Stand For the 989th (A story of the Clone War's last days.)

The Siege of Bor Shadan

His name was CT-4444 to his superiors. To the 989th, he was Quad. He had absolutely hated that name when he first received it, but it was better than "Fours" or just some random number. Nowadays, his name was the last thing on his mind. He scanned the city's skyline with his macro-binoculars, searching for any enemy craft. The dull gray evening sky made long distance scouting difficult. Quad didn't really care though, as no ships had been leaving the city with the threat of Republic bombardment looming over them. For days, the 989th had been waiting on Dagabon Ridge, preparing to advance on the city of Bor Shadan. Once it was in Republic hands, the entire planet of Muunchak would be theirs. The small Separatist system in the Outer Rim had put up a good fight, with the natives taking up arms to join the Clankers in their defense. The remnants of that force were holed up in the capital city, turning it into a literal citadel. But General Ti had assured them that victory would be theirs, as the natives would soon grow tired of the poor conditions the siege left them in and abandon ship. A loud bang startled him out of his watch. A glowing flare rose up over the skyscrapers of Bor Shadan.

"Frickin' Clankers!" Quad growled, then jumped up from the rock he was using as a lookout point. He threw his macro-binoculars down and put on his helmet. Then, as fast as he could, he sprinted back to the camp.

"What's the matter, Quad? Got the runs from Bantha's cooking?" Quad's commander Gremlin joked upon his arrival.

"No, but you will once you look up!" Quad shouted. Gremlin did just that. Suddenly, his eyes grew fixated on the missile, and his mouth dropped in surprise.

"Son of a Gundark!" Gremlin exclaimed. "RUN, boys! Someone alert the General, the Clankers shot first!" The camp soon erupted into calamity. Clones fled everywhere. Muunchaki Republic Loyalists began collecting dropped equipment. Quad saw General Ti come out of her tent, ordering everyone to get off the ridge. Men began leaping over the edge, or rolling down the back. Others just kept running. Quad turned back and saw that the missile was close.

"Drop in five!" he shouted. The few stragglers left on the ridge frantically tried to keep up. The missile would beat them.

"DROP!" he yelled, before he lunged into the bland gray dirt of the ridge's base. The ground behind him began to shake. The sudden smell of burning earth filled his breathing modulator. His helmet muted the noise, but it still took his breath away. Suddenly, the world grew still. No one made a sound. But there wasn't silence. A slow buzzing noise grew and faded again in the distance. Quad was confused. What now, he wondered. Then, more little buzzing sounds joined the first. His wonder overwhelming him, Quad stood up. He noticed that Gremlin and General Ti were already standing. They looked over at him, then beckoned him to walk through the wall of gentle flame and peer over the edge of the ridge again.

"Me?" Quad asked Gremlin.

"You," he replied. Then, with a nod of confirmation from Ti, Quad sighed and trudged up the smoldering ridge. His armor protected him from the tongues of fire licking at his his body, craving to burn through his flesh and bone. He took slow steps up towards the top. About three steps away from the top, the ground began to crumble. He leapt to the top before a section of the ground behind him fell away to the bottom of the ridge. Finding his macro-binoculars laying blackened by the rock, he picked them up and, after removing his helmet, peered into the Bor Shadan skyline once more. Then, he couldn't help but gasp. A massive fleet of Separatists were evacuating the city.

"The Seppies didn't want to kill us," he shouted back to the waiting 989th, "they wanted to distract us! The whole darned fleet is scramming!"

"No way! We haven't even gotten to the fun part yet!" Gremlin sarcastically whined as he ran up the crumbling ridge, General Ti behind him.

"I don't get it," General Ti said as she reached the top. "They know that they had the advantage. We couldn't target them on the ground. So why are they leaving?"

"Maybe the war's over?" Dachshund, another one of the 989th's cadets offered as he joined them on the top.

"No, the Jedi would have told..." Shaak Ti faded off.

"General?" Quad inquired. Without looking at him, Ti sighed, then responded.

"A few days ago, the Jedi Temple sent out an emergency broadcast. They wanted all Jedi to return home. I knew I wouldn't make it in time, so I sent out a response, but no one answered. I grew suspicious, and then the Temple sent another message ordering us to stay away."

"That's odd," Quad muttered, at a loss for words. If the Jedi are in trouble, what could have happened? Suddenly, Gremlin's comm began to buzz.

"Hey, Quad, can you take this? After all the time you spent on sentry duty, you deserve some fun!" Gremlin asked, not waiting for a response before transferring the communication to him.

"Fun," Quad grunted as he walked away to take the call. "CT-4444 reporting in!"

"CT-4444, where is your commanding officer?" a blue skinned, horned alien man in fine robes asked as he appeared on the hologram. Quad instantly recognized him as Mas Amedda, a high up figure in the Republic.

"He's busy, sir. Can I relay your message to him, sir?" Quad responded in his best attempt to look professional.

"No, you will do. Have you...Order...yet?" Mas Amedda asked, but the signal began breaking up.

"Sorry, sir? The thick atmosphere is interfering with our signal, sir." Quad responded hesitantly.

"Have you...Shaak Ti...Order...can you hear..." Mas Amedda faded away into a blue, holographic blur, before disappearing entirely.

"Sir? Can you hear me sir?" Quad asked. No response. Quad shut the comm off, then rejoined the others.
"That was Mas Amedda. He couldn't quite get through, though."

"Hmm. That's odd. Mas Amedda tried to contact you a few days ago, did he not, Commander Gremlin?" General Ti asked.

"Yes, General. He couldn't get through then, either," Gremlin reported. "How did the Temple contact you?

"They used an emergency signal. Plus, the Temple has a more sophisticated comm channel." Ti responded.

"Should we try and make contact again?" Gremlin asked her.

"Negative. Right now, we need to get into the capital before the Separatist forces fully evacuate."

"Very well, General. Dachshund, go rally the troops. Quad, see if you can find out how many men we lost in the blast," Gremlin ordered.

"Already covered, sir. That's what I came to tell you about. All of our men are in fine condition. A few Loyalists suffered minor burns, and our canons are totaled, but other than that, we're ready for action," Dachshund reported.

"Thank you, soldier. Now, let's get off this ridge before it collapses. We've got to live long enough to bust some Clankers!" Gremlin joked. Then, with a rallying cry, the four descended Dagabon Ridge, and the 989th Republic Clone Legion boarded their transports, and set off for Bor Shadan.