[FIC]Star Wars: Victim of Betrayal

[Sabretooth]

This is a sequel to Invisible Hope and runs parallel to Episode III. Captain W-E5S is back!

 

STAR WARS

 

VICTIM OF BETRAYAL

 

It is now three years since the epic battle of GEONOSIS. Republic Victory is finally in sight as is the doom of the Separatists.

 

Fighting continues on the battle-worn worlds of the OUTER RIM, but the Separatists have concentrated their attacks in the inner core, specifically CORUSCANT.

 

Meanwhile, on the uninhabited planet of CRYSM, Captain W-E5S advances towards his base along with the Jedi Knight SELIQA CAMMAN...

[Sabretooth]

“All right. We’re here. Get ready, boys!” Capt. Wefive announced as the gunship lowered itself further down, navigating excellently through the spires and mountains. Capt. Wefive put on his helmet and secured it and loaded his gun. Light flooded the dark ship as the doors of the gunship slid open. Wefive got up and looked out at the mountainous world. Hues of red and maroon filled the atmosphere. It was just after dawn, and the skies were clear. A bright sun shone, rising to greet the lifeless world.

“Reminds me of Geonosis…” a trooper uttered, gazing out. “You have been there?” another asked.

“Not pretty. Was there in one of the later battles. The natives are worse than the droids.”

On the other door was Seliqa Camman, a Jedi Knight known for her excellent lightsaber abilities. She was a human, tan, with sharp brown eyes and shoulder-length jet-black hair. Her dark red robes fluttered wildly, but her gaze was fixed on the landscape. At her belt dangled a special, bronze hilt. It was five inches long and it’s blade orange.

“Base in sight!” she announced, looking at a makeshift base, teeming with clones and vehicles. “Captain, where are the caves?”

“Two miles past the base, in a canyon range.” He yelled. “Not many crystals for your saber.” Another trooper added, who was attacked by a sharp glare from Camman.

 

The ship came to a sudden halt at the base, lowering itself for better dismounting. The Jedi and other troopers stepped out and assembled. Seliqa walked beside the Captain. Capt. Wefive assembled his squad and stepped face to face with the Commander. The Commander surveyed the squad. They were ten in all, with the captain and Seliqa. He turned to a lieutenant. “Alert Magenta that White Squad is here.” He commanded. The lieutenant nodded and scurried away to the comm. tent.

 

“Captain W-E5S, your mission is to eliminate Separatist forces in the caves two miles south-east of base. You have the co-ordinates.” The commander then switched a holographic device that would give a visual representation of the plan. “The Separatist bases on the planet surface were wiped out by Shark, Black, Vase and Wedge platoons. We have sent several squads to eliminate droids in caves and mountains. Progress is going well, but we have lost communication with a few squads. We also have Commando teams here. Alright, Captain, your objective is to infiltrate these caves, here. The caves are natural, but the entrances were carved out by Separatists. Expect low resistance at the entrances. The exit, is at a small dock, jutting out of the canyon, here. Infiltrate through this entrance and clear. We have map that we received from Magenta recon squad. They will provide sniper support as necessary. Both the map and comm. connection to Magenta will be transmitted to you. Questions?”

“No sir!” the squad replied in unison.

“Then prepare yourselves. Watch your steps and good luck.” The Commander turned and proceeded to another section of the base.

 

Captain W-E5S called up the squad about ten standard minutes later, with the Commanders holo device. “All right, then, troops. I have discussed the plan with Commander SOY-34, we have clearance to use detonator bombs. Hope that makes you AA guys happy. OK, the map is divided into two parts. There are two chasms and the line dividing these two parts lies right between these chasms. We have a bridge connecting one chasm, we have to knock it out. The other side is covered by Magenta. The middle is where most of the Separatists are holed up. It has the canyon exit, and a jamming device. We have air support, so they can’t run from there. It’s a shootout!”

“We need to be careful, nevertheless.” Seliqa added. “They may be droids, but they’re smart. I sense a trap. Stay on your toes.”

 

The squad echoed in acknowledgement.

[RC-1162]

this is off to an excellent start,

[Hallucination]

Great work, keep it up!

[Sabretooth]

“We’re in. Spread out and maintain comm. Watch your steps and keep your eyes and ears out for droids.” Lectured Seliqa as the group slowly descended into the cave, through a red valley. There were rudimentary steps leading to the bottom and very few crystals peeking out through the mass of black rock. The clones turned on their flashlights, partially illuminating the place in white light. The clones kept shifting the center of the light, to effectively scour the entire place. Captain Wefive was at the head, his gun ever ready to shoot.

The first ‘corridor’ was some hundred meters long, from where it descended and spread out into larger caverns, some having water pools. As the clones entered the cave, Seliqa strode up towards Captain Wefive. “Be careful” she advised, “I sense concentration of droids. Heavy… maybe Super Battle Droids.”

“Have to be, General.” A trooper added, “We found no Federation Droid Ships out there, only SBDs can survive without them. The newer versions of Droideka too…”

“Wait!” Seliqa commanded. The squad was knee-deep in a water pool. A large pink crystal jutted out of the upper wall. Light reflected from it, lighting up the cave. From it was only one exit and one entrance. The latter was already checked, but the exit was where Seliqa now slowly crept. She motioned the squad to stay back and crouching behind a rock, peeped out. Ahead was an enormous cavern, in the middle of which was a natural, worn bridge. “Captain, we have the bridge in sight.”

Captain Wefive nodded and with a flick of his wrist, the squad slowly waded through the water. The room dimmed as the flashlights no longer targeted the crystal. Captain pulled up a map on his visor. Switching to inter-squad radio, he spoke, “Magenta, White here. We have Bridge visual. Report Location.”

After a pause, Magenta replied, “Minor resistance, no casualties. Proceeding to Chasm B.”

“Proceeding to Bridge. White out.”

 

Seliqa took the first steps, slowly crouching out into the corridor that led to the cavern. Captain Wefive and his ten-strong squad followed, switching off their flashlights. The large cavern was bathed in blue-white light that spread out from the broken ceiling. The clones were taken by surprise as detonation mines were set off at their end of the bride. The sound of the explosion was followed by yells and shouts from White Squad. Seliqa ignited her orange-bladed lightsaber. White Squad was not taking any more chances. In loose formation, they headed down towards the chasm. The explosion had damaged the bridge’s end considerably, making it almost impassable.

“General Camman, any chance you can use the Force to… uh… repair the bridge?” Captain Wefive uttered, looking at the crumbling bridge.

Seliqa seemed to be deeply observing the bridge. Bit by bit it was breaking down. “The droids were smart, for once. They must have demolitions droids here, SBDs can’t plant these. As for the repair, captain, I don’t think I would be able to. The bombs have blown the bridge to smithereens.” With that, she turned off her lightsaber.

A trooper scampered towards Captain Wefive. “White Squad reporting area clear, sir!”. Captain Wefive acknowledged and stamped the bridge. A large chunk of rock dislodged and disappeared into the chasm. Seliqa was deeply concentrating on something. Her eyes, closed shut opened suddenly. Igniting her lightsaber, she made a lunge at towards the edge of the chasm and swung her lightsaber hard. Miraculously, it hit an object, which exploded. It was a cloak field generator, a device that allows an object or a group of objects to be hidden in dim light conditions. A metal bridge appeared out of thin air. It was a compact bridge, probably built when the Separatists thought of building a base.

“A… Cloaking device! This large?” exclaimed an inexperienced trooper.

“Watch out. Let’s go!” ordered Camman and the troop rushed towards the bridge. The last half of the squad turned around to cover the back of the squad, while the front half scanned the forest of stalactites and stalagmites that lay ahead. Captain Wefive led the pack, with Seliqa at his side.

 

Luckily, it didn’t take long to cross the artificial bridge. Once crossed, anti-armour laid charges on the bridge and on the other side of the natural bridge, for detonation after the mission would be complete. “Clear it.” The Captain ordered and the squad spread out to secure the area. Soon enough, blasters were fired. The dark, large cavern was suddenly filled with red laser fire as the droids opened fire on the unsuspecting clones. Seliqa ignited her saber and unleashed her expert Form IV style upon the droids, slashing and destroying them. The form she had mastered, Ataro was an acrobatic technique, where the user would draw heavily from the Force to achieve almost impossible physical feats.

There were about fourteen super battle droids in all, strong, lumbering giants. They were damaged to some extent. The clones managed to take out a number of them, but Seliqa undisputedly had the highest kill count. The droids were smarter than their beige-coloured counterparts. They holed up themselves in the ‘chamber’ in the middle of the cavern. The ‘chamber’ was crystal-rich room, with walls of stalactites and stalagmites, some of which had been broken to serve as doors. The battle droids were well equipped, with blasters, high ammunition and a fat supply of grenades.

The clones followed them to the chamber and under the Captain’s command stood back and fired through the holes of the ‘walls’. Seliqa attempted breaching the ‘chamber’, but in vain. With clearance from the captain, the anti-armour team rolled out their own ion grenades and chucked a couple of them inside. The blast was spectacular. The green, blue and turquoise crystals shone brilliantly as the blue-white light filled the chamber in seconds. The clones pulled back as the ion grenades were known to damage visors, in some cases, permanently. When the brilliant light disappeared, the clones advanced, further this time. This time they rushed in and opened fir on the malfunctioning droids. Already sparks were flying from them. Some had lost their programming and had begun attacking random targets. As before, Seliqa was there to finish the job and slice every bit of living metal.

[RC-1162]

AWE, SOME!! this is great dude, if i didnt know better, id say you were caesar himself.

[Sabretooth]

Two miles away, Commander Soy was inspecting the area map. Crysm was a very rough and jagged planet, with hardly any plains. The caves Captain Wefive had ventured into were connected to a dock, jutting out of a canyon. Clone starfighters were already patrolling the canyon, as were gunships and infantry units. His activity was disrupted by a clone sergeant. “Sir, you have a holocom message from Coruscant. It’s a group message to multiple commanders. It’s waiting in the comm. building, sir.”

Commander Soy entered the comm. building, which was more like a half-tent-half-cave dug into a rock face. Inside were several terminals for communication, voice and holo. With their fearless leader in the tent, the clones immediately made preparations. One of the clones placed a life-size-image holo projector in the middle of the tent. The Commander nodded and there was an exchange of nods. Soon, one of the clones pressed a button and the projector flickered to life.

It was the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic, Chancellor Palpatine. However, he wasn’t in his well-dressed, charismatic form. He was in a dark, hooded cloak, which almost covered his eyes. His face, whatever of it was visible was pale, heavily wrinkled and his voice was slow, cracking and ominous.

“Commander, the time has arrived. As expected, the treacherous Jedi have betrayed me. It is time to finish them. Execute Order 66.”

With that, the message crackled in static and finished. There was silence in the room. Not one soul stirred. A trooper silently marched ahead and put the holo projector back. The Commander sighed. “Well, you heard him. Alert all squads, especially White and Magenta. The Jedi’s got to go.”

There was a series of nods as the troopers got back to work. The Commander walked out. There was a new enemy for him besides the droids. Jedi.

 

Meanwhile, Captain Wefive was at the second charm. Across the chasm was the sniper squad Magenta, consisting of three snipers and two troopers. There were hardly visible as the chasm itself was some two hundred meters wide. Seliqa was at the edge of the chasm, peering down. A trooper came by her side, his blaster in a more casual stance, “General, we still need to find the jamming device. We’re trying to receive this message that’s come from the base. Captain thinks it’s near the chamber we found.”

“With good reason.” Answered Seliqa, “The droids would only rush there together to protect something. There shouldn’t be any more droids, though, just supplies and the device we’re all looking for.”

 

Soon enough, Seliqa sensed the stash. It was hidden behind a section of spires, near the chamber. It had nothing but a stash of ammunition and an entrance to an underground cave, with a small jamming device. The device was about four feet tall and was scrambling communication within fifty meters of itself. With the help of the Anti-Armour team, Seliqa and her squad destroyed it. By the time the team crawled up, however, Commander had received Order 66. As the team regrouped for further orders, Captain’s comlink suddenly crackled to life.

“Captain Wefive. Order 66 is now active. Repeat, Execute Order 66. Report to base after execution. Base out.”

The entire team heard it, save Seliqa. The squad now had direct orders to eliminate Seliqa Camman or any other Jedi. Captain Wefive was an ARC trooper. He knew it was the wrong decision. “All, don’t fire!” he called out on his comlink. The clones were caught by surprised. Dropping their guns to a standby position, they turned to Captain, waiting a reasonable explanation. Captain backed away. Suddenly, loud blasters echoes in the cavern. It was magenta shooting from the other end of the chasm.

Within a split second, Wefive dived, taking down Camman with him. “Go, go! They’re out for you!” he urged and got up. White Squad got the message. Aiming their guns, they fired away, lighting up the cavern with blue lasers. Seliqa’s saber ignited and deflected a number of shots, but the lasers were too much. Wefive loaded a frag grenade into his launcher and shot his squad, delaying the blaster fire. There were few casualties, but neither Wefive nor Seliqa felt like waiting to count. With sniper fire echoing in their ears, they set off at high speeds, through the spires towards the dock. Seliqa slowly distanced herself from Wefive, but continued to follow him

“Where are we going?” she yelled.

“There’s an exit here! A landing dock. There were some speeders there.”

“We won’t get anywhere! The entire planet belongs to clones! They’ll kill us! What’s happened?”

“Order 66. The Supreme Chancellor commanded it, to kill all Jedi when they would betray the Republic!”

“The Jedi have not betrayed the Republic!”

“No, but the chancellor is insane. He has been talking of plans of an empire and telling us to keep shut!”

“That’s crazy!”

Seliqa dodged another sniper shot and dived for cover. The exit door wasn’t too far now. Captain waited a while to catch his breath. He switched on his comlink to base.

“Base, White here. Seliqa Camman is eliminated. Repeat, Order 66 is over. We’re heading to base now! White out.”

Seliqa got up and ignited her saber.

“It’s to put them off our tails.”

“And how do I know you won’t turn on me?”

“Trust me. I know the chancellor is crazy. I’ve always thought I’d be somewhere else when he gives the order, hell, I didn’t even think he would pass it. I’m an ARC, you have to believe me!”

“I believed the clones. They betrayed me.”

“You Jedi are too moody. Look, I’m doing this for your own good. You can slice me down if you wish, but I can get you further…”

“Let’s go.”

 

With that, she resumed her run, followed by Captain Wefive from behind. A hundred questions rushed within her mind, but those would have to wait, for now her only goal was to escape Crysm alive.

[Sabretooth]

The comm. tent was abuzz with activity. The execution of Order 66 was big news and one that would change the galaxy. Hundreds of Jedi were being shot down across the galaxy, some escaping the wrath, but facing it inevitably. The killing of Seliqa Camman had also brought and end to the activities of the sector and now all that was left was to eliminate Separatist activity and clear the planet. There were some twenty odd teams across the planet, clearing out the caves and mountains. Most radars had detected their zones clean, but it was the deadzones where the teams were sent.

It was mid-afternoon at the time Capt. Wefive had sent the message that Order 66 was successful. Commander had ordered all troops to return base, if their objectives were complete. Already, ARC-170 Starfighters were systematically docking themselves at a makeshift hangar in the base. Gunships rose and left the hangar, to aid the return of teams. Republic Assault Ships were looming above in the atmosphere, approaching closer every second, awaiting the mass boarding that would occur.

 

Magenta’s leader was furious. He was assigned to take out the Jedi, but apparently White’s lead wasn’t of the same opinion. Evidently, he was an ARC trooper. Magenta was now racing Seliqa and Wefive, almost parallel, on the other side of the chasm. At regular intervals, a trooper would get to his knees, aim and fire, unsuccessfully hitting dirt and rocks and then bearing the lead’s curses. What made Magenta lead even more furious was the message he received from base. It was a comm. operator, a novice. “Magenta Squad, Order 66 has been executed, return to base. Repeat, mission complete, return base. Base out.”

Magenta lead stopped in his tracks and initiated comm. with base.

“Magenta lead here. What was that? Order 66 executed? We still have White’s Jedi on our sights! She’s running with White Lead!”

“Base here. Are you sure, lieutenant? We received the message from White Lead, Capt. Wefive.”

“It was a trick. He’s an ARC, he’s with the damned Jedi!”

There was some silence on the line, interrupted by frequent static. The operator was talking with someone, probably of higher authority. After a while, he returned.

“Very well, eliminate both the Jedi and Capt. Wefive. Remember, the priority is the Jedi. Base out.”

Magenta lead looked at his squad, aiming and awaiting his orders.

“Alright, get your assault rifles and let’s go get those turncoats.”

 

Captain Wefive was at the dock door. He was struggling with the hard-coded lock system the Separatist security had installed. He was trying his best to slice in, but with no equipment and limited skill, it was no use. A few feet away, Seliqa stood, her hand towards the door, concentrating. After a while, she gave up the attempt and sat on a rock. Captain Wefive’s helmet was abuzz with curses and slicing techniques. “Can’t use your Force?” he called out, not turning away from the console.

“No. It’s a strange technique. Never learnt it. Tell me something. What had the Chancellor told you before? Any recordings?”

“No, general. He told us to erase and eliminate all recordings. I wouldn’t know, but I have a feeling he even commanded to keep and eye on us ARCs. He said that he foresaw a plan by the Jedi, to betray the Republic and turn on it.”

“What would the Jedi want to do such a thing?”

“They wouldn’t! I and lots of other ARCs know that. But the other clones are mindless slaves. They’ll do anything. He said that the Jedi don’t want the betterment of the Republic and they’ll turn on him. In his dream Republic, he wants us clones to fulfill the tasks of Jedi. To… wait a sec. Okay, got it. I got the code. Now just to…”

A soft click confirmed that the door was unlocked. A red panel on the door turned green. Seliqa got up and readied herself. Captain Wefive stepped back and reloaded his gun. With a nod, he proceeded to the green panel and pressed it, opening the door.

The bright, yellow light was blinding. Captain Wefive walked ahead, his finger on the trigger. Seliqa followed, shielding her eyes from the sun. It took time, but her eyes eventually got used to the brightness. Ahead was a large dock, a few speeders parked in it. It’s walls were of rock and at the end was a ramp that led to the surface. Wefive dashed for a blaster-equipped speeder. Seliqa followed.

As the two strapped themselves in, they began to discuss their strategy. The speeder majestically rose, it’s repulsorlift kicking into action. It’s well-used blaster cannons extended their muzzles. The hum slowly filled the dock, echoing through the rocky interior. The inside was quiet and the hum was considerably muffled. “Okay,” started Seliqa, adjusting the navigational controls, “We have the speeder. Now we need to make a dash for the… where?”

“Base. I’ll be carrying your dead body. We can get a transport there.”

“Too risky. If something goes wrong, we couldn’t last against a whole base.”

“There’s nobody there! You saw the strength. Some twenty soldiers, that’s all. You can handle them alone.”

“Sure we can’t find any other transports? What options do we have?”

“We can ask from help from some patrolling ARC-170 or a LAAT, but again, it’s a risk. And that means we’ll have to give up the speeder.”

“What do you think?”

“Base. Safer, but we’ll have to pull it right.”

The speeder advanced slowly, and turned towards the exit. Suddenly, the door opened and in came the armour-clad Magenta squad, their guns opening bursts of laserfire. The entry was rushed and fortunately, hardly any shot landed on the speeder. The speeder’s engines roared to life and it blazed out, followed by a number of blaster shots. Magenta followed it to the edge, aiming the speeder with their sniper rifles, but in vain.

The speeder flew in the Crysm skies, leaving a white trail behind. Seliqa had already taken to the guns, looking out for any potential targets. Wefive piloted the craft, flying towards the base.

“Okay, General Camman. Get off those guns. Dead Jedi don’t play with speeder blasters. Do you Jedi have some tricks for faking death?”

“Plenty. I know a good one, works great with Mind Trick.”

“Good. Use it. I’ll try to get to the hangar and steal whatever I can. You find a way keep yourselves and them busy. Oh, and unless you want be a really dead Jedi, don’t try anything stupid.”

“Alright, Captain. Hope this works out.”

“Honestly, I don’t think we have a chance.”

[JediKnight707]

Just read it, and I like it a lot, keep it coming

[Sabretooth]

Well, sorry but thanks to the limited time and a writer's dilemma I have, I probably won't be posting here for a month or so...

[RC-1162]

i want to see the rest!

but im not pushing you, take your time

[Renegade Angel]

Just finsihed the first chapter. Very cool, keep it up!

[Sabretooth]

Alright, I'm getting back to work today. But I just wanted to tell you guys about a humongous(sp?) secret.

 

All this while, I've been concentrating on conceptualising an epic fanfic, which is a prequel to KotOR. It puts a new character into the picture and fits with the storyline perfectly. It focuses on Revan's rise to power, Malak's grudges, Bandon's apprenticeship, and through the first half, the Galactic Mafia. I'll start penning it down once I'm done with VOB.

[Sabretooth]

The Republic Base on Crysm was very busy. The unexpected contradiction by Magenta had caused quite a stir. The Commander was now sure that the ARC was involved in saving the Jedi. He knew that he couldn’t leave either alive. Commander Soy had seen many battles and learnt tactical planning faster than most other clones. His unique style of strategy and efficiency had gained respect with more than one Jedi.

As soon as Magenta reported that Capt. Wefive and Seliqa Camman had escaped in a blaster-equipped speeder, he had put all starfighters he had back into their patrols. With that, he assigned all radars to track Separatist-ID vehicles, hoping to catch the speeder in the net. Unfortunately, the speeder was not of Separatist build and had a unique ID signature. Soy’s next tactic was to calculate the opponents plan.

Commander Soy knew that the two had to get off the planet, but all known Separatist bases had been cleared and destroyed. Wefive would have to return base to find a Hyperdrive capable vehicle. He could try to board an orbiting RAS, but the resistance inside would be too strong for them. Continuous communication would prevent them from hijacking any vehicle. Even they did find a plan that Commander Soy hadn’t thought of, they wouldn’t have the time and resources to pull it off successfully. With all his bases covered, Soy walked out of the planning tent. The twin Assault Ships were still in the atmosphere, blocking the sun. They were slowly moving South, after which they would land in a large, flat piece of land, for easy boarding.

The mountains echoed with the searing roars of jets of Republic Gunships, Assault Ships and a dozen ARCs. Never had Soy thought that Order 66 would be so difficult. A gun-toting trooper hurried towards the Commander.

“Sir, radars have spotted an airspeeder. Civilian.”

Things were going as the Commander had expected.

“Can you get contact with it?”

“Yes sir. We tried to identify. It’s Captain W-E5S. He says his squad was wiped out by the Jedi.”

The Commander nodded and walked off to the Comm. tent. The tent was busier than a beehive. The Commander walked briskly to a sergeant attempting to initiate contact with the speeder. The trooper directed him to the sergeant and the he, the Commander took the comlink in his own hands. He motioned the sergeant to initiate contact and waited for the other side to click. It didn’t. The line went off-air. With some hammering from the Commander, the trooper fine-tuned the frequency and tried again. The line got through. On the other side of the line came the sound of muffled engines and a radio-voiced trooper.

The Commander’s tone shifted, to a more threatening and commanding one.

“This is Republic Military Base Headquarter, Crysm. Identify yourselves.”

The person on the other line answered without hesitation.

“Captain W-E5S of White Squad here.”

“Captain, this Commander SOY-34. You were to return to base in a LAAT Gunship.”

“Commander, the plan didn’t go right. The Jedi massacred my squad. I convinced her that I’m an ARC and on her side. She believed me and stuck with me. I killed her in this speeder.”

“You did not establish contact with the base after executing Order 66. And you are not to ally with the enemy, even if it is a lie. You will be tried, Captain.”

“I regret my decision, Commander. But otherwise, the mission would have been a failure. The Jedi…”

“Were you aware that Magenta was at the scene? The snipers would have shot the Jedi even if she killed you!”

“Yes sir, but she used her lightsaber to deflect the sniper…”

“Just get to the base ASAP. I will deal with you later. What about the Jedi?”

“Her body lies with me. She’s in the gunner position of the speeder. Beside me.”

“Good. You will be heard at the Military Court at Coruscant, later. They’ll judge you right.”

“Very well, sir. Captain W-35S Out.”

 

The Captain hung up and the Commander stood. The Commander turned to face the rest of the tent.

“Captain W-E5S is a traitor. He has allied with the Jedi and supposedly brings the Jedi’s corpse here. Keep an eye on the speeder’s progress. When he arrives keep an eye on his activities, especially around the Hangars and Medical. Be ready to shoot him down, if necessary.”

The tent chorused an affirmative and the Commander walked away, knowing that a critical moment was approaching.

 

A few minutes later came that moment, which the Commander was anticipating. The airspeeder was in sight, at first as a dot, then growing larger. The Commander stood in the center of the camp, where the speeder was bound to stop. Beside him were five troopers, and a sergeant at their head. The speeder arrived, a two-seater with blasters and an excellent repulsorlift. It set down upon the dusty surface, it’s repulsorlift throwing dust everywhere, colouring the trooper’s armour red-brown. The black canopy opened up and Captain Wefive was seen shutting down the engines and carrying out last-minute shutdown operations.

The troopers rushed to surround the speeder and examined it. It was charred by blaster fire, at more than one location and it’s engines were damaged. The speeder itself was of an unknown built, but was about 5 meters long and slightly resembled a T-47. It was grey in colouring, with occasional black and yellow marks. There were two canopies, for one cockpit, which held two personnel. Captain Wefive hopped out and ordered the sergeant to check the other cockpit and deliver the Jedi “corpse” to the medical facility at the base.

The Commander approved the order and asked the Captain to meet him privately, in another “cave-tent” built in the canyon. It somehow served as an office. With not much of an option, Captain Wefive agreed.

 

The Commander’s cave led to a deeper bunker, furnished with metal and wires. Troops were at computers, radio chatter filled the background and the bunker was anything but silent. The Commander led Captain Wefive to his personal office, a makeshift one. It was a mere room, with a terminal, some seats and low decoration. The Commander sat in his seat and motioned the Captain to sit in a seat opposite to him.

“So, Captain W-E5S. Let’s hear your story.”

“We infiltrated the caves, as per mission plan. Things went well, but we faced heavy resistance in the central cavern. Magenta helped us though. There was some sort of a jamming device somewhere, cause the comlink stopped functioning.”

“That’s strange, Captain.” Marked the Commander, leaning ahead in his chair, “We were having excellent contact with Magenta.”

“The device may not have been extending as far as Magenta’s position. I received Order 66, however, just barely. My troops got it as well. We fired, but the damned Jedi began to slice us down. I knew that we would have died, so I pretended to be a turncoat. She had reason to believe me, since I was an ARC, after all. She did, and we escaped in the airspeeder. I led her here, and on the way, I shot her in the back and killed her.”

The Commander leaned back again. He switched on the comlink and changed the frequency to the medical labs. Once the line was connected, he began, “Medic, get me the medic on Seliqa Camman.” After an apprehensive ‘yes, sir’, the line fell silent. But soon enough, it came back, with a different medic.

“Medic, this is Commander SOY-34. You’re working on the Jedi’s body?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Captain W-E5S here reports that he shot the Jedi in the back. Any marks?”

“No, sir. And we checked the entire body. A few mild burns, but nothing fatal. The droids are in perfect condition, and yet the Jedi is… just dead.”

“Any conclusions?”

“Our droids are still analyzing and testing. It might be some time…”

“Alright. That will be all, Medic.”

 

With that conversation over, the Commander turned to Captain Wefive.

“It is obvious you are lying. Since one of our Assault Ships, the Garendator is about to leave in a few hours, I suppose it is best we put you on it and ship you to Coruscant, or Kamino, yes, that’s closer. We’ll get you to Kamino and you will have to answer before the court. Court Martial, that is.”

Captain Wefive sighed and looked down. The Commander leaned ahead.

“Why, Captain? Why have you betrayed us? No, why are you here? Why were you damned ARCs tasked with mundane jobs like that. Captain FD-342, or JX-073 could have been sent, but it has to be you! Damned coreslime. What the hell, just get your worthless body off that seat and take it to the hangar. I’ll have a squad to escort you to the RAS. Oh, and these aren’t your favourite greenhorns, their tough veterans and pure genes. None of your filthy ARC blood. Now go! You are dismissed.”

The Captain got up and through his featureless helmet, the Commander could see that the former was studying him. After a few seconds, the Captain left the tent. As he walked through the metal maze of a bunker, he could feel several eyes on him.

[JediKnight707]

Good work

[Sabretooth]

Captain Wefive kicked the dust at his feet, as he waited for Lieutenant HF-32K to escort him to the LAAT Gunship waiting for him in the hangar. Beside were four troopers, standing guard. The Captain was stripped of any and all weaponry and personal shields. He now stood alone in his armour, his dysfunctional helmet in his hands. Command had switched off his helmet completely, so as to prevent him from contacting any accomplices. As the lieutenant walked into the hangar, the Gunship began humming and rose, it’s repulsorlift repelling the dust near the Gunship. The lieutenant got onto the Gunship, talking to someone on his comlink. Two troopers embarked the gunship and the other two poked their guns at the infidel Captain. The latter got onto the ship, tossing his helmet to a stash of ammo and weaponry. With the Captain on board, the last troopers boarded the gunship and the lieutenant signaled the pilot to start the engines.

The pilot replied an affirmative and got to working on the controls, but seconds past and the satisfactory blast and humming of the engines never appeared. After a minute the Lieutenant ran out of patience. “Pilot, anything wrong?” he asked, trying to mask his temper.

The pilot answered after a while. “Sir, this bird took some hits when arriving. The last pilot on duty probably didn’t report the engine damage to the technicians. We’ll have to get this fixed. Will take time, sir.”

The Lieutenant sighed and looked at Captain W-E5S. “Well, sir, we’ll have to pick up a new pair of wings.” With a flick of his wrist, he ordered his troopers to get off the LAAT. He initiated communication with base.

 

Meanwhile, Seliqa Camman lay on the medical bed, flat and hard. Her head rested on a pillow and she was clothed in Jedi Robes. Her skin was pale, almost as if dead, and she had no pulse. But that was simply an illusion. She was healthy and alive, though only force sensitives could feel her so. She had successfully deceived the clone medics who attempted to find a cause for her death before cremating her. Their research was in vain, for Seliqa went so far as to damage the droids and make them follow her will.

She was now alone and the only sound that came in the room was of the humming and beeping of machinery and droids. She had been left alone while the medics conducted other activities. She would soon be taken for cremation, which is where she would unleash her reality and escape the planet. She could sense that Wefive’s betrayal had been found out by the Commander and that he would be deported from the planet. She was just hoping that the Captain had managed to find a loose vessel for the escape. A gunship would be too large and unnecessary, which is why her hopes were pinned on an ARC-170 Starfighter.

Her chain of thought was interrupted by a sound of footsteps falling on the metal floor. Soon a medic came in, unarmed and naïve. He looked around and got to work at a lab station, with chemicals and computers. Suddenly, a jolt came into Seliqa’s mind. She felt a larger company of clones coming. She felt not the sophisticated perceptions of the Force, but the rawer instincts, the primal instinct of approaching danger. Her eyes opened in an instant and her ghostly white face returned to a livelier shade. Her pulse amplified.

She got up in an instant and spun out of the bed, alerting the medic. The latter turned back, startled, but not shocked. He had known through training and experience to expect the unexpectable and counter it. He ran for alarm, but magically slipped and knocked over medical apparatus. The alarm suddenly blew in a carefully timed sequence of events. As the sound of the alarm’s explosion died down, another rose: the loose footsteps of an approaching party. The medic got up, but flew off his feet into the lab station and was suddenly electrified as a computer beside him blew up.

The alarmed medics ran in and found the Jedi standing alone, the corpse of the medic writhing in electricity. In a frantic effort of survival, the Medics wielded their pistols, but were hit by a massive bolt of electricity from the computers, which blew up, one by one. The clones flew around the room like loose armour. When the noise died down, Seliqa crept up to a medic and salvaged his pistol and grabbed any piece of ammo on the clones. Being medics, off field too, they wielded only pistols rather than the bulkier blaster rifles.

Armed with a standard issue pistol, Seliqa crept into the corridors, and warily made her way through them. Most rooms were empty, some had injured soldiers. Seliqa’s naked feet made no noise as they stepped through the medical facility. Soon enough, she reached the entrance of the facility, a large door with four guards, two on each side. Before they could so much as seize the reality of her in their vicinity, they lay on the ground as cold, dead bodies. Seliqa was very careful about her escape. She was about to use the door controls to open it, but hesitated. She first needed to calm herself. Her heart was pounding loudly. A little too loudly for a Jedi of her class.

She crept back into the shadows and pondered her next move. Going out into the open with a blaster would be suicide. She would have to develop a careful strategy and either make minimum casualties, or maximum. She was hoping that it would be the former. But she could not bear the loss of her lightsaber. She had made it after she had sacrificed the first, when she was only sixteen. Her first lightsaber was constructed under her master’s guidance. It was a beautiful blue blade, which Seliqa was destined to lose. On a less important mission at Caldarb IX, she learned that the only way she could destroy a monster terrorizing the locals would be to crush his insides. Separated from her master, she sliced the monster’s teeth and guided her saber deep inside the monster and ruptured his heart. The monster collapsed and the saggy, yet tough body prevented the saber from returning. Her master praised her decision at such a critical point, and instructed her to be more careful the next time. Seliqa then made the lightsaber she eventually grew to love. The lightsaber was with her everywhere and she would do anything to save it. She did not want another sacrifice.

 

Captain Wefive prepared to board the second Gunship in the day. It was now early evening and the ochre skies had begun to fade into a sinister violet. With all the checks done, the lieutenant assigned on Captain W-E5S got onto the gunship. The gunship itself was restlessly hovering above the ground, ready to escape the confines of the hangar and make a run for it’s home, the RAS Garendator. It slowly started, it’s engines’ hum getting louder. And then, through some sort of instinct, Captain Wefive got a message that the time is right.

He jabbed the lieutenant with his elbow and kicked one of the guards. The other two wasted no time in opening fire. Before the gunship could touch it’s reputed speed, the Captain dived, grabbing a trooper and the lieutenant to cover his fall. Meanwhile, the gunship rocketed out of the hangar and realizing something was amiss, the pilot made a sudden 180° turn, throwing one trooper out. The last trooper used a bar near the gunship’s door to save him from falling. The gunship came to a sudden halt, outside the hangar. The launching direction of the hangars was on the opposite side of the base, which is why there was hardly anybody noticing the spectacle.

The last trooper jumped out and helped the fallen trooper to the gunship. The latter wasn’t too injured, so the former asked him sit at the gunship controls as a gunner. It was a radical idea, but nobody objected. The trooper, DA-816V was a veteran and knew much about the tactics and strategies to be used in battle. He then instructed the gunship lay in wait and turn off it’s engines and keep the hum to a minimum. DA then jumped out of the gunship and crept towards the hangar and jumped for cover behind a crate. Then, he peeked from the top of the crate.

 

As soon as the Captain had made his daredevil jump out of the gunship, he used the lieutenant too block his fall and with a strong grip over the other trooper, made him fall as well. The lieutenant got knocked out, while the trooper cried out and jumped to his feet. With his DC-15 he opened fire at the infidel. The latter took a few hits, but rolled and flung the lieutenant towards the trooper. The trooper’s repeated firing killed the lieutenant, whose body fell like a ragdoll over the trooper. The Captain rammed the lieutenant, bringing down both the corpse and the trooper. He then grabbed the lieutenant’s rifle and pistol. With his feet he kicked the corpse off the trooper. The latter kicked the lieutenant away and jumped to his feet. Before his feet could touch the ground, he was blown several feet away by a powerful, charged blaster shot by the Captain. The Captain staggered to his feet and placed the pistol in his holster. He then grabbed the dead trooper’s helmet and secured it on himself.

Subconsciously, he moved to think his next move. But by doing so he narrowly missed a thin, blue ray of laser that was aimed for him. The Captain knew that this ray was a sniper rifle’s and that the shooter was in the direction the gunship went. As expected, there was a trooper, reloading his sniper rifle. Captain Wefive dived for cover behind a metal crate. His position was critical. He can’t turn back now, the death of two troopers was no small affair. The trooper after him was the one that had been assigned on him. That gave the Captain another jolt. The gunship was nearby. Reloading his gun, he jumped out of his cover, missing another bolt of sniper fire. He opened fire upon the trooper, who instinctively sought cover behind his own metal crate. Before the Captain could react, he raised his hand, palm outstretched. It was pointed outside, and then made a sudden jerk in the captain’s direction. Immediately, the Captain knew this was trouble. Within seconds, a LAAT Gunship descended, opening laser-fire into the hangar. Intimidated, the Captain jumped to the far left wall of the hangar. The gunship slowly came in and masterfully directed it’s fire towards it’s target. The Captain stood alone, the Gunship’s laser fire about to incinerate him in a second. It was at this precarious moment that two rockets flew in from behind the Captain and hit the gunship straight at the guns. The Captain’s cover, a large metal crate, flew off as the last blaster shot hit it. Two more missiles followed the earlier ones, this time hitting the posterior part of the Gunship. Its fuel cells exploded, resulting in a massive explosion that even killed the lone trooper near the gunship.

Armed with a plain DC-15, the Captain looked back, at an ARC-170 Starfighter approaching him. It lowered itself as it approached the battle-worn Captain. The canopies opened up and Seliqa leapt up and backflipped to the gunner’s seat. The Captain jumped into the pilot’s seat. He closed the canopies, and suddenly another ARC appeared to the rear of the hangar, with a horde of clones gunning the starfighter. The second ARC fired four missiles for the other craft. Captain Wefive made a sudden start and the starfighter shot out of the hangar. The Captain pulled the yoke and made a vertical 180° turn, turning the craft upside down. Two more ARCs erupted from their hangars, their noses pointed towards the Captain’s ARC. The missiles trailing the ARC exploded inside the hangar itself, killing many. Captain stabilized the craft and made another sudden acceleration towards the sky.

The ARC-170 hurtled towards the golden-violet sky, laser fire following it.

“Two missiles, no three, wait… five missiles incoming!” Seliqa alerted, her eyes on the radar.

“We could have used a rear gunner here…” the Captain replied.

“Make another 180, maybe I fire the missiles…”

Before the Jedi could complete the sentence, the craft turned 180 degrees, and flew downwards, much against their enemies’ expectations. Seliqa fired the last two proton torpedoes in her arsenal, which hit two torpedoes flying for them. Three more trailed them. “Hit the sublight!” Seliqa yelled.

“We’re not even out of the atmosphere! We’ll die!” the Captain yelled back.

“Do it!” Seliqa ordered.

Captain Wefive set up the craft for sublight speeds with it’s ion engine, while the three proton torpedoes and a large mass of laser followed it. “Done!” Wefive yelled and the world outside the craft blurred out. The craft hurtled off, the atmosphere turned from violet to plain black. Once Seliqa was sure they were out, she ordered the Captain to turn it off. The space came back in a sudden jolt. They had managed to evade the ARCs, but a new danger had been formed. The massive RAS Garendator lay to their right. Shadowed by the sun, it looked dark, fierce and monstrous. The looks were not deceptive, as a swarm of ARC-170 Starfighters erupted from their hangars, directing towards the lone spacefighter.

“Go, go, go! Get a hyperspace route!” Seliqa ushered, her eyes on the RAS.

“There are a few routes, but the nearest is… Onderon. Close enough. Our hyperspace should be able to…”

“What are you waiting for? Get that route and fly, or we’re going to be brutally murdered in the middle of nowhere!”

“Just gotta feed this co-ordinate data… autopilot check… positioning…” the starfighter moved to the Captain’s whim, positioning itself towards Onderon. “clearing data…”

Time passed by as the Captain hurriedly made all of his checks. The starfighters began firing. Within a split second the world blurred. The distant stars spread to form blue lines and everything vanished into a blue tunnel, spiraling and twisting. Hyperspace had been initiated.

Both the Captain and Seliqa breathed a sigh of relief.

[Sabretooth]

Reading that... can take a while. Didn't even realise how large I had written...

 

Thx for the feedback tho. Expect the next chapter in a few weeks, since I need to think up more storyline for that. Also, this chapter leaves a lot of questions, which will be answered quite soon...

[JediKnight707]

Just read the chapter and a cookie for you Nice work as always

[Sabretooth]

Glad to know someone's reading the story...

[JediKnight707]

Alright, I just skipped it...J/K

[Hallucination]

Great job, I've been following this for a while, but never had the time to post here. Great job, you're obviously very good. Keep it up:D.

P.S. I couldn't resist doing this:

Seliqa then made the lightsaber she eventually grew to love. She slept with it like it was a teddy bear, told it her dreams and ideas, read poems and books to it, talked and sang to it to make it grow bigger, watered it, made a special slot for it to hold money like a piggy bank and named it 'Obi' after that totally hot guy who was in her Intermediate Duelling class. The lightsaber was with her everywhere and she would do anything to save it. She did not want another sacrifice.

Again, I'm sorry but I just had to do that.

[JediKnight707]

Great job, I've been following this for a while, but never had the time to post here. Great job, you're obviously very good. Keep it up:D.

P.S. I couldn't resist doing this:

Again, I'm sorry but I just had to do that.

 

I really, really, really got to slap you sometime

[Sabretooth]

Seliqa then made the lightsaber she eventually grew to love. She slept with it like it was a teddy bear, told it her dreams and ideas, read poems and books to it, talked and sang to it to make it grow bigger, watered it, made a special slot for it to hold money like a piggy bank and named it 'Obi' after that totally hot guy who was in her Intermediate Duelling class. The lightsaber was with her everywhere and she would do anything to save it. She did not want another sacrifice.

 

Yes, that was, more or less the idea, just that it was supposed to be more, well, serious...

[Vladimir-Vlada]

You, my friend, are a very very very talented writer. Keep up the excellent wrok. for you.

[RC-1162]

This is one of the best fics EVER!! if i was to rank the top three writers:

ForceFightWMe12

Sabretooth

Jedi_Knight_707

 

you really capture the fights and battles clearly. for you

 

I really, really, really got to slap you sometime

get Pikachu and me to come with you when you go