't only be the droids who wouldn't be able to hear him.
Then, Pyrrha dug through her pocket and gave CT-1788 something. On his hands, a small wooden bar-shaped tube was given to him. Redwood was definitely carved into this curious item, decorated with a few coloured feathers, presented like some tribal trinket.
"Here." He took the object closer to his eyes, puzzled by the oddity of its design, and more of what purpose would it serve.
"What the heck am I supposed to do with this?" he asked.
"Just blow on it when a droid closes in. It will send a whistling sound, resembling that of a tropical bird. The droids will never suspect a thing." explained Pyrrha.
CT-1788 sighed. After being pelted by droid blasts here and there, you would definitely feel much safer with that helmet on. Regardless, orders had to be followed, and he had to make do of what he got. He took off his helmet, revealing his bald head. He then moved the whistle to his lips, at the ready to give the two the call when trouble closed in.
Once they were ready, Pyrrha waved her hand out, signalling to Jaune to move out, back her up and move quietly towards the entrance. Jaune bent forward, doing his best to follow silently and slowly by mimicking Pyrrha's movements.
The two slid down the hill, Jaune almost tripping on his way down the small slope, while thankfully recovering just in time to prevent any noise. Down on the same level of the base, they began their move, slowly creeping towards the nearest cover Pyrrha could find.
Moments later, the two droids outside the complex were still standing guard, watching out for any Republic intruders that would try and storm the building. Their programming prompted them to shoot immediately on sight, unless, of course, if another Separatist person of interest decided to visit the place.
Nothing new had ever happened. Like that would even matter… Their functioning made them immune to boredom. Or so organic beings thought…
"So, did you hear about the new snail tank models our boys sent out there?" said the left droid, almost prompted to speak freely. No one was going to bother anyway. They were going to be ignored… or worse, shot down and have them sent to the scrapheap, as forgotten as they were now, anyways.
"Roger, roger. Those tanks are gonna crush those Republic dogs like bugs under a… a… big tank." The other droid's voice modulator didn't really work the way it wanted.
"No new material, huh?" The robotic shaking of the first droid's head was its only response.
"Oh well. It's my programming." The second droid shrugged it off, as if already used to its lack of humour, despite being activated only a few hours ago. The droids kept on their guard, standing back in their initial, idle positions. However, when they looked back straight, where there were once the company of other guards walking around, there was nothing left.
For sure, they would have installed the presence of the other droids in their memory banks. They were gone now, like they were swept away by some unknown force. The absence of the other guards triggered the alert response in their processors, moving their arms and aiming their blasters at the now vacant space that was originally occupied.
They scanned the area with sharp turns of their abnormal heads, searching for any signs of their lost counterparts. Processing what had happened, they deduced that, perhaps, wild creatures had swept them up from out of nowhere. Worse still, maybe…?
Could the enemy…?
BRRRAAWWW!
Suddenly, the droids shuddered at the vocal capture of a loud, shrilling bird call, coming for the trees. Not enough to confirm huge suspicion, but still enough to alert them. They were going to put their blasters down, confirming them to be from actual birds, and about to resume their normal positions, and their plain, simple existence…
…
…
BWUIM! BWUIM!
Down and out…
Those droids, like the rest of the patrols, were all knocked out by the simultaneous fire of Pyrrha's sniper rifle and Jaune's own weapon, at her call. Jaune was elated that he was able to hit his target, especially in perfect sync with his partner's own. He could jump in excitement over his successful hit on the droid, but the mission had to come first. No time to celebrate yet.
He had to focus on the mission in front of him, tailing Pyrrha as she went, straight away, towards the door panel at the side of the doors. Jaune tipped over the wreckage of the droid he managed to shoot down and crouched down, pointing his rifle out at the area. While he watched out for her, Pyrrha got to work on the panel, carefully detaching the control panel out to get into the inner wirings. The tangled arrangement of wires and jacks were so complicated that Jaune would have a migraine if he were to work on it. Thank Oum that Pyrrha was a skilled specialist in infiltration.
All of those mandatory courses back at Sanctum Academy were worth the time and effort, allowing Pyrrha to slice through almost any terminal of Republic design, specifically for moments like this. When a Republic base would fall, she would always go for the quiet approach, analysing for an entry point, and quietly enter through there.
Jaune kept his shield up, while his blaster aimed straight, as best he could. He still trembled from a bit of fear of being attacked, expecting a surprise attack to strike back at them. Pyrrha played around with the configuration of circuitry, identifying and plugging out the cables needed to rewire the doors' systems to open them. Finally, after bringing the two ends of the cables together, they jolted in a spark, which caused the doors to open clean, providing them access to the radar outpost.
Jaune entered first, shield still up, but before Pyrrha could join him, she gave a wave towards CT-1788, who had done the task of mimicking the calls of the wild while they snuck into the base. The clone gave a noticeable salute to acknowledge her signal, crawling out of the thick plants before sliding down to join his teammates. He had to give himself some credit; the last bird whistle was merely a nice little distraction, making it louder than the previous calls he made, to get the droids' attention, as if to trigger their response before Pyrrha and Jaune took them out.
With his blaster in hand, he went to join the other two soldiers, gathering up to formulate their next phase of Pyrrha plan to liberate the station. There were going to be droids inside the base, which she wouldn't mind taking out, considering how trapped they were now. However, someone had to watch the front and report on any incoming backup from the outside.
"CT-1788." whispered Pyrrha. "Watch the door. If there's any backup coming our way, take them on, but if things get rough, you have to come back in to join us."
"Yes, Commander." acknowledged the clone, getting up right away to keep the entrance droid-free until the mission was over. With him gone, Pyrrha and Jaune could continue downwards to find the operations centre and clear the area of all droids. They descended the downhill corridor that would lead straight to the main control room. They moved on without looking back, sure that CT-1788 was covering them, to alert them when trouble was at the front door. In the meantime, the two Remnant soldiers made their way to the control room's front doorway.
They split up, each taking a side of the entrance and hiding behind the frames, backs against the wall. Pyrrha took a look over the frame, confirming the presence of two battle droids, walking around a single control terminal, above a platform. The terminal, which was several control consoles built in a circle with an opening at the centre of the cluster, had a red light, blinking periodically on the middle console. Pyrrha immediately identified that as the central piece of the puzzle; accessing through that would allow her to slice through and reconfigure the radar station to the Republic's control.
Even if the terminal was guarded by only two droids, it was guaranteed that more droids were down elsewhere in the complex, presumably on patrol for more chokepoints that other Republic soldiers would attempt to enter through. If they were going to cover those smaller areas, then they would not be expecting the front entrance, where any attack would most likely end up in disaster. And as it so happened, one such attack had happened, and no one seemed to notice.
"Two droids." Jaune informed through whispering. "They're circling around the command console. We got to shut them off without alerting them."
"I'll toss a droid popper." Pyrrha did what had to be done. Her option was pull out a standard EMP grenade, but with a little shocking surprise. She then waited for the right time for the droids to come together to deliver the maximum effect.
She waited. Listening out for the two droids coming together from both sides, she prepped her hand to toss the grenade and hit them both at the right time. Clanking, metallic steps closed in, giving her the notion that they were about to near each other. Finally, after waiting for them to get closer, she made the toss, throwing the grenade right in between the droids, right at their feet.
The battle droids lowered their heads to check the rolling object, dragging dangerously to a stop. However, their functioning clearly had a stalling flaw when it came to response to explosives. The grenade then cracked up with an echoing wail, releasing a stream of electric charge, which struck throughout the droids' bodies. The surges of power rampaged into their inner circuits until their bodies collapsed to the ground, deactivated. The implosion of the grenade, it was silent enough to avoid detection from all other droids. Thus, the control room was now left empty and out of touch from the rest of the building.
"Clear." The two soldiers moved out of their cover, still looking out for more trouble. Pyrrha walked towards the control terminal before signalling to Jaune to stand behind her while she was managing the console. Jaune felt the ease of seeing the two other sets of doors on both sides of the room closed, but was still very cautious at the possibility of the enemy coming in to check on the room.
"Okay, Jaune." Pyrrha's fingers were already at the buttons, tapping away to override control of the station back to Republic hands. "Cover me."
"Gotcha. Just got to raise my shield and keep you safe." repeated Jaune.
"Also, fire back at the enemy if they come in." reminded Pyrrha with sass.
"Right, right." Jaune kept his hands firmly gripped on his blaster and shield, keeping an eye on the doors, in case any of the droids get into the room. He kept his shield down while he knelt, pointing his blaster while his eyes scanned for any trouble.
He wasn't sure what to expect from those doors, should they open. He hoped that only the weak and frail battle droids were present elsewhere in the building, and not the larger super ones he had the unfortunate chance of fighting against previously. Their superior firepower and more durable armour was something very difficult to punch through, even with other troopers by his side. And no one should remind him of the devastating rockets they also fired from their wrists. Those wrist rockets were something he had to watch out for…
"How are you holding up?" It was already a few good minutes since Pyrrha had begun interfacing with the outpost's systems, and Jaune was feeling restless, panicked again by the long wait. At any time, the rest of the droids could barge right in and take aim at them.
"Just need a few more…" The Mistralan commando wasn't too focused on Jaune's frights, getting more into the breaching of the Separatist control over the building. It was coming close to a control transfer, with the building's systems ready to revert back into the Republic's hands. It was taking some time, however, with the complex networking of the outpost, she could only work so fast. "Clicks."
Sighing with defeat, Jaune had to force himself to be a little bit more patient, standing strong as best he could. Maybe it would be best to stand at one end of the room and prepare to take action against any droids that come in; bash them with his shield from the doors nearest to him, or shoot down more coming from the other ones.
However, there was a sudden burst of blaster fire, heard from outside the bunker. Jaune jumped at the noises, with Pyrrha slightly alarmed herself. It seemed clear that it didn't take long for the Separatists to notice that their newly acquired bunker had been overtaken. Worst still, CT-1788 was outside, definitely the only ally out there fending off the droids.
The pressure of the enemy right outside didn't seem to faze Pyrrha, however, as she still maintained her calm and pace in operating the computer. Jaune, on the other hand, was predictably on the edge of his seats as more of the enemy was about to approach.
Then, the sounds of blaster fire got louder, with the front doors opening up and then closed back a second later. Jaune looked up to find the running figure of CT-1788, scurrying down to their level. The clone finally leaned his hand against the wall, panting from the firestorm he barely escaped.
"There was too many of them, Commander." reported the clone, not making Jaune feel any better. "There's nothing I could do." Pyrrha finally stopped working, turning around to assure her friend that it was not over for him yet.
"You did well, CT-1788. Now, just help us keep this place intact." Before then, she turned back around and returned to her mission. That left Jaune and CT-1788 to fend off the droids as they herded outside the doors. CT-1788 made the hurried decision to shoot out the door panel inside the base, forcefully locking them out to buy himself time to gather his strength.
After going through with the controls and the station's systems, Pyrrha concluded, at last, finishing up by transmitting an emergency distress signal to the main Republic forces to come and take over the building. As she did so, she then locked up the rest of the building's doors to keep the other droids already inside the base, from getting into the room. However, with a large force of battle droids outside the base, it was only a matter of time before they could blast their way through the doors and eliminate them. She left the control terminal after triggering the alert signal, grabbing her weapons again, fully determined to fight the incoming battalion of droids that was about to march in.
"They're right outside. We need to hold our ground until reinforcements arrive." commanded Pyrrha.
"What are the chances of us getting out of here, alive?" Jaune asked nervously, but it was completely hushed off by CT-1788, who hurriedly stalled him from jinxing them with such pessimism.
"No, kid." He twiddled his index finger as he stopped the boy. "Never go there with the odds." Jaune gulped. At least, he was not given any exact deduction of his chances of survival. All he had to do was focus and take out as many droids as he could, and even that was still the difficult part. The trio heard a fizzing sound coming from the entrance, clearly the sign that the droids had successfully cut the lock, and were ready to storm the room.
Pyrrha stood in front of the two men, steadying her DC-17m rifle, modified into a rifle form after fixing up the necessary attachments and being rid of the previous sniper mods. Her shield firmly positioned to defend her body, she made sure that the two men were ready to fight. She and Jaune took their positions in front of the control terminal, while CT-1788 hid himself behind the pile of crates on one side of the room.
"Ready?" Jaune didn't answer, doing his best to put up a straight face. All he did to confirm that he was ready, was a simple nod. A nervous one, but still a ready sign. CT-1788, however, didn't need to answer formally. There was one thing that could excite him into going against regulation.
Destroying more droids…
"Let's go, clankers!"
Immediately, the doors opened, letting the battle droids walk right into the base. They could hear the stomping, mechanical noises getting closer until they could see the legs of the wonky droids coming down the stairs. They let their weapons loose, firing rapid blasts against them as soon as their legs came to view.
Unfortunately, the droids were lucky enough to arrive, just in time to fire back, unleashing their full barrage of laser fire. The storm erupted right away, blazing shots hitting the two Remnant soldiers' shields. The violent rattling of their shields kept the two from scoring any direct hits, forcing them to blindly shoot while protecting their faces from the droids. CT-1788, however, was able to help out with the precision. Behind his cover, he was able to sustain less of the firepower and actually shoot the droids with better aiming.
One by one, the droids began to fall, with the combined might of Jaune and Pyrrha's protective barrier, and CT-1788's precise aims. Unfortunately, the droids still proved to have the superior firepower, backed by their unstoppable numbers. The ongoing strikes against their shields were starting to push them back. Holding such heavy protection could only bring them down with the equally burdening firepower acting upon them.
The one to suffer the worst out of the bunch was Jaune. He didn't know how long he could keep it up without being shot. Soon enough, he began to feel fearful of his life again, just waiting for the time where he would end up getting shot when his guard was weakened enough. Not even the support of Pyrrha and CT-1788 could help him feel better; he was too focused on being pelted by the droids' weapons that he didn't have time thinking positively.
And that was when he completely lost his focus. After enough pressure, the hold on his shield was lost. His arm swung back after a few more shots were fired on him. That left him vulnerable to the enemy's might. Panicking from his loss of sufficient strength, Jaune had to flee back, once again falling under his cowardly shell. He let out a brief scream as he hid behind the control terminal to hide from the incoming blaster fire.
"Jaune!" CT-1788 yelled. "Get back in the fight!"
But Jaune couldn't. He was already struck hard in the heart, figuratively speaking, thankfully. He could not make the next move to recover and help assist Pyrrha. The stray bullet that knocked his balance ringed very rigidly in his ear, sending tremors down his spine and forcing him back, to fear for his life.
The coward had returned…
Pyrrha, noticing his plight, was alarmed by the sight of seeing Jaune backing away to retreat. Not that she was disappointed in him for running back, it was more of a concern for his well-being. She couldn't help but feel the need to help Jaune back up and help him fight off the droids. While firing her blaster back, she turned her head to find a way to get her partner back in shape.
That was when it was time to take a risky stand against the droids. Dropping her rifle down, she then raced forward at the droids, charging with only her shield in tow. The smaller circular shield was turned into a battering ram as it swiped the first droid with one slam. The rest of the droids tried to fire back, scrambled after the sucker punch was delivered. The shock had given Pyrrha more space to swing her shield again, swiping another droid to the chest, and decapitating another's head.
Jaune and CT-1788 were both able to see her at her most badass, watching in awe as Pyrrha rocked her way into the swarm and knocking out any droid that got in her way. The former was especially flabbergasted by how brave and ballsy she was when it came to close quarter combat. Despite her proficiency in ranged weaponry, she was just as hardcore when fighting with her bare hands. Her metal-hard punches and grand slams of her shield made short work of the enemy, littering the base with the wrecks of droids.
Pyrrha kept bashing and slicing off more and more, probably about to finally end the whole ordeal on her own. That was when she was met with another twist in the attack. When she destroyed enough droids to reach the stairs, she then looked up to see new arrivals.
"Supers!" She then retreated back when, immediately, she was greeted by the heavier blasts of the super battle droids coming down, firing their wrist blasters at her. Pyrrha quickly grabbed her rifle and knelt down. From her combat pouches, she then took out a new set of modification pieces to convert her rifle again. This time, the barrel of the blaster was much bulkier, almost enough to house in much larger ammunition. In fact, she had managed to turn her rifle into a grenade launcher; such was the wondrous advantage of owning an experimental weapon she was just rewarded by the Republic army upon her confirmation into joining the war.
The super battle droids, though slower than the B1's, were able to reach the base and fired their weapons with deadlier force. CT-1788 was just out of charges, causing him to back down behind cover to reload. However, his protection was already taking huge hits, as the crate on level with his head was swiped off in one hit. It left him at a very disadvantageous situation that forced him to move back to join Jaune at the back.
Pyrrha was now left alone to face the super battle droids on her own while Jaune and CT-1788 recuperated. She did her best to repel the heavier firing that was more of a pain to block off. She didn't help but noticed that, with the weight raining down on her, she had to exert pressure to her arm to have a better chance of withstanding the intense force.
Eventually, all of that force was too much for her, and her grip was thrown off. Her shield dropped to her side, and since the straps behind it were tightly stuck around her arm, the weight of the shield brought her body down with it. Unfortunately, unlike Jaune, the worst was about to happen.
BWUIM!
"Aaah!" A blaster bolt hit Pyrrha, straight at her right leg after her stumble, causing immense pain to her foot. The blast was repulsed by the metallic boot, but it was powerful enough to sear right through it, smouldering heat burning her foot in the process.
The stinging became even more painful than she could take. Soon, she was left hurting from the shot, unable to pick up her weapons and forced to move back. Alarmed by what happened, Jaune and CT-1788 fired back at the droids, hoping to divert their attention to them. The trick seemed to work, when a lone shot from Jaune's blaster had caused it to change its targets.
Jaune shuddered at the sight of the super battle droid's menacing face, glaring right at him as it fired back at him. The memory of seeing these horrid machines earlier was giving him all sorts
Pyrrha had her back against the control terminal, as she grasped her foot. The poor, unfortunate injury she sustained for slightly losing her focus, was now stinging painfully as she backed up against the base of the consoles, while the droids fired at Jaune and CT-1788. She had no choice; the sudden reaction that caused her to tense up her muscle. It was almost unnatural for the Mistralan commando, who was best at maintaining a calm and focused mind on conflicts like this, to suddenly lose her stride and become agitated like that. Never had she struggled against dire odds with very little time to work with her demeanour. It seemed that this was one of those days that she'd finally crack under the pressure. Every soldier has had his or her mistakes, after all.
Jaune started to shiver profusely. Alarmed by the increasingly deadly situation, he knew that he couldn't shoot down all at once, already having seen his aim needing more work. He had to knock out all of the droids, at once. That was when he remembered what Pyrrha did to make such a feat.
He dug into his pouch, just at the side of his track pants, desperately trying to find the right bomb to use against the super battle droids. He rushed through to find the droid popper that he, too, was given for these stealth missions. Plus, using the EMP grenade would prove non-lethal, except for the droids, of course.
However, the problem was that he couldn't find which bomb to use.
"Which one is it?" He had five bombs altogether in his pouch. All of them looked similar to one another; three of them being thermal detonators, while the other two were the droid poppers he planned to use. Jaune cursed at himself after struggling to find the bombs for the job. He either didn't have the focus to memorize them, or he was just plain stupid to not listen at all. Regardless, he was prolonging the battle. Time was already running out, and here he was, still fighting against himself rather than the enemy.
Then, when he looked to see Pyrrha, the haunting sight of the droid moving in to finish her off rushed him into a frantic emergency.
"Pyrrha!" Without thinking once about choosing the right bomb, he quickly took one out and set the trigger to prime the charge. With one strong toss, he threw it right at the droids. But the sight of the bomb's red laser gave off a rather unpleasant sight.
"No, Arc! That's a…!" CT-1788 yelled, but it was too late. The bomb landed on the ground and skipped towards the droids, stopping right between them and Pyrrha. The super battle droids stopped what they were doing and curiously looked towards the rolling sphere. The commando they were about to execute, gasped when she saw the bomb blinking red than blue, which would have signified it as an EMP device.
It was too late for Jaune to do anything. It only took him a second late to realize what he had tossed. The thermal detonator had already made contact, and was about to blow up. He almost screamed at the thought of killing his own combat partner, because of a stupid mishap, but all he could do was grab his hair with both of his hands and grip them tighter than his hold on his rifle.
However, thinking quickly, Pyrrha rushed towards the bomb. Her other leg was still strong enough for her to move, so after crawling quickly towards the detonator, she gave it one powerful kick that sent it through the droids' legs and sent it straight into a group of red barrels.
Red, explosive barrels…
"Oh no…"
BBOOOMMM!
The resulting explosion soon ignited the barrels, causing them to explode behind the droids. The engulfing fireball wasn't too huge, but it was enough to knock the super battle droids down, with pieces of shrapnel piercing into their tough exo-structure. Just enough of the droids' bodies were able to prevent any of the fragmentation from harming Pyrrha.
Despite the danger of the droids being gone, an even worse tragedy was about to happen.
The explosions then followed up in a chain reaction, igniting the metal pipes just above where the barrels once were. The pipes began to fume out flames from the cracks caused by the blast. Gas was shot out like a geyser, threatening to do more damage as the fire was building up.
Jaune and CT-1788 rushed to help Pyrrha up, slightly bothered about the damage the private had unintentionally caused. He took Pyrrha's arm and lifted her up before slumping it over his shoulder. Pyrrha's wound was still hurting her, but at least she had Jaune to help support her. But now, there was no time to thank him, or worse, talk about the foolish mistake he made. They all had to leave the building before it would blow up. There was no saving it; the pipes were rupturing by the minute, burning into jets of flames that could burn through the three if they stayed any longer.
"Let's get out of here!" CT-1788 helped lead the way, just in case there were any more droids, while Jaune helped Pyrrha move out, passing through the doorway before the flames got larger and eventually, the base was exploding from the inside.
Debris was already falling down by the time the three made it out, the ground around them shook and the fire was growing even faster. Overall, the whole structure was about to come down with a bang. As they made their way out to a safe distance, Jaune placed Pyrrha down beside a crate for her to lay down and soothe her injury. CT-1788 crouched down to tend to the wounded commando while Jaune stared at the destruction he had caused.
The building began to light up in flames before, tragically, a huge fireball swallowed up the gigantic radar dish and set the final piece of the puzzle for the devastation. The whole outpost soon started to cripple from the blazes and the damage, both external and internal, sustained from the major accident that he had done.
He had never so foolish before in his entire life of failures in military achievements. Of all the blunders he had made, this was by far the worst. This was no training simulation where he had the chance to try and try again, this was real. An entire military operation, completely failed, because of him.
Heartbreak and failure were all that Jaune felt as he dropped to his knees, still staring at the chaotic destruction of the outpost that his superiors so desperately wanted to save.
"What have I done…?"
TO BE CONTINUED…