The Black Knights

by Frogy117

A group of SBH commandos after finding a strange artifact end up on the World of Remnant. Many adventures and battles lie ahead of them as they struggle with the past and deal with the present.

21. Chapter 21

Another long chapter. When this was planned and we decided what we wanted to put in here, we didn't expect it to go longer than 20. There are even more things that were supposed to go in here but I fear that that would have made this chapter WAYYY too long. Oh yeah, and I've also remastered chapters 1 through five, so make sure you read them once more or something here won't make sense. -Testedomega17

-Shadow 3rd Person POV-

Atlas…

He was in Atlas? How did he get here? Why was he brought here? Have the Nova been operating in Atlas? It would explain their disappearances. Enough thinking. First things first. Ask questions.

"Where are we going Tested?" Shadow asked.

"You'll see sir," Tested replied, "We need to hunker down a bit. The Nova will be furious to know you are gone. No doubt they are already looking for you."

Shadow nodded.

The drive went on for a few minutes. Tested and his troopers never spoke. Figures. He thought. Clones weren't exactly bred for socializing. Shadow had just learned this skill over some of the missions he was put on back on Coruscant and his time in Vale. With new friends. With Blake. Finally the van came to a halt.

"All good." The driver said. He too was another 501st Torrent Company trooper.

"Everyone inside." Tested ordered as he opened the rear doors. They were in a building. An abandoned one, or so it seemed. The van had back into a small garage that led inside. It might have been meant for large cargo trucks.

Tested led Shadow up the emergency fire stairs. Shadow made notes as he went. He counted the steps, he calculated the height of the building. When they reached the top floor, he estimated the building was 4 stories high.

Tested opened the door to a room. As Shadow walked in, Tested placed his arm out to stop him. Shadow looked at him confused but Tested motioned him to wait. He whistled a six note tune, and was answered by two knocks.

"Sorry," Tested apologized as he led Shadow inside. "It's the all clear signal."

The room was medium sized, large lamps placed around the area. There were two large tables, one in the middle and another in the corner. In the middle, there was a computer and in the corner lay another 501st Torrent Company trooper. It was obvious why he hadn't come along with them. He was missing his right leg from the thigh down. The wound was covered with bloody bandages.

"Good," The wounded trooper said. "You're not dead." He lowered his DC-15A and flicked the safety on.

"How are you holding up Whix?" Tested named him.

"The usual."

Shadow scanned the room. "Quite the set-up you have here." He said sarcastically.

"We have had to move several times in a hurry," Tested explained. "Our arrival didn't go unnoticed by the 21st Nova."

"You arrived when?"

"We were given the task of looking for your team about two months after Commander Shash was sent after you. We've lost count of how long we've been here."

"Is this your whole team?"

"The remaining."

Shadow did a rough calculation in his head. Shash arrived around 3 months ago. That meant Tested and his men have been here for almost a month.

"So who are you guys?" Shadow asked.

"Sergeant Tested sir," Tested responded exactly like a cadet during training. "This is our medic Don," He pointed at the trooper who was with them in the van. "Vin," He pointed to the trooper who was driving the van. "And Whix." He motioned to the wounded trooper. "Originally we were eight strong, but our arrival was… complicated. What we ran into, was complicated."

"Where did you land on Remnant?" Shadow asked.

"We landed in the forest, about 4 clicks east of the walls." Vin stated as he removed his helmet. He was bald with a small tattoo of the Republic symbol above his right eyebrow.

"And the local animals," Whix brought up. His helmet was removed and was at his side. His hair had been cut short, aside from his short blue dyed mohawk. "Weren't so friendly." He gestured to his leg.

"Take it easy pal," Don removed his helmet. His hair had been slickly combed all the way back. "I'm gonna apply some bacta."

"I could do with another leg."

"How much gear do you have?" Shadow asked.

"Well, our CO realized he was ordered to send us on a suicide mission," Tested began to lead Shadow to another corner of the room. "So we were lucky enough to get these."

Shadow eyed their gear. They had 2 spare canisters of Tibanna gas, 3 Standard Thermal Grenades (Along with a customized one which Shadow suspected it had a much larger blast radius), a spare vibroblade, and a spare DC-15S.

"No 17M's?" Shadow asked.

"Quite frankly sir, we aren't Special Forces."

"I need to get back to Vale." Shadow stated as he picked up the spare DC-15S and inspected it.

"Like I said sir," Tested continued. "It's a bit complicated."

"I don't care."

"Excuse me sir?"

Shadow turned to face him. "My team is holed up in Vale and they are in grave danger."

"Sir, we can't exactly-"

All of a sudden, the wall closest to Shadow blew inwards, sending Tested and him flying across the room.

-Yang 3 Person POV-

Yang was quiet. She was quieter than she had ever been. She was so quiet, she was irritating Blake. Blake was just reading a book. And while she liked the silence, Yang being silent was like having an itch that you could never scratch.

Why was she silent? She had lashed out hard, nearly engaging Blake, Blake had found out her secret and her boyfriend was in danger.

The sound of a door opening broke the silence.

"We're back." Ruby announced as she and Weiss walked in.

Weiss was about to shut the door but something stopped it. Something. Yang looked. There was nothing there.

"Opps, sorry." Weiss apologized to nothing.

"Nah, it's my fault," Designer's shape began to appear. "Should've disengaged my cloak earlier. Old habits."

"What is he doing here?" Yang asked. "I thought we were keeping this between us Ruby."

"Well, me and Weiss were getting nowhere so we decided to get some help." Ruby explained.

"I don't think we need help." Blake stated.

"Well then," Ruby put her hands to her hips. It was an unusual gesture for her. "What exactly did you two find?"

Well..."

"That's what I thought."

"Point made but what exactly can he do for us?" Yang brought up.

"I'm insulted," Designer shot up. "Before I defend my pride how about you tell me what exactly you found while Ruby and Weiss were hitting warehouses!"

"Well we found out that the White Fang has been raking in money from loans," Blake started. "With this money they have been buying weapons off the black market or possibly inside sources from the Military."

Designer let out a long laugh. "Gee what spies you are," he chuckled. "And this is why I don't ask you guys for help."

"Oh yeah? What did you find?" Yang shot back.

"As a matter of fact deary," Designer smirked. "I know that the Nova and the White Fang are operating beyond Vale. I also know Shash's endgame."

"What is it?" Ruby asked.

"I'm not sure yet."

"Ha!" Yang mocked.

"At least I have something useful." Designer defended.

"All right, enough competition," Ruby ordered. "Designer is here to help us find Shadow so we should be grateful for his help."

After a few brief seconds of silence Blake asked "What's the plan?"

"All right," Designer started. "Now there is nothing we can get done at this time at night so get some rest. Meet me at the docks tomorrow morning and I'll give you your roles."

"Okay, we'll be there!" Ruby promised.

"G'night ladies." Designer said smoothly as he faded into thin air and left.

Yang was still worried about Jared. She needed to warn him. But how could she tell him without informing him about Shadow's disappearance? There was no answer.

Yang had a restless night, praying that Jared would still be alive.

-Jared 3rd Person POV-

Holy shit I'm wasted. Jared thought.

It has been a very long night. Actually, it has been a VERY eventful evening. GT and TJ were drunk as well. He could tell by the way they were moving. In fact, they were so drunk, he doubted they could even stand at attention if their CO decided to walk in on them.

The two were playing darts, showing off their amazing accuracy to the women who were there. They all knew they should be confident in their looks. Jango Fett didn't have a bad complexion. In fact he was apparently quite the looker. Of course this is only what he has heard from the missions he has been on in the lower levels of Coruscant. A drunken man disturbed his thoughts.

"Excuz meh surrr," the drunken man attempting to pronounce every syllable. "Mez n mai fendz ofa dere juzz wundring. Duh u n yore pals looken eggzactly alike, ur am weez juzz drunk?"

Jared, drunk as well, decided to play a trick.

"Nah, you're just drunk pal." Jared said sarcastically.

The man squinted hard at him before saying, "Okez den, guud morn." then walked away.

Jared almost burst into a laughter from that statement. He heard a loud cheer as GT chugged another two shots of Whiskey and tossed the dart. Unlike his other times, he hit the edge of the bulls eye. He must be reaching his limit. TJ certainly had, demonstrating with a shot a row from the center.

All of a sudden, a nice looking lady patted him in the shoulder and asked, "You wanna dance handsome? I may give you something extra if you know what I mean."

Even drunk, he managed to reply with "Sorry ma'am, I'm taken."

The lady frowned and strode back to the dance floor. Weird. That same place where she had touched him stung a little. He looked at his right shoulder and remembered what it was. Earlier on in the night, someone was offering free tattoos. Jared took advantage of the offer and got a tattoo of an emblem Yang wore to symbolize her. A yellow fiery heart. Shadow would flip if he saw this. He didn't permit the squad to receive tattoos, piercings, hair dos or hair dyes. He wanted the simple cadet haircut from all of them.

"So what's your name pal?"

Jared turned to his left and saw a man probably in his 30's. He was caucasian with black short hair and a beard. Along with that, he wore a white dress shirt and a black vest and dress pants.

"Sorry do I know you?" Jared asked.

"Possibly. The name's Junior. What's yours?" He spoke with a deep voice.

Junior. Jared remembered. Yang told him that he owned this club.

"I'm Jared," Jared reached out for a handshake. "Nice to meet you."

Junior looked at Jared strangely as he shook his hand.

"I've been expecting you." he said and placed a note in his hand.

Jared stared at the piece of paper. Just as he was about to ask who authored it, Junior walked away in a hurry.' Weird.' Jared read the note. It was in Mando'a, language of the Mandalorians.

Su cuy'gar Jared. Gar kapr kar'taylir ni ra va, a meg cuyir jaon'yc cuyir ibac Ni cuyir sur'ulur gar. Trikar'la, Ni cuyir olar at kyr'amur gar. Vaal Ni liser narir bid jiila staabi jii, Ni copaanir bathas get'shuk o'r ibic kyr'amur. A miit be bu'litr, viinir.

Jared had learned mando'a before this, and he was thankful for his teachings. He translated the letter in his head.

Hello Jared. You may know me or not, but what is important is that I am watching you. Sadly, I'm here to kill you. While I could do so immediately right now, I want some sport in this kill. A word of advice, run.

Jared froze instantly. He dropped the note and scanned the area ferociously. Where are you?

There was no one really interested in him, no one he could see. His hunter was giving him a head start. No way he was going to pass it up Quickly he dragged GT and TJ out of the club and into the car. They were too drunk to resist.

As soon he secured them, he gunned the engine. Back to Beacon. Back to a school full of warriors, hunters and huntresses. His plan was ruined by the flashing blue and red lights tailing him. Shit. Cops.

Jared had no choice but to yield. He pulled over to the side and an officer came up to his window.

"Evening Officer," Jared greeted. "Is there a problem?"

The officer looked at TJ and GT in the back seat and asked "What happened to them?"

The duo was fast asleep.

"Long night, is that all?"

"Have you had anything to drink tonight, sir?"

Oh crap...

"Umm..."

The officer stared at him sternly, then said "Sir, please step out of the vehicle."

No. There was no time for this.

"But-"

"Sir, I am going to ask you once more. Please step out of the vehicle."

All of a sudden, a blue bolt tore through his head. Jared recognized the sound of the weapon too well. It was a Deece. A DC-15S he predicted. With a bang, the police squad car behind them exploded.

Jared's combat reflexes kicked in. He floored the pedal with all his might and ducked down as blue bolts whizzed past his head. He was going full speed, maneuvering past every car in front of him like the skilled pilot he is. He could only confirm that he was being chased by a Nova.

-Shadow 3rd Person POV-

*Flashback*

Shadow had just finished his debriefing and had tendered his resignation for command back at Freos He would go from Sergeant back to Corporal. TJ and GT passed by him.

"You all right sir?" TJ asked.

"I'm not a sir anymore," Shadow corrected. "And I believe I should be asking GT that question."

"Just a scratch." GT replied. "I'm still combat ready."

"So you really did it?" TJ asked. "You stepped down?"

"Yes I did," Shadow replied. "This squad will be dismantled and you two will be reassigned."

"Not exactly the outcome I wished for." A voice surprised them.

The Shadow troopers snapped a crisp salute at General Mack.

"At ease," he said. "You two," he looked at GT and TJ. "Some privacy please." The two nodded and left.

"You need something sir?" Shadow asked. He rarely talked to the General since he had been brought to Freos (Other than briefings of course).

"No, you do?"

"What do you mean?"

"You and your squad will remain active."

"What?" Shadow was confused. "Sir, I have already sent my resignation-"

"And it's being rejected Lieutenant."

"Sir?" Okay, Shadow was confused before, now he felt like he had been drugged heavily.

"You heard me. I am promoting you, effective immediately." The General maintained a casual tone.

"Sir... I'd like to resign my command position."

"And your resignation is rejected once again."

"May I ask why sir?" Shadow was stunned. His Commanding Officer was prohibiting him from demotion?

"Shadow," Mack started. "You are different than most here. You have potential to become a great leader. Why the hell would you resign your position? In my opinion, you are making a stupid ass decision."

Shadow didn't respond.

Mack changed to a more sympathetic tone. "This is about the Corellian sector isn't it?"

Shadow, still with the urge to obey and answer any question or order given by his superiors, nodded his head and hung it in shame.

"I lost two men sir," Shadow stated in sorrow. "A simple snatch and demo, something I have done dozens of times by now, and I managed to lose two men."

"Shadow," Mack placed his arm on Shadow's shoulder. "It's not about what happened. It's what you did about it."

Shadow looked up at Mack.

"It was your first mission as a leader and you performed well." Mack continued. "I've seen many troopers in your position, and you know what happened to them? They froze on the spot and never lived for a debriefing. You managed to get your boys out."

"Not all of them."

"Casualties," Mack turned the conversation back in his favour. "It's the price of war. Every leader has to understand it."

"I don't," Shadow shrugged off Mack's hand. "Nor do I want to."

Just as Shadow turned to walk away, he heard Mack bark "Attention!"

Shadow whirled back towards him immediately and stood completely straight. Damn the Kaminoans and their programming. He thought.

"I see it's going to take more than words to convince you Lieutenant," Mack shook his head. "Lucky for you, I still have a few more tricks up my sleeve. Follow me."

"Where are we going sir?" Shadow asked then shook himself out of attention.

"Home."

"Sir," Shadow paused. "Isn't this home?"

Mack let out a small chuckle. "Never forget where you came from Shadow." he said as he began to lead Shadow into the direction of the hangar.

Shadow knew where they were going. They were going home. They were going back to Kamino.

Shadow's vision cleared. The wall had just come apart and Shadow saw a drop ship hovering outside. The dropship whirled back around to make another pass. The Nova had found him.

Shadow felt for his DC-15S reflexively and fired back at the drop ship. He knew he wasn't going to do anything but it was the instinct of combat. As the opening of the drop ship passed by, he saw the Nova Kill toss a metal sphere into the room.

"Take cover!" Tested warned, but Shadow ran to the thermal as fast as he could and chucked it back out of the opening as high as he could. He didn't was to harm and civilian life. The sky lit up like a flare for only a few seconds and the drop ship was at a safe distance. Once again it circled around and a rotary gun emerged just below its nose.

"Heads down!" Shadow yelled as the drop ship hailed the floor they were on with dust rounds. These shots were powerful enough to take out large elder Grimm, no way he was going to let one tag him. He sprinted across the room as the rounds plowed through the wall behind him. Finally he got to Tested who was flat on the ground and yanked his arm to active his riot energy shield. For the most part, they were protected, but the force of the rounds sent them back a few feet.

Just then, the sound of another aerial ship appeared. The Nova drop ship was firing, it was very audible at this distance, but it was firing at something else.

Shadow didn't waste time.

"Tested, pack your gear," he ordered. "We are LEAVING!"

Tested nodded his head in acknowledgement and started signaling his men.

Shadow went over to the window to see what the Nova was fighting. To his surprise, it was an Atlesian scout fighter. It made sense. This was Atlas, home to the Atlesian military. The dropship and the scout fighter were both in hover mode, engines aimed towards the ground, strafing and firing at each other. This might buy us some time.

Shadow went over to Tested's team. They were all carrying their gear. In their packs. Vin was on the computer trying to wipe all of the data on their hard drive. After he was done, he shot through the hard drive several times. It was a smart idea. Shadow had heard stories of the crazy Null ARCs and what they were capable of when it came to unearthing data. Sure, the Nova tech specialist Machine was dead, but it didn't hurt to be careful.

"No!" Shadow heard Whix cry out in pain. Don was trying to carry him. "It's no good," he clenched his teeth. "I'll only slow you down."

"We've lost half the squad already, we aren't losing you." Don said back.

"Whix, you are coming," Tested barked. "That's an order."

"One which I cannot follow sir." Whix offered Shadow his helmet. "Keep it." he said.

Tested protested once again but Shadow placed his hand on his shoulder.

"A soldier knows his time," Shadow stated grimly. "Someone hand me the custom thermal."

Vin removed it from his pack and tossed it to Shadow. Shadow walked up to Whix and placed the custom sphere in his hand and said, "Make it count trooper."

Whix cracked a thin smile and saluted.

"Let's go!" Shadow ordered and the four of them made their way to the van. Tested opened the garage door and revealed the sight of the aerial battle. Just then, the Atlesian scout fighter burst into flames and rolled into another building.

The dropship turned its attention to their building. As soon as everyone got into the van Vin started the engine.

"Wait!" Shadow said sharply.

"What is it?" Tested asked.

"Wait..."

-Kill 3rd Person POV-

That bloody son of a bitch.

Shash was going to grill him if he didn't bring Shadow back. With no more motion from inside the building, he decided to investigate, taking two armed hired hit men with him. They rappelled from the drop ship onto the top of the building and blew a hole in the roof. They all jumped in. All of a sudden, an unexpected blue bolt slammed one of the men in the chest.

Kill whirled towards his attacker. It was an injured 501st trooper armed with a DC-15A rifle. I don't bloody have time for this. He chuckled to himself. The trooper fired again, aiming at Kill this time. He easily dodged the blow.

"I never thought about whom the SC would send after us," he taunted as he dodged another round. "Nor did I think he would send you grunts."

With the second comment, a shot came really close to Kill's head. He barely dodged it this time. He had to end this.

"You're lucky I plan on taking prisoners mate," Kill scoffed as he shot the trooper's rifle out of his hand.

As soon as Kill got about one meter from him, the trooper pulled out a metallic sphere and said "I don't."

Aww shit.

Kill sprinted for the opening in the wall as a burning fire raced behind him. He leaped with all of his might out of the building and pulled out his vibroblade, jamming it into the concrete wall of a smaller building. He felt his arm go toss as he caught himself and cringed at the pain. The thermal that trooper was holding must have been custom because the building he was recently in was coming down. His hitman didn't make it, but he didn't care. Just before the building crumpled down, a white van emerged from a hidden garage and began to speed away.

Kill furiously fired a cable from his DC-15S onto his dropship and pulled himself up.

"After them!" he barked at the pilot.

-Shadow 3rd Person POV-

*A few moments earlier*

The four waited in the van, already started, ready to go. All of a sudden, they heard a lound boom from the top floor and the ceiling began to crack.

Goodbye, Whix.

"Go now!" Shadow exclaimed and Vin floored the pedal.

As they turned a corner, Shadow caught a glimpse of Kill hanging from the side of a building. Damn he is still alive.

"They are following us! Vin announced.

Shadow opened the rear doors and saw the massive drop ship following them. Shadow folded back the stock on his DC-15S, something he hasn't done since his last time on Kamino. He opened fire. It was no use, the shots pinged off the hull. The drop ship began firing back. Vin swirled and shook the van intensely, the dust rounds hitting the pavement around the vehicle.

The chase continued until a few dust round pinged off the dropship. Shadow smiled. The Cavalry has arrived. Four Atlesian fighters joined the chase and began firing upon the dropship. The dropship evaded, ducked and turned, but in an agility contest, the drop ship was outmatched. All of a sudden a projectile from the drop ship openings slammed into a fighter and tore it to pieces.

"What was that?" Don asked.

A projectile came out once again and decimated another fighter.

"It doesn't matter!" Vin cried. "We're home free!"

The city walls were visible from here. Shadow looked back at the battle. The dropship had managed to get behind one of the fighters and was tearing it apart with dust rounds. With an explosion from its left engine, it began to dive down.

"Vin, slow down!" Shadow warned.

"Why?"

"Do it!"

Vin obeyed. Just before they reached the walls, the damaged Atlesian fighter descended ahead of them and turned into a fireball as it hit the pavement. It didn't stop there. Just a few meters after it touched the ground it crashed through the city walls at full speed.

Shadow looked back at the dropship and saw it strafing as the last Atlesian fighter tried to bring it down. It was then revealed what was firing the projectiles.

"What is that?" Don looked as if he were squinting under his helmet. "Is that an RPS-6 launcher?!"

Indeed it was. The RPS-6 rocket launcher was a very light, portable, shoulder fired rocket launcher. It could be used to lock onto targets, but by the way the Nova was aiming, he was using his eyesight. with another boom, the last fighter went down.

"Vin, through the wall now!" Shadow ordered.

"Through the wall?"

"Don't question me!"

Shadow knew what was going to happen next. The dropship whirled, its open side facing the van. Kill was leveling the launcher at them. Shadow quickly closed the doors and yelled, "Vin, gun it! Everyone brace yourselves!"

Several things happened in a few moments. The rocket bounced off the rear of the van into the pavement, launching it at a faster speed than it was already going, the doors blew inwards smashing Shadow in the back, as the van flipped and tumbled forwards about 9 times before it ran into a large tree and halted.

Everything was blurry. Shadow couldn't find the strength to get up. Someone grabbed him and dragged him out of the van as everything faded to black.

-Jared 3rd Person POV-

The car finally reached Beacon. Jared eyed the sky and estimated the time. It was about 3:00 a.m. from what he could tell. He scanned the darkness for danger before he stepped out. Then he hunkered beside the car and grabbed his scroll. Jared was pretty confident in his fighting capabilities, but he was drunk. That was bad enough for anyone. He first tried Shadow. No response. Where the hell is he? He would wake up instantly if his scroll rang. He tried Yang this time. After a few rings, she picked.

"Hello?" she yawned. She sounded annoyed. He had probably just woke her.

Just as he was about to say something, the line went dead.

"Tsk tsk." a voice slithered from the shadows. "No help this time."

Jared slowly stood up to face his opponent. He recognized the armor and the way he moved.

"Hello Detta." he greeted sourly.

"Tateyus." he spoke a different language. It was mando'a. Detta had just said Greetings.

"What, Shash sent you to do his dirty work?" Jared teased.

"I'd watch your tongue burc'ya."

Friend.

"You know Detta," Jared reached for his katana's. "You are the only Nova I have ever come to respect."

"Jate jate'kara," Good luck. "By the way, I met Shadow's and your girlfriend earlier today. They didn't put up a good fight."

What is he talking about?

Detta ejected his vibroblades from his forearm plates. His were designed so a long slightly curved blade went along his forearms going just past his knuckles.

"Ready to die, vod?" Brother.

"You are not my brother!" Jared stated as he drew his katanas and lunged at Detta.

Detta caught the blow and the two locked together. "Vode an, brothers all." he said as he diverted Jared's blades to the ground and elbowed him in the face.

Jared spun back around in a diagonal stroke following with a horizontal stroke. Detta was faster, he easily side stepped to avoid the first blow then ducked under the second. He leaped for an uppercut but Jared quickly backed up. He felt the vibration of the vibroblades tickled his chin. As soon as he regained his footing he was caught off guard by a kick to the stomach. Jared stumbled back. He decided to use his semblance. He closed his eyes and held his breath, then opened them. Sure enough Detta wasn't moving. Jared ran up to Detta at full speed and jumped into a downwards stroke. But then something happened. Jared somehow missed. Detta was nowhere in sight. How could he move faster than Jared?

All of a sudden Jared felt a sharp pain on his bottom right torso, following with a hit to the gut, a punch to the face, a kick to the back and then a crossline to the face. Jared went down. Where was he? Jared released his breath and Detta appeared standing over him.

"If you plan on using your semblance ner vod, you should watch what you drink." Detta explained. He had been drugged. Detta had somehow phased his semblance.

This made matters worse. Jared rolled back to recover. Detta lunged at him, bringing his arm in an arcing motion. Jared parried the blow and swung his other katana, aiming for Detta's head. Detta ducked and came right back up. He grabbed Jared's wrists. Crap. Jared's arms were crossed. Detta connected his knee with Jared's gut three times. After the third, Jared brought his arms down to block the fourth. The block caught Detta off guard and he released his wrists. Jared swung both Katana's up in an x motion and kicked Detta back a few paces. Jared saw that Detta barely dodged the blow. His armour had thin grooves in it.

Jared was barely holding his own. What could anyone expect? He was drunk and couldn't use his semblance. He knew he couldn't do this forever. In an attempt to end the fight, he threw a right swing, then a left. He kept repeating the process, using a normal right swing following with a backhand left. He was spinning, changing the angles of his attacks each time. Detta was being forced back, blocking and parrying every blow. While it did look like Detta was going to lose, Detta is just very patient. He was no loose cannon. He was a trained assassin for Shash. As soon as Jared started getting dizzy, he got under the arc of his forearm and grabbed it. He went under the arm and twisted till Jared dropped the weapon. Jared let out a small grunt of pain as Detta's foot cracked a bone in Jared's rib cage. Jared quickly freed his right arm and threw an overhead swing. Detta had already moved and kicked Jared in the back. Jared put his remaining katana in his right arm and whirled to face Detta once again.

Jared out of anger launched a fusillade of blows at Detta. But Detta had no problem. He ducked, jumped, curled, spun, and side stepped away from Jared's blade. After several attacks it got to the point where Detta caught Jared's blade arm and reeled him close. Detta kneed him in the stomach and placed his foot against the ribs of the right side of his body. Jared roared in unbelievable pain as Detta released his arm and snapped 3 ribs. Jared was stunned. He stumbled back and fell to the ground. Detta grabbed Jared by the ring of his shirt and threw him through a window. Jared tumbled over and into two long wooden tables. His ribs felt cold and hot with pain at the same time. He spared a few moments to see where he was. He was in the school cafeteria. Detta leaped through the window.

"You done yet?" he taunted as he rotated his shoulders.

Jared gritted his teeth to forget the pain and through a low swing at Detta's leg. He easily lifted it as he stepped back. Jared got up into a crouched position as he threw a swing at Detta's torso. He deflected the blow away. Jared lunged forward and Detta deflected the blow and caught the bladed arm. He ran his vibroblade across the soft skin on the forearm and threw Jared back. Jared was back on all fours. He got on his knees to throw a right swing but Detta blocked it and kicked him back down. Jared still being persistent, got back on his knees and attempted a backhand with his left arm following with a right slash. Detta got in between the two blows and punched Jared square in the face. Detta didn't stop there. He immediately grabbed Jared's head after the punch and kneed him in the face three times then kicked him hard in the gut, sending Jared sliding back on his knees for a few feet. Jared clutched his stomach. From the warm liquid from his face, he could tell his nose was bleeding and he was coughing up blood.

He looked up painfully at Detta who was slowly striding towards Jared.

No. He thought. I'm not going to die like this.

Summoning what energy he had left, he made one last charge at Detta. Detta slammed his wrist blades into Jared's swing, disarming him.

The sudden attack caused Jared to lose balance. He stumbled forward as Detta's right wrist blade extended and entered Jared's abdomen. Jared gasped.

"Don't struggle," Detta spoke softly. "It's over." Jared weakened and rested his head on Detta's shoulder. "There was never any doubt in the outcome, ner vod." Detta twisted the blade and dug it deep into Jared's torso. Jared let out a small, high-pitched yelp from the pain.

After a few seconds, Detta released him and Jared dropped to his knees. He slowly hunkered down as his blood began to exit his wound. Detta was right. It was over. It was his time. He never got to say goodbye to Yang. And to think this was the week that she wanted space from him. He thought about Shadow, TJ and GT. What would they do without him? Who would keep Shadow's rage in check? Detta began to pray in mando'a.

"Ijaa kaysh par kaysh ganar akaanir pirusti," 'Honor him for he has fought well,' "Sarnu'a bal digur hiibir va kaysh gotal'ur," 'Forgive and forget the mistakes he's made,' "Cabuor kaysh teh se'u'anr be hrabe," 'Protect him from the punishment of the grave,' "Bal mersa'ya be tracyn," 'And the torment of the fire,' Detta brought his blade up for the finishing blow. "Vode an." 'Brothers all.'

Sorry Yang.

All of a sudden, a blue dust round tagged Detta in the shoulder. He stumbled back. Jared turned slowly to see TJ aiming his DC-17B at Detta.

"Next one goes for your head, Detta." TJ threatened. GT came behind him and unsheathed his sword.

Detta, still clutching his shoulder, said, "Jared, you are one lucky son of a gun." Then Detta hit a button on his wrist and the ceiling exploded. The sight of a White Fang bullhead dropship came into view from it, another Nova tossed a line down for Detta and began firing on TJ and GT. Jared rolled slowly into cover. In a few moments, the drop ship took off with the two Nova.

TJ came up to Jared as quickly as possible.

"Jared! Are you all right?" he exclaimed.

"I've been better," Jared replied as he coughed out more blood. "Nice threat back there, but you could have just shot him in the head. You know, one less Nova to deal with."

"I was aiming for his head," TJ blushed. "I'm really drunk because..." TJ pointed in Jared's general direction. "There are literally two of you."

Jared let out a light chuckle but couldn't hold it long due to the more blood coming from his mouth. All of a sudden, everything started moving. The broken tabled began to repair, the glass reforming, and the ceiling returning. The trio looked to the door to find Glenda Goodwitch standing there.

"What just happened here?" She scolded furiously. "You aren't allowed to be here. Don't even forget the fact you damaged school property. You three have a lot of explaining to do-"

Her expression quickly changed to a gasp when her eyes landed on Jared.

"Sorry," Jared started. "It's a very long-" Jared cough once again, but this time everything went blurry. Really blurry. "-story." he managed to finish before passing out.

-Shadow 3rd Person POV-

*Flashback*

Kamino. It's where all clones came from. Shadow never thought he'd come back here. He didn't know why Mack brought him. The General was probably trying to teach him something. Shadow didn't see the point. He knew he wasn't fit for command. What does Mack see in me?

"Helmet on Shadow," Mack broke his train of thought. "You have to look professional here."

Shadow did as he was told. Mack led him out of the Kamino hanger with two other SBH. Memories of Shadow's time as a cadet flowed through his mind. From classroom learning to target practice and even combat simulations.

"Where do we go sir?" one of the other SBH asked.

"Go where you like, observe," Mack replied. "We are recruiting. I'm going to advise the training officers. See if you all can find worthy candidates." Mack continued forward while the SBH split down different corridors.

Really, Shadow thought to himself. Mack chose me for recruitment?

Using his free time, he decided to head over to the citadel challenge, the hardest simulation on Kamino. Funny enough, Shadow didn't have to do it. SBH recruited him before he got to that stage. He watched about three squads run through it. He noticed CT-6809 (he had asked a trainer for the CT) was an exceptional soldier. He was quick and smart, easily leading his squad through.

Finally a fourth squad came. Boy it was a mess. Shadow knew they were capable troopers, but they struggled hard. The five man squad moved to the center of the map and the towers rained down heavy fire on them. Curious, Shadow decided to listen in on their helmet comms. He tuned into the right frequency and the battle below him came to life.

"Cover! Cover!"

"Tiu covering!" Tiu said as he began firing away at one of the towers.

"Dre, Hon, flank now!"

"Roger Kada!" Dre and Hon replied in unison as thr moved to a different set of cover.

"Whoa!" Kada exclaimed as his teammate took out a sim droid a foot away from him. "Jared watch your fire!"

"Ah don't get your armor in a bunch, I had that!" the squadmate Jared replied.

"Guys! Do we flank now or what?" Hon asked.

"Not till that tower is down." Tiu stated as a fusillade of round impacted his set of cover.

"I got it!" Jared sighed as he got up and fired a clean shot at the tower gunner.

"Jared get back to cover!" Kada ordered.

"What?" Jared said completely exposed as he tagged another droid. "Why? We should keep going." Jared almost blindly downed two targets.

"Jared rear!"

Jared spun casually and fired three shots at a newly appeared sim droid.

"I got this." Jared shrugged. Shadow knew that he was being really cocky. This attitude will get him killed in a real battle.

"Gah!" a trooper went down.

"Hon's down! Cover shield!" Dre called.

"God damn it." Jared cursed as he took out the last tower guard in two shots.

For the most part Shadow was pretty impressed in Jared's skills. But his cocky attitude had to be taken care of. He took a few notes on his datapad and headed to another section of the facility.

Shadow woke up under the dense canopy of trees. His entire body ached. Slowly he began to remember what happened. When he remembered the Kill was chasing them , he jolted up immediately only to have the reassuring hand of Tested grab him by the shoulder. Tested was in a crouched position pointing up at the sky. Shadow listened and heard the rumble of the bullhead dropship. He couldn't see the dropship due to the trees, but it was loud enough that he knew it was there. As soon as the noise faded, Shadow got up.

"Good to have you back, sir." Tested remarked.

"I feel like crap." Shadow replied as he rubbed his torso.

"Well, you did have quite a tumble around in the van."

"What happened to the van?"

"Totalled. The rest of us were strapped in, you weren't."

"Well," Shadow said as he cracked his neck. "That's one way to test my durability."

"We have two options sir," Tested handed Shadow the spare DC-15S. "We could circle back to the city, or we could somehow find a way to Vale. I recommend the first option."

"Your opinion is noted. Let's start moving."

"To where sir?"

"It doesn't matter, if we stay in one place, we're dead men."

Tested looked as if he said something. He probably locked out his helmet speakers because soon after, Don and Vin appeared.

The four moved across the forest. Shadow used the sun as a direction marker to where he was going. He knew where he was going. He was going to Vale. That meant he had to go south. Every few minutes, the bullhead drop ship would return and they would duck down, only for it to circle back towards the city.

"Can they track us?" Don asked. "I mean with sensors or something?"

"Haven't been in one of those things." Tested replied.

"Look at it this way," Shadow sighed. "If they could track our heat signatures, or scan for life forms, why would they be circling around for hours?"

Few more hours passed with no sign of the bullhead drop ship.

"Wait," Shadow stopped the group. "Where did they go?"

The other three troopers looked up.

"Yeah where did they go?" Vin asked.

"You think they gave up?" Don suggested.

"If you think that Shash's Nova will give up that easily, you are in for an education." Shadow stated. He even cupped his ears to listen for the rumbling sound of that drop ship. Where are you Kill? What are you up to? "All right, set up camp here. Tested, with me."

"Here you go sir." Tested offered Shadow a ration bar.

"Not hungry."

"All due respect sir, you haven't eaten in about seven hours. Just one bar will fill you up for almost a day."

Shadow sighed as he took the offer.

"So where are we going sir?" Tested asked.

"Up the tree." Shadow replied as he jumped to grab a branch and pull himself up. Tested followed suit.

The two reached the top in a few seconds.

"Tested, you have any scopes?"

"Yes sir." Tested handed Shadow his macrobinoculars.

Shadow was glad that the company that designed them was smart enough to add a night vision setting. He scanned the landscape. Nothing. Wait. He saw the bullhead drop ship. It wasn't moving, but rather hovering in one spot. Shadow estimated it was about half a click North of their position. It was low, almost hidden by the tall trees.

"Found 'em," Shadow spoke grimly and handed Tested the binoculars. "5 degrees right off North, just skimming above the treeline."

Tested levelled the binoculars in the directions Shadow provided. "What are they doing there? Camping out?"

"I don't think so."

"Well, those creatures do come out a lot at night."

"Hm? Oh Grimm?"

"Yeah."

"Something tells me Grimm won't stop a Nova."

Shadow thought for a few moments. What was Kill up to? He couldn't find them with sensors? What has Shadow missed? Shadow cussed at the sudden realization of something he'd forgotten.

"Oh shit, shit shit shit!"

"What is it sir?"

"We've forgotten to do something, basic training, stealth missions 101."

Tested just stared at him, but Shadow could tell that he had a blank face under his helmet.

"We didn't cover our tracks, we left a trail for them!"

"Oh no, the boys!"

"Down the tree! Let's move!"

-Kill 3rd Person POV-

Heh, stupid, stupid Shadow. He has just left a path for me, straight through the forest.

Kill enjoyed hunting. He was great at it. In fact he was the best at it on his team. It didn't matter where he was, the city, the country, the desert, a forest. If anyone could sniff out their prey, so could he. He had his helmet speakers locked out and his night vision settings on his helmet turned up. Slowly, he followed the tracks as they led to some iridescent chatter and some low rudimentary lighting. This was just too easy for Kill. They might as well should've just lit themselves on fire and screamed 'we're over here!'. It would've been more entertaining. He slowly unclipped his DC-15S blaster from his belt and silently folded back the stock. He rested it against his shoulder and slowly advanced into a bush.

There.

Kill saw them. Two 501st Torrent Company troopers had settled in between two trees. One had their DC-15S clipped to their belt and the other rested his DC-15A against a tree. They were both eating ration bars and talking about some battle they've been in. It didn't matter. They were both dead anyway.

Kill levelled his weapon. He didn't need the targeting system on his HUD for a shot this close. He practiced aiming from target to target. He needed to do this quickly before either Shadow was near them or if the other took cover. Finally he was ready. He lined up his targets, placed his finger on the trigger...

BLAM!

Kill's night vision scope went wonky and his helmet systems were malfunctioning. He stumbled back, not remembering whether he pulled the trigger. Giving up on his systems he deactivated his HUD, looking through a plain visor.

Whizz!

A bolt flew passed his head. He could hear shouting. "Run!", "Run!". It sounded like Shadow. Knowing he had been spotted, he dived to the left behind a tree. After waiting till they left, Kill slipped off his helmet and pulled out a tactical light from his belt. His helmet had a melting scar running from where his left cheek would be all the way through the left side of his helmet. Shadow barely missed him. He pulled out tweezers from his belt and fixed up the wiring, then slipped his helmet back on. He blinked twice to activate his HUD. There, back to normal. Kill reactivated his previous settings and carried on with his hunt. All of a sudden, he received a call from his dropship.

"What?!" he answered in annoyance.

"Sir," one on of his hired men spoke. "Commander Shashank is contacting you."

"Tell him I'm busy." Kill hated it when his hunts were interrupted and Shash knows this.

"He says it's urgent and he wants to talk with you immediately."

Kill sighed in frustration. "Fine, circle here, pick me up."

The drop ship arrived in around 10 minutes. One of his hitmen lowered a rope for Kill. He climbed it.

"All right, put him through!" Kill ordered as he closed the side doors.

A holographic projection appeared in front of Kill. It was Shash.

"One job," Shash was configuring the settings of his DC-17M. "I gave you one job, and fucked up even then."

"I'm rather busy sir." Kill gritted his teeth.

"You will listen when I speak!" Shash stated flatly.

Kill shut up immediately and stood at attention.

"So from what I have heard, Shadow has escaped your grasp. Is this true? Because you don't know what punishments will await you if he escaped on his own."

"He didn't escape alone sir." Kill defended.

"Oh," Shash's disappointment slid to a more understanding perspective. "How did the other SBH find him?"

"They didn't sir..."

"Designer?"

"Not him as well..."

"Well it isn't any one from team RWBY because I know exactly where those four are. So who was it?"

"It was," Kill paused to gulp lightly. "3 501st Torrent Company troopers..."

Shash paused to comprehend whether he heard that right or not. "Are you telling me, that those grunts managed to rescue Shadow from you?!"

"They are Torrent Company sir.."

"Oh! Torrent Company! 'Elite' clones managed to make a company, so special!" Shash slammed his 17M onto a desk. That's a fucking piece of shit excuse you lazy british ass!"

"Don't worry sir; I'm in the midst of tracking them."

"Bring them back Kill," Shash spoke in silent anger after taking a deep breath. "Or else..." Shash finished his warning with flicking off the safety switch on his weapon and his hologram disappeared.

Kill stood in a few moments of silence, till one of his hitmen spoke.

"Sir, we can't track them in the dark."

Immediately, Kill brought his DC-15S up to the hitman's face and embedded a smoking hole. The man dropped dead.

"Continue patrol." Kill ordered furiously.

He was going to find Shadow or it would be the end of him.

-Tested 3rd Person POV-

Run! Run! Run!

Tested and Shadow had just saved Don and Vin from certain doom. As soon as they returned to their position, Shadow immediately saw Kill through the bushes. Tested was surprised, he didn't see a thing in the dark. Shadow used no night vision. Just his plain eyes. I guess it makes sense. Shadow Troopers like the dark. Their called Shadow Troopers for a reason. Now they were running. All of them.

"Stop!" Shadow halted the group.

"What is it sir?" Tested asked.

Shadow seemed disturbed. He was constantly looking around, scanning the brush. He was slightly startled, in a focused kind of way.

"Back up, over here." Shadow ordered. He led the group back the direction they came then paused again. "This way." He motioned the group in a different direction.

What the hell is he doing?

Finally he stopped. "Too late," he said. "We're surrounded."

"What?" Don asked.

"By who?" Vin followed up the question.

"Ready your weapons." Shadow replied sternly.

Tested did as he was told. What the hell do you see Shadow? He activated his energy shield to give off some light and prepared for combat. Tested didn't see anything for a few seconds, until red light appeared. No, not lights. Red eyes. Eyes full of anger. Red, beady, angry eyes that glowed in the dark. Oh no. It was them. Those monsters, those horrible monsters.

"Grimm." Shadow announced.

*Flashback*

"Cal, sitrep." Tested ordered.

Tested had been assigned orders to investigate the disappearance of two squads. An SBH squad lead by Marshal Commander CC-1946-86, nicknamed 'Shadow', and the 21st Nova ARCs lead by Commander ARC-1237, nicknamed 'Shashank'. The Special Operations Brigade was busy and didn't want to spare anymore valuable assets. Due to the fact that the 501st legion was the closest army to investigate, Commander Appo was forced to send a few of his best men. He chose 8 members of Torrent Company, led by Tested.

The two squads had been missing for months. The Special Operations Commanders gave the Nova some time before they assumed the worse. Sometimes those boys went a bit off task. But one month is where they draw the line. Tested had been informed that him and his men were the last amount of troopers the Supreme Commander would spend on this mission. If he went missing, the mission would be declared unsafe, and all missing troopers would be marked off as KIA. Tested was a tad bit furious. He had spent many years of his service on the battlefield, not some escapade. This was a mission for the Special Operations Brigade. Big deal, two squads went missing, send another. In fact, if they think it is so dangerous, why don't they just send those crazy Null ARCs. They ARE the BEST of the BEST, not to mention they are only spent on covert ops and data retrieval missions. Tested and his men were soldiers meant for fighting, not a search and rescue team. Regardless, Tested was loyal. He would follow almost every order given to him by his superiors.

The troopers touched down on an unknown planet not found on any star charts. For escort, they had a normal LAAT retrofitted for space travel. They had travelled across a barren rocky wasteland for 2 hours and found where the SBH transmitted their last signal. Oh they were here all right. At the entrance to a small cave, the burnt carcasses of republic insurgents were lying around. The Separatists are dead. These insurgents are just pests. They are organized, Tested gave them that.

"Sir," Cal replied. "It seems that the insurgents were studying something. Something deeper within the cave." Cal was the team technician.

Tested signalled their pilot. "Pilot, we are clear, area secure. Circle back here so you can drop our examination equipment. We are going to investigate the cave."

"Roger that sir." The pilot replied.

"Alright boys, tight formation," Tested activated his energy shield and levelled his DP23 shotgun. While Tested would normally use a standard heavy metal riot shield, this energy shield was a gift from his Commander, specifically for this mission. Appo must have known he was sending 8 men to their doom. Either way, Tested appreciated the gift. It was very light, easily portable, and a lot stronger. "We're going in." He stated as he took point.

His squad, sure enough, formed around him. They knew what they were doing, they were full fledged Veterans. They've served with Tested for a long time. There was Cal, Don, Whix, Sabre, Jag, Vin and Have. Don was the squad medic, Have was the sniper, and Whix was their demolitions expert.

They slowly ventured down the cave, finding more carcasses of insurgents. There was blaster scoring along the walls, even a downed E-Web gunner. Finally they reached the main cavern. It had double the amount of guards who were in the rest of the cave, along with a bunch of dead technicians. The troopers cleared the whole room, yelling 'clear!' every time a section of the room was checked. There it was, in the center of the room. The artifact the SBH were sent to retrieve. It glowed red, white, black and yellow. It was beautiful, putting Tested in a bit of a phase. Finally he snapped out of it and went back into Sergeant mode.

"Cal, tell me what the insurgents were doing?" he ordered.

Cal walked up to the data screens next to the artifact. He explained that they were broadcasting energy signatures into the artifact. The insurgents were trying to see if they could use it as a power source.

"The SBH were certainly busy." Jag commented as he kicked over a dead body.

"Any signs of them?" Tested asked.

"Other than garbage," Sabre said as he picked up an empty DC-17M clip. "No signs."

"Even the footprints," Don piped in. "Republic standard bootprints gather about 2 meters, presumably after the conflict, and one goes in the direction of the artifact."

"You know," Whix started up a joke. "When they said Shadow Troopers were could disappear like ghosts,, I'm pretty sure this isn't what they meant."

Tested ignored the joke. He remained on task. "Picking up any radiation spikes, ion charges, anything?" he asked Sabre who was holding his datapad.

"What, you think they were vapourized?" Vin questioned.

"By the artifact, yes. After all, the insurgents were running tests on it."

"no sir, Sabre answered. "Nothing that would indicate any form of vapourization. Besides, at this range, it probably would have taken the instruments and bodies with it."

"You think they retraced their footsteps on the way out and their ride got shot down?" Don suggested.

"Their would be no point in retracing their steps. And their stealth LAAT returned to base," Have corrected. "Tested is right, maybe the artifact did something."

"Okay," Vin started. "So the artifact didn't kill them, melt them, or vaporise them. So what did it do?"

The 8 of them thought for a few seconds until Jag got it.

"It transported them?" he said.

"Yes!" Cal pointed in acknowledgement. "Maybe the artifact is actually a teleporter!"

"Teleporter to where?" Whix asked.

"We don't-" Tested spoke but was cut off when the artifact started glowing. "-know..."

Tested didn't know what was happening. The artifact had him in some sort of phase. It kept calling to him, nudging him, whispering to him.

Come here, come closer. Your friends need your help.

"Help?" Tested spoke out loud. Others stared at him.

"You all right sir?" Don asked.

"Sir, can you hear us?" Vin piped in.

Tested could hear them, and he tried to respond, but the temptation from the artifact was too strong. The closer Tested got, the stronger it's call was. He could feel it's energy, and images began to appear in his mind. It was conflict. He couldn't tell who they were though. A man wielding black fire? A man desperate to kill the other? The voice spoke once more as the images cleared.

Save the Black Knights.

There he saw them. The men, the two squads, Nova and SBH locked in combat. One attempting to save the world, the other trying to conquer it.

"Sir!" Tested heard Whix call.

"I found them." Tested stated.

"What?"

"I found them."

"Found who?" Have questioned.

"SBH and the Nova."

"Where are they?"

"Tested raised his right arm. "They are right," Tested brought his hand to the artifact. "-Here"

As soon as he touched it, a loud shrieking noised passed over the room and everything faded to black.

Tested woke up in a forest. An unknown forest. It reminding him of the dense forests of Naboo. How did he get here? He got up, surrounded by his squadmates.

"Squad report!" Tested barked as he checked his equipment. "Talk to me!" One by one, they all replied.

"Don okay!"

"Vin okay!

"Jag okay!"

"Have, alive and well!"

"Whix, ready to roll!"

"Cal okay!"

"Sabre, sharp as ever."

"Good," Tested and his squad were all right. "Cal, sitrep. Have, get up high and secure our position. Vin, Jag, clear the area within 10 yds."

"Yes sir!" all the troopers replied in unison.

Tested walked over to Sabre, who had his datapad out.

"Sabre, where the hell are we?" Tested asked.

"Not sure," Sabre's expression was hidden by his helmet, but it was obvious he was frowning due to the way he was pecking at the settings. "I'd say Naboo, but it's a bit colder than it should be."

"Is it possible that we are on the northern region of Naboo?"

"Eh, impossible to tell without long range scanners."

"Cal?"

"Not a clue." Cal replied as he started scanning the soil.

"I'm no expert, Whix stated. "But I'm pretty sure those aren't native to Naboo." Whix motioned to a very small creature the size of a Nuna. It was small, grey and fluffy. It had two long ears, buck teeth, whiskers and a bushy tail. It actually looked rather cute, but Whix was right, those were not native to Naboo or any planet Tested knew about.

"Have, how are the skies looking?"

"Crystal clear actually," Have called down from a tree. "Lots of trees, and..." Have paused.

"And?"

"From what I see from my scopes, Civilization, about 30 clicks North."

"Copy, keep your eyes out, if any aerial vehicles pass by, signal for help."

"What if they don't see me?"

"I'm pretty sure they'll notice a man in white armor waving from the trees." Tested shook his head.

"Sir," Vin spoke as he and Jag returned. "We're good, but we have movement in the bushes further out."

"Hostile?"

"Unknown sir."

"Understood. Are they headed this way?"

"Possibly."

"All right. Tell Whix and Don to stay alert, I'm going to go see if Sabre and Cal worked anything out."

"Yes sir." Vin and Jag did as they were told.

"Cal, talk to me."

"I don't know what to tell you sir," Cal shook his head in disappointment. Tested knew it irritated him when he didn't have an answer. "Normal soil, normal trees, normal sky, normal air, no proper way to ID this place."

"That's fine Cal," Tested patted his shoulder. "Pack up, we are going to move out."

"Contact!" someone screamed.

Tested whirled, weapon at the ready. The troopers already followed suit. Emerging from the bushes, a mixture of a wolf, able to stand upright like a man, had a skull mask over its face with its beady red eyes shining through. It let out an aggressive roar as more followed.

"Pull back," Tested ordered. "Don't fire till they expose themselves."

"I'm pretty sure those aren't native to Naboo either." Whix nudged Tested.

More of those creatures emerged from the forest. They numbered in about 13-16 from what Tested saw. There could be more that were hidden.

"Targets from the rear!" Don warned.

"Tighten our flank!" Tested ordered. They're trying to flank us. Maybe a bit of blaster fire will scare 'em off. "Open fire!"

The eight of them opened fire upon the creatures, firing at all sides. The tibanna rounds seemed to be working, but the creatures weren't giving up. They charged their position. Tested quickly knocked down the lead, the force of the DP23's 8 round burst knocking it back. Immediately, it recovered for a second charge. Did that even harm it? Tested waited this time until the creature got exceptionally close before putting another round, almost separating his upper and lower torso. The troopers were dealing out damage, but the creatures took the shots like it was nothing. Combat speech between each other went around.

"Cal, watch your left!" Don warned as a creature got close. Cal responded with a head shot.

"Concentrate fire!"

"Have, some cover fire if you please?"

"Hold on to your buckets!"

The six automatic shots of a DC-15X sniper dropped six creatures. Have was certainly on his game today. Good.

Tested's thoughts allowed a creature to get close. Caught off guard, he managed to still activate his shield. The creature pounced on him. As soon as Tested hit the ground, he swung his shield to the left, knocking the creature off. He finished it off with a round to it's upper chest. This wasn't working, they were going to get overrun.

"Have, cover a retreat!" He called out. "Squad, prep to move!"

"Gimme a sec Sarge, reloading!" Have replied.

"Fire when ready! Squad, move out now! Due North!"

The squad headed in that direction, the lead members, Whix, Vin, and Jag concentrating their fire forwards to clear a path from the creatures. Tested pulled up the rear, waiting for Have to slide down the tree before joining their teammates. They ran for about 40 seconds until Jag halted in front of a large bear-like looking creature. Like the wolf-like ones, it had a white 'mask' (or so it seemed to be a mask).

"Oh, Skrag." Tested heard Jag muttur before the creature threw a heavy slash, knocking him to the ground.

"Take it down!" Tested ordered. He didn't need to. It was obvious. But it was the instinct of combat that pulled the words out of his mouth.

The squad opened fire on the creature. It let out a large roar and slashed at Vin, knocking him into a tree. A few moments later, it toppled backwards and died. Tested went over to assist Vin. On his way, he saw Don on the corner of his eye already tending to Jag.

"Vin, you okay?" Tested asked.

"Man, that thing packs a whallop." Vin coughed as Tested helped him to his feet.

"Helmet off."

Vin did as he was told. No bleeding. That's a good sign.

"How many fingers am I holding?" Tested checked for dizziness.

"Two. Don't worry, it's not blurry."

Good, no concussion.

"Can you walk?"

Vin stumbled at the first few steps, then walked completely normal.

"Just a bit banged up from the hit," he explained. "Probably some minimal bruising, but the armor protected me."

Tested patted his shoulder then went to check on Jag. Jag was flat on his back, lying down in an awkward position. Don was kneeling beside him checking his pulse. He looked up at Tested and shook his head. Damn. Tested nodded at Don to list him KIA.

"How's Vin looking?" Don said as he got up.

"Just a bit banged up. Nothing serious."

"Oh, I'll check him just in case."

"He's fine." Tested reassured with a pat to his shoulder. Don took a deep breath and nodded. "Whix, can you grab any important gear Jag was carrying?"

"Really?" Whix stared at Tested.

"What?"

"Your first thought is equipment?" Whix scolded. Tested could tell that was frowning in disbelief.

"Look," Tested started. "Something tells me we might be here for a while, and even though we are headed for civilization, we might have some nasty turns in our journey. I don't want to take the risk that we all might starve or run out of ammo."

Whix just scoffed and obeyed Tested's orders. Tested knew he was angry, and he didn't blame him. But he had to focus on keeping the squad alive. I'm just as sad as you are about Jag, Whix. But that's not the priority right now. Tested just followed his training in the main protocols for being stranded. Find civilization and survive long enough to report your position to command. If they couldn't find civilization, they were to just sit tight and wait.

"Squad, move out." Tested ordered. He looked down at Jag just before leaving. Sorry pal.

The team ran into more of the wolf-like creatures along their hike. They were in small packs, nothing like the amount they first encountered. After 30 minutes, they came upon a small ravine. Tested looked down. He estimated about a 40 ft. drop into a river. The other side was about 25 ft away with more trees at the end. He checked his portable compass. They were still heading North. Good.

"Whix, Vin, ascension cables." Tested ordered. Their DC-15As were more suited for the cable attachments. The two lined up on the edge of the small cliff. "Target the thick trees."

Bsssssssk! Vwip!

The cables hit their marks. Whix and Vin slowly released some slack as they walked backwards and went around a tree before pulling the line toss. They detached the cable launcher and drilled it into the ground. Stable.

"All right, two at a time. Have, hardscope the path forward. We don't want surprises."

Have gave a small salute before going into a crouched position and aimed down the other side of the ravine. Vin and Don went first, attaching a steel grip to the cable and sliding themselves upside down. Always get the medic and the wounded to safety first. After, Whix and Cal went. Tested noticed Whix's pack was bursting with equipment. A grenade was sliding out (Not a thermal).

"Whix, check your equipment!"

Too late. The grenade fell out and exploded as it hit the river.

"Well that's a drop…" Whix joked in fear.

"Secure your equipment next time!"

"Sir yes sir." Whix trembled.

Tested was about to go next, but was interrupted by Sabre.

"Contact!" He yelled.

Tested whirled instantly. He blindly pulled the trigger of his shotgun. He was lucky enough to take down a wolf-like creature that had gotten so close to him, he could he the inside of its mouth all the way to its throat in full detail. The three of them opened fire into the trees. There were about 10 of them.

"Other side, don't fire or you'll risk hitting the cables." Tested barked, anticipating their will to help.

After all 10 of them were downed, a different creature began to follow from the rear. Tested squinted into the brush. What the hell is that?

"Uh… sir…" Have stammered. He was looking through his scope. "We may have a problem."

Tested waited for a few moments to catch a full sight of it. It was massive, knocking down all the trees in it's path. Finally, Tested got a full view and he wished he hadn't. It was a large scorpion-like creature with those white "masks".

"Fire!"

The three of them opened fire in vain. The creature just got closer and closer, letting out a low growl. The blue bolts did nothing to harm it.

"Have, go!" Tested ordered.

"What about-"

"We're coming, just go!"

Have immediately got on the line and started moving.

"Keep him busy!" Tested knelt down to reach for something in his pack.

"With what?!" Sabre exclaimed. "I'm only tickling him!"

The creature got closer and closer. C'mon, where are you? THERE! Tested found a Thermal Grenade and set the charge to maximum.

"Down!" he yelled before chucking it as hard as he could towards the creature. The force of the blast knocked Tested and Sabre back. Tested slid and slid, catching himself just before he went off the edge. Phew.

He looked up and saw Sabre offering him a hand. Tested took it and looked in the direction of the explosion. Dead. He was about to attach his steel grip to the cable when suddenly he heard his squadmates on the other side screaming and pointing at him. No, they weren't pointing at him. They were pointing BEHIND him. Tested and Sabre whirled back around quickly. Oh crap. Two scorpion-like creatures were coming this time.

"Across the ravine, now!" Tested muttered sharply to Sabre.

Tested slung his shotgun and Sabre clipped his DC-15S to his belt. They both attached their grips to the line and started sliding across as fast as they could, desperately trying to beat the creatures. They were ¾ of the way there and Tested stopped to look back. The creatures only growled in anger. Suck it. Tested thought to himself. His relief was short-lived when the creatures turned their attention to the cables. Tested went pale.

"Move! Now!"

Tested and Sabre were sliding faster than before. He could hear the metal cable scraping off bits of his plastoid armor.

Crige!

Oh no!

Tested kept going. Not my cable? He turned left. Sabre's cable began to shake.

"Sir?" He spoke in terror.

"Sabre, move!"

"I can't-" Snap! "-Gah!"

"Sabre!" Tested reached out to grab him, but was too late. Sabre found out the hard way that what he felt into wasn't a river. It was a stream about a foot high. It did nothing for his fall.

Cringe!

Tested's cable began to shake. He looked back. The scorpion-like creatures were now playing with his cable.

"Hurry sir!" Don called.

Tested kept sliding. He was almost there.

Snap!

Just before he fell, he gave one last pull and threw himself forward. With luck he managed to land his upper body on the other cliff. Uh oh. Tested began to slide off. He flailed his arms forward, reaching for the rope that wasn't there. Whix managed to grab his arm before Tested fell to his doom. Slowly, the other troopers helped him up.

"Sabre's gone." Tested stated grimly.

"Yeah, we saw," Whix replied. "Would you like me to fetch his equipment, sir?" he teased with a hint of anger in his voice.

"Drop it Whix!" was all Tested had to say to get him to shut up. "We need to keep moving." Tested nodded to Don who was already one step ahead of him, listing Sabre as KIA. This was not a good day at all.

-Shadow 3rd Person POV-

*Flashback*

Shadow, after a long walk around the Kamino training facility, made his way back to General Mack. The other SBH who came with him were already there.

"So," Mack began. "I've already talked to the officers. Did you three see anyone you like?"

"Got a few candidates on my datapad sir," one SBH replied. "I'll transfer to you."

"And you?" he asked the other SBH trooper.

"Negative sir. No one exceptional in the areas I was in."

Mack turned to Shadow. "And you?"

Shadow without a doubt said "CT-6809 sir. He is highly skilled and is a born leader." Shadow thought about Jared, but he didn't completely feel perfect about him yet. Although, Shadow had this nudgy part of him saying, Take him, train him. "Sir," Shadow interrupted Mack as he was about to speak. "Will we be running the forest simulation again."

"Yes we are, Shadow." Mack chuckled.

"Permission to check out the cadet barracks sir?"

"Granted."

Shadow went on his way. The barracks were larger and brighter than he remembered. He had gotten so used to the darker greyer and smaller barracks back at Freos. He turned the contrast settings on his HUD all the way down. He was practically wearing sunglasses. Shadow's time in the darkness has given him some sort of sensibility to light. Shadow heard voices as he walked. The cadets were commenting about him.

"Hey, it's a blackie." one muttered in awe.

"Shit man."

"Those guys get the 17M's."

"Do you think those armor plates actually reflect to give off a cloak?"

"Wonder how they train."

Shadow finally saw who he was looking for. Jared's squad. They were prepping for the simulation.

"Guys," Jared spoke. "Don't worry about me, worry about the objective. I can keep myself in one piece.".

"Jared, if you go down, you'll cost us the simulation." Hon shook his head.

"Alright, well who went down at the Citadel?" Jared shot back.

"Not the point."

"Hon, every time we have a man down, you are always one of them. I don't even know why we call you Hon. We should just call you carcass at this rate."

Hon threw a punch and Jared deflected it into a locker.

"Whoa, calm down!" Dre exclaimed.

Hon didn't listen. He threw punch after punch, Jared deflected three more before countering with an uppercut. Hon still didn't stop, but Jared seemed to be enjoying this, holding a light smirk on his face the whole fight. Soon, the other cadets started to join in, dividing into Jared's side and Hon's side. That's where Shadow drew the line.

Shadow made his way to them, focused on Jared. He seemed to be the focus, and he was the one dishing out the most pain. As soon as Shadow got close enough the do anything, Jared reacted to the footsteps behind him. He blindly elbowed Shadow in the face. Shadow stumbled back as the fight continued. He almost snapped into full rage. He calmed down, slowed his breathing. Then he walked up to Jared again. When Jared blindly threw a punch at Shadow, Shadow caught his fist, grabbed the back of Jared's head and slammed him face first into a locker at full force. If Shadow had done that to any normal human, they would have died, but he knew that clones were built to be tough. Still, Jared was stunned and collapsed to the floor. Immediately after he fell, the fight ceased. The cadets stood at attention in terror.

"Sorry sir." they spoke in unison.

Shadow spoke in a commanding voice that he never thought he had. "I don't want to see this happen EVER again! Understood?"

"Sir yes sir!"

Heh, Shadow thought to himself. I must have sounded like my old drill Sergeant. He chuckled.

"Leave us." he ordered the cadets, leaving Jared on the floor rubbing his forehead. Shadow may have underestimated his strength, noticing the large lump that Jared was clutching.

"Ah, j-j-jeez man," Jared stuttered. "That's taking it too-" Jared paused when he realized he was speaking to an SBH. "-far…"

"Stand up Cadet."

"Yes sir!" Jared shot straight up into a salute.

"You need to fix your attitude cadet."

"Sorry sir."

"At ease. Speak freely."

"It's just that, my squad just keeps letting me down. They honestly aren't that skilled."

"Compared to you, I can agree, but that's not the problem."

"Sir," Jared explained. "All due respect, I'm literally the one carrying the group. They just drag behind."

"No, you LEAVE them behind."

"Sir?-"

"Jared, that's your name right?"

"Yes sir. Beats a CT ID any day."

"Right. Well, you complain about your squad, how they drag behind?"

"Yes sir."

"Well how about this. Instead of forcing your squad to catch up to you, carry them to you."

Jared looked confused. "I don't know what you mean."

"Don't yell at someone for not doing it right. SHOW them how to do it right. Carry your squad to victory."

Jared looked down in thought.

"That's an order." Shadow patted his shoulder before leaving.

Shadow snapped back into reality. He was fighting Grimm. Something had happened to him that he had never experienced before. He was somehow able to reach out and feel the presence of his attackers. It must have been his aura, something that he learned in a class.

A Beowulf lunged at Shadow. He responded with 2 shots to the head. He whirled around anticipating a rear attack and smacked another Beowulf with his DC-15S. It growled back. Shadow answered that growl with a fire enhanced uppercut, sending the Grimm flying through the trees.

"Whoa!" Tested was shocked as he blasted another Beowulf. "What was that?"

Shadow locked arms with another Grimm. "There's a lot you don't know about me Tested." Shadow's hands glowed with black fire as he tore off the arms of the creature and put three rounds in it's chest.

He turned to check on Tested and his team. They certainly have fought Grimm before judging by the way the three moved. Vin was the most aggressive. As a Beowulf got close to him, he threw his body into its gut, knocking it back. With the creature stunned, he fired his DC-15A into its chest till it fell over backwards and died. Another came from his rear. He whirled and slammed the butt of his rifle into its gut. The Beowulf fell to its knees. Just before he finished it off, Shadow heard him mutter "For Jag you son of a bitch."

Don fought more calculated. He opened fire on them afar. When a Beowulf got close, he waited until the Grimm pounced before rolling out of the way. In his flanked position, he easily mowed the Grimm down with his DC-15S.

Then there was Tested, in full riot trooper mode. He waited until a Grimm was 6 metres away before slamming the 8 round burst into its chest. He would smack the Grimm with his shield of it got too close.

Shadow knew he could take out all the Grimm on his own, but he didn't want to risk Tested and his men.

Summoning his black fire, he heated up. It wasn't working. He was certainly able to start a campfire but he couldn't burn the forest. Why couldn't he? He had nearly burned his room down when Machine nearly took Blake. Blake. He remembered that his fire was controlled by emotion. He got angry, remembering everything Shash has done to him. Every last moment. Every nail biting insult or fight. And he got angry. Then Shadow saw it, the forest started burning. The Grimm started howling in anger, cut off by the burning trees that were falling. slowly, Shadow calmed down.

"Everyone! Out now!" Shadow barked as he led the other three deeper into the forest."

When they finally reached a safe distance from the forest fire, Tested stared at Shadow in amazement. In fact, all three troopers stared at Shadow in amazement.

"Sir..." Tested started. "How did you-"

"Another time," Shadow cut him off. "I'll explain once we get out of this god forsaken forest."

"Yes sir."

"Alright, let's find some shelter."

-Yang 3rd Person POV-

Yang got the call from GT that Jared was in the hospital in the morning. In a rush, she immediately made her way to there, her team barely able to keep up with her. She didn't bother taking a bus. She would've drove if it wasn't for that Nova destroying her bike.

Finally she exited the hospital elevator and entered Jared's room. Startled, TJ shot up from his chair and drew his DC-17B side arm. Realizing it was Yang, he slipped the weapon into his holster and slumped back into his seat.

"Gave me a scare Yang." he said.

She saw Jared. He had bandages and pillows propped up everywhere. A bandage around his nose, his torso, and his forearm. Then he had metal supports along the right side of his rib cage-

"What happened?" Yang asked as she went beside Jared's bed.

"He was attacked by one of Shash's Nova," GT explained. "Detta, was his name. He is Shash's most deadly assassin."

"Are you all right?" Yang asked Jared as she squeezed his good hand.

"I think I broke my humerus," Jared paused, realizing the joke he made. "Never mind, my sense if humor is still intact." he chuckled."

Yang noticed her team enter the room. GT explained the situation to them.

"When I fought him," Jared attempted to sit up. "He mentioned something about encountering you and Blake. Yang, Care to explain? And where is Shadow?"

"He's busy." Blake interrupted.

"Bullshit. He would be here. As for my other question?"

Yang was speechless. She was about to say something when the silhouette of Designer started appearing, his body in full armor following straight after.

"And, choke." Designer announced. By his tone, he had a smirk of disappointment and "I told you so" on his face.

Jared was staring Yang down with an annoyed look on his face. "Answer the questions Yang. What was Detta talking about, and where is Shadow?"

Yang looked to her team. They just exchanged glances. Yang then looked to Designer. He just shook his head.

"You're caught anyway," Jared crossed his arms. "No point in still hiding it."

"Let it go Yang." Designer nodded.

Yang was about to explain, but Blake beat her to it. "Shadow's been captured by Shash."

Jared's expression quickly changed to panic. "What?"

"I've got it." Designer said as a hologram screen popped up from his gauntlet. He played the footage they received from the intentionally left behind camera.

Jared, GT, and TJ exchanged glances.

"... We've got to find them." Jared said as he attempted to get up. He let out a grunt of pain as soon as he sat upright.

"Jared," Designer said as he placed his hand on his shoulder. "Stop, you are in no condition."

"Get off of me." Jared shrugged him off.

"Jared, he's right," GT agreed. "You can't even get on your feet."

"We don't know where Shadow is, we have to find him." Jared was still struggling to get up.

"Boy, I will stun you." Designer reached for his side arm.

"Jared, wait!" When Yang finally placed a strong reassuring hand to his shoulder and slammed him back into the bed, he stopped to listen. "Look, I know it was wrong not to tell you earlier. But now, you have to stay here. We'll find him.

"Right, girl's week." Jared rolled his eyes. "At least take care of them GT and TJ."

"That's a negative," GT said firmly. "Judging from that note you got from the club; Detta may still be hunting you."

"We'll watch over him." TJ told Yang.

"Designer, look out for them?" Jared asked.

"You know me Jay." he chuckled.

"We're going to find him." Ruby assured.

"I hope so. Good luck." Jared hoped.

"See you around J-man." Designer said as he cloaked and followed team RWBY out of the hospital.

Shadow, Jared thought. You better be alive, for all our sakes.

-Tested 3rd Person POV-

*Flashback*

"GAH!"

The group was freeclimbing a cliffside when a giant bird creature wearing the "white masks" picked up Cal. Cal was innocently checking his datapad due to a weird ping he was getting on his short range radar. Immediately, everyone opened fire. The echoing screaming of Cal could be heard from the bottom of the cliff. He probably accidentally turned up the volume on his helmet speakers. Who could blame him, he was in imminent danger. Like the scorpions, none of their shots seemed to be harming it. The bird let out a loud screech when Have got a shot in it's eye. It didn't destroy the eyeball, but it seemed to irritate the beast.

"Aim for the eyes!" Tested barked.

"Look out!" Whix cried. "He's ramming the cliffside!"

Almost seeminglessly, all the squad members clung close to the cliff.

Rumble!

Debris fell over Tested's head as the bird's wings smashed the cliffside. Tested was surprised by a sudden scream above him.

"Gah!"

"Whix!" A trooper called.

Tested quickly looked up. Whix was falling with a bunch of debris. The bird must have knocked his section off. Instinctively, he reached out to grab his hand. As their hands joined, Tested braced himself.

Thud!

Tested's arm went toss when a sharp pull almost took Tested off the cliff. He looked to the end of his arm to see a frightened and thankful Whix holding on with his dear life. Tested swung Whix to the cliff and waited until he gained his footing before letting go.

"You're welcome." Tested teased.

The humorous moment was short lived due to the bird circling back towards them. Cal was still being held hostage in the talons of the bird, still screaming, smacking it's feet, hoping for it to release him. It did, but not in a good way. The bird let out an ear piercing shriek as it threw Cal at the cliffside with a killing blow. Tested and Whix didn't leave him to fall. They both caught each arm in hopes that his armor took in the force of the impact. Tested looked to the top of the cliff. Vin was already up there with a plan in motion.

"Hey ugly!" he screamed as he fired at it. "Over here you worthless pile of shit!"

Reluctantly, the bird turned its attention towards him, circling back around letting out another shriek of terror. The bird went full speed, still shrieking. That was his mistake. Just before the bird rammed into the ledge where Vin was, Vin tossed a thermal into its mouth. Smart man. Tested thought as the bird's head blew off moments later.

Vin fired a cable into a boulder and secured it. Then he slowly rappelled down the cliff to grab the motionless body of Cal from Tested and Whix. Just because Cal didn't respond doesn't mean he's dead. He could still as easily be in shock or unconscious.

Tested and Whix reached the top last, where the news was confirmed. Don was knelt beside Cal. Cal's helmet was removed, his face expressionless and his eyes staring deep out into the blue sky.

"Dead sir," Don stated as he shut Cal's eyes. "Alive wouldn't have done him any good as well. He's broken every bone in his body."

"Put his helmet back on." Tested ordered softly. He knelt down and unclipped his datapad from his belt. "Goodbye." he whispered as he got up. "All right, let's keep going.

They were almost at their destination. 5 more clicks to go. They waked for more 2 hours, encountering more wolf creatures, until they reached something rather intriguing. Some sort of downed drop ship. There were dead men with weapons surrounding it. They looked like fallen soldiers who held a brave last stand before dying at the hands of those bests.

"Don, Vin, check out that vehicle," Tested spoke with a thought "We might be able to use it as transport."

"Yes sir." Don replied and he and Vin did and they were told.

"Let's secure perimeter boys," he spoke to Have and Whix. "Something killed those soldiers, and I want to make sure it isn't still here."

They both nodded and the three started scanning the brush. No strange creatures. So what killed the soldiers? They died a bloody death.

"Tested! Watch out!" Have screamed.

Tested whirled around immediately and activated his shield just in time to stop a lethal attack of a giant snake. It was black and had white patterns on the top of its skin. Have and Whix opened fire, concentrating on its head. It slithered around, whacking Whix into a tree. Just then, Have got a shot through its eye. The snake arched in pain and collapsed to the ground. As a precaution, Tested tossed a normal grenade towards its head, blowing it to pieces.

"Overkill much?" Whix joked.

"Hey, that thing almost took my head off." Tested chuckled.

The three laughed. All of a sudden, a white snake with black patterns shot out of the bushes.

"Have, move!" Tested warned.

Have let out a scream as the snake devoured the top half of his body. Whix and Tested turned away from the sight of their brother being ripped in half.

"That's not right!" Whix said in disgust and he turned back and started firing.

They both fired at the snake, but it was moving too fast for them to get a shot in its eye. Quickly they fell back to Don and Vin.

"Don! Vin! We got to go!" Tested called.

"Big snake! Big snake!" Whix piped in.

"Don's trying to figure out how to start the engines!" Vin explained as he took a rifle position to cover the retreat of Tested and Whix. "The ship seems operational, but the soldiers were probably killed before they could have a chance to take off."

Even with the combined firepower of 2 DC-15A rifles and a DP23 shotgun, they couldn't penetrate its scales.

"Guys," Don's voice came up on the commlink. "I got the engines!"

"Fall back!" tested ordered Whix and Vin.

They ran back, Whix pulling up the rear. They heard a rumbling jet. It must've been the dropship. It wasn't the pleasant sound of hope that a Larty made that they were all used to, but it was good enough to give them the thoughts of survival.

Vin got on first, then Tested.

"Don, I saw a gun on the front of this." Tested stated.

"Console is confusing sir," Don shook his head. "I'm lucky to even get the engines online."

Tested saw a button to the left of the console, wait no, a switch. He flicked it and the seal of a hidden button on the joystick opened. There was bright flashing letters on the screen saying 'Weapons online".

"Get us off the ground, now!" Tested commanded. "Whix!" He called out to the brave 501st trooper holding off the beast. "We are leaving!"

Whix looked back at the drop ship slowly lifting and sprinted towards him. Tested and Vin fired at the snake, hot on his heels. It was still gaining on him. When Whix finally got to the dropship, it was already 2 feet off the ground. Whix leaped but something almost dragged him off. Tested and Ving quickly grabbed his arms.

"Gah! My leg!" Whix was screaming. The snake's fangs were deeply implanted in Whix's right leg. Tested quickly drew his DC-15P sidearm and fired at its eyes. The beast arched back in pain, not before giving one hard tug,. It was stunned for the time being. Whix was screaming, louder than he ever has. Tested saw why. His right leg had been ripped off from the thigh down. Don whirled the drop ship towards the snake. Why he did that? Tested found out moments later due to the sound of a gatling gun firing and a hiss of pain.

Tested immediately screamed "Don! We need you!"

Don looked over his seat. He waited until Tested had a firm grip over the controls, then jolted towards his patient.

The ship was actually easy to fly. Tested had received an introductory lesson to flying vehicles back on Kamino should he ever need it in the field. Good thing he did. Slowly, Whix's screaming died down and that's what worried Tested. He didn't want to lose another man.

"Vin, take the joystick." he ordered. Vin came and took his place.

He walked over to an unconscious Whix. Blood was smeared all over the deck. Tested noticed that they shut the side doors. Don had heavily wrapped the wound in bandages drenched in a blue liquid. Bacta.

"One dose of bacta on his bandages, another 2 I injected in his thigh," Don spoke grimly. "I Gave him a sedative for the pain. He'll live."

"Good," Tested let out a sigh of relief. "Get some rest, but watch him."

"Sir, yes sir." his voice was soft.

"Sir, someone is contacting us." Vin said.

"Let me hear it."

The message was from what sounded like a soldier. "Drop ship A-23, response please."

Tested it the receiver. "Uh, this is dropship A-23, over."

"Where have you been A-23, we received a faint distress signal momentarily and we feared the worst."

"Monster attacks slowed down our progress, giant birds in particular."

"Nevermores?"

"Uh, sure."

"Well you can expect much from the creatures of Grimm,"

Grimm, that's what all those monsters were.

"You boys coming back to base?"

"You mind if we take a slight detour? Tested asked.

There was a long pause before the soldier replied with "Just not too off course A-23."

"Roger that, over and out."

Vin flew the dropship over the city walls, they seemed to have defenses set up along it. Tested was glad they weren't firing on them. Still, he wondered how the army of the Grand Republic might hold up against them. They were perfect soldiers. Tested guessed his military.

"So Test," Vin asked. "What is this deter you were talking about?"

"Stick to what seems like the shade part of town."

"Uh... Okay."

The city was beautiful. It had tall white buildings towards its nicer side, the sun giving off the impression that this was heaven. Even the shady side. While it wasn't as nice, it still seemed as clean as the upper levels of Coruscant.

"Vin, see if you can rig the ship to fly in a straight path." Tested said mischievously.

"What are you thinking?"

"We're giving them the slip."

Tested and Don rigged ascension cables to the deck and opened the doors. Don grabbed some webbing and strapped Whix to him. Once Vin set the ship in a straight path, they all quickly rappelled down the lines, landing on a small building. The Dropship kept flying.

"Sir, what are we doing?" Don asked.

"We don't have enough time to collaborate with this world's military; we need to focus on our mission."

"We can't do both?"

"Shadow's team is in danger. Shash disobeyed orders and he's going to kill them if we don't help."

"How do you know this?"

"Just trust me. Get inside the building and set up camp. We might be here awhile."

Tested woke up naturally. Don, Vin and Shadow slept in a hammock of branches in the trees. It almost acted as camouflage from Kill. It was Shadow's idea. It was smart. Hidden from above and below. He must have operated in a forest environment before.

"You three awake?" Shadow spoke with his eyes closed.

"Mhm." Tested was startled when they all replied in unison.

"Pack your things," Shadow ordered. "We can't stay long. It's a lot easier to track during the day."

"I need to empty my bladder." Vin said.

"I told you not to drink all that water." Don sighed.

"Go quickly." Shadow said as he swung down from the hammock.

Vin came down next and unslung his rifle, disappearing into the forest. Tested and Don started packing their things. He tossed Don and Shadow a ration bar for the day. Then he himself started nibbling at the tasteless sugar. Its funny how these were designed. They could give you all the calories needed in a day, leave little, stench less waste product, and they were completely good for your health. The ultimate food that could last you days and still not make it easy for you to track. Tested took out another ration bar for Vin when he returned.

-Vin 3rd Person POV-

Vin found a safe spot. Checking to make sure no Grimm ambush him, he placed his rifle against a tree. Then he removed his helmet and removed the armor plates protecting his crotch. He peeled back the body glove and started rubbing his leg to get the pee going

Rustle.

Vin turned around towards the noise. He saw nothing but trees and bushes. He went back about his business.

Rustle.

Vin turned once again.

"Who's there!" he called out.

There was no response. Went he went back about his business he felt a cool barrel touch the back of his neck.

"Don't turn around." a british voice spoke. "Turn around and you're dead."

Vin stood perfectly still, his pee slowly coming to a halt.

"Disappointing mate." Were the last words he heard.

-Shadow 3rd Person POV-

Shadow heard the shot. He quickly equipped his DC-15S and ran towards the sound. Tested was already there, his shotgun scanning the brush. Don was beside the body of Vin. He was face planted in the dirt with a bloody smoking hole through the back of his head. His crotch plate had been removed and his suit rolled up. Kill had gotten to him while he was peeing.

"This was that Nova, sir." Don announced.

"Shit, Vin..." Tested shook his head.

"He can't be far off," Shadow was focused. "We've got to move."

"Right..." Don stood up in sorrow. "Lead the way sir."

Shadow led them through the bushes. He was focusing on branching out his Aura. He wasn't picking up any Grimm, that was good, nor was he picking up Kill. No wait. What was that? He slowly turned right and ducked down just in time for a blue bolt to fly over his head. He quickly got up and returned fire, his shots melting through the leaves into the unknown. Just for a second, he saw a white spec move. Kill was on the run.

"This way!" Shadow ordered, going the opposite direction.

They ran for about 30 feet before and explosion threw Shadow forwards, sliding into the mud. Thermal. It was one of Kill's traps. Tested and Don were still all right. They were recovering from the blast. Shadow was about to walk towards him until dust projectiles started hitting the floor around them. The drop ship was firing on them. Separates, they ran in different directions. Don was with Tested and Shadow was alone.

Shadow scanned his surroundings once he got clear. Tested, Don or Kill were nowhere in sight, but he still heard the humming of the dropship. How was he going to get Tested? If he screamed his name, he might as well light himself on fire and call out his position for Kill to end him. To reach a more tactical view, he climbed up a tall tree. Other than the green forest, he noticed the drop ship hovering low enough for the tall trees to go higher. Those trees are at a higher altitude than the dropship. He thought. Hmm... Shadow came up with a plan in his head.

-Blake 3rd Person POV-

Blake and Yang were awaiting Designer's instructions on their scrolls. He specifically said not to do anything until he said so. Shadow has been gone for 2 days, and in those two days, the team had found out Shash has been gathering arms and has painted a red bulls eye on Jared's back. Junior's 'message' for Jared was a death note, he probably didn't know anything about. This made sense why he was scared of the messenger than he was Yang. Yang was still unusually quiet. Even though Blake was usually the quiet one, this was way too quiet for Yang. She tried to lighten the mood.

"So," She started. "Where should we start?"

"Wherever Designer wants us to." Yang replied flatly.

"Right," Blake summoned the most cheerful voice she could muster. "Want to guess?"

Yang turned her head to her slowly. "Blake, don't try to be sociable. It doesn't suit you."

"Well, say something. Say something crummy, like, I don't know the sky? Or come up with a terrible pun."

"I thought you liked the silence."

"Yang, the silence is so loud that I'm literally going to rip my ears off. The kitty ones."

Yang's straight face slowly slipped into a giggle. "That would be funny." She replied with a smirk.

"Yang."

"What?"

"Jared's fine."

"That's what we thought last time," Yang clenched her fists. "Look at how wrong we were."

"This time GT and TJ are looking after him. You know those two."

"I know…" Yang paused.

"I sense a 'but' coming up."

"I feel like we are doing exactly what Shash wants."

"What makes you say that?"

"Look. First, he sent your former partner, Adam, after you as a diversion. He slits his throat, and crashes the dropship into Beacon, knowing Shadow would send an SBH to investigate. Of course, Shadow sends Titus, who Shash kills."

"He did lose two of his men-"

"I'm not done." Yang cut her off. "Knowing about Shadow's unstable emotions, he predicts Shadow to fall into a state of depression, isolating himself from others, leaving the perfect opportunity to find him alone to capture. With Shadow captured, he knows that the SBH are vulnerable, leaving an opportunity to kill Jared. And now? Well we are looking for Shadow. It's the obvious thing to do. But how do we know that's what he wants us to do?"

Yang was right. Shadow had told her that Shash was a mastermind in strategy. One move led to another strategic victory. With Shadow in his position, the SBH are still vulnerable.

"Yang, I don't care how smart Shash is," Blake stated. "I think there is one thing he didn't expect."

"And what could that be?"

"Designer."

"Oh Shash knows about him by now."

"But where does Designer go? What does he do? Not even Shadow bothered to even find out."

"Eh, I suppose you're right. But how exactly does that help us?"

Pessimism. That was a new attitude for Yang. Blake's scroll beeped as Designer's message was received. She quickly answered it. Designer appeared on the screen and Blake saw Designer's face for the first time. His helmet had been placed on a table beside him and he stood in front of a black wall. He had the same face as the rest of the SBH troopers, with the exception of Shadow, except his hair was a lighter brown and it had been combed up, surfer style.

"Ready to begin you two?" He said with a smirk.

"Where are you Designer?"

"I'll never tell."

"Let's just get started." Yang moaned.

"Gee, someone's grumpy." Designer muttered to Blake.

"I heard that!" Yang crossed her arms.

"Just had to put me on speaker, did you Blake?" He face palmed.

"Just get started Designer," Blake rolled her eyes. "First task?"

"Alright, fine. I sent Ruby and Yang to check the warehouses near the docks."

"All of them?"

"All of them. Even the ones that weren't on the Intel provided by Machine."

"So what do we do?"

"Investigate your previous investigation."

"What?"

"Go the exact same places you did yesterday."

"Why?"

"Junior's club is a good place to start. One of Shash's Nova was there, and he left a note for Jared. That note is your primary objective. It could have tons of clues to where Detta has been."

"Anything else?"

"Take a look around the place. By your description about what happened at the club, there could be lots more he's hiding. Find anything you can on the Nova. Oh and check out that bomb residue that was used to blow up Yang's bike. We don't know for sure what bomb he used. It could have been a thermal, or it could've easily been a bomb from this world, which I can trace. Search through your encounter through the rooftops and alleyways to get some residue if you have to."

"So, everyone's going to the exact place we went yesterday?" Blake sighed.

"Eh, more or less."

"Well, what will you be doing?"

"Monitoring your progress and checking with MY contacts?"

"You have contacts?" Yang asked in a mockery tone.

Designer crossed his arms and shook his head. "Well what do you think I've been doing for the past few months? Jacking off? Or better yet, getting laid? Wink wink, nudge nudge." He directed the comment at Yang.

Yang scoffed and turned away.

"We're on it Designer." Blake assured.

"It's not my life that's at state here Bumblebee," He gave Blake and Yang a handle. "Good luck."

The call ended.

"So, let's start walking." Blake suggested.

"I ain't walking." Yang said as she brought up a black bike.

"Where did you get that?"

"Rental, so we shouldn't let this get blown up."

"Alright."

Yang placed a normal black helmet on her head and tossed one to Blake.

"Did you pick this?" Blake asked, liking the color.

"Eh, it could use some flames, but it's good enough." Yang replied as she revved the engine.

Blake secured her helmet and they drove away.

-Ruby 3rd Person POV-

Ruby was playing with Shadow's DC-17B sidearm, or at least that's what Designer told them it was. She spun it around in her hands and pointed it at a crate, pretending she was a real SBH trooper. Finally Weiss came around and Ruby quickly put it in a holster.

"Seriously?"

"What?"

"Ruby, we're supposed to be looking for clues."

"I know."

"Then stay focused."

Ruby groaned as they continued with their investigation.

They were told to recheck all the warehouses near the docks. That's usually where dust was transported to be delivered to dust shops. Like yesterday, every warehouse they checked was clean. All of a sudden, Ruby's scroll pinged. When she answered, she saw the face of Designer.

"Icy Rose," he called them by their handle. "Progress report."

"You've got to give us a better code name." Weiss frowned.

"Well I won't call you bratty youngster, so stick with it."

"On topic," Ruby stated clearly for Weiss to hear. "The warehouses we've checked are clear."

"Roger that, over and out."

The line went dead.

"Why don't we get the fun missions?" Rby asked aloud.

"Missions should never be fun."

Ruby pivoted to face her. "Oh come on Weiss. Yang and Blake busted up a club owner, and ran into a Nova. What did we do? Run into Designer."

"Ruby, when are you going to grow up?"

"Stop asking that question!"

Weiss, seeing as she had crossed a line in their friendship, stood down.

"So have you checked on Yang?" Weiss asked, trying to ease the tension.

"No, not yet."

"She's being very quiet."

"Too quiet." Ruby looked down and started kicking her boots around.

"You should talk to her."

"Me resolving Yang's problem?" Ruby chuckled. "It's always me who had the problems when I was younger. Yang was the one who would fix them."

"Well," Weiss placed her hand on Ruby's shoulder. "Maybe it's time for you to return the favor."

-Tested 3rd Person POV-

Tested and Don moved silently through the brush. Their eyes were open for Kill. Tested had read all the files on the Nova before he was sent on the mission. Kill was their hunter. He could track them anywhere. They could only evade them for so long.

"Movement on our left flank." Don whispered.

"Is it him?"

"Uncertain."

"Is it following us?"

"Uncertain."

"Keep your eyes on it. If it's him, better not let him know we've spotted him.

"Roger that."

They moved on a few more meters, and what Tested saw at the corner of his eye saved his life. He whirled right and activated his shield just as the bolt pinged off. Tested and Don opened fire on him. Kill didn't seem to put up a good fight. As soon as shots started getting close, he quickly ran off.

Tested didn't want to take the bait. He led Don forward into a run through the trees; hopefully they would outwit him long enough to reach Shadow.

-Shadow 3rd Person POV-

*Flashback*

Shadow got to see how the forest drill went from the observation deck for the first time. He had a different perspective on the map right now, realizing other safe paths his squad could've taken a year ago. There were even a few rifle positions near the start of each platform that give straight shots at the outpost.

That wasn't entirely what he was focused on at the moment. Jared's squad was up. He hoped that his teachings have struck a nerve in him.

"Eyeballing someone in particular?" Mack nudged him.

"Possibly, sir." Shadow replied, secretly tuning into Jared's squad commlink frequency.

"CT?"

"I have a name for him?"

"And what is it?"

"I'll tell you when I am certain of him."

"Mhm."

Shadow finally tuned in 20 seconds into the exercise. He watched the team with an infrared visor.

"Dre, cover the rear." Kada advised.

"Jared, where are you going?" Hon asked.

"You guys keep going. Tiu, follow me."

"What are you up to?"

"Just keep moving forward. I have a hunch."

"Jared."

"Guys, trust me this time."

After a long pause, they all nodded. Jared led Tiu in a different direction while Kada pushed forward with Dre and Hon.

"Movement on our left."

"Are you sure?"

"I just saw a light go out."

"Jared, we need you two, get back here." Kada ordered.

"Forget them, just keep walking."

"Where are you?"

"If they open fire on you, activate your lights and run."

"They'll see us running."

"I thought you all said you were going to trust me."

"Jared seems pretty unorthodox." Mack nudged Shadow.

"He'll come around." Shadow assured.

A firefight began. Kada's group was under fire. Shadow could tell they refused all temptation to return those shots, but they did as Jared asked. Lights were on and they were running towards the outpost. All of a sudden, the enemy squad ceased firing and Kada's group made it to the outpost. Where was the other squad? A message popped up on one of the data screens in the observation room. It said "Riper squad offline". That was the enemy squad that fired on Kada a moment ago. But what took them out? Jared. You son of a gun.

"Dre, Hon, take a position." Kada motioned them.

"Hon, duck!"" jared was out of sight, but his warning saved Hon from being taken down once more.

Another squad was somewhere in the bushes.

"Stay down boys." Jared whispered on the commlink."

Just after, a tree of to that squads flank released blue bolts onto them. The other squad stood no chance, their backs were completely exposed as Jared and Tiu mowed them down from the tree.

"Second and first squads down Kada." Jared chuckled on the commlink.

Kada just shook his head in amazement.

"We can't circle around to take out the last one. We have to engage them in full fledged combat." Jared warned.

"Copy that." Kada said as he whirled around towards their front. The last squad was emerging from the bushes, opening fire on them. It was hard for Shadow to decide the victor. Clones against Clones usually turned out being no victory. That is, unless you have Jared on you team.

Jared and Tiu emerged from the other side of the outpost, taking out two of them. Jared saw one of the troopers get close to Hon. He took quick aim and fired. This time, the shot missed the trooper, but it did alert Hon to turn and fire three shots at the trooper's torso.

"Nice shot Jared." Hon said sarcastically.

"I uh, meant to do that."

"Sure you did."

"Focus on the battle." Jared scoffed with a smile.

Slowly, but surely, Jared's team took out that remaining enemy troopers.

"I think I've found a good candidate sir." Shadow nudged Mack.

"Hm? Oh, who?"

"Jared."

"Really..." Mack shook his head. "You choose the unorthodox one?"

"He did well in keeping his squad alive sir."

"I don't know."

"Better than I did in the Corellian sector."

Mack stiffened and turned slowly towards Shadow. "So that's what this is about?"

Shadow didn't answer.

"I don't think he has the attitude for the Special Operations Brigade."

"Sir," Shadow switched to a stern tone. "I'm taking him."

Mack, realizing Shadow was challenging his authority, snapped into command mode. "Or what?"

"Or I will leave the Shadow Black Hole division."

"You would give up your future within the Special Operations Brigade?"

"Sir yes sir."

The two stared down for a long time, the other two SBH seemed rather frightened of what would happen to Shadow, but he didn't back down.

"Fine." Mack gave in. "Under the conditions that you are responsible for him."

"Yes sir." Shadow agreed as he began to leave to observation deck to retrieve Jared.

"I assume this means you will be accepting Lieutenant, Shadow?"

"Yes sir." Shadow replied as he turned the corridor.

Shadow made his way through the corridors towards the barracks. He found Jared and his squad being addressed by their drill Sergeant. The Drill Sergeant noticed Shadow and let the troopers change out of their combat armor.

Something you want sir?" the Drill Sergeant snapped a clean salute. Shadow noticed a scar on the bridge of his nose, a scar he would know anywhere, a scar from a fight that took place a year ago.

"CT-3654? Is that you?" Shadow asked.

"Yes, that is my ID sir."

"Brother, it's me, 86!"

"86?" CT-3654's eyes widened in shock. "You're alive?"

"Yeah, where did you think I went?"

"I thought when those SBH troopers took you; they killed you because you never came back to us."

"Nope, they made me a Shadow Trooper. The name's Shadow now."

"The name's Tradeur." He replied and shook Shadow's hand.

"So what happened to you?"

"Combat," Tradeur explained as he bent down and knocked on his two legs with a metallic ping. "Served in the 212th till a landmine took my legs. My only options were a desk job, retirement, maintenance or this."

"And you seem to have fun here."

"You know, its fun to teach."

"A lesson I plan on learning." Shadow agreed.

"So what are you doing here?"

"General Mack. I have a recruit from this squad."

"Copy that." Tradeur walked over to the Cadets, now in their normal attire. "Attention!" he barked and all the cadets formed up. Tradeur nodded to Shadow, motioning that he could pick.

"Jared, step forward."

Jared stepped forward nervously.

"Come with me." Shadow ordered.

As they made their way through the corridors towards the hangar, Jared asked "Am I in trouble sir?"

"Negative. Did General Mack talk to your squad?"

"Yes sir."

"Well you've been selected."

"Really?"

"Mhm."

"Shadow troopers are known for their stealth attacks, you saw the combat exercise didn't you?"

"Mhm."

"And I also heard, that one of the SBH squads in the Corellian sector managed to collect Intel from a Seppie station even though their leaders accidentally screwed up the number of droids that would be there. Somehow the leader managed to get most of his men out."

"Jared."

"Yes sir?"

"Remind me to teach you when to shut up." Shadow sighed, tired of Jared's ranting.

"Sorry sir, but one more question."

"Shoot."

"The leader of that squad in the Corellian sector, do you know him?"

"Yep."

"Are you two close?"

"We're close." Shadow smirked under his helmet.

"How close?"

"Very close."

Shadow snapped out of the flashback as he stealthily climbed one of the tall trees overhanging the dropship. This was their ticket home. Finally, when he reached a good height, he jumped as silently as he could, landing on top. There was no specialized SBH armor to absorb the impact and make his landing quiet, so he landed with a soft thud. The side doors opened. The men had heard him. He quickly ran towards the back and hung onto the ledge. Hopefully they wouldn't see his fingers.

"Nothing here," one of the men spoke. "Probably just a bird."

Shadow peered over the ledge, waiting for the man to go back inside before making his move. Judging by the amount of gas he had in his blaster, he had about 7 shots left on full charge. He would have to use them sparingly. He flicked the charge of the DC-15S to full. He clung onto the door as one of the men closed it. Estimating where the man was, he fired a bolt through the door. There was a grunt and a thud of a falling body. A whole bunch of dust rounds started impacting the doors.

Idiots. Dust doesn't have the melting property that ionized particles do.

Shadow listened for the directions of the shots and fired two more times. Two more bodies dropped. He swung himself inside and planted his feet into a man's face, sending off the dropship falling to his doom. He whirled and shot another man, whacked another, punched another. Finally he emptied his last few rounds into the last man then turned towards the pilot. He was unarmed. Still, Shadow's anger surged through his veins. He grabbed the pilot by the neck and summoned his black fire. The man screamed in agony from the burning but Shadow didn't stop until he stopped moving. To finish him off, Shadow slammed him into the floor, and he disappeared in ash.

Shadow slowly regained his calmness. He sat in the pilot seat and looked at the display. They were tracking Kill, and by the way he was moving on the screen, Kill was tracking Tested. Shadow brought the Dropship into tactical mode and zoomed towards Tested's position.

-Tested and Kill, Collective POV-

WHACK!

Tested had been caught off guard by a crossline. When he recovered, he was greeted by a blaster shoved in his face. He quickly reacted, batting the gun to a safer position. It was Kill. Kill threw a right cross. Tested blocked it and threw a counter. Kill deflected the punch upwards, leaving Tested's torso wide open. Kill took the chance and planted his knee in Tested's gut. Tested blocked the next attack to his gut and pushed Kill away. Kill, being smart, used the momentum of the push, ran three steps up the tree behind him and launched his shin to the side of Tested's head. Stunned from the blow, he toppled back towards a tree.

Don opened fire on Kill. Kill dodged, left, right, down, then launched himself for Don's gut. The attack disarmed him. Still using his advantage, Kill wrapped his arms around Don's waist and brought him up, then slammed him into the dirt. Don was stunned.

Tested finally got up. He equipped his shotgun and fired. He almost tagged Kill at this range as a round skimmed of his right shoulder plate, leaving a discreet burn. Kill reacted quickly and returned fire. Tested's shield popped out of his arm just in time to absorb the bolts. Kill dived into the bushes, quickly followed by Tested. Kill caught Tested by surprise and grabbed the barrel of his gun. He then ripped the weapon out of Tested's hands and kicked him in the side. Tested slid across the dirt for a few seconds and whirled to counter Kill's next attack. As Tested span, he smacked Kill in the face with his shield. Kill stumbled back. Seizing the opportunity, he rammed Kill with the shield, knocking him into a tree. This left enough time for Tested to equip his DC-15P sidearm.

Kill got up. Bloody wanker. He saw the pistol come out of the holster and dove right, blue bolts impacting the spot he was just at a few seconds ago. Kill fired at Tested repeatedly, but they only were absorbed by the shields. The bolts were just pushing him backwards slightly. 'Try this on.' Kill thought as he tossed a metal sphere.

Tested hid behind his shield again, seeing Kill toss something. After it pinged off his shield, he fired again. This time, instead of Kill fighting back, he took cover behind a tree. Weird. Tested found out why he did so when he looked at the metal sphere attached to his shield. It was a Thermal grenade. He didn't have enough time to react and in moments, was flying into a bush. Tested was recovering. He tried to sit up. There was a loud crackling sound on his left arm. He looked and saw his energy shield malfunctioning and going haywire. He quickly unclipped it and tossed it away from himself. He was glad he did. It exploded with a force strong enough to tear him apart. Tested got up and turned towards Kill. Don had come up behind him and had put him in a chokehold using his blaster.

Kill was in a chokehold, a gun running across his neck. He quickly tightened it. He knew what he was doing. He placed his right leg behind Don's right leg, placed his right arm on the left side of Don's face behind him, used his left hand to grab the back of Don's head, then flipped him over his shoulder. As soon as Don hit the ground he quickly took aim with his DC-15S, which Kill swatted the barrel away before he pulled the trigger. Smart lad. He knows how the fight, I'll give him that. Kill quickly grabbed the barrel of Don's weapon before he could do anything else. He placed his right leg on Don's bicep to steady and yanked the weapon free. Don let out a scream of pain as Kill practically broke his index finger. He shoved Kill's leg off his arm and rolled to recover. This time Tested came at him. Kill dodged his sloppy right punch and kick the back of his knee to bring him into a crouched position. Don came at Kill once more. Kill had had enough of him, so he drew his DC-15S and flicked on the Tibanna setting, squeezing the trigger..

Blam!

Kill's shot went straight through Don's throat. He grasped it and let out a few unaudible gasps before dropping to his knees and toppling over. Kill quickly turned around, kicking the back of Tested's other knee before he could get up. He wrapped his right arm around Tested's neck and grabbed his left forearm, and placed his left hand behind Tested's head.

"Don't struggle mate," Kill said as his grip tightened. "It's over."

Kill was right and Tested knew it. His grip was 100% secured with no way out. Although he had one chance. With his vision bloodshot, he reached for his vibroblade. As soon as he unsheathed it, Kill quickly placed his right leg over Tested's right arm and locked it as he fell to his back, dragging Tested with him. Now Tested was really stuck. He tried reaching for his DC-15P but the blaster was out of its socket. He must have dropped it. He gave up. There was nothing to do, nothing he could do. He slowly stopped restraining as the world began to fade to black. All of a sudden, Kill released him. Tested quickly rolled over and grasped his neck to recover. He felt really light headed and could barely move. He managed to find the strength to look up at Kill, fleeing into the forest, automatic dust projectiles following him. He listened and heard the deep rumble of the dropship. Why did it fire at Kill? Wait, dropship! Tested whirled as he stood up, grabbing Don's fallen DC-15S blaster and aiming it. He quickly lowered his aim when the side doors opened with a familiar face of Shadow. Tested quickly clipped the gun to his belt and slung his fallen shotgun. He leaped onto the platform and Shadow quickly punched the engines, zooming away from the forest.

-Kill 3rd Person POV-

Blasted fools. Those idiots managed to lose the drop ship.

Kill was taking cover behind a large tree when he heard the rumble of the dropship fade away. His prey, caught in his grasp, and his hired hitmen just had to ruin it. He was not done. He contacted his Atlas HQ.

"Get me some support here!" He barked into the mic. "3 Dropships pick me up at my beacon."

-Frogy here. Thank you all for sticking with us. This chapter took forever for us to write and some of the stuff didn't make it. Anyways. We will be revising chapters 1-5 and doing 22 then we will take a week break. Thank you all once again.

"Shadow out"