31

happy star wars day batchers! 💫 

may the force be with you

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Venator inbound.

The words sliced straight through Saedii's skull, burrowing into her mind. Stoking memories long buried.

Fire and explosions and metal and concrete.

Power and pain and destruction.

The walls of Kamino crumbling around them.

At her side, Crosshair had gone still, too. As if he, too, were remembering the damage that could be inflicted from the canons looming down on them. On the ground before them, Kalth's helmet turned towards it in a kind of stupor. Like he couldn't believe the Empire would risk his life to end Saedii's.

"We have to run," Saedii said to Crosshair a moment before she ordered into her comms, "Alpha Squad, this is a direct order! Abandon the compound! Run for the dunes!"

"We won't have any cover," Crosshair said reluctantly as the two turned to follow Saedii's advice. Heading for the gap in the wall ahead of them.

Saedii looked at him with ill-concealed panic. "We don't have a choice."

Above them, the air was beginning to hum. Vibrate. A loud roaring filled Saedii's ears as the stabilizers switched on. Keeping the massive ship a comfortable distance from the ground.

The two of them slipped through the hole in the wall. Nearby, white flashes in the dark announced Clones as they ran for cover. Desperate to escape the looming shadow above.

A rumbling click announced the canons as they slid down to engage.

Suddenly, the air above them exploded.

Saedii screamed – but not in fear. Pain and fear erupted through the Force, so powerful that it brought her to her knees. Above her, a blinding white light blossomed in the night sky – so bright and hot that it felt like a star had exploded.

No. She knew what it was.

One of the cargo ships.

It had been blown up.

Around them, the vaporized remains of the ship rained down. Most of it was the size of sand – tiny particles and dust. The only remains of what had once been a massive ship...and five hundred Clones.

Echo.

Maker, he'd been flying one of those.

What if that had been his cargo ship?

Crosshair was yanking her to her feet.

"Cross," she whispered, feeling panic claw at her throat. She reached out for the other cargo ships in the Force, but they were so far. Too far to know who sat at the wheel. "Cross, was that Echo?"

"We have to go."

"That could have been Echo."

His grip on her arm tightened and he pulled harder. "Saedii, we need to leave."

"But –"

The air began to hum again. The Force showed the long, empty maws of the canons as they slid in her direction, pointing straight down.

They were too late.

Sand and heat blasted Saedii's back as the canons fired on the prison. Behind them, it exploded in great, brilliant bursts of light. So bright that it blinded her. Saedii felt herself tossed straight off her feet, sliding through the sand.

She coughed and shielded her face as whipping sand stung her face. Instinctively, she curled into a ball to protect herself as another echoing blast connected with the prison, sending chunks of metal and stone soaring through the air like comets.

Next to her, Crosshair was huddled much the same.

Beneath her, the ground shook. Even when she clapped her hands over her ears, she could hear it with frightening clarity. Far too loud.

For a moment, Saedii was sure that this was it.

But then a much softer sound met her ears: the insistent pow-pow-pow of a much smaller canon returning fire.

"Hang on! The calvary's on the way!" Wrecker's voice bellowed on comms.

Saedii looked up, spotting the small black dot that was the Maurader as it swooped past the Venator, returning fire. As Saedii watched, one of its forward canons suddenly exploded in a shower of sparks, sending chunks of burning metal to fall into the sand below.

The canons stopped firing. Turning towards the smaller ship instead.

Crosshair and Saedii got to their feet, surveying the damage.

The prison was half-melted. Metal and stone had been vaporized beneath the intense heat of the canons, leaving sparse pieces of foundation that stuck up like broken bones. Massive black holes edged in jagged glass had been left behind, sending up thick clouds of silvery smoke. The sharp scent of ash and ozone burned her nose.

Scattered around the sand surrounding the prison, broken stone and metal glowed with heat. The wall was gone, blasted apart by debris, but a faint circle still remained. Unconsciously, Saedii's eyes went to the last place she'd seen Kalth, but the yard was empty.

A thick cloud of smoke and dust hung in the air. Saedii blinked against it, searching the darkened dunes around her. Her heart sunk as she caught sight of several white-clad figures sprawled along the ground.

She and Crosshair went to the nearest one. As they flipped him over onto his back, Saedii knew the Clone was dead even before she spotted the sharp spear of metal embedded in his throat.

Gingerly, Crosshair pulled off his helmet.

Saedii's heart sank into her stomach.

Slouch. One of Rex's lieutenants.

Above them, little bursts of light lit up the dunes just enough for Saedii to see the next nearest figure. This one was screaming. Trying to drag himself out from underneath a burning chunk of plaster that pinned his leg.

Abandoning Slouch, Saedii and Crosshair went to the next. In the dark, the yellow splashes on his armor identified him almost immediately.

Gregor.

He was near belligerent as Saedii came to his side, pushing against the stone with the Force. A piercing scream ripped from his chest as the broken and crushed remains of his leg was revealed. White bone flashed in the dark, wreathed in dark blood.

"Turniqet," Saedii demanded, but Crosshair was already rifling in his pack.

Gregor grappled for Saedii's hand in the dark. "Commander?" he cried.

"It's alright, Captain." Saedii gripped his gloved hand, gaze turning to the sky above them, where the Marauder was continuing to pepper the Venator with distracting shots. "We're going to get you out of here."

Crosshair was silent as he yanked a tourniquet into place around Gregor's leg. At the touch, he gave another pained shriek.

"Alpha Squad!" Hunter's voice was high with alarm. "Alpha Squad! Do you copy? Are you there?"

Saedii looked across the sand. From a quick count, there were only four other Clones that she could make out. Two of which weren't moving.

"Saedii!" Hunter's voice called.

"We copy," Saedii relayed, eyes sweeping for more survivors. The dust and smoke in the air made it hard to know for sure how many more there were.

"You need to get away from the blast zone! Head further out into the dunes," Tech said. "You'll be harder to spot in the dark."

"Unless they have heat seeking sensors," Crosshair said dryly.

Together, the two of them heaved Gregor up between them. As they did, Saedii noticed the other Clones getting to their feet. The ones that had been moving, anyways. From here, bright lines of red and green ran along their armor.

Vandal and Cynic hobbled over in their direction. Blood and soot stained the front of their breastplates, and Vandal was holding his arm at an awkward angle, but for the most part, they looked alright.

"Are there any others?" Saedii asked, looking behind them. But the two still forms of the Clone troopers didn't move.

"Howzer and Gen are dead," Vandal reported, voice rough. He glanced back at the two still forms.

Saedii swallowed against the thick knot in her throat. "What about Rex?"

"I...didn't see him. Not after the blast."

More panic ripped at her gut. Echo. Howzer. Rex.

How many more had they lost?

Above, there was another rolling click as the canons turned from the Marauder. Pointing back towards the ground.

"Move!" Saedii ordered.

Cynic and Vandal kept close as Crosshair and Saedii ragged Gregor between them. In the darkness ahead, the low form of a dune was only just visible in the gloom. It was as good a cover as they'd get out here.

The Force swelled with pain and suffering around her. Saedii gritted her teeth and pushed against it, begging it to show her a way. To show her safety.

An image came to her then. Not of safety, but of a single Clone in the sand. Blue chest plate that rose and fell in rapid succession. A pauldron. The marking of a loth cat on his helmet.

Rex.

Saedii stopped, looking behind her. He wasn't far, but from here, she couldn't see him. And above, the canons were slowly turning back towards them.

If she didn't get him out, he would die.

She wouldn't lose any more Clones.

"Take Gregor!" Saedii flung Gregor's arm across Vandal's shoulders, who winced.

Crosshair's helmet jerked angrily in her direction. "Where are you going?"

"I sense Rex!"

"There's no time –"

"I'm not leaving him."

Crosshair struggled to disentangle Gregor's arm from his shoulders, but the injured Clone hung to him like a barnacle. A sharp warning hissed from Crosshair's teeth as he tried to shove him away.

Saedii left before he could stop her.

Against her senses, she felt as the Force flared in warning. Saw the terrible sight of the canons turning back towards the prison below, barrels glowing. She had a minute. Maybe less.

In the dark, she nearly tripped over the body of a half-vaporized stormtrooper. Without his helmet, his frozen face looked up at her. Only a handful of years older than her.

Rex's figure loomed out from the dark. As she slid beside him, she could sense the rise and fall of his chest. Alive. Thank the Force.

He muttered something low under his breath as Saedii pulled his arm up, trying to lift him from the ground. But in her excitement, she had forgotten just how damn heavy Clones were. At deadweight, he was far too heavy for her.

"Come on, Rex!" Saedii said desperately, pulling with all her might. He slid a pitiful few inches along the sand.

Above, the canons settled into an engage position.

"Alpha Squad, heavy fire incoming!" Hunter warned.

A dark figure appeared beside her, hauling Rex's other arm up. When she looked up, relief crashed into her chest like blaster fire.

"Hurry!" Howzer shouted. His helmet was gone and blood poured from a wound along his scalp, but he was alive. Alive.

Saedii did as he said.

Between the two of them, they dragged Rex in the direction of the sand dune as above, the canons began to heat up. As light began to flare along the barrels, exploding out into tunnels of light.

The force of the first blast nearly took the both of them off their feet, but somehow, they stumbled along. Keeping their feet as, ahead of them, Crosshair and Vandal shouted at them to hurry.

The second blast took them both to the ground, but even then, they struggled forward, pushing Rex until Crosshair's hands were there to pull his inert form behind the sand dune. Saedii and Howzer tumbled after them, ducking low as heat and power fanned over the top of the dune.

Saedii and Howzer crouched low over Rex, shielding him as best they could as sand skittered over the top of the dune. Her ears popped painfully in the deafening wall of noise that crumbled around them.

Suddenly, the massive blasts stopped.

In the moment of stillness that followed, Saedii hesitantly glanced up. Watching in stunned silence as the last of the Venator's canons splintered and crumbled to the ground.

Hunter and Wrecker had done it. They'd taken out the guns.

Howzer's hands were shaking as he, too, looked up. His mouth parted in awe. "How the hell did they take out those guns with that little attack shuttle?"

"We're the Bad Batch," Crosshair said deprecatingly. "It's what we do."

"Alpha Squad, do you copy? An extraction team is heading to your location," Tech relayed a moment before a small speck appeared in the sky above them. One of the cargo ships returning for them.

A low groan split the air as Rex shook his head. Regaining consciousness. A little ways away, Gregor took in a sharp breath as Rex shot up and brushed against his injured leg.

"Rex?" Saedii crouched low in front of him. "Rex, are you alright?"

"What?" He looked over the seven of them that remained. His head bobbed uncomfortably as he struggled to stay away.

"It's ok. An extraction team is inbound."

Rex finally steadied his head as he met Saedii's gaze. "Is this...all that's left?"

She swallowed and nodded.

Even without the Force, she would have sensed his anguish. The sheer horror that washed through him as he realized that nearly all of his troopers had been killed.

At his side, Howzer rested a hand on his shoulder.

The cargo ship touched down closeby, doors flying open. Vandal and Crosshair both heaved Gregor up between them while Howzer helped Rex up to his feet. Very slowly, they made their way across the dunes, towards the open door of the cargo.

Something from the corner of her eye caught her attention. Saedii turned, spotting the dark forms of Kalth and the other Inquisitor as they limped away from the wreckage of the prison.

She paused as Kalth turned, as if sensing her gaze. For a moment, the two of them stared. Waiting.

Behind her, Crosshair urged, "We need to go, Saedii."

She turned her back on him, climbing inside.

A few Clones helped them in, doing what they could to help Rex and Gregor. As the doors closed behind them, Saedii let out a shivering breath.

So many Clones. So many good soldiers.

Echo. Slouch.

Dead.

"You guys alright?" a voice demanded from the cockpit.

Saedii's mouth dropped as she spotted Echo standing in the passage between the main hold and the cockpit. Looking them over for injuries.

Alive.

"Echo!" Saedii ran forward, surprising him as she wrapped him in a tight hug. "You're alive," she said into his chest.

He hesitated only for a moment before he hugged her back. "I'm alive, kid. So are you."

"Yes, we're all alive. I'd like to keep it that way," Crosshair snapped sarcastically. "Get us the hell out of here."

Saedii tightened her hug for a moment longer before she let him go.

Crosshair was right. They weren't done yet.