Krest slammed against the watchtower, motioning frantically for the other troopers to reach him as quickly as possible. "Move, move, move!"
"What's the play here sir?" asked one of the troopers as they stacked up on Krest.
"We've got men holed up inside the armory, for all we know they're fighting off a horde of clankers. General Yao'l's Padawan was seen heading that way with some militia but I'd rather not leave the fate of those men to the chance that the padawan and her team can repel the droids.. We need to find them and provide any support we can.''
"Captain look!" One of the troopers shouted, pointing over towards the command center.
Krest turned and saw Scraps racing toward them at full speed. Blaster bolts lighting up the ground behind him, his arms desperately clutching a crate of munitions. Scraps threw the crate toward them before diving behind the watchtower, narrowly dodging the incoming blaster fire.
"Scraps? What the hell's gotten into you!? And where did you come from?" Krest asked as Scraps caught his breath.
Scraps rolled onto his back and sighed, "I...I heard from the General that you were headed to the infirmary. Though I'd tag along." Scraps got to his feet and picked up the crate, tucking it under his arm. "Brought some ammo for the boys in medical."
"Well glad to have you, next time try not to get yourself killed, trooper," Krest said. Scraps nodded and Krest finished laying out his plan. "Alright, we need to get to the infirmary quick so, heads down and blasters up. Scraps stay behind me alright?"
"Yes sir!" Scraps nodded.
"Good, the infirmary is by the tarmac, the Heldians should've cleared the way for us, let's move!"
As they moved toward the infirmary, the squad met several fireteams, both clones and Guardsmen asking for any orders Krest had for them. Since he was the first CO they encountered in the attack. Krest pointed them towards the command center where what remained of the droids were focused. From the looks of it the droids were on the backfoot and with the help of the Heldian Guard this was going to turn into a clean-up job quick.
Finally, they arrived at the infirmary and much to Krest's relief the infirmary was secured with troopers and guardsmen sitting behind fortifications. A young, purple-skinned Twi-lek in Jedi's robes, presumably Yao'l's Palawan exited the building and approached them.
"You must be General Yao'l's Padawan." Krest said, holstering his DC-17s. "Captain Krest, at your service."
"Na'lona Suonn," the Twi'lek smiled shaking Krest's hand. She had a thick Twi'lek accent that reminded Krest of General Secura. Krest was surprised at how young the padawan was. He knew that Jedi were trained from birth but he didn't think they would send someone this young onto a battlefield let alone one as vicious as Heldia.
"Looks like you got everything under control. We were sent to provide backup to your team." Krest informed.
Suonn nodded, "Thanks for the help anyways. Nothing we couldn't handle!" the padawan said cheerfully.
Suddenly a blaster bolt whizzed between the two and blasted a guardsman in the lower abdomen.
"Counterattack! Second wave incoming!" cried a guardsman.
Suonn ignited her lightsaber and began deflecting blaster fire while Krest and his team got behind cover.
Krest's holocommunicator chirped, prompting Krest to pull it out and answer. A projection of General Skitarr looking more battered than earlier appeared.
"Captain! Have you reached the Infirmary!" Skitarr asked as blaster fire flew all around her.
"Affirmative, but it looks like a second wave has hit!" Krest replied. "Commander Suonn and her team are here as well."
"Good! We've received intel that the Separatists have captured our satellite array on the other side of the base. That's how they've managed to scramble our communications. I want you to lead a counterattack on the array."
"General! I can't just leave the men here!" Krest objected.
"YOU CAN AND YOU WILL! We need that satellite array back online otherwise we'll be stuck without any way of getting reinforcements! Take whatever men you can and attack that array!"
The communication cut out prompting Krest to throw the communicator as hard as he could at the ground, shattering it.
"Captain, something wrong?" Suonn asked, eyeing the shattered communicator.
"I'm sorry but I'm gonna have to requisition some of your men. The General wants me to lead a counterattack against the satellite array." Krest explained.
"Sounds good, I'll hold this till you get back!" Suonn smiled yet again.
"Commander, I doubt you can hold this by yourself let alone with whoever's left." Krest rebutted.
"Don't worry Captain, I'll have this place cleared by the time you're back," Suonn reassured him.
Krest couldn't tell if her bright demeanor was a result of her young age or just a ploy to keep spirits up but either way Krest couldn't bring himself to leave, but he had to.
"I need any available men to come with me and secure the satellite array!" Krest announced.
"What? We can't just leave the infirmary undefended! We've got wounded in there!" Scraps objected. "Both troopers AND GUARDSMEN!"
"If we take the array we can put a call out for reinforcements from the nearby installation," Krest said.
"Who gave this order?!" asked one of the troopers.
"Who do you think?" Scraps replied. "I swear no matter how many times she claims she's getting better all she's good for is getting us killed!"
"Either way we-"
Suddenly mortars began landing all around them knocking Krest unconscious.
"We've got the order! Fall back!"
"Send some runners if we have to!"
Krest's eyes slowly fluttered open. His ears rang and as his vision cleared it looked as if he was suspended above the ground. Slowly his vision cleared up enough that from his view he could see the black chest piece of a guardsman. He tried to speak however all he could do was groan as his vision began to blur again and he slipped back into unconsciousness.
(Pheeew, look at that, I'm not dead yet! I'm so sorry these chapters take so long to get out, Uni life is a busy one even under quarantine. But Krest's story isn't done yet. I hope you all continue to stick by me and I'm glad so many people show their support for Krest and the 76th cause holy hell 700+ reads is insane! Thank you all so much for the love and support that you all have shown! I hope you enjoy the new chapter and make sure to keep an eye out for chapters to come!)
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Krest | A Star Wars Story
FanfictionCaptain Krest was your typical Clone officer. He led his men in the 76th Defense Corps with distinction and made it his duty to make sure they lived up to their reputation. Krest and his men however grew accustomed to fighting without the guidance...
