Vulture Squad stood on a ridge overlooking the old ruins. They were covered in vegetation and thick vine-like tentacles that converged below in a swampy lake from which concentric circles of wicked teeth protruded.
"You're sure it's dead?" Dahl asked, eying the unmoving beast.
"If it were not," CX-2 said, "we would have had significantly more difficulty getting even this far."
"Stinks pretty bad," Ferrus said.
Dahl snorted. "It might have stank before, too."
CX-2 rummaged around in his pack for a second, then pulled out a pair of macrobinoculars and put them up to his visor. "From what I can tell, most of the soft tissue comprising the creature's insides appears to have either rotted away or been eaten."
"Not the tentacles, though," Ferrus said.
"Sarlaccs are estimated to live for tens of thousands of years," CX-2 said. "It stands to reason that their external tissues must be remarkably hardy to endure for that long."
Ferrus gave the clone a long, hard look, but then turned away without a word.
"If you're certain it's dead," Kirgard said, "let's get a move on."
They slipped and stumbled their way down the ridge, then picked their way across the swamp. As they passed the corpse of the tentacled leviathan, CX-2 noted the dark carbon scoring along the inside of the sarlacc's many elongated teeth.
"It appears to have been destroyed by a massive explosion," the clone noted.
Dahl grunted as he hoisted himself and his heavy blaster up onto the crumbling stone of the ruin. "So long as we don't have to deal with it."
They clicked on their flashlights as they entered the darkness of the ruin. The hallway they were in was covered in thick tentacles, making the floor uneven. Then it ended, splitting into two separate halls. Kirgard shone his light down each, but there appeared to be no difference between them.
"Which way, Ferrus?" Kirgard asked.
She fiddled with her scanner for a second. "It's difficult to tell. These walls block any signal coming from any surviving equipment."
"Or there isn't anything left," Dahl said. He arched his back, stretching.
"Then we do a full sweep, room by room," Kirgard said. "Dahl, you're with me. We'll take left. Ferrus, you and CX-2 take right."
"Sir," Ferrus said, "what about that thing that was following us?"
"Can you see it on the scanner?"
She checked. "No, but–"
"We have a mission to complete. Watch your six and report anything suspicious. But until you have eyes on a creature following you, stay focused on the mission."
"Yessir," they chorused.
CX-2 and Ferrus headed down the right hallway. CX-2 could almost feel the tension roiling off her.
"Is something troubling you?" CX-2 said, keeping his voice low.
"You mean besides the thing following us?"
CX-2 glanced over his shoulder but once again saw nothing.
"Yes, other than that."
"No."
CX-2 shrugged, letting it go.
The hallway led them past a large transparisteel window with a control panel laid out before it. Inside the chamber was too dark to see. As they drew closer, they saw streaks of blackened gore smearing the transparisteel.
"Is that…blood?" Ferrus asked, leaning closer.
"It would appear so."
"What was in there?" Ferrus asked. She moved over to the panel and pressed a button, but the panel and the chamber remained dark.
"No power."
"How are we supposed to see what Hemlock was up to if we have no power?" Ferrus asked as she shone her flashlight into the gloom. She stumbled back, bumping into CX-2.
"What is it?" he asked, raising his blaster.
Ferrus shuddered. "Corpses," she said. "Mangled, twisted corpses, all but one of them chained to the walls."
"Mangled?"
She nodded towards the chamber. "See for yourself."
CX-2 stepped forward and shone his own light into the chamber. As Ferrus had said, half a dozen rotting corpses hung by their wrists, chained to the wall. Even in their advanced state of decay, CX-2 could see that though they had been human, their bodies had been mutated beyond anything natural. Protrusions stuck out from their skulls and arms, bones had thickened to several times their usual girth, and one even had a skull that had tusks protruding from its lower jaw.
CX-2 stepped back and leveled his blaster at the window.
"Is that a good idea?" Ferrus asked.
CX-2 shrugged, then blasted the window. After the shards had settled, he reached a hand over to Ferrus.
"Give me your scanner."
She did, and he stepped into the room. He held up the scanner at one of the corpses.
"Severe malnutrition, evidence of torture, and–" He stared at the scanner, then back at the corpse.
"What is it?" Ferrus asked, coming up behind him.
CX-2 gaped at the scanner. "They're clones."
Ferrus snorted. "No, they can't be. Look at them."
CX-2 fiddled with the scanner, readjusting tolerances, then scanned the corpse again. Same result.
"Its genetic profile is identical to every other clone from Kamino."
They both looked at the misshapen bones.
Ferrus took a half-step back. "What caused that, then? A disease?"
CX-2 shook his head. "There is no evidence of disease. No residual bacteria, virus, or prion, no genetic abnormalities, no evidence of environmental damage. Nothing."
After a long moment during which both stormtroopers tried to ignore the eerie feeling crawling into the back of their minds, Ferrus turned and stepped out of the chamber.
"Maybe if we keep looking, we'll find something that makes this make sense."
CX-2 took scans of the rest of the corpses, making sure to store the recordings for later analysis, then followed Ferrus.
"There's nothing here," Dahl grumbled. "Why would you have corridors that just stretch from one end of the base to the other with nothing branching off of it?"
Kirgard shrugged. "Maybe it was a faster way to get around. Maybe there used to be something but they walled it off."
"Sure."
"What do you think of the clone? CX-2?"
Dahl shrugged. "Seems solid. Not much of a personality, but when it gets hot, there aren't too many other men I'd rather have by my side. The man's dedicated to the job and good at it, that's for sure. Why?"
Just then, Kirgard heard a sound ahead of them, like rocks tumbling. He froze.
Then he heard it again, this time from up above. He frowned inside his helmet.
"What was that?" Dahl asked.
"Not sure."
Kirgard scanned the hallway, and as he did, he caught sight of something up ahead, a figure hunched over. It turned back to look at him with wide, brown eyes, squeaked, and stumbled away.
"There!" Kirgard broke into a run. He could hear Dahl's boots behind him.
But then the misshapen figure pulled on…a rope? Yes, it was a rope hanging from the ceiling of the hallway. Above, an ominous rumble accompanied a shower of dust and pebbles.
"Oh kriff–"
Kirgard looked up just in time to see the ceiling collapse.
A few minutes later, Kirgard came to. All around him was murky darkness, lit only by a pinpoint of light from a crack in the ruin far above the hole in the ceiling.
His helmet had been knocked off, he realized. Kirgard coughed, his throat raw from the thick rock dust hanging in the air around him. He tried to move his arms, and managed to free himself from the rubble. He picked up his helmet, which had rolled away from the debris, but his flashlight was gone.
Coughing, he turned back to the pile of rubble. "Dahl."
His voice was hoarse and weak. He swallowed, then tried again. "Dahl!"
The rubble shifted a bit, but Dahl didn't emerge. Kirgard stumbled forward and began shifting debris until he uncovered a black gloved hand. He caught hold of Dahl's hand and hauled the other trooper out. He yanked Dahl's helmet off.
"Dahl, can you hear me? Wake up."
Dahl's eyes fluttered open. "Captain?"
Kirgard breathed a sigh of relief. "Can you walk?"
With a groan, Dahl sat up. They stumbled to their feet, leaning on each other for support.
Dahl flicked on his flashlight, then stared down at the rubble, then up at the gaping hole in the ceiling.
"If it weren't for our armor, we'd be dead," he said.
Kirgard nodded. "Guess it's worth something after all."
Dahl shone his light down the hallway. "Forward?"
Kirgard held up a finger. "Hold on."
He'd seen the muzzle of a blaster poking up out of the rubble somewhere…Ah. There. Kirgard yanked it out, and with a bit more digging, found the other blaster. He handed one to Dahl.
Dahl looked glumly at the pile of debris.
"Guess the E-web's not coming with."
Kirgard snorted. "Not unless you become a Jedi and can lift that mess in the next two minutes."
Dahl sighed and followed Kirgard. As they made their way down the hall, Dahl's flashlight illuminated rows of doors. They tried each one, but none budged. Without the proper tools, they had no way of getting in, so they moved on. After some time, they stumbled upon a rusted old speeder that looked as though jawas had gotten to it–and given up.
"See?" Kirgard said, thumping the side of the speeder. A panel clattered to the floor. "Like I said: must have been a transportation corridor."
They heard footsteps up ahead. Both troopers spun.
"If it's that piece of Bantha dung…" Dahl trailed off ominously, bringing his blaster up. They crept forward.
CX-2 and Ferris had been walking for several minutes down a featureless corridor when they finally came to another chamber. The window had already been smashed, the triangular pieces of broken transparisteel jutting out of the frame like teeth. The stormtroopers leaned over the sill to look down into the chamber, which was much deeper than the previous chamber. Down below, they could see putrid water pooling among rotted ferns.
"This would be consistent with a containment habitat designed for a young sarlacc," CX-2 said.
"You think this is where it was kept before it broke out?"
The clone nodded.
Ferrus flicked her flashlight over the ferns. Nothing moved. "Do they usually get that big?"
CX-2 shook his head. "Not usually, no. Hemlock may have altered its genetic code to stimulate its growth. That might be why it produced so many tentacles, as well."
"Hm." Ferrus continued down the hall. "You are a walking encyclopedia. You couldn't have learned all that just since waking up a week ago."
CX-2 cocked his head to the side thoughtfully. "You are correct."
"And you say you don't remember anything before Hemlock reprogrammed you."
"Also correct."
"Did Hemlock teach you about sarlaccs?"
CX-2 blinked, realizing where Ferrus was going with this train of thought. "I doubt it. Are you suggesting that there is a significant amount of data in my head that has been unaffected by my amnesia?"
Ferrus shrugged. "Seems so, doesn't it?"
"Hm. Indeed."
"Maybe Hemlock didn't erase everything like you thought," she said, slowing her pace to a thoughtful walk. "Maybe he only removed what he deemed detrimental to your functioning as his assassin."
"That is…an unsettling thought," CX-2 said.
"Why? That means the rest of your memories must be in there somewhere, right?"
"As I mentioned before, my past is inconsequential. It does not make me a better soldier. If anything, letting go of my past is what allows me to be a better soldier. I have no personal distractions such as family for an enemy to take advantage of, no qualms that might hinder my ability to fulfill the mission."
"Hm. I…suppose that's one way of looking at it." Ferrus's voice was uncertain. "I'm not sure I agree, though."
Just then, they both heard a scraping sound ahead of them. Blasters up, they crept forward into another intersection. They turned around the corner and ran into two filthy creatures–
"Don't shoot!" Kirgard yelled. He put his hands up, finger off the trigger of his blaster.
CX-2 and Ferrus sighed and dropped their weapons, relaxing.
Ferrus cocked her head. "What happened to you two?"
The captain and Dahl were covered in dirt, their armor bearing more than a few deep scratches and dents.
Kirgard lowered his arms. "Got caught in a cave-in. Part of the ceiling collapsed."
"We're fine," Dahl said. "Thanks for asking."
"Did you see anything?" CX-2 asked.
"Besides your bogeyman pulling ceilings down on top of us?" Kirgard said, looking at Ferrus.
Ferrus perked up. "So you did see it! I'm not crazy."
"No, you're not," Kirgard said grimly. "We saw him, alright. Looked like a twisted little man, I guess. All hunched over and limping. Pulled on a rope that brought the house down on our heads."
CX-2 and Ferrus exchanged a look. "Twisted?"
"Yeah. Why?"
CX-2 filled them in on the two chambers and the mutated corpses they'd found.
"Lovely," Kirgard said. He looked down the hallway. "You think our gremlin is a survivor of one of Hemlock's experiments?"
CX-2 nodded. "If it is, then we need to catch him. A living specimen can tell us exactly what Hemlock was doing here."
Kirgard sighed. "Alright, let's keep moving. He's obviously not happy we're here, so no doubt he'll try again. Stay sharp."
They walked along in silence until they came to a command center.
"Here we go," Dahl said eagerly. "That's more like it."
CX-2 flipped a lever that ought to bring the lights on. Nothing happened.
Ferrus flicked a few buttons and switches. Again, nothing.
"No power," Kirgard growled, slamming a gloved fist on a console. "Kriffing mission. I'm beginning to remember why I left spec ops."
He pulled his helmet off, revealing his face, which was almost more filthy than his armor. He scratched at his head, sending a cascade of dirt fluttering down around him. Then he slammed his helmet back on.
"Unless we have an alternate source of power to plug into this console," CX-2 said, "we won't be able to get any data out of it."
Dahl spoke up. "What about a speeder? We found one that was in pretty bad shape, but its power source might still work."
Kirgard and Dahl led CX-2 and Ferrus back to the speeder.
CX-2 crawled under the console and hotwired it, encouraged by the blue sparks that skittered from one wire to the other. The speeder thrummed to life, then choked and died. With a grunt, he crawled back out.
"The engine is dead, but the power source appears to be functional," the clone said. "The rest of the speeder is obviously unable to move under its own power anywhere. We will have to cut away the power source and haul it back ourselves."
Kirgard nodded. "Ferrus and I will keep watch while you and Dahl do that."
Half an hour later, Dahl and CX-2 plopped the speeder's freed power source beside the command console.
"This ought to only take a minute," CX-2 said.
"Where'd you learn to do this?" Dahl asked, watching the clone's nimble fingers plugging in the connections.
"I have no idea," CX-2 said. "I am glad that I have these skills, however. Hand me that wrench."
A moment later, CX-2 slid out from under the console and flicked the power on. The console flickered, then came to life.
"Excellent work," Kirgard said, clapping the clone on the shoulder. "See what you can find."
CX-2 and Ferrus went to work looking through file after file.
"Most of the data has been corrupted," CX-2 said. "I cannot access the majority of this data."
Ferrus said, "Hold on. I think I found something. 'Project 99.' Some of it looks salvageable. Give me a minute. I might be able to recover something."
A moment later, a hologram flickered to life above the console.
"Hemlock," Kirgard growled.
"Some modifications will be required," the hologram of the deceased doctor said, "to account for the 99's resistance to the Kaminoan inhibitor chips. Instead of trying to increase their pliability, I believe enhancing the hypothalamic response, inducing a trauma response more easily, combined with personality-specific stressors, is the best way to overcome their inherent resistance to reconditioning."
The hologram flickered and vanished.
"Is there anything more?"
Ferrus shook her head, then looked at CX-2.
"Do you know what he was talking about? He mentioned Kaminoan inhibitor chips."
"I am not familiar with these," CX-2 said. "But it may have to do with those clones we found."
"Could these chips have caused those mutations?" she asked.
CX-2 shook his head. "I do not believe so. This is something else."
"Maybe it has something to do with your reconditioning," Dahl said.
Kirgard grunted. "I doubt it. This is from before Hemlock brainwashed you. Whoever these 99's were, it sounds like his methods had to be altered for them."
99's, CX-2 thought. CT-9902 , 9902 …Crosshair…But what did Crosshair have to do with this? CX-2's fragmented memories of Crosshair were from Tantiss Base, not here.
Crosshair had tried to escape. According to Hemlock's holo, if Crosshair was a 99, Hemlock's improved reconditioning should have worked on him.
Perhaps Crosshair had been successfully indoctrinated and CX-2 just didn't remember. Had the gaunt clone been one of the other assassins? He frowned inside his helmet. He didn't remember any of the other assassins being markedly taller than the rest.
Perhaps this method hadn't worked on Crosshair.
CX-2 ground his teeth, shoulders slumped in defeat. His head ached from the effort of trying to recall those lost memories.
He jumped as a hand rested on his shoulder pauldron. He looked to his right.
"You ok?" Ferrus asked.
CX-2 realized that he'd been staring at the same screen for several moments, lost in thought. He nodded.
Ferrus patted him gently. "Must be difficult being here, seeing those other clones."
CX-2 resumed his search to avoid a reply. When he remained silent, Ferrus went back to her work.
The truth was that CX-2 was more curious about what had happened here than disturbed. Well, and frustrated. He could feel the answer hovering at the edge of his mind, laughing at his inability to understand the puzzle in front of him.
The more he learned, the more he didn't understand, which was maddening. A small part of him wished that his mind would have one of those flashbacks, though the rest of him knew that blacking out in front of the captain could be quite dangerous. If only he could talk to this Crosshair person, maybe he could get some answers.
And potentially undo the reconditioning, CX-2 thought, which could in turn make me a less-efficient soldier.
CX-2 shoved those thoughts aside. He could worry about that debate later. For now, he needed to finish the mission.
Ferrus glanced at the clone from her station. "From what we've seen, Hemlock didn't do anything gently. Even if this isn't how he reconditioned Reboot, his actual methods couldn't have been much better. I mean, he managed to erase your memories."
"And turned him into the perfect soldier," Kirgard reminded her. "We've got enough to take back to Tarkin. Pull as much off those archives as you can. We still have to catch that–"
Behind them, the door slammed shut.
Kirgard and Dahl rushed to the door.
"It's locked," Dahl growled.
They heard a hiss coming from the vent. CX-2 held up the scanner to the sound.
"Trihexalon gas."
Kirgard swore. "I'm gonna wring that miserable hutt-spawn's neck when we get a hold of him."