Clouded by the Dark Side

Chapter 3 - Alema

Warning: Mentions/implied child abuse.

Aniya Skywalker

Fine. Fine. Jumping into the air, I move from one group of droids to the next, finally covering all the way to the gap over their heads. Three tanks are heading forwards, and there very well might still be more outside.

Leaping onto the first tank in front, I yank open the top, jumping inside. I behead the droid, flicking off my lightsaber and throwing the sparking metal aside with a flick of my wrist as I hurriedly take a seat inside. I move the tank farther forwards, suddenly bringing it to a stop. I turn it sideways, blowing up the tank on my right, then spinning sideways. I pull the tank aside as the other tank fires at me, then return the favor blow it up like the other one. And now that I think of it, this is actually a perfect place to fight.

I move the tank again, this time turning it to aim at the midst of a group of droids, firing. They explode into a pile of smoking, sparking debris. Turning the tanks towards the others, I prepare to shoot at them just as two of them fire on the building. I wince as the blasts rip through the side of the structure, blowing up half the wall, leaving piles of smoking and burning debris flying everywhere. Hopefully, there were no clones there. I don't care if everyone considers them expendable. They're still my men, and I still have to take care of them. They're not expendable to me.

I fire in rapid succession at the other tanks, quickly taking down a few more of the ones steadily coming through the gap. Danger suddenly screams through the Force and without wasting a second, I jump out of the tank as the last remaining one fires at it from behind. I Force-jump through the air towards that one as the explosion strikes my former tank, blowing up the engine, the remainder bursting into flames.

I glance around, surveying the situation as I land on top of the other tank. Most of our cannons have been destroyed and a lot of the clones are down. But many of the enemy troops are down too, and the tanks are now the biggest of the concerns.

I yank out the droid in the tank with the Force, throwing it to the ground ignoring its shrieks before jumping down inside, and turning to fire it at the remaining tanks. Firing at two more of them, I blow them up. I try to spin the tank out of the way of another blast, but it doesn't completely miss, exploding off the end of the tank. Groaning loudly, I jump out again. Looks like I'll have to do this differently. On the bright side, I still have a few explosives with me.

I pull them out, opening the top of two more tanks and tossing the explosives inside. The cannons fire and I jump clear from the cloud of smoke, scanning the area as I hit the ground. There are only seven tanks left, but even that many can prove to cause a fair amount of damage. Outside the barricade, I can hear the sounds of battle. Good. That means the clones must have attacked them from behind. I rip open the top of another tank, using the Force to pull out the droid and throw it aside. I'm about to move on to the next when a yell of "Over here!" catches my attention.

I spin around, only to see Alema hanging one-handedly from the end of one of the tanks, the perfect picture of cheer. She waves at the droids with her other. "Over here!" she yells again. I gape at her, horrified for half a moment that she's seriously about to get herself killed. One of the other tanks moves to shoot at her, but she instantly jumps out of the way, letting the blast hit what she was just on.

Shaking my head at her recklessness, I continue working my way through the rest. In a matter of minutes, they've all been destroyed. I jump to the tank Alema is currently inside, climbing down with her. "That was reckless of you," I admonish her, though I can't help but grin slightly. "I guess it makes sense – given your master is Krell –" I pause for half a second when I notice the look of near shame that flickers through her expression. "– But at least it's in a good way. So, you did great."