Chapter Two: shadow of death

Zero-two wakes to screaming.

It's muffled. Distant. As though words were being shouted from under Kaminoan Seas'. For a startling moment, he thinks he's back home. Floating in one of the pools used for training. But that's not right. His mind is foggy. Muddled with confusion. What was he doing again? Where were his brothers?

"-n down!"

There's a weight on his back, pushing him deeper into the harsh floor. A hand is pinned underneath his stomach. Wrist twisted at an awkward angle. Lances of pain strike up his leg every time the ground shakes. Shakes that are quickly followed by the crash of thunder.

He cracks open his eyes and groans. There's an ache behind his eyes that jolts angrily at the action. Blearily, he realizes he's face down in the dirt.

His rifle. He needs his rifle.

With a groan, he rolls to his side, allowing him to finally see his surroundings. There's a pack next to him. Half its contents tossed about the ground nearby. One of its straps hung loosely to the side. Its buckles snapped. He can see brothers running in the distance. Ducking behind cover as red bolts of fire shoot over their heads.

A blotch of black draws his eyes. His hand reached out automatically to grab it. Fingers curling around the harsh metal of his rifle.

"-et up Zero-two!"

He turns. A brother is scrambling towards him, ducking a stray bolt of red. Staying low to the ground. The clone steps around a limp, gloved hand.

"Are you good?" the clone shouts. Dropping to a knee next to him. Shaking hands search his body for wounds. "Where are you hurt?'

"Chipper?" he groans, batting away the hands when they reach for his helmet. "I'm good."

Chipper inhales sharply, grabbing him by the forearm to pull him to his feet. "We gotta move! There's no cover out here."

They turn towards the closest cover, a building several meters away. As they do so, he catches a glimpse of the body he'd seen earlier. Only, there's two of them.

"Who?" he mutters to his brother. A stinging in his eyes. Chipper grabs him by the arm, dragging him away from the open area. His pack clatters around on his back. They crash to the ground heavily. Dust kicking up around them.

He gasps for air, eyes locked on the unmoving forms, "Who Chipper?!"

Chipper is rigid next to him, helmet turned towards the firefight, "Sap."

His stomach sinks into an endless pit, "The other one?"

"The other one." Chipper shrugs, voice lacking any real emotion, "The one you were carrying with Sev."

Somehow, his stomach sinks even lower. Taking a deep breath, he finally looks away. Ignoring how painful the task was. He turns his head to Chipper. "And Sev? Kon? Where are they?"

"Both hurt, got dragged off by a med-squad a few minutes ago." comes the reply.

Zero-two's body jolts, "A few minutes! Wha-"

"We thought you were dead." Chipper is staring at him. His voice is flat, toneless. Dark vizor staring through his soul. "Your comms went dead and your vitals dropped. The medic didn't even try with all the blo-."

Chipper cut himself off. His brother took several deep gulps of air. He could see the clone's hand start to shake before he clenched his fists.

Zero-two's eyes flick back over to the bodies. Realizing in that moment how close he came to that being true. How close he came to being alongside them.

Looking down at himself, he can see why they thought he was dead. He's covered in someone else's blood. Whose is it, he wonders? Sappers? The other unfortunate soul he'd been carrying?

He shakes his head. Doing his best to ignore the bleak thoughts that threatened to creep in.

"What happened to our guide?" he asks. Careful not to say anything that could hurt his brother more.

Chipper seemed to gather himself, nodding at the firefight, "He went to the line. Told me to stay here until I was ready. So I could gather my-"

Zero-two cursed himself. Setting a hand on his brother's shoulder. He tried not to think about how he was staring through him again. "I'm here Chip."

Chipper's body was shaking, "You weren't."

"I am now." he squeezed. Though he couldn't feel it through the armor, Chipper seemed to take solace in the comfort. His brother gave a slightly more confident nod. His shoulder didn't stop shaking though.

As he turns away, to watch the red and blue bolts of plasma as they streak across the horizon. He thinks back to the other day when he knew instantly they were not ready for this war.

Sapper's body laying meters away was proof of that.

A wetness gathers in his eyes. Blurring his vision. He blinks rapidly. Willing away the tears that threatened to overwhelm him. If he starts crying, he doubts he'll be able to stop.

They need to regroup. He needs to see Kon and Sev. Make sure they still breathe. And the only way for them to do that, is for the fighting to end.

His eyes search the defensive line. Hoping to catch a glimpse of Lieutenant Cordin despite knowing it would be impossible to do so at this distance.

Most of his brothers look the same.

"We need to find the Lieutenant." he mutters to Chipper.

His brother stares through him again. That damnable vizor making it impossible to get a read on the clone. "Are you sure?"

He nods slowly, "The sooner this firefight is over, the faster we can see our brothers again. The line needs all the blasters they can get."

He can hear the deep shuddering breath that escapes the clone beside him. He turns to his rifle to ignore how Chipper seems to slump in resignation. He doesn't want to go out there either. Not really. But out there fighting was better than sitting here cowering, trapped inside his own head thinking about the whys and what ifs.

"Alright." Chipper says softly.

He climbs into a crouch, reaching around to pull off his pack. He sets it down next to the building and opens it up. Rummaging around inside. Finding the objects of his search, he pulls three extra blaster power packs from a pouch.

He slips two into a pouch on his belt, offering the third to Chipper. The clone took it with a nod.

After making sure his blaster rifle is loaded and clicked on safe, he turns towards his brother. "You ready?"

Chipper sighs, "No."

"Me neither."

They idle momentarily. Silent as they gather their courage. Zero-two can't stop his eyes from flickering back to Sapper's body. His fists clenching tight.

"We can't leave him out there." He doesn't turn his head. Not needing to see his brother to know they were thinking similarly.

"Artillery's stopped."

He glances to the sky mindlessly. Taking note of the empty skies. And indeed. The constant explosions that had echoed in his chest have ceased to continue.

He nods, forcing his lungs to take a deep breath. "We bring him back here. Where it's safe."

"Okay." Chipper sounds hollow.

They break cover swiftly. Legs pumping in overtime as they dash over to their fallen brother. Zero-Two ignored the pain in his leg in favor of getting to his fallen brother as fast as possible. He slides down to his knees at Sappers' head. His hands reaching out to grab the limp arms. "Grab his legs."

"No."

He turns, bewildered. "Chipper wha-... Oh."

Everything is red. Sapper's not all there.

He swallows hard. Almost choking on his tongue. Bile rises in the back of his throat. He jerks his head away. Unfortunately, his gaze lands on the other trooper they had been trying to save. That clone didn't look much better.

Guess he knew where all the blood came from.

Luckily, his training seems to kick in then. Or maybe it's something else. But, suddenly his vision has narrowed to only the arm he held onto.

"Right. Grab his other arm." He strengthens his grip and with a shared nod, they lift.

Sapper is lighter than he used to be.

He purposely doesn't follow that line of thought any further. The trip back to cover is quick. Even with them taking extra care with their cargo. When they are safe, they lay Sapper down gently. Cautious and mournful.

His hand never leaves the arm it holds onto.

He stares blankly at the vizor below him. Wishing, praying that it would turn in his direction. Tilt in motion he would recognize. Nothing happens.

A hand grabs his shoulder gently, "Zero-two? The other one?"

He turns, eyes distant. "Yeah..Yeah ok."

Gloved fingers slip from plastoid plates.

Blowing a harsh breath, he nods. Gathering himself and running back out into the open at Chipper's heels. They grab this brother quicker than before. Though they are no less gentle.

They stop for a moment to breathe. His shoulders rise with every gasp. His ankle feels like it's on fire.

He turns to Chip to see him staring at Sapper. His body is rigid. Not making a sound.

He sighs, swinging his rifle back into his arms. "You can stay if you want."

"No!" Chipper jerks, helmet snapping around. "I'm staying with you."

"Okay." he says softly. Eyes glancing at his dead brother one last time. "We gotta go."

Chipper huffs, nodding abruptly. He falls to his knees, putting a hand on their brother's unmoving chest. Muttering an unknown prayer under his breath.

And Zero-two looks away. Hurt and grief warring inside. He knew they were not ready. Knew going off to war wouldn't turn out good for them. Why would they send them out here unprepared?

For a moment, a vicious beast roars in his chest. Claws of poisoned steel tear at his soul. The Kaminoans did this. They and the Republic got Sapper killed. They took him away from them.

They had to pay. He would make them pay.

Just as sudden as it came, the rage disappeared. Leaving a giant hole in its wake. He felt exhausted. Arms heavy, eyes half-lidded. His ankle is throbbing from falling earlier. It's only been half a standard hour since landing, and yet it felt like much longer. Much longer.

Suddenly his plan to join the fight doesn't seem so appealing. Maybe they should just hunker down. Ride out the rest of the firefight. Maybe they should keep Sapper company-

"Zero-two?" Chipper is standing next to him. A hand held up in the space between them. It falls when he turns his head.

"Ready?" he asks warily.

Chipper nods, helmet tilting away. "Gameplan?"

"Find the Lieutenant." he mutters. "If we can't, just join the defense."

"How are we supposed to find Cordin in that mess?"

Zero-two grunts, "You don't sound optimistic."

"Neither do you." comes the quick retort.

He sighs, "Best bet is we find some cover and start shooting."

It's silent for only a moment. He can feel the silent judgment coming from beyond the grave. Sapper would call him stupid for going in blind like that.

"Well," Chipper starts caustically, "we can't stand around here all day. Come on."

Nodding, he checks his weapon and follows. A step behind and to the right of his brother so he can still see in front of them. They stick close to the buildings while they run so they don't have to maneuver too much. The run is quick, less than a minute to cross the space.

They arrive to blaster fire and screams.

It's chaos. And Zero-two quickly finds himself getting lost in it. There are men everywhere, some behind cover and others out in the open. Everywhere he looks there is a swash of white armor that clouds his vision.

Blasterfire streaks all around them. Bolts of red that hiss dangerously as they go by. Some so close they leave the taste of tibana in their wake.

He ducks out of the way of a close shot and stumbles. Tripping over his feet as he turns to make sure Chipper was still behind him. He crashes into the cement with a dull thud.

Sharp pain lances up his injured ankle, as he rolls himself up into a crouched position.

"You okay?" Chipper is standing next to him, blaster raised. Bolts of blue fire streak out of his rifle. Bursting through a gap in front of them where some brothers had just fallen.

Zero-two rises to his feet and ignores the pain, "I'm good!"

He raises his rifle to fire, but the gap has suddenly been filled by new troopers. So he limps forward to join the line. When he gets there, he crouches behind some cover next to a trooper painted in orange.

"Where's the lieutenant?" He shouts over the roaring battle.

"What?" The trooper shouts back.

Zero-two ducks another red bolt of death. "Where is Lieutenant Cordin?"

"Who is tha-" Zero-two smells the burnt flesh before he realizes what happened. His head turns slowly to look at the trooper now laying on the ground.

He could be sleeping. If it weren't for the gaping hole in his chestplate.

"Blast!" Chipper curses next to him. "Medic! Zero-two what are you doing?"

Zero-two turns away, looking over the battlefield. Hundreds of battle droids are marching on their position. They march forward with a steady clanking noise that sets his teeth on edge.

"Zero-two!"

He can't look away. He watches in a daze as red and blue bolts of fire tear through the air. The droids continue forward. Funneled towards them by the street and the surrounding buildings.

What was he thinking? Distracting another trooper like that?

Someone punches his arm and brings him back into awareness. It's Chipper. He's crouched next to him like the 212th trooper had just been.

Zero-two feels his heart thump in his chest. He didn't want Chipper to suffer the same fate.

He raises his rifle into his shoulder. Aims at the closest droid he can see and fires. And fires. And fires again.

Doing everything he can so Chipper doesn't get shot as well. For every droid he shoots is a brother he saves.

His mind goes numb with the repetitive motions of shooting and ducking behind cover only to pop out and shoot some more. He focuses so completely on these actions that he loses track of time.

And then the last droid falls.

"-ro-two?" Chipper puts a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah." He mutters. Suddenly aware he's been standing rock still for a long time.

"Battle's over."

"Okay."

The silence of his world is shattered by the aftermath around him. Troopers shout for help as the wounded lay dying on the cold, hard cement of Christophsis.

Brothers are gathering into groups and going out towards the droids. He watches them fire into any droid still intact.

"Dugar!" A voice shouts nearby. He looks to see Lieutenant Cordin standing next to two squads worth of troopers.

"That's us." Chipper elbows him in the side. "Come on."

Zero-two follows him over to the group. Joining up amongst the small number of troopers. After a minute of waiting, it becomes obvious they are the last to arrive.

"Good job men," Cordin begins. Vizor scanning over the fifteen troopers around him. "Squad leaders report to me, everyone else, report to Sergeant Slick near the unloading area."

Zero-two shares a look with his brother as the other's go about their new orders. "Kon's not here."

Zero-two nods slowly, fist clenching tighter around the grip of his rifle. "Yeah."

"You go talk to Cordin," Chipper tilts his helmet. "I'll see if I can go see our brothers."

Zero-two sighs, "okay."

Chipper bumps into him and leaves. Zero-two watches him go, then he joins the lieutenant and three other troopers. He doesn't recognize any of them. Which makes him feel bad for not interacting more with the rest of his company in the days leading up to the war.

Now he won't get the chance to know a lot of them.

After a half an hour of debriefing with the lieutenant, Zero-two is finally able to go off in search of his brothers.

When he finally finds them, it's to bad news.

"What do you mean Sev is gone?"

Chipper gives him a pitiful look that twists his insides. The trooper is sitting next to a comatose Kon whose hooked up to a machine that's keeping him breathing. It makes the squad leader seem small. Smaller than he already was.

"A medic came by a few minutes ago." Chipper says, his face crumbling. "T-told me they lost him during transport."

"But you said-"

"The truth." Chipper cuts off. His demeanor suddenly closing off. "He was alive last I saw him."

Zero-two sighs shakely. A weight of shame and burden bearing down on him. If only he didn't trip. Then maybe both his brothers would still be alive. It was his fault they were dead.

There's a stinging in his eyes. And he can feel the edges of his eyes start to water.

"But they were just there. They-" he's cut of by his face being gently shoved into a shoulder. Arms wrapping around him in a comforting embrace. Chipper had stood up without him noticing and pulled him into a hug.

"I know." Is all he says.

It's enough that the tears spring from Zero-two's eyes without his blessing. They streak down his cheeks and plop off Chipper's armored shoulder.

Zero-two doesn't know how long they stay like that. Huddled together over their last remaining brother. But when the tears dry and he looks up, the area seems to have calmed down from its earlier frantic motions.

When he'd arrived, the hastily set up medical tent had been a flurry of activity. But now it was as calm as before this whole ordeal had started.

Chipper gives him one more pat and backs away. Wiping away his own tears, the trooper sits back down next to Kon.

"What did the Lieutenant want?" Chipper asks.

Zero-two sighs, rubbing at his eyes. "Casualty report."

It's silent for a moment while they watch Kon's chest slowly rise and fall.

"How bad." Chipper's asks lowly and Zero-two has to turn away at the look in his eyes.

"Forty-five percent killed." His fist clenches. An anger bubbling under his skin. "Twenty percent injured in some way or other."

"I see." Chipper mutters. His fist thumping against his thigh pad. "Any word on Mor's squad?"

Zero-two shook his head. "Not yet, but I heard they had a hand in getting that artillery stopped."

"Oh." Chipper grunts out. A dark look cresting over his features.

Zero-two doesn't blame him. He can still feel the thumps in his chest from the barrage. And the aftermath still adorns his armor, though now caked in dirt and rock.

"What about Drifter's squad?" Chipper asks suddenly. A little bit of life bursting from his eyes.

And Zero-two feels his stomach drop. Drifter was one of Chipper's friends before the war. A close friend. So close Chipper was the one to give Drifter his name.

"Second platoon was wiped out."

Drifter was Second platoon. They'd been one of the first troopers on the ground after the 212th landed. Setup on the perimeter, they took the brunt of the attack. Between the artillery and the droids, Second platoon was lost in the span of thirty minutes.

Zero-two saw the exact moment Chipper shut down. Watched the other trooper's eyes go blank in incomprehension. "I'm sorry, Chipper."

Chipper leapt to his feet and stormed away. Zero-two watched him on his trek out of the medical tent. A shame bursting forth in his gut.

Maybe he should've kept his mouth shut.

Cody sighed for what felt like the hundredth time in the last few minutes as he looked over the casualty reports he'd just been given. Not for the first time did he wish he didn't have to read them. Not have to know exactly just how many of his brothers died that day.

He was on his way to the command post when the datapad had been thrust into his hands by a passing Sergeant. Cody didn't get as much as a word in before the other trooper was off in the other direction.

Reading the datapad made him understand the man's haste to be rid of it.

Losses had been expected. But the amount had been more than anticipated. The young troopers of Dugar company took the worst of it. Nearly half their company having been killed during the defense.

Cody didn't know what he was going to tell Rex. How could he? He'd lost half his troop before the man could even meet them.

This war. It made him so very tired. Built and bred for it and yet.

And yet he couldn't seem to get over how many losses they suffered everyday. Couldn't just put it past him.

So when he finally made it to the makeshift command tent, he was still staring at the datapad.

"Cody." General Kenobi greeted. "How goes the clean up?"

"Sir." Cody removes his helmet. Face pulled into a frown that makes the scar on his face itch in protest.

The scar was still new. A souvenir from their last campaign. A permanent reminder that he could make mistakes. Sure, he could get bacta treatments to make it fade, but he didn't allow himself the liberty.

The sacrifice of his brothers was etched into his face and he wouldn't diminish that.

"It's going well, sir." Cody joined his general at the holotable in the center of the tent, where a recreation of the base blazes bright blue. He points at the perimeter. "The perimeter has been locked down and defended. All available troopers have set up positions all along the edge of the base. Now we are just waiting for General Skywalker and the 501st to regroup."

"I see." Kenobi crossed his arms over his chest. "Our defenses will be shored up soon with the arrival of our artillery cannons. Then we can push the droids even further back."

"Yes sir." Cody agreed. "I'll personally see to the cannons when they arrive."

"Very well. Now, have the totals been counted?" The General asks. Blue eyes sharp behind his beard.

Cody nods once and hands over the datapad. He watches as the General seems to age past his years at the numbers of dead.

"So many," Kenobi mutters, eyes darkening. "And the battle has only just begun."

"Unfortunately sir," Cody began. "Those are only the ground troop losses. Our pilots took a beating in the space battle."

Kenobi makes a pondering noise and sets the pad down on the holotable. A frown on his usually serene features.

There's a rustle of wind that tickles the back of his neck. Sending a shiver down Cody's spine. He thinks nothing of it though, passing it off as fatigue from the battle.

A moment later everything is calm. The stormy look on the General's face now replaced by his usual serenity.

"Have the men do what they can for the dead, they deserve proper honors." General Kenobi orders.

"Yes sir." Commander Cody complies.

The General pauses for a moment, eyes searching out Cody's own. There's a weakness there. Brittle and sad. "Cody, I'm s-"

"Sirs!" A shout interrupts him. They both turn to see a trooper standing in the entrance to the tent, slightly out of breath. "Sirs, the cannons are almost here."

"Thank you trooper," Kenobi says, then turns back to Cody. "Cody."

"Sir.". Cody puts on his helmet and is hafway to the opening when he stops. "Thank you General."

"Always."

This was chapter two. As always, feedback is appreciated.