Star Wars does not belong to me. Just Skylar & Co.
Big thanks to Depthcharge2030, Kelana-ti, Janizary, Amaris the demon of Mortis, spikala, Emjalen, Delta808th for reviewing!
A virtual cookie to whoever can tell me what famous Star Wars ship is also a YT-1300. :)
Fives was examining the crushed instrument panel when he noticed Skylar stiffening in his peripheral view. He turned his helmeted head towards his wife just as she cocked hers, apparently listening to something.
"What's up, S'ika?" That was Kendan. Aran's sniper moved closer to Sky, placing a gloved hand on her shoulder.
"Someone's trying to break into our ship," she responded, sounding distracted.
"And you would know that because...?" Fives asked moving closer to his wife.
"I took the liberty of syncing the YT's perimeter alarms with my buy'ce."
Cade cleared his throat, "You think it's the pirates?"
Wreck shook his head, "No. Ohnaka's different from other pirates."
Kot nodded his head, "Yeah, according to all the intel we've got on him, he makes a habit of honoring his agreements."
Fidget fidgeted. So that's where he got his name from. "Doesn't matter who it is," the medic spoke up. "Pirates or no, if we don't get our shebse in gear, whoever it is is gonna get a hold of the ship's memory banks. And even though there's only the bare minimum of Republic intel in there, it's still enough for them to do serious damage with."
Sky nodded and lead the way out.
And that was when everything went to haran.
This was not the first time that Fives had faced a dark Jedi. But it would be the first time he'd faced two at the same time. When he realized that Sky would reach the two Dathomirian brothers first, he panicked, running as fast as he could to her aid.
But he wasn't fast enough.
Maul's red lightsaber cut an arc through the air and hit Skylar's neck, glancing off her beskar collar. Even though the lightsaber only succeeded in burning the paint off, the blow was hard enough to knock the woman off her feet. Sky lay were she landed, sprawled out on the ground.
No! No, no, no! "SKYLAR!" Fives screamed, not caring that the two Force-sensitives would pick up on the fear in his voice. His helmet's HUD told him that his wife's vitals were fine, but that didn't mean much. She could be injured internally. And the baby... Fives' gut clenched in terror as he picked up his pace.
Fidget and Cade were the next to reach the two. Both were cut down instantly.
Kot came on their brother's heels and Oppress's lightsaber cleaved right through the former trooper's left forearm. Kot screeched, an inhuman sound that made Fives' blood turn to ice.
Fives, Wreck barreling along beside him, prepared himself to die in defense of the woman he loved more than his own life. Just before the two clones reached the two Sith, there was the sound of a blaster going off and Maul screamed in pain, one of his cybernetic legs buckling beneath him. The cyborg turned and ran toward the other closest transport, one belonging to the pirates. Oppress following behind him and blocking Wreck and Fives' fire. One of the blocked shots ricocheted back and hit Kendan square in the faceplate. Ken fell, dead before he hit the ground.
Fives reached Sky's side at the exact same moment that Wreck knelt next to a writhing Kot. The stolen pirate ship took off, it's occupants not even bothering to waste their cannon fire on the four survivors.
But the ARC's mind wasn't on that. His wife had dropped her blaster and was trying to pull herself up. He braced her back with his left arm, pulling off his helmet with his right before removing hers. Skylar's brown eyes met his gaze, but he couldn't help but notice that she seemed disoriented. Must have hit her head when she fell. "You okay, cyar'ika?"
"I'm fine, Fives. Other than the fact that my osikla head is killing me."
Relief flooded his body, but the ARC held up three fingers just to make sure, "How many fingers am I holding up?"
"Three. Is that really necessary?"
Fives sighed shakily in relief and bent to kiss her, but she squirmed in his grip. "What about the boys? Are they okay?"
There was no way to sugar-coat it. And Fives wasn't even going to try. "Wreck and Kot are the only ones who made it. Kot's injured."
Sky froze and Fives feared for a moment that she was going to pass out on him, "How bad?"
"Oppress amputated half of his forearm, Wreck's seeing to him." Just as he said that, there was another inhuman screech of pain from Beta's weapons expert. Sky pulled herself to her feet and Fives followed suit, following close enough to catch her should she lose her balance.
She knelt at Kot's injured side, trading a look with Wreck, who'd also removed his own helmet. The sergeant traded a weary look with her as Fives settled on Kot's uninjured side, grabbing the commando's hand for comfort. Kot gripped him so hard that the ARC was sure that he would lose all the feeling in his hand, but he could care less.
Five seconds. That's all it took. And now we've lost three more brothers.
"How bad, Wreck?" Sky asked, her voice shaky. Kot moaned in pain as his eyes turned glassy and Fives doubted that he was even aware of what was going on anymore.
"Well, the lightsaber cauterized the wound, so we won't have to worry about him bleeding out. The thing is, that the shabla thing also melted his bodysuit and armor to his skin. We've got to remove them before I can bandage his arm."
All three winced as Kot moaned again and Fives met Wreck's gaze, "Have you given him any painkillers yet?"
Wreck ran a hand through his bronze curls, "I loaded him full with as many sharps as I could without killing him. That's why he's so out of it now."
Skylar gulped, "Wreck, you hold him down. Fives, cyar'ika, I need you to brace his arm f-for me."
Before she turned her attention to her newest brother's stub of an arm, Skylar motioned for her husband and Wreck to help her remove the rest of Kot's armor that wasn't melded to his injury. That will at least make it easier to pull the melted stuff off. Her gut clenched and her stomach felt nauseous at the thought of what she was about to do. Can't get Mama sick now, ad'ika. Your ba'vodu's relying on me to stay focused.
As soon as the other plates were off her brother and piled haphazardly to the side, she nodded to Wreck who laid himself on top of their brother, using his body weight to keep him pinned. Fives gripped Kot's left arm with both hands, his right holding the upper arm, his left bracing the forearm right above the injury.
"Ready when you are, sweetie," her husband said as reassuringly as he could manage.
She nodded, leaning over her man's arms to kiss Kot's forehead, "I'm sorry, vod'ika. I'll go as fast as possible, I promise."
Kot's screams as Skylar peeled back the melted armor would forever be melded into Fives' memory. He'd never seen a brother suffer an injury that extreme. All of the brothers he'd known to be hit by lightsaber had all died instantly. Poor Kot. At least he's out now. Beta's weapon expert had fainted halfway through the ordeal, thankfully.
As soon as what was left of Kot's arm had been bandaged, Fives and Wreck had turned their attention towards their fallen brothers as Sky curled up on Kot's uninjured side, her head resting on his chest. Probably so she can soothe him once he snaps out of it. He's bound to be disoriented when he wakes up.
Several times, Fives had tried, and failed, to get Wreck to talk as they loaded his brothers bodies into the large conservator aboard the YT-1300. The same conservator that Tor Squad had brought Devrin home in. But the sergeant wasn't having it. As soon as Cade, Kendan, and Fidget were laid up in the conservator, merely looking like they were sleeping peacefully, the sergeant had taken off to the quarters he had recently shared with Cade. Comlink in hand. I hope he's calling Kenna. He needs her right now.
All thought of his brother's needs flew out the window when Fives stepped off the loading ramp. Sky was standing protectively in front of Kot's prone figure, holding her blaster pistol in the safety position. Ohnaka was back.
Thanks to her HUD 360 display, Skylar was aware of her husband coming up behind, drawing one of his own pistols. But she kept her focus on Ohnaka and his entourage, "What do you want, Hondo?"
"You let them get away with my ship, Cordav. I want compensation for that."
"I let them?!" That was it! She'd just lost three more brothers and a fourth lay injured on the ground behind her. And this dikutla Weequay's demanding payment for something that wasn't even our fault?! Of all the aruetyc things to do, this is the worst!
Cordav about lunged at him, but her husband's hand on her shoulder kept her in place. If Cade, Kendan, and Fidget weren't dead, she would have found the situation somewhat funny. But it wasn't without them.
She took a deep breath, reminding herself that she was still on the pirates' territory and that she had to play nice. Or none of them would be making it back to Triple Zero alive.
"Fine," she said curtly. "I have an extra suit of Mando armor aboard our transport. It's worth more than that osikla ship of yours could ever hope to be. It'll also serve as an apology. I'm not going to make it to your little 'party'. I have brothers to bury."
For once, Ohnaka seemed to have run out of things to say. The revelation that anyone would view clones as family seemed to have come as a surprise to him. Skylar was beyond caring what he thought. She just wanted to get off this dar'yaim.
"Sounds fair. On one condition."
Both Fives and Skylar bristled. "And that is?" Fives asked, his voice deadly.
"You," he pointed at her, "and your boys don't come back here. Ever. You're more trouble than you're worth."
"Wouldn't have it any other way. First things first, though. I want my flute back."
buy'ce = helmet
haran = hell
shebse = backsides
cyar'ika = sweetheart
osikla = crappy
shabla = cursed
ad'ika = little one
ba'vodu = uncle
vod'ika = little brother
di'kutla = idiotic
aruetyc = foreign, outside (not Mandalorian)
dar'yaim = dead world
Please R&R.
