A cool breeze drifted into the cave, Alta sat in view of the mouth with her eyes and ears on alert for anything that could be a threat. Zalia was passed smooth out next to her, not at all surprising given the shit they've been through. Their friends turning on them, having to leave Karos City in a rush, it was all a mess. Alta couldn't help but think how worried her parents must be, or if they had seen the clones chasing her and Zaila. As she let out a quiet yawn Alta's montrals twitched, a twig snapping in the distance had reached their cave, and it was not any jungle creature.
Dropping her voice to a whisper Alta gently shook Zaila. "Oy, get up! Something's here."
Zaila, being ever the selective light sleeper she is, jumped promptly awake with her DH-17 already in hand. However, as she focused on the world around her Zaila quickly determined what was coming for them. "Clones…" was all she could muster as panic crept onto her face.
No time for chatter, Alta knew her E-5s would be worth about as much as a leaf in the market if they engaged the clones in this cave. The two quietly made their way out of their camp and moved along the rock face and into the bushes. Once Alta was set up Zaila kept moving through the brush until she could see the clones through the tree line. It looked to be a squad of five moving like a group of migrating thranta.
When one of the flanking privates passed her bush Zaila leapt out onto the trail they were following and swept her leg under his while firing on the rest with her blaster. Simultaneously Alta put a shot from her sniper into the trunk next to the sergeant's head. All the clones ducked behind trees, all except for the one who had been tripped by Zaila. Both her and the clone had disappeared into the forest, a semi-successful distraction on her part. The remaining four began work on locating Alta's nest.
As the squad was checking out the area they'd been shot from another red bolt came at them from a different location, hitting a private in the arm and sending him to the ground with a shattered shoulder. The team repositioned and pulled the downed clone to safety when another shot hit the corporal. What was supposed to be a disabling shot ended up going straight through his chest due to him moving just a bit. Her pupils shrunk, eyes widened, and muscles locked up. That wasn't supposed to be lethal.
Farther away from the Main squad the private slowly moved through the bushes, scanning the dirt and leaves for any sign of where Zaila had disappeared to. Behind a tree to his left Zaila listened to his footfalls, having a suspiciously accurate read on his location. "Come on out little Jedi, we know how you fumbled your lightsaber, you can't hide forever." He taunted, getting ready to come around the trunk of her tree. As he popped around with his blaster ready to fire he was met with the barrel of a DH-17 in his face.
A blaster shot echoing through the forest pulled Alta free from her shutdown, just in time for her to notice the sergeant taking aim for her head. She quickly ducked down below the bushes before her head was taken off and started moving toward where she heard the shot come from. That plan was interrupted by a white boot coming through the bush and connecting with her nose sending her sprawled onto the dirt. Through blurred vision she watched as the sergeant approached, jammed his boot on her chest, and brought his rifle to her head, ready to fire. "End of the line, traitorous scum."
However, as his finger squeezed on the trigger all sound drained from around them. The world felt hollow, empty, without life. Then his breathing began to falter, the blaster fell from his hands as he brought them up to his throat, clawing at an invisible force around his neck. As the edges of his vision went black Zaila emerged from the woods around them, arm outstretched as if holding someone against a wall by their throat, face contorted with malice. It didn't take long for Alta to put two and two together, especially when the clone's foot lifted off her chest. This allowed her to get up and crawl over to her rifle, using it as support to stand up.
Before Alta turned around a punctuated crack pierced her ears, as she winced she could hear the sounds of an armored body falling to the ground followed by two blaster shots. Zaila then approached from behind Alta, placing a hand on her friend's shoulder. "We should get our stuff and leave, don't think dead clones will be a good lawn decoration." She spoke softly, trying to move on from what just happened. Alta nodded gently and followed Zaila, unable to take her eyes off the ground not wishing to see… them.
As the two left the cave with what gear they could carry, Alta glanced over to the 5 stones thrust into the ground by the cave. It was the most she could do with such little time. Once again the two set out through the jungles, Zaila's hands stained crimson and Alta's mind burdened with the monster lurking within her friend.