The last rumbles of atmospheric descent dissipated as the shuttle entered the troposphere. Inside the cockpit, Gam slowly pulled on the control yoke, slowing the shuttle's rapid descent. Next to him, Sieg twisted the knob on the communication console, cycling through various radio frequencies. Hanging up the headset, he shook his head in frustration. "There's nothing on the radio. Just static and white noise." Sieg huffed as he plopped down on the seat next to Gam. The Duros shot him a questioning look, "Did you recalibrate it?"
"Of course I did. Either something is jamming our comms or there are no radio towers nearby," Sieg snapped. Ignoring his outburst, the blue-skinned Duros surveyed the ground below as he tried to find a nearby town. He caught glimpses of devastated villages, but they weren't significant enough for him to stop. Finally, Gam saw one that was worth investigating. Like the other villages, most of the houses were crushed into rubble and debris. Rusting skeletons laid strewn across the road and top of buildings. The remains of slug round shells glittered like diamonds in under the sun.
What made it different from the others was the barricades surrounding the church, or the building Gam assumed was the church. At the top of the tiled nave roof was a wooden cross. Stained glass windows depicting various religious figures were boarded up by thick metal sheets and wooden boards. Unlike the other buildings, it suffered little damage and survived.
"We're here, people. Lock and load!" The sound of shuffling feet and mechanical clicks filled the air as the squads lined up. Juse flicked the safety switch off and took a deep breath. When he asked about how he would be trained, Sieg muttered aloud that it would be a mix of experience and instruction. "If you're ever confused, just follow our actions," he said. A loud chime signaled the squads that the ramp was opening up. The moment the ramp touched the ground, the squads rushed out to secure the area. Sweeping their blasters in a wide arc, they dispersed and formed a half-moon circle. Sieg was the last person to step off the ramp and grimaced at the blocked entrance. Lifting his hands, he pushed aside the blockade of debris with the Force. Walking toward the door, he pulled the door handle. "Locked from the inside," he grunted and stared at the door. For a moment, he considered blowing apart the door with a Force push, but he decided not to.
"Lunnic, Juse, run to the back and see if there's another way in. Relan, help Squad Ibex with their search of the houses. Turk, contact the Steadfast and inform them of our findings. Ina, you're on standby if someone gets hurt or we need help." His orders given, his squad members left to carry out their orders. Lunnic and Juse circled to the back, where wilted flowers and dried grass greeted them.
"It's locked over here," Juse said as he pulled on the door handle. The sniper grunted as she looked around. Raising her TL-50 heavy repeater, she descended down a brick staircase and shouted to Juse. He pulled on the door handle and sighed. "It's locked. We have to -" his eyes widened as he saw Lunnic's finger hover over the blaster's trigger. "Duck, kid," she said and he dropped to the floor. Pulling the trigger, a red bolt of energy collided into the door handle, and the handle sparked as it melted. She pulled at the small hole and the door swung open. "Sieg, we have a way in. Permission to search the church?" Lunnic called through the comlink.
"Granted. Ina and I will be right behind you guys."
Grabbing Juse's forearm, she pulled him to his feet and nudged her head at the open door. Flicking on their flashlights, beams of light slashed through the dust-filled air. Wooden bookcases lined the walls with tables scattered across the room. A chandelier attached to a steel chain hung above the tables, swinging softly from the dry breeze entering the room.
Opening the next door, they found themselves a short corridor that led to the main interior o the church. Oak pews gathered dust as sunlight streamed through the stained glass windows. Behind the altar was the marble statue of a woman wearing a crown and a simple robe. Her right hand held a sword that pointed at the pews, while her left hand carried a flag.
"Well, that's one hell of a statue," Sieg remarked as he examined it. He snapped a picture of the flag with his datapad and noticed a stack of papers tied together by a black ribbon. As he stashed them into his knapsack, there was a loud screech. Their boots thundered on the carpeted floor as Juse, Lunnic, and Sieg rushed over to Ina's location. Turning at a corner, Juse was the first person to smell the sickening odor of rotten eggs. Standing away from the door, he saw the Arkanian nurse pinching her nose.
Tying a handkerchief around his mouth, he spoke to Ina, "What happened?" Dashing away from the door, she pointed at the room inside and left to find fresh air. Inside the darkened room, he could see the silhouettes of rotting corpses on the floor. Most of them were wearing their Sunday's best: the men wore either single or double-breasted black business suits, the women with colorful floral dresses. The priests and nuns were stabbed in the stomach, their starch white robes dyed crimson red. The others had a deep cut near their throat.
Carefully stepping past the bodies, Sieg paused in front of a table, where a priest wearing a faded purple robe sat. Spying a small notebook in the priest's closed fist, he pried it out his fist. Once he closed the door, Lunnic pulled out her vibroknife and began carving a skull on the door. Beneath the skull, she carved the words, "mass suicide" to warn anyone who entered the abandoned church.
Returning to the pews, Sieg pulled out the stack of papers he retrieved from the altar and quickly examined them. He couldn't read it, but he was able to discern a few things. At the upper right-hand corner, the writer had scribbled the date, letting him know it was the year 367. As he shuffled through the papers, a knock on the pew interrupted him. Looking up, he saw Ina holding a stack of children's books in her arms. "Gam wants a meeting right now, sir," she said.
"Then, let's meet him," he said. When the squad arrived at the shuttle, Sieg immediately noticed that someone had dragged over two metal carcasses. Both of them had an insect-like body but differed in color. One of them had a silver-grey palette while the other had tan colors. Two members of Squad Ibex were using plasma torches to cut through its metal shell. Relan was examining the tan-colored wreckage while Turk sat on the ramp, flipping through the pages of a book.
"Mind explaining why you dragged them here, Gam?" Sieg asked. The Duros was sitting next to the carcasses as he smoked a cigarette. Exhaling the smoke, he drawled aloud, "Because they are important to our investigation, Sieg. Tell him what you found, Relan."
Motioning his squad leader to follow him, Relan began his analysis, "We found these two wreckages nearby and brought them here to examine. It appears they are some kind of mechanical weapon," Popping open the cockpit of the tan-colored mech, the skeletal remains of its pilot wearing a leather flight jacket and dark green cargo pants were seen by everyone. "The pilot here is known by his code name, which is called Hammer. Besides his dog tag and his insignia of a hammer, we don't know where he's from."
The Besalisk pointed at the silver-grey mech next to the deceased Hammer's mech. "This one is an unmanned mech of unknown origin. Right now, we have two possibilities: a). it is an unmanned drone piloted remotely or b.) it is a battle droid."
There was a loud pop as the two Ibex squad members lifted the metal shell around its torso. It didn't look interesting to the others as they saw nothing but gears and other machinery inside. Surrounded by gears and connected by translucent fiber optic cables was a gunmetal oval container. Ripping the cables away, Relan grunted as he pulled the container out and onto the ground. A second later, it was pried open with a crowbar and its content was revealed.
"I guess option A is out of the window," Ina murmured as a translucent model of a human brain glistened under the evening sun's light. Vibrant crystalline veins of green and red stretched across and intersected with one another, creating a tangled mess of crisscrossed lines. Dipping his finger into the grey viscous liquid surrounding the translucent brain, Juse frowned in disgust as he tried to wipe it on the ground.
There was a 'thud' as Turk closed the book he was reading. "I have gained substantial information that must be shared immediately." Picking up a stick nearby, he began drawing on the ground.
"Currently, we are in the town of Louhan, which belongs to the Republic of San Magnolia. It was attacked by an army of battle droids called the Legion. Created by the former Giadian Empire, the Legion continued its directive to wage war against everyone," Turk said as he stabbed a miniature flag of the Republic into the ground. "In order to protect themselves, the San Magnolians retreated to their capital and constructed their own unmanned battle droid, the Juggernaut. Despite their claims of being an unmanned drone, it is clearly piloted by a human."
Everyone's eyes lingered on Hammer's wreckage as Turk continued, "The Legion is a well-organized army, with each drone made for a specific purpose. For example, the butterfly-sized Eintagsfliege is an electronic-jamming Legion type. By interfering with radio frequencies, it jams all communication lines in the field." He laid down a dead Eintagsfliege, its blue translucent wings crushed.
"That explains a lot," Sieg grumbled as he examined the dead drone. To think something so small could cause so much trouble was a bit mind-boggling for him. Passing it to Juse, he asked, "So, where does the trail lead?" Pulling out a faded map, Turk unrolled it and placed it on the ground. He pointed at the spot labeled 'Louhan' and traced it to the east. "Somewhere in the Eastern District's first ward, I reckon. Mannheim is the closest"
"Then it's settled. We will camp overnight at the first suitable town and continue our expedition." Whistling at the two squads, he nodded at them and they began to re-enter the shuttle. Taking one last look at the ruined town, the squads departed and headed east. Landing behind a small hill, the two squads marched toward the deserted town of Mannheim.
AN
Sorry for the late update! I just completed my final exams, which required a lot of time studying.
To SupremeDarkTrooper: The Mandalorian Jedi in the last chapter was an interactive recording of Darth Revan speaking to the holocron. Speaking of which, that holocron will play a central role in the story and will shed more light on Sieg's past. The Kel Dor is a recording of Plo Koon.