Chapter 45: Itoll Oc
MGX-93776
Stomper of Puddles, Rider of Storms, and all of the Wookiee leaders were killed after they drove headlong into the transparisteel wire. After stealing those speeders, Itoll thought angrily. Comparatively, the Republic forces had only suffered one very serious injury. Corporal Vest had lost an arm and was recovering in Bacta.
With the Wookiee leadership literally decapitated, the next day the Republic forces advanced alone back into Azagor; teams of Clones, accompanied by two Direct Action Operatives and a Padawan, rode in quickly in TX-130s and LAATs.
Itoll shared a TX-130 with Fojo and two troopers under his command named Vac and Fold. Itoll had asked the Clone pilot, Vac, if it were okay if he drove. Vac had obliged after Itoll explained that he had a pilot's licence. Someone with a pilot's licence could certainly drive a hover speeder. The Bothan had been without his air speeder for over a month. Driving something, anything, even a hovertank, simply felt amazing.
It was in this context, in this positive and hopeful atmosphere, that Itoll gave the following pep talk.
"Remember everyone," Itoll growled onto the comm, "keep it professional. Whatever happens out there, keep it professional. The locals didn't attack us, they attacked the Wookiees. We need to not act like Wookiees. We can still be friends here. We just need to show them that attacks on us or our friends will not be tolerated. Violence will be responded to with extreme force and precision."
Several Clones excitedly yelled "Hoo-ahh!" into the comm.
"Very well put Lieutenant," Ekos chirped proudly onto the comm.
Itoll's fur danced with excitement at the praise. He closed his eyes for a moment, relishing the attention, then opened them, fur swirling nervously as he focused again on the road. Imagine how much of an idiot I'd be if I crashed this tank!
"Uh, Itoll…" Fojo muttered quietly.
"Yeah?" Itoll asked, fur dancing again, teeth sparkling in the dim light through the tinted transparisteel windows. He could not help but grin.
"The Koorivars had no way of knowing the Wookiees would steal our speeders…"
"And?" Itoll growled to Fojo. Then his fur swirled nervously in sudden realisation. "Shtak, you're right!" he yelped, fur now flat, heterochromatic eyes dilated in terror. They probably wanted to kill us! The Wookiees set off the trap!
"Right about what sir?" Fold asked nervously from the backseat as he fiddled with his blaster rifle.
"Oh, nothing Trooper," Itoll stammered. "Just… heads on a swivel."
"Roger that sir."
o.o.o.o.o
"So, you aren't going to tell Ekos?" Fojo whispered.
Itoll steered the tank in front of a warehouse and armed the missiles. "No," he snarled furiously. "And it is sir to you now, at least if you are going to be kriffing annoying."
"Okay. Sir," Fojo said huffily. "You know, the Commander almost killed you before. If it comes out that you are withholding information to make yourself look smart, that crazy kid might actually do it this time."
Itoll's fur swirled nervously as he remembered the fourteen-year old Padawan igniting a lightsaber in front of his snout—the intensity of the heat radiating onto his nose. "You're right Fojo. I'm sorry."
"It's okay," Fojo muttered. "Just try not to be such an idiot. It's bad enough with Captain Sey'les out there."
Flashing Fojo a toothy snarl, Itoll changed to Ekos' comm frequency. "Echo actual?" he growled nervously.
"Is your team in position? Is there a problem?"
Itoll drummed his hands on the steering wheel nervously. Shtak. I might not even be supposed to be driving one of these. It's definitely not standard protocol. "I am in position sir," he said brightly, but his fur swirled nervously and twitched guiltily. The TX-130 slowed to a stop in front of the warehouse.
Fojo folded his arms, glaring at Itoll.
"And there's something sir," Itoll sighed.
"Something?"
"Commander, I was wrong. The Wookiees probably weren't the target. We were. The Separatist-loyalists would have had no idea the Wookiees would just steal our speeders like that. We were the target."
"All right, I am surprised you admitted to a mistake," Ekos snorted. "I'll take that under advisement."
"Also, sir," Itoll stammered in yet another confession. "It was Fojo who told me."
Two more TX-130s pulled to up to the left and right of Itoll's, also aiming their lasers and missiles at the warehouse.
"Fojo?" Ekos asked in surprise. "That spice peddling Ensign under your command?"
The Clones in the back gasped.
Fojo whistled angrily.
"Sir, this is an open channel!" Itoll yelped, his fur flat. Kriff! Now the whole company knows! Soon the whole kriffing Navy!
"Oh, I know," Ekos said serenely. "When confessing, one may as well put forth entire truth, as Master Tanwa Zissk once said." His smug pubescent Rodian voice cracked as he got towards the end of the utterance.
Fojo punched the dashboard furiously.
Itoll muted the comm in anticipation of—
"SITHSPAWN SON OF A KRIFFING BITCH!" Fojo screamed, hands in fists, antennae darting every which way. "SO UNCALLED FOR! WHAT THE HELL DID I DO TO HIM?!"
"Fojo," Itoll said consolingly, patting Fojo on the shoulder. "I knew already. Presumably so did Sey'les and Wulf. Ekos obviously knew… Archard almost certainly knew. Everyone with half a brain knew there was some reason you were an Ensign despite having been a Judicial for years. The only beings who just found out are the Clones."
"Huh," Fojo grunted, folding his arms angrily. "I suppose you're right. But still—"
"—I know!" Itoll snarled in agreement. "HOLY SHTAK EKOS IS A WEASEL! I am telling Jazal."
"Do you think she can do anything?" Fojo asked, tilting his head slightly.
"Maybe," Itoll growled strategically. "Once she gets out of probation that is."
"Ahem," Fold grunted. "Sirs… Gentlemen…"
Fojo gasped.
Itoll's fur fell flat. The Clones! They are right behind me!
"Maybe you should have a conversation like that in private. Especially when you insult the Commander," Vac muttered. "When you insult the Commander, you tarnish the honour of the entire Grand Army."
"I am sorry. It was unprofessional," Itoll growled, fur swirling nervously.
"Still," Fold muttered. "It is blasted insane the way Ekos has been treating you both."
Itoll's fur relaxed. "Thank you Corporal, but let's keep this on the down low. Like not—"
"—This Commander Ekos to all forces," the Padawan's voice crackled out of the TX-130's comm.
Itoll yelped, believing Ekos had been listening in the whole time, then realised what was going on and began chuckling nervously.
"We have a Wookiee heat signature on infrared," Ekos said, some nervousness in his voice. "Okay, I need hostage extraction elements and medics on standby."
"All right," Itoll said. "Vac, looks like I am returning the controls to you." He stepped out of the driver's seat, gesturing towards it.
"Thank you, sir," Vac grunted, squeezing past the Bothan, then plopping down into the seat.
"TO THE SEPARATIST FORCES INSIDE THE WAREHOUSE!" Ekos yelled, barking from an external radio transmitter on an LAAT. "WE HAVE YOU SURROUNDED. COME OUT, UNARMED, WITH YOUR HANDS UP, WITH ROARER OF YOWLS. YOU WILL BE TREATED HUMANELY!"
Five seconds later, small arms fire erupted from one of the thin windows on the warehouse's exterior.
Itoll swore under his breath. "Shooting at tanks! What the kriff do those Koorivar think they are doing?"
A blaster bolt hit the window right in front of Vac's face, leaving a small black burn mark on the transparisteel. For this operation, with LAATs close overhead, none of the TX-130s had a turret gunner.
Ekos's voice came onto the comm. "Blackout 1, 2 and 3 you are free to return fire on the windows. Roarer of Yowls is in the centre of the warehouse, do not aim low on the exterior. Hostage rescue elements, disembark and rally on me!"
Itoll shook his head as he hopped out the back door with Fojo. Behind the TX-130s, right in front of the two Direct Action Operatives, Ekos's LAAT descended. Itoll's fur swayed in the wind.
Six of Ekos and six of his Diplomatic Security Clones jumped out onto the permacrete, then the LAAT lifted higher, returning to covering altitude.
"With Stomper of Puddles, Rider of Storms, and Thrower of Plastisheet Craft dead, Roarer of Yowl's is next in line of secession!" Fojo yelled over the noisy sound of small arms fire and returning heavy fire from the TX-130s. "We need to get Roarer of Yowls out alive!"
And the best way to do that is stealth, surprise the abductors… Not float up to them with three tanks, yell demands over a megaphone, and— "Yes sir!" Itoll said professionally.
"All right," Ekos shrugged, igniting his lightsaber. "It's simple then. Combat breach pattern one-beta!"
Itoll's fur swirled nervously. He knew how to execute that breaching pattern, having done it in training many times and once in real combat. However, he had never even spoken with Ekos's Clones before, nor had Ekos stated the roles of the members of the breaching team in the mission brief. Itoll and Fojo had just been told they were needed and were on it.
Quickly attaching his monochromatic infrared goggles to his helmet, Itoll looked around making sure they worked. He looked directly into Fojo's face. The goggle's on Fojo's helmet were mostly an eerie black in Itoll's vision, but the goggle lenses shone a bright white.
Ekos and his Clones ran forth, under the laser fire emitting from the TX-130s. Several shots flew within a meter of their heads.
"Hold your fire!" Itoll yelped onto the general channel as he followed Ekos and the Clones. "Friendlies! Cover us while we breach!"
Fojo swore angrily under his breath as the blasterfire stopped.
Jazal's sage Jedi voice chanted Conquer recklessness in Itoll's mind as lined up along the wall next to the nearest Clone. He put one hand on the Clone's back and held his blaster at the low ready in his other hand. All right. I'll breach from this position.
"Lieutenant!" Ekos whispered harshly. "You're covering!"
Itoll stepped away from the wall and ran to the front of the line, past the front of the line, and stood alone across the doorframe from Ekos.
Reaching all over his vest, the Bothan was unable to find a smoke grenade. He flashed the standard Republic forces hand gesture for out of grenades.
The Clone behind Ekos pulled a smoke grenade out from his utility belt and passed one to Itoll's outstretched hand.
Itoll nodded to Ekos. Okay, this shitstorm is ready to begin kid. Ready to get killed on your mark.
Ekos tapped the Clone behind him, who tapped the Clone behind him, all the way to Fojo at the back of the chain, then all the way back to Ekos.
With his ignited saber, Ekos began cutting low on the corner of the doorframe, then continued high, cutting from corner to corner. As soon as the door fell inwards, Itoll chucked a smoke grenade into the building. Blind blasterfire erupted from the doorframe.
Well, we're screwed. That was stupid. No way to—oh…
Ekos stepped into the doorframe, deflecting blaster shots. The Clone immediately behind him followed, followed by another Clone, and another until finally, Fojo. Even with Fojo's eyes completely obstructed by the infrared goggles, from the lower half of Fojo's face, Itoll could tell he was angry and confused.
After Fojo stepped inside, Itoll followed, darting to the left. Through the smoke, he could see the white heat signatures of Koorivar taking cover behind objects, poking their horned heads out to shoot. A few heat signatures of downed Koorivar, laying on the ground after being blasted, were also visible.
As usual for a firefight, Itoll no longer had time to think. His numbed brain began focusing on immediate objectives, threats, and eliminating said threats.
While the Koorivars shot blindly, Itoll, Fojo, and the Clones returned fire directly onto heat signatures.
Ekos slowly advanced across the room, deflecting shots right and left as Itoll, Fojo, and the Clones followed.
A vase on a shelf exploded next to Itoll's head, hit by a stray Koorivar shot. Clay pieces rained down onto his helmet and snout, knocking his goggles crooked.
Scrunching his face in grim determination, Itoll straightened his goggles and returned fire, gunning down the offending Koorivar with three shots centre mass.
Towards the centre of the room, Itoll began to smell the familiar musk of Wookiee. "I smell her sir!" Itoll yelled over the Blasterfire.
"I sense her!" Ekos yelled back. "Ten more meters! Quick, they are going to kill her." As Ekos sprinted forth, he yelled orders, referring to targets he could sense but no one else could yet see. "Itoll, blast the one behind the right shelf, Fojo, blast the one behind the left shelf, Ants, blast the one crouched in a box of electronics! Everyone else, cover me!"
Itoll's fur swirled nervously as he sprinted through the mist. I can't see any shelf. I can't see any targets, I just smell Koorivar and Wookiee… Aha. As he followed Ekos to the right, into an aisle with tall pallets of lumber on either side, seven heat signatures loomed into view. One was nearly three meters tall and had no horn, clearly a Wookiee, the others were all Koorivar.
A dimly glowing triangle poked above a shelf to the right of the crowd. Itoll aimed his blaster at the centre of the shelf and opened fire. A box of datapads exploded as the bolt cut through, continuing on until it hit the Koorivar crouched on the other side.
Fojo opened fire on the opposite shelf as Ekos charged forth, saber ignited. As one of the Koorivars aimed his blaster down at Roarer of Yowl's head, Ekos sliced through his arm, then began ruthlessly hacking at the rest.
As the screams and roars became louder, the blasterfire died down. Within a few seconds, most of the Koorivar had been diced into multiple pieces. While the Bothan would have never been bold enough to push the issue, he suspected that Ekos had made some sort of decision to just kill everyone who had participated in the attack. Some sort of unspoken premeditated calculation—cut them to pieces like they did to the Wookiees.
Itoll cautiously walked towards Ekos's position and pulled the gag from Raorer of Yowl's mouth. "Shhh, ryuyagh ga mawyen. Oh ga marrrgghmash." [Shh, it will be okay. You are safe.]
"Sir, we need to get her out of here. There is no way I can do any of my scans on her with these on." Fojo tapped his goggles.
"Very well. Let's move," Ekos said.
"Hua-yug oh awa?" [Can you walk?] Itoll asked.
"Uma." [Yes,] Roarer of Yowls groaned solemnly. [Where is everyone else?]
Itoll interpreted her question to mean: where are the other Wookiees?
[We can talk about that later,] Fojo consoled in Shyriiwook. [For now, we must move.]
On their way out of the warehouse, Ekos gave an update to the teams outside on the comm and requested for more troops to escort the medical and investigative teams as they searched the building.
Keeping his grip firmly on Roarer of Yowl's fur, the Bothan guided her through the thick smoke towards the exit.
o.o.o.o.o
While the LAAT flew Roarer of Yowls, Fojo, and Ekos back to base, Itoll rode once again with Vac and Fold.
As the Vac steered the TX-130 through the wide, mostly empty streets, the ride back to base was far quieter than the journey to the warehouse had been. The silence in the cockpit was only broken by the jitter of comm traffic and the occasional status update.
When they reached the base, a crowd of Wookiees had gathered around the LAAT landing zone. Deciding not to be a part of that, Itoll gave his farewells and thanks again to Vac and Fold and made a beeline for the cafeteria.
His thoughts returned to Ekos. Ekos seemed to know where the Koorivar were. Couldn't he have used the Force to trick them into surrendering? What if—
"—Itoll!" Sey'les yipped excitedly.
Letting go of the doorhandle to the mess hall, Itoll spun around, ears perking up. "Good afternoon ma'am," he said politely, giving a salute.
"Good afternoon," Sey'les growled, returning the salute.
She smelled like the dump and had black stains all over her green pants, yet, her fur danced with excitement. What could she be so excited about?
"Could you assess me for a hover speeder driver's licence?" she asked breathlessly.
Itoll blinked in surprise. Huh. Did not expect that. "Sure," he growled with a toothy grin, fur dancing with excitement at the thought of teaching driving. "You will need 30 hours of daytime driving, as required by Coruscant Skies."
"Oh, I know," Sey'les replied matter of factly. "I already got seven down yesterday. Anyways, I just wanted to tell you that. Back to the scrapyard."
Itoll snorted, shaking his head as he walked into the mess hall. What a kriffing mess.
