A Star Wars Story: Not Our Time: Shadow Corps the Green Squad

Chapter 7

Dern opened his eyes, straining them in the dim light. The other clone had stirred. Dern couldn't tell if he was still sleeping. Scooting forward, he checked how much power was left in the portable heater. He hoped it would last the night. He placed it closer to the injured clone. As the light of the heater spread across him, Dern couldn't help but look at the clone's hair.
It was blonde. Dern had never seen a blonde clone. He also had a face tattoo; two straight lines on the right side of his face, one of them reaching his nose. From the little that Dern experienced, he knew it was rare for a shiny to have a tattoo. He wondered what it meant.
Dern winced as he sat back on the damp rocks of the cave. He knew that it'd be dangerous to be out in the open overnight, so a small cave seemed like the perfect place to take refuge. Even if it meant that it was cold and uncomfortable. And even if it meant that Dern had to carry the other clone's unconscious body miles to the spot.
Dern was surprised the clone sitting next had even survived that fall. He was in terrible shape when he found him. A gash in his forehead, multiple broken ribs and a broken arm. Actually, Dern was more surprised he, himself, came out that fall barely scratched. He felt his eyes getting heavy, forcing him back into a light slumber.
"Ow, my head-"
Dern jumped. Snapping his eyes open, he looked to see the other clone groaning and grabbing his head with his uninjured arm. "You're awake," Dern blurted out.
"Yeah. But my head is killing me," the other clone hissed.
Dern rummaged through his medical pack. Pulling out a bottle of pain killer, along with his canteen of water, he handed it to the clone. "Here, I only have pills, the relief won't be instant. But, it'll still help with the pain."
The clone looked at Dern cautiously, before taking them from him. He gulped down the pills and water. After handing it back, they sat in silence. The other clone glanced at Dern, focused on something on his face.
Dern knew what he was looking at. His eye. He slunk back into the shadows, hoping he would stop looking.
"What happened?" the clone asked.
"Our gunship crashed-"
"No, I remember that. I mean, how did I get here? And who are you?"
"I'm Dern and I brought you here. I fixed up your injuries too. See, I'm a medic," Dern pointed at the red painted symbol on his left shoulder plate. 
"...Ok."
"And who are you?"
The clone looked into the light of the heater. "The name's Logic." 
Dern let out a laugh. "I bet you're pretty smart then."
Logic glared at Dern. "Yes, I am, actually." He narrowed his eyes at Dern. "And you got an interesting mutation."
Dern rushed to cover his green eye. "Yeah, well so do you," he shot back.
Logic touched his dirty blonde hair. "How do you know it's not dyed?"
"I mean, I guess it's possible that it is," Dern shrugged.
Logic smirked. "It's not. It's natural."
Dern was surprised how confident Logic was over his mutation. Dern never liked how his heterochromia made him stick out from the rest of the clones. He hated how the Kaminoans would look at him disapprovingly because of it. He hated how other clones would pick on him for it. Dern looked down at his boots.
"Hey, thanks for saving me, by the way," Logic mentioned.
Dern glanced at Logic. "It's the least I could do," he faintly smiled. Fixating back on his boots, he reminded himself of all other brothers that were on that gunship that he wasn't able to save.
"Also, you did send out a SOS signal so we aren't stranded here forever, right?" Logic asked.
Dern stared blankly at him.
"You're the only one here with a working comm system, remember?"
"Hey! I did, ok? I just don't think anyone will be able to pick up the signal all the way out of here! You do realize we're miles away from the crash site? Meaning we're miles away from any civilization and bases."
Logic rolled his eyes. "You know you can boost the signal by just switching the input wire to an amplifier, right?"
Dern raised his eyebrows. "Dude, do you realize I have no idea what that stuff is? I'm a medic... not a slicer."
"Well, I am a slicer, so hand over your comm so I can fix this," Logic said, reaching out to grab Dern's arm that had the comm system built in.
Dern pulled away from him. "Wait, do we even have an... amplifier?"
Logic let out a huff. "Yes, I have one right here," he reached back on his belt and pulled a small device off. "Now, give me your comm."
"Gee, be patient," Dern grumbled as he wriggled his left arm plate off and handed it to Logic. "Do you need my helmet for this?"
Logic shook his head. He opened a pouch on his belt and pulled out some tweezers. Dern watched as he pried open the comm system and started poking around in the wires. He disconnected one of the wires and attached it to the amplifier. He punched in the SOS signal on the comm, and set it to repeat. Dern was impressed. Especially when Logic had just done all that with one arm.
"There, now, if someone is looking for us, they'll find us," Logic said, leaning back and closing his eyes.
Dern blinked. "Thank you."
Logic grunted in response.
Dern sighed and rested his head on the rocky wall. He tapped his fingers on his armor. He looked over at Logic. He looked like he'd already fallen back asleep.
"Do you have something to say?" Logic asked, startling Dern.
"I was just wondering how long it would take for someone to come and get us?" Dern shrugged.
Logic opened one eye and frowned. "How am I supposed to know that? It could be hours or even days before we're found."
"Oh, yeah, I should've thought of that." Dern looked around, trying to figure out what to talk about. "Um, do you know any Mando'a?"
"You just can't shut up, can you?" Logic snapped.
"Sorry! I was just wanting to get to know you a little better!"
Logic sighed and sat up. "Fine. We can talk." He begrudgingly looked at Dern.
"So... Do you know any Mando'a?" Dern continued.  
Logic frowned. "No. Why would I?"
"Oh, well, I was talking to someone on the gunship and they mentioned it. He told me that we're Mandalorian. So, I don't know, I was kinda interested in learning it."
"Yeah, sounds interesting," Logic grumbled.  
"Maybe we can learn it together once we're rescued," Dern suggested.
Logic shrugged. "I already know five languages. And I probably wouldn't have any use for Mando'a. I mean, how many Mandalorians who only speak it do you think we're going to run into?"
"It isn't about that," Dern said, "It's about connecting with our heritage. From the sounds of it, some other clones learn it. So why not?"
Logic was silent for a few minutes. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to learn it," he sighed.
"Huh, I wonder how we're going to learn it," Dern chuckled, "I guess we're going to have to find a clone who speaks it to teach us."
"This is all if we even see each other after this," Logic said.
Dern realized that he had a point. It was very possible they would go their separate ways after they got rescued. "Yeah." He exhaled. "But, we can still be friends, right?"
Logic looked at Dern. "Sure. We can," he said.
Dern grinned and leaned back with his hands behind his head. "Cool."
"Now, are you gonna let me sleep?" Logic asked.
"Yeah, go ahead. We both need our rest," Dern yawned.
As silence fell between them again, Dern felt like he could finally relax. He wrapped his arms around himself to keep warm. Slowly, he felt his body succumbing to sleep.
........................

Dern woke up with a start. He thought he heard the sounds of engines flying by. He couldn't tell if it was a part of his dream or not. Cracking his eyes open, he was blinded by a bright light. Startled, he blinked. Last he knew, they were in a cave. Why was there sunlight?
His eyes adjusted to the light. That's when he saw it was just a crack in the cave wall that was letting in the rising sun. Maybe the sound of gunships was a part of my imagination after all Dern thought.
He closed his eyes again, trying to get a few more minutes of sleep. But he was disturbed again when he heard the hum of gunships again. Dern sat up and strained his ears.
There it was again!
Dern krept past Logic towards the cave opening. Looking out, he saw one gunship landing at the foot of the mountain they were taking shelter in. Dern rushed back to Logic and shook him awake.
"Mmm, what is it..." Logic groaned, pushing Dern away.
"Our signal worked! I just saw a gunship land nearby!" Dern hurriedly explained.
Logic opened his eyes. "What are you doing!? They still don't know which cave we're in! Go get them!" he ordered.
"Yes! Yes I am!" Dern said, scrambling to his feet. He sprinted down the mountain side, tripping over rocks and roots along the way. When he started hearing voices in the distance, he started shouting and waving his hands. "HEY! OVER HERE! WE'RE OVER HERE!!"
As he broke into the clearing, he almost ran into someone. It was Commander May. He tripped into her arms, almost bringing her down along with him. "Whoa!" she exclaimed, "Are you ok?"
"Yeah," Dern panted, "There's someone else up in that cave up there. He's badly injured."
Dern pushed himself off the Commander, and put his hands on his knees. "We'll go get him. You stay here and get some rest," the Commander said.
Dern looked up. His face flushed when he saw how pretty she was. He'd never seen her this close before. She looked like she belonged in one of the Holovid movies Dern used to watch out of boredom back at the medical facility. Dern regained his composure and tried standing a little straighter. But he was too tired. "You're right, I should stay here," he sighed.
Commander May turned back to the gunship, "Ratchet, you and V can stay here with him. The rest of us will go up to retrieve his friend."
"My name is Dern, by the way," Dern pointed out, "And the other guy is Logic. Erm, just thought it'd be good to tell you, to make things easier."
The Commander smiled, "Thanks, Dern. How severe is Logic? Does he need a stretcher?"
"Yeah, that'll probably be the easiest way to get him down. I tried my best with the limited supplies I had, but he really needs to be sent to a facility."
A couple troopers ran back to the gunship. "Alright, sit tight, we'll be back down soon," Commander May said.
Dern limped a few steps, before turning back to the Commander. "By the way, thank you for coming."
The Commander turned to him and smiled. "It's the least we could do."
Dern noticed that the fabric on Commander May's left shoulder was torn open. "Oof, that looks like a nasty burn," he said, pointing at the wound on her shoulder.
The Commander covered it. "Oh, yeah, I got shot at, but it's alright."
"I don't know, you probably should let me look at that," Dern said, "I am a medic, after all." He pointed at his red emblem.
"I'll let you once we get your friend. He needs that help more right now," Commander May replied. She turned, and along with the Captain and a few other men with a stretcher, started to make her way up the mountain.
Dern stumbled while watching her go. A clone with a scar across his face caught him by his arm and led him to sit down. "She seems like a caring leader," Dern breathed out.
The other clone looked back at the Commander as she went. "Yeah, she is. She saved my life once," he said. He sat down next to Dern. "I'm Ratchet, and that's V." He gestured to a clone with curly hair and freckles, who was sitting on a rock, spacing out at his boots.
"You're a part of the Green Squad, huh?" Dern asked, noticing their green markings.
"Yup," Ratchet replied.
"That'd be fun, to be a part of a group like that," Dern said. He made eye contact with Ratchet. He knew that he noticed his green eye right away. He tried not to be bothered by that.
"Maybe I can put in a good word with the Commander and Captain," Ratchet smiled. "We're low on numbers anyways."
V stood up and started pacing a few yards away from them.
"Are there any special requirements to get in?" Dern asked.
"You got any special abilities that you're skilled in?"
"Besides being a medic, not really. That one clone, Logic, does though. He could slice and knew a lot about electronics. And from what I experienced, he seemed pretty good at it."
Ratchet nodded. "You said you took care of his injuries on limited supplies. They were pretty bad ones, right?"
"Yeah, split forehead , broken ribs, and a broken arm. And I also had to carry him all the way from the crash site to that cave."
"I don't know, but that sounds like you have to be pretty skilled and brave to do what you did. We also need a medic in our squad. Some of us have a habit of getting injured," Ratchet chuckled as he touched his scar. "But, I will talk to the Commander and Captain about it. I'll even mention your friend, Logic, so you can join together."
Dern rested back on his hands. "Thanks," he smiled. Dern looked over at Ratchet, a thought popping into his mind. "Hey, Ratchet, do you know any Mando'a?"