Chapters Chapter 1: A Batch Of Troops
Author's Note
So this story is pretty much intended to be like a Star Wars Clone Wars episode kind of story, so hope you'll enjoy what we've got so far, and stay tuned for more! Special thanks to Scholarly-Cimmerian for the hand!
Chapter 1: A Batch Of Troops
"Fear is the mind killer inside all of us."
Captured by the enemy! As war rages across the galaxy, the Galactic Alliance strives for victory against the Storm Army! Planets captured in waging struggles and more and more people are forced to choose sides! As Jedi Masters are stretched thin to protect those in need, so are the number of clone troopers to defend the peace! In a daring attempt to fend Storm soldiers on Rugosa, Jedi Master Sandalwood has been captured and taken prisoner on Devaron! Withholding the secret battle plans, Jedi Master Derpy Hooves must step in and rescue the captured Jedi before the secrets are discovered...
A single freighter ship was rocketing through space. And inside the main pilot seat was the Jedi Master herself, Derpy Hooves. By her side was her astromech droid, R4. As these two allies traveled, Derpy was getting a quick briefing from the members of the Council of Harmony.
"If the Storm Army gets ahold of the battle strategies from Master Sandalwood, it could mean grave danger for the Republic ," Master Sparkle said.
"Or worse, they could find out the location of any outposts or bases we may have, " Applejack nodded.
"Which only makes it more imperative that you rescue the poor darling as soon as possible! " Rarity humphed.
The Jedi Master nodded with a small smile. "I can promise you, Master, I will rescue him in time."
"Good. But you should also know you're not handling this mission alone. We've dispatched a group of clones on the Resolute to help you ," Master Dash grinned.
Derpy's smile quickly faded and her heart began to pound. "C-Clones?"
"I know it's last minute, but the facility you're going to could be heavily protected. You'll need more help, " Master Sparkle comforted.
Derpy gulped. "Oh... well, maybe it would be good to have help. What's the group? What's their name, their group?"
"They're the Baker's Batch ," Master Pinkie quipped.
Derpy sunk again. "Baker's... Batch? Didn't they--"
"--We're aware of the reputation they've been having, but the troopers are hard-workers, and they've made it through every mission with very little casualties ," Twilight nodded.
"I know it seems scary, but it'll be okay. Just remember, you're not alone, you've always made it out in every mission, and you have more friends by your side, " Master Fluttershy smiled.
"Just stay calm and everything okay. Contact us when you've made progress ," Master Sparkle finished before the hologram shut itself off.
The Jedi Master scrunched her face, a soft whimper of fear escaping her lips. But she looked up to see her astromech droid staring at her, talking to her.
"No, R4, it's just... The Baker's Batch has... well... it's hard to explain. Lets just get to the ship."
The cruiser dubbed the Resolute hovered about in space, accompanied by two other cruisers. They had met up to travel on the far side of the galaxy with some other Jedi generals, but they were stopping temporarily so Master Derpy could go and pick up Baker's Batch. And speaking of which, the very team was assembled in a hangar of the Resolute, waiting for Master Derpy to arrive.
The troopers themselves had the same white armor like everyone else, but their group also had some blue paint on their armor, going up and down their arms, their legs, some parts on their chest, and even on their helmets. As they waited for their commander, a few of them hung around, looking for activities to pass the time. Some of them just talked to their compatriots, others joked around about some victories that they had gotten during their battles. While others would try to arm wrestle each other, and try to claim victory.
"Come on, Tap! You got him!"
"Bring it on him, Bounce!"
The two clones tried harder and harder, until Tap slammed Bounce's hand against the table. "Yes!"
Some of the others just rolled their eyes.
"Who's next? Coil? Ace?" Tap looked around, looking for any others who would want to compete.
"Come on, Tap. You've already beaten us enough at these arm-wrestling, just end it already," the trooper Patch groaned.
"Patch, what's wrong with you? You're not upset because I beat you that time on Saleucumi, are you?"
Patch just rolled his eyes. The other clones just shared a chuckle at his expense.
"You're not going soft are you? Not like Mix, are you?"
"Mix is not soft!" Patch exclaimed. "And besides, I thought you rather enjoyed his jogan fruit cake?"
"Eh, don't be too hard on him," Coil commented. "He's just upset cause he doesn't have the talent to not let food catch on fire."
Now everyone was laughing at Tap. And while they were busy enjoying themselves, their commander entered from the elevator. His suit was designed with more of the blue markings than everyone else, and his helmet was equipped with a long range antenna. He had holsters to carry two pistols with him, and a small pad over his shoulders, blazed in black and soft blue. His boots softly echoed on the hard ground, and as soon as he was close, he stood still, waiting for his crew to give him his undivided attention.
"Attention! Commander on deck!"
All of the clones immediately stood straight.
"At ease. I know you're all eager to get onto a new assignment, but I shouldn't have to remind you when we get out into the field we must be ready for anything. There's a new Jedi on her way, and I want everyone to be on their best behavior. Understood?"
"Sir yes sir!" Everyone saluted.
Just then, the hangar doors opened up, and the freighter came swooping inside. It's landing gear unfolded and it landed in the open space that was freed. With a small touch, the ship had made its landing and hissed steam as the loading doors opened up.
"Attention, General on deck!" The Commander shouted.
Derpy stood in the darkness of the freighter, but only for a second or two. The clones were right there, ready for her to step out and introduce herself. Taking a moment to calm herself down, she stepped out of the shuttle as straight as she could, giving the most optimistic face she could.
"Good morning, everyone. My name is Jedi Master Derpy Hooves. It's wonderful to meet you all," Derpy greeted.
The commander in charge saluted to her. "Wonderful to meet you too, ma'am. My name is Commander Bubbles. And we're the Baker's Batch."
Everyone saluted.
"Great to see you all. Oh, and this is my astromech, R4."
The droid let out a series of bleeps and sounds to respond.
"I'm sorry I'm late. The freighter I'm flying isn't as fast as my starfighter."
"But it can travel fast in hyperspace, right?" Commander asked.
"Oh yes, for sure," Derpy nodded.
"Then I say as long as we can get there in one piece, we should be alright. Lets move it, boys."
The clones hoisted their packs and weapons and walked onto the ship's platform. Once everyone was accounted for, the hatch closed up. The ship's hatches sealed up and it began to take off. It phased through a holo-field, and went out into the open vacuum of space, outside of the other cruisers. The clones began strapping themselves in, preparing for the jump to hyperspace.
Derpy tapped on one of the screens, entering in the coordinates and flipped the switches. The commander sat in the other pilot seat next to her, prepared for the take off.
"Next stop, Devaron!"
And in a nano-second, the ship's hyperdrive activated, and the freighter jumped into hyperspace.
Devaron
Devaron was a temperate and heavily forested planet. Numerous rivers and valleys marked the mountainous landscape, There were some villages on far sides of the planet, but hidden out of sight was a Storm outpost. Deep in the jungle, a base was constructed deep inside a temple, long abandoned. Sentries and hidden weapons planted about, ready to strike if anyone was trespassing on their territory. A few battle droids posted outside the main entrance, The rushing waterfall near did not bother nor create any roadblocks in the outpost's construction, nor harm any of the technology that had been installed.
Inside, Master Sandalwood was being held. Hoisted in the air, keeping his arms and legs apart, rendering him unable to escape or move. His lightsaber was taken as well, but it didn't matter. The droids were relentlessly giving him electric shocks, but none of it was enough to give him any severe pain. And it was all monitored through security cameras with audio surveillance.
The droid watching over the facility was a tactician droid, blazed with blue and green paint. His emotionless one-note face watched over everything, keeping a close eye on their Jedi prisoner.
"Commander, the Jedi is refusing to give us the information," a battle droid spoke from off the side.
The tactician's head swiveled and stared at him. He was about to respond until a small sensor beeped on his control pad. He pressed the button, projecting a holographic display. A Sith Lord was calling him, Lord Hydia to be exact.
"Have you captured the Jedi? "
"Affirmative, mistress. But he is unwilling to provide the plans. "
Lord Hydia growled. "Use whatever you can, we MUST have the information!
The droid nodded. "Yes, Lord Hydia. "
The Sith Lord groaned. "One more thing... the Storm King has given me warning. That traitor is still alive. She might be coming towards your outpost. Do not allow her any control, do not let her uncover any of our secret operations, and shoot her on sight! "
The tactical droid's speech garbled before he shut off the transmission. "It will be done, my Lord. "
The freighter kept on course through hyperspace. With everyone on board, the clones started to settle in for the trip for the time being. Eventually they were all called to the main bridge so Derpy could address them all. As soon as everyone was gathered, Derpy turned her undivided attention towards them.
"Okay, we're on course... we should be good," Derpy said, spinning around in the chair. "Alright everyone. So, are you all ready for the mission briefing?"
Everyone gave a few nods and 'yes sir' in there.
"Okay. Right now, we're on our way to Devaron. We are going to rescue Jedi Master Sandalwood, who's being held in a Storm outpost. He's holding secret information about Republic battle plans, which could be critical to the outcome of the war. At least, that’s what Master Sparkle told me… anyway, our main priority is to rescue Master Sandalwood.”
“What about the outpost?” one of the clones – Stinger – asked.
“Excuse me?” Derpy asked.
“What do we do about the outpost? Is this just an extraction mission, or are we also going to take down the outpost?”
“…Oh.” Derpy didn’t want to admit it, but she hadn’t fully considered that yet. “Well, I know that it’s supposed to be heavily protected.”
“Do we have any specific intel on what kind of protections there might be?” Mohawk spoke up now. “Turrets, mines, or just a whole lot of clankers?”
Commander Bubbles spoke up. Calmly, but firmly. “Let the General finish.”
Derpy looked to the commander with a grateful smile, before resuming her debriefing.
“What we do know, is that the outpost is located in some sort of abandoned temple. It’s surrounded by heavy jungle, which will make a ground approach tricky. But we’ll have to go in from the ground, to avoid alerting forces in the temple. Um, any other questions?” Derpy then asked.
No one said anything.
"Okay then. So, I guess for now, settle in, do what you need to prepare yourselves or whatever needs to be taken care of, and I guess I'll let you know when we've arrived!" Derpy awkwardly spun around in her chair, trying to get back to the main screen to watch the outside. But she didn't spin far enough, and just faced the troops again. A soft squeak escaped her throat as she slowly spun around, trying not to look back in embarrassment.
Everyone then left the bridge to go to other rooms of the freighter, mostly on their own business. But R4, Coil, and Fuse stayed in the bridge, mostly to provide company and help monitor the controls.
Coil's head tilted a bit, trying to whisper to Fuse. "Uh... Is it a good idea to let her be the one driving?"
"What's wrong with the general driving?"
Coil was lookin' a bit nervous under the helmet. "Her eyes are, well... um. Cross-eyed?"
"Okay, now that's just rude, Coil," Fuse said.
Unbeknownst to them, Derpy could hear everything they were talking about.
"You can't just--"
"--I'm not cross-eyed!" Derpy squeaked.
The bridge went quiet.
"... sorry, General, I wasn't, I-I mean--"
"Oh, no no no, it's okay! I-I'm not mad!" Derpy raised her hands up. "Actually, I think uh... I'm gonna go hit the mess hall, I need some food, uh... let me know if something goes wrong."
Derpy stood up until she fell out of her chair, quickly rushing back to her feet and stepped out of the bridge. The two clones looked at each other.
"You should probably apologize to her when she comes back," Fuse said, glaring under the helmet.
Derpy walked into the mess hall of the ship, feeling that she needed a drink or a snack. Or maybe both. As it wasn’t yet mealtime, the dining area of the vessel was not majorly occupied. In fact, Derpy had expected to find it empty, but to her surprise she did see a few of the clone troopers already present. In fact, one of them appeared to be preparing some fruits in the kitchen.
“Oh, General!” one of the other clones hailed her, snapping off a quick salute, “Welcome to the mess. Here to try Mix’s latest experiment?”
“Mix?” Derpy asked, confused.
“Ah, just my nickname,” the clone in the kitchen said lightly, as he sliced some meiloorun fruit with some skill, “Can I help it if rations have no taste and you want something with flavor?”
“That’s why they’re rations, soldier,” another trooper – the commander, Derpy recognized him by the insignia on his helmet – called out, like it was a familiar joke between the two of them. “Rations are the essentials… and nothing else.”
Mix barked out a laugh, “You got that right!” and began to chop up a jogan fruit next. Derpy smiled, as she realized what the clone was putting together. Soon, the trooper had put together a basic but still tasty-looking salad laced with the chopped fruits, all out of what supplies were available.
“That looks yummy,” Derpy said, before blushing. I’m their general, can I say yummy in front of them?
“Ah, thanks general,” Mix answered, and she felt herself relax.
“Yeah, not bad Mix,” one of the clones, Stretch, nodded in clear approval. “Definitely better than your last time working with fruit.”
Commander Bubbles shook his head as Mix rolled his eyes. “You’re never gonna let that one go, are you?”
“Those 'exotic' shuura you got were overripe and put half the squad in the medbay, I think we’re ALL gonna remember that one!” Tap chimed in, and there was a rumble of laughter at that, mixed with a few winces. Derpy couldn’t help but giggle.
“You hungry, General?” Mix set the bowl down on the table, “I promise, nothing to fear here.”
The blond Jedi smiled. “Thanks!” she said, “Um… just one thing, first…”
“What is it, General?” The commander asked.
“Do you know if…” Derpy blushed slightly, “…any muffins?”
"Actually, I do," Mix said. He opened up a small compartment, revealing a batch of what looked like freshly baked muffins. Derpy's eyes sparkled seeing the muffins before her. Mix offered her one, to which she happily gnawed on one.
"Mmm, delicious! You made these?"
"Yes General."
"I swear, every other mission he's making some new form of pastry," Tap chuckled.
"Well at least you have someone who knows how to make them," Mix retorted.
"How'd you even learn to make these?" Derpy wondered.
"Some farmers on Felucia taught me on pastry baking. Well, General Pie mostly. And with all the stresses of battle and war, I've been looking for something to keep me occupied. And so, that's when I found my hand in baking. Let me tell you, a nice sweet piece of cake after a long hard mission... hits the spot."
Derpy gave the soldier a smile.
"General. We've arrived," Fuse said, stepping into the room.
"Ooh, we made it! Everyone, strap yourselves in, we're going to land."
The crew found themselves a clearing where they could get the freighter to land safely, but also a space that could provide some cover to hide. Thankfully with the aid of a cloaking device, they were able to avoid detection from anyone on the surface.
As they stood around, they could hear the sounds of nature around them. Birds chirping, nearby insects and other lifeforms deep in the jungle. Some of the clones stood around with their weapons in hand, held up in case of an oncoming attack. Of course, no one was, but they weren't willing to risk anything.
"See anything?"
The ARF trooper Bolt stepped forward, eyes squinted as he gazed through the view-finder. "Nothing yet, madam." He lifted the view-finder up and looked down on the tracker in his hand. "But the tracker is indicating lots of energy signatures a few klicks ahead."
"Then we should probably go in that direction," the commander said. "Unless you have any other suggestions, General?"
Derpy's eyes blinked. She looked around, noticing all the clones who were looking at her, pondering their next move. She would have to come up with something fast. Closing her eyes for a moment, and with a smile, a plan started to form in her head.
"Since the forest is too thick for speeders, we're going to have to travel on foot. But, just in case..." Derpy looked back at their freighter. "Three troopers should stay behind with the ship, R4 included. We might need to transmit a message for reinforcements, or a pick-up. The rest of us will march forward and try and find Master Sandalwood."
Commander Bubbles smiled under the helmet. "Just what I would have done, ma'am. Stinger, Ace, Knight. Stay with the ship."
"Yes sir!" Knight shouted.
"Alright, then lets go!"
Derpy gave everyone a wave, and they all dashed into the jungle.
There was no rain, thankfully. But it had rained earlier, making everything they walked or touched feel a little gross. They could hear the sounds of many nearby animals in the jungles. The chirping of Kiros Birds was in the air, and they could hear the sounds of water running from the waterfall just up ahead.
"It's so peaceful out here," Derpy squeaked.
"Hard to believe there's an outpost out here," Bolt added.
"I'd believe it. It's out in the middle of nowhere, deep in a jungle, no one around to stop you. It'd make a perfect hiding spot," Mohawk said.
"My question is, are they doing something out here besides holding the Jedi captive?" Mix asked.
Patch looked over. "What are you saying, Mix?"
"I'm just saying, maybe they're working on something big out here." The trooper replied, shrugging.
"What could they even make out here?" Coil asked.
"Maybe a super weapon? Maybe something to shut down all energy on our transports, or something to destroy all life without harming battle droids, or--"
"--Whoa, hold on!" Derpy halted.
In front of them was a river. Just up ahead was more of the forest, but it seemed like they had just entered a bog of a swamp. They were standing in mud, and any further and they would be deep in swamp water.
"Hold my lightsaber," Derpy said, giving the lightsaber over to Commander Bubbles.
"Um, General, are you sure this--"
Derpy jumped up like an acrobatic and stuck her legs out, ready to dive deep into water. But she didn't. In fact, her feet just stuck a landing and made a splash as she hit the water. Her shoulders were tensed up, preparing to make the dive, but when she opened her eyes, she found herself still standing. In fact, the water only went as high as her knees. Her shoulders released from the tense up.
"Never mind, I thought the water was deep!" Derpy said with some embarrassment. "Just run across it, we'll be fine."
Derpy carefully walked across, making it through. Everyone looked at each other for a brief second, shrugging awkwardly before following her.
"Something tells me this is going to be an interesting day..." Coil commented.
As the group kept marching on, they were starting to get closer to the temple. Their feet splashed through open water that was near the little waterfall as they paraded about. The water was nice and cool, but they couldn't stay in there forever.
"This jungle is massive. Where even is this outpost?"
"We shouldn't be too far now," Bolt said.
"But how--
"Shh!" Derpy said, getting them to stop talking. "Listen."
All of the clones stopped, hearing crunching sounds. It wasn't coming from them. It was all coming from up ahead, deeper in the forest.
"Everyone, up the trees, now!" Derpy whispered, full of fear.
Following her orders, everyone scurried up the trees and clinged to the tops of them, sitting on the branches and arms. A few climbed up higher, taking cover within the darkness of the leaves, while others just held on tight like animals. Just down below, there was a small squad of commando droids who marching through the clearing.
Derpy raised her finger up, shushing everyone. All the clones kept silent and looked down below, staring at the commando droids. The droids slowly stomped around, looking for any sources of noise or anything that stood out. But they didn't see a thing. Not a presence or sight that they could see.
After a second of waiting, the two commando droids stomped away, back to their positions like before. Once they were gone, Derpy and her troops got out of the trees.
"That was too close," Derpy sighed.
"You know, we can always take them out, General," Mohawk said.
"I know, but what if they weren't alone? They could have had more droids with them, and I didn't want to risk the mission of us getting caught," Derpy replied.
"Point taken," Mohawk replied.
The group ran through the jungle for five more minutes or so, until Derpy ordered them to a halt. Everyone crouched down and took some cover behind some trees or bushes or even the plants. Derpy and Commander Bubbles kept only up to their eyes out in the open as they looked around. A few battle droids were posted outside the front entrance of the temple, unfortunately, they were all commando droids.
"We're not going to be able to pass through so easily," Bubbles noted.
"I think we're gonna have to get them to go away. I've got an idea," Derpy said raising her hand up. "Wait on my command, I'm going to get them away."
Looking ahead, she found something to use as a throwaway. Lifting a single rock, she levitated it up into the air, and tossed it far enough to be out of sight. It crashed somewhere over on the left side of the jungle, away from the temple's doors.
The commando droids turned their heads, hearing the sound. The commander of them urged them to follow him, and started to walk towards that direction. Soon as most of them were gone, Derpy and Bubbles slowly rose up from their cover and started making their way to the entrance. A few of the other clones soon followed, staying together as a group trying to get out as fast as possible.
"Whew," Derpy wiped her forehead. "That was close. Now lets just--"
A thud sound hit the forest that they had just emerged from. Everyone looked back, and Derpy's heart sank. The commando droids emerged from their investigation.
"Oh no! I thought it worked, I thought they were gone," Derpy panicked.
"Looks like we might have to fight, General," Commander Bubbles said.
The leading commando droid looked at the temple doors, seeing the group of clones and the obvious Jedi Master in front of them. "Blast them!" The commando droid opened fire, and the clones ducked from the shot.
"Okay, change in plans! Get them!" Derpy panicked. With quick thinking, she reached for her lightsaber, only to fumble trying to grab it. She bounced it around in her hands like it was a ball until it dropped on the ground. She quickly reached down and grabbed it, blushing harshly at the clones. This was not how she wanted to start her first mission.
But as she looked back to the droids, she gave a confident look and ignited the weapon, letting it's green glow become visible in the light. She jumped up, performing an acrobatic lunge into the air and successfully landing on her feet, for once not feeling embarrassed.
The first battle droid pointed it's weapon at her and she prepared to block every attack. Her lightsaber was gripped to block attacks from the left, and then blocked from the right. With her chance, she used the Force to push the battle droid away until it was tossed into the ravine.
Commander Bubbles hustled up, charging at the pack with his twin pistols, firing with the targets in sight. Some clones joined him as well, all running to get into positions to fight. Coil and Fuse stood close together, slowly walking towards them like a rolling tank.
"Behind you!"
A battle droid was about to shoot them in the backs, that is until trooper Bounce held up his gun and shot the droid's head enough to throw it's body down. Two more emerged from the jungle, thankfully thwarted by shots from Troopers Stretch and Patch.
Once they were down, Derpy put her lightsaber away.
"That was too close," Derpy said with some fear. "I hope those were all that was out here, or else, our mission just got a lot harder. Now..." she looked up at the temple doors. They were big doors, almost a giant's size! "How are we going to get inside?"
"I think I can get us through, General," Fuse proposed. He pointed towards a small metal box connected against one of the walls. "I think that's how we can get inside. If I can cut the power to the doors, we might be able to break through."
"Well... okay, I suppose," Derpy said, unsure of her choice. "Just be careful, okay?"
"Yes, General."
The clones raised their weapons, forming a circle around Fuse while he worked on the controls. Derpy as well joined them, keeping a lightsaber up in defense.
"Lets see, cut this wire... connect these... and... there we go!"
Fuse backed away from the box, and everyone joined. The steel doors slowly began to slide open, opening with a loud grinding screech. Derpy's face scrunched up and she cringed at the noise until the doors stopped making that awful noise.
"... I really hope no one heard that," Derpy gulped. "Come on, lets go."
Everyone huddled up and they ran inside.
If anyone was to walk inside the temple, they would say the outside is a complete lie. The outside looked ancient, but the inside was completely modern. High tech panels and support beams held up to keep the entire area stable, light fixtures were all over the ceiling. The whole place was fit with technology.
"At least they decorated the place for guests," Coil joked.
"Though something kind of strikes me the wrong way," Master Hooves responded. "If this place is meant to hold Master Sandalwood, wouldn't there be more guards? Security doors, Storm Guards, traps?"
And speak of the devil, as they turned down the other corner there was more battle droids standing around, talking to one another until they caught sight of the unwanted visitors.
"Uh oh, more of them!"
"There's always more clankers," Bolt said, raising his weapon.
"Blast them!" The battle droid ordered.
Derpy grabbed her lightsaber, igniting it again. She blocked the first few shots, deflecting them to hit the sides of the walls. Troopers immediately took cover along the corners and sides, taking cover.
Commander Bubbles raised a pistol and fired multiple shots while Mix and Coil kept pulling out from the sides, firing their own pot-shots at the 'clankers'. Bolt and Bounce performed a roll, both of them firing in unison, taking two battle droids with them. Only six of them remained, they were sure they could shoot them down--
"General! Look out!"
Derpy checked back and gasped. Super battle droids had appeared and had joined the party.
Mohawk, Tap, and Stretch moved up and stood close by Derpy, shooting at the super battle droids that were coming down the other hall. They locked on target, but they barely made any dents in them until only a few shots after. Thankfully they were much slower.
"Keep firing!" Mohawk shouted, ducking from another laser blast.
"We can't stay here, we have to keep moving! Does anyone have any grenades or electro-bombs we can use?" Derpy shouted.
"Wait a minute, General!" Coil shouted. He reached into the backpack he had brought in, pulling out some small grenades. "Droid poppers!"
"Good thinking! Now chuck them, hurry!"
Coil stepped up, throwing a popper at the super battle droids. It rolled underneath the super battle droid, beeping rapidly. They didn't even look down until it was too late. Once it stopped beeping, it exploded, sending tons of electric volts through all of the super battle droids, shutting down their power. Then down the other direction, Coil activated the droid poppers and tossed them towards the others. Soon as the poppers were away, they went off, eliminating all of the battle droids in the process.
Now that the halls were clear of battle droids, Derpy put her lightsaber away.
"Hopefully that's the last of them for now," Derpy sighed. "But just in case, I think it's best we handle the rest of the mission without getting caught. Sneak around, stealth mode, um... spying?" Derpy's cheeks went red.
She couldn't tell what kind of faces everyone was making under those masks, but she could only imagine they were staring at her with confusion and or cringe.
"I think that's a good idea, General. Who knows how packed this station is."
"Yeah but where do we go now?" Coil asked.
Derpy looked down the left hall. Then down to the right hall. Turning around and facing the troops, she gave a confident look, or at least tried to give a confident look. "Commander, you take half a squad and go down that wing, I'll take some troops with me this wing, so we can cover more ground. But don't split up any further, I don't want to lose any of you.
Commander Bubbles raised his pistols up. "Understood sir. Mix, Patch, Coil, Fuse, you go with General Hooves. The rest of you, follow me."
And so the two groups split and went on their way.
Commander Bubbles and his team walked down more of the corridors, all the while looking around. There had to have been something semi-interesting around.
"For a temple holding a Jedi prisoner, you'd think they would have more security," Trooper Bounce stated.
"I think we might be walking into a trap," Tap replied.
"If we are, then stay on guard. We can't let anyone take us off guard," Commander Bubbles replied.
Upon hearing that order, Stretch turned around to look. Of course, he knew he wasn't told to immediately look, but he wanted to check just for their sake. But as Stretch checked behind them, the doors in front of him slammed shut, separating him from the group. Only the sound gave him any indication. "What the!?" He reached for the controls, but none of them were functioning properly. No access allowed , almost every time. "Agh, blast!" Stretch shouted, pounding on the door. But wait! His comlink, he could still communicate with them! Raising up his comlink and taking cover, he spoke. "Commander, come in, please!"
"Stretch! Are you alright? "
"I'm fine, Commander. But I don't think I'm going to be going the same direction, the doors shut down on me. Can you open them?"
He waited for a moment, listening for them on the other side.
"Blast! The doors aren't responding !"
Stretch snarled for a moment. "Great. Commander, I'll try and find another way around, I'm sure there's some vents I can sneak through."
"Alright, but stay safe. Don't let anyone see you ," Commander Bubbles replied.
"Yes sir," Stretch said. "I'll meet up with you all shortly!"
Stretch held his gun up and began to run down the right hall, now entering stealth mode.
As Stretch went on his way and Derpy's group kept exploring, Commander Bubbles led his group down the hall, keeping steady and slow. Everyone kept looking around every corner, every square inch, every possible spot that battle droids or worse could appear from.
Bounce kept his eyes focused on every square inch around him, making sure he wasn't going to get shot from out of nowhere. "You think the general will survive this one?"
"If she's smarter than our former generals, she will," Mohawk replied.
"She'll make it out of this one, I'm sure of it."
But just as they were going down another hallway--
"Whoa there," Commander Bubbles said, halting his men. Everyone looked forward and raised their weapons. Right before their eyes were battle droids. All of them, in pieces. Not disassembled, but sliced up, like someone had cut through them. But what was stranger was they looked a little fresh, like someone had just gone through them while they were there.
"Well now this got interesting." The commander tapped the button on his wrist comlink. "General, come in."
"What is it? "
"General, a question if I may. Did you any chance run into battle droids yet?"
What they didn't see was as they were talking, Derpy and her small group of soldiers were leaning against cracks and sides of corridors, hiding from some commando droids who were stomping on by. "We did, but we just snuck by them. I'm trying to keep us as hidden as much as possible. Why? "
"We're standing in front of some fallen battle droids. And I don't think this is was from any of our men. The attacks, it looks like it had been done by a lightsaber."
Derpy was confused. "That can't be Master Sandalwood. Could it? Wouldn't an alarm go off if he escaped? "
"It's possible. But I just thought I would let you know, general."
"Okay. Thanks for the update. Are all of your troopers accounted for? "
"All except for Stretch. We got separated, but he's looking for a way to reach us again. That or he's heading towards your group, ma'am."
Derpy was about to panic for a moment until Commander Bubbles spoke on the last statement. "Good. And the troops you sent with me are still all alive and counted for. Let me know if you find something. Derpy out.
The commander then turned around to look at his soldiers. "Alright boys, now we don't know who made this attack, but we should consider the possibility of Master Sandalwood has escaped. We don't know if this is true or not, but we must keep searching."
"What if it's not Master Sandalwood? What if someone else is here?"
"It could be possible, but we don't know anything, Tap. But right now, we should keep moving," the Commander said. "We have a job to do, now lets get moving!"
The clones got back on their feet keeping up the search, not realizing what would lay ahead of them...
The halls were quiet without any battle droids nearby. Derpy and her small squad of clones proceeded as careful as they could, trying their best to avoid being caught. How they assembled the entire outpost was beyond them, but it was clear a lot of construction went into making it. Electrical panels and walls meshed into rocky walls, all held together by support beams.
"This place looked a lot smaller on the outside," Mix commented.
"Outside looks can always be deceiving," Derpy replied. "A little something I picked up from Master Sparkle. Just because it looks small on the outside does not always mean it truly is. Sometimes a cover can always hide the most important of plans or intentions."
"But what could they possibly have built into this place?"
"Heh, reminds me of the Changeling hives on Geonosis. A big dark and empty looking place was never the case," Fuse nodded.
"Whoa, hold on!" Patch called out, getting everyone to lean against the walls. A small group of battle droids were walking down the hall, completely unaware of the clones and Jedi that were there. As soon as they were gone, they got out of the shadows.
"Whew, that was close. Come on guys, we better keep moving."
As the group kept moving down the hallways, Fuse stepped up close to Coil so they could have a quick moment.
"Maybe now is the time that you should apologize," Fuse whispered.
"We're on a mission right now, we can't just break it--"
"--is everything okay?"
The troopers halted dead in their tracks. Suddenly their heads turned to look at Coil and Fuse, even Derpy was looking at them, although with more confusion.
"I believe Coil wants to speak to you, in private," Fuse emphasized with some force.
Derpy blinked, and she turned her head to Mix and Patch.
"Can you two scout ahead?"
"Yes General."
"Alright. Go on ahead, I'll catch up," Derpy ordered.
The two clones nodded and raced off, leaving Derpy, Coil, and Fuse alone.
"So, um... uh... w-what was it you wanted to tell me?"
Coil sighed, shaking his head. The only thing he was imaging was either he was going to get chewed out, or worse, would he be discharged? Was he going to lose his job as a solider? Well, no running away from this now.
"I... um... I wanted to, well..." Coil stuttered. "... I'm sorry for what I said when we were going through hyperspace."
Derpy blinked, her eyes still visibly cross-eyed even as she looked at him. But then it clicked in her head. "Oh! That! Actually, it's okay. It doesn't really bother me, honestly."
"Wait, it doesn't?" Coil asked.
"No. I mean, I know it's a little noticeable, but, I learned to live with it! It doesn't bother me, honestly," Derpy smiled, awkwardly, but with some sincerity detected. "Why were you even worried?"
"Well... I... I know you're my superior, but... I didn't want any bad first impressions between us."
Derpy smiled. "It's okay, um... what's your name again?"
"CT-4583. ... Coil."
"Coil! It's okay, honestly. Now come on, Mix and Patch are ahead!"
The gang all regrouped together, finally back up to speed and ready to move on. Their heads poked out from the corner, checking to see if there were any more battle droids around.
"All clear, General."
The group of five stood in the center of the hallway. And while the troopers were wondering just how many more hallways this entire outpost could have had, Derpy kept her eyes closed, blocking all senses around her. If they were going to have any luck trying to find Sandalwood, she was going to need a little guidance from the Force.
She focused hard, until her senses pointed towards the big door that the group was standing right in front of.
"I sense Master Sandalwood is down this way," Derpy pointed. She pressed the button to open the door. Nothing. No opening. "What?" She pressed it again, and again and again until she was pounding the button non-stop.
"Um, General?"
Derpy stopped mashing the button down, looking at Fuse with a sharp blush. "Heh..."
The clone cleared his throat. "If I may, I think I can always hotwire it."
"Uh... sure, yeah!" Derpy stammered. "Please."
The clone nodded and took a knee down so he see what he had to work with. Opening up the panels, his eyes focused on all the wiring and coils he had to work with. Taking a few out, he began to cut through them, hoping that eventually the power would have been cut to the doors. As he kept cutting away, Derpy's head jolted and she turned to look down the center hall.
"Come on Fuse, hurry..." Derpy feared.
"Almost through..." Fuse said, finalizing his work. "Got it!"
The doors slid open and everyone rushed through, just in time as the droids were coming down. But when they made it to the other side, Derpy could see that it was a big mistake. Battle droids were in the hall that they were in, only a few feet ahead of them. They were going the opposite direction, completely unaware of the Clones and Jedi Master that had just came in uninvited.
She squeaked a bit, quiet as a mouse. Waving her hand to her troops, she gestured them to turn to the right hallway to avoid detection. Until--
"Guys!"
A clone trooper was seen running down the left hallway, his footsteps making loud thuds as he ran. It was Stretch! And even though the other troops were trying to get him to silence his running, he didn't stop! By the time he stood with the group of clones, it was too late. His noisy jogging had gotten their attention.
"Clones!" The battle droid commander exclaimed.
Derpy's head sunk and her face tightened in fear.
"Blast them! "
Derpy quaked. "Blast it..." Knowing she had no other choice, she whipped out her lightsaber, igniting it in her hands. The first battle droid fired, and she blocked the first blast. Quick as they could, the clones took cover on the sides of the walls, preparing to fire back.
Patch and Mix held their backs against a wall, and in a few moments fired a few potshots at the incoming battle droids. They had to shoot them quick or else they were going to get shot back. On the other side were Stretch, Fuse, and Coil.
"Didn't you see her tell you to keep quiet!?" Fuse shouted.
"I'm sorry! I didn't know there were battle droids here!"
"Now's not the time to worry about it!" Derpy yelled over the onslaught of fire. "We have to destroy them before the entire station is alerted."
"We're on it, ma'am!"
Mix stood up, standing close next to Derpy to provide some fire. With some success, he was able to shoot down two battle droids that were marching towards them. But very quickly one of them shot him in the shoulder, making him grunt and fall.
"Mix!"
"I'll get him! Cover me!"
Patch dashed over to help tend to Mix, while Derpy moved just in time and provided cover for the injured trooper. Eventually Coil and Stretch pulled out and joined the commander, taking knees down and shooting a few more droids in the process.
"You have any droid poppers?" Coil asked.
"I have one!" Stretch said, pulling one out.
He stood back, ready to toss. With a fastball toss, the popper went flying right at the group of battle droids, and BOOM! A burst of electricity shocked all of the droids that were huddled, shutting them down.
But that wasn't enough to take the rest of them out. Taking a risk, Derpy charged at the droids, swinging her lightsaber around like a maniac, slicing the first one she saw. And with another swing, she bisected the other droid before he could shoot at her. And facing the final two; she used the Force, pushing them away from her with a slam against the cavern walls, crushing them.
When she felt that it was clear, she put her lightsaber away and wiped the sweat off her head.
"Thank goodness," Derpy sighed. She put her hands on her knees, panting heavily. Being a Jedi was hard work, but it did come with a little bit of stress of trying very hard not to die. But she would be lying if she said she wasn't a little frustrated by the fact that one of their troops almost got them killed.
Looking back, she could see all of her troops were still alive and accounted for.
"Patch, is he going to be okay?"
"I'll... I'll be alright, ma'am," Mix said, holding onto his shoulder wound. "It's just a flesh wound."
"Yes, but now your mixing arm isn't going to be mixing for a while," Fuse joked.
"Yeah very funny, Fuse," Mix deadpanned.
"Okay. Good." Derpy then looked at Stretch with a disappointed face. "Didn't you see we were trying to keep quiet? And, wait a minute, weren't you with Commander Bubble's group?"
Stretch sighed, rubbing at his helmet. "Sorry ma'am. I got cut off from the commander. I spent the last 10 minutes running for my life, there's battle droids everywhere in this outpost."
"No kidding," Coil nodded.
Derpy took a moment to breathe, trying to calm down before she said something irrational. Once she was stable, she looked back to Stretch. "Okay. I'm happy you're alive, but we can't be running around like that. Let's just stay together, okay?"
"Yes sir," Stretch nodded.
"Alright. Well if there aren't any more droids around, we better keep moving."
With everyone back on their feet, they proceeded on forward, back on the mission.
Back at the ship, everything remained quiet. Stinger and Ace stood outside, keeping their eyes out for anything in the jungle. Both of them set up some small barriers for protection and cover, even if it was just a few piles of rocks and covering behind leaves and bushes.
"See anything yet?" Ace asked.
"No. Nothing," Stinger replied.
The two clones gazed far out into the jungles, hearing nothing but the sounds of nature. Animals chirping or making noises, water rushing down from the waterfall that was up ahead.
"Such a beautiful place," Ace commented.
"You say that on every planet we visit," Stinger snarked.
"Not all planets. Vassek, for one," Ace replied.
While the two clones discussed the value of other planets that they visited, trooper Knight stayed inside the freighter. The clone trooper sat in a chair, busy looking on the charts and scanners, looking for any battle droids or any energy signatures that would have been out of the ordinary. Nothing seemed too out of place--
"Beep-brip-blip -boop boop ."
"DAH!" The clone nearly jumped. He felt his pulse for a second, hoping he wasn't close to have a heart attack. "What have I told you R4, a thousand times, please, do not sneak up on me, unless it's something important. No, I don't need your help, thank you, I appreciate it."
R4 just replied back with more beeps.
Knight's head slowly raised up, an unamused expression on his lips. "... really." He glared at the astromech. "Really. That's great. That's a great piece of information. But how does that help me do my work? I would really appreciate it if you just leave! If you weren't bothering me, I could get my work done faster! Please, and thank you!" He tapped his foot impatiently, looking down on the astromech.
R4's dome just swiveled around in a 360 motion, beeping what would be described as profanity.
"Hey! Watch your language!"
R4 just rolls away, leaving Knight to roll his eyes and look back at the radar screens.
"Why did General Hooves have to bring him along? I have to get an R5 series model..." Knight grumbled. "This is a nightmare!"
His hands mashed on the keys some more, banging on a blank space. Looking back to the screens, he focused on something that caught his attention. Very bizarre heat signatures picked up on one of the radar screens. But it was coming from... the outpost?
Inside a dark room, with only an assortment of red lights around, a single Jedi master was levitated in a holding cell, glaring at the tactical droid interrogating him.
"Tell us where the rebels are hiding... and we can end your suffering ."
The commando droid beside him jabbed him in the stomach with an electrostaff, which made him grunt in pain. "Talk."
Sandalwood refused to give up. "Whatever you dudes plan on doing to me, I'm not saying a word. Even if I have to die, I won't give up the information."
The tactician laughed, or what was supposed to sound like laughter. "Your will is strong. But it won't be for long. " He gestured the commando droid next to him to follow, and the two walked out of the cell. Once they were outside, the two exchanged a glance. "If we are going to get the information, we will have to use other means. Bring in the test subjects, we must begin the experiments. "
Chapter 5: Master Sandalwood
Bubbles and his small pack of clones continued trudging along the outpost. Still kept together in a cluster, and watching every inch around them.
"Any word from the other group?" Bubbles asked.
"Nothing sir," Bounce replied. "But the last check with them said that Stretch had gathered back to General Hooves' group."
"Good. Hopefully he had no trouble along the way," Bubbles nodded. "But we better keep moving. We need to find Master Sandalwood and fast."
Derpy and the clones kept on patrol, moving closer. She could feel Master Sandalwood's prescence nearby, she could feel it! The Force called to her senses, letting her feel him nearby...
She walked through a single door, And right out of nowhere, the door just whooshed shut, right between Derpy and the clones.
"What!?" Derpy panicked. She tapped into the console controls, hoping it would open the door. Nothing. And it wouldn't be a wise idea for her to slice the wiring with her lightsaber, that wouldn't do anyone good.
"General, are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine! I think someone shut the door on us!"
"Hold on, we'll try to cut it open," Fuse said from the other side. He squatted down to look at the wiring control, starting to mess around with the power cords. But even on that side he wasn't having much luck. Nothing. "General, it looks like the power is out on this door. I don't know how, but it doesn't seem like we'll be opening it easily."
Derpy felt like she was going to panic. Now she was separated from her clones, all alone, with no help whatsoever. Even though she was a Jedi, she still feared doing operations alone, worried that someone would find her real quickly and end her life in nano-seconds.
But she remembered a trick from Master Sparkle. Breathe in... and breathe out. Breathe in... and breathe out. She analyzed the situation again. She wasn't too far from the prison cells. And there were still five clones all together.
"Okay. I'm going to head to the prison cells. If you five can, try and stay out of sight, and don't let yourselves get caught," Derpy said, communicating with her troops.
"Understood General," Patch said.
"Can't you just cut the door through with your lightsaber?" Stretch asked.
"I would, but I don't know if there's anyone else down here!" Derpy squeaked.
"Alright, alright," Stretch said, holding his hands up in protest, despite not her being able to see it.
"Look, just keep yourselves safe, I'll let you know on my progress."
Derpy walked past a few of the cells, checking to see if anyone was inside. If anyone was around, she would sense it. She looked up, her head faced the steel door.
"Wait a minute..." She pressed the button for the door. But when she saw who was inside, she blinked. It wasn't Master Sandalwood she was hoping to rescue, but she saw something that was equally good. Two clone troopers were in the cell, and one of them was clearly a commander. Blazed in bright green highlights and with a few touches of blue as well, like planetary colors. Pauldron around his shoulders, and holsters at his side.
"Um... hi," Derpy blushed.
"A Jedi," The trooper gasped.
The two troopers pulled themselves off from the benches, giving quick salutes.
"My name is Derpy Hooves. Who are you two?"
"General. My number is CT-3947. Captain Planet," he saluted.
"What are you two doing here?"
"We were taken prisoner along with General Sandalwood. Though I fear we might be the only ones left," Captain Planet said with some distress. "General Sandalwood said that in the event that they kill him, he passed along half of the secret information to me."
"So the other half remains completely useless?" Derpy asked.
"Exactly," The captain nodded.
"Well don't worry, you're not alone. Where is Master Sandalwood?" Derpy asked.
"They put him in the other cell next to us."
She gave a nod, and dashed over to the other cell. And now that their chance of freedom was available, the two clones got up and followed Derpy out of the cell. She hit a button on the door, watching as it slid open. And there he was; still alive, still breathing, Master Sandalwood. His head raised up, hearing the door. A smile grew, seeing those he recognized.
"Captain! You okay?"
"I am, General."
"Whoa, dude. Derpy, good to see ya!"
Derpy blushed again. "Heh, good to see you again Master Sandalwood." She ignited her lightsaber, slicing the restraints that held Sandalwood up in the air. "Are you okay?"
"I'm okay dude," Sandalwood nodded. "Though the electric shocks don't help," he said, holding onto his stomach.
"Can you walk?"
"I think so. But I don't have my lightsaber, those blasted droids took it from me."
"Great..." Derpy held her face. "Well, don't worry. We'll get out of here!"
"How did you even get here?" Captain Planet asked. "Did you sneak in?"
"Not alone, I did. I have a small batch of clones with me," Derpy nodded.
"You? And Clones? Wow, I didn't think you would have it in you to lead," Sandalwood complimented.
"Well... they were kinda, dropped on me last minute," Derpy twiddled her thumbs. "But they're really great! So far, no one's died!" She sheepishly cheered.
"Then lets go find them!"
Sandalwood, Derpy, Captain Planet, and the other clone trooper began to run down the hall. Now was the time for them to get out of there and fast. But they wouldn't be leaving real soon. One of their security droids was watching them over security cameras, and he wasn't gonna have any of it.
"You won't be going anywhere ," a sinister voice said, watching their attempts to run.
Just as the group continued to run, the doors in front of them suddenly slammed shut on them. The four of them came to a grinding halt, and when they looked behind them, the doors also slammed shut too.
"Looks like we may have to fight our way out," Derpy gulped.
The four of them stood still for a moment, looking for something, anything. Something wasn't right. A strange whirring sound emitted in their ears, sounding like something was activating, or something was about to open up.
"I have a bad feeling about this..." Sandalwood said, sensing something off.
But just then, without a lick of warning, the floor from beneath them dropped, sending them all falling down and screaming. The two Jedi managed to cling to the ledge just in time, but the two clones were falling. Captain Planet however knew what to do! He shot a cable to the top, saving himself just before he fell. And he shot another cable down to the falling trooper, giving him something to grab just before he could fall deep into the pit of flames below.
"Hold on!" Sandalwood shouted. He pulled on the cable, pulling them both up. But his grip wasn't strong enough, and he felt his hands starting to slip. That is until Derpy grabbed on as well, giving twice the strength to lift them both up. And soon, the two clones were out of the pit, cheating death.
"Okay... too close," Derpy panted.
"I think I know who did that," Sandalwood stated. "One of those tactician droids said that he had ways of trying to get me to talk. And I think he's the one operating this entire outpost."
"There's always a clanker," The clone trooper replied with some snark.
"General. With all due respect, that droid wanted to obtain the information regarding those plans out of you. I think we need to find ourselves an escape."
"But we can't leave yet! I have clones with me, I can't just leave without them!" Derpy exclaimed.
"We're not going to leave without them," Sandalwood said, calmly. "It's okay, dude. I promise. But right now, we need to get out of this area. So how do we get out?"
Derpy looked around, gazing at the walls. Something had to have been out of place for sure. Something that was a design flaw, something they could climb through and go into another room. A vent, maybe? Wait, a vent! Right there underneath the floor! Just past the space where they almost fell!
She sliced through the floor with her lightsaber, opening up the grate. She offered the entryway to the captives first, letting Master Sandalwood and his two clones follow right after. Once they were gone, Derpy crawled right behind them, underneath the floor.
Earlier...
"What do we do now? We can't just leave here," Mix asked.
"Wait a minute guys," Patch said, getting their attention. "Look here."
The clones looked at the stone wall. It didn't look out of the ordinary, just an ordinary wall.
"It's a wall, Patch. It's nothing you haven't seen before," Coil said with some sarcasm.
"Coil, stop. Something's here, I know it. Wait a second..." Patch said, observing the floor. A small trail of water. It was hard to distinguish, but when the light was just right, he could see what seemed like some indentations of footsteps leading right through the door. "A passageway. And someone's been down here before," he said, looking to his teammates.
His hands started touching and grabbing several of the stones. If anything, one of the stones should have been the button to open the door. And wouldn't you know it, one of them was pushed in, and just like that, an entire door of stone began to slide open, revealing a passageway within.
"Oh here we go."
"Careful, it's dark," Fuse joked.
"Yeah, real funny Fuse," Patch snarked.
The clones reached up and flipped on the headlights attached to the sides of their helmets, providing better vision. And so the five clones started to walk on through. And before they knew it, the stone door that opened up behind them, shut behind them with a loud slam. All heads zipped back in surprise, looking at the closed door.
"Okay, I guess we'll keep on walking then," Mix commented.
The troops kept marching forward, pushing through the darkness. Looking around, they saw nothing but more caverns. It was dark as ever, and wandering through made them admittedly a little tense. Walking through was like entering a monster's living area.
"Feels like walking into a Geonosian hive, doesn't it?"
"It does, and I won't feel unhappy to get out from under this dirt. This place gives me the shivers," Coil said.
A small crumble of rock falling behind them made them all jump, forcing them to turn around and point their guns and flashlights towards that direction.
"The wind's probably tricks on us, right?" Mix asked.
"Look around. There's nobody here but us," Patch replied.
"I hope so," Coil replied.
"Wait a minute," Fuse halted. "Look."
His headlights shined down to the floor. Footprints made in the muddy ground... heading the opposite direction where they came.
"Someone's been through here before," Fuse squatted down, running his gloved hand through the print. "Quite recently, I might add."
"Doesn't feel right," Coil shook his head.
"Hey Stretch, you alright?"
The trooper was silent, looking down at the footprints. Very... eerily, quiet.
"Stretch?" Mix asked.
The chef of the team stood straight up, waving his hand in front of his mask. "Whoo-hoo..."
Stretch finally moved, looking right at his hand.
"Hey, welcome back to the land of the living," Fuse joked.
The troopers stood back up, walking down the dark and damp corridor again, nothing else to say or do. But Stretch watched as they went on down, and he slowly followed behind after muttering something quietly.
"Thank you, sir..." He said in a low voice.
Commander Bubbles and his team were still on the move. By now, they were just trying to evade capture from everyone nearby. Battle droids, security cams, mouse droids, anything. They stopped in their tracks, looking down and seeing a grate in the floor beginning to shake and rattle.
"Commander, look!" Bolt pointed.
Their weapons pointed towards the bottom floor, and a piece of the board was lifted up and pushed to the side. Emerging from the hole was Sandalwood, Captain Planet, the other trooper, and Derpy.
"General, you're alright!" Bounce exclaimed.
"That's a shock," Bolt deadpanned.
"You're all okay!" Derpy squeaked.
Bubbles chuckled. "Yes, we're okay, General. And it seems like Master Sandalwood's alright, too."
"You got it dude," Sandalwood nodded. As they stood, the general looked at the small group of clones that stood together. A small little team, it seemed. "Wow. Small group managed to get in here?"
"Derpy's face blanked. "Wait... where's the other five?"
"General!"
A door flew open, and so Mix, Patch, and the others were seen rushing through, finally rejoined with the others. "We found a secret passageway that led us to another corridor. The destroyed clankers that Commander Bubbles warned us about? I have a feeling whoever did that is real nearby."
Sandalwood's head tilted up. "I think you might be right." He slowly looked back, facing the empty wing. "I know we can't see him, but... I feel like he's close. Someone who shouldn't be here is... steadily, nearby..."
Derpy nervously chuckled. "Well, hopefully he won't catch us before we have to leave. Bubbles, contact the freighter, we need to get out of here."
The commander nodded before reaching for his comlink. "Bubbles to Watcher base, come in," Bubbles spoke into the comlink.
"Knight here, over ," the trooper responded.
"Bring the ship on the south side of the outpost, there's a hangar bay you can dock the ship. We're going to need to get out of here as fast as we can."
"Right away, sir!"
"They have been notified," Bubbles replied.
"Okay, great. Now that we're all together again, I think now's the time we retreated and escaped," Derpy announced.
"I agree," Sandalwood replied.
"Then everyone, lets get out of here!"
Derpy led the charge, and soon her clones began to run behind her, staying in a group formation. The last ones remaining were Captain Planet and Sandalwood who ran behind the pack, covering them. The pack ran down the left hallway, and then down the right hallway. And then down another left. All they had to do was just go down to the hangar, and they'd be home free.
Unfortunately, just like before, they were spotted.
"The prisoners have been freed. Let none escape ," The tactician ordered to the battle droids, watching from the security cameras.
"Roger, roger," the battle droids responded.
The group was still on the run. But just then, around the corner, three rolling droids appeared out of nowhere. Legs unfolded, a head, blasters, and bubble shields formed as they all made themselves appear before them.
"Droidekas!" Bubbles exclaimed.
"There's no way we're getting past them at this rate," Bounce shouted.
"I got an idea. Turn left!"
Derpy led everyone down the hallway, going right past them. And just up ahead were a group of regular battle droids, who's attention turned to them.
"Another left!"
They ran again, dashing past the battle droids who fired at them. But this time, all of them went through a single door, and then slammed it shut behind them, sealing it, and destroying the control console. But the battle droids were able to see where they went, and stood in front of the door.
"We can't get through. We'll have to go another way," the droid commander ordered.
"Roger, roger," the other droids replied.
The clones and Derpy were panting and breathing heavily, thankful that they had evaded their scanners.
"Okay, thank goodness... is everyone here and accounted for?" Derpy asked, looking to her troops. "Okay, quick head count; Sandalwood, Planet, Bubbles, Bounce, Coil, Fuse, Mix, Bolt, Mohawk, Patch, Tap, trooper who's name I don't know, Stret--where's Stretch?"
"Stretch?"
The troopers looked around the room, their missing trooper wasn't there.
"Where'd he go?"
"You don't think we lost him when we made a run for it, do you?" Bubbles asked.
"I hope not. But if he's still out there, I'm going to get him."
"We can't go anywhere," Captain Planet exclaimed. "If we do, those droids are going to finish us before we can even escape."
"Yeah, but I can't leave him behind! I can't leave anyone behind, not on my first assignment!" Derpy argued.
The two continued to butt heads with each other to the point they didn't see what was right behind them. Tap was first to notice, and then Bolt, Mix, and Bounce saw. And then the rest of their troops slowly saw it as well, gasping in shock and awe.
"What the!?" Sandalwood exclaimed.
"What in blazes..." Commander Bubbles said in awe.
"What... is that?" Derpy gasped.
Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. 