Archive of Our Own

The council had come to a unanimous decision.

"Strange, this message is." Master Yoda mumbled, his hologram flickering in and out in steady waves. 

"Long gone, we thought this code was. Lost in years past. For it to appear so suddenly, in times of war?" Yoda frowned, his gaze hardening. "Take caution, we must."

"I agree with Master Yoda." Mace Windu added with a slight bow of acknowledgement. "This could very well be a trap. We must take great care with our approach."

Obi-Wan nodded in agreement, stroking his beard in an attempt to quell the sudden surge of pressure in the force around him. "It's decided then?"

"I believe it is." Plo Koon rumbled, his hologram turning to face Obi-Wan fully. "You are the closest of the Council to the code's coordinates, Master Kenobi. Are you sure you're up to this mission?"

"Of course Master." Obi-Wan replied, near automatic in his response. "I can assure you that I'll take the necessary precautions."

Plo Koon hummed in acknowledgement. "And I'm sure your men will be up to the task of ensuring you live up to that promise."

Obi-Wan felt his mouth twitch in amusement. "Cody's a good man. He'll send a squadron with me, I'm sure. I'll report back to the council once we're planetside."

There was a murmur of agreement from the various holograms in front of him, and slowly the Jedi Masters began to disconnect from the holocall. 

"May the force be with you, young Master Kenobi." Plo Koon offered, giving a small bow of acknowledgement before vanishing from the call himself.

At last, Obi-Wan stood alone in his private quarters. It seemed he had some planning to do, and if the wavering force around him was any indication as to how this mission would go, Obi-Wan feared what may lay in store for him next.

Obi-Wan closed his eyes, breathed in deeply, released his emotions into the force, and went to work.

"Sir," Cody called out, standing a small distance beside him with a relaxed sort of stiffness to his posture "we're ready to jump to hyperspace whenever you are."

Obi-Wan nodded in a show of understanding before gently placing a hand on his commander's shoulder guard. "Thank you Cody. I fear this mission leaves an odd sort of taste in my mouth."

Cody tilted his head, mouth curving into a frown. "A bad feeling, sir?"

Obi-Wan moved to stand at attention, turning himself towards the windows of the Negotiator's bridge. "The very same, I'm afraid."

Cody stood at his side, subtly giving the signal for the pilots to begin the jump to hyperspace. "We'd better start preparing for a fight then. You know we won't go down easy."

Obi-Wan gave him a brief smile, strained at the edges, as he felt more than saw the Negotiator begin to blast into hyperspace towards Moraband's sector of space. "Let's hope we won't have to fight our way out of this one, my dear. I'm rather tired of the war's nonstop violence, aren't you?"

Cody let out a noncommittal hum, pausing for a moment before turning to look at him fully. "You should know that I'm no expert in the 'force', sir, and yet even I know that when you have a gut feeling, it's time to follow your lead." He motioned towards the troopers standing at attention on deck, and gently clapped his hand against Obi-Wan's arm gauntlet. "Wherever you may go, we will follow you sir. I'm afraid backup is going to be mandatory for this one."

Obi-Wan let out an amused laugh. "Is that so?"

Cody simply gave him a grin in reply. "It'll be tough getting rid of me, sir. But keeping my brothers away? I'd say you'd have an easier time trying to find a swamp rat on Mustafar."

The Negotiator sped forward through space, and as the two hundred twelfth went about their daily patrols across the ship's various halls, Obi-Wan felt the knot of tension within the force tighten into a noose. 

They were heading towards something big. Something that Obi-Wan felt drip down his spine and curl into his lungs, and he couldn't seem to figure out what it was.

Obi-Wan skimmed what little resources he had on Moraband's history in an attempt to prepare for what they might expect on the planet's moon. Not much was known, much to Obi-Wan's frustration, all that lay written across the screens in front of him were the same repeated phrases worded differently each time. 

The planet was near uninhabitable for Jedi due to the darkness tainting its surface, the air was breathable, the planet had a rocky and uneven surface, and thousands of years ago the ancient beings of the Sith called it their home.

Obi-Wan knew this. He had taken and passed his courses in Jedi History when he was a Padawan; no self-respecting Jedi Master hadn't at least heard of the old Sith history that lays planetside on Moraband.

What caused Obi-Wan to finally push away his data-tablet in frustration was that near nothing was known of the moon the ancient signal was originating from. The digital Jedi records he had available showed that the moon existed , sure, but near nothing more than that. 

Obi-Wan rubbed at his temples in a futile attempt to chase away the headache that brewed in the forefront of his mind. He was on his third cup of lavender brewed tea and no closer to finding any useful information.

"Any luck, sir?" Cody asked, pausing in his paperwork to give Obi-Wan a questioning look.

"None." He replied, finishing the last of his tea in a single swig. "You?"

Cody sighed, placing the tablet in his hands on the desk in front of him. "I've found nothing on my end sir." He paused, before adding "Our resources don't have much on dar'jetti history, only what to do if we encounter one."

Obi-Wan clapped a hand on Cody's shoulder in what he hoped was a comforting gesture. "It's been frustrating for me as well, I'm afraid. It's just- odd, is all. Based on these records it's as if no one has ever visited the moon at all."

Cody frowned, turning to give Obi-Wan his full attention. "As in- no one in the history of the Jedi Order, sir?"

Obi-Wan raised a hand beneath his chin, giving it some thought. "Well, I suppose no one at all. Not just the Jedi, but anyone who would have cared enough to write a record of it. Travellers or hopeful-settlers."

Cody glanced at Obi-Wan, an unreadable look to his eyes. "Sir, permission to speak freely?"

Obi-Wan gave him a weary smile. "Always."

"I think we're going to need more than one gunship."

"Alright men," Cody called out, causing the two hundred twelfth around him to stand at attention as they began the mission debrief "our main objective is to escort the General to these coordinates on one of Moraband's moons. There are no confirmed hostiles, but keep in mind that we're going in blind."

Obi-Wan watched as Cody eyed his men seriously, ensuring they got the message. "Eyes open at all times men, just because it's Jedi business doesn't mean us clones can't be of any help."

Obi-Wan stepped forward, doing his best to project ease and encouragement into the force around him. "The Commander is right. Regardless of your force-knowledge, your help is appreciated, I assure you."

He smiled, motioning towards them as he spoke. "I have faith in you all. May the force be with us."

Obi-Wan was certain that underneath his bucket Cody was rolling his eyes in fond amusement. 

He knew that his commander was more skeptical of the force, once stating that it sounded more like good instincts and weird magic voodoo than anything Obi-Wan had described. And yet, despite Cody's skepticism, Obi-Wan saw how bright his aura was.

It felt as if Cody were the sun of the two hundred twelfth legion, and his men fell into his orbit as naturally as planets in a solar system. He was their shining star, and every man bearing two hundred twelfth colors carried an echo of his warmth with them and into the battlefield.

"Alright men, settle down." Cody commanded not unkindly to the squadron of excitedly chattering men in front of them. "Gear up and head to the gunship! We depart at twelve hundred hours. Dismissed!"

With a wave of Cody's hand the men scrambled towards their barracks and gear. Obi-Wan watched them with amusement, moving to stand by his commander's side as the pilots prepared themselves for the mission ahead. 

Cody removed his bucket, tucking it beneath his arm and turning towards Obi-Wan. "Do you think we're ready sir?"

Obi-Wan let out a deep sigh. "As ready as we'll ever be I suppose." He glanced at his commander before lowering his voice to a quiet mutter only the two of them could hear. "The force has been acting rather strange. It's muddied- but not by the usual darkness that one might sense on Coruscant."

Obi-Wan frowned, trying to reach out and sense the tingling sensation of the force's unease. "I've never felt anything quite like it. Darkness, but more similar to smoked glass rather than pure abyss."

Cody hummed in thought, lowering his voice in turn. "What do you think it means sir?"

Obi-Wan sighed, recalling his force senses closer to himself as he pulled himself back to his present state of mind. "I don't know." He admitted truthfully. "Just that this mission is far from a normal one. We should plan to make contact with the Negotiator bridge once we land. I fear this may be more than a one day trip."

Cody tilted his head at that, his frown deepening. "You think the mission will last longer than one rotation, sir?" His eyes briefly glanced towards the pilots packing the gunship with supplies. "Should I make a request for more emergency supplies?"

Obi-Wan hummed, considering the question as he crossed his arms over his chest. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt to be prepared for the worst. A medic might also be wise, in case whoever we are rescuing needs immediate medical assistance."

Cody nodded, reaching for a datapad and punching in a note. "I'm sure Helix could spare someone. The battle of Ryloth didn't leave us with as many injured men as he had feared. I'll put in a request."

Obi-Wan smiled, more unease slipping into his expression than he would have liked. "Good man. I'll prepare my own supplies and meet you here with the men at twelve hundred hours."

Cody gave him a loose salute in acknowledgement. "Understood sir." He paused. "May the force be with us."

Genuine amusement replaced Obi-Wan's worry. "Indeed."

They parted ways, and Obi-Wan began preparing for a mission he knew would go wrong.

As soon as the gunship broke the moon's atmosphere Obi-Wan felt his mind and soul fill with absolute dread. The force echoed around him in warning, bouncing off of the walls of the gunship and out across the moon's surface. 

Obi-Wan held onto the ship's hand straps, tensing in anticipation as they moved closer to the beacon's location. 

The gunship was silent around him, his men perhaps sensing the unease lacing their general's mind, as they all stood in a tense waiting game for something to go wrong.

Outside, the force reeked of darkness. Ancient dark, the kind Obi-Wan had only ever felt in old crevices within corrupted Jedi temples and ruins. The winds rocked their gunship back and forth as they moved, and with a jolt Obi-Wan felt the force pull .

"Brace yourselves!" He yelled out in warning, and Obi-Wan reached out with his senses and covered his men in a weighted blanket of protection just as massive claws yanked their ship from the sky.

The bird-like creature cried out in victory, letting out a shrieking caw that caused Obi-Wan's ears to ring in its wake.

The creature squeezed the gunship beneath its claws, and somewhere in Obi-Wan's mind he processed the lives of their pilots slipping into the force like grains of sand falling between the crevices of his fingers.

The gunship croaked, whined beneath the force of the creature's talons, and then his men cried out in terror as the creature screamed and dropped their ship entirely.

Obi-Wan felt air rush around him, overwhelming his senses as the ship hurdled at top speed to the surface of the moon below.

Just before they made contact, he threw his mind into safety, protection, save them, and then he was thrust towards the ground, briefly registering his head pounding against the ship's metal floors. That was all it took before all Obi-Wan knew was darkness.

Dimly, Obi-Wan could hear his name being called from somewhere above him. His head felt heavy, and when he tried to lift it he was hit with a wave of sharp pain that forced him to stop in his tracks.

Tentatively, Obi-Wan raised a shaking hand to his temple, watching through blurry eyes as his fingers came back caked in blood.

Closing his eyes, he took deep breaths and slowly allowed his mind to slip into a meditative state. Searching through the force around him, Obi-Wan centered himself and began to search for his men's force-presence.

'The pilots are dead.' Obi-Wan thought, and he felt his heart lodge into his throat with unspoken grief. ' As are three others. The rest are picking themselves out of the wreckage, some injured more so than others.'

He opened his eyes, staring at the broken down roof of the gunship. Distantly, Obi-Wan could hear the cries of concern from his men as they searched for him. 

Carefully, Obi-Wan began the process of taking stock of his injuries. 

His head ached with the cotton-like haze of a concussion, and every thought he made was a major effort through the haziness of his vision. 

Obi-Wan reached for a groove in the broken metal wall of the gunship and attempted to sit up, only to wince as pain raced through his ribcage.

He gasped, a hand reaching for his chest as the pain left him panting for air. His ribcage ached, though if it were because of major bruising or a fracture Obi-Wan couldn't say for sure.

"General!" A trooper called out from somewhere outside the wreck. "General, where are you?"

"I'm alright!" Obi-Wan called out, gritting his teeth through the pain it caused him. "I'm here, Iso. Where are the others?"

There was a quick scrambling of feet from outside the crash. Slowly, the door of the gunship was pried loose and the mildly panicked form of Isosceles was visible as he squeezed inside the wreckage.

"Commander Cody is outside the wreck, sir." Iso replied as he gave the gunship door one final shove. "He's doing a headcount of the surviving men. He sent a couple of us ahead to scour the wreckage for you, sir."

"I see." Obi-Wan said, carefully not looking at the corpses of his men beside him. Phoenix and Drill didn't deserve to die here, among rubble and broken metal. They would've wanted to go down fighting. They would've wanted to go down honorably and with purpose.

"General, sir." Iso said quietly, breaking Obi-Wan from his grief-ridden thoughts. "We have to get your injuries checked out." He paused, before glancing at the corpses beside them and adding "They wouldn't want you to wallow in your injuries for their sake. Phoenix would've thrown a fit, you know it sir."

"He would have, yes." Obi-Wan replied, his voice croaking with emotion. "I- alright, Iso. I'll see the medic." He followed Iso's gaze, eyes tracing the phoenix painted in bright yellow that decorated the armour of the deceased soldier. "After we take care of them."

Iso sighed, closing his eyes and nodding once in agreement. "After we take care of them."

Obi-Wan stood, with the brief help of Isosceles when he threatened to waver, and together they began to pull the dead brothers outside of the wreckage.

"Status report?" Obi-Wan asked, sitting on a tree stump as Bact treated his injuries. 

"Five troopers dead, sir." Cody replied, his eyes betraying his relief at seeing Obi-Wan alive. "Neither of the pilots made it. We believe that whatever creature attacked us deliberately targeted the cockpits."

"It was an avian of some sort." Obi-Wan began tentatively. "Avians of that size are almost always hunters, the kind of predator who would drop its prey from above and scavenge the ground for its remains, similar to hawks or eagles."

Cody frowned, his eyebrows creasing in worry. "You think it'll be back for us, sir?"

Obi-Wan winced as Bact applied a stim. "It's most likely, yes. I don't suppose we managed to crash right at the beacon's origin point?"

"No sir." Cody replied, pulling up his holomap. "It looks like the distress call is originating about sixty clicks northeast." He paused. "There's one more thing, sir. Our comms are down."

Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow. "You mean they broke in the crash?"

"No sir." Cody said, pulling out his commlink. "It appears that the moon itself blocks all of our communication systems from breaking the atmosphere, both long distance comms and standard issue."

"Well," Obi-Wan sighed, rubbing his temples in resignation, "it looks like there will be no reinforcements, then."

"It looks like it, sir."

The force's presence on the moon was strange. It felt polluted, coated in a distinct void that reeked of the dark side. Every step they made through the sparsely vegetated swampy marsh practically flooded Obi-Wan's mind with the polluted aura of the dark side. 

And yet despite the overwhelming darkness flooding his mind, Obi-Wan couldn't take his mind off of his men. 

Thankfully, his attempt at shielding them as they had crashed had saved the majority of them from life-threatening injuries. Unfortunately, Obi-Wan wasn't strong enough to save all of his men from disaster, and the cost of his failure was found in three of the men walking beside him.

Sergeant Blaster had gotten his lower torso trapped beneath the concaved metal door of the gunship. His legs were mangled, and one of them was definitely broken. Bact had done what he could, of course, but there was only so much one medic could do against an injury that severe.

Sergeant Blaster's presence in the force was waning fast, and somewhere in his heart and soul Obi-Wan knew the man wouldn't last the night. Blaster seemed to understand this too, judging by the saddened look on his face each time Bact insisted he would live.

The poor medic was in denial, practically glued to the man's side and reapplying bandage after bandage even after each came back soaked in blood.

It was a sight that left Obi-Wan's heart heavier than he had thought possible. He didn't know how Bact would take it when Blaster finally passed. There was only so much one could do while on the battlefield.

Regardless, Obi-Wan did what he could to help the dying man. As they trudged forward throughout the muck he slowed his breathing into a steady repetitive rhythm. Not fully in a meditative state, but not fully conscious either, Obi-Wan would siphon what pain he could into the force as they walked.

Cody kept one arm supporting Obi-Wan's frame, helping him steer clear from debris and submerged rocks as he attempted to ease the clone's pain.

The other injured, Hawks, who had shrapnel embedded into his right arm, and Mouse, who had broken his left hand in the crash, weren't as life threatening. Though they were certainly worse off than the rest of the squad, who had come out of the wreck with mild scrapes and bruises aside from Obi-Wan himself, they could at least push their way through the pain for the time being.

"Sir!" BD called out, scrambling towards Obi-Wan's position at the middle of their makeshift group. "Hawks spotted some caverns up ahead in the rocky cliff side! We think we could set up a temporary base camp there until-" he paused, glancing towards the exhausted and rapidly deteriorating figure of Blaster. "Until we're ready to get moving again."

Obi-wan stopped, holding out the signal for his troopers to halt as they regained their breath. "A rest would be appreciated." He replied, sparing a glance at Cody who in turn motioned for Isosceles and Scout to verify the cavern's position. The men were quick to grab their gear and head out towards the cliff side, sparing a quick salute in their general's direction before beginning their trek.

"Anything would be better than wandering about in murky water, surely." Obi-wan panted, waving off his troopers as they passed and leaning more heavily on his Commander's shoulder. "Do we have an ETA?"

Cody frowned, his free hand reaching for his holomap. "We're still about 50 klicks out, sir. At the rate we're going we'll get there in about three standard rotations assuming we don't run into any trouble along the way."

Obi-wan nodded, wiping the sweat off of his forehead as he thought about the possible repercussions taking an early rest might entail for them. "Alright. Once Iso and Scout get back with confirmation of the cavern's safety we'll start setting up a base camp for the night. In the meantime," he sighed, feeling Cody's hand press securely against his back as nausea crept up his stomach and into his throat. "Let's just- rest up a bit."

Cody used one arm to steady him, carefully maneuvering them both closer to an outcropping of roots closer towards the ground. "Are your ribs giving you trouble, sir?"

Obi-wan gingerly shook his head. "No no, it's my-" he felt his vision sway and quickly raised a hand in an attempt at blocking out the light swarming his mind. "-head. I get quite nauseous whenever I make an attempt at moving around."

Cody nodded in lieu of a response, quickly striding over to Bact, who had begun to rewrap Blaster's wounds with fresh mesh.

Obi-wan sighed in defeat, already knowing that he wouldn't be able to deny taking the pain meds his commander would be back with shortly.

"The commander's right on this one, sir." BD commented as he sat down on a muddy stump beside him. "You'll need your strength if you plan on getting us out of this mess, even if you think you can go without it."

Obi-wan hummed, rubbing his fingers against his temples in an attempt to mask the colors swarming his vision. "Logically, you're right of course." He replied, sparing a look in his trooper's direction. "But old habits die hard, I'm afraid. We only have a limited amount of supplies at hand, and despite my headaches, I'd rather save the medication for those who need it more desperately than I do." 

BD shifted his gaze towards Blaster, a look of understanding flashing across his features. "Still, sir, I'm sure we'd all appreciate it a bit more if you at least tried to minimize your own pain. You almost gave the commander a heart attack with that stunt you pulled with the gunship."

He felt the corners of his mouth tilt upwards in amusement. "Ah, but you lived didn't you? Your lives spared at the cost of a pesky headache is more than fair." Obi-wan let his hand rest against the plating of BD's armored forearm. "I'd do it again in a heartbeat."

BD smiled, most likely the first genuine one he'd made this mission, and said "We know, sir."

"General!" Cody called out, briskly moving from brother to brother with a small cup of pills in one hand. "Oak has spotted an emergency flare coming from the cavern's ridge." 

Obi-wan felt his stomach plummet. "Sergeant Blaster is in no condition to move. We must leave some men behind while the rest of us form a rescue party."

Cody nodded, already turning around to echo the orders down to the men. "Bact, Hawks, Mouse!" A chorus of 'Yes, sir!' rang around the clearing. "You three, stay with Sergeant Blaster- I want all eyes on the lookout for signs of trouble, and if you see anythin g while we're gone I want flares up in the air before you even think of approaching on your own. Am I understood?"

Affirmatives echoed around them, and Obi-wan popped the anti-nausea meds in his mouth and reached for his lightsaber. "The rest of you will follow me." He called out, turning towards the rocky mountains with Cody a mere step behind him. "If anyone gets seperated, the base of the cliffside will be our landmark."

Obi-wan looked towards the cliffs, and he began to run. "May the force be with us."

"General!" Isosceles cried out, his armor covered in long scratch-marks and caked in dust. "I lost contact with Scout after the creatures attacked us. We were patrolling the ridge by the caves when they ambushed us."

Obi-wan nodded, keeping his senses locked on the surrounding area as he took in Isosceles' condition. The man looked jumpy, and there was a long gash along his forearm where the creatures had punctured through his armor, though he looked otherwise unharmed. 

"More birds?" BD asked, his helmet turned towards the cliffside's peak. 

Isosceles shook his head. "They were rodents. Scavengers, I think."

Obi-wan froze, reaching for his saber as he turned towards his left. "I do believe we'll be meeting your new friends shortly, Iso. Ready your weapons men, I'm afraid we've got company."

The men tensed, needing no more warning to move into a defensive position. The chittering or rodents echoed throughout the caverns, red beady eyes shining through the cracks between the rocky terrain.

The force around them reeked of darkness. To Obi-Wan, the creatures felt as if they were manifestations of the Dark Side itself. It made his headache worsen, his mind straining under the pressure of so much dark , but before he could begin to ponder it further the creatures leapt forth from their crevices and attacked. 

Obi-Wan disliked killing innocent creatures. He disliked killing in general, quite frankly. The feeling of a life slipping away from its host was never a pleasant experience to witness. It left a gaping hole in the force where life once was, aching and empty in comparison to the familiar and steady rhythm living creatures resonated around him.

As Obi-wan slashed through a rodent with his saber, he couldn't help but mourn the loss of life as he went. The creatures were hungry, desperate, and coated in the taint of the dark side. 

Obi-wan cut through another rat, his mind filled with the overstimulating sensation of the living force pressing in on all sides. Distantly, he felt one of his men screech in pain. BD. He thought, leaping through the fray to find the injured man.

Finally, Obi-wan caught sight of him. BD was pressed against a cavern wall, three rodents circling him from various sides. The joint in the armor on his left knee was bleeding heavily, a rat bite beginning to swell  through BD's blacks.

Swinging his saber with several precise movements, Obi-wan sliced through the nearest creature. "BD," he gritted out between breaths, "can you walk?"

BD fired his blaster, causing another rodent to squeal in agony and scramble backwards. "I- I think so, sir." He panted, already moving to stand on his feet. "There's just so many of them."

"It seems we've entered their territory." Obi-wan replied, slashing through another creature as he spoke.  "And they're rather protective of what is theirs."

His eyes flickered towards the cavern walls, mind racing as he searched for an opening.

Another one of his men screamed out in pain, and the beginning pieces of a plan began to etch themselves into his brain.

"Cody!" Obi-wan cried out, slashing through the creatures between himself and his commander. "Get the men to that ridge and shoot the pillars on your left at my signal!"

Cody nodded his understanding, moving fluidly through the flight as he shot his way towards his troopers. "On it, General!"

Obi-wan felt more than watched his men grapple towards the ridge, wasting no time as he turned his attention towards the rodents before him.

Reaching outward with one hand, Obi-wan allowed his senses to extend, blanketing the creatures in a layer of the force.  Calm. He thought, pushing his will outward. Peace.

The minds of the rats battled against his influence. Anger . They seemed to say. Trespassers. 

Obi-wan wrapped his presence around them once more, pushing against the creatures' minds more insistently. Peace. He thought, stepping backwards and urging the rodents to follow. Friends.

The rats squealed amongst themselves, emotions of all kinds whirling against Obi-wan's shields. Danger. They seemed to say, working each other into a frenzy of fur and squeaks. Threat to the power.

The hold he had on their minds buckled, straining against the force of so many creatures at once. Finally, a rodent couldn't stand it any longer and clamped it's teeth into the flesh of Obi-wan's leg.

Pain shot through his system, and his concentration shattered into pieces. "Cody, now!" Obi-wan shouted, using the force to leap upwards as a cascade of blasterfire rang out across the clearing. 

The pillars crumpled, leaving rocks and boulders tumbling to the cavern floor as the rodents shrieked in surprise and agony.

Holding back a gasp of pain, Obi-wan stumbled against the cavern wall, panting for breath even as his troopers rushed to catch him.

"General!" Oak cried out, having been the closest of the men to his landing point. "Are you alright?"

"I will be." Was all Obi-wan could manage, leaning most of his weight against the trooper's side. "The men?"

Oak seemed to understand his unspoken question. "BD got bit badly in the knee, sir. Iso is looking at it now but he's no medic." He paused, glancing around at his brothers as if to double check he wasn't missing anything. "The Commander got bit in the crook of his underarm, but it's not too deep. The rest of us have minor scratches, sir, aside from yourself of course."

Obi-wan nodded, allowing the relief to temporarily ease the tension of his shoulders. "We need to regroup and treat our wounds. Have we got eyes on Scout?" 

Oak shook his head, his gaze lingering on Iso as he spoke. "No, sir. Isosceles said that he had gotten dragged into a tunnel of some sort by one of the rodents. It's- not very likely he made it out."

Grief closed in around his throat, forcing Obi-wan to swallow before he could continue. "I see." 

Around them, the men were starting to set up a temporary guard. Iso refused to meet anyone's eyes, focusing solely on treating BD's wound with what limited medical knowledge he had. Grief and stubborn hope warred against each other in the force, clouding around Isosceles like a storm about to let loose. 

BD was talking to the man, too far away for Obi-wan to make out the details of the conversation, yet even from this distance he could tell he was attempting to distract him. 

"General!" Cody jogged over to them, his concern evident in the force around him even as he forced himself to remain professional. "We've located several caverns lining the cliffside walls with optimal defense positions should we need a place to stay the night." 

Obi-wan turned to face his commander, breaking away from Oak's support to stand mostly on his own. "Finally, some good news." 

He paused, motioning towards Cody's arm. "How's your arm, Commander?" 

Cody rolled his shoulder, testing his range of motion and allowing Obi-wan to get a glance at the torn fabric of his blacks beneath the armor plating. Blood had seeped through the cloth, though judging from the tear and Cody's movements it was likely just a flesh wound.

 "I'll live." Is what he replied, his bucket looking pointedly at Obi-wan's leg. "I'd suggest you get yourself treated before worrying too much about me, sir." 

Obi-wan sighed, knowing that beneath his helmet Cody was raising an unimpressed eyebrow at his lack of self-care. "I will, Cody." He glanced at his men, watching Oak move towards his brothers as BD kept trying to keep Iso from spacing out for too long. "Once we set up camp."

Cody shook his head. "Clean the wound while it's fresh at a minimum, sir. With the swamp water still coating your clothes you're at a higher risk for infection. We'll regroup at the cliffs once you're finished."

"You certainly have a way with negotiating, Commander." Obi-wan replied, offering Cody a small smile at his concern. "Very well then. I'll see to it that my wounds are properly cleaned."

Cody nodded his approval, standing beside Obi-wan  should he begin to fall as he made his way towards the rocky outcropping his men had gathered around. 

Silently, Iso handed Obi-wan a roll of gauze from his pack before turning back towards his work. The man looked rough, to say the least. His attention may have been focused on wiping away the grime from BD's wound, but his eyes told Obi-wan that he was far away from the present moment. 

Contrastly, BD immediately perked up at the sight of his general sitting beside them. "How's your leg, sir? That was some trick you pulled back there!"

Obi-wan smiled in amusement. "The force connects me to all living things. Though those rodents may have been tainted, they were still a part of the living force." He paused, wincing as he rolled up his pant leg to reveal the bite mark on his calf. "It allowed me to connect with them momentarily. Though I must admit it felt much different than what I'm used to."

BD tilted his head. "What do you mean by tainted, sir?"

Obi-wan frowned, gently running water from his canteen over his wound before turning to face BD fully. "Well- hm I suppose it would be difficult to explain to someone with no knowledge of the force. You've heard of the Sith, if I'm not mistaken?"

BD nodded, moving his hand in a see-saw motion. "Kind of, sir. Only know enough to know they're jetii business, we're told not to engage if possible."

"For good reason." Obi-wan replied. "They are powerful foes. The Sith draw on the dark side of the force, fueling themselves on hatred and their own lust for power. Years ago, far before I was born, they fought against the Jedi before being all but destroyed. Moraband was their homeworld, though I believe it had gone by a different name during that time."

Beside them, Oak and Cody were silently listening in, and though he certainly tried to hide it, Obi-wan knew he had gotten Isosceles' attention with his impromptu history lesson. 

"We don't know much about it. In fact, I could hardly find anything written in the archives before we left Coruscant for this very mission." He paused, trying to find the right words to describe what he could feel and BD could not. "You see when a force user draws on hate and fear for power, it corrupts both themself and the force around them. The very moment we breached the atmosphere I could sense it." 

BD nodded, straightening as if he suddenly understood. "It's because we're so close to Moraband, right? And those rats felt it too?"

Obi-wan hummed, his eyebrows furrowing in thought. "Somewhat? It's definitely due to the fact that we're so close to Moraband, yes. Though the rodents were hardly what I'd call force sensitive. It was more like the moon itself had corrupted them. It is possible that continued exposure to the dark side began to influence the native animals."

Isosceles looked up from BD's knee. "Could that happen to us, sir?"

Obi-wan frowned. "I certainly hope not. As far as I'm aware it wouldn't be possible without prolonged exposure, or much more power. Worst case scenario, the Negotiator would send a scouting party after we don't comm in a couple rotations. You'd be off the moon long before anything takes effect ."

"Sir," Cody said, binocs in hand. "I hate to interrupt, but I've spotted our men at the RV." 

Obi-wan straightened, pulling his pant leg down and wobbling to his feet. "Have they fired any flares?"

"No," Cody replied. Almost hesitantly, he added "Sir- Sergeant Blaster isn't with them."

Sergeant Blaster's body couldn't be taken with them. Like the men who had perished in the gunship, they were forced to leave him behind in enemy territory. They were more than fortunate that this mission didn't have them constantly under fire, it would allow them the brief chance to grieve, and if they were lucky, bury the dead.

Bact was quiet. Though Obi-wan didn't know the medic well, he could tell that the man had been close with Blaster. The force ached with his grief, wailing even while his face remained stoic and unseeing.

They had buried the man where the swamp met the cliffside, where rock met loose soil and the vines and the marsh met the grass. 

Upon rendezvousing with the rest of his men Obi-wan gave them each a moment to grieve. Not every clone could say their fallen brothers got a proper burial. Most carried their grief with them, into their next mission and onward. If not properly checked, that grief could consume them.

Obi-wan wouldn't let it. 

Officially, they couldn't spare much time. With a distress signal to investigate and native dangers on their tail, the mission would have to come first. 

But ten minutes? Ten minutes, they could spare.

Obi-wan stared at the helmet turned grave marker, studying the details as if he could imprint them into his memory forever. 

"I'm sorry I couldn't do more." He said softly, pressed a hand against the soil of the makeshift gravesite. "I'll make sure Bact doesn't lose himself to this." Obi-wan paused, before closing his eyes and muttering " Aay'han ."

Carefully, he stood from the dirt and made his way towards his men. 

Several were clustered together cleaning their wounds and reapplying bandages. Bact busied himself amongst them, silent and stiff as he fixed lopsided mesh and applied bacta as needed. Oak and Mouse stood guard on either side of the group, with Hawks no doubt scouting the area ahead of them.

Cody stood at the front of the group, holomap in hand as he no doubt studied the upcoming terrain for the journey ahead. 

"General." Cody acknowledged, glancing at Obi-wan as he approached. He shifted, allowing Obi-wan to get a better look at the holomap. "We've located a cavern two clicks northeast of our position that should provide adequate cover for the night. I've sent Hawks ahead to check for hostiles but so far we've been in the clear." 

He paused, turning towards Obi-wan fully and lowering his voice into a softer tone. "How are you holding up, sir?"

Obi-wan sighed, closing his eyes against the brightness of the holomap in front of them. "Alright, I suppose." 

Cody looked unimpressed. 

Obi-wan huffed fondly. "I mean it, dear. My wounds will need time to heal, yes, and the loss of so many men has been-" he frowned "-rough, on both me and the troops. But I will live through it." 

He glanced at the group of soldiers gathering on the rocks, feeling their grief even from afar. "If anything, I'm more worried for our men than I am myself. You know how close Bact was to Blaster."

Cody nodded, following Obi-wan's gaze to the man in question. He paused, glancing at Obi-wan briefly before saying "They were batchmates, sir. Grown beside each other back on Kamino. Raised together, too."

Obi-wan felt his heart ache in sympathy. "I see."

Before he could dwell on that for long, Hawks returned from his patrol, jogging into the clearing with sweat on his brow and his helmet in hand. "Sir!" He said, straightening in front of him with a firm salute. "No hostiles around the cavern, sir. There are a few difficult climbs up the cliffside, but it shouldn't be too taxing even for our wounded."

Obi-wan nodded. "Good job, Hawks. Take some time to catch your breath and we will be off shortly."

"Yes sir!" Hawks replied, turning on his heel at his dismissal and making a beeline for his gathered brothers. 

Obi-wan watched him leave, his heart aching at the thought of potentially losing more of his men on this rescue mission. Turning to his commander, he glanced at Cody, taking in his dirtied armor and bandaged underarm and said "How about you, Cody?"

Cody raised an eyebrow. "Me?"

"Oh you know what I mean." Obi-wan replied, leaning against the outcropping of rocks as he spoke. "How are your injuries faring? No signs of infection, I should hope."

Cody hummed, choosing his words carefully before he spoke. "No infection, as far as Bact could tell anyways, though it's still too early to know for certain." His eyes tracked the movement of his men, watching the flailing arms of BD as he told some sort of engaging story or joke. "Got a bit banged up on entry, though I was spared the worst of it thanks to you."

"Good." Obi-wan replied, thankful that at least his commander wasn't as hurt as he could've been. "That's good."

Together, the two of them watched their men come back into themselves, grieving still perhaps, but whole, and they knew it was time to move forward.

They spend the night in a cave. Hawks had led them through the jagged rocky terrain until they finally arrived at a large dip on the side of the rocky mountain. 

A brief overview of the cavern told them that it went deep below the moon's surface and that the walls of the cavern would provide shelter should any harsh weather begin to take effect during the night.

Cody had set up a guard system, two men, with one on either opening of the cavern, who would switch halfway through the night. Obi-wan had offered to be first watch and was promptly shut down, surprisingly, by Bact, who had refused to let him stay up due to his concussion and potential force exhaustion.

Amused but not surprised, Obi-wan returned to his makeshift quarters, a sleeping mat on the floor of the cavern, and prepared to settle down for the night.

He awoke at o'six hundred hours to the beeping of the alarm on his comm. Rubbing at the sleep his eyes, Obi-wan fumbled to turn it off. 

The sky looked the same as it had when he went to sleep, ashen and black with only the faintest glow of the nearest sun through the atmosphere. The night had hardly felt any different from the day, whether it was due to the smokey thick sky or the lack of natural light was hard to tell for certain.

"Morning, sir." Mumbled Mouse, who was sitting guard on a rock by the fire. "I've got our morning meal prepped along with caff if you'd like it."

"Good morning Mouse." He replied with a yawn. "I'll happily take you up on the caff, if you wouldn't mind."

"Of course, sir." Mouse was quick to procure a standard issue cup from his mesh kit, filling it with hot water and a packet of instant caff. "Though it's not as good as the stuff back on Coruscant. Military grade caff is much weaker." 

Obi-wan huffed "A shame, certainly, but it will do for now. How was the night watch?" 

Mouse shrugged. "All clear for my half of the night, sir. Iso woke me up with nothing to report at around o'three hundred hours. It's been quiet ever since."

"A quiet night is a night well rested." Obi-wan replied, taking the offered cup of caff with a nod of thanks. 

Around them the rest of the men had begun to wake up. Yawns and lazy salutes were thrown about haphazardly as the troopers began to roll up their sleeping mats and sit beside the fire for morning meal.

Cody joined them shortly, having been on guard for the deeper segments of the cavern, and took his place by Obi-wan's side.

"What rations have we got today boys?" He asked, taking the offered caff from Mouse with a quiet thanks. "None of the green ones I hope."

"Four reds, two green, one yellow sir." Oak replied, pulling the ration bars from his pack as he spoke. 

"If any of the senators back on Coruscant actually tasted the green packs, I'm certain we'd be living the dream with flat cakes and Chandrilian waffles by now." BD groaned, looking at the ration pack like it had offended him by merely existing. "Can you imagine it? Nubian flat cakes for our morning meal, I can practically taste them now!"

Hawks snorted, tearing open a green ration pack and taking a bite of the bar. "As if they'd spend that much money on non-necessities. You know how the Senate is, more weaponry, worse rations."

"It's the cost of war." Iso agreed with a sip of his caff. "We're soldiers, not citizens. We don't deserve the luxury of Nubian flat cakes if it would cost us our weaponry funding."

Obi-wan watched his men bicker, wishing desperately that they didn't have to fight for the rights every Republic citizen was born with. Beside him, Cody nudged his arm, a knowing look on his face. 

Obi-wan shook his head. He wouldn't bring up the clone's lack of rights now. It felt out of place, as if he were preaching to the choir rather than the Senate.

Regardless, it was still frustrating.

Suddenly, Iso froze in his seat. "Quiet." He said with a snap, causing BD and Mouse to stop their chattering. "Do you hear that?"

For a moment, no one moved. The crackling of the fire echoed around the cavern and into the morning sky. The men tensed, listening for whatever it was Isosceles had heard.

"I don't hear anything." BD said, turning to face Iso who held up a finger in silence. 

The fire crackled, and a log broke into pieces of charcoal. 

Just as Obi-wan was about to suggest that Iso was mistaken, a shrill squeaking echoed faintly from the deeper caverns. "There." He said, getting to his feet and reaching for the hilt of his saber. "It's coming from the caves."

Cody reached for his helmet, quickly beginning to gear up. "Iso, BD, with me. The rest of you finish your rations and take down camp."

Affirmatives echoed around them, and the scramble of feet quickly followed as the men began to disassemble their mats. Isosceles threw on his helmet, already halfway into his chest plating. BD clipped his blaster into place and said "Do you think it's more rodents, sir?"

"Possibly." Obi-wan replied, clipping on his medpack just in case. "Iso, you mentioned the creatures using the caves during your scouting party."

"Yes sir." Iso agreed, ficking his flashlight on. "It looked like they used them for transport, like a tunnel system."

Squeaking echoed throughout the deeper caverns and Obi-wan ignited his saber. "Let's hope they haven't noticed us yet then." And he moved forward, his breakfast forgotten, with his men at his heels.

What they found wasn't quite what they had been expecting.

"A baby?" Iso asked, incredulous.

"A baby!" BD exclaimed, immediately clipping his blaster back to his belt. 

Compared to the near-bantha sized rats that had attacked them previously, what they had found was practically petite. No larger than a blurrg, this rodent was smaller than it's kin with fluffier fur and a rounder body. 

It was caught on some overgrown vines hanging from the cavern wall, the sharp thorns digging into the creature's flank preventing it from biting its way free. 

"It appears to be alone." Cody said, having returned from scouting the nearby tunnels. Although his helmet hid his expression, Cody's tone of voice was comical in its pure confusion.

"We have to help it General, it's just going to hurt itself if we leave it here." BD begged, taking off his helmet and kneeling beside the creature. 

"No way." Iso denied, grabbing BD's gloved hand before he could make an attempt at freeing it. "Did you see what it's family did to our skins back there? It'll just end up attacking us or worse it'll lead it's kind right to our men."

"Oh come on Iso," BD snapped "it's a baby! Look, you see how white his teeth are? He's no more than six weeks old!"

Isosceles looked at BD like he grew antlers. "And you know this, how?"

BD scoffed. "I read sometimes! Is it a crime to have hobbies?"

"Alright men, enough!" Cody snapped, causing the two of them to straighten to attention. He turned to face Obi-wan, blaster still in hand. "It's your call, General. Should we free it?"

Obi-wan frowned, his hand raising to stroke his beard. "I don't see why not. The creature is alone, and likely just as frightened of us as we are of it."

Iso looked just about to protest, but held his tongue under the force of Cody's glare.

Concentrating on the presence of the animal in the force, Obi-wan knelt down beside it. "Hello there, little one." 

The rat squealed, jumping back only to entangle itself in the thorny vines even more. It squealed in agony, whimpering as Obi-wan got on its level. 

"We are not going to hurt you little one." He said, focusing on the frenzied mind of the creature in front of him. Peace , he said. Friends.

Scared. Echoed the mind of the rat. Alone.

Obi-wan frowned. Help. He replied. Friends.

The rodent stilled, beady eyes focusing in on Obi-wan. Kin?

He nodded. Kin, friends, help you. Out loud, he replied "There there, see? I promise we're here to help." Gingerly, he reached for the first vine. The rat sniped at him, causing him to pull back.

Iso took a step forward, ready to defend him if necessary and Obi-wan raised a hand to stop him. "Just one moment."

He turned back towards the rat once more, closing his eyes in concentration. Free you. He thought. Cut vines, heal your wounds. 

The rodent looked at him, silent and still and Obi-wan felt it think, free me.

"Cody, your vibroblade, if you would be so kind?" He asked, reaching back to grab the blade's handle as it was offered to him. Looking back at the rat, he began to gently cut away at the vines trapping it to the cave wall.

The rodent remained still, squeaking only when a vine was moved the wrong way, digging the thorns further into its side. Obi-wan mumbled a quiet apology, cutting away at the vines with the blade until they easily fell to the cavern floor. 

Efficiently, he opened his medkit and took out a pair of medical tweezers. Heal you.

The rodent quivered in fear, but didn't run. 

Being careful to not hurt the rat further, Obi-wan began to precisely remove the thorns from the rodent's side. Once he was finished, he applied some bacta to a gauze patch and gingerly attached it to the rat's side.

"There," Obi-wan said with a huff "all better."

The rat stood upright, reaching about halfway up Obi-wan's chest. It sat there, blinking at him for a moment before running a paw against its ears. 

It looked at him, looked at his men, and then quickly darted for the cavern's shadows.

"Well." Cody said, after a moment of silence. "That was bizarre."

The rat was following them.

In the moments of rest they got between hikes, Obi-wan could feel the beady eyes of the creature watching them move. It stayed at a distance, never going out into the open long enough for him to see more than an ear or a tail, and it was alone. 

Obi-wan made sure his men were aware of it, though several certainly weren't pleased to find out they were being followed. BD was practically ecstatic, grinning ear to ear and spitballing potential names as they walked.

"What about Thorn, because we found em in a bunch of bramble?" BD asked, more to himself than anyone in particular. "Oh- or Rocky, because of the-"

 "-rocks, we know." Grumbled Isosceles from the front of the line. "You can't name the thing, it's not like we're taking it back to Coruscant with us. You'll end up getting attached and it'll be a whole mess when we leave."

"Well obviously we can't take it with us," BD huffed, glancing towards the back of the group in hope of getting a glance at the creature. "But he deserves a name at least!"

BD paused, turning towards his nearest brother, Oak. "What do you think about the name Bouncer?"

Oak looked at BD, his bucket the perfect picture of unimpressed. "Why Bouncer?"

BD shrugged. "Because he looks like he could get some wizard air time if those hind legs are anything to go by. He's also acting like our bodyguard- like a Bouncer would, you know?"

Hawks snorted. "How is he our bodyguard right now?"

BD tilted his helmet to the side. "You haven't noticed? He keeps looking at the sky whenever we stop- like he's on guard for something."

Obi-wan paused, holding out a hand in a signal for the men to halt. "What do you mean by that, BD?"

BD straightened, as if he had forgotten his general was listening in. "Uh- well, look behind you, sir. He's keeping close to the cavern walls, sure, but he keeps looking at the sky, see?"

He motioned towards their new rodent friend, who as mentioned, stayed close to the shadows of the cliffside. Once it was clear that the group had stopped, the rat turned its head to the sky, it's whiskers quivering as it's beady eyes scanned the horizon for something.

"What's it looking for?" Bact asked, voice hoarse. It occurred to Obi-wan that this was the first time he had heard Bact speak since they had made camp the night before, but before he could consider consoling him Cody froze and said "The bird."

A shrill cawk echoed around the clearing, ringing in Obi-wan ears and forcing him to cover them out of reflex. "The caves!" He ordered his men. "Head to the caves!"

Frantically scrambling up the cliffside, the troopers made a dash for the shadows of the cliffside. Jagged rocks stung at the palms of his hands, but Obi-wan ignored it in favor of igniting his saber. "Go!" He yelled, wincing as the massive hawk shrieked once more. "I'll hold it off!"

The brightness of his lightsaber made his head light up in agony. His concussion wasn't fully healed, and with bruised ribs and a rat bite to add along with it, Obi-wan's strength wasn't at it's best. Regardless, he got into a defensive stance and planted himself in front of his men who were scrambling to safety. 

The hawk's force presence was as massive as the creature itself. Alight with malice, it radiated a presence so dark it nearly forced Obi-wan to his knees. 

Straining against his concussion and the overstimulating force presence of the bird above him, Obi-wan barely had time to register the moment the hawk tucked in for a dive. 

Obi-wan dove for the side, the wind of the bird's massive wingspan throwing him off balance. The hawk shrieked, the sound ringing in his ears as it jabbed it's talons at him. Blasterfire rang out around him, shots ringing from the cavern as his men made it to safety.

Screeching in pain, the bird turned its attention to his men, using it's talons to claw at the caves in an attempt to pull a trooper out of hiding.

"NO!" Obi-wan yelled, forcing himself upright and dashing towards it. The creature crowed in victory, it's talons wrapped around the torso of Mouse, who fired rounds into its chest. 

Obi-wan slashed at it's talon with his saber, causing the bird to screech in agony and drop Mouse to the ground. 

He fell to the ground, dust and jagged stones scattered around him in all directions. Obi-wan pushed himself upwards, forcing himself to move right as the hawk turned towards him with it's massive talons poised for vengeance.

Before it could strike, Obi-wan felt the breath leave his lungs as he was tackled to the ground by something large and furry.  

The baby rat squealed in fury, nipping at the bird's legs and forcing it to stumble. While the hawk flapped its wings in an attempt to regain its balance, the rodent darted back towards Obi-wan, picking him up by the collar of his robes and dragging him to the caves just as massive talons raked across the cavern walls.

Obi-wan felt his heart pound against his chest as he watched the hawk nip and swipe at them from the outside. Frustrated, the bird screeched a final warning, causing the cavern to rumble and crack, and then took off into the sky.

Several moments of silence passed, leaving him panting for breath as the ringing finally left his ears and Obi-wan said "Well, Bouncer it is then."

Several hours passed with them camping in that cave.

The hawk had made itself at home right outside, forcing the group to remain in the shelter until it was safe to venture out. In the meantime, BD had made himself acquainted with Bouncer.

"He's very friendly, I promise." He said, coaxing Mouse closer. "He won't bite you, he'll just sniff you, see?" BD demonstrated, placing his hand in front of the rat's snout. Bouncer sniffed it, staring at BD and flicking it's ear. 

"I don't know." Mouse replied uneasily. "You met him not even a day ago, what if he's got rabies or something."

BD gasped in offense. "How dare you! You're named after a rodent and you won't even pet one! This is blasphemy against Bouncer's character."

Mouse shook his head. "It's because Bouncer's a rat, BD. I named myself Mouse because I'm all sneaky-like when I want to be. I like mice, mice are not the same as rats."

BD huffed. "It's your loss, brother. Bouncer and I are fast friends, I can already tell we're gonna be buds."

Hawks groaned. "That's because you gave him half your ration bar. A yellow ration bar, might I add. A perfectly good, delicious, yellow ration bar. That I could have eaten instead of the kriffing green one."

"Language, trooper." Cody chided, raising an eyebrow. "I, for one, like the green rations."

Isosceles snorted. "Of course you do."

Cody turned his glare towards Iso. "And what's that supposed to mean, brother?"

"Nothing." Isosceles was quick to reply, shoveling his ration bar in his mouth as an escape not to speak.

Obi-wan muffed a laugh, keeping as still as he could as Bact changed out the mesh on his wounds for fresh ones. He paused, suddenly remembering the conversation from the trek through the cliffs. 

Obi-wan spared a glance at Bact, watching him carefully wrap the bacta coated mesh around his calf. The man was silent, perhaps too silent, if the glassy look to his eyes were anything to go by.

A look around the cave told him that his men were otherwise occupied, so he leaned forward a bit and lowered his voice so that only Bact could hear and said "Tell me about him."

Bact froze, hands hovering mid air with mesh still dripping bacta. "Who?"

Obi-wan felt his gaze soften. "Blaster."

Bact swallowed and averted his gaze. "Oh."

For a moment, there was silence between them. The laughter of BD and Mouse echoing throughout the cavern as Bouncer nibbled gently at their fingers. For a moment, in that silence that stretched a little too long, Obi-wan was worried that he'd overstepped.

Then, Bact wrapped the mesh around Obi-wan's calf and said "He was always braver than the rest of us."

Bact swallowed, clipped the mesh to Obi-wan's leg, and closed his medkit. "Always the first to take charge. He studied the regs religiously, but didn't let them limit him." He paused, voice cracking under the pressure. "He was the best of us."

Obi-wan offered Bact his hand, and when the man took it he pulled him into an embrace. "He was a good man." Bact said, holding back a sob. "He didn't- he didn't deserve-"

"I know." Obi-wan replied, rubbing circles into the man's back. "I know. He's watching you now, Bact. Looking on from afar."

"He's marching away." Bact agreed through tears. "But I won't forget him."

"None of us will." Obi-wan replied, and as Bact pulled away, rubbing insistently at his eyes, Obi-wan hoped he had done enough.

"Sir," Cody said apologetically,  purposely averting his gaze from Bact's tear stained face to give him a chance to pull himself together. "BD's found something."

Bouncer tugged insistently at the straps of BD's backpack.

"-and when I finally caved and decided to follow him, he led me down here." BD explained, pushing back overgrown vines to reveal more tunnels, leading deeper within the earth. "I think he's trying to lead us out of here."

Obi-wan rubbed a hand beneath his beard. "If it turns out he's leading us to his home instead of an alternate exit it could take us days to find our way out." He turned towards BD with a frown. "We simply can't risk it with the supplies we have on hand."

"But-" BD looked at Bouncer, who was still attempting to nudge them forward, "couldn't you communicate with him again? The way you did before?"

Beside him, Cody sighed, mumbling something about being too lenient with his men. 

Obi-wan hummed, considering it. "What I do with the force is more of an exchange of feelings than direct communication." He explained, kneeling down to Bouncer's level and scratching beneath his chin. "It lets me read the emotions of a creature or being temporarily, perhaps allowing me to influence it, nudge it to feel a certain way. But it's only vague impressions of a conversation."

BD looked dejected, and Obi-wan glanced at Bouncer and added "But I suppose trying it would hurt."

At the shout of glee BD couldn't suppress, Obi-wan turned towards Bouncer with a hand outstretched. Remember me? He asked, giving the rodent an impression of I'm here and hello there.

Kin. Bouncer echoed, sniffing Obi-wan's hand when offered. Friends.

Obi-wan smiled, gently running his hand through its fur. Kin. He agreed. Friends go home? He looked towards the tunnels, and Bouncer followed his gaze.

Friends go outside. Bouncer corrected, tugging on the straps of BD's backpack once more. No monster here.

Obi-wan let out a surprised laugh. "I don't believe it." He muttered.

"What?" BD asked. "What did he say?"

Obi-wan turned towards Cody, glancing at BD with amusement in his eyes. "Ready the men, Commander, for our dear friend Bouncer plans on leading us through a shortcut."

The tunnels were dark, long, and hot.

For hours, they traversed over rocks and roots, carrying their gear and using headlamps to light the way. It was arduous, it was cramped, and it was exhausting. 

But it was progress. More progress than they would have made trapped in that cave, that's for sure.

Bouncer led the way with BD right beside him. The rodent had taken a liking to BD, it had seemed, and would consistently turn towards him to double check he was still with him. BD was quick to offer reassurances, petting the rat's head or rubbing beneath his chin.

Iso kept glaring at it, untrusting even now, with the rat leading them onward to who knows where.

Quite honestly, Obi-wan found it rather entertaining.

"Alright men," Cody said, voice echoing down the tunnels "we're approximately thirty clicks out. That's two planetary rotations, possibly less if these tunnels allow us to bypass the cliffs."

He moved towards the center of the group, headlamp shining against the armor plating of his men. "We camp here for the night, I shouldn't have to remind anyone but I will do so anyways. Absolutely no fires, understand?"

Affirmatives rang out among the troopers, and Cody nodded his approval. "Good. Mouse, Isosceles, you two have first watch. Switch out at o'three hundred hours and alert either myself or General Kenobi if any trouble arises." 

The men in question straightened. "Sir, yes sir!" Cody took one last look at his men before dismissing them, leaving the troopers to arrange themselves at the front and back of the group respectively. 

Beside him, Obi-wan heard Bact groan. "No fires means no hot water. No hot water means no caff." He mumbled a prayer, sliding down the side of the tunnel wall and onto the floor. "How am I going to survive without caff?"

"I'm sure you'll manage." Oak replied with a huff, taking off his helmet and running a hand through his curls. "We'd all suffocate from the smoke before you ever got a lukewarm cup in these tunnels."

Bact nodded wordlessly. "I know why we can't light a fire, but that doesn't mean I have to like it." 

Obi-wan watched his men bicker, a small smile forming despite his shortness of breath. His concussion had left him stumbling, and the long walk through the tunnels certainly hadn't done his bruised ribs any favors. 

It left him gasping for air, sliding down to the tunnel floor beside his men.

Hawks turned towards him, helmet tilting in concern. Obi-wan shook his head at the wordless question. "I'm alright, trooper. Just winded." He leaned his head against the wall. "Just need a moment to- catch my breath."

Hawks nodded his understanding. "Alright, sir. Just-" he paused "-try not to overwork yourself. Sir."

Obi-wan smiled. "Of course."

He sat beside Hawks, listening to his men set up camp for the night, and allowed himself to close his eyes and rest.

Obi-wan woke up to the walls of the tunnel shaking around him. 

"General!" Cody shouted, and it jolted Obi-wan upright. "General!" 

"I'm here!" Obi-wan replied, fumbling to see through the darkness of the tunnel. Cody's headlamp shone in his direction, blinding him momentarily before the Commander moved it downwards.

Around them, the troops began to wake up as well. "What's going on?" Mouse asked, turning on his headlamp and stumbling to his feet. "Is it an earthquake?"

"I don't know." Cody said, helping Obi-wan to his feet. "Bouncer started freaking out on me and then the shaking started. BD's trying to calm him down."

"Mouse," Obi-wan said, turning to the trooper in question "start waking your brothers up. We need to move."

"Move where?" Mouse yelped, holding onto the wall for support. "We're trapped in here!"

"General, there's something coming!" Cody shouted, clinging to a large root on the tunnel's side. "We need to wake the men!"

Obi-wan ignited his lightsaber, using the light of the blade to see the mats his men were sleeping on. Fumbling over the feet of Hawks and Oak, Obi-wan lowered himself to the ground and began to shake them awake.

"...General?" Mumbled Hawks, blinking sleep from his eyes before quickly jolting upright. "What's- what's going on?"

Obi-wan reached out a hand and pulled the man to his feet. "We don't know. Go wake your brothers and tell them to hold onto something ." He said, practically yelling over the sound of the ground's quakes.

"And where are you going?" Hawks asked, clinging to the cavern wall for support. 

"To get BD!" He replied, quickly leaping over the mats of his men and racing towards the front of their lineup.

Loose dirt and dust had started to fall from the ceiling, coating their gear in grime. Obi-wan nearly tripped over Cody's lantern, cursing his lack of balance. 

"BD!" He called out, searching in the force for his trooper's familiar presence.

"Over here, General!" Came a panicked reply, and Obi-wan zeroed in on it's source. In a crevice off to the side of the tunnel wall, BD was attempting to keep Bouncer pinned to the ground. The rodent's movements were frantic, the poor creature squealing and squirming in BD's grasp.

"Something's happening to Bouncer, sir!" BD said, looking up as Obi-wan approached. 

"It's the shaking- we think something's coming down the tunnels." He replied, having to shout over the noise of the quakes. "You must grab onto the walls!'

"But sir, Bouncer-" 

"You must trust that Bouncer will know his way back to you." Obi-wan interrupted, kneeling beside BD as he spoke. "Now grab onto the wall, trooper, or you will be washed away by what's to come!"

BD looked crushed, and yet despite this he released his grasp on Bouncer, taking Obi-wan's offered hand. 

The rat squealed and screeched, running off somewhere into the darkness of the tunnels, and Obi-wan quickly tugged BD to his feet. 

"We must brace ourselves." He said, nudging BD forwards and closer towards the group. The two of them sped through the darkness, knocking Cody's lantern to the floor, and just as they reached the rest of the men the rumbling revealed itself.

What must have been hundreds of massive rats were racing through the tunnels towards their location. Squeaks and squeals echoed down the caves, with the thundering of their feet very quickly reaching a crescendo as they got closer and closer to their makeshift camp.

"Hold on!" Obi-wan cried out, barely managing to grab hold of an overgrown root by the time the rats had overtaken them.

Beside him, BD was doing the same. 

Squeaking surrounded them. The chattering of teeth and stomping of paws engulfing their group entirely as a continuous stream of rodents scurried past them.

Obi-wan hunkered down, covering his head with his arms as he tried not to breathe in the dust and odor. 

"General!" BD cried out, fear coating his voice. "I'm slipping!"

"Hold on BD!" Mouse called from his spot on the opposing wall. "Just a little longer!"

"I can't!" Yelped BD, frantic and scared. "The root is breaking off- there's- there's nothing to hold on to !"

"Don't let go!" Screamed Hawks, desperate and raw. "Find another root- a- a- rock- anything!"

"I'm trying!" BD cried and as he looked around for another root to hold a rodent reached for him, grasping massive paws around his torso and pulling him down into the stream.

"NO!!" Isosceles yelled, and the man let go of the wall and dropped to the tunnel floor. 

"Iso!" Obi-wan yelped, reaching out and grabbing onto his arm before he could get past him.

"Let go of me!" Isosceles snarled, tugging against Obi-wan's hold. "My little brother is out there!" 

Obi-wan felt his throat swell with emotion, pulling Isosceles closer. "You can't!" He said, and it was hard not to cry at the admission because BD was gone.

The rats had swarmed him, maneuvering their stream around BD and carrying him off until he was out of sight and out of Obi-wan's sensing capabilities. He was gone.

Isosceles snarled, fighting against Obi-wan's hold, and he remained that way until the rodents passed them by and all that they had left was their grief.

The next two nights were quiet. 

With BD gone and Bouncer nowhere to be seen, they were now without a guide and one man shorter than they were before. Their walk through the tunnels was now guided by the compass within Cody's holomap. 

The air was stiff, and conversations were left short and dull in-between formalities. Isosceles had yet to say a word since his screams of anguish the night before, and he had begun to make Hawks act colder to him in response.

Cody had to step between them both several times, until finally the tension snapped.

"What's the matter with you!" Hawks snarled, whirling to face his brother head on.

Isosceles stared him down, eyes cold and distant. He didn't say a word.

"We were all close to BD, so stop acting all high and mighty about it and just talk to us!" Hawks spat, hackles raised and gearing for a fight. "We were all batchmates, but out of the four of us you treated him the worst, so suck it up and stop bottling it all in already!"

"Hawks," Oak warned, stepping forward hesitantly "you know that was cruel. Iso is grieving, we all are."

"Oh, so you're defending him now?" Hawks asked in disbelief. "After everything he's put us through? He's been pulling away from us for years, and now that BD's gone it's like we're not even there anymore!" He turned around, facing Isosceles head on and shoving him backwards. "So what's your problem?"

"Hawks!" Cody said warningly "Stand down, that's an order soldier!"

Hawks growled in frustration. "That's just it! Iso pretends that's the only thing he is- like he has no feelings, no remorse, no family!" 

With a yell, Hawks smashed his fist against the wall of the tunnel, his knuckles coming back bloody and bruised. "I'm going for a walk!"

"We're in a tunnel," Mouse said, hesitantly "where exactly are you going to go?"

"I don't know!" Hawks snarled, glancing at Isosceles over his shoulder. "Anywhere but here."

And he left.

Obi-wan sat down beside Hawks, folding his legs into his standard meditation stance.

"Have you ever meditated before, Hawks?" He asked, not expecting an answer. The man in question had his back to him, one hand repeatedly throwing and catching a rubber ball against the tunnel wall.

"I used to hate it, back when I was a padawan learner." Obi-wan commented, an amused expression overtaking his features. "Oh I was quite the handful, always causing my master trouble with this that or the other."

He sighed, closing his eyes and listening to the steady ker-thunk of the ball hitting the wall. "But when my master died, well. I needed something to ground me to the present."

The ker-thunking stopped.

"I know what you're trying to do, general." Hawks replied, keeping his gaze locking on the wall of the tunnel. "But it won't work."

Obi-wan rose an eyebrow. "And why is that?"

Hawks paused, letting Obi-wan sit in the silence for a moment. The moment stretched on, and if it were not for Obi-wan's endless patience, he might have interrupted it.

"This fight of ours," Hawks said, fiddling with the rubber ball in his hand "it's been a long time coming. It's bigger than- than losing BD in the tunnels."

Obi-wan hummed. "It sounds like you'd better start from the beginning then." Hawks broke his gaze away from the wall, and Obi-wan looked at him expectantly. "I have all the time in the world."

Hawks huffed. "You won't let this go, huh." Obi-wan smiled. "No, I'm afraid not."

Hawks sighed, leaning against the rocky wall. "Well, uh. It started back on Kamino, when we were cadets. We're all part of the same batch, sir. Iso, Oak, BD, and I, that is."

Obi-wan sat beside him, listening attentively. "Forgive me if I'm mistaken, but I had thought clones came from batches of five."

Hawks swallowed, looking away once more. "We are. We had- another brother, CT-2323."

His voice quieted, filled with a mix of complicated emotions. "He hadn't even got his name yet. He was just- he was a kid, sir. He was a cadet, and then there was this freak accident." He met Obi-wan's eyes. "Storm season on Kamino- the structures can get awful slippery."

Obi-wan felt his heart drop to his stomach at the implication. "Oh, dear."

Hawks nodded, looking down at his hands once more. "Every since '23 passed Isosceles hasn't been the same. He snaps at us, especially BD since he was the only one of us who could tolerate him for long." Hawks scowled. "That arrogant karking nerfhearder thinks all he is is a soldier. He forgets that we're people."

Obi-wan froze, understanding overwhelming his features. "You're trying to protect him."

Hawks snorted in amusement. "Protect- yeah that's one way to put it. If he keeps pulling away from us anymore he'll get himself killed on purpose just to never see my ugly mug again." He sighed leaning back against the wall. "I've tried getting it into that thick head of his a million different ways, sir. I hoped he'd realize he's more person than soldier before he lost another one of us."

Hawks slumped, his eyes beginning to water. "I guess I didn't manage that, huh."

He turned towards Obi-wan, wiping away at his tears before they could fall. "Sir, if you think you can get through to him before I can, by all means, be my guest."

Obi-wan hummed, placing a delicate hand against Hawk's pauldron. "I'll see what I can do."

Somewhere along the walk through the tunnels, Obi-wan pulled Cody to the side and explained the situation. Together they made plans of signing the men up for counseling after the mission, if it were possible. In the meantime, however, Cody pulled Isosceles aside for a private conversation.

Iso came back with tear tracks streaming down his checks, his eyes red with tears. And when Mouse cracked a joke as they walked past a phallic shaped rock and Iso started to laugh, Obi-wan felt the force sigh in relief.

Their men had begun to heal.

"Finally," Bact sighed, tugging his helmet off his head and taking a deep breath in "fresh air and open skies."

After almost three days of walking, they had finally made it out of the tunnels. They were behind schedule, certainly, but the relief of being outside outweighed anything else. 

"Holy bantha dwang," Mouse said, pointing towards the sky "what the kriff is that?"

Obi-wan followed his gaze, surprise coloring his features. "I'm fairly certain it's a wroshyr tree, but what in the blazes is it doing all the way out here?"

And what a wroshyr tree it was. Far ahead of them, past a large open field of sand and rocks, sat the biggest tree Obi-wan had ever seen. Wroshyr trees were known to be large, Obi-wan knew, but the size of this one could've given Coruscant skyscrapers a run for their money.

"Sir," Cody said, his holomap pulled up beside him "the map says our S.O.S. signal is coming from that very tree."

"I see," Obi-wan replied thoughtfully "in that case- might I borrow your binocs, dear? I believe I've spotted something."

Cody nodded, handing them over without complaint. Obi-wan took them gratefully, looking through the lenses towards the tree's leafy upper branches. "There, I knew I saw something. Towards the upper left, it appears to be a ship of some sort."

"A ship?" Cody asked, taking the binocs when offered and looking through them once more. "Huh, you're right sir. Whatever it is, the model must be ancient. Look at the red decals on the side- it almost looks like a modified civilian corvette."

"Well," Obi-wan said, looking over his men as they slowly began to exit the tunnels, "it looks like we'll be doing some tree climbing."

Cody glanced at him, amused. "You mean, you'll be doing some tree climbing. We've got essention cables."

Obi-wan blinked, before letting out a sigh of defeat. "Right, of course. I'll do the climbing."

Cody laughed, patting him on the back in sympathy, and together they made their way towards the field.

BD woke up to complete darkness. 

Panicking, he jolted upright only to hit his head against the rocky ceiling.

"Ow," he mumbled, rubbing a hand against his head "what- where am I?" The last thing he could remember was standing guard over his brothers in the tunnel. And then Bouncer started freaking out over something and the walls started to shake, and then the General-

Holy kriff, the General!

Frantically, BD tried to find his headlamp, his fingers scoured the ground for his helmet but all that he could find was dirt and rock and fur.

Fur? BD thought, and he paused in his tracks. That's right, the rats had brought him somewhere. Somewhere dark, deeper than Bouncer had ever taken them before.

Now that he was focused, BD could hear the chittering of tiny feet all around him. The squeaking of rats as they went about their home, moving brambles in to make nests for their young, and that's when it hit him.

"I'm in a rat nursery." BD said, his voice feeling out of place amongst the rodents' chittering. "Holy kriff- I've got to find my way back."

Scrambling to his knees BD crawled along the cavern floor, muttering apologies to rats as he maneuvered around them and into the more open part of their den. 

Now that his eyes had adjusted to the darkness, BD could make out the vague shadowy forms of the rodents passing him by. They were large, far larger than Bouncer, and strangely enough none of them paid him any mind.

"Excuse me," BD said, unsure as to which rat he was referring to "but I seem to be lost. Could you bring me back to- uh, wherever you found me?"

A rodent twice the size of Bouncer paused in it's tracks, flicking it's ears curiously and stepping closer towards him. Carefully, BD offered his hand for it to sniff as he had done with Bouncer. 

The rat sniffed him, then froze and squealed in alarm, quickly grabbing him by the collar of his blacks and dragging him back towards the den he had emerged from. 

"Hey, what're you-" BD struggled against it's grip, letting out a yelp in alarm as he was firmly placed in a thicket of spindly weeds. He sat up, bumping his head on the ceiling once more, and came face to face with a baby rat. 

He let out a yell, scrambling backwards, watching in surprise as the young rat did the same. BD turned towards the retreating shadow of the older rat and said "Hey, what was that for! Do I look like a toddler to you?"

BD huffed, grumbling to himself as he tried to face the poor rat he had startled. "Sorry about that little man, I didn't mean to freak out on you." He offered his hand out, and when the rat looked up to sniff if BD felt his jaw drop. "Bouncer?'

The rat sniffed his hand, oblivious, before letting out a squeal of delight and jumping onto BD's lap. "Bouncer!" BD cried out in joy, ruffling the fur on his young friend. "I thought I'd never see you again!"

The rat squeaked, rubbing against his hands and looking up at him with a tilt of its head. The bacta patch still firmly attached to it's side remained the only reason BD was able to tell it apart from it's kin.

"How about that little buddy," he said with a huff "it's just you and me down here."

BD paused, before snapping his fingers together with a start. "How about we change that! You could take me back up top, to my brothers."

Bouncer stared at him, incapable of understanding his meaning. BD groaned, letting his face fall against the creature's fur. "Man, what I would give for my general to be here right now. He'd be able to actually talk to ya instead of just guessing all the time."

He paused, an idea coming to him. 

BD sat upright, crawling out of the nest on his hands and knees until he safely got into a den with more legroom. "C'mon Bouncer, let's go find where you rats keep your chow."

Obi-wan was not having a good time.

The fields had been a bad idea. Not even an hour had passed before he felt eyes tracking the movements of his men. They turned out to be some sort of wolven creatures. The kind that would stalk their prey and then outlast them. Kept them running until they could run no more, and then finally- snap.

At about the halfway point between them and the tree, the wolves gave chase and the troopers were forced to fight or run. But  they were tired, sore, and running dangerously low on ammo.

So run it was.

Mouse had gotten nipped at the ankle, only managing to break away from the wolf when Obi-wan ran to his aid, lightsaber in hand. Now he ran on an open wound with no time to clean it, and they had to simply pray the infection away.

They got to the tree twelve hours after exiting the tunnels, winded and on the verge of collapse. Had it not been for their ascension cables, Obi-wan wasn't sure they would have all made it out alive.

"Status report." Obi-wan wheezed, stumbling against the trunk of the tree. 

"Mouse is critically injured, sir." Bact replied, wiping sweat from his brow. "His ankle is in rough shape, and running on it did him no favors. He won't be able to walk for a while."

Obi-wan nodded, breathing in heavily. "The rest of you?" 

"Alive and accounted for, sir." Isosceles replied, panting for breath. "Just winded."

"Good." He replied, licking his lips dry and all but collapsing against the tree. "Let's catch our breath for now. The ship should be close to the top of the tree, we'll begin our climb shortly."

"Sir, yes sir." Oak said with an exhausted salute.

Beside him, Cody took out his canteen, draining the last of his water in a single swig. 

"Any word from the Negotiator ?" Obi-wan asked, ignoring the snarls of the waves below. 

Cody shook his head. "No sir, it's been radio silence since we breached atmosphere."

Obi-wan closed his eyes, wiping the sweat from his forehead. "A shame." He replied, reaching for his own canteen. "Would've loved an evac right about now. We don't exactly have a way off-planet, with our ships in the rubble."

Cody hummed his agreement, his legs dangling below the tree's limb. "It's been almost four rotations, sir. They're bound to start evac procedures right about now."

He sighed, taking a sip from his canteen and relishing the sensation of water chasing away the dryness of his throat. "I do hope the bird won't give them any trouble. It would be unfortunate to have two rescue parties shot down by that thing."

Cody snorted. "One could only hope, sir."

They sat together in silence a moment longer, thankful for the cool breeze that eased the burden of the humidity around them. Finally, Obi-wan began to push himself up, and reattached his canteen to his pack. 

"Right," he said, offering Cody a hand "let's see who sent that distress signal."

"A Corellian model?" Cody said, sounding impressed. "Looks customized." He glanced around the side, attempting to get a look at the plating. "Defensive and offensive mods from the looks of it." 

"Fascinating." Obi-wan replied, running a hand over the intricate door lock. "I don't believe I've seen anything like it before."

He paused, peering inside the ship only to jump in surprise as the doors opened on their own.

He exchanged a glance with Cody, who raised his blaster and signaled for the men to follow suit.  With his lightsaber in hand, but not engaged, Obi-wan took a step forward into the aircraft.

The ship was dusty. Rust caked the edges of each panel, and with every step Obi-wan took inside was another step backwards in time.

"This tech is ancient." Iso whispered, tapping at a control panel on the side of the wall. "I can barely figure out how it used to function."

Obi-wan nodded his agreement, his eyes tracking the branches that had managed to grow through the ship's interior. It certainly looked ancient, that was for sure. The holotable by itself appeared to be older than Master Yoda .

He turned, about to suggest they climb the ladder into the cockpit when Obi-wan saw something move. 

"Hello there," he said, causing his men to jump in alarm "I promise you, we mean no harm. I don't suppose you are the one who sent the distress beacon?"

Something shuffled, as if debating whether to reveal itself, and then out came a rusty bipedal blue droid. 

"G-G-Greetings," it began, limbs stiff and squeaky from disuse "I am Twovee Arrate, factotum droid for t-t-this vessel." It tilted its head, as if it were still processing Obi-wan's words, and then said "d-d-distress beacon? Oh! Right! T-the distress beacon!"

It spun around, and Obi-wan couldn't help but notice that only it's right arm seemed to be functional. "M-my master is terribly hurt. I a-a-activated the distress beacon f-for-" it paused, searching for the right words "medical assistance! Y-yes, that's right."

The droid tilted its head, using it's one good arm to bang against it, and then it turned towards the ladder. "F-f-follow me, please. My m-m-master's life is at stake."

Cody exchanged a look with Obi-wan, who frowned, reattached his lightsaber, and went up the ladder.

"Your master was Keeve Trennis?" Obi-wan asked, incredulous. He couldn't believe his eyes.

"Who is Keeve Trennis?" Mouse asked, confused.

"Was." Obi-wan repeated, staring at the stasis pod in growing horror. "Who was Keeve Trennis."

The stasis pod on the medical wing of the ship was small. It could comfortably fit one person if they were in dire need of medical care, and it would keep them frozen until released from the pod.

A woman lay in the pod in front of them, her eyes closed in the picture perfect look of sleep. And straight through the center of the stasis pod lay a massive jagged branch, piercing into the pod's center and through Trennis' chest.

She was dead. Or at least, she would be, if they took her out of stasis.

"Jedi Master Trennis was one of the lost twenty." Obi-wan said, gingerly placing a hand on the glass of the stasis pod. "She had terrible force visions, if I am remembering my Jedi History correctly, that is. She had disappeared long before my time. No one quite knew what had happened to her." 

"M-My master was i-injured in battle." Twovee interrupted, startling Obi-wan out of his thoughts. "S-S-She was on her way t-t-to Korriban. Or- or was she r-returning from K-Koriban." The droid paused, hitting it's head with it's hand once more. "A-Apologies. My me-memory servos have been corroding as of late." 

Twovee turned to Obi-wan expectantly. "C-Can you f-fix her?"

Obi-wan froze, suddenly unsure how to proceed. "Well, er-"

"Arrate," Bact interjected, his expression a mix of understanding and sadness "I'm the medic aboard our squad, and I'm afraid to say your master won't make it."

"W-won't m-make it?" Twovee repeated, staring at Bact as if it couldn't process the words. "E-elaborate p-please."

Bact placed a hand against the limb of the wroshyr tree. "You see this tree branch? When you crashed, it impaled the stasis pod straight in the middle."

He turned to face the droid. "You placed Trennis in the stasis pod when she lost consciousness, right? You thought she wouldn't make it, that her injuries were too dire."

"Correct." Twovee echoed, switching his attention from the stasis pod to Bact. "I had to pilot the ship, and with no m-medical droid on board, the stasis pod had a h-higher chance of her survival."

Bact nodded, biting his lip. "If we were to take Trennis out of the stasis pod, she would bleed to death before she regained consciousness."

Twovee recoiled as if it had been struck. "I-I don't understand. S-She is alive now?"

"But she won't be, if we try to save her."  Obi-wan replied gently, placing a hand on the droid's shoulder. "Do you understand now? She either remains like this, frozen in time and without pain." He paused, swallowing though his emotion. "Or she dies in a world she does not know."

Twovee stood for a moment, processing this. "M-M-My master is d-deceased." It said, after a moment too long. "I-I-I am no longer needed, for my purpose has been s-s-served. Shutting down." 

Obi-wan froze. "Twovee, don't-"

The droid's eyes faded offline, and with a clang it's body fell to the ship's floor, motionless. 

Obi-wan moved to lift the droid upright, getting about half of it's torso off of the floor when a frighteningly familiar shriek echoed throughout the air.

Almost dropping the poor droid, Obi-wan set Twovee back on the floor just as Iso raced into the room. 

"Sir!" He exclaimed, looking panicked. "The bird is back!"

"It's circling the ship, sir." Hawks reported, handing his binocs over for him to get a look. "It knows we're in here. Probably saw us race across the field with those wolves."

"Well that's troubling." Obi-wan replied, frowning at the sight of the avian above them. "Has Isosceles had any luck getting the ship's weapons online?"

Hawks winced. "Not much, sir. The tech is older than anything he's dealt with before. That droid probably could've helped if it were still online but-"

Obi-wan held up a hand. "Yes I've heard Twovee has been rather determined to remain offline." He paused, raising a hand to stroke his beard. "Have we heard any word from the Negotiator? "

Hawks shook his head. "The Commander is trying to figure out the comm system on the ship, but from what I've heard he's had even less luck than Iso has."

"Blast." Obi-wan muttered, to Hawks he said, "it looks like we're grounded for the time being. Keep an eye in the sky, I'm afraid we've got no choice but to wait it now."

The hawk, as it turned out, was tired of 'waiting it out'.

"I've got shields online!" Mouse cried out in victory, quickly scrambling to hold onto the control panel as the ship was rocked against the branches once more. 

"Finally something that works in this dump!" Iso yelled from the gunseat, swiveling around to fire rounds at the creature scraping talons against their ship.

The hawk shrieked, pulling away from the offending vessel. It dove upwards, out of Isosceles' range, and continued circling.

"Finally," Cody breathed, pushing himself away from the bottom of the ship's control console. " Negotiator can you read me, repeat, Negotiator, can you read me? This is Marshall Commander Cody of the two hundred and twelfth requesting an immediate evac to our location."

Silence, all consuming and worryingly prolonged, and then suddenly a holoimage of a very familiar admiral appeared above the comm unit.

Cheering erupted within the cabin, and Obi-wan felt himself practically melt into his seat with relief. 

"This is Admiral Block of the Negotiator hailing an unknown vessel." Admiral Block replied, his eyes alight with amusement from their outburst. "Commander Cody, I must congratulate you on your swift mission. I had feared with the General's track record it would've taken at least one planetary rotation before we heard word from you."

Obi-wan frowned, stepping in-frame of the holoprojector. "I'm sorry Admiral, but I'm afraid we've been planetside for almost five rotations. Our comm units were fried the moment we entered the atmosphere."

Admiral Block looked taken aback. "I can assure you General, we have it on record that four and a half hours have passed since your departure. I would have personally sent a squad to assist you if that had been the case."

Obi-wan exchanged a glance with Cody, who appeared just as confused as he was. "Well, Admiral, our time differences aside we are in desperate need of an evac. We've lost several men along this mission and I don't want to lose any more."

"Right," Admiral Block agreed quickly "of course , sir. I shall send a gunship down right away."

A shrieking cry echoed above them, and Obi-wan could hear faint curses coming from the gunseat. "It's coming back around, sir!" Iso cried, swiveling around to face the Hawk once more.

The holocall flickered, and for a moment Admiral Block's image faded from view. "What was that?" He asked in alarm.

Obi-wan swore, peering through a pair of binocs to spot the creature in a dive. "Just be quick with that evac, Admiral. We're all counting on you!"

Admiral Block nodded and the image faded away. Whether their holocall was interrupted or whether the Admiral had ended it himself was unclear. All Obi-wan knew for certain was that the hawk had returned for another round of attacks.

A bang sounded against the door, causing Obi-wan to jump, lightsaber in hand. When Hawks crashed inside the cabin he felt himself relax, collapsing back into his chair. 

"Sithspit, Hawks, don't scare me like that." Mouse yelped, hand on his chest.

Hawks ignored him, turning towards Obi-wan with a manic look in his eyes and he said, "Sir, BD is alive."

Cursing echoed from the gunseat, and Oak shot Hawks a scathing look from his position beside Twovee. "I don't care if you're angry, Hawks, that was beyond cruel-"

Hawks was quick to backpedal "No, no, no I saw him, Oak, he was racing across the fields!" He looked at Obi-wan, desperate and raw. "Please, sir, you've got to believe me."

Isosceles stumbled into the room, pointing a finger at Mouse. "You, switch with me."

Mouse sputtered. "Me? I can't walk , remember?"

Iso growled in frustration, and pointed at Oak instead. "You then, because Bact sucks at heavy weaponry and I swear to Buir if I left my brother to die out there-"

"I'll go," Cody intervened, stepping forward and moving towards the gun seat, "but you better watch your tone there soldier, or you'll have a lecture by the time you get back to base."

"Sir, yes sir!" Isosceles replied, slinging his rifle onto his back. Cody nodded his approval, glancing at Obi-wan in a silent show of support before rushing to take over the heavy weaponry. 

Iso turned towards Hawks. "Where is he?"

Hawks held out his binocs, pointing halfway through the sandy fields. "He's riding Bouncer, coming in at nine o'clock sharp."

Isosceles laughed in disbelief. "Of course he's riding the rat." He turned towards Obi-wan, determination in his eyes. "Permission to go after him, sir!"

Obi-wan shook his head, trying very hard to ignore the struck look on Iso's face. "The hawk would see you before you made it halfway down the tree. If we want to retrieve BD, we must first cause a distraction."

He turned towards Oak. "How many explosives could you rig up on short notice?"

Oak frowned, quickly looking through his supplies. "It wouldn't be anything that causes damage, sir. But I could throw together a bunch of flash grenades and smoke bombs. If we had a proper launcher I'd say I could fire four, maybe five rounds of each."

Obi-wan grinned. "Leave the launching to me, dear. Hawks, Iso, on my signal I want you on the ground and running before that bird can notice you, am I clear?"

The two men jumped to attention, for once both on the same page. "Yes, sir!"

Obi-wan smiled. "Let's go get your brother "

"This is crazy." BD yelped, holding onto Bouncer's neck for dear life. "This is crazy! Oh man, those dogs did not like us. What did we do to them, huh?" He muttered, reaching into his pack and popping a berry into Bouncer's mouth.

The rodent squeaked in delight, running through the field at top speed with wind racing through its fur. They had been running for hours, evading the wild wolves who had nipped and bit at them before being scared away by larger predators.

Said large predator was circling the top of the biggest tree BD had ever seen. And if BD had to make a guess, he'd say where there's trouble, there's the General. 

Hence their current race through the fields.

"You know," BD said, barely avoiding biting his tongue as they bound over the rocky terrain,

 "If I'd known how hard you would be to steer, I might've made you a harness."

Bouncer squeaked indignantly.

"Okay," BD replied, nodding along as if he had understood whatever the hell that meant, "but have you considered the fact that we could have gone around the field?

Bouncer squealed a response, and BD gave him another berry.

"Uh huh, I see your point." He said, keeping half an eye on the terrain in front of them and half an eye on the bird. "But what if- holy kriff what is the General thinking!"

At the top of the tree, BD could just make out an unmistakably familiar figure. "Does he have a death wish?"

Frantically, he urged Bouncer forwards. "C'mon buddy, we've gotta get him outta there. Let's go, faster!"

Bouncer squeaked, running through the sand like no tomorrow and when they got close enough to the tree to see the bark, BD almost wanted to cry.

"BD!" Cried Iso, going down his ascension chord so fast BD was afraid he wasn't using it at all. "BD over here!"

"I'm coming!" He replied, and he could almost see them, almost reach his hand out and touch him and then a shriek filled the air and feathers filled his vision.

Talons slammed down against the sandy ground, forcing Bouncer to scramble backwards with a squeal.

The bird screeched, reaching for him, and all BD could think to do was scream.

"It's noticed him," Obi-wan said, frantically sliding down the tree trunk "Oak, quickly, throw them here!"

Fumbling for the bag of smoke bombs, Oak tossed them up, leaving Obi-wan to catch them mid-air. "Hawks, shoot the wings. As far away from it's talons as you can make it."

Hawks nodded, descending halfway down the tree onto a limb with better range. Obi-wan turned to Oak. "Can you get the ship in the air?"

Oak paled. "I can try."

Obi-wan clapped him on the back, nodding at him to go. "Trying is all I can ask for, now go, before it's too late!" Oak scrambled into the ship, leaving Obi-wan with a bag of five smoke bombs and one hell of a plan.

The bird had BD in it's grasp. It's massive wings flapping frantically to takeoff as Bouncer snapped at it's heels. From the ground floor, Iso was firing sniper bolts into the bird's back and chest.

Obi-wan quickly attached himself to Cody's ascension cable, sliding down the tree until he was about a quarter of the way from the sandy floor. Maneuvering about the branches, he made his way towards the bird, leaving about ten feet of airspace between himself and the creature.

Closing his eyes, Obi-wan took a deep, grounding breath, and he aimed for the creature's head. 

His mark rang true. Smoke exploded from the inside of the mesh pouch, causing the hawk to shriek in surprise. Not wasting a moment, Obi-wan outstretched his senses and reached for the creature's mind.

Let go. He thought. Relax.

Trespassers! The bird's mind screamed back. Killers!

Release. Obi-wan thought more insistently, and for a moment, the hawk faltered.

"Iso, NOW!" He yelled, and immediately Isosceles shot a grappling bolt at BD's chestplate. 

The hooks of the bolt dug into the armor, and Iso was quick to wrap it around the tree. 

When Hawks shot sniper bolts into the bird's wings, the creature buckled, tumbling downward and then making a break for the sky.

The grappling bolt tugged against BD's armor, pulling him out of the hawk's grip and onto the sandy field below.

The hawk screeched, circling above for no more than a moment, but before it could even consider making a second attempt the fire of the ship's gunseat roared to life. 

With one final cry, the massive creature flapped it's wings and fled from the sky above them, leaving the men panting, but alive.

Silence, and then Iso was running towards BD with Hawks at his heels, and Obi-wan knew they would be okay.