A.N. ~ I am so, soooo sorry for the wait! I swear I've gotten past the tech problems! Ugh, I really don't like computer updates. They almost always screw things up.
Anyhow, it's been seven chapters, so I would like to remind you lot that I do not own Star Wars, only my ONs. So, with that out of the way, please enjoy Chapter Twenty-one!
P.S. ~ I'm forfeiting the squiggly symbols I've usually been using for the line thingy. Now you know.
"Tell us another one!" The female youngling demanded.
"An exciting and funny one, please." Another added.
Polite Trandoshans. Who knew? Twitch mused.
They're different from the rest of their species. Accept it, Tail ordered.
"Um..." Twitch racked her brain for something to fit what the children had asked for. War was nearly always adrenaline-inducing and rarely funny.
The most excitement she and her brothers got were usually battles, hardly youngling-friendly material, and the funniest she had to offer didn't set much of a good example for the more impressionable children.
The notion of asking Tail for help barely entered the teenager's mind before said man thought.
Oh, no. Don't look at me. I've got nothing, he warned.
"Perhaps something more compliant with your history would help?" An adult suggested.
"Okay, just an exciting one, then." The girl persisted.
"Those I have aplenty." Bew!
A child that was the size of a human nine year old fell over with a scream.
"Back to the village!" Twitch instantly ordered. "I'll cover you." She jumped up and took cover behind the dirt mound of the second trench, drawing her guns and beginning to fire on the incoming B1s and SBDs.
Twitch! What's going on down there? Tail demanded.
Get the others. The droids are back, and you have a wounded child coming your way, she replied, blocking a bolt.
"It's the girl who came with the clones! Blast her!" A B1 marked with yellow paint shouted. Twitch made a point of shooting that one in particular.
"Come on! You're going to let a kid stand in your way?" The teenager shouted.
"Is she taunting us?" A droid muttered.
"I think so." Another answered.
Twitch backed up before jumping onto the pile of dirt rimming the third trench, then kneeling behind its slope after taking a few more paces backwards.
Come on, bucket heads, how am I supposed to blow you up when you're over there? She inwardly growled.
Twitch, Streak and Hazard are on their way, Tail alerted. The slight concept of his hands moving to help the injured child explaining to his sister why he wasn't coming.
I'll take Streak, but Hazard should be ready for any air support the Seps called for, she decided.
I'll let him know.
Twitch began backing up, drawing the droids farther into her trap. Once they reached the first trench, she pulled out a remote detonator, flipped it like a coin, and waved it so the droids could see.
"Oh—" Blam! The explosion cut off the commanding droid. The sergeant was running up the trail, getting clear of any high-velocity debris.
"And that's how you ambush someone in plain view." She muttered, arms pumping, two swings per breath.
"Twitch, your brilliant plan just gave the droids cover." Streak growled over the comm. The girl scanned the precipice of the village and spotted her squad mate.
"From your position, I did. Move, genius. I'll be there to provide cover in a few seconds." By 'provide cover', she meant 'become cover', and started blocking the bolts directed at herself or her brother, protecting him from enemy fire whilst he shot.
There were only three SBDs and two B1s left, and they all went down quickly, but air support arrived. STAPs and a pair of vulture droids, which landed in the middle of the town and opened fire.
"Kriff. Streak, let's go." Twitch activated her comm as she ran, going to Hazard's channel. "Hazard, I'd like that sky a little less crowded."
"Already on it." Several STAPs opened fire on the two.
Crap, crap, crap, crap, the youngling mentally chanted, dodging the bolts while the faint order in the back of her mind drove her to get behind Streak and make sure he didn't get hit.
"We need some cover fire, Hazard." Streak panted through his helmet's comm.
"I'm kind of busy not being shot by the vultures, vod. You'll have to deal with it yourself."
"Wait, didn't we train the lizards to fight? Where's our backup?" Twitch snapped.
Arming themselves and steeling their nerves. They'll be with you soon, Tail explained.
They better. We won't last long like this.
We can't afford another battle like that. Either we find the droids' camp, or they finish us, Twitch decided.
Yeah. This was a lot worse than the average Seppie scare tactic. They're trying to destroy the village, Tail murmured. He was still working on the little Trandoshan that had been shot, and his brothers and sister were busy with bacta patches and bacta-filled containers, healing what injuries they could with their limited medical knowledge.
They were in the town hall; the only building large enough to hold all of the wounded with enough room for medics to work.
"I thought you soldiers were supposed to protect us." An elderly female hissed.
"We are, but we won't be here forever. You need to learn how to defend yourselves, and anybody able to fight needs to be ready to in a moment's notice. This battle proved that." Twitch muttered as she smeared bacta on a burn the elder had sustained.
"Does that mean you'll be leaving soon?" A youngling, also burned from fire control, asked.
"We aren't leaving until those clankers are scrap metal and you lot are able to stand your ground." Hazard promised.
"Excuse me, but is my daughter going to be alright?" A heavily pregnant local stumped over to Tail, placing a gentle hand on the child's forehead.
"Yes. She's going to have to take it slow for a few days, but she should recover completely." The scout assured, placing a bacta patch over the wound. "She needs to be kept lying down for twenty four hours. Try to keep her still."
On the other side of the room, Streak was tending to a long lineup of minor injuries, from small burns to large cuts to wrenched or dislocated limbs.
"This is a hopeless fight. What chance do we have against the droids?" A young male, just out of youngling-hood, asked.
"A much larger one than you're thinking. If you keep up that attitude and it spreads, though, no chance at all." The commando rebuked, narrowed eyes displaying a fighting spirit that had all but vanished from many of Sharakk's occupants.
Back where Tail was, more unhappy conversation was popping up. Eventually, he got tired of hearing the doom and gloom talk. Twitch, sensing his intentions, started paying less attention to the bacta she was handling and more to the words around her.
"That's enough." The older clone growled, sharpening his tone so it could cut through the rising web of despair. "I don't want to hear any more of that talk, got it? The village will not be destroyed, you're not all going to die, and we aren't going to run, because the droids would have little trouble finding you again."
"Then what do you suggest we do? By the time you get us in fighting shape, the droids will have killed us all." One of the fighters who'd been shot spoke out, sitting up with the assistance of his friend.
"If that's what you really think, then you best just lie down and let the droids kill you." Twitch murmured, not looking up from her work. Silence met the foreboding words, accompanied by stares.
"She's right. There've been a lot of situations in the past six years where the will to survive was the only thing that got people through." Tail sighed, beginning to thread a massive gash closed after cleaning it on someone's leg.
"It's not always easy. Rarely is during wartime. Things always get worse before they get better. Things might haunt you for years after the bad things are gone." The kid soldier picked up, using a tag-team method of explaining with her brother. A very much good cop, bad cop approach to forcing reality on the discouraged militia.
"But if you just give up, you're not going to make it. Fight or flight is usually only a method to postpone battles."
"Sometimes you don't get to pick your battles, but you do get to choose how to deal with them." Twitch bandaged a cut, still not looking at anything besides the next injury, like she couldn't care less about their current situation.
"You can either curl up and give in, push back the enemy, or die trying." Tail swatted the curious hand of a patient as she reached for his med kit.
"Preferably the second one, though." Twitch smirked, her grim amusement at the life of a soldier barely tangible.
Think we scared them enough? Tail checked.
I thought we were boosting morale, she retorted.
These guys aren't clones. To get us fighting, you only need a few unkind words and the promise of a battle. These people are just...
Frightened, unsure, discouraged. Any ideas on how to cheer up civilians?
No. They seem to think that this is a doomed fight.
"Excuse me." The inquisitive girl Twitch had noticed during the trench-digging approached her and Tail. "The adults have been talking. A lot of people have. They're all wondering if you'll tell them about your experiences after all the wounded have been tended to." The two soldiers glanced at each other, locking eyes before slightly nodding.
"Alright, where do they want us to speak?" Twitch murmured. In response, the child's right index finger angled at a corner near the lit hearth, away from where most injured would be sleeping.
Before another word could be said, the youngling scampered off.
Hmm... Tail knew that tone. It meant Twitch was thinking up some plan that was not standard issue.
What're you thinking? He asked.
These people value stories. They seem to be their replacement for fighting. How dirty a look do you suppose you'd give me if I told them about Vhalan? The first emotion she sensed from her brother was alarm, followed by pain, then undecidedness.
Care to give me an idea of what you'd say?
Of course.
A.N. ~ There. Next chapter, you guys finally get to read in detail about what exactly happened to Pyro Squad. I hope you enjoyed this one, despite how short it is. Have a nice day/night!