Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars, I only own my characters.

Pulling Out

Xan and Scorp jumped off the LAAT and onto the outstretched bridge that led into the hangar, as did the other clone trooper. The LAAT started to lift off, but took a hit to the back and lurched. "Shit!"

Able to see what was going to happen, Hawkins ran to the back of the LAAT and jumped off of the side, falling to the bridge. The lasers from the Geonosion fighters smashed into the LAAT, bringing its shields down, and then hitting it in the right wing. The joint exploded, causing the wing to come off and tumble down to the ground far below them. Hawkins got up and was just in time to see his smoking LAAT spiral down after the wing, creating a dull thump as it hit the ground and exploded. The clone started shotting at Dooku, who was running into the hanger, having jumped off of his swoop bike. One of the fighter's lasers hadn't over-heated, so it shot at the clone. The laser hit the clone in the chest, knocking him off the bridge and down to the orange sand and ruined LAAT below…

Jay, the clone and Padme jumped aboard the LAAT as it touched down. "Take us to Count Dooku, you will." Master Yoda said to the pilot. "Yes sir!" the pilot responded, brining the LAAT up off the ground, and speeding off toward the hanger.

"Wait here." said Obi-Wan as he ran off into the hanger with Anakin. When they were inside, Scorp turned to Xan and Hawkins and said: "Why do we have to wait here?"

"I don't know," said Hawkins, also puzzled.

"Why can't we go in and fight?"

"Because you don't have a gun," Xan pointed out.

"Oh, right.

The hum of a LAAT got them all looking at the horizon. There was a small dot, getting larger by the second. "That's Yoda," said Hawkins, his eyesight spotting it in an instant.

Xan talked over the comm;

"This is 325, repeat, this is 325, how're you feeling Jay?"

"Fine, sir. Yourself?"

"We're good here." Xan replied.

Another hum caught their attention. They looked behind Jay's LAAT, and saw another pull beside it. A few minutes later, both of the LAAT's landed on the pad, three clone troopers, a pilot, Yoda and Padme Amidala all hopping out. Jay ran up to them and said, "Yoda told us to set up a barrier."

Xan and Scorp nodded.

One of the clones ran up to Xan and said to him:

"Sir! Private Blay reporting, as ordered Sir!"

Xan looked at him, and then said, "Well done, Private. Now, we w-" he was cut off by the beeping sound coming from the speakers inside his helmet, indicating that someone was trying to contact him on the comm. He hit the button to open the channel, and a voice on the other end said: "This is Commander Cody, contacting Corporal 325, can you read me?"

"This is Corporal 325, I read you, loud and clear, sir."

"I understand Private 363 is with you, over?"

"Yes, sir!"

"As of now, he is in your squad, I say again, as of now, Private 363 is a part of your squad, do you copy?"

"Roger that, Commander, I copy. This is Corporal 325, out."

He switched off the comm and turned to Blay.

"Well, Private, looks like your with me now,"

"Yes, sir!

Xan, Jay, Scorp, Blay and the three other clones formed a line at the entrance to the hanger, to prevent Padme from getting inside. Deep down, Xan, Scorp and Jay wanted to go inside too, especially after they heard the sound of three lightsabers hitting one another. Padme desperately tried to get past and into the hangar, but the line held. Soon, Yoda walked on past them, and Jay said over the comm: "Man, I really want to be in there right now."

"Yeah," agreed Scorp.

Suddenly, a message came over Xan's comm: "This is Commander Cody, calling Corporals: 325, 310 and 311. I repeat, Corporals 325, 310 and 311, we are pulling you out."

He groaned, and then said over the private comm: "Well boys, looks like the fight's over for us."

"Shit!"

"What a load of-"

"Come on!" Hawkins said, having received the message too. They all ran over to the LAAT that he had already prepared while they were busy, and jumped aboard.

"Where are we going?" asked Blay.

"Cody's ship," he said, and then told Hawkins the coordinates. Hawkins jumped into the pilot's seat and strapped in. He shut the doors on the side of the LAAT, and pushed a throttle forward. He then grabbed onto two control sticks – the hight and direction joystick, and the speed joystick – and lifted the LAAT off the ground. The LAAT turned, and sped off towards the Accumulator, gaining speed all the way. As they exited the atmosphere, they all looked out the cockpit and saw dozens, maybe thousands, of core-ships rising into their stations. They also saw millions of CIS ships mixed with other ships that weren't marked with the CIS symbols. "What the hell?" muttered Scorp.

"What are those strange ships with the CIS fleet? They don't look like part of the CIS."

"No," agreed Hawkins, heading for the Accumulator. "I got a brief from fleet Admiral Buenos. He said that they had been classed as: the Unknown fleet. They came out of hyperspace about an hour ago. He says that the Captain of the Accumulator took one of them down, using all of his three MPL's – Main Pulse Laser's."

"Sounds like fun!" said Jay and Scorp simultaneously.

"Sounds risky," said Xan, obviously doubting the fact that they were in space. Xan had never liked being in space: he wasn't in control, and there were many things that could go wrong: shields might fail, the engines might overload, someone could make a miscalculation with the hyperspace coordinates and they could end up inside a planet! No, he didn't like being in space at all. As the LAAT drew close, Hawkins got a signal from someone, most likely the fleet Admiral. When it finished, he swore, then said:

"Guys, listen to this,"

He played the transmission that he had received from the fleet commander – also known amongst the Delta commando team as the Advisor – over their helmet speakers:

"This is fleet commander 890, repeat, this is fleet commander 890, Accumulator currently controlled by hostiles, repeat, Accumulator is currently controlled by hostiles."

"Wait," said Xan in thought.

"Was that a recorded message?"

"Yes," replied Hawkins, staring at a monitor in front of him.

"Yes it was. It's programmed to broadcast to anyone within the range of 200 meters."

"Shit!" said Blay. Then something occurred to Xan: Blay had just cursed.

Which means?

That he's independent, like us.

He thought back to that day that he was 'born': Kaminoin's running around, his tank held separately from the rest of the Bacta tanks, etc. He remembered later hearing of a 'failed experiment'. He, and the other clones – Hawkins, Scorp and Jay – escaping by breaking out of the tanks. But he did remember one other thing: there was a fifth clone with them.

"Well then," said Scorp, heading back to the main hold to get their weapons.

"We'll just have to take it back then, won't we?"

The LAAT travelled under the Accumulator and stopped underneath the hangar that was on the belly of the ship. Since everyone had been evacuated – that was why the message was recorded – the giant silver square that was the door to the hangar was still open. Or it had been blown off. The LAAT rose slowly into the hangar, and docked beside the door in the floor. The hangar was quite large, with a balcony circling the entire room.

"Okay," said Xan, slapping a clip into his blaster rifle.

"Seal helmets!"

Everone did as he said, touching a button on the right side of their neck, which sealed the helmets from all outside air, making gas leak out the sides, creating a hissing sound. When that was done, Scorp gave Hawkins a blaster pistol as Jay walked into the cockpit and opened the doors. Xan jumped out first, floating over to the opposite side of the hangar, his gun raised, aiming all around him to see if there were any droids lurking about.

"Clear!" he said into the comm. Soon, Hawkins came out with his blaster pistol gripped in two hands, with Blay following closely. The three of them floated over to the air lock that was used in case of emergencies, and held onto handles that were there. Then Scorp and Jay came out, propelling themselves across the hangar by pushing off the LAAT, landing next to Xan and Hawkins by thudding against the wall, and then grabbing a hand-hold each. Blay, who was more of a technician, pushed the codes to unseal the door of the air-lock on the terminal next to it. The door slid open to reveal another door beyond it. They all floated inside the small room and Scorp hit the button to close the door behind them. When it was closed, a small rectangular screen above the door in front of them displayed the status of the room. At the moment, it read: Pressurizing.

There was a hiss as the air inside the room was ejected into space, and then the screen read: Pressurizing complete.

After the door opened, Blay and Xan dived out to the hallway beyond, which went left and right in a T shape. They stopped at the corner and raised their weapons, Xan raising his around the corner to the right, Blay raising his around the left.

"Clear," Xan whispered over the speakers.

"Clear,"

"Okay," said Xan, waving the others forward.

"From now on, we travel in two's: Scorp, you're with me, Jay with Hawkins, and Blay with me and Scorp, because there's no one else. From now on, only comm chatter, okay?"

They all nodded as Xan did the radio check: "Bravo 2,"

"Ready, sir!" said Hawkins.

"Bravo 3,"

"Just give me something to kill," muttered Jay.

"Bravo 4,"

"On the look out, using infa-red!" Blay said through the comm, scanning the hallways with his infa-red gear that uses heat signatures to find things.

"And last of all, Bravo 5,"

"Ready to move out, sir!" said Scorp.

"Move out, Bravo team."

Jay and Hawkins went left, on the look out for any enemies that might include: Trandosian's, droids, etc, while Xan, Blay and Scorp headed right, with their blaster rifles raised. Xan headed down the corridor first, and raised his hand when they came to a corner. He advanced on his own, with his blaster rifle aimed up at the roof, but his head facing forward. He jumped around the corner and aimed his weapon at the next hallway and immediately pulled the trigger. A single blaster bolt flew out of his blaster rifle and smashed into the reconnaissance droid, causing it to explode. The small, circular droid's parts flew outward and hit the walls, floor and roof of the hallway.

"Recon droid," Xan whispered into the team comm channel.

"We found one too," Hawkins' voice filled the speaker.

"Keep me updated,"

"Roger, Bravo 2 out,"

Xan waved the other two forward. When they reached him, he pointed to Scorp, pointed to his own visor, pointed to the corridor behind them, then waved his hand forward and pointed ahead of them. Scorp nodded, and as they continued forward, he was walking backwards, facing the way that they had come to make sure that no one was sneaking up behind them. They came to a door, and while Scorp was still looking behind them, Xan started to punch in the codes to open the door. Blay glanced at the rectangular screen above the door.

It read: Lift.

He aimed his rifle at the two doors. The doors parted quickly, with a small hiss, and Xan walked in. Blay patted Scorp on the shoulder, and then they walked into the lift as well. The doors slid together as they hit the button to travel up to the bridge.

"This is Bravo 1," Xan's voice came over Hawkins' comm.

"Bravo 2, this is Bravo 1, do you copy, over?"

"Yes sir, I read you," Hawkins said into his mike.

"What is it sir, over?"

"We're heading up to the bridge in one of the main access lifts, over."

Hawkins approached the door in front of him and signalled Jay to type in the codes. "Roger that," he said as the door slid open to reveal a lift.

"We found a lift too, about to take it to the bridge, over."

"Roger that, Bravo 2, this is Bravo 1, out."

The lift was 7 seconds, or two levels,away from the bridge when it lurched to a stop.

Xan, Blay and Scorp crashed to the ground.

"Shit!"

Xan recognised Hawkins' voice as it came over his comm. They had probably been stopped too. "Scorp," Xan said, standing up.

"Get us outta here."

Scorp jumped up off the ground, went over to the lift doors and hit the button to open them.

No luck.

"Damn it!" he cursed, grabbing the two doors. He pulled them apart, groaning as he did.

"Go!" he said when the gapwas big enough for someone to fit through. Xan and Blay jumped through the gap, and then they helped Scorp get up. As soon as Scorp was out, the doors slammed shut, and the lift flew down the shaft at a frightening speed.

"This is Bravo 1, calling Bravo's 2 and 3, do you copy?"

"Shit, sir!" Xan heard Hawkins shout through the mike.

"Sir! Our lift is dropping! We can see the lights on the display getting closer to the bottom! Shit!"

"Stop the lift, then!"

A screeching sound had filled the comm, and Hawkins shouted above it: "We can'tsir! We're gonna hit the bottom! Brace for im-"

A boom resounded around the ship as the lift hit the bottom. A shockwave spread through the ship, and Xan tried the comm as he advanced around the corner with Scorp and Blay.

"Bravo 2!"

Static.

"Bravo 2 please respond!"

More static.

"Damn it Hawkins, talk to me!"

The channel immediately cut out.

"Shit,"

He ran around the corner and up a ramp with his blaster rifle raised. Scorp and Blay came up the ramp behind him, with Scorp checking the area behind them. The ramp turned around a corner, and became steeper. Xan reached the top and crouched with his blaster rifle held to his shoulder. Scorp and Blay came up behind him, and then they passed him, their blaster rifles held up at the door beyond. The door was big enough to fit 4 people standing in a row. The three of them advanced, and Xan punched in the codes to open the door. The rectangular screen above the door said: Bridge.

The door opened and they advanced in, taking in their surroundings in the blink of an eye.

The bridge of the Accumulator was the same as any other 'Acclamator' class Republic assault ship: silver plating, two levels, reinforced glass window at the front, etc. The two levels were connected by two ramps, one on the left of the entry door, one on the right. The upper level was only a series of connected ramps. Xan, Blay and Scorp walked in, ready for any attack that could be forced upon them at any moment. They went to the front of the bridge and examined the controls. Xan thought for a moment, and then he said: "Blay, give me a map of the ship,"

"Yes sir,"

Blay put his blaster rifle on the ground, and then began tapping away at the controls. Surprisingly, the screen in front of them came to life, showing an area schematic. "This," said Blay, outlining an area at the top of the ship. "Is where we are, and this," he outlined a spot to the South-East of the first outline. "Is where Hawkins and Jay were, in the lift."

"How many levels does the ship have?" asked Scorp.

"About thirty,"

"Shit."

"What level were we on when the lift stopped?" Xan asked him.

"Let me see," he tapped a few keys, and then he said: "28,"

"Damn…"

Jay looked at the screen, then he leaned forward and looked closer, and then he said to them: "There's a spike that was set on that level,"

"Meaning?"

"Meaning, that if a lift went to, or past that level, or tried to get past, then the lift would stop, and, after a 10 second delay, it would malfunction and drop to the bottom floor: the maintenance level,"

Xan thought for a moment, wondering about something. A voice cut into his thoughts:

"This is Commander Cody, contacting Bravo team, we have defeated the enemy, I repeat, the CIS are in full retreat. Acknowledge, over."

Xan keyed the comm link.

"This is 325, to Commander Cody, roger that, current position is the Accumulator, need reinforcements, 2 MIA, repeat, we have two troopers that are Missing In Action, over."

"Roger that, 325. Reinforcements are on the way, over and out."

He terminated the link… and then the power cut out.

The three of them turned on there night vision, and everything went black and white.

"Right, let me get this straight," Xan said.

"There's a spike in the lift system, and the power just went out,"

Blay and Scorp nodded.

"What's your point?"

"If that's happened, then why can't we find anyone else? Unless they're…"

"Somewhere else," Blay finished. "But where would they be if they could cut the power from where they are?"

"The maintenance level," said Scorp.

Hawkins groaned.

What happened? He remembered being in a lift, then it stopped, then it fell.

So where was he?

He surveyed the wreckage around him: twisted metal was everywhere, and there was a body lying on the ground over to his left.

It was Jay.

He swore as he tried to stand up, but stopped. There was a pool of blood underneath him, and a long gash down his chest. He wasn't able to stand up. He looked down at his leg; it was bent at an awkward angle. He stood up on his good leg, grimacing as his chest burned with pain. He hopped, on his good leg, over to the hole in the wall that was the door. It took him a while, but he managed to climb up and get himself into a sitting position.

He keyed his comm. "Bravo 1! Bravo1, do you copy!" he hissed. But he only got static. He looked around him after he switched off the link. He was looking for his pistol, but he couldn't find it.

A blaster rifle would be good, he thought. When his eyes came to rest on Jay's blaster rifle, however, his heart fell as he saw it broken and bent. He looked behind him and found a door. He read the screen above it.

It said: Maintenance.

Suddenly, the power cut out, leaving him in total darkness.

"325, this is Commander Cody, please respond, over!"

"Damn it… This is 325 to Commander Cody, what is it, sir?"

"325, we are calling off the reinforcements, I repeat, we are calling off the reinforcements, over."

"Shit… Why, sir?"

"We have just received reports that the CIS have attacked Kamino!"

Authors Note: I'm open to suggestions for this story, so if you don't like it, or you just want to help, let me know.