Sup vod, Blaze here with another chapter about our favorite Arc. Im going to try to do two chapters a week, one on Monday and the other in Friday, so please bear with me. The war is pretty much coming to a close on Cerea but its some last minutes things to happen. Hope you guys enjoy the chapter so here we go!
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN STAR WARS.
The war effort was progressing well on Cerea. They were closing in on a month and most of the separatist forces had been wiped out.
Only pickets remained that were being taken care of by the planetary militia. They'll be off this world and onto the next in a few rotations. This excited Cresh but what excited him most was the progress with his brothers of the 222nd.
Ever since he named Tracyn and gave the legion their own moniker, more and more of his brothers were starting to express themselves. Formation of individual habits. Development of names. It was beautiful.
They were starting to finally see themselves as individuals and not as a single entity with no emotion. No soul.
He even got a chance to get to know the Jedi general and her padawan more. Siysa was kind. Much like that of the late General Leska. She cared for her troops.
His brothers. They shared stories. His of his time on Kamino and hers of her own upbringing at the Jedi Temple.
She spoke much of her master. Rhodian apparently. He died on Geonosis right after she was fully knighted. Not long after that she was given her own padawan to train.
She told him of how he was originally shy and timid but overtime how he began to open up more to her and the others.
Honestly he liked the little Nagai squirt. Considered the ad his brother as well. The boy was talkative.
Always speaking to him about something. Asking him about the Mandalorian language alongside his brothers. Still he wasn't gonna neglect him just because he wasn't a clone.
He taught him just like everyone else. Haru and the others bonded well over these lessons. Joking and playing with each other during their free time when they weren't in combat. Even Tracyn started joining in. He was starting to become more free spirited.
This made him happy. He was certain the general was happy about it as well. He would sometimes catch her watching them during their lessons, a smile on her face. Currently she was with Tracyn and the other Jedi general assigned to the planet: Ki-Adi-Mundi.
They were speaking with the planet's governor about plans for what would happen once the Seperatist had been fully routed from the planet. Cresh watched them from afar listening in on the conversation. Currently Mundi and Karr were in conversation with the governor.
Tracyn was playing ball with a few cerean children. He seemed happy. Laughing, kicking the ball back and forth with them. The lad deserved it. They all did.
Happiness.
Something to take their mind off the war at times. The ball ended up rolling over to him. The kids waved at him. They wanted him to roll it back. He picked it up and rolled it back to them.
Tracyn gave him a nod and went back to playing . Soon enough, the children's parents came beckoning them over. It was time to leave. He saw one of them, a small boy stop for a few seconds as he ran off to his parents and ran back to Tracyn.
He hugged him then presented him with a small plush toy.T racyn smiled, taking the toy into his hand and holding it to his then placed his hand on the boy's head and ruffled his hair before sending him off. He stared down at the toy for a moment before putting it inside the pouch on his utility belt and patting not gently.
Looks like he made a friend.
The civilians were returning to the shelter that served as their home alongside the Governor. Seems this was all coming to a close. Cresh got up from his spot and approached his brother, watching as the children ran into the building with their families.
"Seems like you made friends with the civilians eh Ner vod?" Teased Cresh.
Tracyn smiled and nodded.
"Yea. They were all sweet kids. Before he left he asked me if I would come back to play with him again. When the war was over. Gave me his toy as a keepsake.
Had me promi-
Tracyn's sentence was cut off by a large explosion. It came from the direction of the shelter. The two looked at each other and sprinted towards the they found caused their hearts to skip a beat.
The shelter had been bombed, reduced to naught but rubble and flame.C lones were desperately trying to fight the flames and search for survivors. Tracyn ran towards the rumble and began digging frantically. He stopped upon finding a small hand buried beneath the rubble.
He began to toss aside the rubble, lifting a limp body out the debris and holding it close to him.
"Come on Kid! Please be alive! Please say something! Please! Kid-" Tracyn stopped as he placed an ear to the boy's chest.
He then checked his pulse.
Nothing.
The boy was dead. Tracyn just held him in his arms, silently, staring at his as easily that one could find temporary peace and happiness, it could also be snatched away just as fast.
Cresh walked up to him, placing a hand on his brother's shoulder and squeezing tightly. It was then another clone ran up to them, armor dirtied and dented. He probably was close by when the building exploded.
He recognized him as Kickback. One of the newly named ones.
"Sirs! We think we got the trail of the ones who bombed the shelter. We're in pursuit now. This way!" Kickback yelled, running off.
Cresh looked down at Tracyn, who had still yet to move from his position. He squeezed his shoulder once more. He would attend to him once he caught the bastards who did this.
He chased after Kickback. As they closed in, he heard the sound of heavy blaster fire. A massive surge of red bolts were shooting towards his brothers who were held up behind the makeshift cover of a ruined building.
He saw a few white armored bodies laid out, death wounds still smoking. Two of his brothers peeked out from behind cover when the firing stopped and ran out. Mere seconds after they came out, the firing continued and the two were bombarded with red hot plasma.
Their death cries rang out. Gritting his teeth, Cresh ran to a different position.
He climbed into the rubble of a building and got into a position. He leveled his rifle, looking through the scope, and switched to the single semi automatic firing mode. He traced the direction the shots were coming from.
Eventually, he found two silhouettes: the head of one, seemingly the gunner, and his comrade. Taking in a short breath, Cresh let loose a single round. It pierced through the gunner's skull, dropping him instantly.
The other, seeing his comrade fall, instantly took off, dropping all his gear. Cresh aimed at this one's midsection and fired, burning a hole straight through his stomach. Non lethal.
The figure went from a sprint to a hobble. The one thing he liked about this weapon he swiped off that dead nimbus commando was the damage it did to flesh and organs. He was glad he kept it on him.
He purposely injured that one. He would be too hurt to move fast enough to get with the others. The pain would slow him down. He would stop at one point either to off himself or go and hide until he could figure out a plan.
Either way. He wasn't getting away from him. He and the others regrouped and came up on the corpse of the figure that Cresh shot.
The Jedi were with them. They looked it over. He knew the species. Gossam.
The way he was geared up and dressed. Special forces. Commando.
Spec Ops hired by the Separatist to wreak some last minute havoc before they fully left the planet. The Jedi looked over the corpse, concern on the face of Siysa while Mundi seemed enraged though he tried his best to hide it.
"We must find the rest of them now. We must make them face up to what they did." Said Siysa Karr.
Mundi still remained in silence. It took him a few moments but he eventually calmed down and nodded.
"Yes..but how? They were obviously special forces trained for espionage and exfiltration. Trained specifically to get past us." Said Mundi
Cresh stepped forward, resting his rifle on his shoulders.
"Don't you worry about that Al'verde. When it comes down to fighting and hunting down organic special ops..The Jabiim 9 are your guys for the job. We have plenty of experience."
New Mando'a Terms:
Ad- lad/lass/kid
Well that's that. Hoped you guys liked the chapter. I know in the old EU comic that had this battle, it was never really elaborated on how the governor died, so I decided to put my own twist on it. More so to help with the development of Tracyn. Next chapter we get to see Cresh and the Jabiim 9 hunt down the wounded commando so stay tuned for next week's chapter. Peace!