Chapter 4
The Bad Batch
MALASTARE
The Free City of Lotor
Master Reus was standing on the road up the mountain pass, the purple rock was covered in a fresh layer of snow that was falling gently across the mountain side. She had a holodevice in her hand while the wind gently pushed against her robe speaking to Masters Kenobi, Windu and Yoda ``It's clear now that Rock and his followers have fled Malastare, from what these new locals tell it was a bloody exit." Reus said as the Masters listened to her "Yes, strange enough we received a recording of the Doge of Malastare and this 'Kung' character in their dealings with the refugees, how could we not have known about this?" Obi-Wan asked her.
"The Doge's council claims they were unaware of it, I'm sure the Senate will want to weigh in on the matter, for now I haven't gathered much on where Rock went, the refugees have dug in in the old ruins, proclaiming it as theirs." Reus said looking up the road where Command Ganch and Tyzen were standing in front of the ruins gate where the Red Head Chieftain was standing with the refugees now armed with blasters bearing the Jedi and clones entry.
"As theirs, wasn't there a program to have them resettled elsewhere?" Windu asked her.
Reus gave him a confirming nod "There was, but the refugees have decided to resettle here it seems, there calling the new settlement Lotor." She said,
"Lotor, wasn't that one of the padawans who escaped?" Obi-Wan asked.
Yoda closed his eyes sensing the truth that Reus was about to tell them "It…. was, the refugees claimed Lotor died in the battle that freed them, the name is to honor his memory."
"A padawan learner dead, because of Rock?" Windu said sternly, this got all the Masters' attention. "They claim it was Lotor who killed the warlord Kung, Rock carried his body down from the pyramid before giving him a funeral." Reus explained.
"It would never have happened if he had remained on Coruscant, his death was needless." Windu reiterated to her.
Tyzen, who had walked back over to Windu and Reus, whispered to himself "Tell that to the refugees."
"Padawan, any luck with the refugees?" Reus asked him.
Stepping forward the zabrak put his hands behind his back "Masters, the refugees claim that the, and this is their words 'the true jedi left in a hammerhead cruiser' they aren't saying anything else other than for us to leave." Tyzen said as Reus and her padawan watched the refugees return behind the safety of their walls.
"Where is the Doge and the Warlord now?" Obi-Wan asked Reus, "Kung is dead, but we have the Doge in custody." Reus answered.
"This is troubling, while we've been distracted by this war the criminal element of the galaxy outside the core has skyrocketed and the people are losing faith in the Order." Obi-Wan said, scratching his beard.
"That faith will continue to waine as long as Rock and his dissidents are allowed to be set free, we'll alert all command posts to Rock's new ship, in the meantime return to your ship Master Reus, the matter of Malastare is a Senate affair Coruscant out." Windu said before the transmission cut. Tyzen looked at Master Reus who blinked a few times.
"Something on your mind Tyzen?" She asked him.
The young jedi looked back at the new city of Lotor "Saving refugees, stopping a warlord exposing corruption, hardly the actions of a fallen Jedi?" Tyzen said, reminding Reus of his skepticism.
"Indeed, but it could be a trick for Rock's endgame, I sense he is already planning something else." Reus said as she walked past him "Commander Ganch, pull your men back we're returning to our Ship." She called down at the scarlet armored arc trooper his men guarding the Doge before he signaled the men to pull away. As the Republic troopers started to leave, Tyzen heard the citizens of Lotor cheer.
"What did you mean by endgame?" Tyzen asked her.
Master Reus glanced back at him "The way to the dark side is paved to good intentions my Padawan." Reus said, walking toward a gunship.
SOMEWHERE IN THE OUTER RIM
Stolen Sphyrna-class Hammerhead
Deep in the regions of space between Separatist and Republic lines, the Black Knights were getting acquainted with their new home. A stolen Hammerhead red and black corvette referred to as Hammerhead-class cruisers, inspired by a similar starship design by Rendili Hyperworks that dated back centuries prior. The Sphyrna-class was a joint operation between two companies as it was designed by Corellian Engineering Corporation and manufactured by Rendili StarDrive. A big, bulky transport, the Hammerhead was built for the transportation of goods and individuals safely, comfortably, and without the need for escort ships. It had a cylinder-shaped hull that contained a number of large modular cargo holds, external docking points for cargo containers, and an external cargo lift.
One of the cargo holds had been retrofitted into a hanger for their ships, the Rogue Shadow was parked in the hanger taking up most of the space where Turok Skell, the trandoshan mercenary and bounty hunter was hard at work on the ships much needed repairs. The trandoshan had tossed aside his red pancho and rolled up his sleeves. On top of the ship the lizard was next to Ganodi as he wore a pair of goggles splicing into the ship "Two eights." He said she was sitting next to a tool box with a lid and two drawers on the bottom.
"Two eights." Ganodi said as she handed him a wrench, quickly working his magic "Welder." He said.
"Welder." The rodian girl replied as she handed it to him.
"Snack." Turok said.
"Snack?" Ganodi asked him, confused.
"Turok pulled off the goggles and said "Bottom drawer."
She opened the bottom drawer and took out two sandwiches "How did you-" "Rule three of working on your ship pilot, always have a snack for break time."
"What are the first two?" Ganodi asked as she handed him a sandwich.
"One always takes care of your ship, two always have a fully stocked tool box." He said as the two started to eat.
The flight deck, crew berths, and passenger staterooms were located in the angular, vertical bow, which gave the ship its notable physical profile and name. Three large pylon mounted ion sublight engines dominated the ship's aft which gave it a sublight speed of 900 kilometers per hour. The engines were placed on an inverted triangular engine block which also housed the ship's main reactor, the ship's hyperdrive, and the bulk of the engineering section. Master Sian and Jinx were examining the hyperdrive room "She's a good ship, well maintained for her age." Sian said as Jinx looked over the engines and other amenities.
"Hyperdrive needs some work, think we can find a new one somewhere that won't be too pricey?" Zatt said, popping his head out from the floorboards climbing out.
Sian snickered, "You really think they're going to sell to a bunch of rogue Jedi?" She asked the young mechanic.
"We're not Rogue Jedi, we're Black Knights." Jinx said.
The Hammerhead was equipped with a primary class 3 hyperdrive along with a secondary class 15. It was equipped with a navigation computer and a medium range sensor. The engine block was connected to the ship's main fuselage, ultimately ending up at the front of the ship both Master Tholme and Master K'Kruhk were walking together "Did we make the right choice, attacking Kung, losing Lotor?" K'Kruhk asked him, while down the hall Petro, Katooni, Gungi and Byph explored the ship.
"Part of me wants to say yes, the other part is unsure." Tholme said his cane tapping on the floor as he walked "It's a Jedi's duty to act selflessly as we did, to protect life but at the cost of our own…" Tholme trailed off.
"You wanted to take the Lotor boy as your padawan?" K'Kruhk asked him.
Tholme took a deep breath "To finish his training, yes, so many jedi lost to this war, so many of them barely older than Lotor."
"Is that not why we chose to join with Rock, to end such needless death?" K'Kruhk asked him.
"Indeed, but for now I think we'd all do good with some rest, Rock mourns Lotor as if he lost a brother." Tholme said back to the ancient whipid "Hmmm, yes, some rest would do us all some good.
Leo was at the end of the ship in its spacious cockpit. The bridge of the Hammerhead had four crew stations, though it could be operated by two crew members, or in certain situations even a single pilot, Leo sitting in the commander's chair leaning back in it his masked helm was on the console and he had a bottle in the left hand taken from the ships stores. Despite this, it could be fully crewed by thirty-five crew members and carry 125 passengers. A circular tactical display console was used for crew briefings, often led by the fleet group commander to coordinate their ships. The console was situated in the middle of the bridge room where his mask sat and empty bottle, behind the command chair. It held enough consumables for six months and cost 1,000,000 credits to manufacture. Hammerheads typically held a cargo capacity of 22,833 metric tons. Additional external weapons racks on a Hammerhead corvette. Hammerhead corvettes carried a respectable armament of heavy laser cannons and turbolasers, with the standard variant being armed with two dual forward-mounted heavy laser cannons by the bridge and a dorsal turret-mounted twin light turbolaser battery at the ship's engine block. The ship's internal systems were easy to maintain and upgrade, and were backed by numerous redundant systems. Due to this and their strong deflector shields, Hammerheads were well-suited for space travel, and were capable of surviving accidental collisions with relatively minor damage. Additional external ordnance racks could be outfitted on Hammerhead corvettes which could launch projectiles. When used in a civilian capacity, Hammerhead corvettes were utilized by shipping companies for the transportation of goods and personnel. Smugglers and pirates utilized Hammerhead corvettes as part of their fleets. In military capacities, the Alliance deployed Hammerheads with great effectiveness against the Imperial Navy. The Alliance used Hammerheads as a heavy attack craft, pitting itself against vessels of the same size or larger while in groups. Pointing itself towards a target, a Hammerhead kept its strongest shields between it and its opponent and remained aligned for a potential ram, and were specially used for ramming. Additional military roles included serving as an escort, a scout ship, and as a spacetug.
Back on the bridge, Leo sipped the bottle before he realized it was empty. "Damnit." He said dropping it.
There was a beep at the bridge's entrance and Leo looked over his shoulder to see Maris walking in.
"Maris?" Leo asked to get up, accidentally kicking the bottle toward her she picked it up and sniffed it "Mandalorians wine?" She asked, recognizing the scent.
"You know it?" Leo asked.
Maris stuck her finger in the bottle and licked a drop of it "Yeah, we used to have it at the padawan parties before people were knighted?"
"I remember those, never saw you at one?" Leo said as she walked over to the command console and leaned on it "I was wearing more clothes then." She gestured to the tight black pants and tube top.
Leo rolled his eyes "Somehow I doubt that's traditional zabrak clothing?" He asked her.
"I wear what I want and I do what I want, kind of like you." She said smirking at him tossing the bottle toward him, he caught it "And what is it you want now?"
"To know where we're going next?" She asked.
Leo looked back out across the stars then back at her, he walked up to the console she was leaning on and pressed a small button on it bringing up a hologram of a frozen world "We're heading to a planet called Carlac, it's a frozen tundra, peaceful nobody will think to look for us there until Vos is ready to meet us."
"Vos, as in Master Quinlan Vos?" Maris asked him.
"The same, he's been away for some time." Leo said as he looked at her "What for?" She asked.
"... He's-." Leo didn't answer her.
Maris cocked a black brow and her face stiffened "You don't trust me?"
"No, I'll tell you when the time is right." Leo said before he leaned on the holotable "How's Dray?" He asked me to change the subject.
"He'll be fine, he watched his Master die, he's used to death." Maris said, folding her arms looking at the hologram of Carlac "I wish you hadn't said that, but he should know he can talk about it with us, we've all seen friends die." Leo said morbidly thinking of O-Mer, Kasel, Selene, Jace Dallin.
A silence took hold over the bridge before Maris cleared her throat "So, do we have a name for the ship?" She asked changing the subject, gesturing around them at the bridge.
Leo pointed over to a wall of scribbled names and suggestions "Take your pick, everyone has a name." Maris walked over to them to read the writing such names were as followed: The Red Eagle, Mynock, Arrowhead, Phoenix, Flaming Fish, Kraken, Excelion, Brimstone, Valiant, Star Hawk, Queen Padme's Revenge, the Knights Fist, and so on "I kind of like Brimstone, but what even is a Phoenix?" She said looking back at him.
"That was Jinx's suggestion, we'll take a vote or maybe just put the names all on paper in a bucket and pick one." Leo said, walking up next to her. "As for a Phoenix, Jinx said it was some sort of flaming chicken?" Leo said crossing his arms, shaking his head unsure.
"... What's a chicken?" Maris asked, leaning over at him, to which he quickly sighed "I have no idea."
"Which one's yours?" She asked next.
Leo pointed to a name scribbled in the center "Chimera, okay sorry to ask again but what in the stars is a Chimera, some sort of frozen pig?" She asked.
Her question made his face soften, she could see a turmoil of emotions on his face, a bit happy, a bit sad, even a bit excited hidden behind his eyes. "It's a dream, it can be anything you want it to be and it's impossible to catch." Leo said, smiling happily with the name he'd chosen.
"I like it, I may just vote for you." She said winking at him and giving a sly smile, Leo's face went blank, he turned away back to the front of the bridge "You may want to try and find a robe or a coat, Carlac is a cold planet." Leo said, turning his back to her. Maris stared at his back, surprised at his sudden cold shoulder before she walked to the bridge's doorway, as it opened Proxy passed through it holding another bottle of wine.
"Does he drink often?" She asked the droid, Proxy's scanners looked her over "only when he mourns." Proxy whispered.
CORUSCANT
Chancellor's Office
Chancellor Palpatine tapped his nails against one another looking across the table at Obi-Wan and Mace. The silver city of Coruscant and swarm of speeders passing behind his windo matched the gray gown he wore over his slender body. Beside the two jedi sat Senator Padme Amidala of Naboo in her crescent head dress and a long deep purple gown and Bail Organa of Alderaan he took a deep breath "This is troubling, if word gets out that Malastare was working with criminals it could greatly jeopardize the Republics credibility, more so that criminals were the ones who uncovered it." The Chancellor said to them.
"Word will reach Coruscant eventually about the Doge's crimes, one way or another the Doge must be held accountable." Padme said to the Chancellor.
"It's not that I disagree my dear, but if the Doge is put on trial or at the most thrown in prison we could lose our contract with Malastare and fuel for our ships?" The Chancellor said reluctantly, shaking his head, "This matter must be dealt with behind closed doors, I have already dispatched Vice Chancellor Amedda to oversee the Doge's resignation and selection of a new Doge to the Dug Council." The Chancellor said, shocking the entire room.
Windu and Obi-Wan kept their heads cool "And Nahka Urus?" Obi-Wan asked.
Turning to him with a stoic face the Chancellor said "Has been stripped of power."
"But not punished." Obi-Wan pointed out, "That is punishment enough, the real villain of this story is your wayward jedi, how do we know he wasn't in league with both the Doge and his thugs, to discredit more jedi; what was his name again your old apprentice?" Palapatine asked Obi-Wan.
"His name is Leo, Leo Rock and we are working on a way to catch him and his followers." Obi-Wan said confidently not letting the jab get under his skin.
The Chancellor drummed on his desk with his knuckles "I'm sure you are, and what of General Skywalker, could we not dispatch him to arrest the criminal?" He asked.
"General Skywalker is currently locked in the Outer Rim besieging Anaxus; the Separatists have set up fierce resistance he's needed there." Mace Windu answered the leader of the Republic. The Chancellor didn't care for the answer, frowning at it.
"What a shame, well for now I will consider the matter of Malastare closed." The Chancellor said.
Bail Organa gapped hearing such a thing "Something troubling you Senator Organa?" The Chancellor asked.
"Y-yes Chancellor, rogue jedi or not, the Dug Council committed a serious crime against the Republic and we are letting him retire to whatever estate he has without even so much as a trial?" Bail said shocked him.
The Chancellor raised a hand "These are troubling times, we must all make sacrifices. It is deplorable what happened in Malastare but as the crisis was averted this Republic cannot afford to look weak as this war goes on." The Chancellor said.
"And the refugees on Malastare, who are now refusing to leave?" Mace asked him.
The Chancellor thought for a few seconds "I think it's best that we leave them be, they sought resentment and now have it in these what did you call it Latto?"
"Lotor." Obi-Wan said.
"Yes, this way if the public should learn about Malastare we can simply say they were relocated to Lotor on Malastare as a new resettlement city protected by the Dug Council." The Chancellor said, smiling at them, glad to come up with it.
"A cover up." Bail said "A resolution." Padme said turning to Bail giving him a look that he needed to be quiet then say anything anymore.
"Exactly my dear." The Chancellor said before he rose to his feet, everyone else stood up too ending the meeting, "Now if you would all, I have a meeting with Admiral Tarkin." The Chancellor said as he walked them all out of the office walking toward them from the atrium was none other than the Admiral himself. Admiral Wilhuff Tarkin, a tall slender man with fading brown hair that was turning grayer every day, he said nothing to the mas he passed by the Jedi and Senators into the Chancellor's office, both Padme and Obi-Wan waiting a bit resentful of the lack of respect.
As Windu and Bail continued on Padme grabbed Obi-Wan's arm before he left "Are you alright?" She asked him.
"I beg your pardon Senator?" Obi-Wan asked her.
Padme gave him a curious look as if she needed to ask twice "Yes Senator, I'm fine, why do you ask?"
"Obi-Wan, please don't act so formal with me, I've known you for as long as I've known Anakin. I can tell when something is wrong, even for a Jedi Master." She said, Obi-Wan let out a long sigh.
"It's Leo, isn't it, he was your first student after Anakin." She said,
Obi-Wan stared back at her, "Thank you for your concern Sena- I mean Padme, not it hasn't been easy." Obi-Wan said, walking with her down the hallway.
"I just find it so hard to believe Leo would turn against the Jedi and the Republic?" She said walking out of the Chancellors atrium and into the hallways. Mace and Bail were speaking further along so the two stopped again "... Yes, but this has happened before in the order we must do our best to end it before anything worse than a coverup happens."
"Worse than a cover up, you mean you agree with the Chancellor's decision?" She asked.
Obi-Wan hesitated to answer her "Not entirely, but for the greater good of both the Republic and the Jedi, I do."
"... I'll try to understand in my own time, but I worry what will happen if your former apprentice should uncover another plot and how we'll react." She said looking back at the Chancellor's office.
Inside it, Chancellor Palpatine and Tarkin were standing in front of the window "These Black Knights are becoming troublesome to my plans Admiral." The Admiral listened to him with a smirk "Yes, I read the report, such vigilantism cannot be allowed to flourish."
The Chancellor told the Admiral "Then you have done as I asked?" The Chancellor asked.
"Yes, Clone Force 99 have already been dispatched to seek them out, if our intel is to be believed they are heading for a planet called Carlac." Tarkkin said.
Facing the Admiral, Palpatine nodded "Very well, but I'd like you to amend the order from capture to kill."
CARLAC
Bridge of the unnamed Hammerhead.
The ship descended through the frozen clouds down onto Carlac snow covered surface, the pink trees were blown back by the ship's exhaust as they found a suitable clearing for them to land on. Leo was sitting in the commander's chair as Jinx and Sian sat at the pilot controls, Maris was sitting in one of the other crew chairs and let out a shiver "Geez, I can feel that snow out there." She said.
"Then put on-" "Stop telling me to change, I like my outfit." Maris snapped at Jinx.
"You're wearing a tube top on a planet literally frozen in ice, what did you expect from Tatooine!" Jinx snapped back at her.
Maris just shivered as she stood up "I'm going to find a robe." She said walking off the bridge just as Aayla came in, she had made her own costume change. Reapplying her older jedi and twi'lek clothing of brown pants, a tunic, and one sleeved top her blue navel and cleavage exposed she was holding a pale beige jacket in her arms with a fur parka hood, she was holding a few other coats in her arms as well "It's not much, but the hold here has a few coats we should wear if we go outside." She said as Leo was already on his feet.
She offered him one but Leo pushed it back "No, I'll be back soon."
"Don't stay out to long, our scanners got a nasty blizzard on the way." Jinx called out looking at the dashboards scope.
"What was that about?" Sian asked.
Jinx threw his arm over his chair and looked back watching Leo walk out, "You don't know do you?" Jinx said.
"When he was undercover for Count Dooku, he was sent here on a mission by the Count to hunt down the Separaitst turncoat Lux Bonteri." Jinx said as Leo walked toward the ships exit, he opened the door the cold spray of snow hitting his face "Another jedi was there, so were the Deathwatch and a group of villagers known as the Ming Po had been enslaved by the Deathwatch, there village was destroyed in the battle that ensued." Jinx said as Leo walked down the ramp and onto the snow, the white frozen water crunching under his boot prints as he put on his mask and pulled his mantles hood up walking into the blizzard.
"Then why come back here so soon?" Aayla asked.
Jinx turned back around watching Leo go from the bridge "I think Leo wants to make peace with his demons, before we go fight anymore."
Elsewhere on the unnamed ship, Jax, Dogma and Fives were gathered around a clone with an x tattoo on his face was in a staring contest with Byph the ithorian youngling, the other four clones were behind the starring clone while the younglings were behind Byph "Come on Glare, don't you quite on us?" Fives said.
"There's no way you can beat Byph, I once saw him stare at stars for three hours straight." Petro said.
"Yeah well Glare has gone entire nights without blinking, how do you think he got that name." Dogma said.
"Want to raise the steaks Captain?" Katooni asked Dogma.
The clone stared back at the kids "Like what?"
"Instead of doing our chores for a week, you and your men do them for a month." She said smugly.
Fives Dogma and Jax pulled each other back around and whispered to one another "Deal." Fives said before Katooni held out her hand, Dogma shook her hand and the bet was set while Cross and Byph kept their staring contest up with higher steaks. Dray had walked passed the door when he saw the staring contest and continued on. He rounded a corner when he came face to face with Aayla "Padawan Dray, everything alright?" She asked.
Dray stepped back "... fine." He whispered, "You miss Lotor?" She asked.
"How did you, ugh jedi stuff I guess I'll be able to do that when I'm older if I get older." He said sullen, the loss of Lotor at the hands of the warlord Kung was still fresh in his mind.
Aayla sympathized with him "Death is never easy, but when you're ready to talk about it we can, perhaps some training to get your mind off it?" She asked.
Dray turned to her "Yeah I'd like that." He said as he followed Aayla down the hallway.
Elsewhere in the cargo hold both Tholme and K'Kruhk were sitting in meditation. Outside the ship, Leo had slid down a hill of frozen tundra walking under the shade of the pink leaves when he stopped.
Looking around he felt a presence "I know you're there Proxy."
The assassin droid roped down behind him with dropped shoulders "Master, it's no fun if you don't act the least bit surprised when I try to kill you?" Proxy said.
"We removed your kill protocol Proxy, what is it you want?" Leo asked him.
The droid walked up beside him "Master, we've already been here on Carlac and there is no current objective here, my systems demand I ask why?"
"It's remote, far away, peaceful, and I needed to come here." Leo said looking around at the snow blowing in the wind "What for Master?" Proxy asked.
"Hard to explain to the droid, you're here so you might as well come along. I'd enjoy the company." Leo said as they walked across the snowy terrain they stepped over some frozen stones and down into a low valley where Leo saw what remained of the Ming Po village. His heart sank at the sight of it all that remained were the blackened charred remains of a once thriving village turned into a husk of its former fertility; the main gate only stood with its two pillars; the top that had a sign on it was shattered and buried in the snow. Leo made his way. Past the frozen remains of empty houses and the wailing of the wind passing through their creaky holes and shingle hanging windows sounded like the screams of ghosts. He made his way to the main house where the chief had offered him food, where he pretended to be a real jedi only to serve the Sith, serve Dooku.
He pressed his hand on the entryway and let out a sigh "... Proxy, watch the door please." Leo said as he walked in. He found a small spot in the shadows of the ruins, a hole in the ceiling let in a halo of sunlight with snow falling in it, sitting down Leo crossed his legs and removed his mask to take a deep breath and start meditating.
"... What must I do….." he said to the living force "... How can I save the Jedi…. save the Republic…." he whispered letting the force flow inside and outside around him.
"Show me who leads the Shadow Collective…" Leo closed his eyes.
Leo felt the living force fade away and the cosmic power of the force enter into his mind, he was transported to among the very stairs that surrounded Carlac, Leo stood up and started to look around at all the bright blue and white lights of the galaxy. A rainbow of the nebulas like great colorful clouds holding the cosmic force within that turned into life. In a brief moment Leo heard something it was faint, a whisper if he didn't listen carefully he would miss it then he heard it again.
"... who is there…" it was a voice yes, a dark one, full of sinister intent.
Leo looked around the stars trying to figure out where the voice was coming then he saw a red star up above him shining red light down on him.
He felt himself pulled toward the light like in hyperspace the stars and planets woodshed past him till Leo saw the red star grow brighter and brighter, the void of space began to turn into the shape of a man, no not a man, a devil with a crown of thorns and eyes red. "You're a force wielder." Leo said, looking at the devil.
"I am much more." The devil said.
"A Sith, I should have known." Leo spat curling his hands into fists "Yes I am Sith, true Sith."
Leo watched the devil as the two of them circled one another "But you are no Jedi, the dark side you call on it even know I can feel your anger." "-Then feel my savagery." Leo cut the devil off with a sudden snap and the Devil froze.
"Know I am unlike any jedi you have faced, know that I do not hold back, know that when I find you I'll kill you like every so-called Sith I've faced and then… I'm coming for your Master, Apprentice."
"MASTER!" Proxy suddenly appeared behind Leo, tackling out of the vision, the droid pinned him down and Leo looked up to see a burning hole in the wall enlign with where his head had been when he was meditating, "Move." Leo said to Proxy and Leo scrambled into the back of the big house the sniper rounds whizzed past them as they moved Leo and Proxy diving behind cover in the next room.
"Did you see who it was, Bounty Hunters?" Leo asked him.
Proxy looked around to try and scan the area "I've got four life forms-zzzt." Proxy's eyes went off before he fell back "Master, my scanners have been deactivated… and so has my communications ability." Proxy said, Leo held up his comlink sown into his glove trying to activate it but it just sent static.
"Mine too, they got someone with tech skills, great." Leo said before he thought of a plan b, "Decoy mode." Leo ordered the droid, Proxy's holographic processor scanned Leo and in a second light shimmered around him before Proxy became Leo "We split up, meet back at the ship."
Another sniper round ripped through the wall between them "Go." Leo said darting left and Proxy going right the two Leo's racing out of the big house into the snow and charred buildings. Up on the ridge a black and red armored sniper looked out of the barrel of his special sniper rifle "Now that's interesting."
"Boss, you're going to love this, there are two of the targets now." The sniper said he was speaking down to three other black and red armored soldiers all of them with skull decals on their armor. One was a giant with a skull on his face, bulky and holding his blaster rifle like it was a pistol. He was so big. The other two were smaller, one average size in black armor with shoulder pads that had red stripes and a backpack he had a knife stuffed into his gauntlet and a narrow slit visor like the big one. The other one had a more technological helmet with skulls on the ear muffs "Copy that Crosshair, Tech must be the droid can you hack it?" The leader asked.
"I don't think so, the other systems are deactivated so he can't contact anyone but the droid's holoprojection cloak is unlike anything I've ever seen." Tech said as the big one groaned "Can't we just blow them both up to see which is which?" He asked.
"Not a bad theory Wrecker?" Tech said to Wrecker.
"We split up, Wrecker Tech went after the one that went right, Crosshair watched my back. I'm going after the one that went left." The leader said drawing his vibro knife "Copy that Hunter, lets see how well this target handles the Bad Batch." Crosshair said as Hunter and the two others chased after the other Leo.
Back at the Hammerhead, Tholme and K'Kruhk felt the threat's presence, and both men rose to their feet "I felt it too." The two Masters walked out of their chambers into the hallway where Sian and Aayla came out "Someone else is where on Carlac."
"R-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r really?" Maris asked coming up beside Jinx, she had thrown on three separate robes to try and get warm, the zabrak girls pale face turning blue from how cold she was.
In the other cargo held both dray and Aayla were locked in training, he blocked her attack when he winced feeling the danger "Ow what the…"
"I sense it too, Leo's in danger, come." Aayla said before the two left the cargo hold behind.
"Captain Dogma, we need you and your men up here now." Jinx said into his comlink but all he got was static "What?"
"Comlinks are jammed, I sensed Leo was in danger. We should go and assist him if we can." K'Kruhk said, walking toward the nearest docking port to open it. But the second he tried to the door didn't budge. K'Kruhk pressed the button again "It's frozen shut, the blizzard our theirs getting worse." Tholme said.
"And Leo's stuck in it." Jinx said looking out a window that was glazed over with cold hair and outside a furious snowstorm was starting to take over Carlac.
Out in the storm another blaster bolt flew over Leo's head as he slid under a snow drift looking out behind cover to see the glint of Crosshair's sniper scope just as he sent another laser his way. "Guess I get the sniper." Leo said hiding behind one of the trees the blizzard started to overtake them and the Bad Batch closed in on him to make it even worse.
"Blizzards heating up Sarge, switching to thermal." Crosshair said as the others did so as well, their visors going to blue and then red to show Leo hiding behind the tree "Copy that Crosshair."
Wrecker snickered as he and Tech chased after Proxy "It be cooling up haha." Wrecker joked while Crosshair slapped his forehead "Tech can you mute his comlink?" Crosshair asked.
"That would be a poor tactical move, Crosshair." Tech replied as he scanned the area "Wrecker, over there." He said pointing to a snow drift where he scanned a heat signature.
Wrecker nodded as he opened fire on the snow with his heavy blaster rifle but all that did was make Leo run out of cover away from the blaster fire at surprising speed. "We got a runner, but you got a WRECKER!" Wrecker said charging after Leo, he looked back over his shoulder to see the behemoth running like a bison in snow tearing up the white powder before shoulder charging Leo off his feet. Wrecker grabbed Leo by his neck and smashed him up against a tree "Got'ya." Wrecker said before Leo's hand went for Wrecker's neck in a powerful throat punch making the giant gag coughing.
Tech ran up shooting his blaster at Leo before he could make another move, once again fleeing into the snow "Careful Boss, this ones a slippery one or they both are, I'm confused?" Wrecker said.
Back with Crosshair and Hunter, Hunter had his holsters, his blaster and took out his knife coming up on Leo who was hiding behind a tree. Hearing the snow crunch under his boot, Leo spun around just as Hunter flung his dagger at him "Target found." Hunter said as he slashed the vibro knife across Leo's metal mask leaving a scratch on it sending sparks into the snow. "Nice mask, it'll make a good trophy." Hunter said before Leo dodged another swipe. Leo punched at Hunter who dodged and swiped back but Leo swiped his arm away with his other and the two started to trade blows in the snow Leo pushing the clone commando back. Hunter dropped the knife out of his right hand and into his left to slash up, Leo backed away before he grabbed Hunter's left arm but the commando tossed the knife into his right and drove the blade at Leo's ribs. Before he could stab him Leo smashed down on Hunter's arm to make the blade pierce him in his side missing any vital organs. Letting out a groan of pain behind his mask Hunter twisted the blade. In a flurry Leo smashed Hunter's left wrist and kicked him back. Tearing the knife out Leo hurled the knife at Hunter who caught it coming back at him with a reverse grip, Leo jumped up even with the wound and round housed hunter up onto a fallen log. When he landed Leo charged and threw the full weight of his knee into the log hitting Hunter right where the chest and head met, knocking off his helmet. Hunter fell back over the log and when Leo landed ready to fight on he stopped "A clone trooper?" Leo gasped.
"That's Commando, we aren't like regs target." Hunter said, spitting out some blood "Who sent you?" Leo demanded as Crosshair got into position to take the shot "Does it matter, your our mission." Hunter said slowly getting up holding the knife.
Crosshair fired and Leo ran pushing Hunter down with him to avoid either of them getting shot. Hunter kicked him off and Crosshair swore after he missed and when Hunter was ready to fight Leo flung a handful of snow into face blinding their commando before Leo retreated again to higher ground, and the blizzard winds began to pick up. "Storms getting worse, Sarge I'm losing him." Crosshair said as the red spot of Leo began to fade into the cold air.
"I'm not." Hunter said, chasing after Leo like a wolf in the snow.
Back with the other Leo, Wrecker and Tech had chased the target all the way into a frozen canyon with ice covered waterfalls and a river that had turned solid "Come out, come out wherever you are." Wrecker said as he and Tech scanned the area.
"The probability of him coming out to that sound is-" before Tech could finish his theory the ice ahead of them crunched with the boots of Leo standing there before them. Though his face was behind his helmet Wrecker was smiling "Come here target." Wrecker said shooting at Leo running at him, but instead of running away Leo ran at him dodging the incoming fire jumping off the canyon walls, jumping over Wrecker and tackling Tech into the frozen rivers solid surface. With one thunderous blow Leo smashed Tech's visor with his helmet "Tech!" Wrecker said spinning around, he took out his vibro machete and chucked it at Leo.
At the last second Leo caught the short sword but the hilt, but Wrecker was already like a mad bull running right into Leo again this time not grabbing him to help Tech. "You alright?" Wrecker grunted at Tech, his visor was busted but the rest of his helmet was fine. "I am still able but my scanner has been… suffered damage."
"Well he's gonna suffer some damage for that." Wrecker said dropping his blaster and cracking his knuckles approaching Leo who dusted himself off and took a fighting stance "Your move." Leo said before Wrecker attacked him throwing massive punches at him. Leo evaded and dodged, striking at the areas where Wreckers armor exposed him. Leo's fingertips extended like fangs on a serpent, his arm moving around Wrecker to strike him under his left arm, at a pressure point. Wrecker let out a yell before he tried to hit Leo again with his left but the arm was limp at his side.
Under his helmet, Wrecker looked at his limp arm stunned, "What did you do to me?"
"He hit your pressure points Wrecker, your left arm is useless now." Tech said, answering him.
"My arm may be useless but I'm not." Wrecker argued charging at Leo, rolling out of the Wrecker ran past and when Leo's back was turned Tech held up a stun device and stabbed it into Leo's back. He let out a scream but it changed from Leo's voice into another, and then another. Wrecker and tech watched as it was Proxy who transformed into various people all at once, first a clone trooper, then twi'lek, then Count Dooku, a Geonosian and so on before the droid collapsed.
Wrecker tossed his numb left arm around groaning "It's only the droid."
"A holoprojection droid, fascinating?" Tech said as he pressed a finger to his helmet "Sergeant, we captured the decoy you have the real target." Tech reported.
Not far from them Hunter and Crosshair had moved up the hill close together "Copy that Tech, get the droid back to the ship we may be able to get some intel out of it." Hunter said in a low voice while he and Crosshair started to see something in the distance as they got closer as the remains of some outpost or camp. The snow had started to freeze over their armor and fog up their helmets. "He's close." Hunter said, taking out his knife and blaster rifle.
"Switching to short range." Crosshair said, taking off his sniper's long barrel and covering Hunter's six.
Inside the camp, the very camp that Leo once slaughtered the Deathwatch soldiers in, Leo hid behind a pile of broken droids "So the Republic finally sent someone after me, a commando unit I'm honored." Leo said his voice coming from every direction bouncing off the metal walls of the camp.
"Don't flatter yourself, you're just another mission to us." Crosshair said as he looked down the sites of his blaster.
"... Did they tell you who I am, troopers?" Leo asked, moving from his hiding spot, taking his lightsaber out but keeping it turned off.
Hunter made a hand signal when he saw the tail end of Leo's tunic, the two clones separated to take both sides of the broken ship Leo was hiding behind "Our target, that's who." Hunter said when the two of them sprung around to see nothing but each other, suddenly they heard the sound of a lightsaber turning on and looked up to see the purple lightsaber "That wasn't in the briefing…" Crosshair said before he remembered his training and shot at Leo he deflected it and landed between the two forces pushing Crosshair into an abandoned shack that caved in on him after he crashed through. Hunter reacted leaping at Leo with his vibro knife shooting and slashing, Leo dodged them both before he grabbed Hunter with the force and lifted him off the ground with a force choke.
"Who was it, who sent you, Tarkkin, the Council, give me a name!" Leo barked at Hunter.
Gasping for air, Hunter "I'm not telling you anything-ack." Leo gritted his teeth before he slammed Hunter into the ground and flung him into the blizzard before Leo turned off his lightsaber and ran off into the storm back to their unnamed ship.
Inside the Hammerhead the Jedi watched the storm worsen, Jinx was next to the window by the door when he saw a figure coming out of the storm. "There he is." He said to the other jedi waiting by the entrance "Get the door open." Tholme ordered Dogma and the clones who were by it. The men forced it open with a crowbar and their own hands as Leo walked up to the ramp holding his side from where Hunter's knife had pierced him. He fell through the doorway, his clothes covered in snow and his mask frosted over the blood seeping into his gray tunic. "Get him to the medical room." Jinx said as he Dogma Fives and Jax picked him up.
"Uh where is that?" Jax asked.
Later, after some frantic time looking for it Leo woke up on a medical bed to the faces of the Black Knights and renegade clones, "What happened out there?" Jinx asked him. From his left to right, Leo saw Jinx at his side, Dogma, Fives, Sian in the corner of the medical room which was empty of patients beside Leo. Followed by Tholme, K'Kruhk at the end of his bed, Jax behind them with the younglings and Dray, with both Aayla and Maris at his right.
"Urrr, ambushed some kind of Republic special forces unit, clones but not like any I had seen." Leo said as he sat up, his tunic had been stripped so they could patch up the wound with bandages wrapped around his waist and abs. Shirtless Leo's chest and arms bulged with as many muscles as there were scares, and considering the amount of times Leo had been in a medical wing that was a lot. The jedi sigil tattoo on his left chest with the sith tattoos around it and on his shoulder and arm "They stabbed with a vibro blade, the commando was good, really good." Leo said, touching the red blood spot.
"Yeah well ouch." Maris whistled smirking at his exposed back and crossing her arms not talking about the wound.
Leo sat up on the bed, as Dogma came up "You said a vibro blade, was it a knife or gauntlet?" He asked.
"Knife, why?" Leo asked him.
Fives answered "Tactically speaking sir, the Clone Commandos have a knuckle plate vibro blade in the gauntlet, do you remember their armor, we could identify their unit?" He asked.
Leo shook his head "This was a knife, their armor was black and red."
"Well unless the Delta's are upgrading I'm not sure." Fives said, holding his helmet under his arm.
"Well if someone takes a shot at our General, then they better prepare for a fight." Dogma said looking back at Jax "Jax, have the men do an inventory of the weapons we have here just in case they chase after use."
"Chase after us, shouldn't we be hightailing it out of here?" Maris asked the clones and Black Knights.
Sian, who stood in the corner, said "We can't, as long as this blizzard is going on we can't risk taking off and neither can they."
Maris screamed out of her teeth into the folds of her many robes "I-hate-this-place."
"I hate to be the one to point it out, but this isn't the first time the Republic is actively taking action against us, with lethal intent." Tholme stated.
"Us, the place after Leo." Aayla pointed out, Tholme sighed "Which begs the question how they knew we're here, Aayla?" Tholme asked all eyes on her. She stood up straight hands under her robe "Aayla?" Leo asked before the twi'lek woman answered.
Without even blinking or showing emotion "Yes, I sent the Republic our location but I meant it for the Jedi Council not the military." Everyone looked at her shocked, most of the older jedi just glared at her but the younglings were the most hurt and the most vocal was Petro. "You betrayed us!" The boy screamed.
"I did, but not like this." Aayla said to Leo, "Lotor's death should be evidence enough that you can't keep these jedi safe, I can't let you risk the lives of any more jedi." She said to him Leo avoided her gaze.
"I didn't want Lotor to die, but at least died fighting for something worthwhile." Leo said getting up and turning to her, holding his side Leo held up his hand "I can't believe I'm saying this, but give me your lightsaber." He said. At first Aayla didn't, then she saw the glares of the other older jedi on her seeing she was out numbered Aayla reached under her robe and handed him the hilt. "Dogma, Fives take her to her quarters and put two of your men to guard it."
When Aayla was led out of the medical room, he noticed something: "Where's Proxy?" Leo asked, looking around the medical room, he being the only missing crew member of note "Where's Proxy?" Leo snapped at them.
"The droid never made it back, it must have either been lost in the storm or destroyed by the commandos." K'Kruhk said when Leo spotted his garments, mask and harness on a chair walking over to them he grabbed his tunic and started to throw it on before he added the mantle and harness "I'm going back for him." Leo said, pulling his boots on.
"Back for a droid?" Petro asked him as Leo grabbed his mask and lightsaber.
"Back for a friend." Leo said as he fitted the harness tightly around his body "Leo, be reasonable we need to prepare to leave the second the storm passes, you can't risk all our lives for one droid?" Tholme said, trying to reason with him.
Leo was about to put his mask on but stopped to glance at Tholme "Get the ship ready, we leave as soon as Proxy and I are back, or leave without us."
"I'm coming with you." Jinx said following him "So am I." Turok said next to the younglings.
"No, you stay here to protect the others. If they want me, they'll have me." Leo said walking out into the cold after the Bad Batch.
HAVOC MARAUDER
Not far from their ship, inside an Omicron-class attack shuttle that served as the personal starship of Clone Force 99, also known as the "Bad Batch." The craft was unique compared to other Grand Army of the Republic starships as it was retrofitted with the latest technology and served as the Clones home away from home when on mission. The Bad Batch had Proxy restrained with a bolt on the droid's forehead forced to sit in a chair while Tech analyzed the droid, Wrecker, Crosshair and Hunter stood around him looking the droid over "Anything so far?" Hunter asked Tech.
"Nothing yet, the droid's interior core processor is unlike anything I've ever seen, every time I try to access the droid's systems the code changes as if it's fighting back?" Tech explained. Proxy's yellow eyes flickered on and off as Tech continued to try and hack into it.
"Why not we do it the old fashion way, take it apart piece by piece?" Crosshair asked, chewing on his toothpick.
Wrecker who was banging his still numb arm against the wall said "Lemme'at'em, I'll make the clanker squak."
"As fun as that would be, I want Tech t I see what he can do we need to know who were up against, nothing in our mission briefing said anything about hunting a Jedi." Hunter said, pacing down the bow of the ship. Crosshair and Wrecker followed him "Mission report did say the target was highly dangerous, maximum force wasn't just authorized it was encouraged." Hunter added as he sat down at one of the computers aboard the ship opening their files.
Crosshair leaned on his chair, "What are you looking for."
"Anything mentioning a jedi with a holo droid?" Hunter said as the computer files started to pull up showing pictures of Leo Rock as a Jedi General in his green robes "Former Jedi General Leo Rock, he's a deserter and a traitor it looks like."
Wrecker leaned over looking at the picture "Awwwee we got beat by a fricking kid."
"That Kid nearly killed both me and Crosshair Wrecker, made a fool of us using this droid." Hunter said as he brought up files and recordings of him.
"Why would the Republic send us after a Jedi, speaking candidly that all instances of rogue Jedi activity are handled by the Jedi themselves, with some exceptions?" Tech said as he kept trying to work on the droid.
Hunter glanced at him "This is one of those exceptions Tech, if we're going after a Jedi we need to know why, how's that droid coming along?"
"I think I've found a bypass through its defense systems, one second and here we go." Tech said before Proxy's head raised but the rest of the body was stiff. The droid blinked at them "Ah, Clones I do so love clones you are most efficient?" The droid said looking at Wrecker who looked back at him "What are you staring at?" Wrecker asked, Proxy's heads holosensers scanned Wrecker's half scared face and projected it onto the droids body and with the same voice and laugh the other Wrecker said "I'm staring at you." Proxy/Wrecker said.
Wrecker's jaw dropped seeing it "How'd you do that?" Wrecker asked.
Tech answered "This droid is equipped with a highly advanced sophisticated holographic technology, holodroids such as these can change their appearance and copy abilities at will. In this regard, they are similar to TC-SC infiltration droids but most are banned curious to how a Jedi acquired this one?" Tech said.
"Says here in the target's file he got it when he was a double agent, spying on Count Dooku." Crosshair said, taking Hunter's spot as the leader knelt down in front of Proxy.
"So our target is a rogue jedi, with an assassin droid and probably a ship full of other pissed off jedi… great." Hunter took out his knife holding it up to the droid, for a few seconds Proxy shifted back to its original form before the head took Hunter's bandana, long hair and half tattooed face and took his "Great…" he said back to his own face.
Hunter held the knife up to Proxy's exposed wires around his neck "Stop that, tell us what your master will do now that we have you will he run."
"It is hard to say, my algorithm is designed to try and eliminate him as part of a training protocol. I am supposed to predict what my Master will do, but I find that harder to accurately predict now." Proxy said looking at Hunter then at the others.
Crosshair taking out his toothpick said "Oh yea, why's that?" Crosshair asked.
"Because my scanners indicate he is on his way to this location, you would be wise to flee." Proxy said.
"Tech." Hunter snapped, Tech held up his own gauntlet and ran over to their computers at the front of the ship "Radar indicates one life form approaching from the south."
The Bad Batch sprung into action grabbing their weapons and helmets as Crosshair set up his sniper rifle he looked at Hunter "Thought you said you got him with your knife."
"I did, but he's a tough jedi." Hunter said "Oh thats not good." Proxy said.
"What, why is that not good?" Wrecker asked Proxy, "Every engagement my master has been in and been injured, has resulted in a one hundred percent accuracy of him becoming more dangerous." Proxy said as Hunter put on his helmet "Yeah, well so are we."
Hunter turned to face his men "Crosshair, take up position on top of the ship, Wrecker Tech defensive positions around the landing gear if this Jedi has any tricks we'll be ready." Hunter said before they ran out into the snow and took up their positions around their shuttle using the landing gear as cover. Wrecker gave Crosshair a boost to the top of the ship when he landed on it Hunter stood out in the center looking into the blizzard seeing nothing but white. "Anything yet?" Hunter asked.
Tech used his biometric scanner to see Leo coming toward them "He's twenty meters out and closing but he's… he's walking?"
"Walking, the choobies on this jedi." Crosshair said switching to a thermal scope "I've got him in my sights."
"Take the shot." Hunter said.
Crosshair lined up his sights, his namesake x'ed on Leo's masked face before he squeezed the trigger the laser bolt flew right at Leo but he just leaned his lead to the left letting it go right past him "Did you get him!" Wrecker called up over the snow. Crosshair lost another one and again Leo dodged it moving his head to the right. "Hold still." Crosshair said before he aimed at Leo's chest but when he shot at him Leo dodged again. Tech looked at his scanner seeing Leo dodge the incoming fire like a Crosshair was a child throwing snowballs at him "That's not possible?"
"Don't think that word is familiar to Jedi, Crosshair holds your fire." Hunter said, taking out his knife when he saw Leo come out of the snow without a single scratch on him.
The other commandos raised their blasters at him "General Rock." Hunter said seeing him they were five meters away.
"Figure out who I am, good, then you'll give me back my friend if you know what's good for you." Leo said over the snow
"Friend?" Wrecker asked.
Hunter knew he was talking about Proxy "That droids your friend, never thought of a droid as a friend just target practice."
"You'd be wise to reconsider Commando. I understand you have a mission and your duty. But, anyone who stands between me and my friends is my enemy." Leo said, his arm hovering over his lightsaber.
Hunter and the Bad Batch held their ground "No offense General, but we don't care about the droid, all we care about is our mission." Hunter said, reaching for his blaster pistol.
Leo sensed him ready to die for that mission "... I'm warning you…" Leo said as Hunter looked at Leo's green eyes slowly starting to turn yellow "You don't want this fight."
"I think we do— Maneuver Sixl." Hunter said before he drew his blaster pistol opening fire on Leo, Leo unsheathed his lightsaber, deflecting it while Tech and Crosshair opened fire on him. Charging under cover Wrecker came at Leo with his own blaster rifle letting loose rounds at him. Tech ran around Leo to flank him as Hunter and Crosshair kept up the barrage before Wrecker jumped up into the air and came down as a hammer to crush Leo like a nail but Leo dodged just as Tech rolled a grenade under Leo's feet it exploded turning out to be an ion grenade that sent out a surge of electricity up Leo's legs to his arms. But Leo took the electrical charge and channeled it into force lighting right into Tech blasting him off his feet "Tech!" Wrecker shouted before he appeared behind Leo, his two gorilla-like arms smashing down on Leo sending him into the snow. Wrecker grabbed Leo by his leg and hurled him across the snow, rolling back up to his feet Leo charged Wrecker, Hunter and Crosshair.
"Wrecker give your blade." Hunter said holstering his pistol rifle and drawing his knife, "Cover me." Hunter said before Wrecker gave Hunter the machete. With both blades in hand and cover from behind Hunter and Leo met each other head on in a lightsaber versus vibro blade duel. Despite his bulky armor and pack, Hunter moved with the grace of a dancer with the machete and knife glancing off Leo's purple lightsaber.
He blocked Hunter's blow and jumped out of the way to avoid Wrecker and Crosshair's shots, but Wrecker started to get closer before he joined the fray. Now fighting both Hunter and Wrecker close to close, Leo had to avoid the giant's arms and fists while Hunter tried to slice him to ribbons, across from them Crosshair waited for his shot as Tech got up limping toward them.
"Almost got him, almost got him…" Crosshair said as Tech analyzed his movements "I've analyzed his fighting pattern, you'll have your shot…. Now!" Tech said Crosshair let loose a shot and the laser tore through the snow hitting Leo. Knocked to the ground Hunter and Wrecker saw him go face down into the snow, both of them panting.
They looked at one another before Wrecker said "Dibs on the lightsaber." He said, running up to pick the blade up and turn it on the purple blade glowing in front of him, "Always wanted one of these." Wrecker said as Tech and Crosshair came up pleased with himself.
"Huh, jedi not so tough." Crosshair said.
"Not so, if you hadn't taken his shot, Wrecker would have lost his head in the next three moves." Tech said analytically "Wut?" Wrecker gasped.
Taking a moment to catch his breath Hunter looked down at Leo "... Uh oh." He said when the snow around them started to stop, not just stop falling literally the entire blizzard around them had frozen in a bubble in time. And Leo, Leo was moving at first it was a twitch then Leo put one hand in the snow "He's not dead." Crosshair said shocked, raising his blaster to finish him off but Leo's hand flashed back and knocked the weapons from their hand including his lightsaber from Wreckers grip into his own. The purple blade burned through the still snowflakes in the air and seething out of Leo was force lightning churning up and down his body instead of out at them "Uh you ever seen a jedi do that?" Wrecker asked stunned.
Hunter rushed him, but Leo swung his lightsaber across Hunter's side, cutting him through the armor "Hunter!" Wrecker shouted, attacking Leo with a right hook. Leo caught his fist with the force and twisted it before he bent Wreckers arm back the wrong way dislocating it "GYaaahh!" Wrecker screamed before Leo, side stepped him and kicked in his knee breaking his leg. Like a great tree Wrecker crashed to the ground in pain, then picked up both Tech and Crosshair with his power and smashed the two commandos into one another knocking them both out.
Gasping out for air Hunter held his cut side, his armor had taken the full brunt of the blade making the cup not cleave him into but Leo approached Hunter holding the lightsaber over his head, kicking off his helmet, so he could see Hunters face the cold of the snow around his ears and the heat of Leo's lightsaber made steam on his face "Take a message back to whoever sent you, if you come after me again I'll come for them next." Leo said before he kicked Hunter in the jawline, knocking the commando out.
Stepping back Leo let out a deep breath before he grabbed his chest holding the burned cloth and harness tight, the wound was deep, he couldn't stay conscious for long had to focus. "Focus…. focus…. use pain-rrrrr." Leo pressed his hand to his wound and channeled his force lightning into it, the force making Leo scream out in agony but still managed to stay conscious. Wobbling up to their ship, Leo entered it to see Proxy stuck to the chair. He ripped the restraining bolt off of Proxy's head letting the droid stand on his own "Ah Master, I am pleased you're not dead."
"Don't get too happy- get me back to the ship." Leo said, leaning on the droid.
Later, as the storm began to lift Jinx, Sian and K'Kruhk were standing outside the unnamed hammerhead when they saw Leo and Proxy coming over the hill. Proxy had one of Leo's arms slung off the droid's shoulder as he dragged him through the snow "I am in need of assistance, he has suffered a serious wound to his chest from a sniper shot." Jinx rushed up to help him as they hurried him aboard the ship.
"Did Obi-Wan ever teach you to dodge blaster fire or do you like getting shot?" Jinx asked him as Leo wheezed "Shut up Jinx hehehe." He laughed as they pulled him onboard. As soon as they all were on the ship the unnamed Hammerhead rose from the snow covered ground and started to take off. In the distance behind them the Bad Batch had come too.
Hunter was setting Wreckers leg his, while the big clone fixed his own arm resetting the bone with a grunt "Good as new- OW not so much." Wrecker said as Hunter stepped back to watch the Hammerhead escape them.
"Are we going after them?" Crosshair asked, picking up his blaster rifle that had been knocked out of his hands.
The Clone commando leader didn't say a word, he boarded the Havoc Marauder and sat down in one of the communications chairs. Activating it he started a recording "... This is Sergeant Hunter of Clone Force 99, mission failed…. target escaped awaiting orders."
CORUSCANT
Republic Military Complex
Admiral Tarkkin was in his office when he received the transmission, taking a moment to pace his office the Admiral pressed a button on a private holodevice on the other end of the room where seconds later Chancellor Palpatine appeared before him "Well?" The Chancellor asked.
"Clone force 99 has failed, Rock has escaped shall I have them pursue him?" Tarkin asked.
The Chancellor sighed "A shame, but no, send them elsewhere we will deal with these Black Knights at a later date."
The Admiral gave a firm nod "As you wish Chancellor, it just so happens there's been an insurrection on Yalbec Prime led by their Queen I'll dispatch the commandos to handle it." The Admiral said before the Chancellor said "Very well, you will go forward with our alternative plan if clones may not prove as effective when dealing with these rogue jedi then we fight fire with fire." The Chancellor cut the transmission after that.
Walking back over to his desk he sent the new mission to the Bad Batch and sat down at his desk, tapping his fingers he pressed a button and turned his chair around as two people was brought in by two Coruscant Guard clones before they left leaving a control device on the table for Tarkin to take "You summoned me, what do you want?" One asked.
Tarkin tapped his fingers together. "An old acquaintance of ours has become an Emmy of the Republic as former prisoners. Fortunately for you two have the honor of achieving a pardon if you can eliminate them?" Tarkin said, turning around in his chair at the two orange jumpsuits wearing prisoners of Volfe Karkko and Barriss Offee. The two fallen jedi glared at the Admiral who stood up activating his tables holodevice to show Leo. When Volfe saw Leo his purplish blue eyes looked eager and Barriss blue ones at Tarkin "A full pardon?" Barriss asked him.
"Yes, if you can kill Leo Rock?" Tarkin asked.
"I think we can agree to that my dear?" Volfe said over to her, Barriss gave Tarkin a nod "Just point us in the right direction and stay out of our way." Tarkin's held up the control device deactivating their shackles, just then two clones came in each of them in their arms holding black garments with lightsabers on them. Karkko's original one and Asajj's old lightsabers that Barriss had fought Anakin with "Then by all means let's get started, Inquisitors." Tarkin said, smiling at them, her blue eyes turning yellow.
To the guest who is bombarding the reviews with wanting to seeing Depa Billaba, yes she'll be in this, yes Leo and Windu will have a confrontation soon, will it be at that battle you want, maybe. Thank you all for your suggestions especially about Jinx, and other Black Knights. Got a Rogue Jedi you want to join them, canon or legend. Send a suggestion or PM one of your own