Rogue For The Sith

Chapter 6

Tup sped across the shoreline with Nine behind him.

"Let's face it," Nine said, "there's nothing out here."

"You're probably right," Tup responded, "but we're not leaving until we scout the entire area. General Skywalker could be anywhere."

* * *

Fives, Snatch, and Blaze rode their speeders until they reached where the soil started to turn to ash.

"That doesn't look very inviting Commander..." Snatch said looking at the long lava river that stretched from a large volcano across the land as far as the eye could see.

"What'd you expect soft-shell? It's a volcano!" Fives stated.

After they reached the lava stream and had been traveling for some time Fives said, "We should be heading back now."

Snatch and Fives turned their speeders around but Blaze remained.

"Blaze! Come on, we're leaving!" Fives called.

"Not yet! There's something out there."

Snatch returned to Blaze's side.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Look." The trooper answered handing Snatch the macrobinoculars he was holding. Snatch looked trough the device and saw an astromech droid sitting in the ash like a lost dog waiting patiently for its master.

"What's an astromech doing out here?" he questioned.

Fives pulled up beside them and Snatch handed the macrobionoculars to him.

"Hey, I know that droid." Fives informed them, "That's General Skywalker's astromech."

"Well why's he here?" Snatch asked.

"I don't know," Fives responded, "But he definitely doesn't belong out here; let's take him back with us."

"Fine," Blaze said, "but you're carrying him."

The three quickly came upon R2. As Snatch and Blaze tried to strap the droid onto Fives's speeder, Fives was looking out across the volcanic land. Suddenly, something caught his eye, something shiny.

"Snatch!" Fives called, "Where are your macrobinoculars?"

"Here." Snatch said as he held them out to him.

He grabbed them. Through the binoculars, Fives could see that the object he had seen was a piece of metal sticking out of the ground.

"Stay here, I need to take a look at something." Fives told them.

He hopped on his speeder and headed towards the object. Upon closer inspection, he discovered there to be more then just one piece of metal; the ground was strewn with debris.

What happened here? he thought to himself.

One piece of the fragments told him the answer. The large section of metal was slightly yellow in parts and the whole piece was worn. The symbol in the middle was the Republic's. Then Fives realized: it was Anakin's starfighter.

* * *

Hunter sat on the ground, exhausted. He took off his helmet and cradled his head in his arms.

What is wrong with me? he thought.

In his mind, all the memories of battle, loss, and bloodshed instantly resurfaced. He clasped his head tighter, wishing it would go away. All the men he had lost, his brothers. Every cry, each shot, all the screams, flooded his mind. Each battleground, Geonosis, Tatooine, and finally Felucia where -it seemed- he had lost his mind. He stared at the ground, his thoughts tormenting him as if they were the enemy.