"You know, working with Phi Squad has been a fairly educational experience. I've learned how to speak some Mando'a, how to operate a DC-17m quickly, and I've learned countless lessons in camaraderie.
Would I leave? What kind of di'kut are you? They're my vode, my brothers. I'd give up my life for theirs. Simple as that."
Tracker, during a debriefing a month after joining Phi Squad
1615 Hours, 547 Days ABG, RMSU 7, DrongarAjax stormed into the OR. He didn't understand why they were here on Drongar. Republic Commandos playing infantry. This hadn't happened since Geonosis. But this time, it was worse than Geonosis. Tracker had gotten a piece of shrapnel the size of his fist wedged into his upper thigh. It was one of very few vulnerable points in Katarn armor. But Ajax wasn't angry because Tracker had gotten hurt. He was angry because this wasn't how special operations troops were supposed to be deployed.
A nurse rushed out in front of the armored commando. "You haven't been sterilized. You can't come in here. You'll have to go back into the waiting room." She noticed him staring at Tracker. "We'll patch him up. He'll be okay. I promise."
Ajax begrudgingly turned towards the door and stalked out. When he'd reached the other side, he pulled off his helmet and threw it against the wall in a fit of anger. Ka'rta and Buckler were sitting on a bench looking very worried. None of them could stand to lose another brother less than a year after Ca'ad.
"Well?" asked Ka'rta.
Ajax waved him off. "They're doing all they can. One of the nurses promised me he'd be okay. For whatever that's worth."
"Do you want to hit the cantina?" Buckler suggested.
"Headed there now," Ajax confirmed. "Let's move."
The three proceeded to the cantina through the muggy swamp air. It reeked of mold and bota. Once they got to the air conditioned drinking hole, they went directly to the dark, empty table in the corner. After a couple minutes, the bartender droid came over and asked for their orders. Ajax ordered a round of tihaar. The fiery Mando liquor was the only thing that could match Ajax's fire-brewed rage.
Hours passed, with Phi Squad ordering round after round. Several shifts of surgeons came and went before they heard any news of Tracker. It was noon the next day when the news finally came, from a particularly tired-looking doctor who staggered over to their table.
"You're Phi Squad, aren't you?" the doctor asked.
"Yeah. Wha' 'bout it?" Ajax was slurring his speech.
"RC-9726. He's okay," the doctor declared, heaving a tired sigh.
Ka'rta hadn't touched most of his drinks. He was the only one even close to sober. "Good to know. I'll help these two sober up."
The doctor chuckled. "I need to get some sleep. That was a tough night. Your brother gave us some scares there."
"Thanks for the news," Ka'rta said, slinging one of Buckler's arms over his shoulder. "You deserve forty winks."
"Thanks," the doctor replied. He left the cantina, presumably for his quarters.
"Come on, Ajax. We're headed for our quarters," Ka'rta entreated.
"Oh-ay," Ajax slurred, slumping out of his chair.
Ka'rta carried Buckler over his shoulder back to their tent. He then laid his two comrades on their beds to sleep. While they were resting, Ka'rta went over to the post-op room where Tracker was laying, in his dark red fatigues. He was awake.
"You alright?" Ka'rta asked. "That was a pretty big piece of shrapnel you got stuck in your leg."
Tracker grinned. "I'm fine," he stated. "The doctors here are really good. They could patch up any clone."
"That's good to hear," Ka'rta replied. "How do you feel? And I don't want you to say 'fine.' I've been where you are loads of times. There's always something that hurts. Even if it's just your ego." He smiled.
Tracker's smile widened. "Well, my back is cramping from sitting in this godawful position, the IVs they're giving me hardly count as food, and this bed is rock-hard. Other than that, life is pretty good."
"Sounds like you really appreciate this place," Ka'rta commented.
That made Tracker laugh out loud. "I've been talking to a few of the surgeons. It sounds like life here is pretty good…" he looked like he was recalling something. A second later, he remembered. "...when you aren't dying."
Ka'rta slapped him on the shoulder in that friendly, macho way. Tracker winced.
"So," Tracker began, looking around the room, "where's Ajax and Buckler?"
Ka'rta chuckled knowingly. "They got a little drunk last night worrying about you. They're sleeping it off in one of the quarters."
"I see," said Tracker. "You going to get some sleep with them?"
"Nah," Ka'rta replied. "I slept a bit last night."
The two chatted away the day, talking about everything from the Jedi to how the clones were effectively slaves. Sooner than either of them knew, a nurse came into the room.
"Sir," she said, directing it to Ka'rta, "Visiting hours are over. You'll have to come back in the morning."
Ka'rta patted Tracker's shoulder. "K'oyacyi, ner vod." Stay alive, brother.
"You too, Ka'rta," he said. "I'll still be here in the morning. Alive, too."
The two commandos laughed as the medic put on his helmet and walked out of the room.
Ajax woke with a splintering headache in the middle of the night. He looked over to see Ka'rta sleeping in a chair next to Buckler. Something was off that he couldn't quite place. Suddenly, he realized what was missing-Tracker. It took him a second to remember what had happened the day before. They had been caught in an explosion, and Tracker had been hit by a piece of shrapnel in the leg. He couldn't remember anything after getting kicked out of the operating room, though. That was a bit odd. Losing almost an entire day's worth of memory? Waking up with a splitting headache? It all pointed to one thing: he'd gotten drunk the day before. He looked down at his chrono. It had been two days ago. Fierfek. What if Tracker's dead? Two brothers in less than a year. This won't work for me. I can't handle that. He looked over at his DC-15s pistol. He seriously considered grabbing it and pointing it at his head for a long moment. Then sleep took him back into its sweet, forgetful bliss.
It was several hours until Buckler rose as the sun became visible over the horizon. Where…? he thought. Then he remembered. Rimsoo 7. Drongar. Bota. Tracker! The surgeons were patching him up. I should go and see him.
Buckler got up and walked over to the door. He tapped the control, and the door slid away. He walked over toward the OR, and strode into the postoperative room. Tracker was sleeping. Buckler sat in the chair next to his bed and waited. It creaked as he shifted around and his head nearly split in half from his hangover. He couldn't wait long without falling asleep, though. It would be another hour before Phi Squad got back together.
After that hour, Ajax walked into post-op, followed closely by Ka'rta. Ajax had been told the good news, judging from his attitude. Tracker was reading with Buckler sleeping peacefully next to him. He pressed a finger to his lips, pointing to Buckler. Ajax softly shook Buckler's arm. He jolted violently.
"It's just me, Ajax," the sergeant consoled.
"Morning," Buckler mumbled. "Or is it?" He glanced at his chrono. "Yep. Morning." He seemed much more awake now. "What's up?"
Tracker answered. "I'm quite fine, and we're all here to celebrate my discharge from the hospital."
"Yep, pretty much sums it up," confirmed Ka'rta.
Soon after that declaration, a nurse walked in and checked the datapad at the foot of Tracker's bed. She checked his vitals on a nearby monitor, and said, "You're free to go."
Tracker sat up straighter and looked around for something. "My armor-where is it?"
The nurse pointed to a stack of camouflage-painted armor plates in a nearby corner.
"Thanks," Tracker returned.
The woman nodded and proceeded to the next patient. Tracker got up off his bed and staggered a bit, unsteadily. He'd been sitting in that bed too long. The commando proceeded to the corner where his armor was, to put it back on. His squad watched as he examined the upper part of his thigh plate. There was a dark red bloodstain there. "Tut, tut, tut. What am I going to do about this stain?" he wondered. "Makes it look like someone died."
"Then keep it," Buckler suggested. "Bloodstains always look fierce."
"He's right, you know," Ka'rta agreed. "Don't do anything to it. Might scratch the paint on your armor."
Tracker laughed aloud. "Okay, you convinced me. I'll keep the stain." He quickly changed into his black bodysuit and began snapping on the armor plates. Another nurse walked in and came towards Phi Squad.
"Admiral Bleyd wants you in his office right away, Phi Squad," she said, looking a bit flustered.
Ajax looked bewildered. "What for? We weren't supposed to be leaving until next week."
"Change of plans, apparently," the nurse looked as though she was debating whether or not to tell them something. "The Admiral's in a bit of a mood right now. I wouldn't keep him waiting."
"Well, then, let's move!" commanded Ajax. Phi Squad followed him outside, Tracker still working on getting his upper arm and shoulder plates attached. They proceeded to the RMSU 7 command center, right next to the landing pad. Several transports, presumably full of wounded, were descending into the force-dome. An alarm blared over the loudspeakers, announcing the arrival of new casualties. All doctors were ordered to the OR. The crowd of people headed towards the OR didn't stop Phi from getting to the Admiral's office, though. The four commandos proceeded through the door to the office and sat in four empty chairs, facing the Admiral. He was on the comm, it looked. Bleyd held up one finger for silence. Ajax nodded in confirmation. It was several minutes before Bleyd hung up and gave Phi their next mission.
"You saw the transports come in, I take it?" he asked, gruffly.
"Yes," Ajax confirmed.
"Then you'll know I don't have much time." He paused, creating a dramatic effect. "That comm I just ended was with the Jedi Council. They want to send you to Felucia."
"Felucia?" Ka'rta asked. "What's on Felucia that they need RCs for?"
"Pong Krell," Bleyd replied. "General Pong Krell is trapped at a Separatist installation there, and they need someone to retrieve him."
"Krell?" Buckler wondered. "Isn't he the one that hates his troops? The one that doesn't even see clones as human? The one with casualty rates higher than the debt ceiling?"
"That's the one," Bleyd responded, handing Ajax a datapad. "Here's the full brief. Your shuttle is outside on the landing pad. Now, excuse me while I go do my job as a surgeon."
Bleyd strode out of the office, and Phi Squad got out of their seats to follow him. Ajax led the clones to a Nu-class shuttle just outside, on the landing pad. As soon as the four had boarded, the wings folded down into flight configuration and the shuttle took off.
0200 Hours, 550 days ABG, Nu-class shuttle orbiting Felucia"Approaching drop zone," the shuttle pilot announced. "Your chutes secure?"
"Securing them now," returned Ajax. He went over to Tracker and made sure his parachute was packed and patted his back twice. Tracker then did the same for him. Ka'rta and Buckler were performing the same procedure.
"We're over the drop zone," the pilot shouted. "Get ready to jump!" He pressed a button on his console and the door fell open. The red cabin lights changed to green, and Ajax made a circular "go" gesture. Buckler jumped first, after a running start, followed by Ka'rta, then Tracker. Ajax jumped when he'd made sure the other three were clear. The bioluminescent plants and fungi on the surface began resolving into individual shapes and colors, each plant a beautiful example of evolution. The planet was astonishingly, overwhelmingly beautiful. Even so, Ka'rta stopped admiring the colors when Ajax's voice came into his helmet.
"Pull chutes! Now!" the sergeant said. All three obeyed, opening their parachutes to buffer the landing. The four hit the ground within twenty meters of each other. They formed up around Ajax.
"So, boss, where we going?" wondered Tracker. He had adopted most of the squad's verbal expressions by now, like "boss," "ner vod," and several other less savory Mando'a expressions.
Ajax checked his compass. "We're headed at a bearing of forty-three degrees. Should be about…" he pulled up a map on his HUD. "...fifty klicks. Let's go!"
This was yet another quiet infiltration. At least we're fighting droids again, Buckler thought. That stuff back on Rothana was heavy. Oh, well. This time I get to use explosives. Drongar was fun. No limits except "don't harm the bota." He laughed aloud.
"What's so funny, Buck?" asked Tracker.
"Oh, just thinking about the usual," was Buckler's reply.
"So, explosions?" inferred Ka'rta.
"Yep," confirmed Buckler. "Drongar was really fun because there were no limits."
Ajax snorted. "As long as you didn't hurt the poor, helpless bota."
"Is a stupid plant the only thing we're fighting for on Drongar?" wondered Tracker.
"According to the field commander there, yes," answered Ajax. He was starting to get jittery, like they all did before a mission. Especially one like this, where they were going to have to fight wave after wave of tin cans just to get Krell out alive. Ajax still didn't know how he felt about this mission. Saving a Jedi who openly hated clones wasn't the most ideal situation. But somebody had to do it, since the "A-teams" Delta and Omega were out on missions. His mind was positively racing. Oh well, maybe Krell'll learn some respect for clones. Still, is he not worth a Jedi? Why send the RCs if you can have Jedi? Fierfek. This problem must be a whole lot shabla worse than we thought. Or they already did send a Jedi… Ajax didn't want to think about that possibility. A mission that was too hard for a Jedi was way too much for clones… unless this was a test of some kind. No, it can't be a test. Why would the Jedi Council want to test a commando squad with a CT transfer? Is Tracker the reason we were assigned this mission? Is it because we're the only squad with a CT transfer that isn't all white jobs? That didn't seem likely. All the same, this was an odd assignment. Maybe there was no conspiracy. Or maybe… Ajax nearly ran straight into a large, glowing, blue, pitcher-shaped plant. The plant didn't hit him, but its beauty sure did.
"You okay there, boss?" wondered Buckler.
"Hmm?" Ajax returned. "Oh, yeah. I'm fine, just catching up on a little thinking. And noticing how di'kutla beautiful this planet is."
"Any new conspiracies we should know about?" Ka'rta joked. He knew Ajax could be a conspiracy theorist.
"Yes, actually," answered the sergeant.
The squad responded with noises of disbelief.
"Hang on, what?" said Ka'rta.
"There is a kind of a conspiracy that I've discovered," Ajax repeated. "Doesn't it seem a little odd that the Jedi Council sent us and not one of their own for this mission?"
Buckler made a thinking grunt. "Yeah," he agreed. "That is kinda strange."
Tracker and Ka'rta murmured in agreement.
Tracker looked at the distance indicator at the bottom of his HUD. "Looks like we're about 15 meters out. Should we set up a recon post?"
Ajax checked his map. "There's a better vantage point ten meters north. Uploading to your HUDs."
The arrow changed directions on the HUD navigation icon. The distance updated as well.
"Received coordinates, boss," Ka'rta reported. He started walking towards the indicated position, Deece raised, just to be safe. "All clear," he reported.
The other three then followed Ka'rta. Once they got to the observation point, they set up prone with sniper attachments. It didn't look good. Several dwarf spider droids stood watch outside the entrance to the square-shaped military base. It looked like a whole platoon's worth of B1s inside. This wasn't going to be easy.
"Wonder where they're keeping the General in there," Ajax wondered. "Not many places to hide a Jedi."
"I don't know," replied Ka'rta. "This might not be the right installation. Or they moved him to a ship in orbit."
"Or he escaped," said Tracker. He'd learned to be quite the optimist from Ka'rta.
"Then we'll need to figure out which," Buckler admitted. "Those droids might give us a hint what happened to him. Looks like they're on the move."
"So Krell escaped?" extrapolated Tracker.
"Apparently," replied Ajax. "Look. Our situation's about to get a whole lot worse."
"Fierfek," Buckler swore. "Is that a squad of droids coming our way?"
"Yes, it is," Ka'rta confirmed. "Oh, boy. The commander saw us."
He was right. The B1 in front, the one with yellow markings, was staring directly at the four commandos. Soon all the droids appeared to look at the Squad in unison. They raised their blasters and aimed.
"Get down this slope!" Ajax yelled. The intensity of the command made the other clones flinch. Nonetheless, each obeyed with added vigor.
Just as the clones were shuffling out of view, the first volley of blaster bolts came whizzing past their ears.
"That was way too close," Buckler observed. He raised his blaster, ready to scrap some droids.
"There's a lot of droids out there," Tracker mentioned. "I'm surprised you aren't opting for explosives, Buck."
"Going for the purist approach this time," Buckler joked. Tracker swore he saw Buckler shift the thermal detonators in his belt, though.
The first droid showed its faceplate from around a large nearby blue flower. Four blue blaster bolts hit it squarely in the chest at precisely the same instant.
"Next one's behind!" Ka'rta reported. He whipped around and fired once.
"Let's retreat back into the forest," Ajax suggested. He led the squad back, away from the Separatist base. Maybe they could regroup and come back with a plan later. He stopped when he saw the barrel of an E-5 blaster pointed at him, held by a T- series tactical droid.
It cackled metallically . "Ha...Ha...Ha. Predictable Republic dogs. I calculated a 92.6% chance that you would attempt to retreat and regroup. Surrender. I have you surrounded."
Buckler shifted something in his belt. Ajax took it as a signal.
"Okay, okay," the sergeant stalled. "Look. I'm putting down my gun, see?" He stopped talking to switch comms to the squad channel. "Buck, I want you to get whatever you're planning ready when I lay down my Deece. Okay?"
"On your signal, boss," Buckler replied.
Ajax crouched to lower his blaster to the ground. Buckler tapped a control on his gauntlet.
Barely a second later, all the droids the squad could see went into a rigid T pose and fell backwards. The tactical droid stood unaffected.
"Error...Error...Results do not compute. Contacting headquarters…" the droid's metallic voice and its transmission were interrupted by Ajax tearing off the droid's head. The clone picked up his blaster.
"Nobody dictates terms to me," he declared in a chilling tone. "Especially not a stinking piece of shabla rusty scrap metal." He shot the headless droid's body for good measure.
"What was that, Buck?" asked Ka'rta in surprise.
Buckler shrugged. "It was an interference signal. I messed with their neural nets."
"I don't think you'll be able to use it after this battle," Tracker predicted. "Unless the Seps don't find out about it."
"Well then, we'll try not to alert them to this weapon," Buckler confirmed.
"We need to move out. It isn't safe here," Ajax reminded the squad.
The squad moved back away from the Separatist base. They had their recce intel, and were ready to make a plan.
"How are we going to get past those spider droids?" wondered Tracker.
"I have an idea about that," Buckler replied. He started juggling three EC grenades.
"You expect that to work?" Ajax asked.
"With anti-armor support from the hill, yes, I do."
"That might work," Ka'rta conceded. "But what about the droids on the battlements?"
"I'll take care of them," Tracker volunteered. "You three just focus on the droids at the entrance."
"That takes care of infil, but what about exfil?" Ajax wondered. "And what if Krell isn't here?"
"I'll do a quick slice when we get in," Buckler said. "That'll take care of learning Krell's position. As for exfil, I have a few ideas…" he displayed the anti-armor attachment for his Deece. "This will take care of clusters of droids, and we can place a few charges to take out various parts of the base."
"You really love explosions, don't you?" observed Tracker.
"You catch on quickly," Buckler praised. "I also enjoy a good slice, but that's beside the point."
"Cut it," Ajax said threateningly. "If we're pulling this off, we need focus."
Ka'rta put a hand on the sergeant's shoulder. "We'll do this. We are going to rescue Krell as if our lives depend on it."
"They do," Buckler pointed out.
"You're right," Ka'rta acknowledged. "We're a team. The individual is the same as the whole. We will get through those droids like they aren't even there. Who's with me?" He put his hand in the center of the circle of commandos.
It was quickly joined by Buckler's, then Tracker's, and shortly, Ajax's.
"We're a team, like you said," Tracker repeated. "We're doing this together or not at all."
"It's settled, then," Ajax remarked. "Now we just have to solidify the plan."
The squad spent a half hour discussing their plans, refining and perfecting the strategy, preparing contingency plans, and, primarily, psyching themselves up. This would be a long, hard, grueling battle.
"Tracker," Ajax began, "set up shop and wait for my signal."
"Copy that, boss," the sniper replied. He jogged off in the direction of the ridge they had done recon from.
"Buckler, you get those dets ready."
"Consider it done, Aje."
"Excellent. Ka'rta…?"
"Ready for close quarters."
The three started moving towards the entrance to the Separatist base.
0400 Hours, Separatist Base, FeluciaThey were taking cover behind a yellow, bush-like plant, ten meters from the base's door.
"I'm in position," Tracker reported from the overlook.
"Wait for the signal," Ajax commanded. "You've got eyes on one of the droids on top of the wall?"
"Affirmative, sarge. Got one lined up in the crosshairs."
"Let's move. Everybody ready?"
"Ready here," Ka'rta reported.
"Go ahead, boss," Buckler stated.
"Go, go, go!" Ajax replied.
Tracker was the first to respond, pulling the trigger on his sniper attachment once, dropping the droid in his sights nearly instantly.
Buckler pitched an EC grenade toward the dwarf spider droids at the entrance. It went off, rendering the droids essentially unconscious.
Ka'rta was next, charging the door to make sure the spider droids didn't recover. He ran up to the downed droids quite quickly, then shot them in the eyes.
By that time, Tracker had lined up and taken another shot.
"Hey boss," Buckler wondered, "are we going in the quiet way or the noisy way?"
"I bet they know we're here," Ajax replied. "Get ready for a door breach. Tracker, keep doing your thing."
"Copy, boss," Tracker replied. "I love this assignment."
Ajax and Buckler emerged from the bush and started walking towards the door. The slicer prepared a breach charge in his hand. Ka'rta was crouched next to the door, ready to toss a grenade in the moment the door flew open. Buckler walked up to the door, armed the charge, and took cover on the side of the door opposite Ka'rta and Ajax. The charge blew. Ka'rta threw his grenade into the opening, and as soon as it exploded, got up, and the three charged into the room, Deeces blazing. Within seconds, more than a dozen droid carcasses littered the floor. More droids poured out of the smoke, blasters firing. Despite the seemingly endless nature of their enemy, the three commandos pressed on. They were determined to get past all the droids and achieve their objective. They were going to rescue Pong Krell.
"I just love that smell," Buckler stated.
"Which?" Ka'rta snorted. "Blaster fire, explosives, or droid guts?"
"All of 'em together," the slicer replied.
"Focus," Ajax snapped.
The other two quieted.
"I've got eyes on about four SBDs headed your way," Tracker reported.
"Osik." It seemed like all three said it at once. The curse, a term for feces, was very apt in this moment.
"Prep anti-armor," Ajax commanded.
Buckler was already switching to the grenade launcher attachment. Ka'rta quickly followed suit.
Ajax threw an EC grenade. The disruption field hit the two B2s that were in front. They were stunned for a few seconds. In that time, the two clones with anti-armor fired, taking out the two battle droids. The other two droids began firing at the squad. One shot a missile.
"Get clear!" Ajax yelled.
Ka'rta and Buckler didn't need to be told twice. They ducked out of the way of the missile. Buckler even fired a shot from his anti-armor as he jumped to the left. The precise timing of the maneuver took down the third droid. He looked at the ammo indicator on his weapon. Buckler had one anti-armor round left. Best to make it count later, when they'd actually need it. He switched weapon modes back to the blaster attachment.
"I'm down to one AA round," Buckler reported. "Anybody got one to spare?" He almost shouted the question.
"No, but I've got a couple EC dets," Ka'rta replied.
"Then use one," Ajax said, more than a hint of urgency in his voice as he dived out of the way of another missile.
Ka'rta did as he was ordered, stunning the droid. Buckler opened fire, Ajax did the same, and a few sniper rounds hit the droid from Tracker's position.
"Nice to see you're looking out for us," Ka'rta told Tracker.
"I do what I can," the sniper grinned back.
"Buckler, can you start on that slice?" Ajax asked. "We need to know Krell's location."
"On it, boss," Buckler responded, moving towards a computer console around three meters away. "Cover me."
A droid fired in the slicer's direction. Ajax fired back. The droid let out a metallic scream. More blaster fire. One shot even hit Buckler.
"Armor integrity's down," Buckler reported. "Can you keep them off my back? This kind of thing takes time."
Ka'rta was firing wildly into a veritable sea of droids. "It's a lot easier to take them out with three people," he returned.
"I'm doing my best to not give my position away," Tracker nearly apologized.
"Almost done here…" Buckler responded. "Got it. Krell's being held here. West side, cell A1-13." He turned and lobbed a grenade into the pack of "metal vermin."
"They just keep coming!" exclaimed Ka'rta.
"Press on, squad," Ajax demanded. "We have to get the General out of here."
Ajax began clearing a path through the sea of droids with grenades and his blaster. The gap was just enough to get through without being pushed around by the battle droids. As soon as as Buckler was through, the gap closed behind the three.
"This is what my nightmares look like," Ka'rta informed. "I don't like all these droids."
Ajax offered an exit solution. "We can blow the wall, remember? That way we won't have to fight our way back through."
"I was planning on it, boss," Buckler said. "Prepped the specialized explosives. They'll be deployed at the weak points in no time when you give the order."
"Good man," Ajax said. "I can see the detention area. We're nearly there."
"Great," replied Ka'rta, throwing a left hook with the knife in his knuckle plate. It took a droid's head clean off. He then proceeded to shoot a few more droids with his Deece.
"Buck, get up here and slice the door," Ajax ordered.
Buckler proceeded to the indicated door. It would lead to the prison block when opened. The slicer tapped a few controls on the door panel, and the squad was in. There were four droids patrolling the corridor. They were quickly dispatched by Buckler and Ajax, who entered simultaneously.
"Spread out to find that cell," the sergeant directed.
The three spread out along the two lengths of the corridor, checking the door numbers.
"Got the cell over here," Ka'rta called. "Buck, door slice?"
"Slicer special, coming right up," Buckler replied. He went over to the door and messed with the controls for a few seconds. He ended up lifting the panel and ripping a bundle of wires out of the control. The door flew open, and an angry-looking Jedi swooped out and kicked Buckler in the faceplate. From the four arms and the mean Besalisk face, Ka'rta could tell it was Krell.
"Oh. A clone," Krell said, realizing it wasn't a droid that had opened the door. He reached out an arm to the commando he'd kicked to the floor. Buckler didn't take it, getting up on his own.
Ka'rta was glad for private helmet comms. "Talk about a bad-tempered Jedi. I'm not sure I like this guy."
"So," Krell wondered, retracting his arm, "where are my lightsabers?"
"We didn't retrieve them," Ajax reported, slipping into sergeant mode yet again.
"Well, then, we have to find them," Krell commanded.
"I believe I saw a note in the prisoner file saying the weapons were in central command here," Buckler reported.
"Let's go!" Krell exclaimed, rushing out the door into the frenzy of droids outside.
"What in blazes is the General thinking?" Ajax wondered. "Cover him, and make sure he stays alive."
"You got it, boss," Ka'rta returned, firing at a droid to Krell's left. However, the General seemed able to fend for himself even without a lightsaber. What they said about Jedi and the Force seemed more true now than ever before to Phi Squad.
The squad kept plowing through the droids to the command post in the center of the base, the Jedi still leading them.
"What in blazes is Krell doing?" Tracker wondered. "No lightsaber? Never seen a Jedi do that before."
"He's retrieving his weapon," Ajax answered the sniper. "We could have done it for him. There's too many droids out here."
Krell appeared to stop to meditate. Several droids closed in on him.
Ajax shot the droids closest to the Jedi. "General, it's not safe. We can't stop now."
The reason for Krell's apparent meditation suddenly became clear. The Jedi's two lightsabers flew into his hands and the four green and blue blades flared into life. However, he did not start slicing droids with them at first. Instead, he threatened Ajax with one of his blades.
"No clone questions me, RC-3608," the general spat.
"Yes, sir," replied the sergeant with utter calm.
Krell turned and started slashing row after row of droids. Soon there weren't any left in shooting range.
"Looks like we won't be needing that exit strategy after all, Buck," Ajax commented into the squad's comms.
"Do we have to get this guy out alive?" Ka'rta wondered. "Nobody threatens my brother and lives. We can shoot him now and say the droids were too powerful, or that we couldn't find him, or that Palps called Order 66…" the medic was quickly silenced by a knowing look from Krell.
"I can sense your hate," the Jedi stated, calm yet ferocious. He wasn't able to hear the conversation, but Jedi didn't need to hear when they could sense emotions. "You couldn't kill me if you tried. You're too obvious. On the other hand, I can kill you and nobody would think anything of it. You're disposable."
Ajax clenched his fist and made to swing a punch. He suddenly found it impossible to even move. Krell had locked him in place with the Force. Ajax continued struggling until the Jedi let up.
"Enough already!" Buckler shouted. He recognized frayed nerves from a month's straight deployment. "We can keep hating each other, and let the droids kill us, or put our feelings aside and complete the mission." He reached over to put a hand on Ka'rta's shoulder. "Remember what Bralor always said. The mission has to come first."
"Good advice!" praised the Jedi. "I like a man who knows how to put his emotions aside."
"Fine," grumbled Ka'rta. "Just as long as we never meet again," he muttered under his breath.
"Track, can we go out the front door?" Ajax wondered.
"That looks like a bad idea from here, boss," the sniper answered. "I've got eyes on two columns of droids ready to spring at whatever comes their way. Blowing the entire base seems like our best option."
"Buck?" the sergeant asked. The one word encompassed an entire request.
"Drones programmed and ready to cripple this installation," Buckler replied. "On your mark."
"Let's move!" Ajax commanded. "Get ready to blow this joint."
Buckler threw a dozen or so 2-centimeter diameter spheres into the air. They flew to the base's power generator, filled with enough explosives to blow the generator sky high.
"Explosives set and ready to detonate," Buckler stated. "All yours, Aje."
"Have you got something to blow a hole in the wall so we can get out?" wondered Ka'rta.
"Got some explosives right here," Buckler responded, holding up a breach charge.
"Blow a hole here," Ajax instructed, uploading the location to Buckler's HUD.
"This will take a minute," informed the demolitions expert. "Cover me, squad."
Buckler set the charge against the wall in the indicated location. It took him ten seconds to properly prime the detonator.
In that same time, the droids blew open the front door to the installation. It was clear they wouldn't wait for the clones to exit that way.
"How much longer with that hole, Buck?" Ajax asked.
"Just a few more seconds," was the answer. A couple instants later, Buckler said, "Press the button."
"Get clear!" Ajax yelled, pulling out the detonator and pushing the button.
The wall in front of Phi Squad exploded in a flurry of colors and left a cloud of smoke and a hole behind. Krell was the first to exit as the first droids walked through the door and began firing.
Ajax followed the Jedi, then Buckler jumped through. Ka'rta shot some of the droids visible through the smoke, then proceeded backwards through the hole in the wall.
"Let's get out of here," directed Ajax. "Buckler, get the special surprise ready to go 'boom.'"
Buckler laughed. "Copy that, boss." He pulled a detonator from his belt and pushed the button. "Take cover!"
The three commandos and their General hit the deck at the same moment the explosives detonated, engulfing the entire Separatist base. Fire, smoke, and shrapnel permeated the air for several long seconds.
"That blew up real good," Tracker commented.
"All right, fun's over," said Ajax, laughing. "Get your shebs down here and help us clear out."
"I'll do that as soon as the smoke clears," the sniper replied. "You should have seen it, Buck. It was a magnificent piece of art."
Buckler laughed. "Ha. I bet. That was enough explosives to take the entire installation and send it to the county over."
"Yeah, it pretty well demolished that base. I can see that the back wall is fairly well ruined, the sides reduced to rubble, and the reactor?" Tracker chuckled. "Let's just say it's basically molten slag by now."
"Would you say it's safe to move yet?" Ajax asked.
"Negative," the sniper replied. "There's still tons of shrapnel coming down. I would not advise moving."
Krell got up, unaware of the conversation the clones were having. He created a Force bubble to repel falling shrapnel.
"Let's move!" the Jedi's voice boomed. "I won't keep this Force bubble up much longer."
"Seems like the best option," Ka'rta said. He got up and started following the General.
"I'm following," stated Buckler. He got up and followed the other two.
Ajax hopped up and got onto the bandwagon as well. He didn't want to be left behind. After all, that was ARC Rule Number One: never leave a man behind. Ajax also liked Delta Squad's Rule One: kill them before they kill you. Both seemed quite applicable in their current situation, given Krell had the highest casualty rate in the entire GAR. Ajax would have no qualms about pulling the trigger on a blaster aimed at Krell.
After walking about thirty meters, the four had cleared the debris field from the gargantuan blast. Krell let down the Force bubble. He was clearly exhausted from the effort, if you looked at his face. His voice was still as powerful as ever.
"Find a suitable place to set up camp," his booming voice commanded.
"Yes, sir," Ajax replied. It was obviously vicious mockery to his brothers. Ajax never called anyone "sir." The General didn't see it that way. It was probably for the best.
"Hey, Tracker?" Ajax called. "Come down here and meet us. We're leaving to set up camp."
"On my way, boss," the sniper replied.
It took a few minutes for Tracker to get down to the rest of his squad.
"What are you waiting for?" Krell boomed. "RC-3608, I shouldn't have to remind you the importance of setting up a camp."
"We're waiting for our fourth man to get here," Ajax said, all but adding a contemptuous "General."
"I don't like your tone, trooper," the Jedi sneered.
"Sorry, sir."
By now, Tracker had arrived and was watching the entire scene unfold, quite amused.
"RC-9726 reporting in, sir!" Tracker could probably quote the entire regulation manual and all 150 contingency orders in the same time it took Buckler to wake up and put his armor on. It seemed like he had slipped back into the "white job" adherence to regs and obedience. Or he was mocking poor General Krell.
"Let's move out!" Ajax yelled. "We've got to set up camp, and soon."
"Already spotted a good place, boss," Tracker chimed in. "About three klicks north of the base."
"Let's head there, then," Ajax said. He began leading the way to the location Tracker had uploaded to the squad's HUDs. Krell followed the sergeant.
"So, RC-3608, what's your plan to get offplanet?" the general wondered.
"HQ set up a rendezvous at 1200 hours tomorrow."
"That's a lot of time," Ka'rta commented. "What will we do until the RV?"
"The RV point is some distance away," Ajax replied. "We'll walk there after resting a bit."
Phi Squad walked to their selected campsite in outward silence. Ka'rta and Buckler were having a conversation on a private channel, however; a conversation hidden from Krell's ears.
"I really don't like this Jedi," Ka'rta confessed. "He talks to us like we're subordinates. He's not treating us like equals the way Jusik does. Even kriffing Zey treats us more like people."
"Yeah," Buckler responded. "I can see that. I also feel like we're independent enough to brush him off. He's not our boss. Nobody told us to submit to him. We still follow Zey's orders. Jusik's, too."
Ka'rta snorted. "He's a general. A Jedi. Our superior officer. We have to follow his lead."
"I suppose so, but if we see his orders as reckless or endangering, we won't be court-martialed if we disobey them. We weren't engineered to be blindly loyal to Jedi. Not like the white jobs. We're Republic Commandos. We think for ourselves. We are an independent squad. Nothing and nobody can change that. Not even a Jedi who threatens to kill us if we disobey him. We just aren't under his command. We're independent. We make our own decisions, give our own orders."
"You're very persuasive sometimes."
Buckler chuckled. "Only when I want to be."
The four commandos and Besalisk Jedi arrived at the designated location.
"Alright, boys," Ajax commanded, "get those tents up. Tracker and Buckler will take the first watch. Ka'rta and I will relieve you in… four hours. Hop to it!"
The four clones quickly got two ultralight dome tents out of their survival packs and set each up in about three minutes. In six minutes, there were places for two clones and a Jedi to sleep. Tracker and Buckler set up a lantern and foldable stools to sit on. They kept their Deeces on them, ready to grab the weapons and fire at a moment's notice.
Krell seemed to be inspecting the tent that had been set up for him.
"Problem, sir?" Tracker asked, out of reflex.
"No, just inspecting my tent," Krell replied. "Assessing the space I'll have to sleep."
"Gotcha," the sniper confirmed.
Krell walked into his tent.
Buckler sighed, knowing the Jedi wasn't going to emerge until the morning. He appeared to fumble around in his belt for something. He pulled out a small piece of plastoid.
"Is that-?" Tracker wondered.
"Ca'ad's armor tally," Buckler confirmed. "I keep it with me just so I can take comfort in the fact that I'll never forget him. That keeps him alive. I took his helmet off and brought it back to Triple Zero, too. We were wearing beskar'gam that mission. His Katarn armor was still on Coruscant. That's where I got the tally."
Tracker was utterly silent, intent on hearing the stories Buckler had to tell.
"Sometimes I try to talk to him. It gives me comfort to tell him about all the things we've done, all the struggles we have… I also tell him about you, Track. He'd like you. You're a lot like him in many ways… better in others." Buckler smiled. "There're a lot of things the two of you would talk about, like the thrill of a clean shot, a nice game of Dejarik…" Buckler nearly started to cry thinking about the last game of holochess he'd played with Ca'ad. "He always was the best at holochess in the squad." It was still painful to think about the stupid reason for his brother's death. "He messed up his arm real bad on Dantooine. Started taking bacta for the pain. He got himself addicted to the stuff, and that's what killed him. His insensitivity to that miracle medicine shabla killed him." Maybe it was a bad idea to start talking about this. Buckler was now in more of a mood than he had been for months. His focus was lapsing, tears were streaming down his face, and there was nothing he could do to stop them.
"It's okay, Buck," Tracker consoled. He could hear the muted sobs over their helmet comm. "The more you remember him, the more he's still alive. You don't have to remember the end. Just remember his life."
"You don't understand. I could have made him stop those injections. I killed him. I killed my own shabla brother, two-six. It's all my fault."
"He would have found a way to keep doing the injections behind your back. There was nothing you did that killed him. You are not responsible, you hear?" Tracker had started to take a bit of a confrontational tone. He had his own brothers' deaths to deal with.
Tracker began speaking about that experience. "When I was in training to become a commando last year, I lost an entire squad. We were practicing anti-terror ops, and I gave the squad incorrect information on where the bomb was."
Buckler stopped crying. "Is that why you were assigned to us? Because you lost your squad?"
"I guess so," Tracker answered. "They were guys I knew from my old division. It was just a stupid mistake. My mistake." The sniper paused. "After the accident, Kal'buir - papa Kal - came up to me and said the exercise was all just to see how well we would hold up given inaccurate intel. He made sure I didn't think the squad's deaths were my fault. I didn't expect the intel to be wrong. I led my squad into a false sense of security, and that killed them. I suppose I learned to never trust intelligence."
"Osik," swore Buckler. "I never suspected something so traumatic had happened to you. You've always been so cheery and optimistic… after you stopped quoting the reg manual, that is."
Tracker laughed. The two talked and joked for the rest of their watch.
0900 Hours, Phi Squad campsite, Felucia"A white job walks into a cantina and asks the barman, 'Hey, have you seen my brother?'" Buckler joked. "'I dunno,' says the barman, 'What does he look like?'"
Tracker was rolling on the jungle floor with laughter. "We all look the same! God, that's funny!"
Buckler happened to glance down at his chrono. "It's about time for Ajax and Ka'rta to come relieve us."
"Should we wake them?" wondered Tracker.
"Don't," advised Ajax. Tracker and Buckler both spun around at the sound of their leader's voice.
"You ready for morning watch?" Buckler asked the sergeant. "Looks like it'll be a pretty sunrise."
Ka'rta smacked his lips, in that too-early-in-the-morning way of his. "Don't remind me," he said. "Four hours is such a short time to sleep."
"Whiner," Buckler teased.
"It's not my fault we were woken up by you two laughing your shebse off in the middle of the night."
"Sorry about that," Tracker apologized.
"We had our buckets on," said Buckler, a bit incredulous. "How did you hear us?"
"You were laughing so shabla loud the sound was coming through our buckets and into the tent," Ajax explained. "Had to put the di'kutla thing on to turn the comm off."
"Sorry about that, boss," Buckler replied. "You could have complained."
"Nah," the sergeant replied. "Nobody likes a whiner, remember?"
"Okay, you got me there."
Buckler and Tracker crawled into the small tent built for two.
"Sweet dreams," Buckler told the other.
"Same to you," Tracker replied. "Don't let the ghosts of the past keep you up."
The two detached their survival packs and took off their helmets, making sure to turn off the HUD and illuminated visor. It would be daylight soon. But the two battle-weary commandos would have no trouble getting to sleep. Tracker nodded off first, comfortable from the get-go. Buckler had to shift around a couple times before he found the most comfortable spot on the jungle ground. His mind was still racing with thoughts about the squad's exfil the next day. It was going to be chaotic. They'd have to trek through kilometers of dense jungle just to get to the RV, to say nothing of getting there on time. And if the shuttle was late, or if there were droids in their way… it didn't seem like a very pleasant outcome. Fairly soon, the thoughts stopped flowing and the demolitions expert drifted off into the sweet nothingness of sleep.
"Hey, sleepyhead!" Ka'rta called. "Good morning!"
The sound of his brother's yelling woke Buckler with a bit of a start. It caused him to grab his Deece from beside him and aim it at the tent flap. Nothing was there. The tent was closed, and nothing sounded amiss. He grabbed his green-and-yellow colored helmet and shoved it onto his head. A quick blink and the HUD woke, showing him his armor integrity, personal shield strength, and the locations and biometric readings for his squadmates. The comm flared into life as well.
It sounded like the three outside were laughing.
"What's so funny?" the slicer wondered.
"What did you do to Tracker last night?" Ka'rta asked him. "He's never cracked this many jokes since we met him."
"Dunno," Buckler replied. "I think he finally came to terms with some emotional osik he'd been dealing with."
"That's good to hear," Ajax said. "Who wants to wake up the General?"
"Not it," answered Ka'rta and Tracker in unison.
"Not fair," Buckler grumbled. "I'm not fully awake yet."
"Hey," Ka'rta consoled. "At least he kinda likes you."
"Do we have to wake him?" Buckler wondered. "We could fire a couple of shots, claim it was a droid patrol…"
"Or we could get the bugle and play reveille," Tracker suggested.
"Nah. I think he'll get up on his own accord," Buckler said.
"In that case, anyone for a box of ration cubes?" Tracker joked.
"Don't we have some real food?" replied Ajax. "Ration cubes are meant for emergencies. Besides that, they taste absolutely terrible."
"Joking, Ajax," Tracker reassured. "I have some powdered eggs, some nerf bacon, just a bit of hot sauce…"
Ka'rta snorted. "I saw you pack an entire crate of that hot sauce."
"Who packed the stove?" wondered Buckler. "Let's get some breakfast!"
"Got it right here," Tracker stated. "Do you want that bacon crispy…" he turned on the flame. "...or extra crispy?" At this, he turned the flame up so it was about ten centimeters tall.
"Um…" responded Ka'rta, "...how about just crispy?"
Tracker turned the flame back down. "Spoilsport," he teased.
The clones began to cook their breakfast. After a couple of minutes, it seemed like the droids would need just an olfactory sense to find them. The smell of bacon woke the sleeping Krell. He emerged from his tent.
"Who authorized this?" the General asked, furious.
"Morning, General," Ajax replied, smoothly. "I thought it would be a good idea to cook a little food. Ration cubes taste terrible."
"Better than the enemy knowing our position," Krell spat. "RC-3608, discard that… meat and clean up the stove. I want no trace of your camp in ten minutes."
Ajax scowled. "Yes, sir."
"So, pack up camp, eat one ration cube each, and shift it to the RV," listed Ka'rta. "That's the plan?"
"Yep," confirmed Ajax wearily. "That's our plan. Hop to it."
Ka'rta and Buckler went to pack up one of the tents, disassembling it and packing it up in less than five minutes. Ajax and Tracker did the same with the other tent. Soon, the space looked the exact same as it had when the five people had arrived the previous evening.
"Let's get moving," Krell commanded. "The rendezvous is twenty klicks away, and we have less than three hours to meet our transport. Move it!"
"Right away," Ka'rta responded.
The four commandos led the way for the four-armed Jedi. They walked at a brisk pace, faster than your average stroll in a park. It was a hard pace to keep for three hours on end. Phi Squad could do it, though. It was second nature to them. These were young men in peak physical condition. The forty-kilo survival packs they were wearing hindered them as little as the pace did. That being said, the four were soon anxious to board their transport and get some much-needed rest.
1145 Hours, Rendezvous Point, Felucia"Shew," Buckler sighed, leaning up against a nearby tree-shaped fungus. "That was a long, hard walk."
Tracker was slumped against a fallen log. He looked the most weary of all the clones. "That's about the most accurate description I've ever heard."
General Krell seemed unaffected by the wearying hike. "Look alive, soldiers! That shuttle will not wait for you to get off your lazy behinds and board. It will be here in fourteen minutes. I suggest you be ready by that time."
Tracker was the only one of the four commandos to stand up. The rest remained seated, propped against various trees and logs. It would remain silent until the shuttle arrived, save for the heavy breathing and occasional impatient tooth click.
Soon, a Nu-class attack shuttle descended, its slanted wings folding downward from flight to landing position.
"Finally," breathed Ajax. He sounded the epitome of relief. "That was a long fifteen minutes."
Buckler laughed. "You could say that again."
"All right, transport's here," Ajax commanded. "I want you in it as soon as that door opens."
The clones stood up and hopped over to the now-open door, functioning as a boarding ramp. The five people clambered inside, eagerly awaiting the R&R promised by the long shuttle ride to Coruscant. All four clones and the Jedi sat on the chairs in the main hold of the vessel, patiently waiting for their next orders.
A hologram of the squad's advisor flickered into life there in the middle of the seating area.
"Good to see you alive and well, General," the lieutenant observed. "It's always nice to see a mission was successful. Your orders, General, are to proceed directly to Umbara. The assault there needs you. The 501st is already on the ground. Your task is to relieve Anakin Skywalker and take the Umbaran capital city. General Skywalker is needed on Coruscant." The advisor paused, two fingers pressed against the side of his helmet. It seemed he was receiving new orders from HQ. "As for you, squad, you'll be assigned to Kenobi's unit, the 212th. They're in need of a commando squad as of the battle of Sarrish."
Buckler groaned. "Do the knuckleheads up at Command not know we're humans? We need some R&R, Advisor. A couple of days back on Triple Zero, at the very least."
"It'll have to wait until after the Republic has taken Umbara. Sorry, thirty-three."
Buckler made his distinctive sigh of defeat. "It was worth a shot," he mumbled.
Ka'rta put a comforting hand on his brother's shoulder. "We were trained for this. It'll be alright."
Phi Squad's shuttle landed in the hangar of an Acclamator in orbit of Umbara several hours later. The four clones disembarked with Krell, on to a new assignment that would surely wear on their nerves and push their endurance to the limit. It was going to be a long, hard haul until Phi Squad went back to Coruscant. That much was certain. Anything else… not so much. Not even that return to Coruscant was a guarantee. Tracker was just glad they were alive to see another sunrise, even if tomorrow's sunrise never came.