Part 13 – New Friend – Part 6
"I'll go first," Bruce said as he walked into the hall, and drew his saber before igniting it.
"Why the saber," Vekkif asked, clipping his back onto his belt.
"These guys have been under constant attack for at most a month," Bruce said before pointing toward the ceiling, "And judging by that hole we saw back near the entrance to the central hanger, they might be expecting another infiltration attack. Keep an eye to the ground, if they've set up more traps, we could be running into them down every hallway we turn."
"Good point," Vekkif said, redrawing his lightsaber, and raising his sleeve to activate his shield.
"We need to get you a wardrobe that's better suited to using that." Bruce said.
While they were talking, Crys and his men had made their way onto the main level and were standing at the ready.
"We're ready," Crys said as he walked up behind Bruce.
"Good," Bruce said, "Talk to your men, make sure they know we're ready."
"You got it," Crys said before turning to his men, "Listen up. We need to move slow: no one goes into an area unless it's been cleared, keep an eye to the ground, and above all, set blasters to stun."
The troops nodded, and switched their blasters to stun so they wouldn't harm any of their brothers.
Moving down the hall, Bruce and Vekkif led the march, before he stopped the team as he saw a single trip-mine around the corner.
Reaching out with the force, Bruce took hold of the mine, and lifted it off the wall so he could point it away from the group, and in one push, the mine slammed against the wall, and exploded.
He signaled the team to move up, and peering around the corner, he couldn't see anything, and no laser was evident, but upon further inspection, there was a tripwire made from used string right where the team would be rounding the corner that was attached to the activation switch on a thermal detonator.
Bruce motioned toward the detonator, Vekkif nodded, and stepped over so he could (very carefully) unscrew the wire attached to the switch.
"They've gotten creative," Bruce said, "Couldn't secure the entire ship after the crash, so they booby-trapped every deck."
"Probably didn't have enough left to defend every deck," Crys said, "They're probably in bad shape."
"Very bad," a pained voice said from behind them, they turned to see a clone with only one arm, in very dirty, bandaged armor hobbling against the side wall, "About kriffing time you got here."
"Sorry it took us so long," Bruce said as he took a few steps forward.
"Wait, sir! Wait," the clone exclaimed as he held up his hand, "There's a trip-mine just beyond that edge."
Bruce walked over to the side, and saw that the mine was there, "Thanks for that."
"Don't mention it," the clone said before pulling out a small remote that looked like it was made from a wrist link that had been cut from a piece of clone armor, and pressing a button which deactivated the mine.
Bruce walked over to the clone as the others ran over to view their injured brother, "He really did a number on you, didn't he?" Bruce asked.
"Yes, he did." The clone said.
"What's your name?" Bruce asked.
"You can call me Ridge," he said before groaning in pain.
"Easy, easy," Bruce said as he braced the clone so he wouldn't slide down the wall.
"Here," one of the medics said as he walked up to the clone and gave him a shot of bacta.
"Thanks," Ridge said as he stood upright, "I'll be ok."
"Where are they," Bruce asked, "Where is Ashoka and Rex?"
"Medical bay," Ridge said as he walked past Bruce, "This way."
"How long have you guys been under attack?" Vekkif asked.
"I'm not sure," Ridge said, "I awoke while we were under attack. That was about two and a half weeks ago."
"How have you guys survived?" Bruce asked.
"Very careful rationing and a very strict sleep schedule," Ridge said, "We've been trying to hold out as long as we could. After these last two weeks, I figured you had given up on the search."
"Your distress beacon has been severely damaged," Bruce said, "We only detected it when we got within orbital distance."
"That would explain it," Ridge said, "When my brothers in the hanger finally saw someone other than droids shooting, and not at us we were beyond elated. Maybe we can finally get off this rock."
"That's why we're here," Crys said, "By the way, how are we going to get to the med bay? The elevators are out."
"We've been using the maintenance shafts," Ridge said, "Right after the droids started attacking, we set of thermal detonators in the elevators so they couldn't sneak up on us."
"You guys have anything in the hanger that's still flyable," Bruce asked as Ridge led the team to a small part of the wall where a panel had been pushed aside.
"I assume you guys came in through the roof," Ridge asked, crawling into the space where the panel had been removed.
"Yes," Bruce said, following Ridge into the space, "Climbed in through a hole we made in the side of the neck."
"Then you saw the hole made near the entrance to the hanger," Ridge said, "That was right before we set the traps we did. A group of super battle droids accompanied by a couple commando droids infiltrated the hanger. We only realized they were there when the charges they were carrying went off prematurely and blew them and everything in the hanger into scrap metal," the section up ahead was large enough for Ridge to lie down, "Might want to be on your stomach for this next part."
"Why," Bruce asked right before Ridge pushed himself, and began sliding down a length of pipes that led down to the next floor, "Oh, that's why."
"Don't just kneel there, come on!" Ridge said.
"Ok, I'm coming," Bruce said as he laid down on the pipes, hoping for a smooth, fun glide.
When he pushed himself off, boy did he wished he was wearing clone armor. The pipe's ridges were almost completely solid, and sliding down them felt like he was sliding down a flight of stairs.
"Not that much further," Ridge said, pointing over his shoulder.
"We don't have to do that again, do we," Bruce asked, rubbing his now raw stomach.
"Nope." Ridge said.
"How'd you know where to find us," Vekkif asked having slid down behind Bruce.
"We set up silent alarms on all the doors when we were setting traps," Ridge said, "The lieutenant sent me to see if it was a rescue party. I wasn't expecting a pair of Jedi along with a group of my brothers."
"Your prayers are answered," Bruce said, "How many of you are left?"
"The Tribunal had a crew of 7400," Ridge said, "Many of them were killed when our prisoner broke free, and almost all the rest of them were killed in the crash. The 332nd was comprised of about two hundred and fifty. When he broke free, he killed fifty on the way to the hanger, and the crash killed roughly a hundred more."
"You were down to less than two hundred men?" Crys asked.
"Actually, a little bit more than three hundred," Ridge said, "And that's not counting those who were injured, including myself. Coming up on the exit now."
"How many were injured?" One of the medics asked.
"About a third," Ridge said, "I was pinned against a wall, which was the only reason I survived."
As he emerged from the exit, Bruce approached, and a hand was extended to him. He grabbed it, and was given a bit of help, emerging into a passageway filled with clones and members of the Tribunal's crew who were no doubt happy to see them, but looked like they hadn't slept in weeks.
"Jedi, thank the force." Bruce heard one of the clones say.
"Which one of you is in charge," said a single clone wearing ARC armor approached them.
"That would be me," Crys said as he emerged from the crawlspace.
"I know that armor," he said, "You part of the 7th Sky Corps?"
"Yep," Crys said as he saluted him, "Sergeant Crys."
"Lieutenant CT-5597, named Jesse," he said, "Current commander of what's left of the 332nd."
"Where's Commander Rex?" Crys asked.
"This way," Jesse said as he pointed over his shoulder.
Jesse led the group down a hall full of clones and surviving members of the Tribunal, several of them had severe injuries, and quite a few of them were fast asleep.
"How many have you lost in the attacks?" Bruce asked.
"So far, about thirty-seven," Jesse said, "Many of them are still in the opposite hanger."
"We'll see they get a proper burial when we leave." Bruce said.
"I'll hold you to that," Jesse said as they approached the med bay.
When he opened the door, there was Rex and Ashoka floating in bacta tanks, Ashoka had a very nasty wound on her stomach that was being held together with a series of bandages, and almost Rex's entire body was covered in bandages and braces, a very nasty scorch wound was visible from the very top of his neck bandages.
"Oh no," Bruce said as he walked up to the tanks.
"It's a miracle they're alive," Jesse said, "When our prisoner broke out, it was unlike anything we'd ever seen. He was like some kind of demon. I saw Commander Tano here beat him very steadily back on Mandalore, but… this was something else entirely."
"We need to get them back to Vigilance." Vekkif said.
"We can move Rex no problem," Jesse said, "He's a clone, we can make sure he's stable all the way back to Kamino."
"It's Ashoka that's the problem," Bruce said, "Your men are great at treating clones with battle injuries. But a Togruta with blunt and lightsaber injuries?"
"We can keep her stable for a while," Jesse said, "But if we don't get her adequate care within a few minutes…"
"We'll lose her." Bruce finished.
"What if we intravenously gave her bacta?" Vekkif asked.
"That could extend it," Jesse said, "But she'd have to be constantly given it."
"We could set up a gurney system," Bruce said, "Two of us carry the gurney, and the other one holds the bacta."
"Probably the best idea," Jesse said, "Now all we need to do is get out of here."
"What about the hanger doors?" Bruce asked.
"No way of opening them," Jesse said, "The explosion from when the droids blew up our transports heavily damaged the upper-hanger doors."
"Manual options?" Vekkif asked.
"Those doors run 3/4s the length of the ship," Jesse said, pointing his thumb over his shoulder, "There's no way we could open them with our hands, if we could reach that high."
"And the droids still have that one hanger covered," Bruce said, "Guess we don't have a choice. Do the comms still work?"
"They should," Jesse said, "Why?"
"I need to make a call," Bruce said as he reached into his belt, and pulled out a small comm link, "Cody, are you there?"
"Is that you, Padawan Kirkwood," Cody asked over the comm, "Have you found the 332nd?"
"We found them alright," Bruce said, "And we have news. You want the good news, the bad news, or the really bad news?"
"Surprise me." Cody said.
"Almost the entire crew of the Tribunal is dead," Bruce said, "The 332nd is down to less than 1/3rd their original strength, the prisoner has escaped, and Rex and Ashoka are critically injured and need emergency transport back to the Vigilance. If we don't get her back to the Vigilance as soon as we can, she's a goner."
"Now give me the bad news." Cody said.
"That was the bad news," Bruce said, "The really bad news: the droids got into the Tribunal once. Nothing in the hanger is flyable, and the hanger doors are so badly damaged, they can't be opened from our end."
"What's the good news?" Cody asked.
"That we have the proof we need," Bruce said, "And we think we can get them all out, but it'll require a joint effort on behalf of us, and the Vigilance."
"What do you need?" Cody asked.
"Do we have anything that can blow open the central hanger doors," Bruce asked, "Preferably something that, in the process won't kill those inside the hanger?"
"Gather everyone you can in the hanger," Cody said, "I'll do what I can from my end."
"Thanks Cody," Bruce said as he turned to the men, "Boys, we're getting out of here," everyone began cheering as best they could, being weak, and tired, "But we're going to need some help. Everyone that can help grab someone injured and proceed to the hanger. And someone get me a gurney."
To be continued…