Chapter XIII-Day 899-Clone Wars-0700 Hours-Onderon
The shuttle ride from Dxun to Onderon took only ten minutes. We were pretty lucky too; we got out of the shuttle and were immediately met by a clone."Sir, I am a clone with the Republic, I need you to come with me." He said.
I figured any Mandalorian that landed on Onderon was going to receive this so I popped my helmet off. When the clone saw his reflection he asked. "What number?"
I responded. "RC- 01/138, Delta Squad," He saluted. "And this is RRC-93/122, Delta Squad." The clone once again saluted. "If you would be so kind, could you please lead me to the Advisor?"
He nodded and said. "Follow me sirs."
We began following him and he halted just before we left the small hanger bay. "I suggest you put those helmets back on. It would be easier if this looks like you are being detained. We do not want any suspicion."
Twenty-Two and I both returned our helmets to our heads and continued out into the courtyard. It turned out we were in a small port station with two other hanger bays. We stopped next to two large turbo laser cannons towering the area. Our escort mentioned to a clone guard. "These two are with me."
The guard nodded in response and we walked in between the two large cannons, down an alley and went deep into the city. After a walk we ended up in front of a large cannon again. This cannon had a door on it that opened up to a large hallway inside. We went down several meters passing many doors along the way. We came to a door on the left side of the hallway. The clone went to open it and said. "You can take those helmets off now. We've declared a small "martial law" on the planet so we have control of the security systems."
The two of us took off our helmets and tucked them under our arms. The trooper pushed a few buttons next to the door and the skinny human side door opened. We walked in and the door closed behind us.
The room was simple. It had a table of five chairs to the left, and at the far right corner was a communications terminal. The Advisor was speaking to a clone while standing next to the terminal. "Yes," said the clone. "I'll make sure it is taken care of."
He turned off the console and turned to us. "Delta Three-Eight, Twenty-Two? What are you two doing here?"
I smiled and replied. "Mandalore gave us a chance to come up here, we took it."
"So why did he have you come up here?"
"He knows that the clones are here, and he believes separatists are coming soon. He figures you'll take the battlefield to Dxun instead of fighting here."
"So he sent you to find out what we are doing here?"
"Right. He fears if there is a battle on Dxun, the Mandalorians will be wiped out at the same time."
"What else have you learned?"
"So far, there are no other Mandolorian bases. There is a meeting that began at 0700 hours about the clone army being here. They also met a clone scouting the planet and disposed of him quickly. They are as strong as commandos, and some of them could be even stronger."
The Advisor nodded. "That is a decent amount of information for the moment. How are you doing with your new squad member?"
"We're doing fine, we're getting along pretty good."
Twenty-Two tapped me on the shoulder. "Sir, could I speak to you in private?"
I put my helmet on and switched the comm. with Twenty-Two only. The two of us moved towards the door so we were a bit to ourselves. "Why'd you lie to him? We're not going smooth!"
I figured this would come up. "Play along and I'll tell you later, but right now is not the time."
As I started moving back to the room Twenty-Two answered, "All right, but I don't approve of this."
I took my helmet off once more and the Advisor began speaking, "How long do you have up here?"
"Till nightfall." As I replied the door behind us opened and a clone walked in.
"Sorry for the interruption Advisor." He said, "But command is on your console right now."
"Thank you." The Advisor said.
"Come over here," he said to us and walked over to his console. He pressed a button and the screen flickered. When the screen turned on it revealed several commanding officers along with General Jedi Master Plo Koon.
"Advisor how goes the mission?" Asked one of the commanders.
"Well, why don't you ask the man leading the mission," and he motioned towards me. I walked up to the screen and saluted.
"Proceed." Said Master Koon.
I took a somewhat deep breath in. "So far we have found a Mandalorian camp and its leader: Mandalore. There is at least 10,000 troops on the planet." I paused and another commander started talking. "10,000 is a small number, we could easily destroy them with a large artillery strike."
I contested, "With all due respect sir, I think otherwise." The commander tilted his head slightly, "Mandalorians are very fierce and are as strong as any Republic Commando. Some may be even stronger; they have thick armor and shelter. They've been building this place for years, they've thought ahead and built bomb shelters You won't hit them, they have a communications satellite that also detects missile movement."
"I see." He replied and went silent.
A clone appeared on the screen, walked up to Master Koon, and whispered something in his ear.
Plo Koon's hollow and mechanical voice began to talk. "Gentlemen, there is a single Separatist Cruiser coming to Onderon."
"How far away?" I asked.
"They will arrive in three days, including today."
"What do you suggest my boys and I should do?"
"We'll come up with an answer as soon as we can."
"Try to come up with one by night."
"We will try."
The console screen flickered black and I turned back to the Advisor. "What should I do now?"
He replied in a somewhat cheery voice. "Well, night comes around 1700 hours so you have nearly twenlve hours ahead of you. The two of you can do as you wish until I call you, and keep you comlinks open. Have some fun."
"Very well."
Ah, very rarely were clones allowed to have a night to themselves or "A run ashore" as Omega Squad called it. A night where a clone can actually have less of a purpose and feel a small part of what it is to be free. It is a time to eat something other than ration cubes, a time to forget, a time to rest.
The only thing that bugged me was the fact that Fixer and Scorch were over on Dxun while we had the fun.