Here's the new chapter of the Clone Empire. This time we have Bacara and Doom investigation on Daro. And they'll be very surprised at what they find on the planet.
Coming out from hyperspace is a Nu-class attack shuttle. Arriving at Daro in the N-6 system. The co-pilot wearing Phase 3 pilot uniform (From ROTS) contacts the haul where passengers are at "Sir, we have arrived at our destination in the N-6 system." Said the co-pilot.
"Alright, take us where the signal last location." Said Bacara in the passenger section.
"Yes, sir." The co-pilot responds before gone silent.
Bacara turned to another clone who is sitting with six other Clone Troopers wearing ordinary white armor "We'll be arriving to where the distress single was last located." Said Bacara sitting across where Doom is sitting "This better be worth of coming all the way here. I have lots on my plate of training new shinnies to join the 21st Nova Corp."
"Don't worry, we'll give a good sweep and see what we could fine. It could be a false alarm for all we know." Said Doom.
"Maybe or maybe not. But can't hurt to check it out."
They entered the planet's atmosphere and flew towards the distress signal last location. However, the co-pilot picked up something "Hey, I'm picking up something." Said the co-pilot.
"Picking up what?" Asked the pilot.
"I'm picking up three… no four ships. Coming behind us."
"What? What kind of ships are they?"
"Alpha-3 Nimbus-class ships."
"Better contact the commanders." The co-pilot nodded as he flipped a switch.
"Commander Bacara, Commander Doom. We have four Nimbus-class starfighters coming towards us." Said the co-pilot through the intercom.
"What? Why are there Imperial starfighters all the way out here?" Doom question "I thought Daro doesn't have any settlements."
"There shouldn't be." Said Bacara as he and Doom suddenly felt a violent shake.
The V-Wings starfighters started to shoot the shuttle. As bolts and explosions filled the sky. Bacara nearly knocked out his seat as he and Doom buckled down. Bacara pressed his helmet "Pilot! What's happening out there?!" Bacara shouted.
"We're being fired upon! They're trying to shoot us down!"
"Tell them to cease fire!"
"That's a negative! They're refusing our hails!"
Suddenly, the haul at the back of the shuttle exploded. Causing a breach. A clone or two gets suck out from the shuttle as they scream. The co-pilot's systems ring in alarm "We're hit! Haul breach in the passenger section!" Shouted the co-pilot.
"I'm losing control! I can't keep her in the air!" Yelled the pilot.
"Brace yourselves!" Commander Bacara shouted from his seat.
The shuttle then fell from the sky leaving a trail of smoke. It then crashed through the trees and dirt. Leaving a trail as it crashes. The shuttle then hits large boulders which stopped the shuttle. As the smoke rose the four V-Wings flew past over the wrecked shuttle. Inside Bacara groaned as he unbuckled himself, stumbled onto the ship floor. Coughing as sparks light up, he turned to see the four Clone Troopers who came laid motionless. He then turned to Doom who is motionless as well.
Struggling to get back to his feet, he checked Doom's pulse. He let's out a sigh "Good, he's still alive." He thought to himself.
Hearing the fighters overhead as they circled the shuttle, Bacara quickly unbuckled Doom. Once freed he hoisted him over his shoulders "Hang on Doom. Don't die on me." Bacara walked to the breached hole, but stopped as he checked outside.
He sees the V-Wings circling like vultures as if they're waiting for something "What are they waiting for?" Bacara muttered.
He waited until the fighters flew past overhead. Seeing an opening he quickly ran towards the undergrowth and ferns. He groans as he feels his whole body in pain. But as a battle-harden marine from the 21st Nova Corps, he bares with it as he ran full speed. He went through many battles during the Mygeeto campaign. So, pain isn't all too different for him.
Once he got to the safety of the undergrowth, he put Doom down. Placing him against a tree as the unconscious Clone Commander softly groans. Letting out a sigh of relief he then heard something coming. Looking up he sees three ships fly past them, with the wind blowing past them.
Looking back at the crashed shuttle he sees three ships landing close. But they're not just any ships, they're Imperial LAAT/I gunships. Bacara creeped into the vegetation as he looked at the gunships "Imperial gunships? Why are they here of all places?" Bacara asked himself.
Once the doors opened several armed men exited the gunships. However, these armed individuals are wearing white clone armor. But as Bacara took a closer look, these Troopers aren't wearing any kind of clone armor he's well aware. The armor looked similar, but their helmets have a very different characteristic. It has a single visor with two lenses, foregoing the T-shaped Bacara and his brothers have always worn. It also contained a raised ridge that ran from directly above the visor to the back of the helmet. But they carry a DC-15A blaster carbine like any other Trooper.
However, the other ones with them are the Clone Commando's. No one on Coruscant or even on Kamino had any idea where the Commandos were. Bacara looked closely at them as they inspected the downed shuttle. After a short while, the white armored men walked up to one of the Commandos after exiting the ship.
"All the passengers inside are dead. There're no survivors." Said the middle Trooper.
"What about the pilots?" Asked the Commando.
"Same as the rest, sir. Must've died from the impact. Should we report this to base?"
"I wouldn't bother. Since everyone on board are dead, we wouldn't worry about another break-in incident." The Commando turned and nodded to his fellow Commando.
"Alright, let's wrap this up! We're heading back into base!" Ordered the other Commando as the first Commando radio to the starfighter pilots above them "Vulture Squadron, head back to base. We're done securing the area." Said the first Commando.
"Copy, returning to base." The pilot replied.
As the troops stepped into the gunships, they started to take off. One of the white armor men stopped as he heard twigs snapping. Turning his head to the left to look into the forest. Bacara ducked underneath the bushes as the Trooper looked into the woods.
The other Trooper walked by him "What's up?" He asked.
"I thought I heard something." The second answered.
"Must be some critter looking for food. C'mon, I just want to get this assignment over with. They don't pay us much of this."
They both entered the gunship as the doors closed. The ship lifted off the ground and took off. Flying over past Bacara. As the Clone Commander watches the gunships flying over the horizon, he went back to check on Doom.
Taking Doom helmet off, Doom shared the same face and hair as the other clones but having facile hair similar to the late-Captain Keeli. Doom has suffered a head wound as the blood sliding down on his face "Looks bad, better look for any first-aid." Bacara then headed to the shuttle, hoping to find anything usable.
Doom groaned as he slowly opened his eyes. His vision blurred a bit before seeing perfectly. He first notices he's inside a man-made tent. Groaning he rubbed his head, feeling a bandage wrapped around his forehead. Sitting up slowly he sees light, getting up while hissing in pain, exiting the tent he sees a fireplace. Noticing the sky is dark.
Hearing footsteps he turns to see Bacara not wearing his helmet walking to the camp holding firewood. Showing his face, he has some scars on his face with his hair looked shaved with a goatee. Seeing Doom up he smiled.
"Well, look who finally decided to wake up. Enjoy your beauty sleep?" Said Bacara joking.
"Bacara…? What…?" Doom shaking his head while placing his hand on his forehead "What happened?"
"We got shot down, that's what happened." Seeing Doom about to tumble over, Bacara quickly catches him "Whoa, easy brother. Let's put you down." Bacara helping Doom to sit down against the tree "There we go. You need to take it easy. Hit your head pretty bad." Bacara grabbing the first-aid kit, taking an injector out.
"How long was I out?" Doom asked as Bacara injected medicine into his neck.
"You been out for hours. Had to bandage you up while you were unconscious."
"What about the others? Did they… make it?"
"They didn't make it. We're the only ones survived." Bacara told him while changing the bandages on Doom head "Buried them not too far from here. Couldn't find where the other two are after we got shot."
Doom looked down sadly. Knowing he and his fellow commander are the only survivors. Once Bacara is done bandaging Doom he sat down by the fire. He then grabbed something "Here." Bacara toss something to Doom "Eat up. You need some strength."
Doom looked at the ration and chuckled "This reminds me of our survival training when we were cadets." Said Doom smirking.
"Yeah, didn't thought we be needed those survival skills up till now." Bacara grins.
Doom begins to eat as Bacara started to explain everything to him "While you were out, three LAAT/I gunships showed up." Said Bacara.
"Gunships? One of our own?" Doom question "Why are they doing all the way out here?"
"I'm not so sure. However, I've seen three Clone Commando's. Not sure why they're way out in the Outer Rims. But there's something else." Bacara went on "There were other Troopers with them. But these Troopers, they're wearing the same armor as us but… different."
"Different how?"
"Their helmets. They're wearing different helmets I have never seen before. It's like… I don't know what."
Doom sat quickly, until he spoke "The gunships. Where did they go?"
"Over those ridges." Bacara points towards where he saw the gunships gone to "It's the same direction those fighters that shot us down went. It's possible there's a base somewhere."
"Then we need to contact Coruscant. Tell them to bring in backup."
"Not possible. The transmitter is trashed. Don't think I could repair it without proper tools. All I could salvage is rations and medical supplies. And besides…"
"Let me guess. You want us to go and investigate?" Doom knowing what he would say.
"Hey, they send us to investigate the signal, right?"
"It would be dangerous you know that, right?"
"I've been in the Battles of Mygeeto many times. I've faced plenty of dangers on that planet more times I could count."
"I don't know Bacara. I got a bad feeling about this. Something on this planet doesn't sit right with me."
"What are you, a Jedi?" Bacara joked.
However, Doom looked at the ground with sadness in his eyes "Bacara…? Have you ever wondered what we did was right?"
"What you mean?"
"You know what I mean. We fought by the Jedi's side ever since the war. But ever since Order 66 happened… it feels like we made a mistake. Right?"
Bacara didn't reply, looking into the fire he understood what he meant. How he and his men were given orders to kill their former Jedi general. He closed his before speaking in a calm demander "I understand what you mean Doom. To be honest I respected the Jedi I fought by his side. I really do. Which is why I almost didn't carry it out."
Bacara then looked at Doom "But we're soldiers Doom. Good soldiers, follow orders. We did what we have to." Once he's done speaking, he stood up "We better get some sleep. We have to get ready tomorrow morning."
"Alright, I'll take the first watch. You get some rest, you're pretty tired for batching me up." Said Doom.
"Alrighty, I'll see you at first light." Bacara went into the tent he made, resting on the ground.
Doom stayed where he's sitting. Sighing, he took out one of his blaster pistols, examining it. He looked up at the night sky to see the moon. While listening to the animals calling out the night.
The next morning both Doom and Bacara walked through the forest, heading towards where the gunships have gone to. While walking Doom turned to Bacara "You sure they went this way?" Doom asked through his helmet.
"Absolutely, where else would they have gone to?" Responded Bacara.
"Okay, so way are we walking through the forest?"
"After what happened yesterday, I'm not taking any changes some random patrol spotting us."
"Fair enough."
Suddenly they heard an incoming vessel coming overhead "Get cover!" Shout Bacara as he and Doom took cover behind some rocks. They saw a cruiser above them, they watched the ship fly pass before stopping. They then see it descending, disappearing into the ground ahead of them.
Both Clone Commanders walked out from their hiding places "Was that a Gozanti-class cruiser? What's it doing on Daro?" Doom questioned Bacara.
"The same reason why those Troopers I saw yesterday were here. C'mon let's take a look." Said Bacara as he stepped up his paced with Doom right behind him.
Slowly down while hunching over. They soon come to edge of huge hole with a tower on the other side. Looking down they then discovered a huge facility with hangers and speakers ring through the large cavern, with shuttles and gunships seen in the hangers. The two clones are shocked at what they discovered.
"What the kriff is this?" Doom asked.
"It's a military base. A goddamn military base." Bacara responded.
Both clones looked on at the base they discovered. This discovery would soon change the galaxy as a whole.
That's it for this chapter. How will Bacara and Doom be able to report their findings to HQ on Coruscant? And how would they be able to escape? Find out in the next chapter. Hope you guys have a good weekend.