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- May 12, 2009
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In deep space somewhere in the Outer Rim a Republic shuttle silently glided through the void as it came out of hyperspace. The craft’s destination was clever as it headed as it headed toward a research station. A seemingly dead research station in an otherwise empty section of space. Aboard the shuttle were two people at the controls, one was a person in armor with a face similar to literally thousands of others defending the Republic. In the other was a dark haired human, who outside of the violet hue of the iris of his eyes the robes of the Jedi he wore is what identified him as one order that also served and defended the Republic which was now at war with some of its former members, The Jedi frowned slightly at the state of the station. There were no exterior lights that he could see from here, never a good sign. In fact the place looked devoid of all power, an even worse sign. Turning his head to the trooper next to him he asked, “You picking up anything Scope?”
A nickname the trooper, most of the clones had nickname rather than actual names, Scope getting his due to his profinvest with long range weapons, particularly the sniper rifle with specialized sighting device he usually favored. He quickly checkered the readings the shuttle’s sensors were receiving. “I’m getting power readings Rox. Looks like life support is still functional. I’m even picking up signals leading to various hangers on the docking ring. But somehow the exterior lights don’t seem to be working.”
Checking something on his own, Rox informed him, “I’m not getting any comm chatter. Not even docking instructions.” He tried reaching out with the Force and wasn’t sensing anything. Something he shared with Scope when he asked, “I’m not liking this.”
“Maybe we’re not close enough for you to sense anything,” Scope offered. Rox considered that as well, still he was glad his friend made the attempt. Then the clone said, “But yeah it doesn’t look good.” Getting close enough to the station They began a slow circle around it trying to find any hint of what happened on the inside or any sign of life. Scope paid close attention to the exterior as he commented, “Seems like a strange place for a bunch of scientists to study the Force. I would have figured a lab on Coruscant would be an ideal place.”
Rox grunted, “Probably didn’t want the Senate or the Council constantly looking over their shoulders.”
“Figured they would want the council’s help,” Scope mused. “I mean you Jedi know more about the Force than anyone in the galaxy. If I was researching the Force I’d be knocking on your door first thing.”
“Scientists look for more physical evidence,” Rox said as they continued their slow circle. “I mean we’ve researched it as well but some things can’t be explained so easily. As old as he is, even Master Yoda says he’s still discovering new aspects of the Force he didn’t know of previously.”
“And if he doesn’t know everything, what chance does the rest of us have?” Scope said. “Don’t you think it’s strange that there’s a place out here dedicated to studying the Force and we didn't know about it until we received this assignment?” Rox looked at him with some confusion. “I mean this sounds important, there should be a garrison of guards to protect the place in case the worst happens. And it looks like it did.”
“The Council seemed to know about it beforehand,” Rox answered. “I’m sure they had their reasons to keep quiet about it.” Well at least a couple of the Masters seemed to know about it, the rest looked as shocked as he felt when they gave him this assignment. Maser Windu seemed particularly disturbed by this bit of news. “I mean, would you tell people there’s a station studying the very thing that gives the Jefi their abilities? More than a garrison of troopers would be needed.”
“No kidding,” Scope said following his line of thinking. “We both know there would be groups out there who tried to find a way to use whatever information they gathered against the Jedi or against the Republic. That hanger there looks open,” he suddenly said pointing at something . Roc spotted it soon enough. “I’m not seeing or detecting any type of debris, The magnetic fie;d appears to still be in place,”
“Let’s find out,” Rox to;d him as they took the shuttle toward it. Neither of them said nothing as they approached the opening. It wasn’t long before they crossed the opening. Scope visibly relaxed as they saw the static effect that indicated the field was still operating. “Looks like we have atmosphere,” Rox announced as he turned the shuttle around to face the opening before landing the craft fully.
Getting out of his seat Scoped headed over to a supply rack on the wall and retrieved his helmet. Putting it on he said, “We're still not getting any signs of life. That doesn’t mean we won't see a welcoming party of some sort.”
“Too true my friend,” eox told him as Scope grabbed his rifle. “I’ll male a report saying we’ve arrived and the status of what we’ve seen so far. I’ll meet you at the ramp in a moment.”
“You got it Rox,” the clone said and walked over to the ramp controls and waited patiently.
At the communication controls he activated it and waited a moment to make sure he had a clear signal before speaking. The signal was crystal clear, thank the Force. “This is Shuttle ANH=1977, Jedi Knight Rov Cael reporting. We have arrived at Station Epsilon. We’re not detecting or sensing any life sign despite the Station being fully functional. We’re starting our investigation. Cael out.” Deactivating the call he unhooked his lightsaber from his belt and held it in his hand as he walked toward the ramp.”
“Ready Rox? Scope said, his voice now slightly distorted because of the helmet, and held his rifle in ready position.
“Scope,” he said as eyed the ramp controls, “remind me the next time we agree to a relatively simple assignment to take a few more members of the squad with us just in case.”
“Right,” he said, “the next time you agree to send us on a simple assignment to bring a couple of the others with us.” Rox shot him a look. Even with the helmet he could just see the smirk on the clone’s face. Nodding toward the ramp with his head he added, “Shall we go.?”
“Please after you,” Rox told him. As he touched the control that lowered the ramp. As the ramp began lowering Scope got down to one knee and prepared to fire as Rox hefted his sabers. But he didn't activate it just yet. Both waited until the ramp fully lowered before hitting the floor of the hanger. While Scope’s helmet protected him from any unusual or foriegn elements that might be in the air Rox was fully exposed and he wasn’t smelling anything out of the ordinary, not that it meant anything if there was something odorless in the air.
“Clear,” Scope announced, more out of training than anything else since Rox could clearly see that for himself. Both of them gave the hanger a quick visual inspection from where they were, still seeing nothing out of the ordinary. Well nothing that looked immediately seemed out of place at least. Locating what could be hanger control Rox tapped the clone on the arm and pointed it out.
“Try and see if you can find any sort of log,” he told him. “We can’t be the only unscheduled visitors. And see if you can get a status on the escape pods.”
“And if they launched, see what caused the crew to abandon ship so to speak, on it.” While Scope quickly went to the booth Rox wandered over toward the only door he could see. Obviously it led further into the station. But instead of opening it he turned on the communication device built in and just listened, nothing not even static. Honestly he would have preferred static because that would have at least indicated something was wrong, a jamming field, equipment malfunction, something other than what he was starting to feel really happened. Seeing there were settings for a couple of different channels he tried them as well with the same result. “The logs for the past day have been wiped,” Scope announced as he came closer. “Recently too. Like in the past couple of hours.”
“That pretty much confirms something happened doesn’t it,” Rox told him. “Why do something to the station and the ones working here and leave proof you were around. We should check the rest of the station. Try and find a clue to who did this, hopefully some survivors.” Still not sensing anything in the Force on the matter, Rox refused to give up hope on that.
“We should find the control deck,” Scope said. “Even if those logs were wiped as well I’d bet my rifle this place has some sort of back up system.”
“That’s a good bet,” Rox agreed with him. “Any idea how far that might be?”
“”I got more than an idea,” he pulled out his communicator and adjusted some settings on the holo emitter. I was able to download a map of the station while I was looking at the logs.” Holding out his hand an image of the station hovered above it. Obviously sectioned off to individual floors. He pointed out the blinking dot in what was obviously the hanger they were currently in. “Obviously that’s the two of us. The control deck a few levels above us at the top here. Barring any surprises it should be a simple shot there. Of course this is a war, surprises are the norm in this situation.”
“Good man,” Rox told him. “Given those logs were erased in the last couple of hours the other party, if there is one”
Scope quickly cut in, “And more than likely there is.”
“May still be here,” he finished. “Set the scope on your rifle to thermal, maybe we can locate them or any survivors.” Nodding Scope already adjusted the settings on his rifle. Taking a moment to let him finish Rox hit the door control and it slid open revealing a dimly lit hallway. Raking a glance at the map Scope pointed to their left before both of them started that way.
***
With the hallway deathly, and Rox was fully aware how on the mark that word was, quiet the two made fairly good time in getting to the next level. This was also the first level where they got any hint on what may have happened. Scope lowered his rifle as he got a closer look at the black markings on the walls. “Blaster marks,” he called out as Rox inspected similar ones on the other wall. “Looks like there was a firefight here.” Giving those marks a closer look he went further down the hall, waiting for Rox to catch up before saying, “Looks like the fire fight continued in this hall, I’m seeing blaster fire going in both directions.” Turning to face him he added, “Look like somebody put up a fight at least. Maybe there was a garrison stationed here.”
“But who were they defending against,” Rox went, “and how many.” Scope didn’t have an answer for him, truthfully he didn’t expect one. As they continued toward their destination both of the blaster marks, noticing that they seemed to increase. So whoever was fighting who this was a major conflict point. Then Rox noticed a particular rut apparently cut into the plating. Scope stopped as he started to knell down to get a closer look.
“What are you seeing Rox?”, Scope asked as he stepped a bit closer. Then he saw what caught his attention. “Is that a…?”, he trailed off.
“A lightsaber cut,” he finished for him.
“”Were there Jedi stationed here as well?”
“Hopefully,” Rox said as he spotted another a bit further down the hall, then another, “Because there are at least three other alternatives. And none of them are on our side.” While he only knew those three by reputation only he could only assume one of them wouldn’t be wielding a saber this wildly, even then those other two weren’t exactly pushovers by any stretch of the imagination.
Suddenly a door behind Scope opened up. He quickly spun around and came face to metallic face with a metallic beige battle droid. “Hey,” it exclaimed, “what are you doing …” Before it could finish that sentence a flash of green shot forward and stabbed the droid in the chest. Rox stood there looking down at the droid while his saber blade retracted.
“I saw him,” Scope insisted.
“I know you did,” Rox told him. Then he gave his friend a slight smirk, “But I saw him first.” motioning at the droid with a hand it slid back into the room it came from. Scope checked the hall one more time before they jumped into the room as well and closed the door. Once inside Rox saw Scope look at something behind him and turned his head to see. A Rodain, a dead one just based on the burn mark on the front of its uniform, sat slumped in a chair behind a desk. “One of the base scientists if I had to guess.”
“I’d say that’s a good guess,” Scope commented as he started examining the body. “Looks like he;s been dead for a couple of hours at least. Glancing back to the droid he added, “I think we know what happened here now.”
“I’m afraid you’re right,” Rox said as he started checking the desk. “There had to be something here,” he muttered while checking the desktop terminal. “I got something. Looks like they didn’t think to check for any written logs. They arrived without warning under the disguise of a supply drop. There was nothing on the schedule but that wouldn’t be the first time so we let them in. The attack was almost immediate. I hid in this office the first…. He didn’t even have the chance to finish that thought.”
“Rox he’s been dead for a few hours,” Scope informed him. “And more than likely that clanker,” he jerked his thumb toward the droid on the floor, “was doing a sweep for any survivors, which at this point I highly doubt that there are any left.”
“So why are they still here?”. Rox asked him.
“More than likely they haven’t found what they’re looking for yet,” was the answer. “Which means we have to find out what that is and make sure they don’t get it.”
“We know this place was studying the Force,” Rox reminded him as he looked through some of the other logs to find any indication on what that might be and found nothing helpful. “What’s closer to our position, the command deck or the labs?”
Putting the communicator on the desk and pulling up the map Scope pointed them out, “We’re here and the command deck is here. The labs should be here, a deck above us. So the labs it is then.”
“Looks like ir Scope,” he said as the clone retrieved the communicator and followed him to the door. “I’d suggest changing settings to detect any sort of electronic signature but I’m assuming you already did that.”
“You do know me so well,” the clone said as he aimed the rifle at the door. “I have point, you watch our backs.”
“Yes sir,” Rox said giving him a salute. Scope shook his head slightly as he leveled his weapon as Rox triggered the door opening. Scope made sure the way was clear before heading toward their new destination. Rox carefully looked to the force for any clue on who the saber wielder was without announcing his presence in the force at the same time.
***
Knowing there were battle droids involved now they were way more cautious heading down to the lab level then they were heading toward the top of the station. But knowing there were droids didn’t mean they knew everything. Like how many droids there were still here and what kind of armaments they would have. And because they ran into a standard battle droid didn’t necessarily mean there weren’t other types here as well. Both the Jedi and the clone were fully aware that they could get overwhelmed fairly quickly if they just sudden;y ran into a group without any warning. No, they were going to need an element of surprise.
“Hold on,” Scope sudden;y said as he started waving the rifle at a certain door. “I’m getting a massive reading past this door.” Said door was about as unremarkable as any other door they came across. It didn’t help that none of the ones they’ve seen so far wasn’t labeled. For the people stationed here that probably wasn’t a problem. But for the two of them it was starting to become an issue.
“Any idea what’s on the other side?”, Rox asked as he did a quick check of the hallway. This would be the worst time to be caught off guard by a droid patrol. They were lucky to just have run into just the one. And that type of luck, if you believed in that type of thing, wasn’t going to last forever.
Pulling up the map Scope studied it for a moment. “Looks like some sort of auditorium. For speaking to the group I suppose. Looks like there’s an upper and lower level. It might be a command post for the clankers while they took over the station.”
“Sounds like a good guess to me,” Rox said.
“No offense Rox but this is really where I wish you had that danger sense thing General Kallen has,” Scope commented as he kept his weapon trained on the door.
That danger sense as Scope called it was his former master's unique ability to just sense that something was wrong through the force. Something he tried to teach him on several occasions but Rox just wasn't as attuned to the Force in that way as Kallen was. “You and me both Scope. Because I’m pretty sure just walking in the front door isn’t the brightest of ideas. You said there was an upper level. Does it look like there are any droids up there?”
Changing his aim to look up a bit he waved the rifle around. “Nothing that I can see. Just the usual background you get using this type of scan on a space station. It should be clear.”
“Why would you say it was clear?”, ”Rox asked him.
“Because knowing you that’s where you’re going to try and sneak into that room.” Without being asked he checked the map again. Changing some of the settings a bit he found what he was looking for. It looks like there’s a vent system that leads to the upper level. Still better than going in the front door.”
“I see it,” Rox told him. Scope looked at him and saw him staring straight up. He followed his gaze straight to the ceiling and at a vent cover right above them. “It’s a little inconvenient though.”
“That’s a bit of an understatement,” Scope commented. “Any idea how we're going to get up there or do you think we have time to find another opening into the system? Because I’m not sure how long the clankers are going to stay in there.”
He had a point, those droids could walk out of that room at any moment. And that was if they were standing there or npy. At the moment Rox saw only one option at the moment. “Hang on to your rifle,” he said suddenly while clipping his saber back to his belt.
“Why?” Scope got out before he noticed Rox held both of his hands at him with his eyes slightly closed. Then he started lifting up into the air and panicked slightly before he realized what was happening. Before long he was at the cover and quickly got to work at unsecuring it. To both of them it felt like it was taking way too long to do but then he slid the cover out of the way and climbed into the vent. Rox lowered his arms and checked the door one more time. Gathering the force to him he knelt down a bit and jumped up to the vent and climbed in quickly. After he put the cover back he looked at Rox, “Warn me when you’re going to do that.”
“I told you to hang on to your rifle,” Rox told him as they started crawling through the vent. The route to that particular room was pretty much a straight shot. In no time they reached the room and Scope quickly made his way to the first cover he located. Listening for a moment he started loosening the fasteners and pushed it away just enough to slide it to the side. Sticking his head out for a moment he crawled out.
“It’s clear,” he whispered as Rox made his way out of the vent and got to a knee. A quick look showed that they were on some sort of observation deck looking down. The room was designed with a barricade of some sort so staying in a kneeling position the two made their way over and peeked over to the floor below, down below the area was big but obviously not an auditorium. At least not obe Rox had ever seen. Right now the least of his concerns was what the room was, the mess of Battle droids covering the floor, one the other hand, had his full attention. At least until something that sounded like a muffled explosion grabbed their immediate attention. “I think they found the shuttle,” Scope commented.
“Looks like,” he agreed, “hopefully the escape pods are still intact.”
“How close are we to being done?”, they heard one of the droids ask.
“We still,” replied another, “ determining which animals are Force nullifying.” Scope looked at Rox. He knew what his friend wanted to ask, the question was so strong it was practically resonating in the Force, Force nullifying animal? Rox just shrugged his shoulders. He heard stories when he was a youngling but never really believed it. Apparently he should have, at least enough to look into it a little more. The droid continued, “Dooku was very clear on this order. He doesn’t want anything left alive that could be used against him.”
“But we could use them against the Jedi,” said another.
“Orders are orders,” the second one said.
“I think we’ve heard enough,” Scope said. “I saw we take the clankers down and find a way off this station. I’m counting at least sixty battle droids down there.”
“And more than likely more,” Rox reminded him. “And there are two of us.
“They’re going to need more help,” Scope said, a smile evident in his voice. You never wanted to go into battle droids this badly outnumbered. But for the moment they had the element of surprise. Theoretically they could take out a chunk of the droids before one of them called for help. And take out a few more before that help arrived. Theoretically.In real life the odds were not that great. On the other hand a group of them could already be looking for the occupants of that shuttle. And clankers weren’t generally smart enough to expect those occupants to get this far.
This was exactly why he always told Kallen was a bad influence on him growing up and the clones in general. “Standard protocol,” he told Scope, “I’ll jump into the middle of them, you take down the ones on the edge and whittle them down.”
“You got it,” the clone told him. Rox started to rise up to jump over the barricade. Then stopped and got back down as the door on the far side opened up. It’s body was covered in a heavy cloak but there was no mistaking that metallic head. As it stormed deeper into the room.
“They just got that help,” Rox muttered.
“Idiots!” the newcomer shouted as it pushed a droid out of his way.The electronic sound of his voice sent an involuntary shiver down his spine. He tapped into the Force to calm himself down. Of the three possibilities this was the worst option. “Why are you still here when we have intruders and the vermin to get rid of?”
“We’re still ident…” the droid was cut off mid sentence by a blue lightsaber blade from the person’s cloak which revealed more of the robotic body underneath it.
'Destroy them all!”, he told another droid as the first one dropped to the ground. Claw like fingers pointed at the rest of them. “Whomever was on that republic Shuttle is on this station. Find and eliminate them before they call for reinforcements!”
“Rodger, Rodger General Grievous,” the droids answered and started out of the room. Rox motioned for Scope to get back into the vent. He didn’t argue and quickly followed him in, only taking a moment to make sure the cover wouldn’t fall over.
“This is bad,” Scope said as they made their way through the vent.
“That goes without saying.” Rox said as he continued crawling reaching their original entrance way but kept going. Somehow dropping down in front of the door that led to that room felt like an extremely bad idea. “I see another opening up ahead, any idea where it goes?”
“Give a moment.” Rox decided not to make the obvious comment about not having that particular, at least verbally. “Looks like a lab of some sort. You think they’ll search it again?”
“Hopefully not anytime soon,” Rox told him, “come on.” Leading the way they hit the cover fairly quickly. Rox did a quick visible scan, getting a good look at the door before removing the cover and going into the room keeping his attention on the door while Scope crawled in as well. Getting further away was probably the better option, but they needed a moment to think and regroup and not be overheard. Rox wouldn't speak for Scope but every movement they made in that vent sounded louder than normal.
Scope started looking around the room and made his way to a terminal. When he started pressing some buttons Rox asked, “What are you doing?”
“Checking on the status of the escape pods, safety protocols dictate that you should be able to check them from anywhere on the station” was his answer. After a quick moment he started shaking his head. “Either already launched or damaged. I dount the clankers are going to give us time to fix one so we’re pretty much stranded.”
“Sounds about right,” Rox agreed. “But we don’t have a lot of options either. We need to call for help from the republic. Give me that communicator we’ve been using.”
“You sure that’s wise,” Scope asked him, while still handing the device over as requested. “They know we’re here and are looking for us. The clankers may not be all that smart; it can still occur to them to check for any type of transmission.”
“Normally I would agree with you,” Roc told him. “Bur we need help and the only other way to get a call out is to get to the command deck.”
“Yeah they’ll just give us the time to send a distress signal,” Scope said with a lot of sarcasm. In his voice. Rox just gave him a quick look as he continued to mess with the settings.
“So this is the only option, You did memorize the map?”
“Of course,” he said matter of factly.
“Good, because I’m leaving the communicator here just in case they get a lock on it. We’re going to need to stay one step ahead of the droids for as long as we can, And you’re the only one who knows the layout of this station.” He looked satisfied as the communicator beeped as he finished his adjustments. “And hopefully using a different channel will buy us some time. Make sure that door is locked, we're going out the way we came in.”
“I just love vents,” the clone quipped as he went to lock the door.
Rox held out his hand and activated the communicator, making sure it was set on send only, they did not have the time to have a conversation with anybody who might be listening. If somebody was listening on this channel. “To anyone listening this is Jedi Knight Rox Cael. I’m on assignment on station Epsilon. My clone companion and myse;f have run into Seperatist Battle Droids and General Grievous. We’re doing our best to stay out of sight but our shuttle was destroyed and we have no way off this station. “I’m not sure how much longer we can avoid contact with the droids. Please get here as fast as you can. Cael out.`` Rox put the communicator on the floor then quickly drove his lightsaber blade through it. The last thing he needed was to give the separatists an opening to one of the secure comm channels the experts had set up after the war started. Without any further thought the two of them crawled back into the vent waiting only long enough to secure the cover before moving on.
***
A nickname the trooper, most of the clones had nickname rather than actual names, Scope getting his due to his profinvest with long range weapons, particularly the sniper rifle with specialized sighting device he usually favored. He quickly checkered the readings the shuttle’s sensors were receiving. “I’m getting power readings Rox. Looks like life support is still functional. I’m even picking up signals leading to various hangers on the docking ring. But somehow the exterior lights don’t seem to be working.”
Checking something on his own, Rox informed him, “I’m not getting any comm chatter. Not even docking instructions.” He tried reaching out with the Force and wasn’t sensing anything. Something he shared with Scope when he asked, “I’m not liking this.”
“Maybe we’re not close enough for you to sense anything,” Scope offered. Rox considered that as well, still he was glad his friend made the attempt. Then the clone said, “But yeah it doesn’t look good.” Getting close enough to the station They began a slow circle around it trying to find any hint of what happened on the inside or any sign of life. Scope paid close attention to the exterior as he commented, “Seems like a strange place for a bunch of scientists to study the Force. I would have figured a lab on Coruscant would be an ideal place.”
Rox grunted, “Probably didn’t want the Senate or the Council constantly looking over their shoulders.”
“Figured they would want the council’s help,” Scope mused. “I mean you Jedi know more about the Force than anyone in the galaxy. If I was researching the Force I’d be knocking on your door first thing.”
“Scientists look for more physical evidence,” Rox said as they continued their slow circle. “I mean we’ve researched it as well but some things can’t be explained so easily. As old as he is, even Master Yoda says he’s still discovering new aspects of the Force he didn’t know of previously.”
“And if he doesn’t know everything, what chance does the rest of us have?” Scope said. “Don’t you think it’s strange that there’s a place out here dedicated to studying the Force and we didn't know about it until we received this assignment?” Rox looked at him with some confusion. “I mean this sounds important, there should be a garrison of guards to protect the place in case the worst happens. And it looks like it did.”
“The Council seemed to know about it beforehand,” Rox answered. “I’m sure they had their reasons to keep quiet about it.” Well at least a couple of the Masters seemed to know about it, the rest looked as shocked as he felt when they gave him this assignment. Maser Windu seemed particularly disturbed by this bit of news. “I mean, would you tell people there’s a station studying the very thing that gives the Jefi their abilities? More than a garrison of troopers would be needed.”
“No kidding,” Scope said following his line of thinking. “We both know there would be groups out there who tried to find a way to use whatever information they gathered against the Jedi or against the Republic. That hanger there looks open,” he suddenly said pointing at something . Roc spotted it soon enough. “I’m not seeing or detecting any type of debris, The magnetic fie;d appears to still be in place,”
“Let’s find out,” Rox to;d him as they took the shuttle toward it. Neither of them said nothing as they approached the opening. It wasn’t long before they crossed the opening. Scope visibly relaxed as they saw the static effect that indicated the field was still operating. “Looks like we have atmosphere,” Rox announced as he turned the shuttle around to face the opening before landing the craft fully.
Getting out of his seat Scoped headed over to a supply rack on the wall and retrieved his helmet. Putting it on he said, “We're still not getting any signs of life. That doesn’t mean we won't see a welcoming party of some sort.”
“Too true my friend,” eox told him as Scope grabbed his rifle. “I’ll male a report saying we’ve arrived and the status of what we’ve seen so far. I’ll meet you at the ramp in a moment.”
“You got it Rox,” the clone said and walked over to the ramp controls and waited patiently.
At the communication controls he activated it and waited a moment to make sure he had a clear signal before speaking. The signal was crystal clear, thank the Force. “This is Shuttle ANH=1977, Jedi Knight Rov Cael reporting. We have arrived at Station Epsilon. We’re not detecting or sensing any life sign despite the Station being fully functional. We’re starting our investigation. Cael out.” Deactivating the call he unhooked his lightsaber from his belt and held it in his hand as he walked toward the ramp.”
“Ready Rox? Scope said, his voice now slightly distorted because of the helmet, and held his rifle in ready position.
“Scope,” he said as eyed the ramp controls, “remind me the next time we agree to a relatively simple assignment to take a few more members of the squad with us just in case.”
“Right,” he said, “the next time you agree to send us on a simple assignment to bring a couple of the others with us.” Rox shot him a look. Even with the helmet he could just see the smirk on the clone’s face. Nodding toward the ramp with his head he added, “Shall we go.?”
“Please after you,” Rox told him. As he touched the control that lowered the ramp. As the ramp began lowering Scope got down to one knee and prepared to fire as Rox hefted his sabers. But he didn't activate it just yet. Both waited until the ramp fully lowered before hitting the floor of the hanger. While Scope’s helmet protected him from any unusual or foriegn elements that might be in the air Rox was fully exposed and he wasn’t smelling anything out of the ordinary, not that it meant anything if there was something odorless in the air.
“Clear,” Scope announced, more out of training than anything else since Rox could clearly see that for himself. Both of them gave the hanger a quick visual inspection from where they were, still seeing nothing out of the ordinary. Well nothing that looked immediately seemed out of place at least. Locating what could be hanger control Rox tapped the clone on the arm and pointed it out.
“Try and see if you can find any sort of log,” he told him. “We can’t be the only unscheduled visitors. And see if you can get a status on the escape pods.”
“And if they launched, see what caused the crew to abandon ship so to speak, on it.” While Scope quickly went to the booth Rox wandered over toward the only door he could see. Obviously it led further into the station. But instead of opening it he turned on the communication device built in and just listened, nothing not even static. Honestly he would have preferred static because that would have at least indicated something was wrong, a jamming field, equipment malfunction, something other than what he was starting to feel really happened. Seeing there were settings for a couple of different channels he tried them as well with the same result. “The logs for the past day have been wiped,” Scope announced as he came closer. “Recently too. Like in the past couple of hours.”
“That pretty much confirms something happened doesn’t it,” Rox told him. “Why do something to the station and the ones working here and leave proof you were around. We should check the rest of the station. Try and find a clue to who did this, hopefully some survivors.” Still not sensing anything in the Force on the matter, Rox refused to give up hope on that.
“We should find the control deck,” Scope said. “Even if those logs were wiped as well I’d bet my rifle this place has some sort of back up system.”
“That’s a good bet,” Rox agreed with him. “Any idea how far that might be?”
“”I got more than an idea,” he pulled out his communicator and adjusted some settings on the holo emitter. I was able to download a map of the station while I was looking at the logs.” Holding out his hand an image of the station hovered above it. Obviously sectioned off to individual floors. He pointed out the blinking dot in what was obviously the hanger they were currently in. “Obviously that’s the two of us. The control deck a few levels above us at the top here. Barring any surprises it should be a simple shot there. Of course this is a war, surprises are the norm in this situation.”
“Good man,” Rox told him. “Given those logs were erased in the last couple of hours the other party, if there is one”
Scope quickly cut in, “And more than likely there is.”
“May still be here,” he finished. “Set the scope on your rifle to thermal, maybe we can locate them or any survivors.” Nodding Scope already adjusted the settings on his rifle. Taking a moment to let him finish Rox hit the door control and it slid open revealing a dimly lit hallway. Raking a glance at the map Scope pointed to their left before both of them started that way.
***
With the hallway deathly, and Rox was fully aware how on the mark that word was, quiet the two made fairly good time in getting to the next level. This was also the first level where they got any hint on what may have happened. Scope lowered his rifle as he got a closer look at the black markings on the walls. “Blaster marks,” he called out as Rox inspected similar ones on the other wall. “Looks like there was a firefight here.” Giving those marks a closer look he went further down the hall, waiting for Rox to catch up before saying, “Looks like the fire fight continued in this hall, I’m seeing blaster fire going in both directions.” Turning to face him he added, “Look like somebody put up a fight at least. Maybe there was a garrison stationed here.”
“But who were they defending against,” Rox went, “and how many.” Scope didn’t have an answer for him, truthfully he didn’t expect one. As they continued toward their destination both of the blaster marks, noticing that they seemed to increase. So whoever was fighting who this was a major conflict point. Then Rox noticed a particular rut apparently cut into the plating. Scope stopped as he started to knell down to get a closer look.
“What are you seeing Rox?”, Scope asked as he stepped a bit closer. Then he saw what caught his attention. “Is that a…?”, he trailed off.
“A lightsaber cut,” he finished for him.
“”Were there Jedi stationed here as well?”
“Hopefully,” Rox said as he spotted another a bit further down the hall, then another, “Because there are at least three other alternatives. And none of them are on our side.” While he only knew those three by reputation only he could only assume one of them wouldn’t be wielding a saber this wildly, even then those other two weren’t exactly pushovers by any stretch of the imagination.
Suddenly a door behind Scope opened up. He quickly spun around and came face to metallic face with a metallic beige battle droid. “Hey,” it exclaimed, “what are you doing …” Before it could finish that sentence a flash of green shot forward and stabbed the droid in the chest. Rox stood there looking down at the droid while his saber blade retracted.
“I saw him,” Scope insisted.
“I know you did,” Rox told him. Then he gave his friend a slight smirk, “But I saw him first.” motioning at the droid with a hand it slid back into the room it came from. Scope checked the hall one more time before they jumped into the room as well and closed the door. Once inside Rox saw Scope look at something behind him and turned his head to see. A Rodain, a dead one just based on the burn mark on the front of its uniform, sat slumped in a chair behind a desk. “One of the base scientists if I had to guess.”
“I’d say that’s a good guess,” Scope commented as he started examining the body. “Looks like he;s been dead for a couple of hours at least. Glancing back to the droid he added, “I think we know what happened here now.”
“I’m afraid you’re right,” Rox said as he started checking the desk. “There had to be something here,” he muttered while checking the desktop terminal. “I got something. Looks like they didn’t think to check for any written logs. They arrived without warning under the disguise of a supply drop. There was nothing on the schedule but that wouldn’t be the first time so we let them in. The attack was almost immediate. I hid in this office the first…. He didn’t even have the chance to finish that thought.”
“Rox he’s been dead for a few hours,” Scope informed him. “And more than likely that clanker,” he jerked his thumb toward the droid on the floor, “was doing a sweep for any survivors, which at this point I highly doubt that there are any left.”
“So why are they still here?”. Rox asked him.
“More than likely they haven’t found what they’re looking for yet,” was the answer. “Which means we have to find out what that is and make sure they don’t get it.”
“We know this place was studying the Force,” Rox reminded him as he looked through some of the other logs to find any indication on what that might be and found nothing helpful. “What’s closer to our position, the command deck or the labs?”
Putting the communicator on the desk and pulling up the map Scope pointed them out, “We’re here and the command deck is here. The labs should be here, a deck above us. So the labs it is then.”
“Looks like ir Scope,” he said as the clone retrieved the communicator and followed him to the door. “I’d suggest changing settings to detect any sort of electronic signature but I’m assuming you already did that.”
“You do know me so well,” the clone said as he aimed the rifle at the door. “I have point, you watch our backs.”
“Yes sir,” Rox said giving him a salute. Scope shook his head slightly as he leveled his weapon as Rox triggered the door opening. Scope made sure the way was clear before heading toward their new destination. Rox carefully looked to the force for any clue on who the saber wielder was without announcing his presence in the force at the same time.
***
Knowing there were battle droids involved now they were way more cautious heading down to the lab level then they were heading toward the top of the station. But knowing there were droids didn’t mean they knew everything. Like how many droids there were still here and what kind of armaments they would have. And because they ran into a standard battle droid didn’t necessarily mean there weren’t other types here as well. Both the Jedi and the clone were fully aware that they could get overwhelmed fairly quickly if they just sudden;y ran into a group without any warning. No, they were going to need an element of surprise.
“Hold on,” Scope sudden;y said as he started waving the rifle at a certain door. “I’m getting a massive reading past this door.” Said door was about as unremarkable as any other door they came across. It didn’t help that none of the ones they’ve seen so far wasn’t labeled. For the people stationed here that probably wasn’t a problem. But for the two of them it was starting to become an issue.
“Any idea what’s on the other side?”, Rox asked as he did a quick check of the hallway. This would be the worst time to be caught off guard by a droid patrol. They were lucky to just have run into just the one. And that type of luck, if you believed in that type of thing, wasn’t going to last forever.
Pulling up the map Scope studied it for a moment. “Looks like some sort of auditorium. For speaking to the group I suppose. Looks like there’s an upper and lower level. It might be a command post for the clankers while they took over the station.”
“Sounds like a good guess to me,” Rox said.
“No offense Rox but this is really where I wish you had that danger sense thing General Kallen has,” Scope commented as he kept his weapon trained on the door.
That danger sense as Scope called it was his former master's unique ability to just sense that something was wrong through the force. Something he tried to teach him on several occasions but Rox just wasn't as attuned to the Force in that way as Kallen was. “You and me both Scope. Because I’m pretty sure just walking in the front door isn’t the brightest of ideas. You said there was an upper level. Does it look like there are any droids up there?”
Changing his aim to look up a bit he waved the rifle around. “Nothing that I can see. Just the usual background you get using this type of scan on a space station. It should be clear.”
“Why would you say it was clear?”, ”Rox asked him.
“Because knowing you that’s where you’re going to try and sneak into that room.” Without being asked he checked the map again. Changing some of the settings a bit he found what he was looking for. It looks like there’s a vent system that leads to the upper level. Still better than going in the front door.”
“I see it,” Rox told him. Scope looked at him and saw him staring straight up. He followed his gaze straight to the ceiling and at a vent cover right above them. “It’s a little inconvenient though.”
“That’s a bit of an understatement,” Scope commented. “Any idea how we're going to get up there or do you think we have time to find another opening into the system? Because I’m not sure how long the clankers are going to stay in there.”
He had a point, those droids could walk out of that room at any moment. And that was if they were standing there or npy. At the moment Rox saw only one option at the moment. “Hang on to your rifle,” he said suddenly while clipping his saber back to his belt.
“Why?” Scope got out before he noticed Rox held both of his hands at him with his eyes slightly closed. Then he started lifting up into the air and panicked slightly before he realized what was happening. Before long he was at the cover and quickly got to work at unsecuring it. To both of them it felt like it was taking way too long to do but then he slid the cover out of the way and climbed into the vent. Rox lowered his arms and checked the door one more time. Gathering the force to him he knelt down a bit and jumped up to the vent and climbed in quickly. After he put the cover back he looked at Rox, “Warn me when you’re going to do that.”
“I told you to hang on to your rifle,” Rox told him as they started crawling through the vent. The route to that particular room was pretty much a straight shot. In no time they reached the room and Scope quickly made his way to the first cover he located. Listening for a moment he started loosening the fasteners and pushed it away just enough to slide it to the side. Sticking his head out for a moment he crawled out.
“It’s clear,” he whispered as Rox made his way out of the vent and got to a knee. A quick look showed that they were on some sort of observation deck looking down. The room was designed with a barricade of some sort so staying in a kneeling position the two made their way over and peeked over to the floor below, down below the area was big but obviously not an auditorium. At least not obe Rox had ever seen. Right now the least of his concerns was what the room was, the mess of Battle droids covering the floor, one the other hand, had his full attention. At least until something that sounded like a muffled explosion grabbed their immediate attention. “I think they found the shuttle,” Scope commented.
“Looks like,” he agreed, “hopefully the escape pods are still intact.”
“How close are we to being done?”, they heard one of the droids ask.
“We still,” replied another, “ determining which animals are Force nullifying.” Scope looked at Rox. He knew what his friend wanted to ask, the question was so strong it was practically resonating in the Force, Force nullifying animal? Rox just shrugged his shoulders. He heard stories when he was a youngling but never really believed it. Apparently he should have, at least enough to look into it a little more. The droid continued, “Dooku was very clear on this order. He doesn’t want anything left alive that could be used against him.”
“But we could use them against the Jedi,” said another.
“Orders are orders,” the second one said.
“I think we’ve heard enough,” Scope said. “I saw we take the clankers down and find a way off this station. I’m counting at least sixty battle droids down there.”
“And more than likely more,” Rox reminded him. “And there are two of us.
“They’re going to need more help,” Scope said, a smile evident in his voice. You never wanted to go into battle droids this badly outnumbered. But for the moment they had the element of surprise. Theoretically they could take out a chunk of the droids before one of them called for help. And take out a few more before that help arrived. Theoretically.In real life the odds were not that great. On the other hand a group of them could already be looking for the occupants of that shuttle. And clankers weren’t generally smart enough to expect those occupants to get this far.
This was exactly why he always told Kallen was a bad influence on him growing up and the clones in general. “Standard protocol,” he told Scope, “I’ll jump into the middle of them, you take down the ones on the edge and whittle them down.”
“You got it,” the clone told him. Rox started to rise up to jump over the barricade. Then stopped and got back down as the door on the far side opened up. It’s body was covered in a heavy cloak but there was no mistaking that metallic head. As it stormed deeper into the room.
“They just got that help,” Rox muttered.
“Idiots!” the newcomer shouted as it pushed a droid out of his way.The electronic sound of his voice sent an involuntary shiver down his spine. He tapped into the Force to calm himself down. Of the three possibilities this was the worst option. “Why are you still here when we have intruders and the vermin to get rid of?”
“We’re still ident…” the droid was cut off mid sentence by a blue lightsaber blade from the person’s cloak which revealed more of the robotic body underneath it.
'Destroy them all!”, he told another droid as the first one dropped to the ground. Claw like fingers pointed at the rest of them. “Whomever was on that republic Shuttle is on this station. Find and eliminate them before they call for reinforcements!”
“Rodger, Rodger General Grievous,” the droids answered and started out of the room. Rox motioned for Scope to get back into the vent. He didn’t argue and quickly followed him in, only taking a moment to make sure the cover wouldn’t fall over.
“This is bad,” Scope said as they made their way through the vent.
“That goes without saying.” Rox said as he continued crawling reaching their original entrance way but kept going. Somehow dropping down in front of the door that led to that room felt like an extremely bad idea. “I see another opening up ahead, any idea where it goes?”
“Give a moment.” Rox decided not to make the obvious comment about not having that particular, at least verbally. “Looks like a lab of some sort. You think they’ll search it again?”
“Hopefully not anytime soon,” Rox told him, “come on.” Leading the way they hit the cover fairly quickly. Rox did a quick visible scan, getting a good look at the door before removing the cover and going into the room keeping his attention on the door while Scope crawled in as well. Getting further away was probably the better option, but they needed a moment to think and regroup and not be overheard. Rox wouldn't speak for Scope but every movement they made in that vent sounded louder than normal.
Scope started looking around the room and made his way to a terminal. When he started pressing some buttons Rox asked, “What are you doing?”
“Checking on the status of the escape pods, safety protocols dictate that you should be able to check them from anywhere on the station” was his answer. After a quick moment he started shaking his head. “Either already launched or damaged. I dount the clankers are going to give us time to fix one so we’re pretty much stranded.”
“Sounds about right,” Rox agreed. “But we don’t have a lot of options either. We need to call for help from the republic. Give me that communicator we’ve been using.”
“You sure that’s wise,” Scope asked him, while still handing the device over as requested. “They know we’re here and are looking for us. The clankers may not be all that smart; it can still occur to them to check for any type of transmission.”
“Normally I would agree with you,” Roc told him. “Bur we need help and the only other way to get a call out is to get to the command deck.”
“Yeah they’ll just give us the time to send a distress signal,” Scope said with a lot of sarcasm. In his voice. Rox just gave him a quick look as he continued to mess with the settings.
“So this is the only option, You did memorize the map?”
“Of course,” he said matter of factly.
“Good, because I’m leaving the communicator here just in case they get a lock on it. We’re going to need to stay one step ahead of the droids for as long as we can, And you’re the only one who knows the layout of this station.” He looked satisfied as the communicator beeped as he finished his adjustments. “And hopefully using a different channel will buy us some time. Make sure that door is locked, we're going out the way we came in.”
“I just love vents,” the clone quipped as he went to lock the door.
Rox held out his hand and activated the communicator, making sure it was set on send only, they did not have the time to have a conversation with anybody who might be listening. If somebody was listening on this channel. “To anyone listening this is Jedi Knight Rox Cael. I’m on assignment on station Epsilon. My clone companion and myse;f have run into Seperatist Battle Droids and General Grievous. We’re doing our best to stay out of sight but our shuttle was destroyed and we have no way off this station. “I’m not sure how much longer we can avoid contact with the droids. Please get here as fast as you can. Cael out.`` Rox put the communicator on the floor then quickly drove his lightsaber blade through it. The last thing he needed was to give the separatists an opening to one of the secure comm channels the experts had set up after the war started. Without any further thought the two of them crawled back into the vent waiting only long enough to secure the cover before moving on.
***