kael984Join Date: 2013-12-13
Post Count: 42 |
-Part 1; The Beginning-
The LAAT gunship swooped low, shattering the calm silence that had previously rendered the night peaceful. The steady hum of the engines made a cacophony of noise compared to the silent night on the planet of Corvis Minor. The bioluminescent fungi surrounding the forest floor glowed brightly in green and blue hues, illuminating the small creatures that scurried back and forth, desperately trying to escape from this newfound source of intervention.
As the LAAT pulled up upon a hill, lightning flashed in the cold dark sky, lighting up the surrounding vegetation, as well as another more ominous feature. Atop the hill, a castle sat, slowly sinking to the ground. It was clear that after years of misuse, the local flora had claimed it for their own. The walls glowed a dull purple, and the way the mushrooms shined off of it made it almost appear to be made of plasma.
As the LAAT landed, a contingent of clone troopers got out, followed by a tall figure in a cloak, with bindings over his wrists. The clones took the figure by his shackled chains and lead him up the path to the tower. They trudged up the hill, their formerly shining boots knocking over toadstools and mushrooms, some of which emitted glowing puffs of smoke. When they reached the top of the hill, the clone in the lead, one with red armor markings and a command kama, signaled for them to halt.
"Something isn't right." He said, in a hushed voice. "Listen. Those animals in the trees have stopped making sounds."
Another clone, appearing to be the Lieutenant of the Brigade, moved up next to him. His armor gleamed as another strike of lightning flashed, and his binoculray visor glowed with a faint green light. He had similar red markings on his armor as the Commander.
"Sir, my scanners are picking up some sort of disturbance on the frontier line. I'm getting incoming reports of multiple casualties." The Lieutenant said. His voice raised as he noticed something else coming in on his battle net. "Sir, there are over 300 reports of casualties!"
"That's impossible, Kenz. There are only around 450 clones on this entire planet." The Commander replied. "Scan again, if the problem persists then we'll report it to Akren when we get back."
Neither of them noticed the hooded figure in the back, who was smiling under his cloak. As they argued over the technical issue, he raised his hands ever so slightly, and pushed in a forward motion. The trooper in front of him went tumbling forwards, before losing his balance and falling backwards down the hill. As his body tumbled, the cloaked figure laughed ever so slightly. The trooper's neck had obviously been broken from the fall.
"What happened?" The Lieutenant cried out.
"I'm not sure, sir. He was fine one moment, then tripped and fell." The remaining clone guard said.
"Clumsy oaf." The Commander replied. "I told General Arlo to make sure the Kaminoans sent us better trained troops this time."
"Your memo must have been 'noted' and sent on to the Intelligence department again." The Lieutenant said in a sarcastic voice.
"Are you sure these are the coordinates that we're supposed to go to?" The remaining clone guard asked, suspicion raising in his voice. "There's no one here, and this place gives me the creeps. Why would General Arlo want us to bring a high level prisoner here?"
"Shut up, trooper. I didn't give you permission to talk." The Commander replied briskly.
"Sir, with all due respect, I think he's right. I've got a bad feeling about this." The Lieutenant added in.
"You've always got a bad feeling about something. Now shut up and keep moving." The Commander ordered.
The clones moved on, coming closer to the front of the castle. The Lieutenant leaned down to inspect the locking mechanism on the door. Another flash of lightning lit the sky, making it seem almost as if the entire planet was being bombarded in some cruel game of 'Kill the Clone'. The flash illuminated the body of the other clone guard, which was still lying at the bottom of the hill. The trooper's head was bent back at an awkward angle, and his arm was twisted against a rock.
The Commander signaled an all clear sign to the LAAT pilot, who was waiting with engines prepped, and turned back to the door.
"Get this thing open, Lieutenant." He said.
The door made a hissing sound, almost as if it was warning them to leave, then the door thudded to the side. Part of it's hinge had apparently become caught in the apparatus, and the door was only opened half way. Sparks flew momentarily from the side of the locking mechanism, and the Lieutenant jumped back quickly.
"Forward march!" The Commander said, maintaining his 'I am in charge' attitude.
As they marched into the castle's interior, the remaining clone guard switched his helmet's comm channel to a private chat mode, and whispered to the Lieutenant.
"Nice timing, sir. Haven't seen you open a door that fast since that battle back on Kashyyyk." The trooper said into the private chat, with the Lieutenant on the receiving end.
"That's why I'm worried." The Lieutenant replied. "I didn't open it."
The trooper stared on, wondering if he should alert the Commander to this, but decided not to. He switched his comm frequency back to public and kept going. Due to the door's failure to open and close properly, ever flash of lightning illuminated the interior, all of which was a blank wall made of some sort of plastic material, which shone occasionally with a deep purple. The trooper considered asking the Commander about this, but decided it was most likely from the local mushrooms.
"The instructions say to go up the turbolift, sir. Right through here, I believe." The Lieutenant said.
The clones moved into the turbolift, and the Commander keyed in for it to take them to the top floor. As they rose steadily upward, they could hear and the raid pounding against the walls outside. The trooper became increasingly unnerved, when he realized suddenly that he could no longer hear the hum of the LAAT's engines.
"Sir, I think something is wrong. I can't hear the LAAT." The trooper said.
"Hold on, let me try contacting the pilot." The Commander replied, and keyed into his helmet to switch comm frequencies to a personal chat with the pilot.
"Marx, respond." The Commander said, waiting for a reply. All he heard was static. "Marx, answer me now or I'll have you sent back for reconditioning."
The Commander switched back to the normal frequency. "He isn't answering. I'm going to shove him off that cliff when we get back if he is deliberately not answering me."
"Heh, he's probably sitting in the cabin enjoying a nice cup of coffee, listening to some Smooth Jazz." The Lieutenant said in a joking manner.
"Radio silence unless conveying something important, Kenz." The Commander said.
"Yes, sir!" The Lieutenant replied.
Finally, after what seemed like forever, the turbolift halted. After a jarring moment where the trooper feared he would be stuck in here forever, the doors opened. The clones walked into the proceeding room, which seemed almost as large as the entry way.
"There's no one here." The Commander noted.
"Let me check my bio-scanners, sir." The Lieutenant said.
The trooper glanced around the room while he was waiting for the Lieutenant's reply. He noticed how the shadows cast strange arcs around the corners of various doors. He paused, thinking he heard footsteps for a moment.
"Sir, my bio-scanners are being jammed from some sort of interference. One moment while I try to clear this up." The Lieutenant said.
"Hurry it up, soldier. If it takes too much longer I'm just going to start walking around until we find someone." The Commander replied.
The trooper continued listening closely, keying in his helmet to pick up background effects only for a moment. He listened again, and once more he heard footsteps. Even more than that, he could almost swear he had heard something that sounded like human breathing.
"Sir, I hear something. Permission to go check it out?" The trooper asked.
"Go ahead, but take longer than five minutes and I'm leaving you here." The Commander said.
The trooper walked off down the large room, moving towards the area where his helmet had picked up the noises. He stopped as he reached the area, noticing that there was a small hallway leading to an adjacent chamber. The trooper began walking down the hallway, figuring that he had enough time to check it out before he returned to the Commander.
Back in the central room, the Lieutenant jumped up from his sitting position and stuffed the binoculray visor back into the helmet lock position.
"Sir! I've fixed it! Something was jamming our signal, but it appears to be gone now. Let me try again with my bio-scanners." The Lieutenant said.
The hooded figure stood silently behind them, smiling. In the time that the trooper had been off exploring, he had undone his wrist cuffs. They now sat over his hands, so that anyone who glanced his way would think they were still attached, however he could easily spring his hands out of them in mere seconds if the need arose.
Back in the other hallway, the trooper continued down the row of rooms. Suddenly, he stopped. His helmet scanner was picking up interference coming from one of the rooms. He opened the door, and stepped in.
The room was small, and was packed full of technology. Consoles beeped and flashed with different meanings, and a mouse droid rolled around on the ground, pushing wires back and forth and organizing data files. The trooper wondered to himself how all this technology had gotten in the castle, which at this point he was sure was the wrong coordinates for the meeting with General Arlo.
One of the consoles flashed, emitting a loud and high pitched noise. The trooper walked over to it, and stared down. The screen was showing some sort of timer, and the noise had marked a ten minute mark. Leaning closer, the trooper was shocked to see that the timer was for a manual overload of the console. Looking to the side, the trooper saw a crate full of thermal detonators. If the timer went off, the entire top floor of the castle would likely explode.
The trooper turned around quickly, planning on contacting Lieutenant Kenz to come disarm the device, but didn't have the chance. A hand reached out from behind him and stabbed a vibrosword up through his back in a forward motion. The trooper felt sick to his stomach as he looked down and saw it protruding through his ribcage. As he fell to the floor, he saw a figure walking out of the room, into the main hallway.
Back in the main room, the Commander waited impatiently.
"Where did that trooper go?" He exclaimed. "I told him to be back in five minutes, and it's nearly been fifteen!"
"Sir, bio-readings seem to be normal. I'm getting only four vital signs in the immediate area. There's us, the prisoner, and what appears to be the trooper in the hallway adjacent to us." The Lieutenant said, with no way of knowing that the trooper he been speaking about was in no way alive.
Suddenly, bright lights came flaring from the ceiling. The room was lit up, and the Lieutenant glanced around, noticing multiple hallways leading off to various laboratories and console stations. From one of these hallways, a figure in Mandalorian armor stepped out.
The figure pulled two DL-44s from his holsters, and pointed them at the two mice who had fallen into his trap. The Commander and the Lieutenant both pulled their weapons out at the same time, pointing them in his direction. Neither of them realize that the hooded prisoner behind them had taken off his wrist bindings.
The former prisoner stepped up behind the Commander and wrapped his arm around his neck. The Lieutenant turned and fired his weapon at the prisoner, but the prisoner ducked and shoved the Commander forward. The blaster bolt hit the Commander in the upper chest, and he fell backward with a thud.
The Mandalorian fired both of his weapons simultaneously at the Lieutenant, who went flying back in an explosion of blue energy. His body lay smoking on the ground.
The prisoner turned toward the Mandalorian.
"Nice of you to finally show up." Johnny said. "I was beginning to think I would have to kill all of them myself."
"Oh, it's no problem at all." Dune replied, re-holstering his DL-44s. "I expect my payment delivered as promised."
"Oh, you will get it in time, my squire." Johnny replied with a smile. "In time..." |
|
|
I haven't read it yet but I am so excited. It's so in depth I may cry.
Let's see how it is!
- Lord Johnny |
|
|
That was amazing. I need to be in it though. Im going to make Xen give you Robux. |
|
max8ii7Join Date: 2013-10-19
Post Count: 21 |
Very Nice... Would be better If I was In it though >;3. But seriously. Good stuff. You are now my rolemodel. |
|
|
OH MY GOD I READ IT. WORDS CAN NOT DESCRIBE HOW AWESOME THIS WAS.
EXCELLENT WORK AND I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER!
|
|
|
I was wondering when I would appear, loved the ending hehe. |
|
kael984Join Date: 2013-12-13
Post Count: 42 |
-Part 2; Investigation-
The door swooshed open as General Ken-Yo Arlo walked briskly into the briefing room. It was a fine day on Coruscant, with the temperature resting just above 65 degrees Fahrenheit. Outside the Special Operations Center, speeders flew past at breathtaking speeds, making little more than a faint swoosh of air as they hovered past. The citizens of Coruscant raced around, all of them with their own personal agendas and plans for the day.
In some ways, the job of a Jedi was the easiest in the universe, and in other ways it was the hardest. As General Arlo walked into the room, the clones abruptly stood at attention, saluting to him.
"At ease, troopers." General Arlo said with a sigh, in a way that hinted to the clones that he had said those words far more than he would have liked.
General Arlo was a Neti, a species of the trees. General Arlo had been born on Nerit, a moon of the planet Ossus. He had been a part of the Jedi Order for almost 200 years now, yet he still looked exactly the same as when he had first joined, back when he had been a young sapling. The only difference was that he was now taller, and his bark showed rings of age.
Arlo had been through many conflicts, many of which he would have gladly avoided. To this day, he still could not understand why other species fought each other so frequently. After the death of his master, almost 150 years ago, he had sworn never again to take part in combat himself, and since then he had been relegated to a position of teaching. He spent his time at the Jedi Academy lecturing the Padawans on the nature of the Force, in hopes to have them see the true benefits of the light side of the Force.
There were five clone troopers in the room, as well as a finely dressed man looking to be around 60 years old, wearing what appeared to be a Republic Navy uniform. He had graying hair, and was holding a pipe in one hand while staring at a chart of recent clone deployments.
All of the clones had the same signature markings on their armor that showed them to be part of the 41st marksman division. Two of them had green markings, signifying that they were in Green Company, while the rest had gray. One of the gray-marked clones was wearing a command pauldron and a kama, as a sign that he was in command of this group.
The clone Commander stepped forward. "It's an honor to meet you, sir. I'm Commander CT-76343."
"I am aware that you have your own names, Commander." General Arlo replied slowly.
"Alright then, sir." The Commander said, showing apprehension. "I'm Commander Casken."
"A pleasure to meet you, Commander Casken. I assume the rest of your men have names as well?" General Arlo replied.
"Yes, sir. The two in the green armor are Arre and Isbindi." The Commander said, point towards them with had hand. He gestured toward the other two, and continued. "My Lieutenant is called Curaj, and the other one is Ven."
The man in the Navy uniform stepped forward, holding his pipe in one hand. "I'm Captain Cheie, General. I've been assigned to oversee these troopers mission."
"I believe I should begin the briefing then." General Arlo said respectfully. "So I do not waste any more precious time."
Arlo turned to the holochart, and quickly entered a 9 digit code into it. He scrolled across on the console, looking for the correct file. He pressed another button, and a galaxy map popped up. He zoomed in on the planet Corvis Minor.
"This is the planet Corvis Minor. It is neither Republic nor Separatist, though we had an outpost here." Arlo said. "We have not had a single casualty on this planet up until yesterday."
"What happened, sir? Some sort of droid attack?" Asked one of the Green Company clones. Arlo remembered that his name was Arre.
"We're not sure. No distress signal was sent. All we know is that at 23:45 Republic Time last night, all vital signs were lost." Captain Cheie said, stepping forward. "We have tried to make contact, but with no answer."
"The Captain is correct." Said Arlo. "The Jedi Council has become increasingly worried about this, but that is not the only problem. The records show that a prisoner transfer was made to that planet, and the prisoner has been noted as arriving on the planet approximately 2 hours before all vital signs were lost."
"Do you think the prisoner had something to do with this?" Asked Arre, suspicion hinting in his voice.
"We're not sure." Arlo replied. "But we believe so. The prisoner in question is the crime lord Johnny of Mandalore. He was arrested last month for leading an attack on a Republic outpost with his crime empire, known as Johnny's Rangers."
"What I want to know is how he coordinated his transfer to one of the most remote planets in the galaxy?" Captain Cheie said, placing his pipe in his mouth.
"That is where you come in. We have called together this squad to investigate the incident. Captain Cheie will take you to Corvis Minor in a vessel disguised as a diplomatic ship. If Johnny's Rangers are truly there, then we do not want to alert them of our presence." Arlo explained.
"What's our priority when we get there?" Asked Lieutenant Curaj.
"You will go to the Republic outpost and meet up with a squad from the 212th that we sent out this morning." Arlo said. "Once there, you will investigate the ruins of the outpost, and do what you see fit to discover what has caused this disturbance."
"Is there any chance that this might just be a sensor malfunction?" Asked Arre.
"Sadly, I think not." Said Arlo.
General Arlo deactivated the console, pulling the galaxy map off the screen. Turning slowly, he stared out the window of the Coruscant Special Operations Center, and sighed. There were too many issues, and not nearly enough Jedi to solve them. |
|
|
Another fantastic part! Great work, Kael! |
|
|
This is really good, can't wait for Part 3 |
|
kael984Join Date: 2013-12-13
Post Count: 42 |
-Part 3; What Once Was Lost To Us-
"We have arrived at Corvis Minor. Prepare to enter the atmosphere." A voice crackled through the ship-wide comlink.
Seven clone troopers sat in the armory, a newly added feature on the formerly diplomatic vessel. After reviewing the deployment charts, Captain Cheie had decided that sending the clone squad out by themselves without any guides would be risky, so he requested for two more clone troopers to accompany them. The ship had stopped at an orbital station around this sector and picked up the designated guides.
The clones now sat together in silence, in the bleak armory that was formerly a cargo hold. Weapons were hastily bolted down to the walls, and crates full of ammunition were stacked in the corner. Behind the makeshift armory was a loading ramp, which the clones would use to enter the planet.
Captain Cheie was planning on dropping them off in a clearing a couple miles away from the Republic outpost, due to General Arlo's warning that they might run into trouble. Cheie was up at the bridge now, with two pilots that were commissioned from the Republic Navy.
Captain Cheie would remain on the bridge, along with the two pilots, and fly back out of the atmosphere. He would maintain range to contact them through their comlinks, but he would not be close enough to the surface to be shot down. After their investigation was over, he would fly back down to the same clearing he was dropping them off in and pick them up. They would then proceed to fly to the nearest orbital station, where General Arlo would meet them for debriefing.
Another squad, a group of twelve clone troopers from the 212th, was already down on the surface. They had arrived a few hours before. The current plan was to rendezvous with them to begin the investigation.
"So, you'll be our guides?" Lieutenant Curaj said, gesturing towards the two new troopers.
"Yes, sir. We've had extensive experience on this planet. We were stationed at the outpost here up until last week, when we were moved out to serve as communications officers on the orbital station." One of the troopers replied. "I'm Lerik."
"I'm Spark." Said the second trooper.
"Well, let's hope you're good guides." Said Arre. "My scanners are picking up a ton of local wildlife. The entire area is practically overran with mushrooms and dying trees."
"What's the status on the weather conditions?" Casken asked.
"Frankly, they're horrible, sir." Arre replied, glancing at the datapad he held in his hands. "It seems that a planet-wide thunderstorm has been circling around for the past few weeks."
"I've got a bad feeling about this." Said Lieutenant Curaj.
"We all do, Lieutenant." Commander Casken said.
"I still don't understand why we couldn't just attack the planet with a couple Venators. You know, orbital bombardment?" Ven suggested.
"Command says no. Deployments are spread out too thin, and as far as we know Johnny's Rangers aren't even here. It would be a useless waste of valuable resources." Casken stated flatly.
Suddenly, Casken's comlink crackled to life. "Sir, the Captain wants you on the bridge." Said one of the pilots.
Commander Casken sighed. There was probably another issue, maybe command had decided to send them more troops, or deploy them in a different position. None of these missions ever gave them solid intel, as far as he knew the entire planet might actually be giant fields of sunshine, and now he was being called up to look at the newest datapad about it.
"Captain wants me on the bridge" Casken said. "I'll be back."
He got up and walked towards the door, keying in the passcode. He left the armor, and strode quickly into the conjoined hallway. As he walked along, he couldn't help but keep thinking about the outpost. How could 450 clones possibly just disappear? Finally, he decided to himself that there was most likely some sort of sensor issue, and that they would arrive only to find a fully functioning Republic outpost complete with 450 clone troopers.
As he walked into the bridge, he could feel a tenseness in the air. The pilots were sitting at their consoles, staring alertly at the navigational charts. The Captain was standing behind them, staring out the front viewport, with his pipe in his mouth.
As Casken walked up to him, Captain Cheie turned around. He took his pipe out of his mouth and held it firmly in one hand.
"We've run into an issue." He stated bluntly.
"What kind of issue, sir?" Casken asked, becoming curious and apprehensive at the same time.
"We've lost communications with Keeradak squad." Captain Cheie said. "As far as we can tell they never arrived at the outpost in the first place. We're picking up vital signs of three of them somewhere out in the swamp, the rest are apparently dead."
"How's that possible? That was a twelve man squad, and they've been here for hours. There's no way they're dead." Casken exclaimed.
"That's exactly what I was thinking." Cheie said. "Which is why I'm changing the mission. You will split your squad in half, one half will trace down the remaining three members of the 212th squad, while the other half goes to the outpost."
"Are you sure that's a good idea, sir? With all due respect, if someone or something killed twelve of the best clones we have, we might want to wait and request reinforcements." Casken suggested.
"We have our orders, soldier." Cheie said, clearly implying that there would be no further argument. "Curaj, Ven, and Arre will go with you to the outpost. Lerik will lead a squad consisting of Isbindi and Spark to the location of the remaining three clones from the 212th."
"Understood, sir. I'll go alert them." Casken said, turning and striding quickly out of the bridge.
Captain Cheie turned around and placed his pipe back into his mouth. Supreme Commander Xenous had assured him that this was the most capable squad available. Cheie hoped that for their sake Xenous was correct.
[15 Minutes Later]
"Alright, grab your weapons. We're being dropped off in five minutes." Commander Casken said, standing up.
The clones all grabbed their DC-15s from the wall, except for Isbindi and Ven, who walked over to the supply crate at the other end of the ship. Isbindi unbolted his sniper rifle from the wall above the crate, and Ven took a DLT out of one of the black cases bolted to the floor.
"Everyone clear on the mission?" Casken asked.
"Yes, sir!" The clones replied in a chorus of enthusiasm.
As the ship pulled up to the clearing, Arre moved over to Commander Casken.
"Sir, I was thinking, since I'm the designated technology officer, wouldn't it be better if I remained on the ship? To monitor communications signals, and help scan for vital signs?" Arre asked quietly.
"If what you're trying to say is that you think we're all going to die, and you would rather not partake in such activities, then no." Casken replied bluntly.
"That isn't what I mean, sir. It's just that I have a bad feeling about this, and I think I would be able to better server you by manning the scanners on-board the ship, instead of getting myself killed." Arre explained.
"Listen, we've got a job to do, and as long as I'm the Commander of this squad, we are going to do it." Casken said. "You'll be needed at the outpost anyways. You never know when we'll need a computer terminal sliced."
With a sigh, Arre nodded his head and moved back to his position. The engines continued their steady hum, and Arre felt like it was driving him insane. It was clear that this mission was doomed from the start, and he would have much preferred to be waiting on the ship.
The vessel rocked back and forth as it lowered itself into the clearing. The rain pelted the outside so hard, it almost sounded as if someone were beating on the side of the hull. The metal plating on the side of the ship, scorched and scratched from the many travels it had been on, were slick with the rain water. A large frog jumped off the branch of a tree at the edge of the clearing, and slid down the side of the ship into the enormous pit of mud in the center of the clearing.
As the ship landed, the loading ramp at the back of the cargo hold descended. The clones ran out into the center of the clearing, and stood at close attention while waiting for further orders.
The clearing was a large space, around 400 meters across. In the center was a giant puddle of mud created from the ongoing torrent of rain. Along the outside edges of the clearing, far too many trees to count bordered the mud. The ground was numerous with bioluminescent mushrooms, which glowed with faint green and blue lights. The rain pounded down hard, and the clones could already tell they would have a hard time trekking through the surrounding wilderness.
At the edge of one side of the clearing, two paths branched off. One lead into a swamp, while the other had a marker post that said 'REPUBLIC OUTPOST' in bold letters. A large beetle skittered across the ground in front of the sign, before an even larger frog jumped out from it's hiding place and snatched it up. The surrounding bog was luminous with the lights of more fungi, and the animals were making a loud noise, almost as if they were protesting to the arrival of the clones.
Casken listened closely, he could hear some sort of frog making deep croaking sounds, as well as various birds making low chirping sounds that almost sounded like a comlink beeping. He looked down, and saw that a beetle was crawling up the side of his boot. He scraped his foot against the ground to knock it off.
"Alright, form up into squads." He ordered.
Isbindi and Spark moved over to Lerik, while Ven and Curaj stood near Casken. Arre was still standing in the center of the clearing, staring at a datapad. Abruptly, he looked up, and walked over to Casken.
"Alright, Lerik take your men down that path into the swamp, that's where the survivors' vital signs were last seen. We'll head towards the base." Casken ordered. "Maintain radio contact, call Captain Cheie for evacuation once you have found the survivors. If we're lucky, we'll be off this planet by tomorrow."
With that, Lerik and his team moved off into the swamp. Casken's team stood in the clearing still, staring at their Commander.
"What is it, sir?" Curaj asked.
"Nothing, it's just..." He trailed off. "Something doesn't feel right about this place." |
|
|
Well that was amazing when you read all 3 together, great jib like the other 2! |
|
TigeonJoin Date: 2013-05-24
Post Count: 4222 |
I'm too lazy to read the third part-I'm extremely tired today.
The first and second parts were AMAZING
bill |
|
kael984Join Date: 2013-12-13
Post Count: 42 |
-Part 4; And It Rode In On A Pale Horse-
Lightning flashed in the sky briefly illuminating the four clones who stood in the center of a clearing on the dark and wet planet known as Corvis Minor. Rain pelted down and splashed into the mud at their feet, creating a sludge of dirt and water that stuck to the boots of anyone unfortunate enough to walk near it.
The surrounding wildlife seemed annoyed by the presence of outsiders, and were skittering about at the very edges of the clones' perception. Mushrooms glowed with a faint, ominous light that seemed to watch them from afar. Some birds off in the distance were repeatedly making a loud, high pitched chirping sound.
Corporal Lerik and his squad had already moved off down the path that lead into a swamp, and Casken and his team were left in the clearing alone. None of them moved, as if waiting for some sort of cue to start their mission.
Finally, Ven broke the silence by taking a few steps forward and making an annoyed grunting sound. He flicked some sort of beetle off his arm, and turned to the rest of the team.
"So, are we planning on standing here until team two comes back?" Ven asked sarcastically.
"Watch your tone, trooper." Curaj stepped in, correcting him.
"He's right. We need to get moving." Casken said, and started off down the path towards the Republic outpost.
As they trudged along down the path, Arre couldn't help but feel a sensation of dread. Something about the surrounding bog, and the way the mushrooms cast eerie reflections of their every movement made his feet feel like lead. The constant chirping of a far off bird was drilling into the back of his head, making him wish he had been allowed to stay on board the ship. Strange animals seemed to watch watch them from inside hollow tree trunks lining the edge of the path, but none ever showed themselves.
Arre glanced down at his datapad, which was receiving a constant stream of data from the scanners on board the ship they flew in on. Suddenly, he noticed something odd.
"Sir, my scanners are showing multiple large organics nearby." Arre said, his voice showing a hint of concern.
"What do you mean? All previous scans showed that there was no life larger than a frog within 30 miles from here." Casken said.
"I know that, Commander, but the scanners are picking something up." Arre replied.
Casken stopped walking, and turned around. He strode back quickly and glanced at the datapad. Arre was correct, the four clones were shown as small yellow dots on the map, but there were also an additional two yellow dots in the same vicinity as them.
"They might be survivors from the 212th squad. Curaj, contact the other team and have them run a bio-scan. The survivors might have changed location." Casken ordered.
Curaj quickly switched his comm frequency. "Lerik, this is Curaj. Are you receiving?"
"Affirmative, sir. We're about half way to our destination." Lerik replied with a burst of static.
"Do a bio-scan, see if any of the survivors changed their location." Curaj ordered.
A few seconds passed, before Lerik replied. "Negative, sir. Survivors have not changed position at all."
"Alright, that will be all. Curaj out." He responded, switching his helmet's comm frequency back to normal. "Sir, all three survivors have maintained their position. Those vital signs are unidentified."
"Alright, we'll keep moving. They might just be a sensor glitch." Casken said, and the squad kept moving.
The clones kept marching, relentlessly trudging forward in the hailstorm of mud and mushrooms. The rain began letting up, but it had already done it's work. The ground was a mess of liquefied dirt. Suddenly, Curaj stopped.
"Sir, stop. Listen." The Lieutenant said.
"What is it? I don't hear anything." Casken replied.
"Exactly, sir. Remember that annoying bird that was chirping ever since we got here? And all the frogs that croaked when we went past them? Curaj asked.
"What's your point, Lieutenant?" Casken said, his patience growing thin.
"Listen." Curaj said.
Suddenly, realization dawned on Casken. There was no more noise from the animals. The bird had stopped chirping, and not a single frog could be heard. The swamp had become silent. All that could be heard was the continuing onslaught of rain, which was slowly becoming less and less.
"This is creeping me out, sir. I vote we head back to the clearing and request evac, then come back with more reinforcements." Ven suggested.
"I second that, sir." Arre added in.
"I would love to do that, but at this point we're already closer to the outpost than to the clearing. We have no choice." Casken said with a sigh. "Besides, what would we do until Lerik's team came back? We would be easier targets sitting in an open clearing than if we kept moving forward."
The clones all nodded their heads. Arre knew that what the Commander said was true, but he still didn't like this place. The sooner they got out of there, the better.
The clones trudged on without further incident until they finally came into a giant open clearing, similar to the one they had been dropped off in. The only difference was that this clearing housed a low lying building, with a large gate built up around the front.
"Is that the outpost?" Asked Ven.
"Indeed it is." Curaj replied.
The team started to move forward, before being stopped by Arre.
"Sir! My scanner is picking up life forms inside the outpost!" Arre exclaimed.
"Haha, yes!" Ven yelled out. "I knew it was just a scanner issue this whole time!"
"Leave it to the Republic to waste our time sending us to some remote planet, just to find out nothing had happened at all besides a sensor issue." Curaj said with a sigh. "I guess we should report this to Captain Cheie and await our evac?"
"No, wait. Something's wrong." Arre said, sounding confused.
"What is it?" Casken asked?
"This isn't right, sir. My scanners are showing a total of only three life forms in the entire outpost." Arre said, his confusion growing.
"That doesn't make sense." Casken said. "These outposts are supposed to be manned by a minimal of twenty people, along with as much as five hundred housed in the barracks in the back."
"I'm aware of that, sir, but the scanners show three life forms." Arre persisted.
"Somethings wrong here." Casken said. "Contact the other team, have them meet up with us after finding the survivors. I don't want to enter that building until we have more firepower."
Arre tried switching comm frequencies, but his comlink wouldn't let him. The frequency of the other team was filled with static.
"Sir, something's jamming our comms." Arre said, his concern rising.
"It's probably the swamp. There's a long range transmitter inside every outpost, if we can go in there and use it, we could probably contact them." Curaj suggested.
"Alright, let's go." Casken said, and the team moved off toward the outpost's gate. |
|
AskaoJoin Date: 2015-12-21
Post Count: 20 |
Holy,um. New star wars the clone wars writer? |
|
|
Oh I just can't wait until I start killing them. |
|
Caboos45Join Date: 2015-06-11
Post Count: 2 |
This is amazing! You really have a talent for this, keep it up! |
|
|
|
This is awesome, you are pretty good at writing/typing stories. |
|
kael984Join Date: 2013-12-13
Post Count: 42 |
-Part 5; Under Cover of Night-
Captain Cheie stood on the bridge of the militarized diplomatic vessel, holding his pipe in one hand. The ship was orbiting the planet of Corvis Minor, and Cheie was currently staring intently out the front viewport. The planet was a dim ball of depression, it seemed. Swirling winds and thunder clouds could be seen in the atmosphere, and the entire planet seemed to somehow glow with a faint light.
Cheie gestured with his pipe towards the navigation maps to his left, and spoke.
"Why did their dots disappear?" He asked the navigations officer.
"I'm not sure, sir. We were reading them fine just a moment ago, but now both teams have disappeared." The officer replied.
"Try running a manual scan of that sector of the planet." The Captain ordered.
"Right away, sir." The navigations officer replied, as his fingers slashed away at the console screen. "Failure, sir. No signs of activity."
"That's impossible. Is something jamming our signals?" Cheie asked.
"We have long range transmitters, nothing should be interfering." The officer replied.
"Do you think someone could have set up a jamming device, sir?" The co-pilot asked, leaning back.
"It's possible." The Captain replied. "If so, then that might be why our initial scan failed to pick up any lifeforms. Contact Commander Casken."
After a few moments, the co-pilot replied. "I can't, sir. I'll I'm picking up is static."
Captain Cheie turned and stared out the viewport at the swirling mass before him. He lit his pipe and placed it into the corner of his mouth. After a few moments of silence, he turned and took a few paces back, staring at the console behind.
"Pilot, prepare the ship for emergency evacuation." The Captain spoke.
[CORVIS MINOR, UNIDENTIFIED BOG. TIME - 21:45]
Commander Casken's team of clones were just arriving at the gate of the Republic outpost, unaware that Captain Cheie was trying in vain to warn them at that very moment of a possible bio-scanner malfunction. The clones slowly made their way up to the front gate of the outpost.
"Gate looks locked down, sir. We might want to go find team two, then return after." Curaj suggested.
"No. Arre, get that gate open." Commander Casken ordered.
Arre set down his DC-17 blaster pistol, as well as his datapad, and walked up to the computer console situated near the gate door. He tapped on the console, and opened up the manual override menu. As he was typing in the manual override code, a warning message popped up on the console's screen.
"Sir, a message keeps appearing when I try to override the manual access." Arre said. "It appears to be some sort of default warning message. It's set to not allow anyone access into or out of the outpost."
"I could care less if it was from the Jedi High Council themselves. Get that gate open." Casken ordered.
"Sir, that might not be a wise idea." Curaj said, stepping up behind Casken.
"Why is that, Lieutenant?" Casken asked.
"The clones that were here before wouldn't have set up a default recurring warning message like that unless they wanted to keep people out of the base." Curaj said. "There might be a reason for that."
"We received no distress signal from them." Casken replied. "If they truly wanted us to stay away, they would have put out a distress signal."
"Hey, maybe they weren't trying to keep us out." Ven said. "Maybe they were trying to keep someone or something else in."
Arre tried to ignore the conversation happening behind him. He was already shaky enough as it is, and he didn't need Curaj's paranoid worrying to make it worse. He willed his imagination to die down, but he was already thinking about hordes of some long forgotten species waiting inside to tear them apart.
"Arre, override the warning. We're going in." Casken ordered.
Arre punched in the manual override code, then powered down the console. A moment later, the doors of the outpost made a hissing sound as they slowly began sliding open. Nothing could have prepared the clones for what they were about to see inside.
Directly through the gate lead into a large check-in room, which was usually used to make sure that only those with proper security clearance were allowed inside. There was a large box-like mini building in the center of the room, with an enter gate on the right and an exit gate on the left.
But something was horribly different in this outpost than in the ones the clones had seen previously. Blood was splattered everywhere, and the window of the booth in the center of the room was smashed open. A clone lay dead slumped over the counter, and he appeared to be missing both of his arms. Another clone was laying in the corner, with one arm stretched forward towards a gun that had fallen a few meters away.
No one spoke. The clones stood at the entrance to the outpost in complete silence. Finally, Ven broke the silence.
"What do you think happened?" He asked, with a noticeably shaky voice.
"I'm... not sure." Casken replied.
Curaj bent down and examined the body of the clone trooper in the corner. His chest was sliced open and blood was pouring out of the open wound.
"They got hit by something sharp enough to slice through their armor, yet still blunt enough to smash rather than slice the bones nearby." He said. "It wasn't a lightsaber or vibroblade, the wounds are raw and jagged, and they didn't cauterize."
"Some sort of animal attack?" Casken asked.
"There shouldn't be any animals this large in this area, sir. The scanners would have picked them up." Arre added in, feeling a growing sensation of dread.
"Do another bio-scan." Casken ordered. "I want detailed locations of all unknown organisms larger than a wolf."
Arre quickly scanned with his datapad, then replied. "The two dots tailing us disappeared, sir. There are three unknown dots inside the outpost. Two are moving around at fast paces down in the east end barracks, and the other one seems to be sitting still in the communications office."
"Alright, we should avoid those if possible, at least until we re-establish communications." Casken said.
"Sir, there's a problem. The only thing that could break through this static on the comms is the long range transmitter in the communications office." Arre said.
"Alright then. I suppose we'll be finding out what those dots are sooner rather than later." Casken said, and started moving forward.
The team marched on, through the entrance area on the right. Blood was splashed across the floor, and a severed arm was lying along the edge of the wall. As the team advanced forward, the door in front of them swung open with a swoosh.
"Please remain where you are until a designated attendant checks you in." A mechanical voice called out.
"That won't be happening anytime soon." Ven said sarcastically, staring at the clone attendant's body slumped over in the booth.
As the team walked through the door, they entered the main turbolift lobby. The clones felt numb as they looked on at the scene. Blood was splashed across the floor, and a clone lay sprawled out against the turbolift, as if even in death he was waiting for the doors to open and let him aboard. A DC-15A was broken cleanly in two, and lying on the ground next to the body.
As the team walked forward, Arre pushed the body out of the way and keyed in for the turbolift. A few moments later, the doors opened.
"Communications office is directly 2 floors below us, sir." Arre said, nodding towards the open turbolift doors.
"Alright, let's go." Casken said.
The clones moved into the turbolift, and Casken punched in the designation code for the communications office. A few minutes later, the turbolift arrived at it's destination. The doors opened out into a main hallway that lead up onto a ramp. Atop the ramp was a door leading into the communications office.
As the team moved up the incline, Casken spoke. "Alright clones, get ready. There are still vital signs coming from inside that room, be prepared for an attack."
"I don't like this, sir." Curaj said. "I've got a bad feeling about this whole place."
"Yeah, most outposts don't include bodies ripped open." Arre said.
"Hey, think the best of it." Ven said sarcastically. "Maybe it was a giant friendly fire incident, and now we get the whole base to ourselves."
"What kind of friendly fire incident involves ripping someone's arms off?" Curaj asked angrily.
"Shut up, all of you." Casken ordered, and elbowed the console on the wall.
The door slid open to revel quite the opposite of what the clones had seen earlier. The communications office actually appeared to be in perfect order. The consoles lining the wall all lit up brightly as various beeps and bloops emitted from them.
Casken entered the room, when suddenly he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. He turned, and saw a bloody clone trooper sitting in the corner, holding a DC-17 blaster pistol.
"No! No no no!" The clone yelled. "They won't get me! All the others are fools, but not me! I ran! I hid! They didn't get me!"
"What do you mean, trooper?" Casken demanded.
"Hahaha!" The clone laughed, pointing his blaster at Casken. "Not me!"
"Put that down, trooper! I am CT-76343, holding the rank of Commander!" Casken shouted.
"No! No! They came in through the walls!" The clone yelled. "No no no. But not me. They won't get me!"
"He's delirious, sir." Curaj pointed out. "If we can get him safely aboard the ship and take him back for medical treatment, he might recover."
"No! No, you won't get me!" The trooper yelled. "They tore open all the others, but not me!"
Casken started moving slowly towards him, when suddenly the trooper jerked to the right pointed the blaster pistol at him once more.
"No!" The trooper yelled, and fired the pistol.
Casken ducked, and the bolt went over his head slamming into the wall behind him. The trooper began shooting at him again. Casken rolled forward and brought his elbow up underneath the trooper's arms. He grabbed the barrel of the pistol and pushed it upwards, disarming the trooper.
Casken threw the trooper up against the wall, and held him there.
"Quickly, access the long range transmitter!" Casken yelled, nodding towards the console.
Arre ran over to the console screen and typed in the access code. A screen popped up asking for verification, and after bypassing it he accessed the long range transmitter.
"Testing, testing. Corporal Lerik, do you receive?" Arre said into the console, while adjusting the frequency.
After a burst of static, Lerik replied. "I'm receiving, team one. We seem to have lost contact with the ship, and we couldn't contact you either. What's your status?"
"We're in the outpost. It has come under attack, almost all clones have died." Arre said quickly. "We're investigating at the moment. Where are you?"
"We found the three surviving members of the 212th squad a couple hours ago, we're currently in a small clearing in the middle of the swamp." Lerik said. "We've been trying to question the survivors, but all they keep saying is that we need to hide, and that we're in danger."
"We found a survivor too, but he's gone insane. I'm going to contact Captain Cheie and ask for evacuation, meet us at-" Suddenly, Arre was cut off by the sound of someone screaming.
"What is that thing?" He heard Lerik yell. "Back! Hide in that cave!"
"Lerik? What's your status?" Arre asked once more.
"Can't..." Lerik started to reply, but was cut off by more yelling. The com suddenly went dead.
"Sir..." Arre started to say, turning towards Casken, but was cut off.
"I heard. We're heading to their location ASAP." Casken said.
Casken released the trooper, and looked at him.
"You need to come with us, we'll get you medical help." He said.
"No. No no no." The trooper said. "They'll get you! Like they got everyone else! They'll tear you open!"
"Fine, stay here. We'll call an evac here after we pick up team two." Casken said.
As the team walked out of the room, Casken threw the blaster pistol back at the trooper. "In case you need it."
The team was halfway back to the turbolift when they heard the trooper begin yelling.
"No! They won't get me! I won't let them!" They heard the trooper yell. "I know what I have to do!"
As they got in the turbolift, they heard a single blaster shot, then complete silence.
Once back outside, they set off towards the second team's location. Not a single word was spoken. |
|
mirvsrdceJoin Date: 2012-11-14
Post Count: 243 |
where are the previous parts? |
|
VidkunJoin Date: 2009-11-09
Post Count: 10381 |
this is in the wrong forum you weirdos
my god this is so cringeworthy
+ Arrow Pride Worldwide + |
|
|
|