A/N: I'm back! Chapter 52 picks up the action with our missing commandos, "K Squad." Since it's been a few weeks, here is a quick refresher course. Dalso leads the squad. Cort is second in command, and tech expert. Jarg is the weapons' specialist and Esok handles ordinance (demolitions.)

More Than Just a Clone

Chapter 52

Cort gazed down the tunnel worriedly. Esok had been gone too long. The fekkin' Dug guards had grabbed him and several others to work deeper in the tunnels. Cort, Jarg and Dalso had immediately tried to follow but the Dugs had shoved those fekkin' electric staffs at them and told them they only needed one.

He scratched irritably at the dull grey coveralls provided by Quorrom Corp. The clothing was filthy, and covered with a thick layer of grey dust, so you couldn't tell anymore where the workers began and the mine walls ended. If there was a cave-in, you'd never be able to find the workers. Maybe that was the idea.

He hated this place. His hands itched to snap the guards' necks everytime they ordered him around. But, they had yet to receive their first paycheck. He didn't trust the Dugs. But, they were here now, and it wasn't like they could go back to the Empire. Where could they go? Their armor and weapons were hidden back at the miserable room provided to them by Quorrom. They'd rigged the place to try to make it more secure. But, they were all nervous about leaving their kit behind in that shabby miserable hovel. Their weapons and gear were all they had left, other than each other.

Everything about this planet was wrong.

He'd blame Slate, except the commander was dead. The ship had been in an uproar after those Mandos murdered Gamma squad along with the commander. They'd held a memorial for Slate and the others killed, and K-Squad had attended along with most everyone else on the ship. Even thinking about it now caused a churning in Cort's gut. The Mando scum had busted in, freed a Jedi, for no doubt some huge bounty, taken the commander hostage, and then ejected him into space when they didn't need him anymore. Sucking vaccuum was a painful way to die. Cort hissed out an angry breath, angry about the Mandos, this planet, and this fekkin' mine.

"Focus, C," Dalso soothed softly as he chiseled out a long vein using a fusion cutter.

"I'm trying," Cort said, "but this place is sucking the life out of me." He slid a collection plan and neatly scooped up all the chips the squad leader chiseled out. He walked over and dumped them into a nearby R-9 service droid.

"We've been here less than a week," Dalso said, studying another vein for a moment, before delving in and making another long cut.

Cort readied the pan again. "I thought killing tinnies was bad, but this place..." He shook his head, and a fine layer of dust flew out of it. "We need to figure out an extract plan." He glanced back toward the guards.

Dalso didn't pause in his work, the laser cutter making quick work of removing raw Carsunuum from the wall, but he considered Cort's words carefully. Almost all the workers in the mine looked half-dead already and many licked bits of Carsunuum dust of the back of their hands just so they could keep working. They were half-high and half-dead all at the same time. Esok had seen someone snuff in too much and convulse on the spot. Quorrom didn't bother taking care of their workers. They simply hired more when the workers they had died in the mines.

Yesterday, Jarg inhaled a full lungful of the stuff when the vein he was working on crumpled in his hands. Esok, as squad medic, rushed in to his assist, pulling out the mini medkit stuffed under his tunic. But, the guards rushed forward with their electrostaffs yelling for him to get back to work. Jarg started convulsing. Dalso stepped forward to block the guards, and told Esok to take care of Jarg. The nearest guard jabbed Dalso in the back with his staff. Not only did the stun bolts flatten the squad leader, the blow itself was hard and painful. Cort rushed in and dragged Dalso out of the way, while Esok yanked Jarg back to his feet. "We're headed back to work!" Cort shouted. "Now!" The guards stared after them a moment to ensure they indeed headed back to their work areas, even though Dalso and Jarg were hardly moving. Dalso recovered quickly, but Jarg was sick the rest of the day and spent most of the night puking. They all stayed up with their brother while the remains of the drug ravaged his system. Jarg was better this morning, but still not strong. They'd randomly grabbed him today to put him on a workteam to go lower in the mines, but Esok jumped in to take his place. And, hadn't been seen since. Jarg was doing better now, getting stronger by the hour, but now they were missing Esok.

The entire cave gave an ominous rumble.

Cort eyed Dalso and then looked up at the roof of the cave. He wondered again about the stability of the place. He glanced down at the darkened passage where they'd taken Esok.

If there was a cave-in, how would they retrieve their brother?

Cort set down his collection pan in frustration. "I'm going after Esok. He's been gone too long."

He looked toward Dalso for confirmation. The squad leader put up a hand, signaling patience. Cort exhaled in frustration. If they didn't get out of here, and soon, this place was going to kill them. He was sure of it.

A guard several hundred meters down the cave eyed them.

"Esok, report," Dalso murmured quietly, using the tiny comm device hidden beneath his ear. The Dugs prohibited workers bringing in their own comlinks. They prohibited most everything except slaving away for them in their filthy mines. He waited patiently, but there was only static on the other end. He looked at his tech specialist. "Anything you can do to boost the signal?"

Cort nodded. "Follow my lead." He set down the collection pan and picked up a heavy bladed digging tool. He immediately dropped it. "The handle is coming off on this thing," he griped, loudly enough to be heard in the immediate area. He gestured to Dalso. "Help me tighten this thing or we won't make quota." His vod stopped working, and crowded in close, making a show of fiddling with the handle on the tool. One of the Dug guards glanced over and then looked away again, disinterested. Cort pulled a multi-blade tool from a pouch under his tunic, one of the many things they had slipped past the Dugs. Dalso handed over his comm device. "I've adjusted the signal," he murmured directly into the comm. "Hopefully, we're reaching Esok now. Unfortunately, the Dugs in the main office will likely get a slight ping that someone in the mines is using their comm. There will likely be a long lecture on the topic before we all head down tomorrow morning."

There was a short burst of static on the other end and then a new voice entered the conversation. "If things continue like they are, we won't have a morning lecture from our dear Dugs."

"Esok," Dalso said, the relief in his voice palpable.

"I'm here, and alright, for the moment."

"Report."

"I'm in the lowest level of the mine. They're going after a particularly deep vein of Carsunuum and brought in heavy machinery to do it. I'd suggest you start heading toward the surface. Now."

"Explain."

"They didn't shore things up properly before going after the vein. I've tried telling them they're making the place structurally unstable, but you can't tell a Dug anything. This place is going to come down, vode. Get your shebs out of here."

Cort shot Dalso a look of panic.

"We are not leaving you behind. Start making your way up here. Once you've joined us, we'll all make our way up together."

"Negative, Sarge. I'm stuck down here. They're not letting anyone up until the vein is mined. Get yourselves out."

"Give him permission to take out the guards," Cort urged.

"The moment he does, we have to be prepared to take out the guards here," Jarg pointed out, "and every other guard we encounter in this place. And, all the ones in between us and Esok. And, they could lock the mine down from the top. We weren't planning on getting into a firefight with the guards today."

"Esok, how many guards are you facing down there?" Dalso asked warily.

"They brought down over 100 workers, so I've counted 25 guards. Most with stun staffs, but some with lo-i flamethrowers."

Jarg groaned. They were not good odds, even for a trained commando. If Esok was in his full kit, it wouldn't even be a challenge. But, he was in his civvie clothing, with only a vbroblade and a multi-tool. If the other workers didn't get in his way, he could probably take out a dozen of them, easily, but the flamethrowers would be an issue.

"This is a problem," Dalso admitted quietly, using one of his trademark expressions. It didn't mean it was unsolvable. It just meant he was still thinking it through and hadn't come up with an answer yet. "Stand by. We're going to figure out a way to get you out."

"Sarge, at your three o'clock," Cort nudged Dalso, as two fully kitted out Mandalorians walked up to the guards as if they owned the place.

The guards stared at them and then walked over to confront the armored strangers. The Mandos stood in front of the guards in a non-confrontational manner, displaying a datapad. The guards looked back and forth at each other in confusion, before finally nodding and granted the Mandos permission to pass. The Mandalorians nodded and continued on. They walked closer directly toward Cort, Dalso and Esok.

"Mandos," Cort practically spat the word out.

Dalso continued to work, but his eyes were trained on the newcomers. "Something isn't right here. How the fek did they get permission to come down here?"

"There is something familiar in the way those Mandos walk," Jarg pointed out.

"One of them is walking with a limp," Cort said, "like he took a shot from a blaster, what of it?"

"Look past that," Jarg said, "ignore the limp. What else do you see?"

The two senior members of the command team focused, trying to see what Jarg was seeing. "What are you seeing, Jarg? I see Mandos."

"I say we take them out," Cort hissed. "A group of them took out the commander and Gamma squad. We take their weapons. You can bet they're armed, too. We take them out, we could go down and get Esok."

"I'm sure they're armed. They're Mandos. One blast from those weapons and we're all dead," Dalso said.

"Those mines below us collapse, and we're dead anyway," Cort hissed.

"There's something familiar about them," Jarg insisted. He slid his goggles up on his head. His face was dirty, and his hair, always rebelliously longer than a standard clone cut, curled and tangled up around the goggles.

"Whatever we're going to do, we need to do it now," Cort said urgently.

The Mandos drew closer, walking along the path which cut behind the commandos.

"Now!" Dalso ordered, and the three commandos sprang as one, tackling the heavily armored Mandalorians.

Jarg tackled the one with the limp, while Dalso and Cort took on the other one together. They all went down in a jumble of limbs, expertly fighting in a sharp tangle of limbs. The Mandos fought back hard, struggling against the sudden onslaught.

"The guards are coming," Dalso hissed. Cort had the injured mercenary in a headlock, "We have to kill them, and quickly!"

# # #

A/N: Hello! So, I'm back after NanoWrimo. There is a great deal written on this story, and all of my stories. I've been writing so much that I haven't actually been posting. That is not necessarily a bad thing. It means I have a great backlog of material to post in the future. I've been on a creative tear lately with writing. NanoWrimo was very inspiring. I met my 50,000 word goal and then kept writing... and writing... and writing...