Hey, everybody. Back with another chapter.
So, this will be the first of the inhibitor chip episodes. I'm only going to be doing the first and fourth episodes, since the two on Kamino don't have enough room for Terran involvement.
Let's get to it.
Guest DCDGojira: Yes, I will confirm Ahsoka will be in the second story. Yes, Revenge of the Sith will be part of this. I'll be covering both it and Season 7 simultaneously since they seem to be taking place around the same time. I'll probably start the chapters covering the Battle of Coruscant after the first few episodes of Season 7, and may start before Season 7, depending on what I see from the first episode. You'll find out where the Terran Jedi Temple is going to be built soon enough. May or may not feature Inquisitors in flashbacks. Also, the second story will start in 2013.
1049: No, Ezra's parents won't be from Earth. That would be too confusing. Ezra may make an appearance, though.
Dalej0523: Probably not, but not out of the question.
Guest: No, I won't be doing the events of those books, mostly because I haven't read them.
Chapter 51- The Unknown
Major Paton ducks behind a support, then pops back out and fires a burst from his HK33 assault blaster, taking out two droids.
Paton, along with several battalions of troops of the Royal Army, had been deployed to assist the Republic in the Battle for Ringo Vinda. They had arrived well after the battle began, and since their arrival, the battle had slowly been turning in favor of the Republic, but progress was slow. The clones had also been a little surprised, as this was one of the first deployments of female Terran troops to a battlefield. The clones had been a little surprised to see British women among the ranks of the battalions, and fighting just as well as the men.
Several commando droids leap into view, firing into the British ranks. Paton ignites his lightsaber and charges at the droids, slashing his saber through the commando droids and cutting them in half.
"Forward, men!" Paton shouts. The British troops bellow and charge. The droids up ahead fall back a bit, and the Indians gun them down.
Several droidekas roll up and activate their shields. Two British troops that have grenade launchers attached to their assault blasters fire at the droidekas, destroying them.
"Forward!" Paton yells. The battalion charges behind Paton, soon reaching a control room where Anakin, as well as the Jedi Masters Tiplee and Tiplar, have already reached along with their men.
"Well. Looks like we're falling behind. Looks like we'll have to do better next advance," Paton says with a grin, drawing smiles onto the three Jedi's faces.
Tiplee speaks up and says, "Master Skywalker, Major Paton, we must get to the command post. Admiral Trench has sent for reinforcements. We must take this post before they arrive."
A hologram of the station they're on pulls up. Anakin kneels down and says, "We're at this position. Tiplar, you'll take your men down this passageway. Tiplee, you'll move along here. Paton, you'll take your men and move down this passage. They'll have to divide their forces to counter us. When they do, Rex and I will press through the middle. If we time it right, we'll all converge on this spot at the same time, and the droids won't know what hit them."
One of Tiplar's commanders says, "If we're making a run, we'll need backup. My men are severely depleted."
"I can call up one of the two battalions I have in reserve," Paton says.
"We don't have time, Paton. Fives, you and Echo take 5 of your best men and 5 British and support Master Tiplar," Anakin says.
"We're on it, sir," Fives replies.
The briefing begins to break up. As it does, Fives notices Tup holding his forehead. "Hey, you all right?"
"Yeah. I…I just…" TUp says.
"Come on. This is a textbook battle. We've run through this a million times in training," Fives says.
"Yeah, I know. I just…I don't feel like myself," Tup says.
Echo walks over. "Do you need to head back and get some rest, Tup?" he asks.
Tup doesn't respond, but looks over at where Tiplar is marshalling her troops. "Jedi," he mutters.
Fives hits TUp lightly on the shoulder. "Hey, Tup, what's the matter with you?"
"Uh, nothing. I'm fine. Come on, brothers. We don't want to be left behind," Tup says, hurrying opff. Fives and Echo glance at each other before hurrying off after Tup, the other four clones and the 5 Indians following them.
The four forces begin their charge down the passages towards Trench's command post. Thanks to the backup from Fives and Echo and their ten troops, Tiplar's force advances down the passage with relative ease.
Finally, the four forces emerge into a massive hall, with Trench's command post at the opposite end.
A number of British troops fire their grenade launchers, destroying a number of droids. Paton urges his troops forward, and the British surge forward, threatening to annihilate the droids' right flank.
Over on the other end, Tiplar's men are pushing forward. As they do, Tup turns to find a new target, and sees Tiplar destroying a spider droid. He slowly removes his helmet and mutters, "Jedi."
Tup watches as Tiplar continues to engage the droids, then mutters, "Good soldiers follow orders." He then starts walking right towards Tiplar, ignoring Fives and Echo's calls.
He walks right up behind her, and as she notices, aims his blaster right at her head. Two British troops see Tup, and charge at him. But, before they can reach him, Tup pulls the trigger, and the blaster bolt hits Tiplar in the face, killing her.
"Sister!" Tiplee cries. At almost the same moment, the two British troops pounce on Tup, tackling him to the ground. They quickly pull his arms behind his back and start cuffing him as Fives and Echo hurry up to them.
Anakin leaps into view, yelling, "We've lost our momentum. Fall back!" Tiplee picks up her sister's body and carries her back the way they came. Some of Tiplar's men and some of the British troops cover the Republic and British forces as they begin to fall back.
Anakin looks over at Fives. "Fives, I don't know what's going on, but you are responsible for Tup now. Get him back to base. I want answers!" he orders.
Fives nods, and he pulls Tup to his feet, herding Tup back the way they came. Anakin continues to help the troops cover the retreat until everyone else has retreated, and then they fall back too.
They retreat back to the control room they had taken just minutes earlier. Clones work to seal the doors to prevent the droids from getting in.
Anakin and Paton walk over to where Tiplee is kneeling over the body of her sister. As they approach, Tiplee asks, "Why? Why would he do this?"
"We're about to find out," Anakin says before he and Paton walk over to where Tup has been put.
"How's he doing, Rex?" Anakin asks as they near the small alcove.
"I'm not sure, General. It seems like he just snapped," Rex says. He then kneels down in front of Tup and asks, "Tup, can you hear me?"
"Y-Yes, Captain," Tup responds.
"What happened?" Rex demands.
"What do you mean?" Tup asks.
"Do you have any idea what you've done?" Rex demands.
Suddenly, Tup seems to shake. Then, his eyes roll partway up into his head, and his head begins waving around as he mutters over and over again, "Good soldiers follow orders. Good soldiers follow orders. Good soldiers follow orders."
Everyone just stares at him. "Anyone else feeling a little creeped out by this, or is it just me?" one of the British soldiers asks.
"What is going on?" Kix asks.
"I have no idea," Rex says as Tup continues to mutter.
Kix tries waving his hand in front of Tup's face. But, Tup doesn't even react. Instead, he seems to notice Tiplee standing in the entrance of the alcove, and he mutters, "Kill the Jedi." He then leaps and lunges towards Tiplee, but Paton immediately knocks him out with a blow to the head.
"Paton!" Anakin chastises him.
"I'm sorry. I reacted on instinct," Paton defends himself.
Anakin looks back down at Tup and says, "We have to get him back to the medical bay before he hurts anyone else."
They hurriedly take Tup back to the medical bay. Once they get him on an examination table, they strap him down to make sure he can't do something crazy again.
It's only another minute or so before Tup wakes up. He looks around, and sees Fives first. "Fives, what's happening to me?"
"You don't remember?" Fives asks.
"No," Tup replies.
"You murdered General Tiplar," Fives replies.
"What? No. That's not possible. I-I-I would never…I could never…" Tup says, starting to get distraught.
Echo lays a hand on Tup's shoulder and says, "Tup, you did."
"I don't…I don't understand. How could this happen? What's happening to me?" Tup cries, getting more and more distraught. Then, a medical droid injects him with a sedative, and he passes out again.
"What do you think happened?" Rex asks Anakin.
"Did you check all of his scans?" Anakin asks Kix.
"Well, all of his scans are clear. As far as I can tell, this is a combat-related stress. It seems he's had some sort of breakdown," Kix replies.
"Kix, you should know better. We were designed to withstand any stress," Rex says.
"I agree. We've been through a lot together. He doesn't seem to remember what happened. It's like he's sick or drugged," Fives says.
"Well, it could be a virus, a toxin. I can't be certain," Kix replies.
Anakin glances at Tup, then says, "Let's talk outside."
The small group walks out of the med bay. Once outside, Anakin asks, "You mean the enemy could've made him do this?"
"It's a possibility. There have been rumors that Separatists have been trying to develop an anti-clone virus. Biological warfare," Tiplee says.
"Listen. We aren't equipped for this type of situation. He'll have to be taken back to Kamino. Only then will you have your answer," Kix says.
Anakin just nods, then begins making preparations to send Tup off to Kamino. At the same time, Paton goes to send a report to General Reimer on Coruscant, alerting him to what has happened with Tup and requesting reinforcements be sent to Ringo Vinda. General Reimer promises Paton that he'll be sending a full regiment of Russian troops to reinforce them.
A droid advance begins shortly after, and Paton leads a counterattack against the droids. With their tactics and superior weapons, the British troops drive the droids back.
After driving back the droid attack, Paton returns to the control room, where he finds Anakin, Rex, Echo, and Fives gearing up.
"What's going on?" Paton asks.
"We lost contact with the shuttle taking Tup to Kamino. Seems like they were attacked before they could jump to hyperspace," Anakin says.
"Alright. I'm coming with you," Paton says.
"Alright. Then gear up," Anakin says.
Paton hurries to grab everything he's gonna need, then follows Anakin and the clones to the shuttle. Once they're all onboard, they set off to go find the medical shuttle.
It doesn't take long before they reach it. The medical shuttle is busted open, with wreckage floating around it.
"Looks like some buzz droids got on and busted it open," Rex says.
"Hmm. Strategically, this attack doesn't make sense," Fives says.
"Unless they were after Tup," Paton says.
"I'm going over there," Anakin says.
"We're coming with you," Rex says immediately.
Anakin and Paton put on special suits and helmets to help them breathe, and Rex, Echo, and Fives connect air tanks to their helmets. They then exit the shuttle and spacewalk over to the medical shuttle. Slowly, they make their way inside. As they enter, they see its full of dead clones.
After a minute, Anakin calls out, "Over here. This is Tup's gurney."
Paton and the three clones make their way over to Anakin. Paton takes one look at the gurney and says, "The restraints were cut. The Separatists must have taken Tup. The question now is why?"
"They must be responsible for whatever's happening to him," Fives says.
"It's possible. All I know is, they went to great lengths to capture him, and that means something," Anakin says.
"We have got to get him back," Echo says firmly.
"Don't worry. We'll find a way," Anakin says before leading the group back to their shuttle. Once on board, they return to the space station.
Once back on the station, they formulate an attack plan, then set off together for the Separatist held portion of the station, knowing that if Tup is still in the area, that's where he'll be.
Flying the shuttle low over the station's surface, trying to keep from being noticed. As they approach, Anakin says, "It'll just be the five of us going. The shuttle will drop us off just short of the main hangar. Then we space walk from there."
Are you picking anything up on Tup's locator?" Rex asks Fives.
"I've got a faint signal, but it's hard to track. It's moving," Fives replies.
"Then we need to hurry," Paton says.
The shuttle comes to a stop on the bottom of the station, just shy of the hangar. The back hatch opens up, and Anakin, Paton, and the three clones exit the shuttle and slowly spacewalk up to the hangar. As they walk, Fives says, "I've got a fix on Tup's signal. It's moving."
"They're moving him to the hangar. We have to hurry," Anakin says.
Once they reach the hangars, they all peak their heads up so they can see into it. Inside the hangar are several hundred battle droids, several fighters, and a shuttle.
Anakin raises a scope to take a closer look. Fives looks at him and asks, "Are your scopes Jedi-issue, sir?"
"Stay focused, Fives," Anakin says with a slight smile. Fives chuckles in response before using his own binocks to take a look.
Fives quickly spots Tup being loaded onto the shuttle. "There he is, sir," he says.
"We'll have to work fast," Anakin says.
"There has to be at least a hundred droids in that hangar, not to mention the starfighters. This is stretching it even for you, sir," Rex says.
"Rex, you're beginning to sound like Obi-Wan. You got a better idea?" Anakin asks in amusement.
"Look I don't doubt you could pull it off, but I don't think that Fives, Echo and I, and maybe Major Paton, would be around to see it happen," Rex says.
"Wow. That hurts, Captain Rex," Paton says, grinning.
"I've got an idea," Fives says.
"Well, let's hear it. Quickly!" Anakin says.
Fives pulls out a blaster pistol and attaches a grappling gun to it. Anakin smiles and says, "Grappling gun. Good thinking."
"Get ready to hold on!" Fives says.
"That's why he's the ARC trooper," Rex says, smiling under his helmet, as he, Echo, and Paton also attach grappling guns to their blasters. Then, as the shuttle carrying Tup flies out of the hangar, they fire their grappling guns off, and haul themselves after the shuttle, with Anakin holding onto Rex.
Once they get onto the shuttle, they make their way down to the back hatch. Then, Anakin, using his lightsaber, cuts their way in. All five of them make their way into the shuttle. Then, Anakin forces the door into the main cargo area open.
"Scrap 'em!" Anakin orders as he attacks the commando droids inside.
Paton lunges in with his lightsaber, and he attacks more commando droids as the three clones fire at any target they can.
Soon, only the droid commander is left. The droid manages to knock Anakin down, but Paton leaps forward and cuts off his arms. Paton then shoves the droid against the wall, holds his lightsaber up to the droid's head, "What's going on? What do you know about this clone?"
"I am programmed to resist-" the droid starts to say, but doesn't finish as Paton beheads him.
"Was kinda hoping you would say that," Paton says before deactivating his lightsaber and reutnring it to its belt.
Anakin gets up, then turns to Fives and Echo, who are standing next to Tup. "How's he doing?" Anakin asks.
"Not well. Not well at all. I think he's dying," Echo responds.
"We have to get him to Kamino," Anakin says before walking to the cockpit so he can fly the shuttle back to the Republic controlled portion of the station.
It doesn't take long to get back. Anakin lands in the bay of a Venator. This time, an entire medical frigate docks with the ship to take Tup. And this time, it will be escorted by an entire squadron of Terran Su-36 fighters.
As Tup is taken to the frigate, Anakin says, "I'll want a full report from Kamino. If Tup is the victim of some Separatist plot, we have no idea of how widespread it already is." He then walks off.
As Rex begins to board the frigate, Fives asks, "Sir. Permission to come with you, Sir. He's one of my best friends. You may need help."
"But everything must be done by the book," Rex says.
"Understood, sir," Fives responds.
"You're to stay by his side at all times. I don't want any more slip ups," Rex says.
"Yes, sir," Fives says.
"Sir, permission to come as well," Echo says.
"No, Echo. We don't need both of you. And General Skywalker is going to need you to help finish this battle," Rex says. He and Rex then board the frigate after Tup.
Paton rests a hand on Echo's shoulder, and says, "Come on, Echo. Let's get moving. There's still plenty of droids left to scrap." Echo smiles a bit at that, and accompanies Paton back to the control room.
And, I'll end there.
I actually was tempted to have Terran starfighter stop the attempt to take Tup, but decided that would end the episode way too quickly.
Also, if you haven't noticed, I finally have a cover image for this story! It was created by one of my loyal readers, Sectrooper. So, thank you Sectrooper for coming up with a great cover photo!
So, next chapter will be episode 4, and will also feature a little bit of events on Terra. It'll be up tomorrow. Until then, leave a review, and stay tuned.