Perspectives: A collection of star wars stories

Certain Death [Rampart]

18 BBY, Weyland

Edmon Rampart hated  clones. Especially reckless clones on a suicide mission.

His fingers clenched tightly around the safety straps, his stomach sank to the bottom as their transport hurtled towards the jungle below at lightning speed, with Imperial fighters following close behind. An explosion rocked the ship as one of the lasers found its mark.

"Deflector shields are failing,"  CT-9904 said from the cockpit. Oh, this was bad...

"There's no time to land," CT-9901 added. "Wrecker, prep the rappel cables."

"On it!" CT-9903 rose, taking off his seatbelt. 

"On it-?" Rampart reiterated, incredulous as the large clone proceeded to unbuckle him. "On what-?!"

CT-9903 chortled in response. "You don't wanna know!"

Oh, Force help me...

"Autopilot engaged,"  Came CT-9901's voice, shortly before he and CT-9904 made their way towards him and CT-9903.

"W-what do you expect me to do?!" Rampart asked, grabbing his cable tightly. 

"Try not to hit anything on the way down." With that, the trapdoor opened, inviting a gush of wind inside the falling ship as they sped 100 kilometers over thick greenery.

Rampart backed away, sick his stomach. "YOU'VE GOT  TO BE KIDDING ME!"

They weren't kidding; he could see it in their eyes. He should have known since Yalbec Prime... these weren't any ordinary clones. There was a reason their squad had been so effective during the Clone Wars, and he didn't like it.

"Lines ready!" CT-9903 said gleefully before jumping down with CT-9904. 

"Now!" CT-9901 proceeded to drag Rampart down, causing his insides to flip. Crackling was heard as the cable short circuited...

"WAIT!" Rampart shrieked, his heart beating at the speed of light. "WAIT, MY CABLE'S JAMMED!"

CT-9901 aimed his blaster pistol upwards, and for a second, Rampart feared that the barrel was facing him. The blue laser just barely missed his face, hitting the cable instead.

His hands slipped, and he found himself plummeting towards the jungle for a split second before being caught in midair... then more cannonfire found him and the clone falling once more to certain  death. The ground had to be at least 10 klicks from here; there was no  way he was making it out alive. His bones would shatter like the snowglobe his son Marien had been gifted during the war, his blood spilling like the water and glitter that it had held when his daughter Callista knocked it over months later. Rampart did not  want to go out like this... 

Except he was still alive and breathing... barely. He groaned in pain, struggling to get up as CT-9901 gave him a look.

"W... what-?" Rampart glared at him before letting out another loud wince and making a show of falling flat on his back. "AGH, it hurts! I think I broke my legs."

"Quit whining like a toddler and walk it off," Was CT-9901's cold response. He held out a hand, which Rampart accepted... but not without a good deal of shrieking and whimpering. 

"Would you be careful- OW, my arm- my leg- unghhh... I need a bacta tank..." He groaned, leaning against a tree for support. "I-I don't think I can walk much further than 2 klicks."

"Well, you're gonna have to." CT-9901 strode through the jungle, with Rampart in hot pursuit. Wading through thick jungle and jumping slightly at any that looked poisonous, he followed the clone's pace... as best he could, anyway.