Heres Part 3, with a little bit of Karena the great. Enjoy! -Cloaked Writer
Surface of Geonosis, Acclamator-class transgalactic military assault ship bridge, 22 BBY
Clicker stood across from a healed Jedi General Mundi, analyzing a large hologram of Geonosis. He held up his hand, and used the hologram to trace a platoon's movement from their landing zone, towards the fourth quadrant of the Northern Hemisphere, then back towards the equator and to the Ebon sea...
His thoughts were interrupted briefly by the loud whoosh of the door to the bridge opening. He looked up quickly to see General Kenobi move towards General Mundi.
"What's this? I didn't expect to see you walking about." He said in a joking manor to his colleague.
"After enough time in a bacta tank, one longs or the mundane comfort of star charts." Mundi replied, a pleasant smile on the Cerean's face.
"It seems to have done you some good, your wound looked almost healed,"
Clicker saved his work onto a datafile, half expecting the pair to turn to the map and require a clean slate.
"I wish I could say the same for most of my men."
"Well, lets make sure we don't have to take Geonosis a third time. Poggle's forces seemed to have come from the Northern Hemisphere," General Kenobi said, turning towards the hologram pod and towards the map. Clicker pressed a button, wiping clean his marks from the displayed planetoid and stepping back.
"And where was Master Unduli's last contact made from?"
General Kenopi pointed towards a small discoloration on the planet, towards the equator.
"This region, farther to the west. But there is nothing out there according to our latest Intel."
Clicker lowered his head and moved to stand away from the pod, when a loud chime filled the bridge.
"Incoming transmission, Sir!" a nameless Clone said from a monitor.
"Put it through." Clicker ordered.
The Planet was replaced with the holographic form of General Unduli.
"General Kenobi, I believe I have found the trail of Poggle,"
"What did you find?"
"It appears to be a munitions container of some kind,"
"It could just be debris..." Mundi said.
"I don't think so, there was no battle in this region" Unduli continued.
"It looks like Poggle was on a direct course, 11 mark 72, that way," A Clone voice said, out of reading range of the hand held holographic disk, but audible through the sound detectors.
"Heading straight for the Progate Temple..." Unduli said with cautious surety.
"That makes no sense, nothing in the temple could have survived the munition barrages in the first wave of our attack, why would he risk exposure and go there?" General Mundi said slowly
"I'm not sure, perhaps he doesn't yet realize the extent to which we cleared that area." Unduli said.
Another whoosh signaled the door opening, and General Skywalker entered the room, datapad in hand and a grimace on his face.
"Master Luminara, we are detecting a sand storm heading your way," He said with great urgency
"No matter. Poggle is out in the open and I intend to grab him before he can get off world," She said defiantly.
Clicker grimaced at the slight bickering. We had a planetary blockade in place, there was no way any ship could get off world. It would be a waiting game, one we could win. Could she not see this? Or was she caught up in the moment of capturing such a high level leader of the Confederacy.
"I'd advise against it; you could get lost in the storm." Mundi reasoned
"Then we'd have to find both you and Poggle." Kenobi added.
"I feel it is a risk worth taking," Unduli said firmly.
"As you wish," General Mundi said quietly, before ending the transmission.
And every minute afterwards, General Skywalker paced restlessly from the window, to the monitors in order to check for any transmission.
"What could be taking her so long? Something must have happened," He said an hour or so after her message had ended
"Patience, Skywalker. It's a delicate operation. I am sure we will have more information soon." Mundi said calmly.
"I must admit, I am troubled we haven't heard from her..." General Kenobi said calmly, but with a worried shell to his words.
"Let's not start worrying yet. Luminara is not one to take unnecessary risks." Mundi said, calmly walking towards a seat.
It was several hours before they received another transmission.
Clicker had discreetly tuned into the Holonet on his datapad to see how Tusk and his detachment were doing on Mimban, when the loud notification rang throughout the bridge.
Her transmission flickered in and out of focus as the storm interfered with their transmission reading sensors.
"Master Kenobi! We tracked Poggle to the Temple but now there is no sign of him!" General Unduli all but shouted, trying to be heard over the storm.
"Go no further until we can send support. The storm is making things difficult, we can barely read your transmission as it is!" General Kenobi said, a worried urgency to his voice that seemed to be his pre-combat voice.
"Are you sure he went into the Temple?" Mundi asked, his hand resting on the Holopod.
"Yes, we saw him enter, but I think he has gone into the catacombs below," She said.
"Those catacombs go on for miles, I fear we may have lost him. Get yourself out of there-" General Kenobi said, before being cut off as the voice of General Luminara Unduli's Clone Companion howled in pain. The Hologram transmission cut off as Unduli activated her lightsaber.
"Master Unduli? Master Unduli!" Kenobi shouted, too late for the Jedi to hear him.
"We've lost the connection," Mundi solemnly reported. General Skywalker turned deliberately and marched towards the door.
"Where are you going?" General Kenobi asked.
"Take a guess."
"We'll never get to her in this storm, the gunships can't handle it."
"We have to do something!"
"I am sorry Skywalker. We have no choice. We must have patience, and trust in master Unduli." Mundi said calmly.
"We'll leave as soon as the storm settles," Kenobi said firmly, then turning back to a monitor.
As soon as the storm lifted, two gunships burst into the sky and headed directly for the Progate Temple. Clicker brought two dozen members of his company, minus the Skulls, who were enjoying a well deserved break from combat. The gunships touched down outside the temple, and black and white armored Clones touched ground and rushed into the Temple. The 212th, and the 300th, all with their respective Clone Marshal Commanders, and all with their Generals, with the exception of the 300th.
"Stay alert, spread out and look around," General Skywalker said, motioning with his hand.
The Clone's dispersed, and it wasn't too long before they found something.
"Sir! over here!" Commander Cody called out to his General. Generals Kenobi and Skywalker rushed over to the commander, as did Clicker, only to discover the body of the Clone lieutenant that had accompanied her.
"Buzz is dead."
"Any sign of Luminara?" Skywalker asked.
"No, General."
"There as a struggle..." Kenobi said, before he broke from the group and stooped to the ground.
"This is not a good sign. Luminara's Lightsaber..." He said, holding up the weapon to his Jedi companion. Anakin looked at the body of the Clone, then down at the lightsaber.
"Poggle didn't do this... But maybe that did!" He said, pointing up towards a large sculpture standing above a doorway. It was a strange Geonosian with a large flat crest across it's head, and a toothy snarl on it's face.
"That is one hell of an ugly Bug," Clicker said in revulsion.
"I've never seen one that looks like that," General Skywalker began.
"I dont think anyone has. It could be the Geonosian Queen." Kenobi reasoned.
"The Bugs have a Queen?"
"A rumor. There has been no evidence of her existence..."
"Until now, you mean."
General Kenobi looked down the tunnel that the grand sculpture seemed to guard like a ferocious gargoyle.
"This way!" He said, turning back to his men, as the intense number of troopers filed into the tunnels.
"Come on men, let's move!" Commander Cody said sharply, turning on his helmet search lights.
For a long while they walked in silence, the only noise being the occasional metallic clink of the stock of the DC-15s's of the 212 soldier's weapons, and the whining feedback from Cody's locator. Clicker always preferred the DC-17m; no clanking.
"This leads to a dead end," He heard Cody say to his Jedi Genral.
"But this way leads further down. Sir, I'd say that's our best bet."
"I'll go first." General Kenobi said, crouching lower to fit into the tunnel. He was followed by Skywalker, then Cody, and the other troops. Clicker went last. As he stouped down to enter the pathway, he heard a rustling behind him. He turned quickly, blaster raised and lights flashing-
To see a small little worm go writhing out of the light.
Stupid fauna Clicker growled internally, before ducking back into the tunnel and resuming his rear-guard formation.
What was disturbingly eerie about this catacomb, was the silence that perverted every twist and turn they entered.
Normally, an insect hive would have at least a few warriors guarding the tunnels, but it seemed like the entire hive and Clone force alike were holding their breaths, awaiting a single, horrific confrontation.
Clicker's dark thoughts were not disappointed.
A loud chime threatened to make Clicker jump, as General Kenobi reached behind him and activated his portable Hologram Disk. The shuddering form of the Jedi Master Luminara Unduli appeared in his hand. She was holding her hands out in an almost entreating fashion, but her hands were bound with binders and a look of horror was written upon her face.
"-aster Kenobi! If you're following me you shul- -et out! I repeat, turn back-" Her own hologram disk was knocked from her hand, and a wingless Geonosian drone began to fight with her, trying to get her under his control.
Two loud screams sounded in Clicker's ears; one emitting from the Hologram, and another, identical one, howling from one of the tunnels.
"She must be close-by, come on!" Kenobi shouted, igniting his lightsaber and flying down the tunnel. Skywalker and the rest of the Clone force followed them, and were met with a bizarre, and terrible sight.
A horde of Geonosians stood awaiting them, and began to attack, gargling and screaming that horrid, alien yell. However, this was not the rushed motion of normal Geonosians, but the slow shuffle of something else. They're skin was not a healthy brown, but an old, dead, grey. Their eyes were white, and-
Some were missing limbs.
They weren't alive.
They were dead.
"I don't like the looks of this..." General Kenobi said posthumorously. Clicker shook his head and unclipped a fire cartridge from his belt. He enjoyed General Kenobi well enough, but he took things almost as seriously as his former Apprentice did.
Another howl behind them signaled the pincer movement. Another hoard of Geonosian Drones and Warriors stumbled out of the darkness, hands outstretched. One warrior charged Clicker, who activated the incendiary rounds and began to fire. Hot orange bolts of raw energy burned through the air and caused deem burns to appear on the old, dead flesh. However, they didn't even react to the pain. Not even a flinch! They just kept coming.
A scream alerted Clicker that two of the 212th Clone force were being dragged off. He fired a few rounds, knowing that their armor would shield them to the burns, but no no avail. He jolted when a strong arm gripped his shoulder and spun him around, and he was greeted with the old and decaying smell of rotting insect tissue. The Undead Geonosian roared at him, and attempted to lift up his helmet. However, the creature underestimated his advanced Genetics. Dropping his blaster and seizing the beast's wrists, he pulled with tremendous strength, and ripped the creature's arms right from their sockets. This caused several of the Geonosians to waver slightly, as Clicker hurled them towards the hoard and picked up his blaster, resuming fire.
"Back, Everyone, back! Take out the tunnel supports! It's the only way!" General Kenobi's voice sounded from behind Clicker. He turned to see the General's back approaching him, as his troopers fired at the supports, burying the horde in a pile of dust and rubble. All of the Clones and the Jedi quickly charged down a smaller tunnel that branched off from the main walkway. The tunnel collapsed behind them as General Skywalker somersaulted his way to safety, covered head to toe in dust.
"What were those things? We couldn't kill them!" He said, standing up.
"I have heard stories about a Geonosian Hive Mind so powerful, so strong, that it could maintain it's connection with it's warriors, even after they have died." General Kenobi said, leaning against a tunnel support.
"And you think that's why we couldn't kill them? Because they were-"
"Already dead..." Kenobi finished.
"That can't be true... that's impossible!"
"Impossible or not, these creatures keep moving no matter if we cut them up or shoot them down..." He said, walking away. However, he stopped and turned to Anakin, igniting his lightsaber.
"Call for reinforcements."
There was a deep ping, and a growl of frustration.
"No signal!"
"We must be too deep underground." Kenobi reasoned. He turned to two of his troopers.
"You two, go to the surface and contact General Mundi. Tell him we need reinforcements."
"Yes, Sir!" One of the troopers said, before they both ducked into a tunnel that slanted upwards. Clicker distantly hear one express his gratitude of being chosen to leave the catacombs, before the were well out of earshot.
"Right, let's keep moving!" General Kenobi said, as Skywalker ignited his lightsaber and led the way with his Jedi peer.
They had walked a total of twenty steps when a scream of terror and pain through a helmet's vocalizer echoed shrilly through the tunnels. General Kenobi whirled his head and scrambled back towards the tunnel where the Clones had gone, with the entire force trailing behind him. The lights fell on the bodies of the Clones, a pool of blood around their heads and staining their pristine white armor; their throat's had been ripped out. Cody rushed forward to confirm if the Clone named Wooly was alright, but saw that he too was dead. Clicker rushed to check the one he knew to be named Gearshift, and lifted the helmet cautiously and with a morbid curiosity. His throat had been ripped to shreds by what looked to be teeth, the windpipe crushed. The jaw had been popped out of the socket on one side, in order to further reek damage on the Clone and snuff out his voicebox. He bowed his head, and closed the body's eyes; the last look of terror now veiled by his lids. He pressed his thumb firmly onto the forehead and whispered a prayer in Mandolorian in the warrior tradition of wishing a valiant warrior on to his next battle.
"Obviously these creatures are far more powerful that we assumed. I am going to the surface to alert General Mundi myself." General Skywalker said with incredible zeal in his words.
"I think that would be a fool-hearty move, Anakin. We cannot divide our troops again; we don't have time to double back to the surface. Every moment we waste could put Master Luminara in greater danger." General Kenobi told his companion.
They continued further into the bowels of the catacombs, in relative silence but jumping at every other sound that we heard, be it a distant groan or a slight crunching of someone stepping on the strange yellow-orange eggshells that were scattered across the floors.
In one of the latter tunnels, General Kenobi broke the silence.
"The air is warmer down here... We must be getting close."
"Oh, forget the heat..." General Skywalker said, cutting him off and coughing.
"It smells down here!"
"Keep your voice down!"
"I'm just saying! This planet is rotten to the core..." And then he stopped. They had arrived in the center of the Catacombs.
A massive horde of Geonosians, living and dead, stood encircling a massive worm like creature coiled in the center of the room, resting on a soft bed of sand and with a small ring of what looked like eggs. The worm like creature was large and bulbous, but where it's head would be, a figure, identical to the statue Clicker had commented on earlier, rested with the regal authority of a Monarch.
"I've got a bad feeling about this..." General Skywalker said in a low voice.
"It must be... the Queen. Any sign of Luminara?" Kenobi commented to his Clone Marshal Commander Cody. Cody activated his infrared Visor and looked out upon the crowd.
"Yes, Sir! She is suspended in the throne"
"Perfect... What about Poggle?" Anakin asked.
"He's... Speaking with the Queen."
"Good, you take the Soldiers, I'll take the Queen."
"Must you always rush into things!" Kenobi chastised.
"Oh no... You don't actually want to talk to it do you?"
"As a matter of fact, I do. Anakin, don't you wonder why they took Luminara captive? Why not just kill her?"
"She's leverage, she's a hostage..." General Skywalker listed off.
"A Hostage for what? No, there's something else going on here. And these... Zombies, are connected to it."
Clicker shook head head. These had to be the two most argumentative Commanders in the history of military operations. They cared for their men, sure, but this was a stretch to the humor, that had long worn out it's welcome.
"Fine, we'll try it your way."
"So glad you agree. Cody, Clicker, set up your men around the perimeter. These creatures live in darkness; the light from your helmets should blind them temporarily. Turn your lamps on at my signal. It should create enough confusion for us to get Luminara out of here."
"What happens when the Bugs pursue?" Cody whispered.
"He has a point, you have seen what they are, we can't kill them" Clicker added in a whisper.
"We'll have to bury them. It'll at least slow them down. Shoot out the support pillars and this whole place will collapse." General Skywalker added. Kenobi nodded.
"Lets go."
Clicker and the clones stood tense amungst the pillars as the Jedi, either very brave or incredibly stupid, approached the queen. The undead Geonosians lurched forward, snarling and howling, but froze in their tracks at a howled command from the Queen.
"I thought I told you not to follow me?" The amplified and echoing voice of General Unduli questioned the approaching Jedi. The reply, presumably from General Kenobi, earned a loud shout of indignation from General Skywaker.
"You, You are the creatures that attack Geonosia! Why have you come before... Me?" She asked in a howling screech, with a heavy accent
Clicker blinked. Did the queen not know what her Archduke was doing? Did she not know what he had signed her people up to do?
General Kenobi placed one foot forward and began to speak.
"Your Majesty, it is a pleasure to finally meet you. I am Obi-Wan Kenobi, and this is Anakin Skywalker. It is our sad duty to inform you that your rule is, at an end."
"You, will not dictate to me, Jedi! My Empire is forever!" She screamed from atop her egg-sack.
"I am afraid it does not appear that way, your grace. You will release the Jedi Luminara, and submit to Republic Law."
The Geonosian Queen let out a deranged howl of rage and disgust, before breathing in a deep, wispy breath and speaking in a low, soft tone that was far deadlier than her words before.
"I will no submit, to you!" She declared, as two of Poggle's guards pointed Geonosian Sonic Blaster's towards the two men. Clicker saw a burst of blue light as Anakin ignited his lightsaber, but it was swiftly deactivated and confiscated by the guards.
"Your highness, destroying us will only make the Republic's judgment of you harsher." Kenobi warned, looking up towards the gargantuan Geonosian.
"No, Jedi, no! I no destroy you, I... Devour, you. I will control you." she drawled, flexing her fingers menacingly.
"I have but one Jedi that Young Poggle bring me, but now, I have three!" She said, rearing back and waving her little arms in the air.
"Now, watch as my child enters your Jedi friend. And once inside, her mind, becomes my mind. Her thoughts, my thoughts!" She added with sinister air, as an undead Geonosian stepped towards pogg,e handing him one of the yellow eggs that Clicker had seen scattered about the catacombs. Skywalker and Kenobi seamed to engage in a whispered argument, inaudible to Clicker, but Luminara's responses, amplified due to the suspension shackles, echoed throughout the cavernous throne room.
"No, I don't."
"I disagree!"
Poggle stepped closer now, holding one of the yellow worms towards her face.
"I hope you have a plan?" She asked as the worm slithered around her head. Kenobi said one final word to her, before letting out a bellow.
"Cody, now!"
The Clones rushed out into the open and turned on their lights, blinding all of the Geonosians and causing them to cover their eyes. The Jedi pair, through cleaver manipulation of the force and using their combat prowess, quickly retreived their lightsabers, dispatched a few Geonosans, and already had Poggle in binders before the Undead drones or the Queen knew what had happened. The drones lunged forward towards the troops, who began firing at the hoarde, before backpedaling towards the entrance and firing at the support beams.
By some twist of fate, they arrived to the large cylindrical tunnel upwards that lay in the center of the Progate Temple. Clicker heard the Jedi say something, but he wasn't listening. He was too busy climbing and forcing his men up ahead of him. Suddenly, a surge of air lifted everyone upwards and out of the temple, before it colapsed behind them.
"All things considered, that went rather well." Skywalker said, coughing slightly.
"I wish we could have gotten one of those worms. It could have helped us learn how they captured Geonosis the last time." Kenobi countered.
"Well, let's hope the secret is buried with her."
Clicker didn't care. The only good bug was a dead one. And the only place for a Clone, Clicker had learned, was alongside a Jedi. If they weren't there, there was no way him or his men could have gotten out of there alive.
Good jesus that was long. Anyways, the next story will be a one part showing of Tusk and his unique experiences with the Jedi, and then Shard's visit to Couruscant. Until next time, Cloaked Writer out.