Chapter 9: First Night
"Go, go, go!"
Ropes had been dropped, dangling just above the rooftop of Standards hospital. Immediately, the first two soldiers – Rex and another clone – had jumped out of the ship and were sliding down the ropes, automatic weapons unlocked. Within seconds, there was a thump as they landed on their feet, and then the sound of bullets filled the air, drowning out the noise of the engines.
"We're next, kid!" Derek and Anakin sprinted forward, and glanced down. The door leading onto the roof was wide open, and mutts were pouring out of it, obviously attracted to the noise. Rex and his partner were plowing them down, but more kept coming.
"C'mon!" Their movements synchronized, Anakin and Derek swung onto the ropes and began sliding down towards the chaos below. Anakin could now say he was truly grateful he had changed out of his Jedi uniform, because the military gloves were a definite aid and a time saver as they finished sliding and landed firmly on their feet.
Immediately, Anakin cocked his firearm, not even bothering to reach for his lightsaber once he saw the wave of mutts running at them. He hoisted the heavy machine rifle up to his shoulder and took aim at a group of about four creatures coming at him from the right. In the lead was what must've once been a young girl, maybe seven or eight-year-old, still clothed in tattered pajamas. Blood pouring from her eyes, small legs broken but still running with an animalistic need to bite and infect, snarling and growling…
"Kid, move it!" Anakin was snapped out of the stupor by Derek shoving him roughly to the left, and then taking out a mutt that had been prepared to rip open his ankle. The soldier then took out the little girl and the other three mutts before turning to him – not angry but concerned. "Don't think about them!" he said, having to shout above the noise of the battle. "Don't think about who they used to be, hear me? These things won't hesitate to rip you apart alive."
Anakin nodded quickly, and then Derek was grabbing his arm and they were both running towards the staircase. "We gotta start moving downwards!" he added. "You're gonna stick with me!"
The air was completely clogged with screeches, the roar of the ships' engines, the sound of constant gunfire. Anakin managed to look over his shoulder to see Jason and Rex shooting side-by-side, and Obi-Wan was just beginning to slide down his rope. The mutts kept coming, some even jumping from the nearby rooftops, but mostly coming from the doorway that he and Derek were now targeting. Jason shot him a look and then mouthed the words "I'll be right there."
A scream pierced the air, a howl that caused everyone to stop, paralyzed, and turn to see Match get dragged down by five or six mutts. "Go!" the clone screamed at the top of his lungs. "Get away!"
Match dragged himself painfully away from the rest of the team, covered in open bite wounds, and flicked the top of one of his grenades.
The explosion sent body parts flying into the air and blood splaying, both from Match and the mutts.
"Move, don't look back, just move!" Derek shoved Anakin forward, and the two proceeded on their path towards the doorway. Both their guns rattled and coughed up bullet after bullet, aiming mostly for the heads of the vicious creatures. "Get a charge ready!" Derek hollered, and Anakin used one hand to unclip a grenade from his military belt.
He let it fly, using the Force to send it straight into the center of the mob. Another explosion, more gore, more screams. Anakin spun around and used a round-house kick on a mutt that had gone after Derek's legs.
For a few split seconds, the doorway was clear and wide open. "Go! Now, go!" Derek and Anakin burst forward, several others behind them, covering their backs.
Inside the doorway was a metal grated staircase, similar to an indoor fire escape, leading down for about four levels before merging into a shining white staircase that was now stained with blood and grime.
Derek used the light on his rifle and swung the beam both up and down before motioning for the others to follow him. "Clear so far." He glanced downwards and noticed the twentieth floor door was open. That's where they're coming from. "Alright, we're going in!"
Anakin close behind him, Derek charged in, quickly beginning to jump down the metal stairs two at a time.
Yellow eyes shot open, out of the darkest corners and the deepest shadows. The mutts began crawling and stumbling towards their next victims, snarling and baring their teeth, howling in starvation and anticipating the slaking of their bloody thirst.
Derek threw another charge before whipping out his machine gun again. "C'mon, let's move it!" he shouted above the noise to the others above. Anakin reached out to use the Force, then remembering that the mutts were immune to it, took out his own firearm and shot five down.
"Guys, look out!" Jason's voice hollered from above, and Derek turned to see a dozen or so mutts coming at them from behind. Seconds later, a bright azure blade swept down in front of them and cut several of the railings, causing them to collapse and block the wave of monsters. Anakin looked up and saw Obi-Wan call his laser sword back to him as he quickly motioned for them to move on.
Derek was the first to reach the open door, and hurled a smoke charge through it, wincing a bit at the chaotic screams that poured from the hall. Thick gray fog clouded everyone's visions to the point that they were blind except for the brief, painful flashes that made your head swim from the firearms.
Slowly, the screams died off, as did the smoke. Once the air was clear enough to see through easily, none of the team could suppress the gasps or groans that followed the sight they laid eyes upon.
Before them lay a long, dark hallway, the green and white tiles ugsome shades of black, gray, and blood red. Trash littered the ground, along with what seemed to be remains of old victims. The air was still and heavy with a pungent odor, thick as if it was trying to suffocate the newcomers.
Derek swallowed hard, and then motioned for everyone to start moving forward. He kept Anakin at his side, and Jason managed to make his way to the front so that he was directly behind the pair, quickly informing the younger Jedi that Obi-Wan was helping Ax and Rex watch their rear.
"Now remember, team…" Derek's voice was lower than a whisper but still seemed to echo through the halls. "…We're shutting that door right there. That means we're now trapped in here. If you think running with your tail between your legs back to the roof will work, it won't. You'll just be trapped, because by now, Kix will have pulled up the ropes to protect the ships. So I don't want any babies." Derek gave the signal, and slowly, Obi-Wan shut the twentieth floor door, trapping them in but also keeping other mutts out.
Derek nodded slowly, biting his lip. "Well then – let's go meet our neighbors."
They plowed through wave after wave of mutts, clearing each room one by room. Derek and Anakin mostly took the lead, with the others falling in the middle and Obi-Wan always taking out any stragglers that tried to come at them from the rear. The darkness was in the mutts favor, but each had a special UV light attached to their firearms, so they weren't completely blind. They shot down one after another, and after forty-five minutes, the group cleared the back staircase and moved on to nineteenth floor. An hour there, then Level Eighteen.
By now everyone was panting and sweating but still moving with a swiftness that only the adrenaline of survival and fear could provide. The air seemed to choke their lungs, filled with smells of decay and rotten things. The farther they went, the darker it seemed to get. The UV lights were now stinging the eyes, any efforts to be stealthy were now shoved out the door by everyone's coughs and gags. Twenty or so mutts came charging up the staircase at the sound of Lynn vomiting over the railing.
When Derek forced open the eighteenth door, everyone immediately began stumbling backwards as a thick fog started hammering them. Immediately, Anakin found himself on his knees, coughing uncontrollably, unable to find a clean breath as the smog surrounded them, carrying the unbearable stenches of mutt and deceased bodies along with other foul, unnamable things. He heard, somewhere in the back of his mind, what seemed like Karis's voice shouting above the hacking of the group, but he couldn't make it out; because suddenly his eyes caught something. No, someone. Standing in the middle of the hall, amongst the swirling deadly fog, was a woman in a tattered gray dress, with stringy white hair and eyes that were made of little black pools.
Death.
And suddenly, he couldn't breathe at all. He felt himself choking, but even then his eyes were glued to the demon in the hall, as she stared at him and then actually smiled.
"You can't stop me, Chosen One."
Another devilish grin, a mocking laugh that pierced his mind…
…and then Derek's face was in front of his own, ripping something off his belt before shoving it in his face. Anakin panicked for a minute, pushing the older man away, until he felt the strange object get strapped over his head, and his mind cleared enough to hear Derek shouting at him. "Kid, can you hear me? Breathe for crying out loud!"
Snapped out of the daze, Anakin desperately drew in a shaky breath, choking with relief when he gasped in crisp oxygen, and realized the strange object over his face was his military gas mask.
Derek was staring at him in bewilderment and shock. Slowly, Anakin's senses returned, and he made out the sound of gunfire behind him, mutt screeches, and just plain confusion as people stumbled around. He became aware that he was lying on his side on the metal grated platform that led to the stairs, and that Derek and Jason were on their knees by his side.
"Anakin, are you okay?" Jason asked, voice slightly muffled by the gas masks that everyone already had strapped on their faces. "The fog is chemical – that's why Karis ordered everyone to put on their masks – she recognized it immediately."
Ax, who was standing nearby, shot them a strange look. "What the hell, guys?!"
Jason shot him an irritated glare as Obi-Wan fell to his knees beside the group. Immediately, his eyes danced with worry as he looked his partner over for injuries. "Anakin, are you okay?"
Anakin couldn't have been more relieved to feel his Master's soothing presence fill his mind. "I'm okay… It's fine. I-I'll explain later"
Obi-Wan frowned but nodded before turning to Derek and Jason. "We can't stay here, and it looks like we'll have to wait 'till tomorrow to decontaminate this level."
Derek nodded. "Agreed, general. Let's seal off this door for now and make our way back up."
"Yeah, and let's deal with our friends as well," Jason added, motioning to the continuous wave of mutts that the others were barely holding back.
Everyone got to their feet, and Obi-Wan pulled Anakin into a standing position, still eyeing him worriedly. "Are you sure you're alright?"
The Knight was pretty sure he looked as terrible as he felt, but he managed the barest of smiles. "Yea, I'm okay"
Obi-Wan wasn't convinced but he dropped the interrogation for the moment at the sound of Derek shouting, "C'mon, kiddies, we've got to move!"
Coughing, weakened and shaken, the Colony forced their way through the wave of mutts. The eighteenth door was temporarily welded shut to keep out the gas that still swirled around, and once that was completed, Lynn and Josh quickly placed several devices onto the walls. The team moved up onto the upper floor and Josh activated them by remote.
A vibrating red ray shield appeared, cutting off the team from the lower levels and the remaining mutts from coming up any further.
The roof and upper two levels were secure.
For a long fifteen minutes, everyone just stood in the stairwell, listening to the muffled screams of the mutts below that kept ramming into the ray shield only to be shocked with high electricity and forced back. Parts of them ended up burnt back but they just kept trying and trying to reach them, snarling at the prey that were just out of their reach and howling in fury.
After a period of silence broken only by everyone's pants, sighs, and the occasional groan and mumbled profanity, Derek straightened and nodded. "Alright then. We can't just wait around here socializing. Nathan, go on up and signal Kix to land the ships on the rooftop. The rest of you… We've got to decide how we're going to set up our home base."
"It's probably best to keep it on the upper levels," one clone spoke up. "Too many mutts on ground level for my liking."
Derek nodded. "Anyone object to that? No? Okay then, we set up on the twentieth floor. That way we have quick access to the roof as well. We need to people for garbage duty, someone to help with all electrical stuff and whatnot, and others to go through our supplies. It's time for some home makeover, and I don't mean Karis and Inya hanging up prissy little curtains."
Soon enough, tasks were appointed: Derek and Anakin would work on trying to get some ray shields and other defense systems set up. Tomorrow they would go down together and work on the generators once the other levels were cleared. Obi-Wan, Karis, and Inya were to help Kix and Nathan unload the supplies from the ships, and the rest needed to begin getting the worst health-hazards out of the rooms and halls.
Slowly the tasks were carried out. The twelfth floor had suffered less damage than most, but the rotting stench was still strong and it was decided everyone would keep on the gas masks until 'garbage duty' was carried out.
The main communications room was located on the twelfth floor, so there was plenty of equipment to work with. Electricity was still offline, but large storage batteries had been brought.
"Well, here we are." Derek finished breaking down the doors, and he and Anakin stood in the middle of dusty, dirty room. It had been on lockdown, so at least no mutts came barreling out to attack them. No bodies either, which was a real treat.
"I heard you're a bit of a technology expert," the soldier commented as they began digging through rubble, dust, dirt, and scraps. "Think you can get this hospital running again? I mean, with power and all?"
Anakin careful swiped a bunch of broken glass off a holo-table and frowned. "I don't know – I can repair some, but the amount of damage that's been done…"
"Could be beyond any restoration," Derek finished. "So you tell me what can't be fixed for its original purpose and I'll chuck it into the salvage pile."
They worked in silence for several minutes, occasionally the quiet being interrupting by Anakin tossing Derek a ruined projector or computer.
After about fifteen minutes, though, Derek's voice broke through the quiet. "You okay, kid?"
Anakin glanced over at him. "Yeah… Why?"
"What happened back there? With the whole gas thing?"
It was obvious he was just worried and inquiring, but Anakin still turned uncomfortably and shook his head. "Even I don't really know; but… Thanks, anyway. You know, for what you did back there."
Clearing his throat, Derek nodded slowly as he returned to examining and old data base. "Yeah, don't mention it."
After another few minutes of silence, he added, "You remind me of my brother, you know."
The Knight looked up, raising an eyebrow as Derek continued, "His name's Cal. Went MIA once Yaazix-5 was invaded. He's a bit older than you, but you've definitely got his personality." He straightened and shrugged, clearing his throat again. "Yeah, so…"
"Sounds like a good man," Anakin replied.
"He is. He is, and he would've been the first to volunteer for this crazy mission. Could never keep him away from danger, he would just rush right in there." A sigh. "Sure do hope he's got enough excitement to keep him busy, wherever he is."
Slowly, the scorching sun that fried Coruscant lowered itself, replaced by a moon that shone its eerie white rays upon the planet, highlighting the yellow eyes that began appearing more and more frequently at the scent of fresh meat. The communication room was cleared out, and though nothing advanced could be repaired in a few hours, Anakin got battery-operated ray shields over the doors and the heavy metal lockdown plates were activated and lowered over the windows. It was decided that 'home base' would center around the old twelfth floor cafeteria, which, once cleaned out, looked similar to a small gymnasium. Bodies of victims and mutts were piled onto the rooftop to be burned later on, once the hospital was more secured. Supplies was stocked up in the lounge room, medical equipment set up in the lounge. In the hours they were on Coruscant, the Colony had a pretty basic central working by the time night fell.
"And this is what we shall call this room!" Derek announced as they all entered the cafeteria, now set up with cots, some equipment, and weapons covering one wall. "This is Central! Everyone, pick a bed, any bed."
Once everyone was settled, the doors were sealed shut and locked with ray shields. Emergency lockdown was activated, and only the eerie red bulbs in the ceiling provided light. They ate rations, and established guard duty.
"I'll take first watch," Jason offered.
Everything was divided evenly. Space to sleep. Water to wash up. Ash, blood, grime, and Force-knows-what-else was wiped off faces with rags. Heavy armor stripped to t-shirts and light kakis. With the screeches of the mutts blocked by the door seals, there was an awkward silence throughout the group as the events of the day caught up to them.
The main question that entered each mind was: What the hell am I doing here?
And absolutely no one had a satisfying answer.
Anakin collapsed onto a cot in the farthest corner, wincing as he rammed the shoulder that was bruised from when he must've collapsed during the gas incident. Flashes of Death, smiling, laughing, mocking him ran through his mind, and he squeezed his eyes shut tight, blocking the images.
"Anakin?"
The Knight looked up to see Obi-Wan sit down on the cot directly next to him. The Master watched his former apprentice with concerned eyes as he laid down, still facing the younger Jedi. "Anakin, are you okay?"
Instantly, those bright blue eyes were drowned in misery.
Obi-Wan sighed quietly. "I wish I could tell you it'll be alright," he whispered. "I really do."
Anakin stared before biting his lip. "I know," he answered, voice equally quiet. "Master, what are we going to do?"
Obi-Wan Kenobi had never been very good at strategizing – that was his partner's specialty. He was the Negotiator. He took things as they came. But that tactic was failing him so far, so he switched to the more convicted part of him, that tiny corner in his mind that had hardened from the horrors he had just seen and the pain he saw flashing across his best friend's face.
"We survive," he stated firmly. "And then we beat this thing."
And the night dragged on with that heavy feeling lingering in the air, weighing the atmosphere down. Midnight. Everything silent until Jason, sitting in a corner on watch, picked up an old comlink and began speaking into it; quietly. But his voice seemed to echo through the silent room.
"Jason Dean speaking. This is log entry #1. As I said before, I am Jedi Knight Jason Dean of the Galactic Republic, and my current position is Standards Hospital, Coruscant. Ten o'clock at night. I don't have a camcorder or anything, so I'm using my old comlink. Hopefully, these logs can be turned into messages or transmissions if needed. If we don't return to Naboo alive, that is, you'll at least know what happened to us…"