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"The recent events of the war had left me almost preoccupied with not only myself, but my brothers, while slowly, the horrors were showing themselves in somewhat unexpected ways. The trauma of everything I experienced still hasn't left my mind, so in terms of 'temporary relocation', I was assigned away from the front for a while to recover, and was put to guard the Republic base on the Rishi Moon, which was near Kamino. It was a bit of a drag there. There wasn't much to do, and the job of those assigned to Rishi was to keep an eye on the communication systems and planetary systems, to pick up anything that came along. We even had a Republic radio, and at least in this, I wouldn't be alone in this little mission, because several other clones would be in charge of Rishi as well. Truth be told, even dealing with the losses still, I was missing having someone shoot at me again..."
On Rishi, I was assigned to watch the base's monitoring system, while many of us did other duties at the base, such as watching other systems, checking armaments, ships, and anything else that showed up on radar. The fact that I wasn't alone also meant, in other assumptions, that we would be almost every day without sleep, watching the base and the planet's orbit, and also without battling Droids as well. That was something that was giving me a hard time. I am a soldier, but what do I do when it comes to not fighting? I try to distract my mind when possible, but it's kind of tricky. Joining me in this little task was the Domino Squad: a group of five clones, each with their own characteristics and personalities. Echo. Fives. Droidbait. Cutup. Hevy. Each one opposite the other. Fives was the smartest. He was always willing to read the manuals, believing he had enough time for it. Hevy dreamed of being on the battlefield, taking out the Battle Droids. Echo was the most loyal among the platoon in Rishi. Willing to follow orders, capable of anything for the Republic, he was a clone and a model soldier. Fives and Echo were both who enjoyed reading the regulations and manuals, believing that time on base could mold them to become soldiers of great importance in the future. Droidbait and Cutup were quite feisty in some ways. Their training made them dedicated and prone to combat, but at that moment, we were all together, watching the moon Rishi, to avoid a surprise attack on Kamino. The Domino Squad had clones with different personalities, but at the same time, prone to do whatever it takes for the Republic. These five were like quite a family, but in the training they faced, they all bickered with each other, almost trying to outdo each other. But the personalities that each contained made them important in all of this. In all this war, we needed men who knew the meaning of duty. But even outside the front, at least I had a mission to accomplish. Even if it was the most boring possible, it probably made me think that things couldn't get any worse.
Looking at Rishi's satellite, I could feel Fives and Echo on my side, trying to help observe what was around.
(Fives) - Ratchet, how are things on sensors?
(Ratchet) - The usual. Nothing. No movement or anything.
(Echo) - At least this gives us some time to get some rest.
(Fives) - I can read my manuals, since you have nothing to contend with.
(Ratchet) - What can you do? We already have a Republic radio, sensors, but still, the feeling of being outside the front is something completely different than expected.
(Hevy) - And you, Ratchet? - You walk up to me, completely surprising me. - Why are you here?
(Ratchet) - Temporary Relocation. They thought my time in the battle lines might be affecting me, so I've been temporarily reassigned here until I can recover from the last few fights, to be exact.
(Droidbait) - So what is that? Is it some kind of punishment?
(Ratchet) - I think not, Droidbait. At least with all this, I can have a little peace, without having to worry about what's happening on the front lines. - I sigh, trying to hide the real answer in all of this. This was so boring, but still, I missed having someone shooting at me again. Even with all of this, I could still take a bit of a calm approach to it all. - I guess this is a chance to be able to relax a little.
(Hevy) - Yeah, but we ended up at the most boring place possible.
(Cutup) - It's not a boring post, Hevy. It's just different than the others.
(Hevy) - That is, boring.
The Domino Squad was completely filled with more charismatic personalities than usual. Even a simple conversation with one of them would result in answers that were a little different than expected. Hevy really was dedicated and willing to fight. But the thing about all this is that things, despite being as boring as possible, gave us a chance to get something rather crucial out of all this.
A few minutes passed, but still, nothing. The boredom, while somewhat new to me, was actually helping me forget what I'd seen in the past few days. The chaos of the Malevolence was kind of big for me, in a way I'd never felt before. The terms of temporary relocation to Rishi's moon had actually been, in practice, the best position someone like me could have. Because then, I wouldn't have to worry about the losses I'd suffered these past few days. The weight I've carried since day one is something I'll never forget. But keeping hope in times of war is something I'm trying to do all the time. Looking at the monitor, I could feel that I could be important, even outside the battlefields. Besides, the thought in my mind was that at least things couldn't get any worse.
The sense of camaraderie was something I was happy to see in that post. I could feel a certain excitement taking over me once again, which reminded me of my brothers who were on the front lines in various other worlds. The war would stop at nothing, regardless of anything that happened. But still, a soldier's duty was always to serve, no matter what rank he was in.
A few more minutes passed, and the mood now one of calm, but Hevy was willing to arm wrestle anyone possible to take the boredom out of him. While I watched the monitor, the Republic radio was still on, trying to keep some of the calm in all of this.
(Hevy) - That's it - Hevy said, winning the arm wrestling match. - Who's next? Fives?
(Echo) - Shouldn't you be keeping an eye on your monitor, Hevy?
(Hevy) - Yeah, let me take a look! - He said in an ironic tone and turning on the monitor. - What a novelty. All quiet! Just like the last hundred times I checked.
(Echo) - I think it's great that it's quiet like this here. I can read my manuals!
(Hevy) - Echo! What's wrong with you? We should be in the battle, blasting the Droids!
(Fives) - Forget this guy! They left him in the incubator too long!
We all started to laugh, a little surprised by the joke. As I looked around, I wondered how much longer this post would last.
(Hevy) - You may not realize it yet, Fives, but you've ended up in the most boring post in the Outer Rim!
-And one of the most important! - Sergeant O'Niner approached in the center, which caused Fives to summon the alert signal to warn us all of the Sergeant's arrival. - Attention! Sergeant on the deck!
We all stood at attention, saluting Sergeant O'Niner. The man in charge of Rishi's post was standing in front of us, trying to understand the next orders we were to receive.
(O'Niner) - Rest! Although you are new here, I don't need to remind you that this quadrant is the key to the Outer Rim! If the Droids overtake this station, they could make a surprise attack on the facility where we were born! Our Kamino home. We'll be visited by officers, so I want everything here ready for inspection! Is that clear?
-Yes, sir! - We all speak together, following the sergeant's orders.
A few minutes later, to relax a bit before the inspection, I decided to accept to be Hevy's next challenger in arm wrestling. We both started to push as we tried to win this challenge by any means necessary. I was able to push a little bit against Hevy, but about two minutes later, I ended up losing. I accepted my defeat without any problem. Out of nowhere, the ship's alarms start to go off in a bit of a surprise.
(Cutup) - Sir, meteor shower!
(Echo) - Shields up!
(Fives) - Didn't you want excitement, Hevy? Oh, yeah! WHOA! Meteor shower! - Hevy was kind of ironic about the whole thing.
The meteors started falling, but surprisingly, some of them fell without damaging the station, much to my surprise. The feeling that the worst was over was visible to me. I looked at the monitor again, to see what else was happening outside besides the meteor shower. The officials could be visiting us very soon, so for that, we needed to be prepared for anything that would happen between now and the visit. Even if it took all the time in the world, we would be on hand for anything. Suddenly, I could hear Fives on the communicator, trying to make contact with the guards outside. It was as if communication had suddenly been cut off.
(O'Niner) - CT327, come in! Over, do you read me?
-Meteor interference?
(Fives) - I don't see him, Sergeant.
(O'Niner) - You two! - He pointed to two soldiers on the spot, giving the orders. - Go after him!
I was already wondering what had happened to our sentry, but I was already afraid to try to understand the answer. Even if it were true, it couldn't be. If it were an invasion, it would be very unlikely, because the Droids would have been detected with our scanners.
(Ratchet) - Hopefully it's not a big deal.
As I stared at the monitor, I kept trying to understand what was going on, but the problem was that even with everything that happened, I hoped that I could have some peace, no matter what. I sighed and waited for a while to get ready for service again, until suddenly, I started to hear the sound of gunfire inside the Rishi base, which made me think: Is it really what I think I'm thinking? And now what? Seeing the light that the shots were giving off, some of the soldiers came to the scene, being surprised by what was happening.
(O'Niner) - Sound the alarm!
Fives ran to activate the alarm and alert the fleet, but he couldn't. Apparently the Droids had done something to the transmissions.
(Fives) - The signal has been deactivated!
(O'Niner) - Get a message to Starfleet! We have to-
Out of nowhere, the sergeant was shot in the leg, and in a split second, he was executed. Fives, Echo, Cutup, Hevy and I watched from the sidelines in great dismay at what had happened.
(Fives) - Sergeant!
We ran back inside our outpost and sealed the door. Then we shut down all power to the base to prevent the Droids from entering.
(Fives) - That will slow these bastards down! - He runs towards the ventilation ducts, to the surprise of all of us. - This way, quick!
(Cutup) - No, we can't...
Out of nowhere, the Droids started welding on the door, trying to storm the place and the perimeter so they could kill the last survivors on the base. The fear was enormous in all of this, but still, we knew that the worst was about to happen, and very soon, we would have much to face again.
(Fives) - There are too many of them!
Cutup came running for the pipelines, while the rest of the Domino Squad and I started walking through the pipelines and escaping Rishi's base. I told him I was missing having someone shoot at me again, but I thought this base would be pretty safe. Me and my big mouth to get in trouble, that's what you get for saying you miss the front. Then I'll just have to get killed this time, unlike the ones I escaped. What else is left to happen? I just hope nothing bad happens until I step outside. From the bottom of my heart, this couldn't get any worse.
The next time I think of combat in the midst of all this, I'd rather not say anything, because otherwise it's a matter of getting into trouble. But whether we missed it or not, we still had the question in mind: The Droids were inside the base, and now, they had a way to hack into the ship's communication systems. What to do was only a matter of time before the worst would happen and worsen our progress in the war. As we walked through the pipeline, I wondered how far the problem would go in all of this. The fear of what we were facing was greater than expected. These Droids must be new, because it would explain how they could infiltrate the base undetected by the meteor shower. The Command Droids, that was what could turn the tide of many battles. Amidst the many twists and turns, the price for all of this would be something completely unexpected.
After a somewhat unexpected escape, we finally got out of the duct. Fives was the first one down. Then me, Echo, Hevy, and Cutup. Looking up at the skies over the Rishi moon, I wondered how we were going to retake the base from the Separatists. And we were at a huge disadvantage in all of this.
(Echo) - What will we do without the sergeant?
(Fives) - According to the manual, the next act-
(Echo) - Hold on. Hold on. - She raises one of her hands and opens it, asking them to stop. - Did you hear that?
(Fives) - Yeah. What's that? They don't look like Droids.
I sighed, trying to recover, and becoming terrified of what was happening inside the base. But I was worried about what might be on the outside.
(Echo) - Don't forget those giant eels.
(Fives) - I've never seen a...
Suddenly, a giant eel appeared behind us, and took Cutup into its mouth, much to my shock and the shock of the other soldiers. Echo grabbed his gun and started shooting in the eel's direction, but it was too late. The eel took him into one of the craters of the base, making it clear that we had no way to save him now. The Domino Squad had already lost two of its members, and we were just a group of newcomers, having to figure out how to retake the base we swore to protect.
(Echo) - But what was that?
(Fives) - It was an eel! That's why the manual says not to come out here!
(Echo) - Let's go before she comes back.
(Fives) - Poor Cutup.
We started walking, while I wondered about something that worried me about this whole thing. Suddenly, we saw what looked like a ship approaching Rishi's base, leaving me a little surprised.
(Fives) - Look! It's Commander Cody! And the inspection team!
The ship was landing at the outpost, but there was a huge problem in all of this. Commander Cody's ship was landing right in the middle of the Droids. They had taken the base, leaving us with no way to communicate with the Republic. In the midst of all this, the only thing I could feel was that they would be ambushed in the worst possible way. But we kept walking, hoping not to be attacked by the eels or the old cans, my biggest thought at that moment was how we were going to reverse the problem we found ourselves in. We tried to use our communicators to try to contact Rex and Cody, but nothing was working. We were completely blocked. Fives, Echo, Hevy and I looked at each other in an almost unexpected way. My only feeling was that things weren't any better, not by a long shot.
(Fives) - We have to warn them! Use the communicators.
With the communicators, we tried to do the impossible to contact Commander Cody, but without success. Little by little, the doubt and uncertainty simply increased more and more.
(Fives) - It is no use. Your communicators are on another frequency.
(Echo) - I will use this flare. - He showed the flare to me and the other soldiers.
The chances of getting their attention were great. But we had to hope that it would actually work. Any misstep could be enough to attract the attention of another eel living on Rishi's moon. Suddenly, we managed to launch the emergency flare toward the heavens, hoping to get Commander Cody's attention. I could only hear one shot, but I hoped it wasn't the Droids killing one of the commanders. My heart almost stopped, in an unbelievable way. Out of nowhere, crossfire took over the landing platform, making things even worse. All I could hear was the gunshots in the midst of everything going on, but I hoped nothing would go wrong.
(Ratchet) - Apparently, things are getting complicated. - I prepared my weapon in case of emergency, but in this, we looked up, hoping that we would not be ambushed in the midst of the danger we were all running. - Are you ready?
(Hevy) - I guess there is no better time than now to show what we are made of!
Out of nowhere, we heard an explosion and fearing the worst, I started to prepare my gun in the midst of it all. What I wanted most at that moment was to know what had happened on the landing platform. I said earlier that I was missing someone shooting at me, but I was already regretting having thought that. Sighing, my helmet was overcome with fear almost unexpectedly. But I needed to stand firm in the face of the danger we were facing. If the Separatists succeeded in invading Kamino, we would all be doomed in the war. The feeling of uncertainty a soldier could have at that moment was many, almost unbelievable. Out of nowhere, a shadow began to come from the smoke and fire that had formed on the scene. At that moment, the four of us stepped into the smoke, but out of nowhere, Captain Rex pointed a gun in our direction to our shock. We all raised our hands, trying to understand what was happening.
(Rex) - Take off your helmets!
(Echo) - Sir?
(Rex) - Take off your helmets now!
We all removed our helmets, obeying Rex's command. At that moment, the feeling of uncertainty was taking over all of us, about to make it very clear that things were only getting worse at that moment. Any step in false meant our deaths. We left the show our faces, revealing who we really were. Of the nothing, an eel appeared, until Rex shot in her eye, killing her. We were all stunned by what we had witnessed. But at that moment, it was clear that things were getting more and more complicated.
(Hevy) - Nice shot.
(Rex) - My name is Rex. But you will call me captain or sir. - We all stand at attention, looking at Rex.
-Sir, yes, sir! -Sir!
(Cody) - I'm Commander Cody. Your new boss. - He removes his helmet, looking at the clones.
(Fives) - My designation is Private 27-5555, sir.
(Hevy) - We call him Fives. I'm Hevy. This is Echo. And this here is-
(Rex) - Ratchet. It's been a long time.
(Ratchet) - Captain.
(Rex) - Where is your sergeant?
(Echo) - Dead, sir. Like everyone else on the base. We're the only ones left.
(Rex) - Looks like we've got ourselves a glittering bunch, Commander. - The Captain put his hands in the eel's blood, which looked more like blue ink than blood, and at that, he ran his hand over Fives' suit, leaving his handprint on it, to my quite a surprise.
(Echo) - Reluctant, sir? - Echo asked, wondering at the phrase Rex used to describe the outfits of the Domino Squadron.
(Rex) - Exactly. Their armor, it's shiny and new, just like you guys. - The thought of uncertainty took over at that moment, but we needed to do the impossible to have a chance to take the base.
(Ratchet) - Captain, forgive me if I'm interrupting, but I've seen firsthand what those things can do. - Looking up, I began to describe the abilities of the Commando Droids, as my thoughts of uncertainty about entering combat again began to take hold. - They managed to kill an entire platoon inside the base with almost no damage taken. We're at a disadvantage if they try to attack us again. We are outnumbered here.
(Cody) - Ratchet, sometimes, not always, force is the best solution to win a fight. Strategy is always key to the fighting that follows in the middle of a war. Even outnumbered, we can use our intelligence to destroy those old cans before the worst happens. - It was clear from Commander Cody's words that we needed to do our best to retake the Rishi base before the Droids took over. I looked up at the platform, which could hold more of those old tin cans, even though I knew we would be outnumbered.
(Ratchet) - We may have a chance. Even if it is small, we should take it. - Looking down at the gun in hand, I knew we had to take it, even if only for a brief moment. Even reluctantly, I knew it was time for the impossible. Time to do something I never thought I would have to do so soon. Get back into combat, and retake Rishi's base, as soon as possible. - What do we do?
(Rex) - I have an idea in mind. - Rex looked at each of us as we nodded in agreement with the Captain's plan. In my opinion, any tactic was welcome to be able to fix these junk as soon as possible. The problem was, we couldn't take too long, because pretty soon, we'd have Separatist ships on top of our heads.
My heart was beating rapidly, but at the same time it was slowing down in an almost unexpected way. I knew the risks we were taking, but I never imagined the Separatists could attack so close to our home. Kamino will be defended to the last breath, but in order to prevent an invasion, we needed to retake the base.
"After a few minutes, we all began to prepare to put the plan into action. It was a matter of life and death what we would face. In order to retake Rishi's base, and in smaller numbers, we would have to destroy all the Commando Droids that had invaded. The chances might be slim, but we still had to try. Kamino cannot be overrun, or it will be the end of everything we swore to protect. It is time to retake the communications base, even if it costs us our lives..."