Alternate Start (ARCHIVE)

Chapter Sixteen: Red and Gold

Kaar peered through his binocs before handing them over to Sparkler, stroking a tusk thoughtfully. He and his men stood on a ridge overlooking the unaware, and quite large, battalion of battledroids. He glanced at one of his ARCs, "Spencer, do you suppose we could, theoretically, slide down the curved edge of this ridge?" The wall had been weathered by rain, leaving a smooth and curved sandstone wall.

"Theoretically sir. We have the high ground and they don't know we're coming. So a surprise ambush could work in our favor, especially with a Jedi of your skill level." The ARC conceded, after a few moments to think. Kaar nodded, "Well men, follow us. Come along padawan mine."

He and Satahl dropped onto the slick surface, catching their balance as the slid down, leaping into a roll at the last moment and slicing a droid in half, announcing their arrival. The clones followed suit, raining hot bolts of plasma on the startled droids. This. This felt right. Fighting beside men he trusted, cutting down droids like reeds.

The battle raged as more droids kept coming, until a cry cut through the chaos.

"Master Sunna! Help!"

His eyes hurriedly scanned the battlefield until he found what he was looking for. Super battledroids dragging his padawan by the wrists. He called her dropped lightsaber to his hand and clipped it to his belt.

Waves of terror rolled off of her, and rage broiled inside of him. Blood red bled into his eyes, as the amber flashed into sun gold. His slashes became more aggressive, enraged snarls escaped him as he yelled back, "Padawan! Fight back!"

He muscled his way through the droids, slashing indiscriminately at every droid who got in his way, who dared block his path to his padawan. Kaar tore the head from one of the B1s that tried to stop him, the bloodthirsty growl in his throat came out as a cry of rage. As he reached his padawan, he extended a hand, catching the two super battledroids in a dark grip of force and slowly closing his fist, crushing the B2s into mangled piles of sparking metal. He looked up, the Tactical droid completely surprised, and his rage flared.

He crushed the Tactical droid's body, leaving the head intact for scanning. Kaar rushed over to Satahl, checking her over. The red and gold slowly vanished from his eyes as a wave of relief crashed over him. "Thank the Force you aren't hurt..."

He hugged her, relief flooding their fledgling training bond. Kaar stood up, unclipping her lightsaber from his belt and handing it off as Ladybird retrieved the undamaged head of the tactical droid. "General Sunna! Should I have one of the slicers crack this clanker open?"

He looked up and nodded, "Yes, you should." He looked over the battlefield, and winced slightly at the metal canyon he had carved through the droids when he went after Satahl. He sighs, "Sorry padawan, did I frighten you?"

"Just... Just a little bit, Master. What was that?"
"That, padawan, was control. Had I not had any, or lost my center, I would have gone berserk. The dark isn't so scary, if you know how to keep it at bay." He leaned down and lightly pressed their foreheads together, staying still until her heartbeat calmed. Kaar smiled a little as he gave her some space again, "And padawan, do keep a better grip on your lightsaber. It's your life after all."

She nodded. "Yes master. I'll do better."
"I know you will Satahl."

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"Tup!"

Tup looked up as Satahl charged into the medical area, wrapping her arms around his midsection, letting him hug her back. She pulled back and looked up at him, "How do you feel? I heard your helmet got broken!"

Tup sighs, "Yeah it did. That droid hit me real hard, but the helmet took the brunt of it sir. 'S only a minor concussion." He didn't mention how he somehow felt different, like something had shifted in his head. He didn't feel different per say, but it did feel off.

Problems for after the campaign he supposed.

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"So, how deep do you think that is sir?" Fives asked, glancing at General Sunna. The general, as was his habit, stroked one of his tusks, then, clearly grinning, started pulling his tunics off. "I dunno Fives, let's find out shall we?" He reached into his bag and pulled out a rebreather, removing his mumuu mask and dropping it onto his tunics with his lightsaber.

He took notice of Droidbait's flushed face and gave a teasing wink, then dove in. Droidbait made a choked squeak, almost a goose-like honk, and sat down. He covered his face and groaned, recieving a pat on the shoulder from Echo. Fives chuckled, "Regret volunteering 'Bait?"

"A little bit." He mumbled, trying to calm his heartbeat. "Ah you'll be fine vod, it's just a little crush. 'Sides, I think we can all agree that General Sunna is attractive. And if you don't date him, I'm pretty sure there's a line of brothers who'd be willing to take that spot."

"Mm..." Droidbait was by no means ready to say anything of the sort, least of all to General Sunna. "Y'know, I noticed something different about the general. Back at that sandstone wall? The ambush?"

Echo looked up, tilting his head. "Different? Different how?"

Fives sighed, "Maybe it was just me. But I got a look at his eyes while he was carving a canyon through those clankers. Sent shivers up my spine. Felt...bad somehow. Wrong. I dunno, it could be nothing."

The group fell silent, Echo poking his head over the side of the flooded underground cavern. "He's been down there a while... think he's okay?"

Kaar suddenly launched himself out of the water and grabbed his lightsaber. "Cave's infested." Echo blinked. "What?"

Kaar sliced off an animal's tentacles and kicked it in the face as it tried to bite him. He looked over at the group. "Cave's. Infested." He sighed, picking up his clothes, "C'mon men, I think we've scouted enough for today."

As they exited, Echo and Fives both gave Droidbait a pat on the shoulder. "Don't worry Droidbait," Echo smiled, "I'm sure you'll be able to tell him someday."

Droidbait sighs, "Yeah... maybe I will."

•—END OF CHAPTER—•