Teth
Day 94

The Acclamator flew over the planet of Teth. The space around it was calm and quiet. The inside of the ship, however, was a different story. Troopers were bustling about, readying weapons and equipment.

A Republic Shuttle landed in the hangar and was greeted by General Anakin Skywalker and Captain Luna. Two ARF troopers stepped out of the ship and saluted. Luna spoke first.

“Alright, boys, what do we have?” The ARF Captain presented a holomap of a monastery standing tall on a mountain. The structure was massive, and there was no land surrounding it. This meant that only gunships could land in the courtyard.

“We spotted several droid units defending the courtyard, with Dwarf Spider Droids in support.” Which meant they couldn’t land in the courtyard. They would have to scale the cliff. That was going to be a long climb.

“We saw bounty hunters going in, but none have returned.” Oh great, so these droids were good at killing bounty hunters. Luna could only hope they weren’t good at killing clones.

Skywalker nodded. “Very good, go get some rest.” With that, The Jedi and the alicorn turned to gather their men. As they did, the two talked about their plan.

“We have two AT-TEs ready to go, along with two platoons of men.” Luna sighed. “I don’t like this, maybe we should wait for General Kenobi to bring the rest of the battalion.”

“As much as I would like that, Captain, time is of the essence. We can’t afford to wait.” Skywalker explained. “We done better with worse, Luna.”

“I know sir, but…” She stopped talking as Ahsoka’s voice filled the air.

“... and so I sent the wall down, crushing all of the droids and saving the General.” Clones that were gathered around the padawan were laughing at the story, even Rex, who turned to face the Jedi Knight.

“Is that true, sir?” Anakin blushed.

“Well… most of it.” Luna gave her general a look, one that told him of the many jokes that were to come. Including one right now.

“The Great General Anakin Skywalker requiring assistance? Perish the thought, sir.” Skywalker rolled his eyes and elbow checked the alicorn.

“You’re just jealous it wasn’t you.”

“If Commander Tano is to take over my duty of keeping your reckless rear safe, then she can gladly take it. It’s one less fool I have to keep an eye on.” That got everyone laughing. Once it stopped, Luna changed gears.

“Storytime is over, boys. Grab your gear and get set for a combat drop and a climb.” The troopers did as ordered and went to get their gear. Rex walked up the alicorn.

“So what’s the plan?”

“We have to land at the base of the monastery, then climb up the cliffs to reach it. We got droids defending the perimeter, so be ready for a fight.”

“Great~, this should be fun.” Rex said as he went to grab his helmet. Luna watched him go, then went to grab her blaster. Ahsoka watched the two, however her gaze fell on the alicorn walking away.

The ship entered the upper atmosphere, the sun setting behind it. The bottom hangar doors opened and the squadron of gunships flew off toward the monastery.

Inside one of the gunships, Luna did one final inspection of her blaster. The captain couldn’t place her hoof on it, but she had a bad feeling about this mission. This was too strange. Someone kidnaps Jabba the Hutt’s son, has a droid force for protection, and was able to kill over twenty different bounty hunters! Maybe they should have waited for General Kenobi to bring the rest of his troops. Several small explosions knocked her out of her musings.

The blast doors closed, and the light went out. A low red glow gave her vision.

“Thirty seconds.” Rex announced. Troopers checked their gear. A low buzzing rang through the comms in their helmets. Luna turned to a trooper, who had it the loudest.

“Dek, your comms' have static.” The trooper slammed the side of his helmet several times until the noise stopped.

“Got it.” He said before lifting up his rifle. The gunship slowed as it landed on the ground.

“Welcome to Paradise, Rock Jumpers.” The pilot jokes.

The troopers readied themselves. The light changed to green.

“Green light!” The doors opened.

“Go! Go! Go!” The troopers and Jedi jumped out of the gunship and ran forward. Blaster fire rained down from the top of the cliff. The two AT-TEs were dropped off and the gunners immediately returned fire.

Luna and her squad quickly ran for the base of the cliff, which had a small overhang that protected them from the incoming fire. More troopers joined them, and the two Jedi quickly followed.

The alicorn was about to order them to climb, but a droned out scream interrupted her. She looked over to see a B1 battle droid on the ground, struggling to get up. A pair of dropped binoculars landing on its head made sure it wouldn’t.

Well… that just happened.

“Time to start climbing.” Skywalker said before looking to his padawan. “Race you to the top?”

“I’ll give you a head start.” She responded cockily. Anakin grinned.

“Big mistake.” With a mighty leap, the Jedi Knight grabbed a vine and began to climb.

“Ascension cables!” Rex ordered. The clones aimed their rifles and fired their ascension cables. The cable mechanism pulled them up and the company began their climb. Luna fired her cable and attached it to her belt. She felt the tug of the cable and she jumped up. Blaster fire intensified. A trooper to her left gets hit and goes down, his body slamming into the ground with a sickening crunch.

Luna turned to see the General climbing up the vine, using his lightsaber to block all incoming fire. Not far behind, she saw Ahsoka struggling to keep up, until the Padawan swung her vine wide to the right, allowing her to jump onto an AT-TE to ride to the top.

“Hmm, clever.” The captain mumbled. A new blaster sound caught her attention. Near the top of the cliff was a squad of Dwarf Spider Droids. They were hanging from the edge of the cliff, firing down at the troopers and the tanks. Another trooper is hit, sending his body falling to the ground below. The clones were halfway up the cliff, when one of the AT-TEs exploded and toppled to the ground, taking the squad of troopers behind with it.

Luna felt sick to her stomach as she saw the troopers turned to paste against the cliffside. With a loud exhale, she put it at the back of her mind and continued to climb.

Hardlight was not having a good day. First Christophsis and now this! He was not expecting to be scaling a cliff, so he had to borrow a carbine in order to climb. This left his Z-6 useless, as it was too high a recoil to even attempt to fire it. Three of his men were hit, their bodies joining the others on the ground. Just ahead of him was the remaining AT-TE, it’s top turret gunner long gone. He saw the padawan jump up to the front of the tank to use her lightsaber to block the bolts.

Loud engine drones echoed over the sounds of battle. To his left, a squad of four droid STAP speeders flew in from behind the cliff. They lined up with the climbing clones and opened fire. Several troopers were hit, the explosions and the bolts ripped through their armor. Screams of pain rang through the comms before cutting out. Hardlight watched as one of his troopers fell from the cliff, his legs heading in different directions from his torso. He swiveled the carbine around and prepared to fire on the speeders’ second pass.

Before he could, however, General Skywalker leaped from his vine, cutting down the first three speeders before commandeering the fourth, kicking the original pilot off. The Jedi took off with the speeder, using its cannons to destroy the spider droids. Once they were destroyed, he turned to his padawan.

“Try to keep up!”

“Hey, no fair!” Hardlight couldn’t help but laugh at the scene. He could tell those two were going to get on each other’s nerves very quickly, and he and his brothers were going to enjoy every second of it.

“Rex, Luna, meet me at the top!” The General ordered.

“Yes sir!” “Yes sir!” The two captains responded. Luna rolled her eyes as Rex grumbled.

“Get this thing moving!” Luna saw Ahsoka ordering the AT-TE pilot.” She is way too much like the General.” She mumbled before she continued her climb. They were almost at the top and she could see droids being flung over the edge, either intact or in pieces.

Luna watched as the AT-TE climbed over the edge and fired its weapons into whatever was still up there. After a few more hard tugs on the cable, she made it over, and the sight before her was unsurprising.

Droid parts lay scattered everywhere, General Skywalker was not one for neat combat, everything was a mess by the time he was done fighting. The alicorn pushed herself up and walked over to join Rex and Ahsoka.

Anakin turned to face them. “Too many here to be a renegade.” He stated. “I think Count Dooku is behind this, Luna take some men to clear out the rest of the Monastery, Rex have a detail look after the wounded.”

“Yes sir.” Luna walked over to a squad to rally them up while Rex informed them of the gunships moving to a safer distance. None of them were aware of the figure watching their every move.

Hardlight and his squad followed Captain Luna as they marched into the Monastery, the massive doors were wide open, leading into a pitch black hallway. The clones turned on their helmet lights, illuminating the dark corridor. It was quiet, too quiet after what they had just been through. There wasn’t a sign of any life inside, giving off a dark aura that even a cadet could feel.

Hardlight made his discomfort known. “I don’t like this place, gives me the creeps.”

“I think this is a B’omarr Monastery that I read about in my studies at the Temple.” Ahsoka stated as she looked around.

“Hutts and smugglers like to hang out in places like this, turning them into their own personal retreats.” Skywalker added.

“And the Monks just let them?”

“Smugglers usually get what they want, one way or another.” The General answer cryptically, adding to the spookiness of the place.

Hardlight swore that if he saw some spooky Monk bantha poodoo, he was leaving, deserting the army, and never looking back. If he could escape Captain Luna first that is. Although the tension in her body was telling him she was ready to do the same if anything went wrong.

No doubt the General felt their discomfort as he turned to face them. “Ahsoka and I will search the dungeon, the rest of you prepare for extraction. Luna, let me know if Obi-Wan arrives.”

“Yes sir.” Oh what a relief, Hardlight never thought he’d enjoy the outside so much in his life.

Dek carried the last wounded trooper to the AT-TE. There weren’t many, as most of the men hit fell from the cliff and died on impact, so it was mostly those who received shrapnel damage and still managed to climb. He didn’t envy those poor bastards. They couldn’t find anymore droids, which put them on edge. He had only fought in two major battles, and a couple of skirmishes, but there was always one thing each of them had in common. The seppies always had more tinnies for them to fight. It was something every trooper knew, that way they could never be ambushed. Captain Luna and Captain Rex must’ve thought the same thing, as they were organizing a defense until the General gets back with the Hutt’s son.

He just hoped that today would be an outlier, and that this was nothing more than a few guards.

Luna sat atop the AT-TE as a trooper was getting acquainted with the control layout of the top turret. Every trooper was trained to handle the equipment they would be working with, except ships, but that was irrelevant; Luna doubted she’d ever fly a fighter. So that meant that any crew on ground vehicles could be replaced by a regular trooper. The problem was that the troopers weren’t always experienced in the equipment, which was why she ordered some of the troopers to regularly practice using the turrets alongside their weapon drills.

A soft crying made her head turn as she saw the two Jedi walking out of the monastery with a… baby Hutt? What? This was Jabba the Hutt’s son? This little thing? She knew he was young, but this was a bit ridiculous. This was turning into a literal babysitting job.

The alicorn jumped down from the tank and made her way over; she took her helmet off to show her surprise at the situation. She gave Skywalker a look to which he responded with a shrug. The captain’s attitude changed when she heard the little slug begin to cough. Ahsoka felt his head once his coughing fit stopped.

“Master, I think we have a problem. Stinky’s getting sick, he’s coming down with a fever.” Anakin used his human hand to feel the forehead, and drew the same conclusion.

“We’ll have to get him some medical treatment aboard the cruiser, until then, Luna see what supplies you can find from the walker.” Luna saluted and ran for the tank. Her mind was racing.

Of course the little slime ball had to get sick, nothing ever worked out for them just the way they wanted to, could it?! She ran inside the tank and scrambled to find something, anything that could keep the fever down long enough for them to get to a medical bay. When she couldn’t find anything, she grabbed a backpack and ran back outside.

She gave the pack to Ahsoka, who gladly put the Huttlet inside.

“I couldn’t find anything, sir.” She explained. “But the pack should protect him from the elements.”

“Good thinking, Luna, we’ll just have to-” Two loud booms echoed from the sky. All eyes turned upward as Separatist landing craft appeared from the sky.

“Oh gives us a break!” Luna cried as fighters dived toward their position.

“Ahsoka, get the Huttlet inside!” Ahsoka didn’t hesitate as she ran past the troopers into the monastery. The fighters began their strafing run, blasting at any troopers out in the open. The troopers tried desperately to shoot them down, but to no avail. The fighters pulled away just as the landing craft touched down. The massive doors opened, allowing their cargo to exit. Several squads of droids marched out into the courtyard.

The AT-TE fired its weapons at the ship, but it did little to deter the droids marching toward them. A platoon of spider droids marched out and opened fire. Several shots impact the cockpit of the walker, killing the pilot. The walker crumbled, crushing a troopers that was standing under it. Luna quickly realized the situation they were in and made her decision.

“All squads, get inside now!” Troopers ran for the monastery, some slowly walked back as they continued to fire into the advancing droid crowd. A couple were gunned down before the rest ran inside. Skywalker covered their retreat.

Luna slammed the panel, forcing the doors to close. She looked to the Jedi Knight.

“Hurry, General!” Skywalker blocked another bolt then slide under the door just before it closed.

Rex made sure the panel was fried, ensuring that the door wouldn’t open without force. “That should buy us some time.”

“We can’t stay in here, sir.” Luna argued.

“You’re right. Ahsoka and I will find another way out with R2. Luna, Rex, hold this position until Obi-Wan arrives or we find an exit.”

“Yes sir.” “You got it.”

The two Jedi and the astromech head down the hall disappearing into the darkness.

“Alright, troopers. Get ready to turn those clankers into scrap metal!”

Hardlight checked his blaster rifle, his rotary cannon still sitting in the carcass of the AT-TE outside. Stupid droids, stupid mission. He lost most of his troopers because of this mission. The lieutenant could hear the droids through the door. They were trying to figure out that lock. It was almost comical, if it wasn’t for the fact that the moment that door opened, what remained of his men were going to die.

Screw it. If he was going to die, then he was going to die taking those clankers with him.

Dek was not having a good day. His arm was killing him. Blaster bolts tend to do that. He couldn’t use a rifle, but Captain Luna was able to hand him a pistol. He was going to defend himself as best as possible. He looked to see Bridge adjusting his comms, something he always did to calm himself down. So long as he did his job, Dek wasn’t going to say anything.

Luna sighed. General Skywalker and Ahsoka hadn’t returned yet, nor have they called in. She hope they didn’t run into any trouble. A loud groaning echoed throughout the hall as the massive doors began to open.

“They cut the lock!” Hardlight called out. Looks like trouble just barged its way in. Luna readied her blaster as the sunlight shined in.

“Here they come!” The troopers opened fire as the droids marched in. The first and second rows were wiped out before they could enter. Two troopers go down. The rest of the droid squad is wiped out.

“Second wave, second wave!” B2s and spider droids march in, firing their blasters as they did so. More clones go down. Luna fires her rifle, taking down several droids in the process. The remaining clones slowly fell back further into the hallway, putting some distance between them and the droids.

Luna watched as Dek went down, a bolt to his chest sending him to the floor. She made sure he was avenged. She saw a B2 aiming its wrist rocket at her position. She aimed and pulled the trigger.

*Click*

Her eyes widened as she weapon clicked empty. The droid fired.

“Get down!” She called out as the rocket impacted her position. She hit the roof, then a wall, and finally the floor. Her body was screaming in pain, her vision was blurred, and her ears were ringing to near deafening proportions. She didn’t welcome the embrace of darkness, but she couldn’t push it away either.

Author's Note

I can already see the reaction now.

Readers: What? This is outrageous! It's unfair! How can you do a complete chapter, yet still have a cliffhanger?!

Me: Take a seat, young Fimfiction Reader.