Alternate Start (ARCHIVE)

Chapter Fifty Six: Conspiracy

Three Months until War End

The battlefield was a crater pocked hell. Men fell left and right, though Sparkler was getting plenty of practice with his darksaber. Shots pinged off his armor. This was also Din's first real battle, and he was mostly covered by Boba and Tehyfa.

Kaar's skin was slathered in mud from multiple times he had to drop on his belly. Thankfully the mud was warm and dark, which let him have more energy. His robes were filthy though, so he would have to wash them. Satahl was flanked by Dogma and Tup, and she was making good use of the sunset eyes.

"General! Two unknown units are being dropped in by the Separatists!"

The warning from home base came just in time. Mud flew everywhere and the ground shook as the two giant units began their boot cycle.

"What the kriff is that?!" Hevy yelled, mowing down droids with his Z6, then ducking behind cover.

"Some kind of prototype maybe?" Echo suggested, beginning to fire on them.

One of the mechanical monsters — the smaller one — threw Echo against a tree, splitting his armor like an eggshell and heavily damaging his helmet. A medic rushed out as troopers started to distract it, three getting killed in the process.

The second one — the larger of the two — went after the mandalorians on the field. Tehyfa scooped up Din and launched herself into the air with her jet pack, Boba following quickly after and firing on the monstrosity from range. Men started to die left and right.

Kaar yanked Droidbait behind cover, dragging a barrier into place to block a bolt heading for a shiny. They had never seen something like these two monstrosities before, and the tactical droid seemed to have a modicum of control over them, or their orders anyway.

Obi-wan and Jones ducked behind the cover with them. Jones looked good in his modified armor, you could hardly tell that his arm was mechanical. In the distance, Kaar could see Guilttrip and Plaster dragging brothers to safety.

"Master Sunna! We've got Kiibalsa Warrior snipers on the ridge, ready to take the shot!" Jones near shouted over the din of battle.

Kaar poked his head over the barrier, peering through the binocs to get a better read on the situation. He could see gaps between the joints where they might be able to disable the mechanical monstrosities. There was an extremely faint signature, but Kaar couldn't tell if it was the — as Cutup had called them — Clone Crushers or not.

"Jones, tell them to disable the smaller one and take out the larger one. Get a slicer out here to dig out the data."

Kaar's tail lashed as he yanked another trooper out of the larger Clone Crusher's way. He felt helpless, he had no idea what these things could do. His current best bet was to just keep as many of his men alive. He'd force crushed so many droids before the Clone Crushers arrived, that Kaar was running on fumes.

A slug ripped through the larger machine's head. A few more loud, ringing gunshots fired off as the smaller droid was disabled by shooting it's joints. His men let out cheers, the few remaining droids beginning to retreat. They'd gotten the Tactical Droid too.

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Kaar walked out with the team to check out the clone crushers. One of the mechanics started to work on cracking open the larger clone crusher's main compartment, then froze.

"General! General you need to see this!"

Kaar's attention was drawn by the scent of blood. He walked over, crouching down and furrowing his eyebrows. A scarlet substance was dripping from the main compartment. Kaar let some drip onto his finger, then sniffed it.

The irony scent of blood hit his nose, far stronger this time, and he recoiled. The mechanic jammed a crowbar into the seam and pried. He put as much pressure as he could until the torso's opening finally broke off the hinges.

The mechanic screamed, falling on his shebs in horror. It was a person. Dark skinned, the same color as a trooper. A horrified thought ran through Kaar's mind as he carefully worked the man's arm free. He heard one of the men, 104th, make a horrified whimper. A reflective tattoo laced his arm.

Shakily, Kaar worked off the clone crusher's head, which was largely armored, save for the weak point the snipers had found.

A clone. It was a clone that Kaar recognized.

A clone who had vanished rather early. Sargent Disco of the 104th. His eyes were rolled back, an implant in his head and his spine. Two cables were plugged into either side of his head, or at least, had been before his head was half blown off. An unholy concoction of something was being pumped into him through his back.

Kaar staggered back, bile rising in his throat.

"Open the other one." He choked out, and the mechanics hurried to do as they were told.

"We have a live one sir!" One of the mechanics called, as another radioed a medic.

One of the men from the 212th pushed through as the mechanics started attempting to free the wayward trooper.

"Hammer!" The clone with a red mohawk wailed, getting held back by some members of the team as the medics started working on the clone — evidently named Hammer — as quickly as they could. Kaar stood by as they freed him, bullet wounds bleeding as he lurched forward.

The mechanics started working on the connections leading into his spine, carefully unplugging him from the electronics and life support systems. Hammer's eyes snapped forward as they freed his head, and he gasped for breath as if he hadn't breathed in days. "Cardinal!" Hammer croaked, before passing out and falling into the arms of the medics.

Kaar covered his mouth, spying Obi-wan and Jones nearby. He approached him, as Plo and Cryptid started making their preparations to honor Disco. Kaar scrubbed some mud off his face and put his weight on his back foot.

"Hammer vanished, didn't he?" Kaar asked softly.

"He was one of the first." Obi-wan mumbled, watching as Hammer's batchmates swarmed the medics as they carried him off towards home base. From the knee down, his legs were mechanical.

"What happened to them?" Kaar mumbled, "It's almost like..."

"They were turned into weapons." Obi-wan finished.

•—END OF CHAPTER—•