I would like to apologize if my last chapter was a little short. I was having a tough time trying to figure out what to include in the chapter so figured I would end it. Anyways' here is the next chapter of the runaway arc. Be prepared for a little bit of humor, if you can call it that.
Disclaimers are the same as before, please enjoy.
Chapter 24: Shot through the Heart
Hope County, Montana
March 3rd 2019
1000 hours
Normal point of view
A veteran of the Vietnam War and former corporal of the U.S. Army, Wendell Redler sat on the porch of his home in the Holland Valley and scratched behind the ears of Boomer. Most days he would drive his pickup to Falls End and drop off more of the supplies he and his old squad mates, Joker, Moses and Yokel had stashed after the war end. Other days he would take Boomer for a walk and pay respects to his old friends at the local cemetery where he would often see Grace and Jess.
When Eden's Gate became a thorn in the side of the county, he stayed away from them and kept his stash of M16's, Claymores, food and medicine hidden before deputy Sam Bosworth arrived and asked for his help in arming the resistance. As he scratched the ears of Boomer, the Vietnam veteran began to remember the days when he returned from the war. People who were against the war called him and other veterans baby-killers and other rude names.
He couldn't really blame them, Vietnam was a hellhole and often there were atrocities committed by the Army and Marines against the locals of the country. The My Lai Massacre, the incident on Hill 192 and numerous other unspeakable crimes committed by the Country that helped save the world from the tyranny of the Nazi's and ended the last great war. He may have been a soldier, but he would never go that far in his duties, it's one of the reasons he declined another tour of duty.
Most people thought he was one of those people who killed innocent civilians, but the son of one of his friends saw him as a hero who was willing to fight for the countries freedom. Wendell always liked the fact that Robert listened to him when he talked about his days in the army, even at a young age the boy who listen to every detail about his stories of war.
As he grew older, he told Robert more horrific stories of his time in the war. Most people would vomit at the details of the stories but Robert didn't.
The last time he saw the boy he helped liberate the county from Eden's Gate and killed Joseph Seed with a weapon that no one thought was possible to be created. After he left, Grace and Jess asked if he would help take care of Boomer every now and then. Wendell excepted and the two became good friends. "Wonder how the kid is doing?" he said as he got up from his chair and grabbed Boomers leash. "Come on boy, time for a walk."
Meanwhile in another part of the universe, a female figure the same one that brought Robert into her abode stood by bed she the boy was resting on. As she stared at the boy in her care she felt something was different about him from other individuals like him. "I can tell he has a great burden on his heart and is plagued by mistakes of his past." she said to herself as unzipped one of the duffle bags retrieved from the crashed Republic fighter and pulled out a grey t-shirt depicting an armored male figure and four-legged creature unlike anything she had seen before standing together above the words 'United We Stand'. On the back was a story about the significance of the image on the front. "Clearly he is the Earthborn mentioned in the Holonet. But why is he out here?" she added as one of twi'leks that helped her the day he crashed by her place, about twenty-one years old with blue skin, hazel eyes wearing a dancer's outfit similar to a belly-dancer with gold bracelets holding a scarf behind her back and a veil hanging besides her beautiful face entered the room with a wet cloth. She was "How is he doing?" The Twi'lek asked.
"He is still unconscious, but his fever has gone done so that is something we can be thankful for. Seela, what is your sister's assessment of his ships damage?" women asked. "Sienn has told me the ships left engine is damaged but is fixable. The hyperdrive was damaged in the crash same with shield generators and life-support system. She just started working on it with your droids now, the blizzard hampered her attempts to begin repairs." Seela explained to her boss.
"Thank you my dear. It is slow right now, why don't you get some rest. You have earned it after all the work you have done entertaining the guests that have come and gone." The women said. "Thank you, Ms. Kanata, I am feeling a little tired." Seela said and left the room to change and get some much-needed sleep.
R4 moved over to the women and beeped with concern. "Don't worry my robotic friend, he will be fine." She assured the droid. No sooner had she said that, Robert began to groan and move in bed. "Looks like it's sooner than expected." The women joked as she took the wet cloth and was about to place it on Roberts head when he jumped out of bed. "What sort of hideous mausoleum is this?" he asked, confused about his current situation. "Answer me, pawn and knaves! Show yourselves or suffer my infinite wrath!" he said getting out of bed and acting like he was holding a cane. "You little spinal-cord-based organisms! Ah bugger it! Behold the eternal glory of Jetfire! Prepare for a remote system override." Robert said he hit the low hanging light on his head and walked over to the door. "I tell you, this guy did not age well." R4's recorded audio log said as Kanata looked to the droid before turning back to the young man she saved.
"I command these doors to open. Fire! I said, fire!" Robert said standing by the door before he made the sounds of missiles whooshing and exploding. "Bollocks! Damn these worthless parts." He said as the door slid open and he walked down the hall to the main area, with R4 and his rescuer behind him. "Itchy wretched rust in my arse!" he exclaimed grabbing his rear as if something was falling down. "Right I'm on a mission." he said before turning around and looking at the women. "What do you want? I have no time to talk. I'm on mission, I'm a mercenary doom-bringer. What planet am I on?" Robert asked in his confused state.
"Takodana." The women replied. "Earth? Terrible name for a planet, might as well call it 'Dirt'. Planet 'Dirt'." Robert asked before the women grabbed a jug of water and tossed its contents on Roberts face, snapping him out of his trance-like state. Robert rubbed the water off his face with a nearby cloth which actually turned out to be the upper fur of an Annoba. The Annoba growled at Robert and looked pissed. "Somebody shit the bed this morning." He said as he shook his head getting as much water as possible off his body.
"What is going on? Can a girl get some sleep around here?" Seela asked annoyed walking into the main area in her skivvies. Robert's face then turned red. "Whoa girl, pants. No one wants to see your figure." Robert said.
That was a mistake as the twi'lek walked over to him and slapped him right across the face. "Ow! That freaking hurt, what was that for?" Robert asked as he held his hand up to his cheek. "You interrupted my sleep, kid. Though I may be willing to forgive you if you spend the night with me, handsome." Seela said in a flirty tone.
"Forget it sis, he isn't interested." A voice called and all three of them turned around and saw a twi'lek with blue skin like Seela three years younger, but with purple eyes, wearing a mechanics outfit covered in dust. "Those engines of yours need to be cleaned out, got a lot of debris lodged in there. But seriously sis, this guy is way too young for you." The twi'lek said.
"Come on Sienn. I was only messing around with him." Seela countered humorously. "Neither of you two are my type, granted you two are cute looking I am not into that kind of kinky stuff you two are talking about." Robert said.
Again, he was slapped across the face, but the other twi'lek landed a swift kick to his jewels causing him to reel over in pain. "I should have seen that coming." Robert stated weakly. "Ladies, please enough is enough. He is our guest. Seela, grab the shirt I was holding and bring it out here. He needs something to cover his chest." The owner instructed the twi'lek that slapped him across the face before turning to the other twi'lek. "Sienn, make a list of the parts needed to fix the fighter and bring it to me, I will make all the necessary purchases." The women instructed the twi'lek that kicked her guest in the jewels.
"You'll have to forgive them, they were slaves for a few years before I bought them and freed them from their bondage. Seela is a dancer and tends to be a bit aggressive when someone interrupts her sleep or mocks her sister. As for Sienn, she is a dancer as well but is also a skilled mechanic so she tends to be somewhat of a tough girl when someone insults her as well." The women said sympathetically. "Ok, I will keep that in mind. Say you wouldn't happen to know a woman named Maz Kanata by any chance?" Robert asked as the pain he was inflicted began to fade away as Seela brought the shirt the women was talking about.
"You found her. I am Maz Kanata." The women responded.
Meanwhile back on Coruscant, Breaker was analyzing the recording of the murder and had played it for the tenth time in five days. Every time he watched it he saw Robert approach the admiral after he was killed. "Something doesn't add up. The footage seems to change immediately to when the Kid arrived at the scene. Three minutes of the recording are missing, let's see if Blakes program can clear it up a little more." The intelligence trooper said to himself and pressed a few buttons on his terminal.
Soon the missing three minutes were added and Breaker saw it clear. "The kid didn't pull the trigger. I've got to show the generals immediately." He said and downloaded the recording onto a holopad and ran to the Jedi temple as quickly as he could.
By the time he arrived, the council was about to finish their meeting in the war room. Recently, separatist transmissions were intercepted and it sounded like they were going to launch an attack on the Togruta home word, Shili. Even though they claimed neutrality and were loyal to the republic, there was no strategic point to taking the planet. Their hypotheses were interrupted when Breaker presented the proof they needed. "Well this proves that Robert didn't kill Admiral Leiase. So, we can clear him of the charge of murder, but that isn't going to stop Tarkin. We need to find him before the captain does." Anakin said with relief. If what Ahsoka told him about her possible feelings about Robert were true, he wanted both of them to be happy.
"Skywalker is correct. We need to find Robert first and tell him that we never once thought he was guilty." Shaak Ti said.
"But we cannot forget about the Togruta's. If they are the target of the next separatist offensive, we need to know if they have any advance forces on the planet." Obi-Wan said.
"Recommend Delta Squad for the mission I do. Proven effective behind enemy lines, they have. Weaken the advance forces if any on the planet they can." Yoda said before turning to Anakin. "Skywalker, send your padawan, padawan Offee, Commanders Bralor and Valcara, General Cage and Captain Rex to find the boy. Master Ti, rendezvous with Admiral Halberton and his legion you will and wait for the others. Make your way to Shili wait for the report from Delta Squad. Once word of separatist presence has been confirmed, to Shili you must go and reinforce the Togruta's. Send assistance as soon as possible we will." Yoda added before Shaak Ti's hologram disappeared and Anakin went to inform Ahsoka about her new mission.
As this was going on, in Erik and Fenrir's apartment Barriss walked out of the refresher wearing a sky blue bustier, matching color girdle belt, gloves and stockings and walked calmly to her lover's room. she took a deep breath and entered the room. "Are you ready for this?" Barriss asked as Erik turned around after removing his shirt revealing his six-pack abs to his Mirialan lover. "We both want this, but we will take it slow." Erik said as he playfully pushed Barriss to the bed and the two shared a long and tender kiss before Barriss closed the door to the room and the two made out.
Back at the Range, Ahsoka and Cassie had finished the Strike Gundam and Winged Gundam two days ago and were talking about the possibility of them and Robert building the Freedom Gundam model when Anakin contacted the two and explained the situation about Robert.
"I knew Robert was innocent. But we still need to find him, I'll go get Barriss and Erik." Ahsoka said into her commlink and left the range.
Cassie on the other hand, went into the armory and grabbed a Mossberg 590 shotgun with an eight-round extended magazine, her Dads Colt King Cobra revolvers, a Bushmaster ACR with a folding stock, MOE handguard, Magpul MBUS sight and PMAG fifty-round magazine and a M14 Mod 0 EBR sniper rifle with a mark 4 scope, foregrip and bipod. "Long Range: Check. Short Range: Check. Medium Range: Check. Good combination of firepower." Cassie said to herself grabbing all the ammo she could carry. She was about to head to the base, but before she left grabbed Roberts Morita rifle, its under-barrel shotgun and grenade launcher barrels and his hand cannon as well. "Kids going to need these. I understand why he took the BFG, if Tarkin got his hands on it, no doubt the traitor in military and senate would give the plans to the separatists." She muttered and loaded the weapons into the same XJ-6 airspeeder Robert drove when he brought Boba to the range. "Might want to let Boba know of the situation. He and a couple other bounty hunters like Sugi and Embo are like him, in terms of operating methods." She thought.
Meanwhile, Ahsoka arrived at the apartment that Erik and Fenrir had set up their base of operations in. The moment she entered the apartment, she heard the sounds of soft pleasurable moans and heard them coming from one of the bedrooms. The moment she entered the room, she saw the source of the moans and quickly stepped out of the room, her face blushing and Lekku darkening. "So that's what some lovers do when they are in love." She said too herself shocked and a bit disturbed at what she had seen.
"Barriss, Erik, when you two are decent and finished with your 'session' we're needed at the base. Robert is innocent and we need to find him quickly, Shili is the next separatist target and we need to be ready as soon as possible." Ahsoka said as she left the apartment, quickly as to forget what she had seen.
A half hour later, Barriss and Erik arrived at the base and were red in the face about what Ahsoka had witnessed the two of them doing. While Ahsoka understood what they were doing was common for most couples in love, one of them could have at least answered their commlink when she called them.
The 'incident' now behind them, they boarded Fenrir's D5 Mantis the moment Fenrir, Lycan, Cassie and Rex arrived. Knowing that the search may take a few days of weeks, all the necessary provisions were loaded onto the ship and soon they departed and began their search. From their office, the military spy believed he had fouled everyone into believing the Lone Wolf was a murderer, unaware that Breaker had discovered the truth.
Roberts point of view
When I met Maz I was surprised to see someone who was known as the 'pirate queen' to be so short. I thought I was dreaming but came to except the fact that this was Maz Kanata and she saved my life after the fight with Sabaoth Squad forces which resulted in my crash landing near her castle.
After the slaps and cup-shots I got from the twi'lek dancer sisters I learned to be a little more careful of what I say to women like those two. I then explained my situation to Maz who could tell I was innocent, even if I didn't think I was. She asked why I ran away instead of explaining things to the council and military, but I didn't feel like talking about it for this reminded me about a time similar to my current situation.
She wanted the truth, but she decided not to pry and gave me one of the spare rooms in the back and promised to keep my true identity a secret, no doubt there were bounty hunters that frequented her place for either a good meal and drink or to relax until their next big score.
I was grateful for Maz's help and mentioned that if she ever needed any help with some odd jobs around the castle to let me know and I would be paid handsomely. I wasn't looking for money, but it was better than doing things for free.
That was two weeks ago and since that day I have done the occasional cleaning jobs, gathering firewood for the castles fireplace and throwing the more drunker customers out that tried to have their way with the sisters.
Speaking of the sisters, every time I saw Seela and Sienn perform their dances my skin felt all tingly like I was gazing at angel. The dances they performed were one of the main reasons travelers from all walks of life loved to see preform. Whether its in the outfit Shoda wore when I first met her or an outfit similar to a Belly Dancers both sisters performed the dance beautifully and elegantly. Sometimes I would just ignore the girls and their dance, other times when I was asleep I would dream of Ahsoka doing the same kind of dance for me.
The last thought made my skin crawl. Why was I thinking of these things with Ahsoka, was I in love with her, no I only thought of those things because I thought she was cute, for a Jedi. I only saw her as a friend and nothing more, or was it signs of my love for her.
Those thoughts were interrupted at the sounds of angry shouting. I looked over to a group of people playing a game of Sabacc, this galaxies version of either blackjack or poker. Hard to tell. Either way one of the players, a male Zeltron with crimson skin and brown hair was arguing that another player, a Togruta with Red skin and blue eyes wearing the outfit of a fighter pilot had cheated. But what caught my attention was the fact that their lekku was severed close to their face. I moved closer and heard them arguing, the Togruta proclaiming he didn't cheat and that all he won the pot fair and square. "You think I am going to believe that. You Togruta's are nothing but cheaters and thieves, your kind will be exterminated one day and it will start with you." the Zeltron exclaimed and pulled out a DL-18 and pointed it at the pilot.
"HEY!" I shouted getting the twins to stop their dance and everyone went quiet. "And who are you, human?" The Zeltron asked and pointed his blaster at me. "I'm no one⦠but unless you want me throw your ass out in the snow, I suggest you holster the blaster before someone gets hurt." I said forcing the Zeltron to focus their attention on me instead of the Togruta.
"You know what, you aren't even worth my time boy, so I think I am going to shoot you and then the horn head over here." The Zeltron said pointing his blaster back at the Togruta. Even from a distance I could tell there was something special about this Togruta and I wasn't about to let him die. As the Zeltrons finger neared the trigger I sprinted in front of the Togruta just as the Zeltron pulled the trigger.
My body flinched as the blaster bolt impacted my chest, inches from my heart. "Not again." I groaned before everything went black.
Normal point of view
One week ago
March 12th
Shili
1400 hours
In a jungle, fifty miles from the capital city of Corvala, four figures in Katarn-class commando armor colored Red, yellow, orange and green with streaks of silver repelled down one of the large trees in the forest as a squad of mud covered battle droids passed below them. Touching down on the ground the figure in yellow spoke to the others. "This jungle gives me the creeps." He said.
"Ah Scorch. Nothing like moving through the jungle, hiding in the bushes and putting a plasma bolt through a hostiles cranium." The one in red said before taking a breath. "It makes me feel alive." He added.
"Okay. Now oh-seven is giving me the creeps." Scorch said. "Everything gives you the creeps." The red one chuckled.
"Scorch, Sev cut the chatter. Boss, that's the tenth patrol of battle droids we have seen since we arrived on this planet. I recommend we follow the patrol and see where they are going. Hopefully we can download the intel if these clankers have already set up an advance base." The one in green said.
"Your logic is sound Fixer. Delta's we're following that patrol covertly. Once we find their base, we can download the data and report back to command. Hopefully we can get the data back to them in time and they can send help and hopefully the Lone Wolf will have his name cleared. It will be an honor to fight along side him." Boss said as the others followed him after the droid patrol.
First appearance of Delta Squad, one of my favorite squads of Clone Commando's and the first ones I ever saw. Robert's name is cleared but he doesn't know it yet, Ahsoka saw something that she really didn't want to see, Shili is the next Separatist target and Robert has been shot, again.
Next time, reunion and another shocking revelation of our hero's past.
So, I have mentioned Gundam models for a couple of chapters. The reason is I have been watching the Gundam series a while now and felt that since I am watching I might include a few models being built for Robert by his friend and family.
As always, please read and review and I will see you all next time.
