Star Wars: Galaxy of Disharmony

Unknown Planet; Unknown Region: En route to Rising Dawn crash site; 371 days after Battle of Geonosis

Leonis slammed his fist against the front wall of the gunship’s troop bay and swore. Not only did he have to deal with his brothers dying from falling out of the sky, he now had to deal with politics. What he would not give to be back behind enemy lines where he only had to watch out for himself and the dangers that came with it. Dealing with enemy fire was his specialty. Battlefield tactics were his forte. Dancing around words, treaties, and sharp tongues, not so much.

He ignored the stares of the other four members of the rescue group and relaxed his arm. He needed to focus on the task at hand. Whatever politics lay ahead, Aldair was needed. The ship captain was better at playing the game of words. That was assuming the dinii had survived the crash.

Leonis recalled the captain’s profile. Originating from an unknown location in the Outer Rim, he rose through the ranks of the Republic Navy through cunning and tact. The man was a survivor and had a street wise personality that blended with the military training he received upon enter the Republic Navy. He even managed a promotion from enlisted to officer only to continue his rise in the ranks. Though not much of a combat tactician except when given ample time to plan, he excelled more in his words. Case and point was that he apparently talked his way out after being captured by pirates during an escort mission.

His com indicator lit up and Major Atto chimed in, his voice bleeding with impatience. “Captain, what’s the status of the search and rescue effort? And where are you?”

Leonis settled in for a long brief. “Recovery effort is proceeding well. Nearly all gunships and those on board have been accounted for. At least one has crashed in the midst of a native settlement that was along the entry pathway with the possibility of one or two others with it. The troopers with those gunships are currently under the care of the natives and the ruling native will not allow them to be released to us in an-”

“Their being held hostage?” Atto exclaimed, cutting off the report. “We need formulate rescue immediately. I’ll-”

Di’kut. “Negative, Major. The natives are caring for the wounded and have requested to continue to do so as a sign of trust. I have already arranged for those with light or no injuries to be returned as well as any who are beyond care of the natives or deceased.”

“Hold on now,” Atto said, cutting off the brief again to Leonis’s frustration. “You mean to tell me you not only made contact with the natives but have already established communications with them.”

“With the ruler, or local ruler perhaps, yes. She at least seemed to understand Basic, even speaking it. I don’t know how widespread the language is. I can give the full report later. We’re too constrained on time right now. But let me handle the natives for now.”

Atto huffed in frustration. He was not quite back to his sarcastic self but he was still arrogant and his lack of experience made him rather naïve and impatient. One thing Jango Fett had taught the ARCs during training was that experience always trumped rank. Compared to Leonis, Atto was little more than a Lieutenant in experience. The Major needed to trust Leonis’s judgement.

“Fine. Anything happens to them then it’s on you.”

It already was. “I’ll personally avenge them should anything happen.”

Leonis worked to keep his frustration under control. Atto’s inexperience was starting to upset him and his impatience quickly had. There was no telling what he would be like when his sarcasm returned. A thought like that would have to wait. Hopefully Aldair was still alive. He seemed to be able to handle him earlier and Leonis was not looking forward to Atto having full control from a technicality of being the ranking officer.

Atto sighed. “So where are you?”

“En route to Rising Dawn’s crash site. I’m going to search for any survivors and get a better understanding of the status of the ship. We’re going to need Captain Aldair’s expertise if he survived and we will need to recover any surviving equipment, ordinance, and vehicles.”

“You expecting trouble with the locals?”

“No. At least not with the local population. The situation with the locals is going to lead to political talks and the captain is the man for the job there. Plus, we can’t rule out the possibility of any form of hostile activity. Either with the locals or Separatists.”

“Do you expect the locals are in league with the Seps or that the Seps are going to be dropping in soon?”

“Doubtful. Just a precaution to cover all bases. I would prefer to be prepared in the unlikely scenario that Seps are behind us or arrive first when we get to a position to begin a call for help. Besides, ordinance is valuable and we can’t lose that and not have it for later battles or allow the locals to get their hands on it at any point. Not sure if they are ready for that level of tech yet. Plus, there are Republic secrets hidden in the ship that must be secured.”

“Understood. I’ll leave that to you. Atto out.”

Leonis breathed a sigh of relief. He never did enjoy dealing with superior officers, more so when they were brothers. He had grown used to getting a mission and being left to his own devices to fulfill that mission. From the start of this mission, he had been out of his comfort zone.

The call of the pilot brought Leonis out of his contemplations and back to the mission. “Coming up on Rising Dawn’s crash site”

A look out revealed the massive gash in the planet torn apart by Rising Dawn. Debris was strewn across the land and dozens of fires still raged along the path. Ahead, Rising Dawn was angled into the ground with the front end and right side partially buried, leaving the bottom accessible. But the mangled state of the outer hull and the fires that burned either on the outside or glowed from underneath exposed hull breaches brought on worries of structural integrity. While it was relatively intact overall, the rescue would be nothing short of dangerous and any recovery of ordinance would be near impossible for the time being.

“Set us down and move to a safe location. We’ll call for evac when we’ve located and recovered the survivors.”

“Copy. And if there are no survivors?”

The gunship landed and the rescue team stepped off. “Then we’ll be bringing back the dead. I will not leave them in that wreck.”

Leonis motioned the group to move as the gunship took off. As they moved underneath the derelict, they kept a careful watch for falling debris. The underside was mangled and entire sections of the hull seemed to have been torn right off, leaving the frame exposed. Fires were scattered about and sections of the exposed frame glowed bright orange. The entire ship creaked which echoed in the newly formed canyon.

Several tense minutes passed as the squad moved to the only open hanger door near the rear. Leonis silently cursed their luck that Atto had the stupidity to blast the door. Nothing but a di’kutla idea that had put the ship at risk during entry but somehow worked in their favor now. He could just hear a Jedi now. The Force works in mysterious ways.

But it did not take the Force to notice the low structural integrity of the surrounding hull. The blast had indeed left them with an opening but the result left the area weak and ready to fall apart. Entry had already torn major gashes into the hull and ripped off sections of the surrounding hull plating. Plus, the fire was stronger here.

Fire aside, the squad had an entry point and only one obvious means of entry. Two problems made even that entry difficult. The micro-fiber cable launchers each trooper carried would only reach high enough to attach to the edge of the square opening of the hanger door. That and the only edge that had a light enough spread of fire still displayed low structural integrity, running the risk of giving way under additional stress. The last thing they needed at the moment was the ship to continue to fall apart and an anchor point to collapse.

But as Leonis calculated the best target for ascension, the canyon like gash echoed with the creaking moans of the ship. A glance to the right side of the vessel revealed shifting dirt. A look up and Leonis saw the underside of the ship move towards them.

“Move!”

His mind raced in the split second it took to register the ship’s movement and react. Instead of moving out from under the ship he kept directly under the blasted hanger opening. In that moment, Leonis actually began hoping to the Force that the Jedi believed in to let things work out. As the ship dipped lower, he found himself hoping harder.

“Down!” he called as the ship got within ten meters of the ground.

Never before had he relied on luck or hope. Each mission succeeded from a combination of planning, skill, and properly applied training. He had never hoped a mission would succeed. He never lucked out. Not until this mission. Every moment so far from entry into the system to now seemed to hinge on luck and hope. All those who lived seemed to do so out of luck. And Leonis had found himself hoping that more would not die or that the series of events would cease their downward spiral of tragedy. Now, that luck seemed to hold out once again.

Leonis slowly rose and flipped through his visor settings to infrared. He took a look around to find the four heat signatures of his brothers and one side of flames still roaring. The team had survived and the impact with the ground seemed to have kicked up enough dirt and dust to smother the smaller flames.

They let the dust settle before Leonis switched to night vision to scan the area while the others activated their helmet lamps. The immediate area of the hanger glowed from the flames and the four artificial lights while the rest was dark save for a few spots lit by small fires or occasional sparks. Leonis recalled the schematics of the assault ship and the group started for the bridge.

The surrounding darkness weighed heavy and the lights from fires or the helmet lamps cast shadows which appeared as creatures stalking prey. The silence was haunting, broken only by occasional echoing creaks from the ship as damaged portions shifted. The surrounding damage only added to the uneasy feeling. It was like wandering through a carcass.

They proceeded with extreme caution through the hanger. The overhang rail that had held the gunships was in pieces and several sections of the ceiling sparked from openings and pieces dangled precariously. One gunship that was left behind sat in a burning, mangled heap while another was smashed against a wall to the far right of the hanger.

Time was critical and there was no chance to check on the other remaining vehicles tucked away in the bay. Once again, Leonis found himself hoping that at least most had survived. But the thought of surviving vehicles and other ordinance brought on a new worry. Retrieval. With the ship lying against the ground, trying to get ordinance out would be a monumental and dangerous task if not impossible. Vehicles already stood an impossible chance of retrieval.

But now halfway down the hanger, the sight of a turbolift brought Leonis back to the mission at hand. Wrecked and without power, the turbolift was useless, leaving the recovery team to work open a maintenance hatch to a service corridor as a quicker route. The tunnel like pathway was large enough for a human sized being to fit through but the tight space brought claustrophobia and other dangers. Should the ship shift or collapse further, the corridor could easily be blocked or collapse or falling debris could take them out in one fell swoop.

Once again, Leonis hoped and his luck held. They ascended through the decks as Leonis mentally followed their progress along the memorized schematics. They emerged in a hallway and proceeded to the rear to reach another service corridor which would lead straight to the bridge, or at least as close as they could. Another several tense minutes of climbing and they emerged in the final hallway with the bridge straight ahead.

The door to the bridge was partially opened with half the space needed to squeeze through. The other members of the recovery squad rushed forward and began trying to pry it open with no success. The door creaked but held fast. They made one more attempt yet the door no longer even budged. The clones looked to Leonis.

“Sir, any ideas?”

Leonis sigh and held back a mental curse at the idea that came to mind. Atto was getting to him more than he liked but they did not have the luxury of time to come up with a less drastic solution.

“Grenades, now. Not thermals,” he said, holding out a hand to the clones.

The clones each handed over a simple standard issue grenade and Leonis began setting them into the crack of the door. He increased the volume on his helmet speaker and called through the crack.

“Captain! If you are alive and can hear me, stay down and away from the door!” With the explosives set, he turned to the squad. “Cover!”

The squad dove back into the hall and placed their bodies as close to the walls as possible. Leonis temporarily switched off his night vision to avoid the flash from the blast and turned away. The charges detonated, lighting up the entire hall and sending a shudder that felt like it coursed through the entire ship. Several shards of metal were flung through the hall with a few bouncing harmlessly off the clones’ armor. They waited a full three seconds to ensure the explosion had not triggered a collapse. But once again, luck held as only a few loose pieces of plating broke free and fell.

The explosion had not only opened the door further, but had wrenched one side out and the squad now had an opening large enough for two. They moved through and began searching the debris for the remaining bridge personnel. Including Aldair, only three bridge officers were found with the Captain sitting at the navigation console. The two clones were huddled under stations.

The Captain looked up at Leonis and gave a pained smile. “You know, that visor of yours is pretty scary in the dark.”

Leonis shook his head, holding back the shock that the dinii had survived looking like he had remained in the seat the entire way down. “Where is the rest of the crew?”

Aldair grunted and held his side as Leonis helped him out of the chair. “Already off. Left with the rest of the evacuation. These two refused to leave. Told them I didn’t need them here”

Leonis gave Aldair a shot of bacta to begin healing the smaller injuries and dulling the pain of the more serious ones. He supported the captain as they started towards the door and could already feel broken ribs on Aldair’s chest. The rest of the squad had already administered similar initial aid to the others and were helping them to their feet.

“It takes a minimum of ten to pilot an Acclamator,” Leonis said as they worked their way through the door.

“Only one to crash it though,” Aldair said with a low pained laugh before Leonis could say more. “Besides, I wanted to make sure as many of your brothers made it off as safely as possible.”

Leonis hesitated his response for a second, thinking about the deaths so far. “They didn’t all make it safe.”

“Well then,” Aldair started and began trying to support himself before giving a groan of pain and leaning back on Leonis. Leonis looked down to see the captain dragging his left leg. “We can save the details until after we get out of this wreck.”

Leonis agreed and the group started back through the maintenance hatch. The injuries of the survivors slowed progress and the still shifting debris slowed them even further. The trip out was now taking three times as long as entry.

Finally, the group moved down a main corridor and to one of the lifepod docks. They set the survivors down to rest while the recovery squad worked the manual override on the hatch to open it. With the hatch open, Leonis called the gunship for evac. When the gunship arrived, it held position as close as possible to the dock port while Leonis and one of the squad members turned a broken panel from the wall into a makeshift gangplank. Each survivor was carried on and the gunship took off as the doors closed behind them.

Leonis relayed the situation to Atto and turned to hear Aldair waving away the field medic. “I’m fine, I’ll live. Take care of those two first. Ensign Jacks is in worse shape than me and needs the attention first.”

Leonis reflected on the events inside the ship. Once more, luck had held. He watched the medic divert to Jacks who had a large gash across his chest and looked back at Aldair, noting the injuries. The only visible wound was a small laceration to the head which he held a rag to. The other injuries were likely internal, broken ribs and perhaps a broken leg. They would know for sure when they returned to the main camp.

“Captain.” Leonis’s attention was broken as Aldair spoke. “Take your bucket off a second, please.”

Leonis complied, although hesitantly. The captain looked at the ARC with a look almost of compassion, or perhaps it was. He spoke low and reverent. “How many?”

Leonis felt a knot in his stomach at the question as he thought to those who had died so far. “Latest report puts the death toll at fifty including Commander Daren. The number of wounded is estimated to be at about one hundred. As such, I’ve been given command of Mynock Battalion.”

Aldair eased himself and gave a sigh of relief. He closed his eyes and gave a small smile. “Could have been worse.”

Leonis’s anger begin to rise. He closed his hands into fists. “Worse? Captain-”

He was stopped by the look Aldair was giving him. Not so much angry but intimidating nonetheless. He practically felt himself shrink.

“Son, don’t dwell on the dead.”

Leonis felt his blood boil and his knuckles go white as he clenched his fist. Despite all of his discipline and training, he found himself shouting. And at a commanding officer no less. “They fell from the shabla sky! This is not how any of them were meant to die! My brothers-”

“Leonis!”

He froze at the sound of his name, his anger and frustration coming to a full stop. Aldair had not used the rank as a commanding officers does when speaking to a subordinate, but his name. It was hard to identify exactly what tone it was but it stopped the elite trooper mid-sentence, keeping him from uttering another word.

Aldair continued, his voice low but firm. “You listen to me son. They’re dead and there’s no changing that. No matter how unceremoniously it happens. Death is never heroic nor is it meant to be. The best thing you can do is step up to the command you’ve been given and lead those who are alive and do what you can to ensure they stay that way.”

Leonis stood silent, unable to speak. But Aldair continued, shifting his tone to one that was softer, gentler. His stern look shifted back into a smile and Leonis could almost swear he felt warmth from it.

“Don’t ever forget them. No matter how it happens, don’t ever forget your brothers. The day you do is the day they truly die.”

Captain Leonis, ARC A-53, had just been scolded then comforted. Not reprimanded as a soldier, but a form of correction he hardly understood. Jango Fett had always treated the ARCs that he had trained as soldiers. He pushed them, disciplined them. But this one moment was something Leonis had no understanding of. But for some reason, he hardly cared. There was no way to describe the exact feelings. Hurt. Comfort. Something altogether different.

He was only able to muster a single response before replacing his helmet and remaining silent during the rest of the flight. A response that did not feel like he was responding to a superior officer. For a moment, he felt as old as truly was.

“Yes sir.”