Chapter 8: Itoll Oc

MGX-93776

Itoll and Fojo awoke to dust and moss falling on their faces amidst the sounds of artillery.

"Holy shtak," Itoll groaned, wiping a clump of moss of his snout. He began getting dressed.

"Seven hours of sleep, better than I thought," Fojo yawned.

The Ensigns shared a room—two single mattresses laid out on a wooden platform in an outcropping of the cave. Their gear was sprawled out in one corner. An ominous klaxon sounded off.

"Ensigns!" Ekos's voice barked in a panic on the comm. "We need you down in the operations room now."

"On our way sir," Itoll answered.

o-o-o

Fifteen years ago, a group of 20,000 Wookiee outcasts—heretics who dwelled in the Myyydril Caverns—illegally settled the cavern system of MGX-93776, a Commerce Guild world. The Republic's official stance had been that these Wookiees should be relocated back to the Kashyyyk System as humanely as possible. That was at least the case until the Commerce Guild decided to sign onto the Separatist Accords.

Now, the Republic was helping these poor desperate Wookiees keep their home and throw off the yoke of the droid armies. The intended message was clear: if one dares to leave the Republic, bad things will happen.

o-o-o

"Rider of Storms says that she doesn't have the Wookiees to spare to pull that off," Fojo explained.

The operations room was a circular shaped room built on a platform overlooking an abyss. A few Wookiee houses lined the edges of the abyss, their lights glowing dimly in the cave.

In the centre of the room, stood Jedi General Prococia Olgar'kla's holopresence. Around him stood Ekos, Itoll, Fojo, dozens of Clones, a few Corps of Engineers officers, and one Wookiee, Rider of Storms.

"Tell her that we only need three or four Wookiees to provide the distraction," Clone Commander Kip said.

"She can understand Basic sir," Itoll growled.

[I don't want to put any of my people outside of the cave. The Separatists are shelling it,] Rider of Storms growled wearily. [Is there any way you could extent the shield beyond its current perimeter?]

"She doesn't want to because of the Separatist shelling," Itoll explained. "She's also asking if we could extend the shields."

"Is that possible?" Prococia asked sternly, turning to face the Corps of Engineers officers.

"It may be possible General," Lieutenant Causte said, pulling out her datapad. "Not much beyond the entrance though, and it would strain our reserve energy."

"That shouldn't be a problem Master. At least not with Operation Seesaw coming along," Ekos interjected. His voice cracked towards the end.

Yesterday, the Bothan would have smirked at that. He had, however, gained respect for the authority of teenagers who had been given an officer commission and a lightsaber.

"Operation Seesaw is coming along much slower than I had hoped," Prococia said wearily. "The Commerce Guild has sent in forty reinforcing ships."

"General, couldn't you just drop us energy packs from stealth?" Fojo asked.

Ekos inhaled sharply.

Itoll took a nervous step away from Fojo.

Prococia scrunched his snout and furrowed his bushy Caamasi eyebrows. "It would take dozens of trips, Ensign. Far too risky." He turned around the room, looking for more suggestions.

The shelling suddenly intensified. Itoll's fur fell flat as a ceiling light landed right in front of him. Prococia's holopresence began swirling with distortions.

"They are bombarding you from orbit! I suggest you set your shields to—"

A boulder landed directly on the holopad. The whole platform began destabilising. Itoll fell backwards onto the wooden floor, catching himself with a groan.

"Watch out!" Causte yelled in the direction of the Clones, but it was too late.

As the platform tilted into the abyss, the boulder rolled off the holopad and hit a Clone. The Clone fell off the platform with a terrified yell.

Commander Kip swore under his breath.

"Everyone off the platform!" Itoll yelped as he began crawling to the end.

The cave shook under the thunderous orbital bombardment.

Once Itoll rolled off the platform and onto the steps, he reached back and helped Fojo off. Causte grabbed his hand and he pulled her off too, then Kip, then a Clone whose name he did not know.

When Rider of Storms joined him at edge, she knelt down next and helped the Bothan pull others to safety.

Ekos was the last one off the platform. He crawled off by himself, not taking either being's hand, then stepped down between them.

Stalactites began raining down from the darkness, crashing through the wooden Wookiee structures. Lights began sparking then going out. Then total darkness.

Rider of Storms let off a weary groan.

Itoll blinked in shock.

"Don't worry," Ekos sighed. "I can see. So can Fojo."

Itoll sat still in terror as pebbles rained down onto his fur.

"EVERYONE!" Ekos yelled, then he got quieter, "Itoll, hold my hand. Fojo, you go to the end of the group to make sure we don't lose anyone."

In the background, Wookiees in the village screamed in terror as rocks sliced through their dwellings in the darkness.

"Everyone! Hold hands, I'll lead us to the emergency shelter. Wookiees! We'll come to get you."

"Does the emergency shelter have light sir?" Itoll growled nervously.

"It's self-contained," Ekos muttered. "So yes. Itoll, take Rider of Storm's hand."

"I can't see her sir," Itoll growled apologetically.

Ekos grabbed the Bothan's furry hand and pulled it towards the fluffier Wookiee hand. Rider of Storms moaned solemnly as the Bothan gripped it.

o-o-o

The emergency shelter was three or four barracks-sized durasteel compartments connected by thin hallways. A hundred or so Clones and a few dozen Wookiees were already inside when the group Ekos lead arrived.

"What about the other Wookiees?" Itoll growled worriedly as he blinked in the bright light. "There's thousands. No way they can fit in here."

"This village only has three hundred. Nothing we can do for the other villages," Kip said gruffly. "Still, it is going to be cramped."

"I sense many scared Wookiees," Ekos muttered. "All right, Itoll—no wait… Itoll you are useless."

Itoll did not react.

"Fojo, you're with me," Ekos stated.

Fojo grumbled as he followed Ekos out the door into the darkness.

"What do we do sir?" Kip asked.

"Contact the fleet. Tell them we are still alive," Ekos ordered.

Looking at the plain durasteel structure filled with triple bunks, Itoll could not help but imagine how awful this place was going to get. Three hundred Wookiees.