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Old Friends (Not) Long Forgotten by A_Phoenix_Inferno_K20
A Clone trooper descends into the wing containing a bunch of Clone deserters. Over 100 Clones in the dark, dingy cells, a red ray Shield acting as a door. The jail cells are cold and foreboding, in contrast to the warmer climate of Malastare at midday in Summer.
The only light is from a ray shield and one dim light in each cell. The only sounds are from the Clones muttering to themselves and the hum of the ray shield. It tastes horrid, and the metal floors are solid and unforgiving. The metal floors feel cold and hard. The benches aren't much better. Everyone notices the CT code of the Clone in the cell, though only this Clone notices the little things each Clone has done to their cells.
The trooper passes by several of the cells. Then found a Clone with a faded hairstyle looking down into his cell.
Looking around, he carefully opens the Ray Shield and enters, closing it behind him.
"What do you want?" Howzer goes to ask, looking up, but the Clone shushes him and removes his helmet, revealing a squashed mohawk and a mark on his face.
"Who are you?" Howzer asked, recognising a fellow clone.
He replied, "I'm CT-44-24680, better known as Evens. I heard about your speech on Ryloth, and I agree with you."
"How do I know I can trust you?" Howzer asked.
Evens replied by showing the scar on the side of his head, where his inhibitor chip was. Howzer showed his.
"I want out of the Empire too, as does my twin, CT-13 13579, also known as Odds. We're scouting how many deserters have their chips out, and we're planning a prison break." Evens explained.
"You'll be branded a traitor like I was," Howzer sighed, distraught.
Evens started, "You betrayed the Empire for a good reason. We were to free the people, not replace their oppressors. I agree with that."
"We're going to have to plan this carefully. The facility is crawling with troopers." Howzer said.
Evens smiled and replied, "Well, we've got a few Commanders here, so I'm sure we can form something."
"Alright. When is this happening?" Howser enquired, leaning against the wall.
Evens replied, "I don't know yet, but hopefully sooner rather than later," before he got up and put his helmet back on.
"I'd better get going. The others will get suspicious if I'm gone too long. I've got to talk to a particular Commander, willing to do anything to see us escape.'' Evens stated coolly.
He deactivated the ray shield, stepped out, reactivated it, and departed, leaving Howzer hoping to count on Evens to get them out.
Soon, Evens reaches the cell of another Clone. This one had only a thin layer of hair on his head. From the haunted look in his eyes and the fact that he seemed painfully thin, he figured it was Commander CT-5052, also known as Commander Bly. He looked around and saw cameras watching every part of his cell.
"This one's on suicide watch," Evens thought to himself as he deactivated the ray shield, then said, "You look terrible."
"I can't live with myself after what I did, even if it was the chip, '' Bly admitted sadly. Evens signed, then stated, "Well, you'd better get some of your strength back. Because I'm planning an escape."
"An escape? That's insane." Bly stated.
Evens replied, "With me, you, and Odds, it won't be. Odds and I know our way around this facility, but we'll need you to lead the Clones in the prison break."
Bly looked back at Evens. He wasn't sure what to think. He couldn't live with himself after what he did to his General and the love of his life, Aayla Secura. But, if this worked, the others could escape.
"Alright. But I will do whatever it takes to see as many of my brothers escape as possible. I say Run, Run. I say, Hide, Hide. I say, Leave me and save yourselves, do it. No hesitation. OK?" Bly stated. After a few moments, Evens nodded.
"Does this mean you'll Command?" Even enquired to Bly, who nodded.
"Good. We'll need your skills to pull this off." Evens stated.
Bly nodded and let his head fall again. Evens got up and departed once more.
A few rotations later, Evens returns, this time with another trooper. While the numbers on the side of Evens shoulder pads are red and show even numbers, the others are blue and show odd numbers. Both had gone to persuade as many troopers in that area of the facility as possible of their plan.
Now they had 100 Clone deserters ready to go.
Finally, they all meet in the mess hall.
"So. What's the plan?" Bly enquired, looking a bit healthier now he had something to fight. Odds and Evens explained the plan to Howzer, Bly, Boil and others.
"How do we get off the planet? And how do we get in contact with the Clones outside?" Boil asked.
Odds stated, "My shuttle can fit everyone in fairly comfortably. Plus, it's fast enough to escape most fighters. How do we get in contact with Rex and the others? There's a special relay station about ten parsecs away we can use. It's old and battered, but it still works."
"Sounds like a plan. It won't be easy, but if we pull this off. For the people of Ryloth," Howzer started with a glint of hope in his eyes.
Boil stated back, "For the people of Ryloth.''
"We start the break at Dusk," Evens stated to the Clones, who nodded before returning to their cells.
Finally, the time came.
A few troopers pass by while Howzer, Boil, Bly, and others impatiently wait. A couple stops and starts briefly at the Clones' odd behaviour but don't think anything of it.
Finally, Odds and Evens arrive, holding a strange device.
"What is that?" Howzer enquired.
Odds hissed, "Shut it" to him. Odds and Evens are set up at two opposite ends of the wing and activated. Immediately, all power, except for the emergency lights, go out, causing the ray shields to fall.
"Head for the armoury. And remember to cycle between blast and stun. Stun the Clones. Kill the rest." Commander Bly called authoritatively.
The other Clones nodded, Odds and Evens leading the way, headed for the Armoury.
Meanwhile, with the Empire
The Imperials who run the facility take a few moments to realise the power is out in the Deserter Wing.
"Captain Odds, Captain Evens, what's going on down there?" one of the gruff voices of an Imperial Commando called. Evens responded, in a clever lie that the Imperial Commando failed to notice, "There's been a power surge, sir. We're working to restore power,"
"You'd better do it quickly. We don't want any deserters escaping." the Commando demanded.
Evens started coolly "On it" before communication ended.
"What's going on?" came a voice from behind. Turning around, the Commando saw Commander Cody waiting for him.
"Go down to the Deserter Wing and help Odds and Evens restore power." the Imperial demanded.
Cody nodded and said, "Sir, yes, sir," before he departed.
On the way, he ran into Crosshair.
"What's going on?" Crosshair sneered.
Commander Cody stated, "There's been a power outage in the deserter wing of the facility. I'm on my way there to help restore power,"
"Sounds fun," Crosshair sarcastically stated before he followed Cody towards the wing.
Back to the Clones
The first pocket of resistance the hundred Clone troops found was at the top of the lifts. Once they exited, they saw four TK Troopers waiting.
"Thanks for opening the elevator," one of the Troopers said. It took about five seconds to realise there were a hundred deserter clones in the lift. He had no chance to react and was shot dead.
As they made their way through the mid-floor, they triggered the alarms.
"Shoot! We've got to move!" Evens yelled to the group, and they ran for it, stunning any Clone troopers they encountered while killing the rest. The Troopers shot back with lethal fire and killed a handful of Clones.
"Leave them. I hate to abandon them, but we'll never make it out if we don't." Evens stated.
Howzer and Boil nodded, and they continued firing.
Soon they cleared a path and ran for it.
With Cody and Crosshair
Cody and Crosshair reach the deserter wing, only to find it deserted.
"A prison breaks. We've got to stop them." Cody demanded, shocked.
Crosshair sneered, "I don't think they could have gone far. I'll go up and see what I can do to help. You go and restore power. It's obvious that Odds and Evens aren't here."
"Right," Cody replied, and he started searching for the source of the power surge while Crosshair took the lifts to the mid-floor.
Back to the Clones
"We're nearly there," Evens called as they continued their firefight with the TK Troopers. Another couple of Clone deserters went down, but they were nailing more TK Troopers.
Suddenly, two went down with headshots as Crosshair joined the battle.
"Get behind cover and find alternate entrances to the hangar bays." Odds demanded, and the Clones scattered. Boil and Evens went west and quickly found another entrance. Howzer went east, and after killing a few troopers, he managed to get to the hangar bay too.
As the number of Clones at the hangar grew, so did the risk. Bly, recognising this, messaged Evens.
"Get everyone on the ship and get out of here. I'll hold the troopers off," Bly called. Evens stated, "Bly, no! What are you doing?"
"Saving everyone." Bly replied before he added, "For Aayla '' before he cut the communication. Suddenly, Bly punched a switch, and the facility, minus the hangar itself, was locked down.
"Bly! No!" Evens yelled, but Odds called, "Evens, we've gotta get out of here. He's buying us time to escape."
"Alright," Evens replied, shocked that Bly was willing to sacrifice himself to save them all. The Clones scrambled onto the Tartan Patrol Cruiser, and both Evens and Odds got into the cockpit and started flying the ship out.
With Crosshair
Crosshair watched as the TK Troopers only shot at the escaping deserter clones was shut off by the lockdown. Now Bly was their only target.
He took a couple of shots, but Bly narrowly dodged them. Crosshair ducked as Bly shot at him.
By the time he resurfaced, six TK Troopers were down.
Bly kept firing indiscriminately. He seemed willing to die to ensure the others could escape. Noble. But pathetic.
Even more TK Troopers fell at the hands of Bly, and Crosshair carefully lined up his shot.
He nailed Bly in the shoulder, and soon, other TK Troopers struck as well. Bly took seven shots from the troopers and only a third sniper shot from Crosshair before he fell dead.
"Get the doors open," one of the TK Troopers called, but Crosshair stood up and sneered, "Too late. That reg's actions meant that the deserters are long gone."
"Even so, we must check," Cody stated as he joined Crosshair. He quickly added, "We've restored the power. It looks like Odds and Evens had got some old Separatist power disruptors."
"Typical," Crosshair spat in response. Sure enough, the lockdown lifted, and the Tartan Patrol Cruiser was long gone.
"Damn that Clone," one of the TK Troopers snapped when he saw what had happened.
Cody stated, "We'd better clean up and send a patrol party to scout nearby sectors for the missing Cruiser."
"We'll get onto that immediately," one of the other TK Troopers called.
Crosshair sneered, "Good luck with that, Reg." before they returned to their stations.