Jedi and Clone

Fighter's Flight

Geonosis: 20 BBY
Stalgasin Hive
Commander Axe

Shattered bits of the ear piece Rigger had given Axe lay on a rock. The cuffs around his wrist clanked against each other as he worked the makeshift pick in between pieces. Axe glanced up at the roof of the cell as more bits of dirt fell. The boys had been working on the hole carefully for the past few hours.

    He continued to pick at the cuffs, subconsciously biting his lip as he worked. More dirt fell in large chunks. Pale moonlight burst into the cell. Axe looked up again. Veres and Rigger waved down at him, before slipping away.

    Footsteps clumped down the hallway. Axe quickly finished the last lock on the cuff. They burst open and he rubbed his wrists, grateful to be out of the cuffs. Without waiting, Axe scrambled over to a wall and started climbing.

    How am I going to get to that hole? He wondered as he climbed. He risked a glance up and spotted several spikes hanging off the roof. Axe gave them a skeptical look but kept on. The footsteps were outside the door now. Axe took a breath and leaped onto one of the rocks. It quaked a bit under his weight. He quickly flung himself to the next one.    

    The cell door hissed open and General Krell entered, followed by several clones. Krell let out a growl of anger. "Where is he?" He pointed to the discarded cuffs. "How did he escape?"

    Axe leaped again. Two more spikes and he would be out. One of the clones pointed up. "Look, Sir! The commander's up there!"

    "Don't let him escape!" Krell seethed. Axe jumped and slunk to the opposite side of the spike as the clones opened fire. He broke the tip off another spike close by and threw it towards Krell. The general cried out as the rock embedded itself in his leg. Axe jumped to the last spike. A blast hit the top of the rock. He jumped up through the hole just as the rock collapsed to the ground.

    Axe quickly pulled himself up. His helmet, blasters, comm, and a bag of explosives had been left there. He grabbed them quickly and sprinted towards one of the Separatist ships. He set his blasters to stun as clones ran towards him.

A stun ray blasted an approaching clone. Axe glanced behind one of the ships. Rigger and Veres had their blasters drawn. "Go. We'll cover you," Veres shouted, aiming at the clones.

"But you'll..." he began.

"Go get our general. She'll be able to help," Rigger ordered. Axe shook his head but ran on. A few of the ships had already been locked down. The others were being locked onto gravity clamps.

Axe pulled out a few explosives and threw them onto the nearest clamps. With a burst of light, the clamps exploded. He charged onto the ship and fired up the engines. He took off just as several gunships were launched.

"I really don't want to do this, boys," Axe muttered under his breath. He shot straight up into the atmosphere. There was no time to lose, before the Republic blockade would close in on him. Axe began calculating the navicomputer. The gunships opened fire and he swerved out of the way.

The navicomputer dinged as the coordinates locked. Without clearing the atmosphere, Axe pulled back on the hyperdrive lever. A rainbow of colors appeared and he shielded his eyes as the ship rocketed into hyperspace. The color faded and the ship's flight smoothed out.

Axe removed his helmet and quickly set to work removing the ship's trackers. The diagnostics blinked up at him. He let out a groan. The blasts from his explosives had damaged the landing gear. Axe rubbed his forehead as reality sank in heavily.

"They really think I killed Gizer," he murmured. "And Veres and Rigger have probably been arrested already. I really hope Irel will be able to help." He steeled himself for a long flight to Coruscant.