Stranded deep behind enemy lines with no help forthcoming,
the few remaining clones of the Outer Rim Garrison must find a way to survive the harsh Rylothian wilderness.
Meanwhile, unaware of their brothers' predicament, the crew of Riddler Six wonder what their next move is,
while aboard Skywalker's flagship and in the company of Ahsoka Tano and Clone trooper Vaughn...
'Ow...'
Groaning slightly at his sore body, Raid shifted, hearing the sound of a bush rustling. It was mostly his back and his face, but his arms and right leg had their own minor complaints. The clone trooper could feel that he lay within something, as his movements were resisted. By the rustling and crackling, he judged that it was a bush, though it was too dark to see anything. That's when he opened his eyes.
Staring up at the star-speckled early-evening sky, with the cool breeze flowing over him, Raid's memory came back in a rush. The battle. Holding the pass and the Twi'leks and-
'Shock...'
Raid sat up, wincing slightly at his body's protests. He felt as though he had been sat on by one of those blurrgs, and he wouldn't put it pass them. Looking around, Raid's heart stopped, and his breath caught. Surrounding him, the armoured bodies of his unit lay scattered about, interspersed within the massive heaps a downed droids, mostly B1s. The smell of blaster fire, smoke, and burnt flesh lingered in the air. Head whipping around, he located Shock about seven feet away, exactly where he'd been when he had fallen. Rushing over, Raid knelt beside his brother, hoping to whatever being that could hear him that he wasn't dead. He nearly cried out in relief when he felt a strong pulse in Shock's neck. He began looking over his comrade, trying to locate injuries. The stars lit up the area considerably, and he quickly found a mark of carbon scoring from a blaster bolt on Shock's lower right thigh. Great. Raid was no medic, but even he knew that that couldn't be good. Best case scenario, once Shock woke up, he'd be in a world of pain and unable to do more than limp. Worst case scenario...
His thought process was interrupted by footsteps on the Rylothian dirt. Thinking of battle droids, Raid quickly grabbed Shock's carbine and stood, pointing it at the figure which rounded a nearby boulder.
"Whoa! Don't shoot!" The clone trooper whispered loudly, lowering his own carbine. Raid sighed in relief, dropping his left hand and the blaster to his side as he recognised the trooper as the same shiny from earlier. "Raid, that you?"
"Yeah, it is," he told the shiny. "Shock is alive too, though he's unconscious and wounded."
"Just a moment." The trooper held the radio on his helmet. His armour was dirty, and several pieces were banged up and slightly bent, with carbon scoring and scorch marks in several places. Very scuffed up. "This is CT 4041. I found Raid and Shock, medical is needed... by the big ugly rock... Yes, the one that looks like Dooku's head... Copy, we'll be waiting."
"Is that the captain?" Raid asked.
The shiny hesitated. "N-no. The captain is... dead. As far as we know, it's just me, you two, Awe, Twitch, and that other guy... uh, Diego I think."
"So few?" Raid was hit hard by the sheer reality. Sure, it was a suicidal deployment, but the fact that so many troopers who were alive, laughing, and ready for battle were... gone; his brothers, was a horrible, saddening, sinking feeling. He resisted the urge to look around at the slaughter that surrounded him. "Even the General?" The other trooper nodded slowly. They stood in silence for eight seconds before three other clones approached. Awe instantly dashed by Raid, kneeling beside Shock with a med-kit in hand. Twitch and Diego, both carrying their helmets beneath their arms, stopped short to allow Awe to work. The men were quiet for a few minutes.
Raid looked to Twitch, who had a slightly bloody bandage wrapped around his head. "I thought we left all the meds with the Twi'leks."
Twitch smiled sadly. "We can always trust Needler to have his med-kit, even on a suicide mission." Raid frowned. Needler was their only surviving medic after the flanks collapsed. Obviously, the others had been scavenging for supplies and found him.
"He was the best pill-pusher I ever knew." Raid was quiet for a moment, head down in memory of the fallen. Eventually, he looked up. "What's the plan? Where do we go?"
Diego scratched his chin. "That's the fun question. We're a bunch of privates stuck behind enemy lines. The Twi'leks have retreated, so we can't count on them for help. There's also a Separatist blockade around the planet, so aid from elsewhere is not likely."
"The droids have been coming through every so often," the shiny said. "We can't remain here because they'll find us."
"I think we need a ship," Shock said from his position on the ground, Awe helping him stand.
"Sleeping Beauty awakens!" Diego teased. "How's the leg?"
Shock shook his helmeted head. "I think I can walk, but it hurts like heck. Without help I'll be going slower than a drunk Hutt chained to an iron ball."
"I doubt you have ever seen something like that," Twitch said, grinning. "You said something about a ship?"
"Yeah. There's a town several klicks North from where the left flank was. Kar-úni or something like that. The Seppies set up FOB there, using an old airbase. It's one of the places where they've been landing troops and supplies. We won't survive long on our own here in the wilds of Ryloth; there's some nasties that I've heard about, and I don't wanna meet. If we can tactfully acquire a shuttle or something, we may be able to jump outta here."
"That'd require some serious stealth," Diego observed. "If we're caught there, we're dead."
"If we're caught anywhere, we're dead also," Awe countered. "What other options are there?"
"We could try to follow the Resistance," Twitch offered.
"They live here, so they can move around faster than we ever could," Shock argued, shuffling his stance while leaning on Awe. "I'd much rather die in the air or at least in a heroic infiltration attempt than out in the wilderness eaten alive by monsters." As if in response, a howling roar sounded from somewhere, sounding not all that far. The clones tensed up, gripping carbines tightly.
"I'm with Shock," the shiny said. "I think we could pull it off. I mean, you did that night raid for ammo a while back, and it worked out flawlessly." Raid smiled. He had led a group behind the enemy lines to sabotage their tanks and steal supplies, earning him the nickname 'Raid.'
"We won't have a fallback this time, and only one shot," Raid cautioned. "But I'm with Shock, too."
Diego grinned solemnly. "Alright, then we attack the FOB and hope we don't krong up our only shot. First order of business; weapons. We scavenge what we can from... the fallen. There's no time for burying the dead, and we can't gather the helmets for a marker; it'll give us away if someone comes by, so we will have to leave them." All of the soldiers bowed their heads at the thought. It was dishonourable, but necessary.
"Kay, I'll help Shock gather his things," Awe volunteered. "Let's hurry." The group dispersed, looking around for gear. Raid quickly accumulated a rifle, a carbine, and enough ammo for five men. He found a bandelier to carry it all, slung over his shoulder. He also put the rifle on his back, connected to the bandelier. Raid clipped the carbine to his belt to keep his hands free as he continued his search, but he stopped dead in his tracks at the main clearing. Lying on the dirt in the middle of a circle of scrapped battle droids of all kinds was Captain Keeli and Master Ima-Gun Di. Raid cautiously approached, kneeling beside his captain. His helmet was gone, showing his face. His eyes were closed in a peaceful state, and he gripped his two DC-17 Blaster Pistols in each hand. Two shots seemed to have tagged on either side of his chest. Looking at the fallen Jedi, Raid observed many blaster marks, showing that he had been shot relentlessly upon falling.
Raid gingerly removed the pistols from Keeli's grasp and lay them on the ground. Reverently, he reached around the fallen captain's waist and detached the black kama skirt. Raid attached it around his own waist and placed the pistols in the holsters. He also detached the single pauldron from the captain's shoulder. After fiddling with it for a bit, Raid finally managed to connect it to his own armour. He was about to stand when he noticed Di's lightsaber, inches from the fallen Jedi's grasp. Raid picked it up and buckled it to his belt.
"Raid," Twitch called over his helmet comm. "Meet back at the Dooku rock."
"Wilco." He stood and jogged back to the group which had reassembled were divvying up some of their gathered gear.
"Well, you're looking spiffy," Diego said as Raid approached. He wore his helmet and had a rifle slung on his back along with two carbines on his belt. He also had strapped a large knife strapped to his shoulder armour and attached a moonbeam to the left side of his helmet. "I'm sure Keeli would approve."
"I'm ready to make him proud," Raid said stalwartly.
"Let's make all of the boys proud," the shiny added. For firearms, he had only a carbine on his belt and a pistol in a holster on his thigh. He had also recovered four large, broad knives which he put on his belt.
"That's all you're bringing 4041?" Awe asked. He had two rifles on his back and a carbine in hand. A satchel was slung around his shoulder with the explosive marking on the flap.
"It's all I need," the trooper replied.
"You need a name," Shock declared, using a DC-15A as a crutch. He had a pistol in a holster on his belt. "Going around calling you 4041 will get old, fast. You're pretty scuffed up. How about 'Scuff?'"
The trooper chuckled. "You know, I like that actually."
"Me too," Twitch commented, shouldering a rifle and patting Scuff's shoulder. He picked up his helmet and donned it. "I think we're good to..." he faltered, looking at Raid. "Is that the General's lightsaber?"
Raid fingered it. "Yeah. I'm not leaving something like this behind. Hopefully, it's droid slashing days aren't past yet."
Awe checked inside his satchel. "I've got two charges, some med supplies, an ascension cable, and a toothbrush."
"A toothbrush?" Diego asked incredulously before laughing. "What a find, am I right boys?"
"Who knows," Scuff replied slowly. "Could come in handy."
"If you want to give the Seppies a dental," Diego retorted, snorting. "I guess that's what we have to make do with."
"Alrighty then, we've got our full battle-rattle... er, as close as we can get to that," Awe said, looping Shock's arm around his neck to support the wounded trooper. "Let's go."
Raid sat leaning back against a rock, helmet beside him on the stony ground. Around him, the other troopers were making ready for bed. They had all travelled a few hours until an hour or two past midnight. Being tired and sore from the battle, they had opted to set up camp in a nice cavity in the cliff wall, about thirty feet above the ground. It wasn't a hard climb as there were plenty of ledges and jutting boulders. It was out of the way, with a nice, large bush concealing the entrance. They were totally hidden from view from anyone in the canyon below.
Shock already slept, stretched out on a sleeping pad and snoring softly. The squad had recovered a few from the old site of the Hobo Camp on halfway through their hike. Diego was rolling out his pad while Awe and Twitch talked about who'll be pulling first shift as sentry. Scuff, helmet on his knee, was staring up at the night-sky that spread endlessly outside their cave.
"You ever think about all of it?" Scuff asked suddenly, looking at the sky still as if the question was directed towards the stars. Raid stayed silent for a few seconds before Scuff continued. "The fighting, I mean. How different it is from anything they taught us back on Kamino. We go through years of training from the instant we open our eyes, learn to work with our squads, get close to our brothers, and on our first deployment we all die. Good scores, comradery; none of it matters when you're staring down the blaster of a clanker. In the end, die or live, the galaxy is moving on. I never thought about anything other than the mission until I came here. Three times I cheated death, narrowly survived, and got out when the rest of my squad paid the price."
"You were on Darter Squadron, right?" Awe asked him, sitting beside Raid. Darter had been destroyed completely during the collapse of the flanks.
"Yep," Scuff replied, looking over. "We were on the left when the trenches blew. I was the last man out; saw plenty of the others get shot, too."
"Those two bozos and I were on Foxtrot," Diego said, gesturing towards Shock and Awe. "Not many of us survived the first clash at that town... er, what was it? Udavo?"
"Something like that," Twitch joined in. "Nasty place. There were snipers everywhere you turned."
Diego grimaced. "Yeah, those nasty lurdos picked off Hangar and Trite just metres away from where I was holed up."
"Your face is a lurdo..." Shock mumbled in his sleep, rolling over and snorting. Awe was trying hard to restrain his laughter, hand over his mouth, and Raid coughed to cover his own chuckles.
"Someone's a light sleeper," Diego commented.
Awe shook his head, grinning. "You didn't have to sleep right next to his bunk back on Kamino. You hear the strangest things from that guy. He also has a habit of sleep walking."
"Is he the guy who the guards found on top of the lockers?" Twitch asked, looking at the slumbering trooper. "They said he was curled up into a ball, gripping a training carbine and muttering, 'they're coming,' over and over again."
"Yep," Awe confirmed. "The craziest part is that the storage for the training gear was still locked and everything. They were scratching their heads over that one forever. Then there was the time that he tried to murder a sanitation droid with a pillow and an ascension cable. They barely found him before-"
"Shh!" Scuff hissed suddenly, looking out. The others instantly were on their feet.
"What is it?" Twitch asked quietly.
"There's some big... things coming this way."
"Things?" Raid peeked out. The shadows of five large, hunching forms were making their way slowly and silently up the rock face.
"I think they're gutkurrs," Twitch said with apprehension, looking out as well.
"Those sound fun," Diego commented sarcastically. "What are gutkurrs?"
"Don't you remember the briefings?" Twitch ran back and began gathering his gear. "They're a dangerous predator native to Ryloth. They hunt in packs, are vicious carnivores that dismember their prey, and are conveniently blaster resistant due to their carapace."
"Well, that's no fun," Diego pouted, grabbing his rifle. "I don't think we should be using blasters anyway. Anybody for miles would be able to spot us if they're paying attention."
Awe was busy shaking Shock as Raid grabbed his gear. Scuff stayed at the front, already good to go. 'Just what we need,' Raid thought spitefully. 'Dangerous predators that want a shiny breaky."
"What's happening?" Shock asked confusedly as Awe helped him up.
"Creatures that have an appetite for guts," he responded, handing Shock his helmet. "We have to move, fast."
"What're we waiting for, then?" The two brothers made their way towards the front, one supporting the other. "There's no going downwards, only up. Time to climb." They both left, beginning their ascent. Raid, Diego, and Twitch all retreated their campsite, leaving behind three pads that would take too long to roll up and began clambering up ledge by ledge. Raid hoisted himself to one and looked back. Scuff scurried up as the creatures below let out loud, ear-piercing roars, realising their prey was fleeing. Five large shadows commenced a loud and reckless climb, closing fast but still around thirty yards away.
"Come on!" Diego called, reaching down from a higher position and gripping Raid's forearm, nearly ripping it off as he jerked him upwards. "Scuff, let's go!"
Raid made a scurrying run across the platform before climbing up an angled rock that jutted out. He paused to help Scuff up, then Diego. Ahead of them, to the left and ten feet higher, Shock and Awe made swift progress together despite Shock's injury, boosting and pulling each other. Twitch was halfway between them and the three in the back, practically jumping from ledge to ledge like a goat.
"They're getting close!" Diego stressed, glancing back. Raid didn't need to look, as the frantic scrambling and guttural grunts and growls sounded right upon him. He leapt to the next rock, Diego just after him. Taking a look up the cliff, Raid saw that they had nearly reached the top. Once up on the flat clifftop, they could make a run for it, though they might not get far on a flat-out sprint versus these things.
Raid was right below Twitch as the other trooper scaled a vertical climb, preparing to go immediately after when Shock yelled; "Look out!" Suddenly, Twitch impacted Raid and both clones fell. Raid hit the rocks hard, tumbling down the steep slope of the cliff side, helmeted head bouncing off stones and shoulder searing in pain as a particularly sharp one stabbed in between armour pieces. He came to rest, facing the night sky, twenty feet beneath the others. As he began to stand, he froze, staring at the murderous, growling face of a monster; a disgusting beast with insect-like red eyes, hooked claws, and a chitinous shell. The gutkurr was descending rapidly upon him, mouth agape, revealing countless razor-sharp teeth. Raid instinctively produced his carbine and attempted to take a shot as the beast slammed into him, knocking him to the rocks and the weapon from his grasp. It reached its hideous maw to bite his neck.
Raid, on his back, curled defensively. Planting both feet on the creature's neck, just below the head, and using his hands too, he pushed back against it, trying to inhibit the deadly clamping jaws of the monstrosity. He wrestled it, using all his might and willpower not to be ripped apart. Abruptly, the barrel of a rifle inserted itself into the gutkurr's snaping jaws, and three flashes of blue light nearly blinded Raid, only inches from his face. The muffled sounds of blaster accompanied the flashes, along with the smell of burning flesh. The creature rolled sideways and off of Raid. Crouching next to him was Diego, DC-15A in hand.
"Not blaster proof on the inside, huh?!" He laughed, kicking the dead beast before lifting Raid to his feet.
"Thanks, I-" Raid stopped short, seeing Twitch batting at two of the monsters on a lower ledge. The other trooper had fallen farther down and was now defending his life from the beasts, swinging a rifle like a club. "Twitch! Hold tight!" Without thinking twice, Raid produced the deceased General's lightsaber and hit the ignition button. A blue beam of energy sprang to life from the handle as he sprang down, swing the Jedi weapon in an overhead swing. The saber sliced a huge gash in the gutkurr on the right, making it roar in pain. It swiped at Raid with a hooked claw, but he rolled out of the way and stood beside Twitch.
"Back! Get back!" Raid yelled, swiping at them in reckless arcs with the energy sword. A gutkurr tried to lunge but Raid lopped off its head, leaving it steaming on the ground. The body collapsed, and the other gutkurr backed away warily.
"Back! We've got the glowy-thing!" Twitch shouted, holding the rifle right now, aiming at the creature's face.
Diego leapt down beside them, a broad bladed dagger in both hands. The gutkurr, with a growl, turned and fled along with one other of its kind, racing off into the night and disappearing. "Yeah! You better run, bloody beasts! If we see your ugly mugs 'round here again, we'll be the ones eating!"
"Eww, that's just weird," Twitch mumbled, sitting down hard and letting out a deep sigh.
"What? We've gotta be the predators," Diego retorted, relaxing his fighting stance.
"Is anyone hurt?" Raid asked loudly, looking up towards their other companions who stood on a ledge, peering back.
Awe waved. "All good. Sorry about that back there. I lost my hold on Shock briefly and he dropped his rifle on Twitch."
"Don't worry; we survived it." Raid lifted the blade of the lightsaber to get a better view, his eyes widening when he realised that Diego was covered in blood. "Diego! You're-!"
"Fine," he interrupted, brandishing his knives. "It's not my blood. Notice how five gutkurrs attacked but only two left? While you played Jedi with the fancy glowing stick, I had to do it the old-fashioned way."
"You should've seen him!" Scuff called. "He basically ripped the flesh out of its skull. You're a madman."
"Being a madman is what saved our collective bahookie," Diego replied reasonably. "Sometimes, the craziest approach is the best one. By the way, nice work with the saber." He patted Raid's shoulder. "That was awesome, jumping like that."
"Thanks," Raid said, trying not to look at the disgusting mess on the rocks.
"Well, I say we get going before those creepazoids come back," Scuff said. "And I want my knife back, Diego."
"Why? You've got three others. Sharing is caring, you know."
"I was the one who thought to pack 'em, you know, so I'm the one who keeps 'em."
Diego snorted, throwing it overhand upwards. Scuff caught it easily and groaned in disgust at the gore clinging to it.
As they got ready to climb once more, Twitch gave the carcases a final, distasteful glare. "I think I miss the blurrg now."
After some condolences and a period of silence, Anakin left the crew of Riddler Six, Ahsoka, and Vaughn in the hangar-bay. They remained completely still and quiet for a while. Finally, it was Mate who spoke first; meaning he made robotic whooping and a few beeps.
"Hey, language Mate," Dusty slapped the droid. Turning to the rest, he smiled sadly. "He's right, though. What are we going to do now? Our unit is gone."
"We need a new one first of all," Shuriken said determinedly. "And then we destroy every one of the Seppies' clankers that get in our way."
"There's always openings on the 501st," Vaughn offered. "Especially for pilots."
"Uh, nah uh," Shuriken stopped him. "Those two laserbrains are pilots; I'm a sniper. I only got chucked in a kriffing fighter 'cause Joyride here needed a new gunner and had enough dirt to make me die of shame."
"Ah," Vaughn said appreciatively. "Training buddies, were you?"
"Yessir!" Joystick laughed, but not with an undertone of sorrow. "He and I go way back, but..." He became somber again. "Now we're all that's left of our squad. Our buddies Shock, Awe, Raid, Slider, and all the others are gone. Maybe we could help you guys in the 501st..."
Ahsoka beamed. "We'd love to have you on our team! You'd fit right in. We'd just have to talk to Rex about it."
"I get to keep my colour though, right?" Dusty asked, looking down at the red-brown designs on his armour. "Blue ain't exactly my thing."
Ahsoka smirked. "We can see, though I do like your current colours."
"They're inspired from our General," Dusty said. "Ima-Gun Di."
"I never got to know Master Di," Ahsoka replied slowly. "He always acted decisive and courageous, and people said he was a fierce warrior, yet compassionate and caring."
"He was," Shuriken said thoughtfully. Nobody said anything for another lengthy period of time before Joystick tapped Mate, who made a loud, wheezy horn noise. Everyone flinched at the sudden sound, and Joystick stood.
"That's enough of that," he said, grabbing his helmet off the floor. "Why don't you give us the grand tour so we can see what we're getting into, huh?"
"Sure thing," Vaughn responded, getting to his feet as well. "We can start at the barracks. I'm sure the boys would like to meet the prospective-"
A loud rumbling sounded, rocking the ship slightly. Several troopers ran by in the same direction. As another one passed, Ahsoka stood, raising a hand to stop him. "Charger, what's going on?" She asked.
"We're docking with the Endurance on its way back to Coruscant," the trooper said. "Generals Windu and Kenobi are coming aboard. From what Seargent Appo told me, they have instructions for the fleet involving the Warship." Charger moved on towards the elevator without another word.
"Someone's in a hurry," Dusty observed. "What Warship?"
"There's been a warship floating around, attacking our ships. It never leaves any survivors, so we know nothing about it," Vaughn said distastefully. "I suspect it's foul play somehow; breaking honour."
"I had better go to the bridge," Ahsoka said. "You're free to go with Vaughn wherever. See you around." The Padawan ran off in the direction Charger had went.
"Come on. Let's go meet the boys," Vaughn beckoned, walking towards another elevator.