*Authors Note: My apologies for the SUPER LONG delay in writing this. Had to get in the right mood ya know. Hard to feel Halloweenish when it isn't Halloween. Well, I'm working to finish now, and I hope you folks enjoy.
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RBL_M1A2Tanker
Nightmare...on the ReBeL Station
Chapter 4: The ReBeLs Strike Back.
Aslan awoke lying on the deck in the station, a victim of over enthusiasim and a low support beam. The little ewok sat up, then noticed an odd thing...noone was around. He had taken off with Vapor and his ninjas in search of the killer on the station, and yet they weren't here. Blinking his brown eyes, he looked about himself, and noticed some other odd nuances. The lighting wasn't quite right, with some lights blinking off an on. The decking seemed to be slightly warped, with grime filling corners. Standing, he took in the sights, and a feeling of apprehension filled him.
"Yubyub…what is this? Where is Vapor? Where's my ninjas?" So many questions.
No answers.
Aslan slowly started to pad about, hoping that the feeling would go away, although to no avail. Lights continued to flicker as he went about, in places where, not long ago, they had been running just fine. Every few meters he'd be in a part he thought was normal, giving him the feeling that he was just seeing things, but then, he'd trip on some bit of decking that seemed to peel up like a picked scab. Dust and dirt seemed to increase in these places where the lighting and decking was warped, with cob-webs forming over some of the lights. Unknown insects, far smaller than the ones he was used to from Endor, would slowly move in them, as if out for a walk themselves. The whole place smelled like the entrails of a dead animal, a recently dead one at that. It filled the Ewok engineer with dread and revulsion.
"This is horrible! What happened to the station? Where is everyone?"
A harsh, course laughter filled the air around him. He spun about, the repeater rifle in his hands. His aim was sharp and true as he searched about for the source of the laughter.
But he didn't see anything. He called out, "Who goes there?"
A shrill voice from behind called back, "Who goes where???" Aslan spun about, but didn't find anything. His little eyebrows knitted in frustration.
"Come out! Show yourself!"
"Where shall I show myself?" The voice was in his ear! He rolled forward, spinning to face behind him as he did so.
There stood the most ugly human being he had ever faced. Not even his tormentors in the Empire looked so horrendous. It was quite possible that he could give the Emperor a good run for his money, so disfigured he was.
"Who are you?" Aslan asked, his aim steady on the beings center of mass.
In response, his target cocked his head slightly in puzzlement. He even removed his felt to scratch his head. Aslan's frustration showed as he growled out, "YUBYUB! Answer me!"
The being put the felt back on, and instead of replying, asked his own question. "Just what the hell are you?"
"YUBYUB! Last chance bub!" Aslan tightened his grip, eyes narrowing as he sighted in.
"Ooooooh….don't shoot me Mr. Bear! AHAHAHAHAH!" The guy nearly fell to the floor, he was laughing so hard. As suddenly as he started, he stopped. His sudden stop was far more frightening, as his face completely lost all traces of humor. "You are not what I seek. Your body is useless to me." He waved his hand dismissively and turned away.
Aslan didn't bother with a response. His stubby finger pulled the trigger and seemingly hundreds of small bolts of deadly energy spewed forth, spearing his target with a grouping that would make any sharpshooter proud. His small shoulders rocked slightly with the recoil as he fired nearly a hundred bolts before stopping. The human had rocked about, screaming in pain and anquish, seeming to dance in the air until Aslan ceased fire. Then he dropped to the decking hard and lay there, unmoving.
Aslan snorted slightly as he lowered the smoking rifle down to cover the body while he closed in to check for vitals. No matter how cautious he was though, it didn't help him as the decking around him suddenly bucked, throwing him backwards. He landed painfully, but managed to maintain his grip on the rifle. As he sat up, he could only watch in horror as the guy he blasted picked himself up as if nothing happened.
The being turned to face him, amused. "So…you think you are worthy of my time? You don't get it do you little cub…I own this plane of existence!" He shot out his right hand, showing off his claw with a loud shhiiinktt sound. He stepped forward purposefully, while Aslan quickly gathered his wits about him to stand and take aim again.
"Halt Freddy, or I'll fire!" It sounded ridiculous, considering he had done just that a moment ago and nothing had happened. Still, he was determined to take on this intruder.
"You? Stop me? Don't be ridiculous cub." Freddy suddenly seemed to gain in bulk, with his face distorting into what looked like a demonic skull. His clothing changed color to a dark grey, and his felt took on the form of a dome. Aslan could only gaze in shock at the sight of something he thought he'd never see…
A Dark Trooper.
Not just any Dark Trooper at that…unlike a regular DT, this one had what appeared to be blood veins in its armor, pulsing about wildly. His claw hand had turned into an armored hand, but the claws seemed to take on the appearance of vibroblades. The eyes in the center of the helmet glowed readly, and the jaw, unlike in a regular DTs' helmet, actually moved when he spoke. His voice now seemed to have a strange accent, although the malice was there as clearly as night and day.
"Come little girly cub. I'm going to pump…" Freddy smacked his fists together, then gesturing with a blade directly at him, "…you up!"
"We shall see. You take me for easy prey? Never underestimate a Ninja Ewok!" Aslan smirked as he took aim again, the warrior spirit within fully revived. He took aim and let fly hundreds of deadly yellow darts, flying at the center of Dark Trooper Freddy.
They should have hit. Armor should have chipped away, exposing the man underneath.
That didn't happen.
The bolts seemed to hit a blackish field before him, glowing a bright red before being absorbed. The field rippled slightly as the rounds kept coming, his repeater rifle glowly red, then white hot from the amount of power he pushed through.
Aslan changed tack, charging forward and still firing the darts to keep Freddy pinned. That sorta worked, as Freddy didn't move.
Didn't mean he didn't do something.
With his unclawed hand, he pointed it at Aslan as he rushed forward. A small hole appeared in the palm, and a barrel seemed to protrude from it, and a bluish ball shot forth. Aslan dodged as only an Ewok can, and the blast merely blew a small hole in the decking. Dark Trooper Freddy continued to fire the blasts, seeming to track the ewok despite the smaller beings superior maneuverability.
Aslan cried out his battle cry of, "AAAAIIIIIIEEEE CHAAAAA!" as he hurled his pretty much useless rifle at Freddy's head, nailing him directly. Freddy stopped his shooting for a moment to hold the spot in pain, while the Ninja Master dropped a smoke pod to the floor, filling the corridor. When it cleared enough for the evil being to see again, he saw a different creature. This one was the same height of the one before it, but it was clad in black, with only it's paws and eyes being visible. Suddenly, it was gone. Freddy looked about, seemingly confused until he heard a cry behind him.
"KIIIIIAAAA!" Alsan sidekicked the armored hulk in the spine, knocking him off balance. He followed it up with several deftly thrown ninja shruikens, each of them hitting one of the pulsing veins. Blood spurted from each wound, causing Freddy to flail about in pain as he tried to remove them.
Rolling backwards till he found a support pylon, Aslan leapt into the air, pulling out his mini-Katana blade he had §lash make for him specifically, aiming for the monsters head to finish the job. Freddy turned around just in time to see the blade slip under his chin.
That was as far as the blade got. The demonic grin of the DT helmet seemed to intensify as the red eyes glowed brighter. Aslan hung in midair from his hilt, while his blade was stuck under Freddy's chin.
"Not bad…I needed a close shave…AHAHAHAH!" Freddy then lashed out in a wicked left cross, sending the Ninja Master far down the corridor. He rolled painfully about until he could gather his bearings. He could feel something trickle from his hidden lip, but he ignored it as his eyes blazed at his target.
Freddy took the sword and threw it behind him, completely uninterested as he strode towards the downed Ewok. "You put up a funny fight for such a little cub." He spoke with that strange accent again. "Allow me to show you how it's done." Freddy suddenly broke into a run, with his bladed hand pulled back for a killing blow.
Aslan could see his future seeming to pass by his eyes as the blades reached out for his belly faster than he could avoid, with a white light suddenly blinding his eyes…
* * * * * *
"Aslan…….. Aslan!" He heard a familier voice call to him, and he squinted his eyes for a moment, before feeling a sharp pain in his stomach. He cried out in pain and began to thrash about, but was held solidly down by an unmovable force.
"Feel the calm Aslan. Relax again, you are amongst friends." The mechanical sound of Vader filled his hearing, and he could feel a calming influence over him. He managed to open his eyes and saw Vapor, his Ninjas, Vader holding his body, and Tank squatting next to him with a Resuss pack administering quick first aid. He felt…
"I'm alive?" He asked aloud, in some surprise. Tank shushed him though.
"Yes my friend. You do have some slight internal injuries, and a serious concussion, but we'll get you dunked and you'll be fine in no time. I'll give you what I can to dull the pain, but we have to get you do the Med-Lab now." Tank closed up the pack and had the Ninjas pick up their fallen Master onto their shoulders.
The two Jedi and Vape followed behind as the Ninja's Hut-Hutted their way down to the Medical section of the station. They entered and without any ceremony, dropped their leader into an empty bacta tank. Crys, Mac and Az'is looked in shock at the sight of their best engineer in a vat of the sticky fluid.
"He'll be alright after awhile, we seemed to get to him in time." Vader told them. They breathed a sigh of relief, then looked to the two Jedi.
"So what did you guys figure out?" Az'is asked.
Vader and Tank told them what they believed to have discovered, about Freddy and his origins, about the plan they came up with for the station personnel, about the ally they had on the way.
"Do you think AllTeam will be able to assist?" Mac asked in some surprise. It was highly unusual to ask for help from the one squad they had the hardest time with, the Order of the Black Saber from the Empire.
"I think so. I had picked up some transmissions about his return from detached duty, with some great power. It's already been cleared, so he should be here within the hour. We need to get info." Tank said, already making up his mind how to go about getting that info.
"How do we do that?" Simon asked.
"We ask the man directly." Was the answer. A litany of cries filled the room, from concern to disbelief.
"Tank, you just said that he can't be beat!"
"He's unbeatable!"
"You only see him in dreams!"
Vader waved them to calm down and began to explain, "On our way back here, we tried to figure out what this creature's motivation was. Why was he attacking only certain members of the crew on the station. He has an ulterior motive, and we need to find it." He gestured to the former soldier.
"Tank is going to be the one who goes for the information. He knows the most about him. Maybe he'll have some luck. But just in case…" he gestured to the hypoinjector of adrenaline and second Resuss pack, "…we'll wake him up quickly. We already have three people in the bacta tanks, we don't need one more." Tank nodded, having stayed silent through the explanation.
Az'is turned to the man, saying, "You don't have to play the hero you know."
Tank smirked as he replied, "Noone wants to be a hero. It just happens. Besides, no heroics here, just a recon mission boss. I go in, I get out. No worries. Hopefully we'll leave the heroics to AllTeam." He smiled with a cheerfulness he couldn't quite feel.
The Martian shook his head slightly, muttering, "If you say so. Just watch yourself." Tank nodded.
Preparations were made quickly as diodes and wires and who knew what other medical devices were planted on the Jedi Knight's body, while the Senate watched from the side. Within moments, Tank gave the thumbs up that he was ready, and the Medics sedated him.
Concern filled the room as the heart rate moniter slowed, showing Tank had fallen into the deepest sleep needed for a dream state.
"I hope he knows what he's doing." Crys muttered, arms crossed.
"Yea…me too." Zara replied.
* * * * * *
Tank opened his eyes to find the med-lab eerily empty. Brightly lit, clean, yet there were no personnel around. The Senate members, Vapor and Simon, the three in the bacta tank…all gone. He sat up slowly, but found that there wasn't anything attached to him. He shrugged, hoping that he wasn't going to just have a great nights sleep without getting something accomplished. Sliding off the bed, he walked out of the Medical Section…
And into Hell.
Outside the Medical Section the lights seemed to flicker on and off sporadically, some of them cracked and broken. Others had a thin film on them, making the light weak and diffused. Dirt and grime was caked in the corners by support pillars, and doors were covered in cobwebs. Some of them were even barred. The decking was slightly warped in places, yet perfectly flat in others.
"This is strange." He thought aloud. Remembering how the old movies went, he thought about his lightsaber and felt it's reassuring presence on his belt. He patted it just to make sure, then concentrated with the Force, hoping to feel out Freddy.
"I feel him. Pretty clearly this time." Indeed he did. It was a dark, evil presence. Like nothing he ever felt before. It permeated his senses, seeming to drown him. The fact that it didn't was surprising in itself, even steeled as he was against it.
He turned several corners, looking for the man he only vaguely remembered, his saber at the ready. "Remember man, just look, get intel, and get out." He reminded himself as he looked things over. Some of the barred rooms had slashes on them, some fresh, as if a wild animal had attempted to force entry. Curious, he took a look at the names of the occupants of each door that had been attacked. All were male members, usually lower ranked station personel. No other pilots that he could tell yet other than §lash and the dead pilot, and none of the Senate members, except for Aslan.
"Strange." He scratched his chin thoughtfully, then heard footfalls down the corridor from him. He didn't have time to hide, nor would it probably matter. He knew who it was from his presence in the Force. He slowly turned to face his opponent, who had stopped maybe ten feet away from him, arms crossed on his chest as he seemed to contemplate something.
"Hello Freddy." Tank called out amicably, lightsaber on his belt. He kept his hands at his sides, palms out. "Never thought you were a real deal."
Freddy had just come out of another room, that much he could see. Blood dripped from the claw slowly, pooling a bit on the floor and drying almost instantly into a scab. He scratched his chin, eyes narrowed in contemplation. For once, the demonic being seemed…human, strange as it seemed. Finally, he slowly spoke, as if thinking aloud.
"You seem…familiar to me. I have not met you before yet I feel a common bond." Tank winced. He didn't want anything even remotely close to be a bond to this thing. He idly wondered about his past ancestry, hoping that wasn't what he meant by bond.
"Hate to stop your throught process there buddy, but I have some questions for ya."
Freddy seemed puzzled still, and didn't make a move other than a nod. Gears seemed to visibly work overtime in his eyes while he thought.
"What do you want? Why are you here instead of on a movie screen?"
With that Freddy's eyes snapped wide in memory. "Movie…yes, yes I was in some movies. That was some good fun back then, but now there are sooo many souls to torment. Enough to bring me back to life…with the right body." He stopped his speaking at the moment, eyes glaring hard.
"You…how did you make me say that?" Tank cringed, hoping the monster wouldn't pick up his Force suggestions. Freddy took some steps forward, arms now down at his sides as he looked the former soldier over. "You feel so familiar…" Then he stopped moving. His eyes widened greatly, while his scarred face stretched as he grinned sadistically.
"You're the one! You're the one who escaped! You're my ticket to the living world!"
Tank cursed, not like the sound of that pronouncement, as he slipped into a combat stance with ease, right leg slightly behind the left, left hand held open just before his face. "Don't think so Freddy. You steal souls through their dreams. I'm not going to be joining that long list." He pulled his saber from his belt and held it, un-ignited in his firm grip as he concentrated on the Force. "This is not going according to plan. What was it Murphy said?…No plan ever survives the enemy intact? Why did he have to be right?"
Freddy just laughed. "You think so? §lashy thought so too. He would have been just fine as my new body, but you…you're perfect. You're from the same world, making us a perfect match. That is why you feel familiar, that is the bond." He held up a clawed finger, pointing at Tank. "You, M1A2Tanker, you will join me."
"I'll never join you." Both men lifted an eyebrow, while Tank thought, "Why does that sound familiar?"
"Too bad, guess I'll just have to take it then." Freddy's eyes glowed red-hot as he charged, claw dragging across the ceiling above him screeching inhumanly loud as he cried a battle cry.
Narrowing his eyes, the Jedi Knight called the Force too him, charging Freddy with a push off the floor, dust billowing behind him as he ignited his blue-white saber, crying out, in a very un-Jedi like manner, "You're a@$ is mine then!!"
To Be Continued….