Okay, we are drawing near the end of this chapters-long flashback. It's also coming to the part where we really see why the gang doesn't like to talk about some past events. After this, we'll get back to real-time and some (maybe) more battles. Again, there is a poll that needs voting, and if the first two choices don't break tie soon, I'll have to make an executive decision. Pleases correct me if I am wrong on spelling/grammar/punctuation.


Nirisa felt a crushing weight on top of her, plastoid biting into her skin as she rolled the unmoving form off of her back. She remembered his name—Riff—and felt a slight pang that she hadn't been able to save him in time before the torpedo hit. She rolled away from the body and re-ignited her lightsaber, ready to attack the oncoming Kirzmin Lizards flooding from seemingly mid-air. Nirisa's vision was swimming in front of her, and the constant ringing in her ears was making it impossible to concentrate. Out of the corner of her eye, Nirisa saw Kiki get grabbed by two tall, dark figures, and begin dragging her away through the alleys. "No!" she screamed, or thought she did, her own voice sounded muffled and watery in her head.

Marik opened his eyes slowly, blinking against the sudden light-headedness he was feeling. The screen of his HUD flashed wildly, only making him feel more nauseous. Marik strained his muscles to pull him into a sitting position. He groaned as every inch of him screamed in protest, but he finally managed to steady himself. 'Commander, this is Marik. Do you copy?' he said through a private transmission. His first response was static, and then and annoying beeping noise as the word 'FAILED' flashed in the screen on bright red. Marik groaned in both pain and aggravation as he tried again and again. 'Edger, this is Marik. Do you copy? Jax, are you there? Cord?'

More static.

More fails.

Gingerly, Marik wrapped his sore hand around the DC-15 blaster by his side. He swore when he saw the charge. This is nowhere near enough! Marik got the sinking feeling that he wasn't going to make it out of this battle alive when he saw two dark figures come toward him. Although he knew it was pointless, Marik looked for a place he could possibly drag his body for cover. There was nowhere to hide, all the houses having been reduced to smoking piles of rubble, bodies of dead civilians strewn between it. He barely even managed to raise the blaster to aim before it was kicked out of his hand, sending more pain and agony through his system. Marik screamed as his broken body was roughly picked up and hefted over bulking shoulders. Adrenaline began pumping through his system as Marik pounded on the Kirzmin Lizard's shoulders, only upsetting his injuries more.

All of the fight left him when he realized he wasn't getting anywhere.

Marik let his body hang limp, trying to ignore the pain that flared through his body. He looked up just in time to see another limp form get picked up and carried away before his vision blacked out.

Jax's head was pounding, and the ringing in his ears told him he'd been too close to the torpedo. He craned his neck and tried to focus his HUD on the flames in front of him. He couldn't see the rest of his squad, or any of the Generals. Where are they? he wondered, moving to sit in a more upright position. He watched as Marik was picked up and carried away, along with Edger and Cord. Not good, Jax thought, grabbing the half-melted DC on his lap.

"Look, there's another one…" said a low, slithery voice.

Fear gripped Jax's insides as two Kirzmin Lizards began to approach him. Raising his blaster, he fired off two shots, killing the first one. The second Lizard hissed and sprinted towards him, wrapping its long fingers around Jax's throat. "You're going to pay for that clone…" it hissed. The Lizard's grip slowly began to tighten around Jax's throat, and he could feel bruises begin to form. Jax coughed and gasped as black and white stars formed in his vision.

"Stop! We need them alive Rem'vis!" a deep voice hissed. The Lizard known as Rem'vis growled, but nonetheless complied, dropping Jax onto the stony ground.

Jax coughed as air suddenly flooded his lungs. He grasped his blaster in his hand again, intending to put a smoking hole in the Kirzmin Lizards' faces, but a crushing foot on his hand stopped him. Jax cried out as the foot pressed harder, breaking the bones in his hand.

"I don't think so, clone," Rem'vis spat out in disgust. "You're going to be a tough one to crack. I'm definitely going to have fun with you…"

Cold, icy fear ripped at Jax's chest as he realized that he wouldn't make it out of this. "No, no, NO!" he screamed when the Lizard slung his body over his shoulder. "Put me down! Help—"

"Shut up!" Claws dug into Jax's throat again.

Jax watched in horror as he saw Kiki's limp form get dragged away through the alleys. Helplessly, he raised up a hand toward her, hoping against hope that some form of a miracle would happen, and that Kiki would end up okay. The thought that he could possibly lose Kiki was overwhelming, and that thought fueled him to try even harder.

In the position that he was, his abdomen being around the large Lizard's neck, he was able to knee the Lizard in the face. He fell to the ground, rough rocks and sharp debris pressing into his gloved hands. Jax scrambled to his feet, half running, half limping to Kiki's and the Kirzmin carrying her.

"Get back here, you little runt!" Rem'vis yelled, sharply pulling back Jax's arm.

Jax felt—and heard—a loud pop come from his shoulder. "Gah!" he reached back to hold his shoulder with his left hand.

"You're not escaping from us that easily," Rem'vis hissed in front of Jax's face.

Jax's heart began beating wildly as he was set again on the Kirzmin Lizard's shoulders. 'We gotta make sure he doesn't try anything again," said a second slithery voice. Almost immediately, a small, sharp pain flared up in Jax's neck. What felt like fire spread through Jax's entire body, and he moaned at the pain. His head began throbbing again, and multi-colored stars were swimming across his field of vision. Right before he felt he would throw up, the world went black.

When Kiki finally woke up, the first thing she realized was that she couldn't see anything. "Wha…what happened?" Kiki's head began throbbing, and she twisted her body, trying get a better view of her surroundings. Something above her jangled and pulled at her wrists. Kiki looked up and could barely make out a set of cuffs on her wrists, attached to chains that led to something—like a lock—above her.

"General Jorani? Are you awake?" said a voice from her right.

As much as it pained her, Kiki craned her neck to get a better glimpse of the owner of the voice. She could just make out the silhouette of off-white leg armor, with black stripes running down the sides. "Jax? Is that you?" Kiki croaked.

"You're alright…" Jax said, relief flooding his tone. Kiki sensed more than heard the joy in him. "We've been captured. I don't know where we are, but I'm pretty sure we're underground somewhere. They knocked me out before I could see anything." Jax sounded guilty, although there was no way he would have been able to prevent what had happened to them.

"What about the others?" Kiki asked, looking to her direct left and right.

"The entire Crusade Squad is here. Cord is to your right. I should be right next to him. And then next to me is your sister. I'm not sure who's on your left, though." Kiki heard chains jangle, as if someone were trying to turn toward her. "You've been out for a few hours, a day at the most. They took the upper half of our armor, so the chances of a tracking beacon being sent out are slim." The chains settled.

Kiki sighed. The odds were grim.

She looked to her left, barely making out royal blue and white. "Rex? Rex?" she whispered, afraid that there might be guards outside the door—wherever it was. "Are you alright?"

"Mmm? General Jorani?" Rex lifted his head up, flinching at the movement. "Where are we?"

Kiki immediately regretted waking him up. She could hear the pain in his voice. "We've been captured, and we might be underground. They took your armor."

"Yeah…noticed that…" Rex mumbled, falling back into unconsciousness.

"No, Rex! Don't go back to sleep!" Kiki whispered loudly. She didn't know how much blood had been lost between them all, but it was enough for her to be able to pick out the smell from the others. She could see the blood that was running down his cuisse, and it looked like too much to have stopped by now. If he fell asleep, he could go into shock, or bleed out.

"Mrm? What happened? Where are we?" Rex peeked an eye open.

He already asked that.

Great, concussion, Kiki thought. She looked to her immediate right, where Cord was sitting , his hands also chained up above him. He didn't look to be bleeding, which was good, but his pallor was a sickly ashen white. Sweat beaded in his hairline. Kiki's worry sky-rocketed. She couldn't sense Anakin or Obi-wan anywhere, although the signal from her sister was weak. Kiki carefully leaned her head back against the rough rock wall. "Jax," Kiki whispered into the dark.

"Yes, General?" was the immediate answer.

Before Kiki could get out her answer, something in the cavernous room creaked. A large metal door directly across from her swung inward, casting the general area in a dim yellow light. "I thought I heard chatter in here. Looks like the slugs are finally awake," hissed a low voice.

Kiki looked up into the yellow glowing eyes of the owner of the voice. She glared, showing off more fight than she had in her.

The Lizard chuckled, a low growling noise coming from the back of his throat. "Well well well…This should be fun…" He took a step forward.

The crack of a whip echoed through the space, and yellow electricity buzzed and jumped along the long metal rope.


Our characters have been having the worst of luck so far (sorry, can't help it!). If my writing style seems to randomly change, it because I just happen to be reading and influential fan fiction, or I just have a certain author on my mind. Sometimes it's like LongLivetheClones (who has an awesome story I am currently reading) or reulte (who makes awkward stuff less awkward, and her writing style is great). So, yeah, sorry. My first fan fiction(s) were humor, so my style tends to be more towards that. It's actually harder to write something that isn't funny, even though I have some great ideas. AT this rate, the next chapter should be coming out shortly.

~AAx