Clone Captain Crespi was slammed into a tree trunk as debris rained down upon him. There had been an explosion, artillery fire from the Separatist droids that now rained fire down upon them. Blasters roared, explosions boomed, clones screamed, droids sizzled with electric sparks.
Extraction was impossible. The base before them was their only hope of escape. But they had to reach it first. Commander Boar was dead, Crespi was the highest ranking clone among the ranks of his quickly diminishing battalion, the only other commanding officer alive being a Cathar Jedi Padawan he barely knew.
Crespi felt himself be dragged out of harm's way, brushing the debris off his battered armor. He turned his head, staring into the concerned face of the Jedi. The flare from what had to be an explosion lit her battle-worn feline face that was filled with worry.
"Captain!" she yelled, shaking him. "Get up! We need to keep moving."
He blinked up, recognizing his surroundings. The dark jungle they had tried to sneak their way through flared again. He saw the small rise they used to avoid slogging through the swamp that he was now half-underwater in. Clones, his comrades, were all around them taking cover and returning fire against droid patrols as missiles impacted everywhere around them.
One of his men shouted and both Crespi and the Jedi, Mylar Kila, turned to see a clone from the 116th being slaughtered by a… it had to be a new type of droid. What else could that be?
It was black in color, as black as the void of space, bipedal, and had an elongated head somewhat reminiscent of the faceplates of battle droids. It's long spindly arms grabbed the clone and a… a silvery tongue shot forward imploding the faceplate of the clone's faceplate. Crespi opened fire with his DC-15A carbine, but the blaster bolts pinged and ricocheted off the strange droid.
Mylar leaped to defend the clone she barely knew. She charged it, lightsaber raised and ready to strike, but the droid evaded, jumping up into the trees. Mylar stopped, her lightsaber at the ready as she scanned the trees above her.
She screamed as a sharp barbed point erupted from her chest, lifting her into the air with a spray of blood. The droid, no… it couldn't be a droid, snarled and pulled its tail out, letting Mylar's limp body drop to the marshy swamp with a splash.
There was a second splash as the demon landed and began to stalk towards him. Mylar's lifeless eyes stared endlessly into his. Crespi screamed.
Crespi came to finding himself flat on his back with Dr. Larte and the medic Salvia looking over him with concern on their faces. He heard blasters firing repeatedly, and sat up. "What happened?"
The two medtechs grabbed his shoulders to support him. "Easy," Dr. Larte said. "You've taken a blow to the head. Possibly a concussion. We got hit by a rockslide, Ahsoka managed to avoid most of it and pulled us out of the rubble."
His head throbbing, Crespi turned to see Kowalski and Massey on bended knee, blazing away at threats he couldn't yet see. Commander Tano was standing in between them using the Force to throw rocks and small boulders one at a time at what were undoubtedly the approaching aliens in an attempt to slow them down or crush them. Easely was propped up against a massive boulder, blaster rifle up and ready. Crespi forced himself to his feet. "Where's my helmet?"
Salvia gave it to him despite the glare he got from Dr. Larte. Medics were always like that when he went against their recommendations to rest. They didn't have the time now.
He was also quite fond of this helmet. He had been forced to use the standard Imperial stormtrooper helmet, but he had modified it with tech taken from the inside of his old Phase II helmet. Regulations tended to be less strict for independent units like his out in Wild Space. The perks of Imperial Deep Space Recon.
He went to Easely, who turned to him. "Good to see you on your feet sir!"
"Where are the others?"
"No sign of Teraan and Pulaski, sir. Two of the rebels are unaccounted for as well," Easely reported.
"Damnit!" Crespi swore.
His comlink crackled, it was Kowalski. "We can't stay here for long sir! They're making a push."
Crespi had never left men behind when he had the chance to save them, but he had no clue where Teraan or Pulaski had ended up. "Fierfek!" Crespi swore again, kicking a boulder. "Fall back towards the ship!" He ordered.
Salvia slung one of Easely's arms over one shoulder, Dr. Larte took the other over her shoulder. Easely had gotten even more banged up in the landslide. The splint on his ankle had been redone and there was a bacta patch applied to one of his shoulders. The white stormtrooper armor had been stained with rock dust and a few rivulets of dried blood.
Hoop was limping with a bandage tied around his leg. Apparently he had sliced it open during the rockslide. Kowalski and Massey had fared better, as had Dr. Larte suffering only some superficial bruises and lacerations, maybe a few concussions as well, although Salvia was limping noticeably. Tano must have used those Jedi powers to escape the worst of the rockslide.
"Let's go!" Crespi called. "Kowalski, take point! Massey, cover our shebs with Tano!"
As his eyes readjusted to the light, he saw the aliens out there, slinking along the walls. The sight of them caused his mind to immediately flash back to the… it wasn't entirely a memory. There hadn't been any of these creatures on that mission and Mylar hadn't died there. The responsibility for her death fell on… Crespi immediately pushed the thought out of his mind, he had suffered from that thought for the last fifteen years or so. It wouldn't do them any good to dwell on it now and distract himself.
The aliens surrounded his party on three sides, preventing them from going those ways. The only open path was… was the ship. It was almost as if they were herding them! Driving them towards the ship.
"Keep your eyes peeled, Kowalski. I think they want us to go into the ship."
There was silence from his subordinate for a few moments before he heard one word. "Right."
If there was a Creator, Crespi hoped the missing four were either dead and out of their misery, or at least faring better than they were.
Joseph Henry swept his flashlight across the ground in front of him, blaster up and ready to engage anything that came after them. His comlink had been busted in the rockslide and the Imperials were getting nothing but static on their end.
It was a miracle they hadn't been buried alive, but the rockslide had carried the four of them somewhere in the massive cavern that now appeared to extend even further back than they expected. Or maybe they had fallen into another cavern below the one with the ship?
Henry couldn't see the ship anywhere. They had found a path that led somewhere, and it was better than doing nothing or attempting a perilous climb up the massive pile of shifting rocks and boulders. Teraan stood behind him. Her helmet had been shattered by a boulder, so she left it back there. It was useless now anyways.
Rynn walked behind Teraan, head down in dejection. She had caused the rockslide in the first place by firing the thumper. She had lost it in the rockslide. Pulaski, who brought up the rear, had been furious with her, but Teraan had silenced him. They were all nervous and afraid, and division amongst the four of them would do no good. Teraan had given Rynn her secondary blaster pistol, a nice little piece of kit that she had confiscated from a smuggler a few months back.
Nothing had come after them so far. It was eerily silent, the only sounds being their breathing and the crunching of loose stone underfoot. Henry squinted as the beam from his flashlight caught something strange. A construction?
He played his light out, seeing what appeared to be a structure of some kind. He shone the light further back, illuminating more and more constructions.
"Holy kriff," he said, stopping dead in his tracks. "Hey Teraan, I think we've got a city down here."
Ahsoka continued to block their path off behind them as well as she could, for what good it could do against alien creatures that scaled the walls like spiders. Crespi had said that the aliens were driving them back towards the ship, and from what she could see he was right.
The beasts moved swiftly, skirting around them to cut off any other avenue of escape. They reminded her of the stories she had heard of akuls on her homeworld of Shili.
The ground they traversed here was unlike the ground up on the ridge they had traversed previously. That one would have taken them right up to the ship and they would have been able to traverse the top of the ship, but down here eons of mineral deposits had left the ground uneven, rising to crest in some places and descending into small mini-craters in others. Some of the crests rose to chest height. She occasionally had to use the Force to levitate Easely over while Massey provided cover fire for her.
They made steady progress towards the huge gash in the side of the ship. Five aliens charged her and Massey. They moved like shadows, loping swiftly on all fours at them. Two came from the front, the other three coming from angles to their path.
Massey fired in bursts, peppering the ground and rocks around the dodging shadows. Ahsoka grabbed his shoulder and pulled Massey back. "Don't waste your time! Maybe if they're point blank."
"They get that close and we're dead!" Massey shouted back at her.
"Just run!" They both turned after their retreating comrades, leaping over the shorter mineral deposits and vaulting the taller ones. Ahsoka grabbed loose stones and bits of shale and tossed them backwards in a vain attempt to keep the aliens at distance. Ahsoka had accepted the fact that her conventional force attacks did not work against the aliens, but that didn't mean she was defenseless. They still worked on the rocks and sand. For whatever good it would do against the aliens.
If it was just one of them, she would have stood and fought with her remaining lightsaber. It had proved highly successful in killing the aliens. She wouldn't stand a chance against five of them. Ahsoka doubted even Master Windu or Master Obi-Wan, two of the best swordsmen the Jedi Order had, could go against the shadows and win.
They met back up with the others at the base of the ship. Crespi pointed up at the side of the ship. "That gash right there. That'll be the easiest way to get inside the ship."
"You want us to go inside?" Barriss asked incredulously.
"You want to make a stand out here?" Crespi fired back.
Kowalski sighed. "Too open. They could easily flank us out here."
Crespi nodded. "Tano, I'll need you to levitate us up. We can't move him up there any other way and it would take too long for the rest of us to climb. Kowalski, get up there and make a perimeter. Massey, you and me will cover Tano."
"Wait," Ahsoka was surprised at the outburst from Barriss. The Mirialan hadn't said much thus far. "Ahsoka isn't the only one who can lift them up… I can as well."
Barriss had kept a low profile, helping in the background, to avoid provoking Ahsoka again. She had been shocked at Ahsoka's presence on Charon Station, but then again, seeing an old friend again after fifteen years or so would be a shock to anyone.
Barriss never thought she would see her togruta friend again after she was sentenced to life in prison for bombing the Jedi Temple. She hadn't wanted anything bad to happen to Ahsoka, she had wanted her friend to see what she had seen: the corruption of the dark side eating away at both the Republic and the Jedi Order. Barriss had only wanted the best for Ahsoka, but it had all spiraled out of control so quickly.
She didn't blame Ahsoka for her outburst. If the roles had been reversed, Barriss probably would have done the same. All Barriss could do was stay out of Ahsoka's way and help wherever she could. But the situation had changed. Ahsoka couldn't possibly get every single one of their group up into the ship by herself before the aliens reached them. Barriss could help, so she did.
Crespi turned to look at her and she could hear the surprise in his voice. "You're a Jedi too?"
"Not any more," Barriss shook her head. "There's no time to explain, we must act before we're overrun."
Crespi shrugged, then ran back to take up a fire position with Massey, who was blazing away at the aliens behind them. One of them shrieked as Massey stitched its chest with a burst of blaster fire. So much for the myth of stormtroopers not being able to hit anything. Barriss thought with a laugh. She winced though, when she saw the fury in Ahsoka's eyes directed at her. Somehow Barriss managed to shrug it off and focus on the task at hand.
It had been a while since Barriss had used the Force for anything other than healing. She had told the Rebel operative who recruited her that she was a spiritual healer, but hid the fact that she was once a Jedi from everyone. At least until now. Despite the tidal wave of the aliens' hatred pounding against her mental shields, the Force flowed around Barriss and she gracefully lifted Kowalski up into the air towards the opening. Ahsoka did the same for Easely, who flailed a bit as he felt the ground leave his feet.
Kowalski grabbed the edge of the gash and pulled himself through. There was no shout, no cry of alarm, and Kowalski reported the landing clear and Ahsoka sent Easely the rest of the way in. Kowalski grabbed him at the top, hauling him inside. Next Barriss lifted Hoop up, while Ahsoka lifted Kaeden.
Ahsoka laughed as Kaeden rose to grab Kowalski's outstretched hand. "Kind of like Raada, eh Kaeden?"
"First time I've been suspended in the air since then." Kaeden laughed back as her feet hit the floor of the ship, safely inside.
Ahsoka suddenly stiffened and she whirled to the left and looked up. Barriss followed her gaze and her breath caught in her throat. On the side of the ship was one of the aliens, scuttling towards them like some obscene scorpion. Ahsoka acted instantly, picking up a boulder with the Force and chucking it at the creature. The alien jumped aside with surprising agility.
Barriss grabbed another boulder as Massey and Crespi began to withdraw to the ship. Barriss and Ahsoka continued to bombard the creature with loose rocks. Flying at speed, they knocked the alien off the side of the ship. Blaster fire rained down from Kowalski above them who now had a clear shot. The alien split apart with a shriek.
With no one else at the base of the ship besides Crespi and Massey, Barriss and Ahsoka both summoned the Force around them and jumped up to the ledge in a single leap, then turned and grabbed hold of the two stormtroopers below them.
Ahsoka stood there momentarily, scanning the ground below them. "They're not following us," she said quietly. "They're just waiting out there."
"There have to be more of them in here then," Barriss remarked. She spun and focused with the Force, reaching out for anything inside the ship. All she felt was that general sense of malice and anger the creatures poured out into the Force.
They were strange, these creatures. How something could exist outside the Force, yet pour so much rage and hate into it was a mystery. If the aliens weren't trying to kill them, Barriss would have wanted to study them and see why they acted the way they did.
"You with the plasma torch," Crespi looked over at Hoop.
"Hooper. Corey Hooper." Hoop responded.
"Hooper, seal this entrance. I don't want them coming in after we leave."
"Sir," Easely looked at his commanding officer with alarm. "Surely you don't mean to seal us in here!"
Crespi shook his head. "We have no choice. Our only way forwards is through the ship. Maybe we can find an exit hatch or another hull breach. If there are other creatures in here, I'd rather whittle down their numbers than give them the option of reinforcements through here."
Hoop looked over at Ahsoka, who nodded in deference to Crespi. "Do it."
They all backed away, Kowalski and Massey covering their backs. The plasma torch roared to life, the flare blinding them in the dim light provided by the stormtroopers' weaponlights. Hoop aimed at the ceiling, liquifying the organic, coral-like material that made up the walls, floor, and ceiling of the ship. The semi-molten material fell to the ground until it finally had sealed the passage, leaving the only available light being the stormtrooper's weapon lights and Ahsoka's lightsaber.
It certainly was a city, there was no doubt about that. Weapon lights illuminated structure after crumbling structure along a street. The walls were made of a strange organic material that felt a lot like some kind of coral. There was no sign of any technology similar to what the galaxy at large used.
"Do you think that ship came from here?" Teraan asked.
"Either that or it was coming here," was Pulaski's response.
"Hold up," came a low command from Henry. "I saw something through that doorway."
"Ski, cover him. I'll stand guard," Teraan ordered.
Pulaski moved over to the doorway to join Henry, blaster raised and trained on the opening. He followed Henry inside, checking the corners for anything that might jump out at them. Henry called out clear.
"Clear, no hostiles," Pulaski confirmed. He gasped as his light shone through an interior door. "Henry, Teraan. I've got a body over here." Pulaski moved over through the threshold into the room with the body. "Multiple bodies and something else."
Teraan and Rynn both entered behind Henry. There were several mummified bodies plastered to the coral walls. Before them lay open urns of some kind. Teraan touched one with the toe of her boot and it crumbled into dust before their eyes. "Fossilized," she said, turning her attention to the bodies.
The bodies were a horrific sight to behold. They were tall, muscular, and humanoid. Some had jet black hair around a sloping forehead, others had none. They had no noses, only a cavity where what looked like nostrils sat. Spines covered their hard, cracked skin.
One thing they all had in common though: a massive hole in their chest. Skin and bone were splintered outwards as if they had exploded from within. Their faces were contorted in pain.
Rynn pulled out a datapad that somehow had not been damaged or lost in the landslide. "I need to document all this." She toggled the holorecorder function and snapped multiple holos. The intensity of the flash in the dark interior of the room blinded Henry and Teraan, who were not wearing anything over their eyes.
Henry ventured through another door, finding a similar setup. These strange aliens, different than the chitinous demons that had hounded them so far, had been strung up on the wall, all with holes punched out of their chests. On the ground were more of the strange urns, all open and dried out except for…
"Hey guys! I've got a closed urn over here!"
Pulaski, Teraan, and Rynn all piled into the room, knocking more brittle urns into dust. This unopened one appeared different, not only in the fact that it had a top. This one did not appear brittle like the others. This one actually appeared to be moist or damp. There was some kind of cross on the top. The beams from the stormtroopers' weapon lights and Henry's flashlight, the urn almost appeared to be translucent. Something was inside it.
Rynn snapped a couple holos of it, the flare of the flash once again blinding them.
There was a squishing sound as their eyes readjusted to the dimly-lit conditions and they realized the top of the urn had opened. Four pieces had separated and pulled apart like the petals of a flower.
"What the-?" Henry, who was standing the closest to it, crouched down and leaned forward. Why Henry did so, he didn't know. Some instinct in his brain was telling him to investigate the contents of the strange urn.
"Get away from it!" Teraan yelled. "We don't know what that is!"
Henry didn't move. It was as if he was transfixed by the urn. Teraan saw something twitch near the top. Her finger instinctively landed on the trigger of her E-11 blaster rifle and she fired twice.
The twin reports of the blaster and pair of red blaster bolts slamming into the urn seemed to snap Henry out of his trance. He fell backwards as the urn exploded with a shriek, spraying fleshy chunks on the walls behind it.
"There was something alive in there!" Rynn said, picking up the flashlight Henry had dropped as he fell backwards. She peered at the smoking remains. There were chunks with a leathery outside and a fleshy inside all over the floor, pieces of the urn. She toed one with her boot and found a long, thin segmented rod underneath it. It looked suspiciously like a tail.
"I don't think these were urns," Rynn said, worry rising in her face. "I think these are eggs. We just killed something's offspring."
"Hey, uh… Rynn?" Henry asked. They turned to look at him. Some kind of goop landed on Henry's left forearm and gloved left hand. "This stuff isn't acid, is it?"
Henry's question was answered for him when his sleeve and glove began to bubble and smoke. The caustic liquid burned through his clothing and into his flesh. Henry screamed.
Rynn ran over to him. A heavy shudder went through Henry and Rynn grabbed his right arm. "Don't spread it!" She ripped her sleeve off and handed it to Teraan, who quickly turned it into a tourniquet at Henry's shoulder. The Rebel security officer looked faint and his forehead had broken out in a heavy sweat. "He's going into shock," Teraan diagnosed.
Pulaski suddenly turned to the doorway, tapping at the side of his helmet. From outside, he could hear the skittering of claws against stone. "We've got company!"
Not much to say other than this chapter was rather fun to write. Barriss finally got to do something and the separate group of four has stumbled onto an unforeseen discovery.
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. As always, feel more than welcome to comment on anything you saw or thought. I welcome all feedback, yes including criticism on what I could do better. There's always room for me to improve my writing. If you know someone who would enjoy this story, please feel free to spread the word. :)
