Star Wars: Force of Nature

by General Rage

In a carefully laid trap, the King of Monsters is hit with a devastating super weapon. While the Nations of the World cheer they do not realize they have not destroyed him, only sent Godzilla to a new world. It is here the Atomic Titan shall come face to face with a new enemy, as he walks straight into a war long ago in a Galaxy Far, Far away...

3. We'll Begin with a Reign of Terror

Chapter 2: We'll Begin with a Reign of Terror

Training while still inside a confined space was a bit risky. You couldn't really practice with a lightsaber in the Ghost. There wasn't just the risk of puncturing the hull with it, there was the risk of Hera beating you within an inch of your life for damaging her baby. Kanan had never been sure which was the worst prospect. If there was one thing Hera was more passionate about than galactic freedom, it was her ship. So Kanan did his best not to potentially anger her or getting them all killed from suffocation. Thankfully, today would not require lightsaber training, he wanted Ezra to work more on his focus through The Force. A laser sword wasn't what made a Jedi after all, it was his connection to life and all that was around them. Nothing helped to focus that better than using The Force to feel out into the world with only your mind. It was still going to be awhile until they got to Tsuburonda, so they had some time to practice it. They had also gotten a volunteer to help.

An annoyed series of a beeps and blurbs sounded from across the room as Kanan and Ezra looked on from afar.

"Stop complaining and just do what I told you, Chop," Kanan ordered. "Not every exercise is about shooting or throwing things at Ezra. Sometimes you need to take a hit for the team."

The surly orange painted old rustbucket of a droid growled another series of blurps and bops at the two Force-Sensitives. He did not appreciate this exercise at all. Kanan, however, was going to listen to his hollow threats.

"I expect you to try to get me back for it," Kanan shot back. "For now, you're helping. So start circling... slowly."

Chopper let out an exasperated electronic sigh and did as told, circling about on his three roller legs about his corner of the room. Perhaps it was unfair to use the old astromech for this, but he had been asking for it lately with all the little pranks he had been pulling between missions. Like the rest of the crew, Chopper had been getting annoyed with the smuggling runs. Every couple of lucky shots the TIEs hit them with meant more repairs he'd have to do. He was getting exasperated with the constant maintenance and was taking it out on the others a bit more. Putting Zeb's feet into cold water while he slept, quietly entering a room while Ezra was trying to meditate and then blasting music, he even started hiding Sabine's paint supplies around the ship. He rarely picked on her.

Those were just a few of the pranks he was pulling, but they weren't the extent of Chopper's outbursts. He had gotten a lot more mouthy with everyone, even Hera. He felt he like he was doing all the work and no one was pulling their own weight anymore. Kanan could understand the droid's frustration with the sudden upturn in work, but that was no excuse to take it out on the others. As far as he was concerned, this was the consequence of being such a pain over the past few weeks.

"Alright, Ezra," Kanan said, beginning the exercise. "Close your eyes and focus on the first object."

Ezra did as his master asked and closed his eyes. He pointed his head towards the group of assembled kitchen utensils, dishes and empty cans. It only took a few seconds to pick up the bowl and begin hovering it high above Chopper's head.

"Good," Kanan complimented. "Now, just get it on top of Chopper. Remember, you need to feel his movements as well as the bowl."

"Right, anticipate where he's going before I move," Ezra complied.

Ezra kept his eyes closed as he slowly lowered the bowl, bottom side up onto Chopper's head. He kept it chasing the droid as the machine circled, finally placing it down over his antenna. Again, Chopper grumbled indignantly.

"Excellent, now the hard part," Kanan reminded him. "Just stack as many items as you can on top of each other."

"This kinda feels like I'm playing with baby blocks," Ezra noted. "No offense, it just feels silly."

"I get that, but it's about anticipating the movements within The Force and maintaining a connection," Kanan explained. "Not everything you need to lift or move will be stationary. Now please, focus."

"Okay, point taken," Ezra sighed, still keeping his eyes closed.

Ezra began to take one item after the other from the pile, slowly piling them on top of Chopper's head as he moved about. The droid started getting a bit worried as the miniature tower continued to climb, whirring and grumbling as he kept circling around. It was going good, but then Ezra started picking up speed with his technique. Before long the tower of junk became a bit too unbalanced. Too many objects of varying size in the wrong places to keep the tiny structure from falling apart. Suddenly it all toppled over, crashing onto Chopper's head. The droid let out a loud, angry series of blurps and beeps at the two Jedi.

"Sorry, Chop, I let it get away from me," Ezra apologized, trying to stifle a laugh as he replayed the image of can after can crashing onto the droid's motivator.

Chopper shook one of his tiny arms at Ezra and then stormed out of the room, beeping a few choice lewd words that made both Jedi wince.

"That was good," Kanan said, doing his best to compliment. "The problem was you didn't consider which items should go where. That made it unstable."

"I did at first with the bowl, but then I lost track after a bit," Ezra admitted. "Guess I wasn't focusing hard enough."

"It's okay, it's not easy to keep your mind centered on so many things at once, even if they're little," Kanan explained. "When I was still in training at the temple, I got headaches trying to keep track of every little detail. But it is a useful skill. A Jedi needs to be mindful of their surroundings and understand the connection between them and The Force. It may not seem like much now, but when you need to make some very quick moves in a dangerous situation it will."

Kanan was doing his best to sound like his own teachers. This far removed from his Padawan days it made sounding like a mature Jedi Master rather difficult. Not all of what he remembered from his training was always clear. It was in his mind though, it never really left. Being a Padawan didn't prevent you from being a teacher after all, it just meant that you had more to learn. Kanan himself had discovered that one could learn from teaching. Even the youngest Jedi could pass on a lesson to the oldest of masters, Ezra had taught him that a lot since they had found each other.

"You think Ahsoka ever got headaches early on?" Ezra asked suddenly.

"I wouldn't know. I told you before, I never met her," he replied with a shrug. "There were a lot of Padawans and younglings back then in the temple. She was just one of the more prominent ones, fighting alongside the most revered knights and masters of the Order."

He remembered when he used to think Padawans like Ahsoka were so lucky. When he himself had wished to be on the frontlines, fighting against the Separatist Alliance and their droid armies. He had been fearful of missing out on the grand adventure he had hoped for. That was of course before things took a turn for the worse. Before Order 66 came down, before the betrayal of those he thought were their allies in defending freedom and democracy.

"She fought beside Clones too though, right?" Ezra probed further. "I mean, Hera mentioned she used to command some of them."

"Yeah, all Jedi did," Kanan grimly noted, his thoughts lingering more on the Clones who had suddenly encroached into his mind. "They were the backbone of the whole war. Wouldn't have even gotten as far as it did without them."

The Clones, he had only sometimes thought of them. Mostly back when the pain was still fresh, when he was another man going by another name. Just some young boy who thought things were so simple, the Republic were their partners in protecting people and that the Clone Wars were about preserving freedom. The prospect of fighting robot hordes had quickly lost its luster when no one seemed to appreciate the effort. Fighting those you thought were your comrades was another.

He didn't know if he could blame the Clones or not. They were probably bred to follow Order 66 unquestioningly. That was an idea that had only arisen much later, when he had had time to actually think. It would've made sense if that was Palpatine's plan all along. To betray the Jedi, he'd want to make sure the Clones would turn against them. A manufactured army of laboratory bred soldiers would've likely had some kind of implanted mental programming like that. Again, this had all only come to mind much later. As a kid, he just felt betrayed, angry and disillusioned. Those he had fought beside had turned on him, on his Master, without even so much as blinking. They didn't even show regret, they just acted.

It was hard to let go of the anger at first, but eventually Kanan put the blame where it belonged, on the man who ordered the Jedi Purge and the system that had turned the Galaxy's protectors into traitors. Besides, it wasn't like there were many Clones left to be angry at. That accelerated aging process hadn't exactly left a lot of them in top fighting shape after a few years. It was less expensive at that point to just recruit people from the local populace. The Clones, for whatever resentment he may have still felt about them, were just tools that could be replaced, just like the Jedi had been. They helped defeat the Droid Armies of the Separatists and were branded traitors for it. The Clones had served their Emperor and were quickly pushed into obscurity after they had fulfilled their purpose. The Empire used people like that, it was just how it worked.

"What were the Clones like," Ezra innocently asked. "Before.. you know."

Kanan didn't blame Ezra for asking, the Clone Wars were before his time and he had only known the Stormtroopers. The Clones were just history to him. Besides, with the current mission they were one, perhaps he could share a little insight.

"They were brave soldiers," he admitted. "Committed and loyal, just not to who we thought they were."

"Why did they turn on you all?" Ezra asked. "I mean, why so easily?"

"I wish I knew," Kanan said with sigh as he turned to his young apprentice. "All I know is that the war clouded The Force so much with all the death and suffering that we didn't see it coming. That's the only explanation I've ever been able to figure out for myself. That and in war in general, it's hard to know who your friends are."

"I guess that's something Ahsoka knows pretty well too," Ezra added with an inquisitive tone.

Maybe she did, but it wasn't exactly the same. Ahsoka missed out on the real betrayal directly. She didn't have to watch them gun down her Master right in front of her. It would be easy to be angry at her for seemingly cheating the fate of the other Jedi, but honestly Kanan envied her somewhat. She didn't wallow in fear for most of her life or have to live with the nightmare of her dying Master's final words echoing in her nightmares. It would've been worse for her, watching soldiers she fought with for years suddenly decide she was the enemy. He hadn't been working with the Clones he and his Master were serving with for nearly that long.

Kanan still couldn't wrap his head around her though. Why did she leave? Why did she give up that life? Did she still believe in the Jedi war anymore? He didn't know. He hadn't really bothered to ask. Ahsoka had given him hope that there were still other Jedi out there, but also raised some flags. She was on their side, no doubt, but she didn't act like the Jedi he remembered. Any Jedi he remembered. He knew about her history, her pitched battles during the second invasion of Geonosis, how she had helped break the blockade over Ryloth, the fact she had faced down the infamous General Grievous on a number of occasions and survived. All of those accomplishments, the Ryloth one probably earning her some points with Hera, and yet she still left the Jedi.

Why? Because she got framed by another Padawan who had strayed from the teachings of the Order? Because no one trusted that she was innocent? He supposed he had never been in that situation before, but he just didn't understand why she chose what she did. It made her an anomaly and he didn't know how to respond to her. In many ways they were alike. They had both felt betrayed, their lives ruined, their worlds turned inside out and they had found new meaning in this rebellion. That didn't mean he felt comfortable around her. He didn't know how she felt about the Order now, or the Clone Wars or if she had felt anything when Order 66 happened. He supposed if he really wanted to know he should've just asked. That was easier for him to think about than it was do though.

"What matters is she knows she's on the right side this time," he said aloud to both Ezra and himself. "She knows we can make a real difference in this fight. That's what this whole mission is about, at least as far as Hera seems to think."

"You really think this whole raid is going to convince these other Cells to join up?" Ezra asked him curiously.

"Hera does, that's good enough for me," Kanan stated.

Ezra just snorted.

"Yeah, I figured you'd say something like that," he claimed rather slyly.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Kanan asked sternly, eyebrow raised.

"Nothing," Ezra cheekily brushed off.

Kanan just sighed. He knew what Ezra was suggesting, but he was not going to get into that now. They still had training.

"Let's try a focusing exercise," he said. "To help you get a feel for the world around you. Should help heighten your senses."

Ezra obliged and the two began the next exercise by getting into a meditation stance with each other. They sat on the floor and simply started to drift into a trance. Their minds were soon completely removed from physical sensation, their focus completely on that of The Force itself and the connection between master and apprentice.

"Okay, now remember how you found the temple on Lothal and me on that Star Destroyer?" Kanan asked. "We're going to try something similar. I want you to focus your thoughts on everything outside the room. See if you can see what the others are doing?"

"Isn't that an invasion of privacy?" Ezra asked.

"That barely exists on this ship anyway," Kanan was quick to counter. "Now focus."

Ezra did so, doing his best to focus. Kanan knew Ezra had a point, but it was just this one time and no one was going to be doing anything that would count as a breach of privacy with the upcoming mission. Kanan could already feel every person on the ship himself, so he'd be able to tell if Ezra was sensing correctly.

"I can see Zeb checking the cargo hold," Ezra eventually stated. "He's looking over those boxes we're hiding the weapons in."

"Good," Kanan acknowledged. "How about Chopper?"

Ezra's brow furrowed slightly.

"I think he's in my room... oh that little rustbucket! He's putting something in my cadet helmet."

"You can clean it out later, remain focused," Kanan insisted. "Find Sabine now."

Ezra's expression softened and the young teen's mind refocused on their Mandalorian teammate.

"She's in the nose turret beneath the cockpit, gazing at hyperspace and... I think taking down some sketches for inspiration," Ezra reasoned. "She feels totally at ease."

"That's good, your ability to sense the emotions and feelings of others is a useful tool," Kanan told him encouragingly. "As long as you're up there, check Hera."

Ezra just snuffed.

"Come on, we both know she's piloting," Ezra stated. "Too easy."

"Gauge how she feels," Kanan clarified him in a lecturing tone. "What do you sense from her?"

Ezra shrugged and did as told, it took a moment but he did sense something.

"She feels reserved, focused and... maybe a bit concerned," he reasoned. "It's like she's carrying a weight on her. About the mission, but also us, what we've gotten into I mean."

"That's Hera alright," Kanan told him smiling. "Always thinking about our safety. Eventually, in time, this will practically be a passive ability. The best Jedi Knights can near instantly sense the thoughts and feelings of those around them."

"You mean I'll be able to read minds?" Ezra said excitedly. "We can actually do that?"

Kanan laughed slightly.

"No, that would've made my life a lot easier," he corrected him jovially. "In more ways than one actually. But you can, if you hone and practice you abilities, be able to read those around you. And from that you can determine intentions and actions. If you're really good, you can even use The Force to reach out even further. Not just on the same ship or planet, but other worlds or systems."

"Really?" Ezra said, sounding a bit excited. "So if I tried hard enough I could see other worlds just sitting around and meditating?"

"Well yes, but it requires a lot of focus and it's not easy," Kanan warned. "It's really straining and even the best Jedi Masters had difficulty with it. Most of the time you just get inklings, feelings from The Force itself. Like those feelings you had when you felt I was still alive when the Inquisitor caught me. It's best if you-"

Suddenly he felt something from Ezra, a great surge of something powerful. There was a the briefest of flashes, fire and shadow, some kind of faint terrible screeching noise and then nothing. Violently kicked out of his meditation, Kanan found himself panting beside Ezra who was clutching his own head in pain.

"What did you do?" Kanan asked, concerned for his apprentice.

"I just tried to sense outside the ship a bit, like the end of the hyperspace jump," Ezra tried to explain. "But then I saw something."

"Yeah, I got a glimpse of it," Kanan admitted. "You were probably able to reach out that far because we were sharing the meditative state together. Did you hear that screech too?"

"Not really a screech, more like a roar, a weird one," Ezra elaborated. "Hard to describe. Saw some kind of weird eye too, vicious looking, angry."

Kanan gave some thought to the brief vision Ezra had gleamed.

"You probably felt the Zillo-Beast," he concluded. "If that's the case at least Ahsoka's source is accurate about this project."

Kanan got to his feet and helped Ezra up as well.

"Try not to do that again, okay," he warned. "You're not ready for that level of Force Sense. You need to take this slow. You don't want to strain yourself."

"I remember, it can be dangerous using The Force to reach out like that," Ezra relented. "I just wanted to see how far I could go."

Kanan could understand that, but he was still concerned about Ezra pushing himself too hard and too fast. Last time he did that he brought out something dark. Granted the circumstances were much different, but it made Kanan realize that you had to be cautious when training someone like Ezra. There was a reason Jedi took you in so young, to minimize the sense of loss from your former life as possible. Ezra had already lost a lot before they had found him and Kanan was now more aware of the danger that posed for him in his training.

"Well next time you try, we'll do it together," Kanan promised, placing a supporting hand on his shoulder. "I'm here to help you learn after all."

As Ezra smiled back up at his master, Hera's voice sounded over the intercom.

"Alright crew, exiting hyperspace in less than a minute," she warned. "Everyone get ready."

"Guess it's almost monster hunting time," Ezra stated with a sly grin.

"Guess it is," Kanan concurred. "Let's get to the cockpit then. Tsuburonda awaits."

---

Imperial Command and Control was the center of all operations on Tsuburonda. From here, General Sakal and Commander Klusto could oversee all of their important military installations and resource gathering facilities. They kept the project secure and well supplied. A few dozen intelligence officers kept watch in their sensory trenches and monitoring stations. They constantly sifted through the reports coming in from every Imperial Soldier standing watch, making sure everything was running smoothly.

For the past seven years since the lab had been set up on this rock, General Sakal had been the Chief Security Officer as far as matters groundside were concerned. He left space to the charge of the Star Destroyer Captains. He was where he belonged, in the dirt, so to speak. There hadn't been much opportunity to properly showcase his military prowess of course. Mutant animals weren't much of an opponent for his Stormtroopers, they were nuisances.

He had always hoped for something better, more important, but he also recognized the opportunity in being stuck here until the Zillo-Beast was ready too. The fact Lord Vader had arrived made that even more apparent. He and Klusto just had to wait. When the time came, they'd be rewarded for their patience.

"I think Lord Vader was duly impressed with our operations, wouldn't you say, Commander?" Sakal asked as they overlooked the room from their command post.

"That's a difficult assessment to make, sir," Klusto argued. "Lord Vader isn't exactly very outward in his emotional appearance."

"But he did compliment our defense placements and noted how disciplined our men were," Sakal noted. "If nothing else, he knows how truly secured this project and planet are. Usually when Vader shows up he takes full command and puts his 501st Legion in charge, here he's letting us all retain command and is holding his personal troopers at bay. That's very rare and suggests he has confidence in us."

Sakal's confidence was contrasted by Klusto's skeptical perspective. He was not as easily convinced that they had won Vader's approval. If anything, he was even more cautious then ever.

"That could just be because he doesn't think he needs to step in at this stage regarding security," he warned. "He could still be disappointed if we don't meet that four day deadline of his for the test run. Which we have already lost twelves hours on since he arrived last night."

"Don't worry," Sakal assured Klusto. "I made my choice for a testing area before I went to sleep last night. I've ordered several patrols to begin construction of a mock village that will serve as our 'City in Chaos' scenario. We should have it finished within the deadline, so long as Vader doesn't push it up again of course."

"Well then, it's all in the hands of Doctor Boll and Nulon now," Klusto declared, sounding slightly saddened. "Poor Sionver, she just keeps getting more pressure put on her doesn't she?"

"If she and Nulon had been faster and more efficient in their respective jobs we'd be done by now," Sakal informed his protege, not sounding at all sympathetic. "Trust me on this, Klusto, they don't deserve pity for their shortcomings."

"I don't think that's fair," Klusto argued. "At least not to Boll. This isn't exactly her traditional field and she's done the best she could. I don't think it helps when you dismiss her outright, like last night when you tried to throw her under the hoverbus with Vader."

Sakal glowered slightly at the Commander.

"I was voicing my disagreement with her decision to keep those... things alive," He grumbled back. "You don't have to agree with it, Commander, but it is in our best interest to prove our worth to Lord Vader however we can. Our only concern at this point should be if Boll has that thing ready for the test. I don't want us to look like fools in front of Darth Vader himself. That and if it fails, well, you can look forward to another damn assignment guarding some other hair-brained scheme of another crazy scientist. Or worse, do you want to get stuck working security for one of Admiral Motti's installations? That blowhard will keep us as glorified watch dogs for the rest of our lives."

"I'd rather get stuck working on whatever Tarkin is doing," Klusto admitted. "He at least is more respectable."

"Well if we play our cards right we won't have to play security for any Moff or Admiral," Sakal continued jubilantly. "Our connection to this project could place us in direct command of the creatures when they're deployed."

Klusto just sighed.

"Sir, we've discussed this, that's a long shot," he cautioned. "They could just as easily give it to General Tagge or Kendal Ozzel."

Sakal laughed heartily at the suggestion.

"Ozzel? Please, Tagge maybe, he's a great General, but Ozzel?"

"Well he's highly ranked, respected and word is he's been seeking a greater position..."

"Klusto, I knew Ozzel when we both fought in the Clone Wars," Sakal tried to educate him. "The man is a fool. How his career has survived this long is beyond me. The point is, he is not suitable to be given such a weapon, let alone a battalion of them. Our chances were remote before, but Vader is here personally now. We can use that to our advantage. It's why I decided our best troops will be involved in the test when it comes. The Beast can't keep order on its own, we have to prove it is capable of fighting with our ground forces. If our men an prove how capable they are fighting beside it, our chances for being placed in charge of the Zillo-Beasts that are deployed increase especially if Vader is there to witness it all."

Sakal couldn't help but think of it, being in charge of these massive cybernetic beasts. Powerful deterrents against any dissent or traitorous opposition. Between his own Troopers and the towering monsters, he could put down any uprising and see the planet returned to order. It would make all these years of boring security work worth the trouble. However, even with their chances increased, they still had to play it right. That meant the creature had to work and that his men didn't get slaughtered if it malfunctioned.

"With that in mind, we need to make sure Boll doesn't screw this up for us or takes us down with her if she does," Sakal warned Klusto. "There's no place for that kind of sympathy in the Empire, Klusto. Leave your feelings aside, my friend. It's the only way you're going to get anywhere."

"Feelings," Klusto said in befuddled response. "I don't think I understand-"

"Please, I'm not blind," Sakal huffed at the Commander. "I don't care what you find attractive, just don't let it interfere with all our hard work. She's just another alien, she'll always be lower on the food chain. It's just how it is. You'll only get into trouble otherwise."

Perhaps Sakal was being a bit hard Klusto, but he didn't appreciate the slight undermining of his authority last night with Lord Vader. They needed to present a united front. The Commander trying to stay on the good side of some exotic looking woman was not helping in that regard. Truthfully, Sakal had no problem with aliens as long as they did their part for the Empire. However, with rare exceptions, they weren't going to be headed anywhere in terms of advancement. That was just how the system worked now. Sakal had a career to think of, he wished Klusto recognized fraternizing with aliens was not going to help in that regard. They had images to keep and they couldn't fall apart in their resolve now because Klusto had a thing for women with crests or whatever.

"I'm just saying you don't need to use her as a stepping stone to impress Vader by making her look bad," Klusto explained to him. "If anything, if we want to get that position, we should be helping to make sure she succeeds. In any case, we should be careful about what we do and say around Lord Vader. He's been known to be very... well, heavy-handed if the rumors are true."

"Oh now you sound like Nulon," Sakal said dismissively. "I admit the man is frightening and imposing, but he's an accomplished Commander. His men have often spoken highly of him. He appreciates good military leadership and despises incompetence. As long as we show him respect and perform at our best we'll be safe."

Admittedly that wouldn't be easy, Vader had high standards no doubt. Sakal was confident he could meet them though. He had always strived towards efficiency and perfection in his career. In the multiple campaigns he had waged during the Clone Wars he had never lost a fight because he knew how to command, how to lead. Those Droids and their programming were no match for his military strategy and skill. Vader would recognize that.

"Have you ever wondered who exactly he is, sir?" Klusto asked. "Where he came from? How he wields the power he's said to have?"

"I'm not sure, no one is," Sakal admitted. "From what I understand he certainly has the power of The Force. Perhaps he is a Force-Sensitive the Emperor trained to be his chief enforcer. Perhaps he's some Jedi Traitor who was brought back to our side through the use of his cybernetics. Who can say, all I know is that he's the Emperor's right hand. That's all that matters to us. Ours is not to question, it is to obey. If only more people these days understood that."

"I know, I heard about some of the riots that occurred on Ryloth," Klusto noted. "And there's supposedly unrest on even Naboo. The Emperor's homeworld, can you believe it?"

"It's hard to, but some people just can't appreciate what they have," Sakal declared. "Honestly, sometimes I wonder if their nostalgia for the Old Republic makes them forget the chaos of that system. Why people don't appreciate stability I cannot say. Let us hope that the Zillo-Beasts provide the deterrent we need to stop this nonsense."

Klusto seemed to be a bit put off by that comment, his voice becoming less sure and reserved.

"I'm hoping that just these things being there will quiet things down," he said cautiously. "I'd hate to have to actually use the Beasts on angry civies."

"Admirable sentiment, Commander, but unfortunately the dissidents and terrorists among those angry civilians won't be obliged to see reason," Sakal informed him. "We have to take a firm hand against this sort of unrest. In situations like these riots, there are no civilians. Only lawless men and women who are a danger to themselves and others. You needn't worry though my friend. If we're in charge of the creatures, we'll see that they're used right."

Before Klusto could add to that comment further, one of the intelligence officers from below them spoke up.

"Sirs, we're overdue on a check-in report from one of the forest outposts," he said. "Sector DC64, to be exact."

"Mantis country," Klusto noted rather annoyed. "They've been getting worked up lately. Probably that solar storm we had the other day messing with their little insect minds. Not to mention the havoc it has already played with communications. I bet either the bugs damaged their comm uplink or residual radiation from the storm is affecting it."

Sakal grimaced, the insect life on this world was among the most hostile in the galaxy. He was just grateful that they weren't that intelligent, they'd be making their lives pure hell if they were. Honestly, first thing he was going to have the Zillo-Beast do after testing was head into the forest and have it burn the Mantis hives down.

"It's more than likely the bugs, but we should re-establish contact as soon as possible," Sakal determined. "That sector is dangerously close to our main airfield. We don't want a blind spot there. Something much worse than Mantises could get through. We don't want a pack of Hexu Maulers charging into the hangars. That outpost is scheduled for another re-supply run, isn't it? Have it moved up. We can have the TIEs fly the supply ship in and report on the situation for us."

"I'll get on it, sir," Klusto assured him.

"Good, we can't get lax in efficency at this stage," Sakal declared. "We're going to need everyone in top form if we are to meet Vader's deadline."

---

The Ghost came out of Hyperspace and approached Tsuburonda. The first thing anyone in the cockpit at the time noticed was the small fleet of Star Destroyers in orbit around the planet. Enough to give anyone pause certainly. Not them though, they had a ticket past the blockade sitting in their cargo hold.

"You think people would take notice with all the Imperial ships flying about," Sabine observed.

"The supply ships probably do, but I imagine they don't really ask questions," Hera responded. "Let's just hope the ID signature Fulcrum gave us holds up under scrutiny so they don't ask many in return. Are the supplies properly shielded from their scanners, Zeb?"

"Tested them myself," the Lasat assured as he settled down in the chair behind Hera. "They'll only detect a heap of fruits and veggies for their growing boys in white."

"Then let's get this started," Hera announced. "Transmitting codes, initiating contact."

Hera took a breath as she waited for the response, reminding herself mentally of the story she was going to sell. She was a freelance contracted supply ship. They were filling in for the regular ship and crew who got diverted. They had clean sterilized food for Tsuburonda's garrison.

"Supply Vessel 0823-85, state your business," the Star Destroy Captain demanded.

Hera exhaled, thinking 'stick to the story' repeatedly in her mind as she did.

"We're here on a supply run," Hera explained in her best, bored sounding cargo hauler voice. "We have your people's batch of clean food for them."

"You're not an Imperial Vessel," the Captain noted. "This is a highly restricted system, how did you get here?"

"Your scheduled crew got held up with a busted hyperdrive and broken seal," Hera remarked back. "They contracted us to fill their shipment. They said they'd let you know before we arrived."

"Well they didn't and you're not authorized," the Captain retorted. "Civilian contractors have no business here."

Hera put on a mock air of frustration.

"Don't blame me for your people's screw up," she shot back. "You want I can just jettison the food into space, see how long it lasts out there. The crates aren't exactly sealed. We already got paid to deliver the stuff to the system and here we are. You explain to your soldiers why they aren't going to eat tonight if you want."

The Captain's voice grumbled slightly.

"Wait a moment, I'll check the computer and see about this," he informed them. "Something may have slipped through."

Hera turned to Kanan as they waited for the Captain to return.

"Fulcrum did send those forged messages, didn't she?" He asked hopefully.

"Of course she did," Hera reassured him. "They'll find the message clearing us for passage and our ID code will confirm our identity. We're golden."

Sure enough the Captain came back on with a more pleasant demeanor, at least by Imperial standards.

"Alright, you check out," he relented. "Approach the central Star Destroyer and prepare for scan. Two TIE fighters will be dispatched to escort you to the planet's surface. Do not attempt to stray from their assigned path. If you do, you will be fired upon."

"Copy that," Hera acknowledged.

They approached the Star Destroyer now, slowly but surely. Two TIE Fighters were already flying out to provide escort when the scan was finished.

"Any idea how we ditch these guys?" Ezra asked concerned as he followed the fighters with his eyes.

"We'll probably have to shoot them down before they can report in," Hera admitted. "Not ideal, they're bound to notice a missing patrol. We'll have to work fast after that."

"Best we look for other opportunities if possible then," Kanan suggested. "We could always lose them in the cloud coverage or try to fake a malfunction, ditch in the trees. Just be ready to exploit any opportunity we may run across."

Before long they were cleared to enter the atmosphere. The shielding on the cargo containers had worked and they hadn't detected any illegal contraband. The laser turrets were hardly a concern, ships were allowed arms to defend themselves against attackers. So long as they kept them deactivated the Empire wouldn't be alarmed. Of course the TIEs would be monitoring to see if they powered up the guns, so the first option of shooting them both out of the sky before they could radio in was looking problematic already.

"At least we're past the Star Destroyers," Sabine said, trying her best to sound reassuring as they entered the atmosphere.

"And we're still stuck with two fighters who could have half the planet looking for us if we step out of line," Kanan noted. "We're going to need a plan and fast, before we reach this supply drop off."

"I got an idea," Hera reasoned. "Chopper, hack their frequency."

The old droid blurped and grunted as he carried out the command, entering Imperial frequency codes in order to jack the communication channels for the TIEs covertly. They'd be able to hear any conversation to two pilots had that they didn't want the Ghost to hear. When it was done, Chopper let out a 'whoop whoop' at his success.

"You gotta showboat for everything, don't ya?" Zeb grumbled at him.

Chopper only responded with his usual dismissive blurps at Zeb.

"Quiet you two," Hera ordered as she hunched over the control panel. "Trying to hear."

She turned up the volume on the comm and heard the pilots chatting away.

"I hate doing milk runs for the Troopers," one growled. "I did not graduate from the Flight Academy to be stuck in the middle of nowhere playing escort for a bunch of glorified grocery bag haulers."

"Would you prefer the soldiers die of radiation poisoning cause they eat too much contaminated fruit?" The other asked. "Just shut up, suck it in and we'll be back on the Destroyer before you know it."

Small talk, nothing fairly useful, at least not at first. The conversation suddenly took a different turn in the next second.

"Say is this right?" The first pilot asked. "DC64? Draxen Mantis country? Why'd they get moved up on the list?"

"Mission report says we need to verify their status while we're there," the second pilot explained. "Apparently they didn't check in this morning."

"So because a bunch of troopers get lazy we have to play alarm clock?" The first pilot groaned. "Honestly, it's like they're trying to make me hate this job."

"Orders is orders," the other pilot scolded him. "Look, we'll radio them as we approach, call it in, get the cargo ship offloaded and get out. We won't even have to land, so just relax."

That had piqued everyone's interest a bit.

"Hmm, maybe we could use this as a distraction," Kanan suggested. "While they're checking in with the outpost, we can slip away. Better yet, jam their frequencies so that maybe they land for repairs and we take off without them."

"That could work," Hera concurred. "Let's just hope once we make our move we can outrun the fighters."

However, a minute after they learned about the unresponsive outpost they arrived at their destination. It looked less like an outpost though and more like a giant smoldering heap of burned trees and smoking craters. There was practically nothing left but the charred remains of buildings and a few bodies of what were once Stormtroopers.

"Uh, I think we may need to rethink the plan, fearless leaders," Sabine stated, disturbed by what she was seeing.

"I guess we know why they didn't check in," Ezra said in shock as he stared out the cockpit window. "What happened here?"

"I'll tell you," Zeb informed him grimly. "They got massacred, that's what."

Hera, shaking off the collective shock everyone was experiencing, flicked on the comm again to listen in on the pilots. They seemed just as bewildered by it all.

"What in the hell? No way Mantises did all this!" The first pilot declared. "What hit them?"

"No idea, but whatever it was hit hard," the second pilot reasoned coolly. "I say we land, look for survivors, figure out what went down."

"Okay, but what about the cargo hauler?" Asked the first pilot. "We can't just let it go on to the next base without us and we can't waste time flying them back up. And what if there are wounded? We can't get them to the airbase for treatment in these things."

"Crap, alright radio them," the second pilot relented. "We'll take'em down with us. But tell them to stay in the ship until we secure the area."

No one was sure what to think of this. It could be their chance to get away, at the same time though they were a bit curious as to what had happened to this outpost. There was also the mention of that airbase, something that piqued Hera's interest and she could tell Kanan felt the same. As everyone went over their options in their mind, they were contacted by one of the pilots to issue the new orders.

"Change of plans, we're landing," he stated. "You stay aboard your ship. We may need you to transport potential survivors."

"Copy that," Hera responded, turning off the radio and turning to others. "We're going to need to work fast when we get on the ground. If we end up getting carted off to their airbase, things are just going to get more complicated."

"Don't worry, I already got an idea," Kanan assured her, looking down into the gunner cockpit below. "Sabine, you and Ezra up for a little stealth?"

Sabine responded by grabbing her helmet and slipping it over her head.

"Was waiting for you to ask," she readily stated with expectant glee.

---

The TIE pilots got out of their fighters ad began looking around the area. The Ghost in the meantime was parked on the charred remains of the forest floor just a few feet away. When the pilots were out of sight, Ezra and Sabine quickly dropped out of the open airlock door on the side of the ship. They hit the ground running and slinked towards the smoldering remains of one of the outpost's makeshift buildings.

"Alright, I'll get in position and you stun the first guy so I can take out the second," she reminded him.

"Easy enough," Ezra assured her. "Not much cover though. Whatever wrecked this place didn't leave much."

"Just stay low to the ground," Sabine told him. "That shouldn't be too hard for you shorty."

Ezra would've said something, but decided to keep his mouth shut lest they give themselves away. The two split up, keeping as far back from the pilots as they patrolled the area, blasters at the ready. They were probably more concerned about scavengers, but that didn't mean they weren't on guard. They were still more focused on things ahead or to the side of them though, not the back. That gave Ezra a chance to use the rocks or destroyed Imperial equipment to hide himself. As he got closer, he could make out bits of their conversation.

"You getting radiation readings?" Ezra overheard one of the pilots as he knelt behind the remains of a speeder bike.

"Oh what a shock for the planet that's constantly bombarded with radioactivity by a really hyperactive sun," the other pilot growled back. "Are you just trying to sound stupid now?"

"I'm serious, there's a greater spike in it than usual around here," the wingman tried to explain. "As in more than what we're supposed to read. The slightly more dangerous kind. Like fallout or something."

The other pilot just snorted at the suggestion.

"I guess the mantises are arming themselves with nuclear-based weapons then?" He asked incredulously. "Fallout? Please, it's probably just a solar flare spike."

Ezra admitted he was a bit curious about what they were talking about, but wouldn't let it distract him. He quickly rolled across the ground to what was left of a charred stump. One of the pilots stopped briefly for a moment and looked back, seeing nothing he tried to sharpen his gaze. However, his friend called back to him before he could zero in on Ezra.

"Hey! I found something," he called out.

The curious pilot stopped his search and rushed back to join his comrade. Ezra peered out and saw the other pilot holding something in his hand, it looked like some kind of weird little brown bug with a strange ribbed shell.

"The heck is that?" The wingman asked.

"No idea," the lead pilot said. "Not like any bug I've ever seen. Looks more like some kind of crab. But we're miles from the ocean."

"Where'd you find it?" The wingman asked him.

The lead pilot pointed to something off to the side.

"Some large impression in the mud over there," he explained. "I think it's a ditch or something."

Suddenly the wingman and lead pilot's heads jolted over in another direction.

"You hear that?" One of them asked.

Ezra hadn't heard anything, but as he did his best to focus his mind he did catch a faint sound of something. Like a moan or cry in the distance.

"That sounded human," the lead pilot stated. "Come on!"

The two rushed off into the remains of the camp. Ezra had to hurriedly scamper in order to keep up. He hoped Sabine was doing the same. He stopped at a burned tree trunk that had been snapped in half by something and looked beyond it to see the pilots looking over a Stormtrooper, this one in Scout Armour. The man appeared shaken, disturbed and terrified. The pilots kept trying to get him to speak, but he could only offer mumbled whispers in response.

"Hey, come on, man," one of them said shaking his shoulder a bit. "Snap out of it already."

The Scout Trooper just kept mumbling in response.

"Damn, he's out of it," said the other pilot. "We should bring him back to the cargo hauler and look around for more survivors. Not to mention call in command so we can report what's going on here. We'll need help figuring out what happened here."

They wouldn't get the chance though. As the wingman moved to pick up the Scout Trooper, Ezra spotted Sabine peering out from behind a smashed in barracks building. With a nod of her head towards him, Ezra stepped out and fired his stun blaster at the wingman. The TIE pilot took a hit directly to the back and toppled over onto his side in pain. As the lead pilot looked down to his shocked partner, Sabine rushed in. The first thing the pilot saw when he looked up was the Mandalorian's first careening into his eyes followed by a swift kick to the head as he stumbled backwards. When he tried to strike back with a dazed right jab, Sabine tucked under him, grabbed his arm and flung him towards the remains of the barracks. He hit the wall, face first and collapsed to the ground.

"I think I broke his nose with that one," Sabine observed as stretched out and flicked her wrist around. "Ugh, I always forget how hard their skulls are. Lucky he took off his helmet."

Ezra soon joined Sabine by her side. They both looked down at the Scout Trooper, who seemed utterly oblivious to their presence.

"So what do we do with him?" Ezra asked Sabine.

"He doesn't look like he's in any shape to cause trouble," she concluded. "I'll keep an eye on him and the others. Go back to the ship to give them the all clear. Zeb can take them from there."

---

Zeb carted the unconscious pair of pilots over to a stump where he quickly tied them up. He then brought the babbling Scout Trooper to the center near where everyone else was gathered near the TIE fighters. Chopper had already boosted himself inside one of the starfighters with his jump jet and had connected to its data computer.

"Let us know when you find the airbase, Chop," Kanan told the droid, who responded with a grouchy series of beeps and boops.

Everyone's attention now turned to the curious case of the shell-shocked Scout Trooper and the bizarre looking crab thing the pilots had found in the middle of all this wreckage. Sabine kept eyeing the weird little insect thing, trying to place it in her mind.

"No clue, nothing from my Academy's zoology books I can remember," she relented at last. "Probably just another mutant animal. Does look like it came from the sea though, very similar to a crustacean. No idea how it ended up here."

"And you heard the pilot say he found it in some kind of ditch?" Kanan asked, trying to sort the matte rout for himself.

"Yeah, right over to the side of the camp," Ezra said pointing.

Kanan followed the directions and soon he and his young apprentice were staring at said ditch. However, it didn't look like one, the pilot probably hadn't been paying good attention. The shape in the mud looked less like a ditch and more like a very large impression. Like a foot maybe, but that couldn't be possible. Nothing was that big, nothing except...

"You think the Zillo-Beast made this?" Ezra asked, already deducing for himself the true nature of the impression.

"No," Kanan stated, shaking his head. "They wouldn't have tested it out on their own people. Not even the Empire would kill its own soldiers like this. They wouldn't order TIEs to check on their handiwork either. This is something else."

They walked back to the others, still looking over the shocked Scout Trooper. Hera looked up at they approached, a look of concern on her face.

"He's in a real bad way," she admitted. "Barely can get two words out of him at a time. He keeps asking for someone named Kuro. And then there's the other thing he keeps repeating."

Almost as if on cue, the Trooper started mumbling aloud.

"Fire... monster... Fire Monster, fire..."

Kanan suddenly understood why Hera looked so worried.

"Probably some kind of mutant animal," Kanan surmised. "A big one at that. Big enough to reduce this place to cinders."

"Wouldn't the Empire be ready for something like that?" Zeb asked. "They've been here for seven years. They should know all the local monsters by now."

"Or this is something new," Hera cautioned. "Something they didn't find until now."

"Could be a wrinkle in things," Kanan surmised. "Then again, if it only bothers the Empire or sticks to these woods we should be fine."

'Should' being the operative word. Even Kanan wasn't too sure they'd be that lucky. He still felt uneasy about the situation, everyone did. Maybe it was the fact an animal, no matter how mutated or big, didn't tend to outright attack and defeat a heavily fortified military outpost. Maybe it was that giant footprint in the mud that suggested something comparable to a Zillo-Beast running around. Or maybe it was still that brief vision Ezra and him had gotten back on the Ghost. Whatever the reason, Kanan knew he didn't like it one bit. Something was very wrong on this planet and it wasn't the Imperials.

Zeb looked down at the shell-shocked Stormtrooper, still babbling off about his fire monster. The Lasat just grumbled as he stepped away from the terrified soldier.

"What do we do with him?" He asked the group. "Leave him with the pilots?"

"I don't think he's even aware we're here," Hera told him. "He can't exactly blow our cover in his condition like the pilots can. We'll have to leave those two tied up here and move on. By the time they get back to base to warn anyone, Fulcrum's forces should be on the ground. That still leaves Scout though."

"Maybe we can use him," Kanan suggested. "We just need to wait for Chopper to get the airbase's location and radio frequency. Then we can figure out our next move."

At that precise moment, Chopper let out a series of self-congratulatory whoops from within the TIE Fighter. Zeb quickly climbed up to the top of craft, using the gripping toes on his feet to clamber up to the cockpit door.

"So we got what we need I assume?" He asked.

The droid just let out a string of happy sounding little chirps and whirring noises. Zeb let out a grin.

"Good to hear, means we won't have to wait long to bash some Bucketheads in," he stated happily. "Hopefully we beat whatever this Fire Monster is to the punch this time."

Kanan didn't voice it himself, but part of him really hoped that they did avoid that. In fact, he was hoping they could avoid whatever this creature was altogether. Something told him though that his hopes were nothing more than wishful thinking and that this mission had just gotten more complicated than they were prepared for.

---

There wasn't really an official name for Tsuburonda's main airbase, the officers all referred to it as Airfield 01. But every Stormtrooper and pilot stationed here just called it Solar Flare Field, because no one was just going to call it a name and a number. That would've made life on this irradiated rock even more boring than it was already.

Most Stormtroopers who got stationed either felt two things. Either relief that this job had no grubby colonists to deal with or annoyance at how they had just gotten stuck on a mudball where the only action you'd see is a mutant critter hunting trip. That wasn't really as fun as it should've been, not when you had a ready supply of AT-ST walkers and blaster rifles on hand. There were casualties now and again, but they were usually few and far between. The only thing you really could look forward to was a constant light show in the sky and supply drops from off world.

Again, not the most interesting assignment you could get. After all, you had all the firepower in the galaxy and nothing to really use it on. When you joined the Imperial Academy to become a Stormtrooper they promised you excitement and adventure. They did not say you'd be playing glorified security guards for a bunch of resource gathering facilities, power plants and a massive science lab complex that only General Sakal's division had access to.

Solar Flare Field was a vital component to Imperial Operations on the planet though, so at least you could feel like you were important. Not only did it house most of the on planet TIE fighter squadrons, it was also positioned near the main communications tower. Said tower was only a few feet away, if anything went wrong the Airbase's security forces could quickly respond. Not that anything ever did of course. That was a good thing though, if something went wrong with the tower they'd have a difficult time communicating with everyone. The planet's frequent bombardment by solar radiation made transmissions, long and short range, difficult. They needed the tower to keep things running smoothly between all the outposts, facilities and the main complex where the science geeks were. Overall, Solar Flare Field was an important installation.

To one old soldier though, it just felt like the end of the line. Kamo had been one of the first to get stationed on Tsuburonda. It wasn't because he was a skilled soldier though, it was because he didn't have anywhere else to go. He didn't have much of place in the army anymore, hadn't for awhile. He just sat in his usual place in the communications uplink station for the airbase, minding the commlink terminal as he always did. It was all anyone thought he was good for anymore. At least he had the colors dancing in the sky to keep him company. Well, that and other comm operators.

"Anything going on out there fellas?" He asked hopefully over the line.

"All quiet here, Kamo," the comm replied back. "Sorry."

"No, it's okay," he reassured him sadly. "Just, you know, trying to keep entertained."

"I hear ya, old man, I hear ya," the operator replied back. "If you want you can tell me one of your old war stories. I know some guys here, they can listen in too. They were asking me about the Separatist's attack on Kamino's cloning facility. You tell the story better than me."

"No, it's okay, I'm not in the story telling mood," he sadly relented. "Maybe another time."

"Alright, you take care of yourself," the operator replied back.

He didn't like blowing off his fellow operators like that, but story telling just made him get nostalgic. Nostalgia always made him feel old. Kamo didn't like feeling old, which was weird when you considered that by galactic standards he was still only in his early thirties. That was his age though, not his body. The consequences of accelerated growth.

Kamo was a Clone Trooper, one of the last to be accurate. He was a piece of a greater whole, that of the late infamous Bounty Hunter, Jango Fett. In his prime he had been the tip of the spear, a member of the Grand Army of the Republic. The first of its kind, an army manufactured in a lab meant to safeguard and protect the Republic. He had taken part in many of the battles that made up the Clone Wars, beating back the Tinnies and Seps across the stars.

That was then though, that was the Republic. This was the Empire now and they didn't need him anymore. Not unless it had something to do with the commlink terminal, which was all they felt he was good for now. He wasn't going to complain though, considering that the other Clones still alive were stuck doing mining work. At least this wasn't a job that was slowly killing him. He didn't have to worry about getting shot at either and everyone was more or less nice to him. Everyone here respected his veteran status and he appreciated that. They were probably the only people left in the Galaxy who even cared about an old Clone Trooper.

He didn't really appreciate the other thing though, them asking questions about the war. Sometimes he felt like answering them and telling stories, but not always and not with everything. Some of the stories he just wanted to forget, one in particular he wished he could forget.

As he sat pondering, the door to the communications room opened and in stepped his Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Mugal. He walked over to the old Clone with the usual tired look on his stubble ridden face.

"Quiet day as usual I suspect?" He asked.

"Dreadfully, sir," he admitted.

"Yeah, what I wouldn't give to be anywhere else right now," Mugal adamantly stated. "I'd rather be on Ryloth, where there's some real action. Honestly, waste of good pilots guarding this dump. If we were over there the tail-heads wouldn't be so uppity."

Kamo just shifted in his seat uncomfortably. Mugal then caught himself.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Kamo," he apologized. "I know I promised not to bring up any places you were at on duty."

"It's fine, sir," Kamo morosely. "If I held you to that you wouldn't be able to mention a ton of planets. I'm old, I'll deal with it."

Mugal apologized in another way regardless, giving the old soldier a cup of Caf.

"Just the way you love it, old timer," he said slapping him on the shoulder. "Extra dark."

"Thank you, sir," he said graciously. "It's nice to know I was in your thoughts."

"Hey, don't mention it," Mugal assured him. "Least I could do for an old war hero."

Kamo just laughed a little as he finished his first sip.

"I wouldn't call me that," he said to the lieutenant grinning. "I didn't do all that much to be honest."

"Hey, you've done way more than me, that's something," Mugal informed him graciously. "I join up, I end up stuck in communications, listening to other people fighting. Hell, don't even get that pleasure anymore. I'm stuck here, making sure the TIE patrols are ordered, on time and efficient as per General 'Super Perfect' Sakal demands. Busy work, pointless. But you, Kamo you fought in real battles. At least you made a difference out there, I never got that chance. Probably never will."

Kamo turned around with a reassuring smile.

"Hey, if these riots I hear about keep up, maybe you will get a chance," he suggested.

"Please," Mugal said with a huff, shaking his head as he did. "These so-called uprisings never last long. They make a few complaints, they smash some private property, we capture and try some for treason, then we all move on. All this stuff is going to blow over within a week, you'll see."

Mugal took up a seat at his supervising desk close by, leaning back in the chair.

"That's why I think everyone here appreciates you more than anywhere else in the galaxy," he continued commandingly. "You got the most real combat experience of anyone here. The big name officers on the Star Destroyers and at that big science lab look down on you Clones as relics, but us field guys know the truth. None of us would be here without you, especially when we remember what you did. You put down the first Rebellion against the Empire, the very day it started. You were there, you made a difference."

Yeah, a difference, he made a difference alright. That was what he was reminded of when he thought back to that day. When they gathered on Coruscant, marched up the steps and entered the Jedi Temple. Operation: Knightfall they had called it, the end of an era. For thousands of years, the Jedi had been the Republic's sworn protectors. Then in less than a few hours they were nothing but a memory. A memory Kamo had tried so hard to bury deep inside, because he hated thinking about it. He had fought with Jedi, battled alongside them, they were heroes, he respected them, revered them. Then all of a sudden that changed.

Like the rest of the 501st, Kamo had followed orders unquestioningly. In fact, he didn't feel regret, sadness or even a sense of anger at the betrayal of the Jedi. When the order came down, he just performed, like a switch had been turned on and he just followed. He felt nothing when it happened and felt nothing when it was over. That was what disturbed him. It was not that he had followed orders that made him kill the people the Clones had looked up to without even batting an eye, it was the fact he felt nothing. It was just a mission, one he felt compelled to do, because he needed to do it, he had to. That was all. He couldn't explain why it had been so easy.

He could still remember the looks on the Jedi he had to gun down, the look of shock and betrayal. They were good fighters, but they stood no match against the combined might of the 501st. They were caught off guard, unable to comprehend what was occurring. The whole operation was completely textbook. Yet the images that lingered on haunted Kamo, especially the young Jedi, the padawans, the younglings. Did they really all have to be slaughtered, he wondered. Surely a few of them didn't want anything to do with the Coup. The thing was though, he only asked those questions later, not during. And he still didn't know why.

"You know, I always wonder what made them do it," Mugal suddenly stated, as if reading Kamo's thoughts. "What did they hope to gain, the Jedi I mean? Taking over the Republic? I mean come on, they had all the power they wanted. Whole armies at their command. The Senate was irrelevant even back then, that's why it was so easy to force into submission. I mean, what were they afraid of? That they'd be irrelevant after the war or something?"

"I wouldn't know, sir," Kamo softly admitted. "Never really had the opportunity to ask."

"Well, maybe they just all went crazy," Mugal postulated. "I heard about some Jedi Master who cracked, some guy named Krell. Maybe the madness was catching or something. At least you Clones were there to stop'em. Must've been hard though, killing people who were technically your COs."

Kamo just sat silently for a minute, taking a long shaky sip of his caf before answering.

"Well, to be honest, it was... easy," he slowly admitted.

Mugal sat up in his chair a little at the comment.

"You mean, you weren't bothered?" He asked confused. "Not even a few doubts?"

Were there doubts? He honestly wondered if any of the Clones had felt as he did, nothing. Maybe they had some regrets about what was going to happen, what they were about to do. Perhaps he was the odd man out. He hadn't bothered to ask though. And if the others had thought different, it was impossible to know.

"If there were any doubts, no one said anything," he distantly admitted. "It was quiet that day. Quiet during the fight too. No one said anything. Not when the Order came down. Not when we marched in. Not when we started burning the place. Just... silence. Dead silence."

The near monotone way he said that sentence seemed to put Mugal off his game a bit. After gulping once, the Lieutenant quickly regained his composure.

"Well, that's pretty cold, but I suppose that's how you guys won that war," he stated, trying his best to sound commendatory. "You were more hardcore than any droid could hope to be."

Kamo hoped that the conversation would end with that. Thankfully the awkwardness was interrupted by a comm transmission.

"This is TIE Flight JY67, lead craft," the voice announced. "We are requesting permission to land. We have a Trooper going through a major shock it seems. Got jumped by some Mantises, nearly eaten alive. CO requested I bring him in for medical treatment."

Mugal just grunted.

"I hate those damn bugs," he grumbled. "If the General was smart he'd have had us exterminate their hives years ago. Give us something to do at least. Ah well, wave the guy in."

"Bring him in, JY67," Kamo told the pilot. "We'll get a shuttle to transfer him to a Star Destroyer."

"Copy that," the pilot replied.

Well it wasn't much, but Kamo was happy to hear something interesting over the line. Maybe today wouldn't turn out to be so boring after all? One could hope.

---

The plan was working so far, the TIE fighter had gotten inside the perimeter. Kanan, now dressed as a TIE Pilot, climbed out and got help with get the shell-shocked Scout Trooper out. They started taking the poor soldier towards the medical bay, while Kanan was directed towards the main building. Hera kept watch as long as she could with her macrobinoculars, nodding to herself all the way.

"Okay he's in," she told the others.

"How long is it gonna take him to shut the perimeter sensors off?" Zeb asked.

"Give him some time, it's not like he has security clearance," Hera cautioned. "Just be ready to move when he transmits. We have to be fast if we're going to take out both the tower and the TIEs on the ground."

The crew kept huddled in the treeline. The Ghost was hidden in the shadows a few hundred feet behind them. It was the closest they could get it without getting spotted. So a quick getaway if things turned sour was going to be hard. Just another thing that made this side venture risky, but the target of opportunity was too good to pass up. According to the intel on the TIE's computer, without this airfield the Empire Air Superiority would be heavily impaired, giving their own air support much needed breathing room. The bigger target though was the nearby communications tower. Taking it down would severely hamper the Empire's ability to respond or react fast enough to the Rebel assault. Those were two big things that would increase their chances in the coming attack. They couldn't just pass it up.

"How long do you think we have until the Empire figures something is up?" Ezra asked aloud.

"I give them ten minutes until they realize the perimeter got shut off," Sabine postulated. "Once they realize there was a breach they'll start scouring the base."

"So we stay together and follow my lead," Hera ordered. "Set the charges on the fuel lines for the TIEs and book it to the Tower. Chopper will fly the Phantom in and we set everything off simultaneously. While the place is burning, we get out of here and hope it takes them all awhile to figure things out."

"Long enough to get to the orbital gun installation anyway," Zeb added. "It won't take them long to figure out we're here when this goes down."

No, Hera agreed in her mind, it wouldn't, but it would take them awhile to report it in without their tower. Right now though, everything hinged on Kanan getting into security. Otherwise, they were going nowhere.

---

Kanan was being honest with himself right now, this was probably a bad idea. Last time they tried something with a communications tower, things got a bit problematic. At least this time around they'd just be destroying it and not using it to get their message out to folks. Explosions were a lot less complicated than hearts and minds. He had been concerned though, as he thought he recognized the voice of that comm operator who confirmed his landing request. However, no one seemed to be following or paying him much attention. So maybe it was just in his head.

As he walked through the halls of the facility he kept a lookout for the security terminal. Not easy to do while his head was stuck in this stupid helmet. How did the TIE pilots see anything in these things? At least the outfit wasn't the least comfortable thing he had been stuck in. Eventually he came across the station within the main hub, unfortunately it was behind a secure door.

Well, only one way around that, but it was a bit risky. He looked about the hall and saw that no one was around for the moment. Kanan quickly focused his mind on the locking mechanism. It took a bit of coaxing, but he did manage to influence it enough to get it to move. The door slid open and Kanan slipped inside before anyone noticed.

There was only a skeleton crew inside, none of them paying much attention to anything besides their screens. That gave Kanan the chance he needed. While the Imperials were busy watching their viewscreens for trouble, Kanan moved over to a computer port. Placing a wireless connection device inside the port, he tapped the communicator's button.

"Chopper, you're in," he whispered. "Make it fast would ya?"

The surly droid beeped back in annoyance at him, before following through with the order. Kanan checked the terminal's technical read out and within a few seconds Chopper had shut off the perimeter sensors. Kanan walked back to the door contacting Hera as he did.

"Spectre 2, you're good to go," he informed her. "See you at the tower."

But as he reached the door, it suddenly opened and Kanan found himself looking at an Imperial military officer. The man didn't seem at all pleased to find an Imperial Pilot looking at him, especially in a room he shouldn't be in. Kanan did his best to remain calm.

"What are you doing in here?" The officer demanded. "Where's your authorization pass?"

"I don't need one," Kanan told him as he waved his hand. "I was here on your orders."

"You're here on my orders," the officer responded, near monotone.

"I was re-checking flight records for my squad," Kanan continued. "Everything is clear, I can move along."

"Everything is clear then," the officer repeated back, stepping aside. "Move along."

Kanan walked by the complacent officer and quickly moved down the hall. One close call averted, thankfully very few Imperial Officers were of strong minds. He got lucky though and there was no guarantee he'd get lucky again. He needed to get to the tower as quickly as possible, before his cover got blown the next time.

---

Ezra dropped over the wall with Hera close behind him. They kept to the shadows as they moved towards the side of the hangar where Sabine and Zeb were hiding. Hera looked beyond the corner towards the far right of the airbase and spotted a refueling station.

"Alright, that's where most of the fuel is," she said. "We blow that up, along with setting some charges on the TIEs themselves, we should be good."

"Look for the bombers," Sabine suggested as she grabbed the explosives out of her pack and handed them to the others. "They should either be already loaded up or have their munitions stored nearby for easy access. Should make a nice fireball."

"Whatever happens we all meet up at the southeastern gate of the base and hightail it to the tower," Hera reminded them. "Do not get spotted or else we're going to have every Trooper down here gunning for us."

From there the team split into twos, Hera and Ezra going into one hangar while Sabine and Zeb moved onto the next. Getting across to the other side of the base would be a challenge, but so long as they stayed out of the searchlights' paths they would be fine. They'd cross that bridge when they came to it.

As they entered the first hangar, Ezra and Hera instantly spotted two TIE fighters sitting nearby. Crouching behind some crates, Hera motioned her head towards the first fighter.

"You get that one, I'll set charges on the next," she told him. "I'll cover you while you move."

Ezra and Hera moved away from the crates and towards the TIEs. The guards out front didn't seem to be paying much attention, so they were able to sneak up to the fighters without much difficulty. There were a lot of TIEs in these hangars though and it would take time to set enough explosives in each one to properly destroy them all. They would need to be strategic, setting at least two bombs on fighters and then putting a charge on the munitions storage. Hopefully that would be enough to get most of them in the ensuing blast.

However, as Ezra placed his bomb under the fighter's wing coupling, they heard something. A loud, shrill shrieking roar that echoed across the horizon. It caught both his and Hera's attention as did the tremendous footfalls that shook the ground beneath them.

"What was that?" Ezra whispered over to Hera.

The twi'lek just looked back with concern.

"Nothing good," she answered him.

---

In the Airbase's sick bay, Private Arch had been laying comatose for a few minutes now. Then, the shrieking roar echoed over the base. The Private's eyes opened in fear and he shot up in his bed. Medical personnel and droids moved over to him as he started screaming aloud. He looked confused, not really knowing where he was right now. Only that he wasn't at the outpost. Someone must've found him, but that wasn't important right now. He could feel the terrible footsteps shaking the room. It had followed him, that fire belching demon had followed him! A medic came over to try and calm him.

"Don't worry, Private," he tried to comfort him. "You're safe, we're just having a bit of an earthquake."

Arch grabbed the man by his shoulders.

"Earthquake!? Are you stupid or something? Didn't you just hear that scream!?" He shouted in a panic.

He pushed the man away, grabbing his helmet off the nearby table. He frantically looked back to the rest of the people in there with him as the footsteps grew louder.

"We need to get out of here! Now!" He yelled at them.

"You're in no condition to-"

"Don't you understand!? We need to get the hell out of here!" Arch tried to plead them. "We all need to evacuate before it's too late! It's coming! Don't you understand, you idiot!? IT'S COMING!"

The room violently shook once more and Arch used the opportunity. He snapped on his helmet and forced himself past the medics. He needed to warn someone, anyone! Trip a fire alarm, grab a gun and start shooting it into the air, something! If he didn't they were all as good as dead.

---

Ezra and Hera ran out of the hangar, as Troopers rushed away from them and onto the airfield. They kept themselves hidden behind some crates stored outside. Ezra spotted Sabine and Zeb close by, poking their heads past a TIE bomber that was just outside its hangar. Their gaze, along with everyone else in the base, was drawn to the tree tops further to the north of them. They could hear the old oaks cracking and toppling over, smashing onto the forest floor. Suddenly, bursting from the treeline appeared something gigantic. It took a minute for them to properly see against the blazing color filled night sky, but they soon made it out and were instantly filled with a twinge of horror.

A huge grey reptilian creature cast its enormous shadow over the base. Spikey fins ran down its back towards its huge swishing tail, that whipped around, cracking branches as it moved. Its claws started clenching as it sneered down on the Imperials below. Its yellow eyes glared at them all with an almost purposeful grimace and rage before it opened its giant maw and let out the same terrible roar from before.

It's throat then started to resonate bright blue, its spikes lit up and at the apex of the glow it released a blast of fire on the airbase's eastern side across from where the infiltrating Rebels were hiding. The blue beam cut a swath of destruction through three hangars and the refueling station. Fuel lines connected to it started to erupt in huge explosions. Stormtroopers ran for cover as hangars and the TIEs inside them went up.

"Karabast!" Zeb shouted as he backed away from the destruction in awe.

Instantly the entire base went on alert, a shrill klaxon alarm sounded and a screaming announcer started shouting over the speaker system.

"All pilots! All pilots! Get to your craft now! We are under attack! Repeat, under attack!"

"No kidding," Ezra chided, a frightful tone in his voice.

"Well this is a wrinkle I didn't plan on," Hera growled. "Come on, we need to get out of sight!"

Already TIE pilots were rushing to what aircraft were left while Stormtroopers ran for the armory and motor pool to get better weapons. Hera grabbed Ezra and made a run for Sabine and Zeb who quickly ducked behind several crates inside the hangar they were close to. They needed to wait for the pilots and Troopers to clear out before they made a run for it. Even in this chaos, chances were someone was bound to spot them making a break for it across the open field.

Within seconds, TIE fighters were lifting off. The Rebels stayed down, waiting for the hangars to empty. The screeching engines of the TIEs screamed to life as the starfighters lifted off into the sky and turned to attack the giant lizard now besieging the base.

"Well, so much for lighting up the base," Sabine stated with a nervous chuckle, her pair of blasters out and at the ready. "Guess we shouldn't have even bothered since that thing is gonna do all our work for us."

"Well we did and now we're stuck in a warzone," Hera informed her. "We still need to get to that tower but with the entire base on alert staying out in the open is going to get us killed easy."

"We can sneak through the buildings," Ezra suggested. "They'll be practically empty with every Trooper running to grab a gun to fight that thing. We'll only have a few Imps to worry about."

"Worth a shot," Hera agreed. "Follow my lead. We'll head through the barracks, it will lead us to flight control. We can get to the gate from there."

The hangar was already empty, so the Rebels ran back out onto the field once more. Briefly, Hera looked towards the behemoth who was attacking the Imperials. She had no idea what it was, save that it looked like a three hundred and fifty foot tall Krayt Dragon. That was the closest approximation should could come up with in the moment at least. She watched as the TIEs peppered the monster with shots, although they seemed to do little against him. The creature raised its massive arm and swatted at some of the buzzing crafts. There were a few small explosions that erupted along the length of the creature's arm, signs that the hit had connected with at least a few unfortunate pilots.

"They don't even seem to be making a dent on it," Zeb observed, sounding uncharacteristically worried.

"Let's just hope they keep it back long enough for us to get out of here," Hera stated, sharing his concern.

They reached barracks building and ran inside. The airfield wasn't much of a concern anymore, only the tower mattered now. Yet somehow, the mission seemed even more daunting than before.

---

The TIE fighters flew circles around the massive lizard, but Godzilla was undaunted by their aggression. They were but gnats pricking against his skin. Their feeble assault was no different than the human planes he had so often faced against. The only difference being that these craft had more powerful main weapons. His roars shook the skies as the screaming little fighters charged and danced about his head.

"Lasers ain't working people," one of the flight leads claimed. "Harass it instead! Get the bombers close enough to drop their ordinance. Go for the eyes! See if that hurts him!"

Godzilla stomped forward, swiping at the air as the TIEs sped around him, their screeching engines only deepening his rage. From above a flight of the screaming attackers descended, firing up along the giant reptile's back.

"Come on, boys," the lead cried. "Let's show this dumb lizard what happens when you try to face off against the Empire!"

There was a tremendous war cry across the Imperials' radio frequency, as the TIEs all centered their crosshairs on Godzilla's head. Enraged by their arrogance, Godzilla roared up at them, shutting his eyes as lasers rained down. They would all die for their insolence. As the TIE pilots continued their boisterous hollering, Godzilla's tail reared up and cut along their flight path through the air like a massive whip.

"Pull up! Pull-!"

The lead and his immediate wingman were crushed against the swinging tail, destroyed upon contact. The pieces of their broken ships rained down on the airfield they had been trying to protect. The other pilots looked on aghast.

"That thing just took out a whole squadron!"

"We'll make him pay, boys! Our bombers are overhead! They're gonna give him one nasty headache."

Godzilla could not hear their strategy, but he soon felt it. Bombs exploded across his back and along his brow. Screaming in pain, Godzilla shook his head about. He then looked to the sky and saw the flight of bombers passing overhead.

"Going around for another drop!" Said one of the bomber squadron leaders. "We got him hurting!"

Godzilla raised his head to the sky and sucked back air. His spines soon glowed bright blue, his mouth filled with atomic fire. One of the TIE pilots saw what was happening and tried to warn his comrades.

"Bomber lead! It's charging that ray weapon again! Get the hell out of-"

It was too late, Godzilla's atomic beam fired into the sky and sliced through the bomber squadron. Their pained screams screeched through the commlinks of their fellow pilots as they were incinerated in a blaze of pure radiation. Godzilla then aimed the still streaming atomic beam downwards, cutting through the fighters on his way down.

"By the Emperor! Look out!"

"Too fast! Coming in- ARGH!"

The TIEs exploded as the atomic ray shot through the sky. Godzilla eventually relinquished, but so many of the fighters were still left and still determined to keep fighting.

"How do we kill this thing? We never covered this in basic!"

"Those spines of his light up when he's firing! Shoot at them! Maybe they're the source of his weapon's power!"

It was a desperate, panicked strategy and one that would prove futile. All it did was anger Godzilla further. He had grown tired of these insects. They were worse than Megasurius' brood. They were just machines though and Godzilla had long ago learned how easily machines could be broken. Atomic breath would take too long, he needed a more efficient method. Once more, Godzilla's spines grew bright blue, but this time Godzilla kept his mouth shut. His power began to resonate within him, reaching critical mass.

"Look out," one pilot warned. "Keep away from the mouth!"

A pointless gesture, there was no escape from this attack, not for them. In bellowing roar, Godzilla unleashed the fury he had built up within him and released a devastating nuclear pulse. An ability that allowed him to unleash a wave of atomic energy in all directions for a short distance. The attack not only released something akin to an atomic blast, but also an EMP. The pulse destroyed those TIEs close by while others soon found all their instruments dead.

"I've gone dark! Engines are dead!"

"I lost power! I've lost-"

The fighters fell back to earth and crashed onto the airbase's tarmac. The explosions from the falling craft ripped through the unsuspecting Troopers nearby. The entirety of the TIEs stationed at Solar Flare Field were now gone. As Godzilla roared again, the Stormtroopers started pulling back and the giant lizard advanced once more.

"Fall back to Flight Control!" One of the squad leaders ordered. "Break out the Armored Transports! Go! Go!"

The Troopers started running, firing back at the giant as he stomped forwards. Godzilla now started crushing the remaining empty hangers, the ordinance and fuel inside exploding as he smashed through. He could see vehicles moving up into the fight. Pathetic white-clad humans, they really were no different than the ones from home. They were already dead, all of them. They just didn't know it yet.

---

Kanan was confused as to what was going on. From inside the main building for the airbase he had no idea what was happening outside. He originally thought that someone on Hera's end had jumped the gun. That didn't make sense, then when he tried to stop one of the Troopers running out into the fight all he said was:

"Some kind of monster, come on man, get to your TIE already!"

Monster? It couldn't be. But the announcements from Flight Control soon confirmed it.

"The Monster has destroyed our air support! I repeat, all TIEs are down! Everyone get to an armored transport and fire on that thing!"

Now that was not expected at all. Kanan quickly contacted Hera when he got a moment.

"Spectre Two, what is going on out there?" He asked hectically.

"A giant lizard with fire breath is burning the base to rubble, love," she replied, trying her best to alleviate the situation a bit. "I really hope you're almost at the tower, cause we're definitely not staying here."

"Alright, I'll keep moving, you just try to stay alive," he told them.

---

Stay alive, right, not an easy thing to do right now. Most of the Troopers were outside, but a lot of them had retreated inside and were trying to make it to the armory to get better weapons. As they had made their way down one corridor, one of the Trooper squads had spotted them.

"What the- who the hell are you people?"

Hera just answered back by whipping out her blaster and firing between the lead Trooper's eyes. Everyone quickly ducked into cover as the Imps opened fire in return. The Rebels jumped into the cover of a nearby alcove as the blaster shots filled the halls.

"You'd think we'd be the least of their concerns," Sabine shouted over the blaster fire.

The pink-clad Mandalorian used her twin blasters to expertly gun down one of the Troopers with several blaster shots. She pulled back into cover as her position was pummeled with laser fire.

"Hey, we're the only thing they know they can actually kill," Zeb argued, continuing to fire back with his Bo-Rifle.

Ezra managed to score a hit with his stun blaster, knocking one of the Stormtroopers out. Another just took his place though.

"Ugh, this is crazy," he growled. "We can't fight them, we need to get to Kanan! He's gonna need us to assault that Tower!"

"Agreed," Hera concurred. "Sabine, clear them out!"

"I got just the thing," Sabine assured.

Pulling out a thermal detonator, Sabine tossed it down the corridor towards the Stormtroopers.

"Thermal! Back!" One shouted.

They pulled away, but the blast caught several of them before they could reach safety. Before the remaining Troopers could recover, the Rebels were upon them. Zeb bashed one Trooper's head in with a strike from his fist, before shoving the electrified tip of his deployed bo-staff into another off to his right. Sabine used her dual guns to fire in separate directions as she moved up, the Troopers trying to draw a bead on her as she rushed forward. Hera quickly fired her pistol from afar, backing the two up, while Ezra shot his stun blaster at the other Troopers at her side.

When the fighting was over the team gathered in the hallway together.

"That explosion is going to call a bit of attention down on this sector," Sabine warned. "Even with the big grey overgrown psycho Dewback outside."

"Then we best get scarce," Hera declared. "Move!"

They rushed down a side corridor, moving towards the southeastern end of the base. Hopefully they could avoid any remaining Troopers inside.

---

Kamo had done his best to rush outside through all the panic. He had no idea what was going on initially, but when he got outside he wished he was still clueless. In all his years fighting, he had never seen a creature like this. A giant grey titanic lizard just looming over everything. He couldn't even find words to describe it in his own head.

As he gazed up at the monster, he saw it fire some kind of blue energy ray out of its mouth. The beam rocketed past him and smashed into the Traffic Control Tower just behind him. As he stared gobsmacked at the falling debris, he was suddenly tackled to the ground and thrown away from the falling pieces of twisted metal and crumbling concrete. When the dust cleared, it was nothing but a burning, smoldering, broken heap of steel. Thertr were no doubt still a lot of officers who had been in there when the blast hit.

Kamo looked to his savior, a Scout Trooper armed with a blaster who picked himself off the ground and offered a hand.

"Close one there," he said. "You alright?"

"I've lived through worse," Kamo admitted. "I'm Communications Officer Kamo, what's your name soldier?"

"Private Arch," he said frantically. "Listen, you look like you're in charge here. You got the uniform. I've been trying to convince people we need to evacuate but they ain't listening! Please, you gotta talk to them! We can't fight this thing!"

"How would you know?" Kamo asked curiously.

"Because this thing wiped out my outpost!" He desperately explained gripping Kamo by his shoulders. "You don't understand! We tried our best, not even our turbo laser cannon we just installed worked! You can't fight this thing! We don't have the firepower here! We need to run!"

Kamo still felt confused, he had fought this thing? When? He hadn't heard of this. There was nothing over the wire about it as far as he could recall. Something felt odd about this, but when he looked to the giant dragon-like monster destroying Solar Flare Field at the moment, he found himself not really caring all of a sudden.

"We need to find my CO," Kamo stated. "He's in charge of Communications for the Airbase. He can sound the retreat, assuming he's alive."

"Well where would he be?" Arch asked.

"He left Comms a minute before the alarm sounded," Kamo growled. "Could be anywhere. Look, if there are any officers left they've probably established a forward Command Post at the front of the fight. Follow me, I can probably locate it!"

Kamo took point, something he never thought he'd be doing ever again. As he ran through the panicked fighting, watching troop transports move up into the fray, he saw the monster continue advancing. He was still stomping his giant feet through what was left of the hangars, crushing them beneath his weight. He then used his beam ray to set the ones across from him on fire, causing the fuel and weapons inside to explode violently out the doors.

Every laser, blast and turret in the base was now trained on the monster, but nothing seemed to phase it. Arch was right, this thing wasn't going to go down. Thankfully, they eventually found the Forward Operating Post. What luck, there was Mugal, doing his best to take charge and coordinate the defenses.

"Someone get some rockets out here, or heavy turrets," he ordered through a comm uplink he had set up. "Anything! Contact Command and get reinforcements!"

"Lieutenant!" Kamo called out as they approached.

Mugal turned, a look of relief on his face.

"Oh thank the stars, Kamo," he stated. "I was worried something happened to you, Old Timer. I really need your advice here, we're in a major fix."

"I know," Kamo concurred. "We need to get the other Commanders on the horn. This Scout has-"

"I can't do that, Kamo," Mugal informed him, crestfallen when he spoke. "That thing... it took out all our Command and Control. They were all in the tower coordinating the defense! I'm... I'm all that's left."

Kamo clutched his CO's shoulders and looked him in the eye.

"Listen to me, sir," he began. "You need to focus. This Scout Trooper has intel you need to hear."

Arch approached him solemnly.

"Lieutenant, sir, we need to retreat," he tried to explain. "I don't think anything short of an AT-AT is going to give this thing pause. If we stand our ground, we're dead. My outpost tried it, they didn't last five minutes."

Mugal just looked at him flabbergasted.

"You can't be serious," he answered in shock. "We can't retreat to this... thing! We're the Imperial Military! We don't retreat!"

Suddenly a terrible shockwave shook the earth. Everyone looked out onto the field and saw the monster firing his beam weapon again. The blast rocketed it out of the creature's mouth and tore through a whole platoon nearby. Their Armored Transports were utterly whipped out as the blue beam obliterated the attack force. All Mugal and everyone else could do was watch as fire consumed the targeted Stormtroopers, their vehicles and everything else around them. When it was over, the monster continued its attack.

"Sir, we just lost an entire group of transports!" Kamo shouted at him. "If we don't retreat, we'll be joining them!"

"Damn it all," Mugal grimaced, balling his hands into fists. "First Command and I retreat."

"No shame in falling back, sir," Kamo reassured him. "Not if it saves your men's lives."

"Yes, yes you're right, Old Timer," Mugal soon agreed. "Alright, I'll call the retreat. We'll get as many people out as we can."

Kamo just nodded and turned to Arch.

"You stay here, help him," he ordered. "I'll be back."

He then took off to the southeastern end of the base.

"Where you going?" Arch called out.

"I'm going to see if there's any transports left in the motor pool and I'm going to open the gate!" He shouted back to the Private. "Don't worry, I'll be back before you know it!"

---

Kanan burst out into the open and ran for the gate. He only briefly looked towards the giant creature towering over the airbase, crushing it beneath his massive feet. He should've suspected he'd be seeing the shell-shocked Trooper's Fire Monster for himself. But he didn't think it would look like this or even be that big. And he certainly didn't expect it to attack the very same airfield they decided to go after. That made absolutely no sense at all. He didn't have time to think about it much though, he needed to get to the gate and then to the tower.

He arrived at the same time Hera and the others did. He had already ditched the pilot's garb he had placed over his regular gear, so they recognized him instantly. No sense in remaining disguised now, they were far past that at this point.

"Looks like this airfield will soon sort itself out," he declared as he approached. "Now lets get through this gate fast."

"We could hack it," Sabine suggested. "Or you know just scale the wall like before."

"No, that would take too long," Kanan declared. "I got a faster way. Ezra, can you Force Jump the wall?"

The boy nodded in apt response to his master's question.

"Good," Kanan told him. "Do it, I'm going to Force Lift the others onto the top of the wall. Then they just have to drop down the other side. I'll jump over when its done. Let's move! That monster is practically through the Imps by now!"

---

Kamo got to the motor pool in relatively good time, faster than he would've expected at this age. Perhaps fear or adrenaline were driving him on. Regardless, he made it to the garage door, hoping to find another armored transport he could use to get more people out. They mostly used them for the transfer of troops and supplies to as well as from other bases and outposts, so they had quite a few of them. They couldn't have taken them all to fight the monster and if there were any left that meant they had more vehicles they could use to get people out.

That and he hoped there was something else in there for him.

Before he could get the doors open though, he thought he heard some kind of swooshing sound coming from behind. It was near the gate, like some sort of rushing wind. He turned and in the distance he saw a few darkened figures. He couldn't make out details, but he could see two individuals suddenly being lifted up and over the gate and then a third. Then a fourth figure seemed to thrust itself clear over the wall. Few people could do something like that, Kamo only knew of one type that could do it on his or her own.

"Not possible," he said astonished. "It couldn't be."

Another explosion brought him back to reality. Whatever the shade was, the greater threat was the super sized trandoshan burning the airbase to the ground. Kamo opened the door and rushed inside. There, to his relief, was a transport. Good, he could help get people out. He checked around for another second more, among the surplus supplies he soon found what he had been looking for. Inside a crate was a brand new set of white Stormtrooper armor, just his size.

"Not as good looking as the old duds, but they'll do," he declared.

Whatever else this day had brought, it had given him one thing he had always wanted. Something that had been taken away from him by ungrateful leaders. He had another chance to be the soldier he had been created to be. It was time to make a difference again.

---

Kanan kept in step with his companions as they ran for the communications tower. He fully suspected those inside to still be at their posts. They were probably trying to send a message to command, warning them of what was happening here. They need to break into the tower and hit them hard, then get Chopper to fly them out from the top. That monster currently pre-occupying the Stormtroopers would keep them from getting help. In the back of his mind he wondered if this was necessary at this point. The monster could very well decide to destroy the tower too. However, Kanan wasn't about to put the entire mission in the hands of a rampaging lizard. They needed to be sure the tower would be toppled completely, one way or another.

"Alright, get the door open and get this done," Kanan ordered Sabine.

"I'll call in Chop," Hera stated. "He can be here in less than five minutes, we'll only need four to finish this."

Sabine was able to slice the lock, but before she opened it she pressed her head to the door.

"They sound pretty panicky in there," she informed them. "Not that I blame them."

"That means they'll be jumpy, we should hit them before they can react," Kanan told her. "You got a smoke grenade."

"When do I not," Sabine asked in return. "It's also a lovely shade of orange yellow with an extra bit of crimson."

"Just get ready to throw it," Kanan said eyeing her incredulously.

Sabine just huffed and positioned herself against the door-frame.

"Is it so wrong I take pride in my work?" She asked as her finger slid over the button.

The door opened wide and Sabine rolled the smoke grenade into the room. All at once a cloud of orange and red spread throughout the room. The helmets of the Stormtroopers inside protected them from sucking in the pigment-filled cloud, but the bright colors blinded them regardless. That was when Kanan and Hera started firing into the room. Zeb followed moments after, charging towards the left side while Sabine took the right with Ezra behind her.

Zeb caught one of the Troopers off guard as he tried to fire back through the smoke. He slammed his foot into the man's head, he then flipped back and pinned him against the wall with his bo-rifle. A shot flew by the Lasat's head and he looked back to see a trooper further up the back steps of the room and above the smoke. Thinking quickly, Zeb grabbed the pinned trooper by the head and threw him at the offending trooper. They both collided and crumpled into a heap beside each other.

Sabine used her dual blasters to push her way forward, Ezra covering her back with his stun blaster. She nimbly spotted three Troopers hiding behind a set of supports. With little effort she fired two shots in separate directions, hitting both Troopers as they moved out to fire on her. she then trained both pistols on the third as he tried to strafe the room and get to cover. The trooper took several hits to his chest as Sabine laid into him with laser fire. However she neglected a fourth trooper who popped up behind a console to the far right of her.

As the Trooper trained his sights on her though, Ezra spotted him through the smoke and fired a stun shot that hit the Trooper dead in the face. He dropped to the floor screaming as the shock coursed through his body. Sabine stopped her gunslinging just long enough to look back at Ezra's handiwork.

"Nice one," she complimented.

"Hey, you got your art, I got mine," he boasted.

Ezra did not look nearly as cool in the next second when he jumped back in fright from a blast bolt that nearly took his nose off. The two teens quickly retreated behind some supports as the troopers in the center of the room opened fire on them. Sabine returned said fire, but the trooper had better protection behind the main console.

"Get Command back on the line," one said aloud. "We gotta report these Reb-"

The Trooper's comments were cut short as several shots cut him down along with his comrade beside him. They were all fired expertly by Hera. The twi'lek then rushed in beside Kanan, vaulting over the console to kick the final Trooper in the face and knock him down. She then ducked down into the console as fire rained down from the steps above. Two more Troopers were left and they had their sights set on Hera now. That made them neglect Kanan who reached out with The Force and picked them both up off the ground. He then tossed them both towards Zeb who batted them in both away with his deployed bo-rifle, shocking them into submission.

"That everyone now?" The Lasat asked, looking about the room. "I could go for another clean punch against these Bucketheads."

"I think we got them all," Hera replied, poking her head up. "Sorry to disappoint you."

"Meh, least I got the last two," Zeb said with a shrug.

Kanan looked at him with a disgruntled brow.

"Hey, that was an assist," he claimed.

"It only counts if you're the one to knock them down," the Lasat retorted with a grin.

"Whatever," Kanan relented. "Lets get the explosives out already. We have to leave before big, grey and crazy is done with those Stormtroopers."

---

Kamo had gotten the gate opened and high-tailed it back to the others. Mugal had managed to organize something of a retreat. Impromptu deployed turrets bombarded the monster from another direction, placing its attention elsewhere. The gunners in charge of the guns then got on Speeders and rushed away from the turrets as the creature advanced on them. That gave everyone enough time to either get in or on top of any remaining armored transports. There wasn't enough room for everyone though, some would just have to run or take some spare scout speeders they had lying around. For his part, Mugal was doing his best to keep the retreat orderly. He wasn't doing too bad for a man who had never had a command before.

Kamo's transport was a welcome sight by many a trooper. They piled into and onto the vehicle in droves, Arch helping as many as possible onto the transport. Kamo rushed out of the driver's seat, now covered in the bright white armor of the Stormtroopers. He assisted in getting wounded Troopers into the vehicle for a moment before he let Arch take over entirely. He then made his way over to Mugal to get a status report.

"Is this everyone, sir?" He asked frantically.

"Yes, all but one transport," he quickly explained. "I sent it to search for survivors near the front. I told them to pick up who they can and head back in five minutes. They should be coming back right about now."

Mugal looked towards where most of the fighting had been, watching as a transport sped towards them. Then, tragedy struck. The monster's giant tail crashed down on the transport's back and then smacked it. The vehicle was flipped forward and crashed just a few feet to the left of the Forward Operating Post. The transport, now in burning, was toppled onto its side.

"Oh no," Mugal said, eyes going wide in fear. He turned to Arch and Kamo as they stood nearby. "Kamo, get to your transport and follow me! Private Arch, get on that Speeder Bike and come with us! We need to get those men out of that wreck!"

"Copy!" Arch saluted, rushing to mount his bike.

Kamo got in his transport once more and took it towards the burning transport. Arch was riding along his left and Mugal was hanging off the side of the driver's cabin. They got to the wreck and Mugal jumped off to pry the doors open. Arch helped him and together they got the door open. Stumbling out of the vehicle came four badly injured Troopers. Arch and Mugal helped them to Kamo's transport.

"Anyone else in there?" Mugal asked desperately.

"No," one of the wounded troopers said. "I think we're all that's left."

Arch helped them onto the top of the transport, aided by some the troopers riding on it. However their rescue efforts turned sour when the giant reptile suddenly turned towards them. Kamo didn't know what to do, firing on the thing would only antagonize the creature, but at his current speed of approach they'd never outrun the beast. That's when Mugal looked towards the cabin, a firm look in his eyes.

"Kamo, knock the damaged transport back right-side up," he ordered.

Kamo followed the order, ramming the damaged transport and getting it turned off its side. Mugal then waved Kamo off towards the now retreating scores of Stormtroopers.

"Go on, I'll catch up!" He called out.

"But sir," Kamo shouted back out of concern.

"Do it, Old Timer!" The lieutenant ordered once again. "You get those men aboard out of here!"

Kamo did as told and Arch jumped back on his bike to follow the same orders. Kamo looked back out the window and saw Mugal clambering into the transport. Seconds later the vehicle's mounted gun started firing on the giant lizard, aiming for his head. This got the creature's attention and he turned away from the retreating Stormtroopers. He stomped towards the burning transport, still firing defiantly at the beast. The creature raised his massive foot and Kamo looked away. Just at that moment he heard a terrible crushing sound, an angered roar and then silence as the transport's turret stopped firing.

Kamo did his best to hold it together, gripping the wheel before and taking a breath. He then activated the comm and contacted the other transports.

"All vehicles, this is Communications Officer Kamo. Make for the Southeastern Gate and take the forest path to the valley," he ordered. "Rendezvous at Outpost 0671, we'll figure out our next move there."

---

The charges were quickly laid at critical support junctures throughout the tower. The Rebels then made their way towards the top. Chopper had radioed in that he was on his way with the Phantom for pick-up. Once they got in, they would head back to dock with the Ghost and then Hera would put as much distance between them and the doomed Airbase as possible. They'd blow the tower in between all that, it was just everyone was more focused on getting out of this alive at the moment.

Kanan burst through the door at the top first and was therefore the first to behold the final moments of the Imperial Airbase. Stormtrooper transports streamed out of the southeastern gate in droves, heading into the forest as fast they could, their comrades on foot or on bike following close behind. However, the real sight was the monster. It stomped close to the main command and control building, raised its arms above its head and then slammed them down into the structure. He then fired a blast of his beam breath and annihilated what remained. As it stomped through the crumbling structure it turned towards the retreating transports.

"It's getting a bit too close for comfort now," Zeb grumbled worriedly.

Hera peered out in the midday sky and spotted something approaching through the dancing colors above them. It was a small little starfighter that they all recognized, the Phantom.

"Chopper's here," she assured them all. "We're in the clear."

Then suddenly, the monster looked up and changed course towards the communications tower and them. Apparently, Hera hadn't been the only one to spot Chopper and the creature's curiosity had gotten them better of it.

"Oh no, not us!" Sabine cried out in a panic. "Chase after the Imps!"

The creature roared its distinctive battlecry and quickened its pace towards them. Chopper finally got the Phantom in position and opened the back door. Just as the monster was at near eye level to them all. Hera rushed to the cockpit and took the stick. When she looked out the window she was shocked to see the monster staring back with its big yellow eye. It suddenly opened its mouth, its giant teeth filling her view.

"Hera! Fly!" Kanan ordered aloud.

Hera pulled away, boosting the afterburners and narrowly missing the humongous rows of teeth that tried to chomp down on them. They sped away, the back door still open. Sabine took up the detonator and looked out the open space. The creature turned towards the fleeing shuttle and roared at them as they escaped.

"Yeah, yeah," Sabine shouted back in defiance. "Skree-onk or whatever, we heard you the first couple hundred times! Wanna hear my roar? It goes like this!"

She jabbed her thumb down on the trigger and within an instant, the entire foot of the Communications tower exploded. The monster turned back and watched as the structure collapsed on top of him. The very top of the tower crashing down onto his head, hitting him in the side of the mouth. The creature roared in mild pain and scraped his claws against his face.

"Kaboom! Always a classic," Sabine laughed. "Thanks for the assist, Big Grey! See ya around!"

She slammed the button on the side of the shuttle and let the door shut. They sped back to the Ghost and were back in the air with their flying home within mere minutes. Hera turned on the afterburners and rocketed away from the burning rubble of the airbase and the monster who had both helped and almost killed them.

"Glad that's over," Zeb said with a relieved sigh from behind Hera.

"Don't bet on it," Hera cautioned. "Things just shifted into a whole new level for us."

---

The humans in white were routed, retreating in the little metal coffins for what they felt would be safety. The other small things, the ones that did not all smell human, had alluded him. It did not matter, there was no place on this planet they could hide. Godzilla looked to his handiwork. The airfield was still burning, belching smoke and fire from its remains. Another victory, greater than the previous night. He had proven to these new enemies that their weapons were of no use against him. Soon, they would realize that this world no longer belonged to them. It was his kingdom now and they lived or died at his discretion. He roared proudly up at the multicolored sky, making sure that the retreating white-clad soldiers would hear him. That they would know that this was but the start. The beginning of a new order for this world, one that would see them burn within the fires of his rage.

---

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