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The nearly empty cargo carrier was starting to come in for a landing. The pitch in the engine had changed and the ship rocked slightly as it went through the moon’s gravitational field. He estimated that he had maybe five minutes before it touched down in the hangar.
The relatively small, former Republic now Imperial outpost that was in the final stages of being decommissioned. Most personnel had already been reassigned. A skeleton crew of about forty six individuals were still on board, seeing to the last of the equipment being removed and ensuring that nothing else was being left behind before the site was officially shut down.
Perfect setup for a quick data tap and even faster withdrawal.
Jaing didn't have much more to do to prepare. He had slipped onboard the carrier before it had left the space yard two systems over. Sneaking past the mediocre defenses of the yard was something he probably could have done blindfolded but he'd rather get in and get this done.
Darman and Niner had failed to check in… twice.
It was making them all restless but Ordo had been nearly beside himself with worry. He still blamed himself for not pulling them out when they had a chance. Nevermind the fact they had apparently chosen to stay… of course Ordo felt that it had been his fault somehow and that he had failed them.
Still, he'd be lying if he wasn't worried too.
That's why he let Ordo know what he was doing. He could slip in and out on the cargo hauler. Even though it was in the process of decommissioning, the outpost would still have access to Imperial data banks, so he could easily pull up their orders and find out where they were assigned. Then he could take that information with him back into the now loaded hauler, go back to the space yard and slip right back out the same hole in their defenses.
Overall, he'd be in and out in under ten hours. Then they could go find their missing brothers and this time, he didn't give a damn what they said. Jaing was more than willing to take them out of wherever they had been sent by any means necessary at this point. It was high time they came home.
Kad was really missing his buir.
That and there were more than a few disconcerting rumors floating about too. Mereel and A'den had been hearing about clones showing up in slave pens in the Mid Rim and brutal fight to the death competitions in the Outer Rim. Whispered mentions of mass executions, all varieties of abuse and deplorable living conditions happening to clones within the Empire were also worryingly prevalent. They didn't have any solid proof though so Ordo had told them to keep it quiet so that Kal didn't find out.
Friefek, Kal'buir was probably going to flip if he heard any of that even if it was just a rumor.
Still, it was weird not to see any clone troopers at an Imperial spaceport. Even one that specialized in cargo and equipment logistics. He would have expected to see a couple clones on the perimeter or even assisting with offloads but they had been strangely absent from the port. There had been plenty of natborns though… and not a single one of them thought to look up or check their surroundings after no more than a half hearted look.
Pitiful really.
He honestly didn't expect to find much better security here which was one of the reasons had chosen this outpost in the first place when he decided to check in on Darman and Niner's current orders. He had just flown past it three cycles ago and saw that they were in the process of disassembling one of the larger laser turrets, a sure sign that the outpost was being decommissioned. Perfect timing all things considered.
The ship touched down inside the hangar. The familiar thump as it rested on solid durasteel had him shifting about to get ready to slip out of the craft unseen. Great thing about cargo haulers like this one was the lack of a live crew. Droids were so much easier to hide from and the haulers had to be kept pressurized to ensure the cargo's viability on arrival. They were one of the best ways to move about undetected in his opinion.
He waited till the doors opened and the clo-natborns came on board to do the visual sweep. Jaing stared after them from his hiding spot in a small maintenance duct on the ceiling. Odd… and their lack luster inspection only played to his advantage as he quietly dropped down from the vent and moved down the cargo ramp into the hangar proper.
The great thing about being a former Republic outpost was that they hadn't upgraded the security at all. The amount of crates and cargo packaged for flight littered the hangar floor allowed for him to all but casually stroll across the expanse of the hangar with the layout of corridors and hallways between all the cargo waiting to be loaded. It allowed him to used the crates for cover from the cameras and easily avoided the handful of people and droids moving about the maze that had been made.
Really this was too easy.
The only hard part was when he actually had to move out into the passageways of the outpost proper and even then it only took a quick splice to rewrite some of the programming into the security system so that the feeds at the security center flipped through empty hallways and desolate rooms. It would take them a few hours to pick up on something being wrong and even then it would be awhile for his code to be tracked down. It could easily be registered as a bug that was caused by someone accidentally flipping the wrong switch and, with the stellar security practices he had already seen, that would be all too believable.
Really karking pathetic.
Jaing took his time moving about the base, keeping an eye out for natborns or droids -at this point they were the only variables that could alert the outpost to his presence- as he looked for a clone trooper he could either talk into borrowing his kit or sedating him for a time if he was really disagreeable. He needed access to some of the more secure terminals upstairs to gain access to the Imperial databanks and dredge up Darman and Niner's current orders. He was wearing his old ARC trooper kit, a more believable look than the mostly Mandalorian armor kit he was now sporting but there was no way they would let an unknown ARC into the command hub or security center. He needed to find a clone to swap places with…
And it was strangely difficult to find one of them.
Jaing didn't like it and he couldn't help but remember what Mereel and A'den had been saying. He was poised in the best position to dig up information on what was going on… but then what could they do? It wasn't like they could fight the Empire or rescu-
Movement coming towards him caught his attention. Jaing paused at the corner and looked around it to see what was happening further down the hallway. After a moment a figure appeared heading down the cross passage and not even looking in his direction. He breathed a silent sigh of relief at who it was.
Finally, a clone.
Tailing him was easy enough. The clone was keeping his head down, moving along at a swift clip through the quiet hallways. He wasn’t wearing his helmet even though he was kitted out but there were no distinguishing tattoos on his face or hairstyles. Typical clone standard which would do him nicely. Jaing was just starting to wonder where he was going when he suddenly ducked into a bunk room.
He waited a moment to see if the clone would come back out again before breaking cover and going down the hallway. He paused at the edge of the door frame to make sure no one was coming. After a beat, he hit the control panel to open the door to the room and stepped in quietly.
Only to hesitate when he realized that the room had been stripped bare. There was no cover or places to hide which made it easy to spot his target but made it so the element of surprise was lost. For a moment they both stared at each other in shock and Jaing couldn't help but do a once over of him to make sure he wasn't a threat.
… And honestly there was no way he could be.
The clone has been in the process of taking off his upper armor. A painful looking process since he was also struggling with what looked like a broken wrist. He was carrying no armaments, had no belt and was thin.
Dangerously thin.
"Uh… who are-" he was also scared, eyes wide and his breathing had dramatically increased. He hunched in on himself more, tucking his injured wrist behind him as to hide the fact he was injured. "Who are you? I didn't do anything. I swear. I'm under orders to be here. I promise."
… What the hell?
Jaing raised a placating hand, wishing silently that Mereel or A'den was here to deal with whatever this was even as he said, "It's okay. I'm just here to talk. You're not in trouble."
If anything that seemed to make it worse as he curled a bit more into himself. "No," he whimpered. "Please don't do this."
Jaing suddenly had the urge to hurt someone over how this clone was acting.
"I'm not going to do anything to you," he assured him before slipping off his helmet with his free hand, making a point to go slow and telegraph his movements. "See? I have no reason to hurt you for sport or discipline or whatever. I just want to talk with you."
The other clone just stared at him for a minute but at least he looked a little less afraid but not by much. "How are… who are you?"
"I'm Binxs," he lied easily enough. "I'm just here to do a silent observation survey to rate the CO on security protocols."
The clone was giving him a blank look. "They're trusting clones to do that?"
Well they were… that unpleasant feeling was back again, creeping up from the base of his spine. There was something really wrong here. "I'm a special clone. I can get away with a lot," not really a lie but it would do. "But I need your help."
"My help?" He was cowering again. "Why would you want… no. No! I'm not going to get killed for helping you!"
This was getting him nowhere. Jaing was nearing the end of his patience and the clone now looked like he was willing to fight him which wouldn't be a good move given his condition. Really the other clone looked like he was about to tip over where he stood.
The door suddenly opened behind him.
Jaing dropped his helmet and turned. The natborn was in a softshell uniform and he was clearly pissed. Though he seemed startled for a split second and Jaing was quick not to let him have a second look. He was quick to grab the natborn's face with both hands and rotated them in same direction with a sharp, vicious motion.
The grinding crack was loud in the otherwise quiet space.
The clone whimpered as Jaing hauled the body by its neck into the room and tossed it off to the side of the door. A quick glance up and down the hall was enough for him to know that no one had seen that happen nor had he attracted anyone else's attention. He breathed a soft sigh of relief as he stepped back into the room. At least his cover wasn't blown just yet…
But now he had another problem, no way in hell that clone would believe his story now.
The clone that was in the room with him was now just blankly staring at the body. No tension in his shoulders, no willingness to fight. He gave Jaing a very empty look and said dully, "I'm next aren't I? Just… just quick would you? Please? I don't-"
"I'm not going to kill you," Jaing made a point of cutting him off before he said anything else along those lines. Even though that would be the easiest course to take, the very thought of harming him when he was like this just put a bad taste in his mouth.
He was starting to suspect that what Mereel and A'den had been hearing weren't just rumors.
Jaing heaved an angry breath as he stooped to pick up his helmet. Mission parameters had changed at this point which irritated him but there was no turning back now. He made up his mind and would deal with the consequences later.
"Look, I'll help you get out," he promised the clone. "I'll take you somewhere safe but I need your help right now to make that happen."
The clone was still giving him that blank look but seemed to shake himself at what Jaing was saying. "No," he said, in a trembling voice as a bit of fight suddenly seemed to spark up within his eyes. "Not without my brothers. I wouldn't leave them."
He was honestly kind of impressed he was going to attempt to bargain considering how scared he was of him. "How many and where are they?"
"Four others. All assigned here," his voice was hardening and he was developing a spine now that it looked like Jaing might be agree with him. "We all go together or not at all."
He could work with that. "Fine. Where are they now?"
"Cleaning," the way he sat that led Jaing to believe that there was more to it than just that.
"And is that what you were doing in here? Cleaning?"
He had asked out of curiosity but the haunted look on the clone's face told him that that was far from the case. His eyes flickered to the body behind Jaing that had finally stopped twitching. "No he…" all the previous fight and bravo seems to vanish as he partially curled in on himself in a protective gesture. "He hurt me… he liked it. He did… He used me… I don't... I didn't want to," he broke off suddenly staring down at the floor as he shivered and tried to press back into the wall behind himself.
Well… if Jaing hadn't already made up his mind that admission would have settled it.
"He's never going to hurt you again," he assured him even as he glanced back at the still cooling body. "Who is he anyways?"
"Lieutenant Knox. He is-was… was in command of this decommissioning operation."
Well, that was a happy coincidence.
Jaing stepped over to the side of the body and kicked it over while he put his helmet back on. "What's your name, ad?"
"Um… it's Kain… sir," came the quiet, almost tentative reply.
Jaing quickly went through the former COs pockets until he found and pulled out his access card. Idiot didn't even have any usable weapons which meant there was a good chance that his new mission just became a whole hell of a lot easier. "Okay Kain, what's the fastest way to get all your brothers here."
"... New orders from the Lieutenant," his hand moved towards the body but Jaing noticed how Kain made a point not to look at him. "He can override everything on the base."
"Do you know if it's by code or just on his word?" Jaing asked even as he stepped over to the doors control panel. He should be able to splice into the system from here enough to send out a couple small messages.
"His word."
Perfect. "Give me your brother's CT numbers… at least I assume that's how he refers to them?"
"Yeah um… yeah… CT-6842, CT-7291, CT-6503 and CT-5466."
Jaing spliced into the system from the control panel for the door and quickly sent the message to the four clones with a comm code that Kain was quick to provide him when asked. Sending them nothing but a cryptic message ordering them to report to the room they were in immediately. Jaing changed the codes for the door's lock and then disconnected from the system. Tucking his gear away he turned back to Kain.
"Once all your brothers are in here, lock the door and stay put until I get back. I cycled the door lock to a code only I know so I'm the only one who can open it. Keep that in mind, stay put… and divvy up these."
That last part had been added on as an afterthought. While he didn't have enough ration bars for each of them to have their own, the three he did carry in his belt would probably be more than they had eaten recently. As it was, handing the three bars over to Kain nearly brought the clone to tears.
"Yes sir… thank you sir," he said, taking the bars as if they were the most precious thing he had ever been handed.
It made Jaing sick.
As soon as Kain took the bars, Jaing turned towards the door to the room. "Remember, lock it after they are all here and don't leave until I come get you."
"Yes sir… um," it was the soft hesitation in his voice that made Jaing stop just as he was about to open the door. "What are you planning on doing?"
There was no point in lying to him, "Going to the comm center to block all outgoing comm signals, kill everyone on the base then come to get you and your brothers out." There was no sense telling him about looking for Darman and Niner as the real reason for him being here.
"Wait no!" Kain took several steps forward but hesitated in actually touching him. "You can't! Don't hurt Renn. He's been trying to help us!"
Jaing looked over his shoulder at him and must have been more intimidating than he thought considering how Kain shrink away from him. The young trooper stuck to his blaster though, Jaing had to give him credits for that. "He's the only redhead soft shell in the outpost. Works in the comm center. He's… He's been sneaking us food and medical supplies when he can. Please… don't hurt Renn. He's the only one here who's been nice to us."
Jaing rolled his eyes even though he didn't look away from Kain. His helmet was masking his expression. "Just stay put and lock the door when your brothers get here… I'll see what I can do but no promises."
Kain fidgeted like he wanted to keep fighting but seemed to back down. Jaing didn't like how his shoulders would curl in or how he would lower his head as if trying to protect his throat. It made him wish he hadn't given the lieutenant such a quick death. "Yes sir."
Without another word, Jaing left the room.
The outpost was a typical five level construction with the hangar at the mid-level and the command center at the top. Residential quarters were the second to highest level while cargo and power were in the lower two. There was nothing fancy about the room layouts nor were there any kind of panic or lock out rooms.
Honestly he couldn't ask for an easier outpost to have to clear.
Lieutenant Knox's access card let him into the command center. He had already drawn his verpine hand blaster and had a small holdout with the access card pinned along the holdout's side in his off hand. No one on staff gave him a second look which was their mistake. While he would have rather done this at a distance he also wasn't going to give them time to react.
His verpine let out no sound as he fired. The small projectile tore through the air at such a high velocity that it easily punched through the softshell sitting back to him at the comm center. The natborn with bright red hair in a similar uniform sitting next to him managed to gasp when the hole was blown through his partner's head but Jaing's holdout had already been set to stun. He slumped against the control panel, unconscious for now, but Jaing didn't dwell on him as he systematically went through the room, the verpine jolting with every shot until only he was still standing in the room. The staff's surprise and inexperience worked against them but for him as he cleared the room in minutes before anyone really had a chance to so much as get out of their chairs.
Too easy.
Within minutes he had gone through and locked out all the comms. People would assume they had sent something but really it was going to just be round filed to a server box he had set up. According to the logs there were no updates going out so no one would notice the outpost gone completely dark for a while yet.
He dragged a body off the console and dumped it unceremoniously on the floor so he could start a search for his missing brothers on the Imperial servers before going over to Renn. He pushed him back in his seat and checked over him real quick to make sure he hadn't inadvertently hurt him somehow. He was fine, just unconscious and would probably be so for a while yet but he decided not to leave anything to chance. He didn't have any binders on him but jump cable can make a very effective rope to tie someone up with in a pinch.
He left him trusted up on the floor with a gag he had worked into his mouth. He didn't see him waking up before he dropped him off at the room with Kain and his brothers but again, no chances. He didn't need another fast turn thrown into this mission.
His search pinged from the other side of the room and he stepped over to go over the contents of the report that had been pulled up. Lieutenant Knox had a surprisingly high clearance given the fact he was doing decommissioning work but Jaing could care less on the logistics and what clearance he didn’t have were easy enough to access with some creative liberties on his part. It was enough to get him the information he needed and it wasn't like Knox would really care if he abused his power.
Darman and Niner were still together at least. With a relatively young commando named Rede. The three of them were on temporary assignment at the Mount Tantiss facility on Weyland which was a base he had never heard of before. There they were awaiting assignment of a fourth commando to join their squad before being redeployed.
According to the galactic coordinates, both Darman and Niner would easily both be able to send and receive messages with their hidden comm setup. Jaing didn't like it. Why weren't they answering their comms?
Still at least now he had a location. He could pass it off to Ordo and see about following him to Weyland. Actually knowing the rest of the Clan, all of them would be heading out on that little expedition to make sure they actually came home this time. No more excuses.
Definitely beyond time they came home… especially considering the five shinys and their natborn pet he now had taken in.
… How the hell was he going to explain this to Kal?
That was something he would worry about later. There were still another thirty two people to kill in the outpost before he could get them bundled up and shipped out of here. That was the more pressing concern at the moment. He doubted Kain and his brothers had the training -or even the endurance given their frames- to sneak out of the space port. He was going to have to think up a different plan to get them off this rock.
Still, he'd worry about that later after he finished slotting the rest of the personnel at this outpost.
He turned to leave only to stop and turn back after a moment. It wasn’t like he owed him or them anything but he still ran one more series of searches before he left. The system pinged and he frowned at the report that came back.
Boss, Fixer and Scorch had been split up and sent to three different training centers. Of course they weren’t kept together. That would have been too easy but at least now he knew where they were…
…And he had their decommissioning dates…
A cold icy dread settled low in his stomach even as he reviewed the information so he knew he was reading it right. He wasn’t that close to the former Delta Squad but the thought that the Empire was planning on culling them without their knowledge infuriated him beyond belief. They still had a week before Boss' number came up so they had plenty of time to get him and the other two out… but if he hadn't thought to look…
The leather like material of his gray skinned gloves creaked as he balled his hands into fists.
If he hadn’t already planned on slotting the whole base he definitely would have been now.
He took the time to write a small secret script to keep him posted on the three of them before getting down to business. He grabbed Renn and tossed over his shoulder. According to the security center -and after he dismissed his script- the command deck was clear. There were off shift personnel sleeping on the residential level that he could deal with after dropping Renn off with Kain and his brothers.
After that he was going to have to be a little more cautious dealing with the remains of the crew. Picking them off one at a time seemed the best option but with the amount of natborns in the hangar that was going to be difficult even with the amount of cover he would have to work with. He wished he had brought his sniper rifle… that would have made dealing with the hangar so much easier.
The room where he had left Kain was locked which was a good sign. At least he and his brothers were all together now. He was still cautious as he keyed in the code to open the door. He wasn't about to be caught flat-footed like he had been with Knox.
Kain and his brothers all jumped when the door opened, shying away and wincing as expecting the worst. Kain at least seemed to relax when he realized he was standing there while his brothers still hunched and cowed defensively, eyes fixed firmly on the floor. "Renn," Kain said worriedly, stepping forward and causing his brothers to all look over in concern.
Karking hell… considering how worried they all looked they really did like this guy.
Jaing stepped into the room and eased him off his shoulder, settling against the wall near the door. "He’s only stunned," he assured the clones in the room as they hovered worriedly nearby but Kain was the only one who actually approached. "He'll be fine in a bit. You can take his gag out but for now keep him tied up. I have a feeling he's going to be a little upset when he wakes up."
"Are you… are you really killing everyone?"
Jaing wasn’t sure who asked him that but he did glance over at the small group of clones behind him. They were scared of him but they seemed more hopeful now that the question had been asked and Jaing couldn’t help but wonder what had happened to them here. What had they been forced to endure here to make them half jump at their own shadows?
He wasn’t sure he wanted to know.
“Stay here,” he said in lieu of answering. “You’ll be safe. I’ll be back shortly.”
He made sure that the door was locked before moving down the passage. He put his verp away and pulled out a thin wire dispenser that he slipped over his fingers so it was resting in his palm. While he could use a garrote he'd rather be even more discreet than that so he drew the thin bladed knife from his boot. It didn't matter if he was making a mess or not, he was going to have to destroy all the evidence anyways.
According to the security station there were three bunk rooms in use while the off shift slept. It would have been faster if there were two or even one but he really couldn't complain. If anything it made it easier to deal with any potential problems if someone woke up while he was dealing with someone else.
He cleared the first room quickly, in and out in under thirty seconds. There were only two people in there and he barely paused between them. One quick and precise thrust along the base of the jaw just below and in front of the ear at a thirty degree angle all the way to the hilt. He twisted the blade around, doing one complete roll of his wrist before withdrawing it just as fast.
The next two rooms were cleared with the same ruthless efficiency. The thin blade danced with deadly intent as it flicked off the faint, muted light coming from the running boards. There had always been something about these quiet assassinations that Jaing always enjoyed. There was something about slipping from shadow to shadow with nothing but the subtle glint of a blade in your hand, able to take a life or spare one with a quick thrust… that always seemed beautiful and alluring to him.
… Atin did one time say they were all a little fucked in the head and those thoughts probably proved his argument right there.
He did run into a bit of a problem in the last bunk room. It was full of female stormtroopers, almost all of which were asleep. They joined the ranks already marching on just as silently and efficiently as the rest while Jaing slipped into the attach fresher.
There was a girl in the sonic, singing softly to herself, the tune had a dull counterpoint in the hum of the machine. His knife was wickedly sharp for more than just being a weapon. It easily sliced through the lock holding the door shut and he popped it open with a flick of his wrist.
"Wha-" the door being forced opened had automatically stopped the cycle. She was just starting to turn as Jaing stepped into the stall with her, her question halted by the hand he covered her mouth tightly with. She started to struggle but it was already too late for her. As soon as he had covered her mouth he had also drawn the blade across her throat from ear to ear.
Still she tried to fight, not quite realizing that she was already dying. He gently pressed her into the wall in front of them to control her flailing limbs better. Struggling would only make it worse for her and despite himself Jaing found himself whispering softly in her ear.
"It's okay… just relax… you're just going to sleep… it's time to sleep…"
She must've realized what was happening by then as a tear slipped from her eye. He flipped the blade away from her and gently wiped it away with a stroke of his thumb. "It's alright… rest now."
He settled her body on the floor of the sonic before leaving without a backward glance. Only taking a moment to shut the door most of the way as a precaution. That hadn't been the cleanest of kills he had ever done but he doubted anyone would find her body before he was done sweeping through the rest of the base either.
Still he took the time to jam the door lock so that no one could enter that bunk room as an added layer of security. He still had about another twenty people to go and he wasn't willing to leave anything to chance. Especially since he had a feeling that it would somehow get turned back on the clones he had hidden.
Jaing tried not to let his anger get the better of him.
For now he skipped the hangar and moved onto the lower levels of the outpost. There were a handful of workers down here, disassembling equipment and readying cargo for transport upstairs. All more interested in what they were doing rather than paying attention to their surroundings.
It was almost as easy as it had been in the bunk rooms.
He waited, patience was an ally in this. They were always moving and doing things so all it took was a bit of waiting and they would separate themselves from the others. It made his task so much easier when they willingly walked away from the others and moved through tight confined and secluded corridors and maintenance ways.
It was easy enough to tail them. He waited until they were in a nice quiet section by themselves before silently slipping up behind them. A hand over their mouths as a precaution as he stabbed the blade into the base of their skull, running upwards at an angle. Just like with those in the bunk rooms, he severed the brain stem and did irreparable damage to the inside of their skulls with every strike. In most cases they were dead before he even pulled out the blade and if not they had passed before he had even quietly lowered their bodies to the ground.
With those two levels cleared he was back to the hangar.
And this was where he was going to have to change his strategy.
There were twelve targets left in the facility, all of which were in the hangar that really wasn't that big in comparison to the rest of the base. The way the room was currently clogged with cargo and equipment could be used to his advantage but it wouldn't be long for someone to stumble across a body. Once that happened his cover would be blown and he was going to have to work fast to neutralize the rest of them before someone got a lucky shot off.
He checked to make sure his verp was ready and he moved into the hanger.
He managed to take the first two down like he had in the cargo area. He silently tailed them and struck when they were at their most vulnerable. However, like he had thought, there was no easy place to stash the bodies. Almost everything was packed and ready for shipping, bound up in crates designed to protect the cargo through space and left little in the way for convenient body hiding locations.
He was just starting to lower the third body to the ground when the call went up.
"Shit! Stan! Stan! " Jaing heaved a sigh as he moved to get some distance from the commotion. " Stan! Someone killed Daymont!"
"And Gram!" Someone else yelled.
Fierfek… he wasn’t expecting two bodies to be found at almost the same time.
He was quick to switch his knife to his non-dominant hand and drew his hand blaster. Jaing was just starting to move away from the area when two stormtroopers came around the corner. They froze while Jaing quietly cursed to himself.
No way were they going to miss the body laying on the floor behind him.
Jaing was already firing his verp as the one tried to yell out a warning. His wordlessly exclamation cut off as the verp's projectile tore through the throat with such velocity. The thin bit of skin that managed to survive the strike prevented it from being a full decapitation but as long as he was down that's all he cared about.
The other stormtrooper was smart enough to duck back behind the crate but instead of trying to return fire or use his comms or doing anything sensible he did the most non sensible thing imaginable.
He started to scream.
" Stan! Stan, it's a clone! It's one of the fuck-"
His voice cut off with a horrible wet squelching noise but Jaing was already tearing his knife free from his throat and moving. While the rows and line of cargo waiting for loading had been an advantage to him now they were going to be a death trap. It wouldn't take much to box him in with this configuration. Stan was apparently in charge and with his element of surprise now lost, his next best option was to take this Stan out and hopefully throw the rest of these natborns into disarray.
At least that had been the plan.
He hadn't even managed to move two meters down the corridor when a pair of stormtroopers came around the corner from the other end. This time, while the verp managed to take down one, the other stormtrooper stood his ground and opened fire. Just his luck that these natborns were more compit-
The side passage he ducked into had two more stormtroopers ready and waiting for him.
Jaing fired twice even as he dove back out into passage he had been in to get behind some cover. He didn't hit either of them given the amount of fire that they returned but his sudden reappearance let him catch the stormtrooper he had originally been trying to avoid by surprise. A single shot to the head dealt with him but as he turned back to look down the passage he realized that another two had zeroed in on his location.
Fierfek kark-
He went to move only for a lone trooper to appear in the other direction.
Now wasn't this going to be interesting…
"Where did you get that kit?" The lone trooper snapped, blaster raised and trained on him. He could tell that the other four troopers were closing, blaster raised and ready but if he was right then there was no way they would take him alive so Jaing didn't bother to answer that.
The two troopers came up the side passage he originally started down and he was quick to act as they drew up to him. Without looking, he stabbed backwards and up with his knife in a reverse grip. He didn't care what it hit but judging by the wet sound it had been in his throat or collar bone.
Regardless it was enough for him to drag him around, using him as a shield even as he shot the verp from the hip blowing apart his partner's gun and parts of his hand. The stormtrooper behind him opened fire as the other two rushed forward. For a moment Jaing wasn't sure if he had spun the trooper on his knife around fast enough to protect his back.
The body jerked several times on the end of his knife. He didn't have time to sigh in relief as he smashed the butt of his verp against the other stormtrooper's helmet to disorient him as he ducked back into the corridor they had come out of for cover. He turned quickly and fired the gun again, catching him in the throat.
He had a moment to get his feet set and then they were back on him.
The first trooper around the corner had his blaster raised but flinched when he realized that he hadn't fallen back. Jaing shoved his blaster aside even as he kicked him in the lower stomach. He doubled over, placing his head in a convenient firing line for his verp.
His partner had hesitated with him, caught in indecision on whether or not to pull back instead of moving forward like he had been. It was all the hesitation Jaing needed to slam the knife up under his helmet and into the soft palate under his throat. He drew him closer, dropping his center of gravity as the knife got caught on jaw and flipped the stormtrooper over his shoulder.
He was taken by surprise when he was half tackled as he turned to face the last stormtrooper. Jaing grunted at the impact as he hit the crate behind him hard. Apparently the natborn had it in his head that he could take Jaing out in close quarters better than he could in a shootout.
Di'kut.
Jaing gave him a keldabe kiss that Kal'buir would have been proud of. The plastiod of his helmet cracked and splintered as he fell back, clearly dazed. He was staggering, just barely keeping his feet which Jaing was mildly impressed with as he shot him.
He watched as he fell back towards the floor, feeling a mild satisfaction at a job well done. Kain and his brothers were finally free. Now he could take them to Kyri-
Jaing watched in complete dissociation as a bloody knife fell from the stormtrooper's fingers as he landed on the decking.
Why was his side and leg wet?
… Karking hell…
The pain in his side was just starting to register as his wobbly legs refused to bear anymore of his weight and he fell to his knees. Jaing bit back another curse as he set his weapons down to survey the damage as best he could which was no easy feat. The wound was along his side and curved down towards his crotch, following a seam along his placard…
This was bad.
The wound was deep. A good three inches judging by the blood left on the blade. That meant that a good portion of his small intestines had been damaged and quite possibly into his kidney.
This was very bad.
He had to give it to stormtrooper, there was a good chance that he could die from this injury. More so if he hadn't managed to sweep the rest of the base before now. This natborn might have been a little misguided in his efforts but if he hadn't been the last natborn standing on the base then he would have left it so that Jaing would have been easily picked off by someone else. Good strategy even if he had died but definitely too little too late.
Jaing cursed softly to himself as he realized that his hands were shaking as he took off his placard and reached for his first aid supplies. Shock was setting in. He was glad he hadn't taken a stim before this op otherwise he wouldn't have been able to give himself the pain reliever that he was quick to administer to himself followed quickly by a bacta shot.
And he was still bleeding. The compress he pressed to his side did little to stem the bleeding. Even winding a pressure bandage around his middle didn't seem to slow it all that much. At the rate he was going if he didn't get it to slow down he was going to end up fainting.
One thing was for sure… there was no way in hell he was getting himself out of here let alone five shinys and their natborn pet.
Even while he continued to struggle to get the bleeding under control, he opened the comm interface on his HUD -sent out a brief mental apology for worrying Kal'buir like he was about to- and activated his emergency transceiver.
The emergency ping would go out to the entire clan. Every one of them would get a ping on their comm relay. Every one of them would know who had sent it and where he was… and every one of them would worry.
Ordo was already trying to put through a comm to him.
Jaing immediately disengaged his notification system. It almost hurt to do so but he knew it had to be done. No response would get someone there faster.
And honestly Jaing needed faster.
Besides… ignoring Ordo was one thing but if Kal tried to contact him it wasn't like he could ignore him.
Best not to think about it, he had more pressing concerns at the moment as it was.
The bleeding was just starting to slow, not by much but it was something. For a lack of a better option, Jaing had used every available compress, compression bandage and bacta patch his kit had available to him. He pressed and wound the whole wad against his side which wasn't much but it was something.
Jaing waited a few minutes to make sure that the bleeding was actually noticeably slowing down before he picked up his knife and cleaned it on the body glove of one of the nearby bodies he could reach. He slid it away again as he moved into his verpine blaster. After a few moments of checking it over and reloading the chamber he slid it back into its holster.
It took Jaing a couple tries to get back to his feet. He was clutching the stack of bandages pressed into his side, willing them to hold as he limped slowly back towards the bunk room. He had to keep one hand out, both to guide him and help support him as he pressed on, focusing on putting on foot in front of the other as he moved.
At least it would be easy to find him with his hand leaving bloody smears on the wall and the droplets of blood sporadically hitting the floor.
He needed to get back to Kain and his brothers. He knew Ordo was fairly close and Jaing wouldn't put it past his brother to just show up, grab him and go. Especially considering how much blood was coating his side and leg.
He really needed to get to Gilamar. He wasn't feeling well and the floaty feeling he was experiencing wasn't good either. He shivered slightly and, even though he knew it didn't have anything to do with the cold, he still felt cold.
Dammit.
It took forever but finally the bunk room door was in sight. He keyed in the code and tried to stand up straight as it slid open but even he knew he wasn't fooling anyone. The pile of bandages pressed to his side and the blood from his rib cage to his foot was more than enough of a tell.
His entrance was met once again with fearful looks as the clones cowered away from him. Renn was still tied up but his gag had been removed as he stared at him openly and curiously. The clones had moved him to the far wall and they were kneeling or sitting around him in a ring, close but not quite touching.
"Oh Maker," Kain said as he scrambled to his feet. "Are you okay?"
Obviously he wasn't but he still waved him aside. "Not much else can be done about it now. Don't worry."
One of his brothers was already on his feet and started to approach him almost like he was a wild animal. "That's bad. You need to sit down."
Despite the obvious discomfort in getting near him, the clone pressed on, carefully easing into striking range. "Um… here. Sit down. Let- May I take a look?"
Had to be a medic.
None of his brothers looked particularly happy in his approaching him but Renn was the only one who spoke up. "Corbin is a medic. Lieutenant Knox took that distinction away from him but he still knows how to help." Renn couldn't seem to tear his eyes away from his side and leg. He was looking a little green as he added, "That uh… that really does look bad…"
"It is," he finally agreed as Corbin carefully put his hands on him and gently tugged him into the room. Jaing went readily enough but Corbin was definitely flinching at every move he did as if he was expecting the worst. It churned Jaing's gut in all the wrong ways and made him wish he hadn't gone as easy on some of these stormtroopers.
He didn't let Corbin move him to a wall like he was intending, instead making a point to sit in the middle of the room facing the door. Corbin obviously didn't like it but other than letting his face settle into a frown, he knelt next to him and began to carefully poke around at the injury.
"We need to get you to a medical facility," he finally said. He gave Jaing a hesitant look before looking over at his brothers, "Could one of you go get me-"
"No." That single words was all it took for Corbin to nearly fall over backwards trying to get away from him. "Easy, son," he said, trying to use the same tone of voice that Kal'buir used on him and his brothers when he needed them to calm down. "I'm not going to hurt you or let you be hurt. Help is coming and I don't want him to mistake any of you as a potential target. We just need to stay put a little bit longer and he'll be here."
"How soon?" Corbin asked, carefully easing back in close.
He glanced briefly at the time to try to get an estimate on how long they might have to wait only to cringe when he realized how much time had already passed. One or several of those times when he was trying to get to his feet he must have passed out for a bit. It had already been three hours so Ordo was likely already here.
"Soon."
Soon dragged into another full hour but Jaing wasn't that worried. The clones with him were though. Corbin had Renn sit back to him, allowing Jang to slump against him even as he kept the door covered. The brothers sat in close to their natborn again with only Corbin and Kain seeming to trust him enough to sit closer to him… though Jaing halfway expected that Corbin was more doing it as some sense of duty as he seemed to worry about his injured side at every given moment.
Fifteen minutes later there was a series of quiet scraps near the door. Jaing immediately pulled his verp and pointed it at the door. "Behind me," he hissed urgently to the others in the room even as he herded Corbin more behind him with a sweep of his arm.
He was fairly confident he knew who was splicing his lock on the door but it always paid to be prepared.
There was a faint pop before the door slid open to reveal an empty hallway. For a second, no one moved and then a pair of familiar helmets peeked from around the corner at the same time. Ordo was almost a given but he honestly hadn't expected Mereel.
"Ordo. Mereel," he sighed in relief as he lowered his verp even as the two of them stepped into the room. They hadn't bothered switching back to their GAR kits. The Mandalorian armor they wore looked nothing like what they had back during the war even though Ordo still sported that tattered kama of his for whatever reason.
It took him a moment to realize neither of them were lowering their weapons.
Jaing immediately flipped on an open comm to both of them even as he pressed Corbin further behind him. From what he could tell, Kain and the rest of his brothers had stayed behind him and someone had pulled Renn down so that he was completely hidden by him. "Don't you dare," he hissed at his brothers. "They're coming with me."
"Jaing," Ordo was clearly pissed at this new development but he probably hadn't been in a good mood since he threw an emergency ping out there. "Sitrep."
"Op went bad," understatement but that was kind of obvious. "Was discovered early on and had to kill the outpost's CO. Proceeded to get the Intel, swept the base… and picked up some tagalongs."
"They're staying here," Ordo said in that voice he used when he issued an order and was expecting it to be followed. Usually he would but not this time.
"They're coming with me or I'm staying with them."
Ordo's helmet tilted slightly to one side obviously trying to come up with an argument but Mereel was quick to side with Jaing.
"He's right, Ordo. We're taking them with us. We've already agreed to blow this place, there's no atmosphere on this moon and they'll most likely just get blamed for the outpost's destruction." Mereel's blaster dipped to one side, pointed briefly at Corbin who shrank back even more behind Jaing and into his brothers.
"Besides, they're too thin. They're scared shitless of us and, if I didn't know any better, we have proof of everything the Empire's been doing to clones now. "
Ordo turned to give Mereel a glare which was only amplified by his helmet. Jaing could tell that one of the shinys behind him was shivering. Maybe several but honestly he was starting to get too tired to care.
"Fine," Ordo said at length. "But I'm going to be the one to update Kal on the situation. I told everyone to keep quiet on this so I'll take full responsibility for withholding that information from him."
Jaing could tell that Mereel didn't like that stipulation for whatever reason but Jaing could care less at that moment. He sighed in relief but that turned into a pained gasped as his stomach muscles expanded. The hand he had been using to keep Corbin back reflexively went for his side.
"Later," Ordo told Mereel. "Get Jaing onboard the ship." He then snapped over to the helmet's external speakers.
"Form up. Now!"
The shinys jumped a mile and Renn wasn't that better off. All of them scrambled to their feet, lining up at attention at the sheer authority Ordo put into his voice. Jaing turned his head enough to look back at them. Renn stuck out considering his uniform, fairer skin, shorter stature and the rope still tying up his arms.
Jaing could already tell Ordo was even more pissed than he had been.
Mereel was hauling him to his feet and for a split second Jaing thought he was going to pass out as he leaned heavily into his brother. "Ordo," he managed over the comms as Mereel forced him out of the room. "All of them. They're mine. All of them are mine."
Ordo didn't say anything and Jaing had half a mind to go back to make sure he knew that when Mereel hushed him. "Easy now. Ordo will bring them all onboard even if he does feel the need to scar the piss out of them first. They'll be okay."
Jaing nodded his head. It was starting to feel like it was stuffed full of cotton and somehow feeling even more tired than before.
Mereel cursed softly. "Come on. Almost there."
It was a bit of a blur for a time after that. Mereel took him to a small bunk room on a small ship he didn't recognize and proceeded to strip him of his armor and most of his body glove. Jaing remembered laying in a bed on his good side but even that thought faded out into a murky gray haze. At some point, Mereel grumbled under his breath as he did something to his side that caused it to ache something fierce but it was pretty inconsequential considering how warm the blankets he had been wrapped in were or how soft the bedding under him felt.
Mereel had just finished tightening another layer of bandages around his waist when Ordo stepped into the room. "How bad?" he asked Mereel even as he looked over his handy work.
"The sooner we get him to Gilamar the better." Jaing could just make out Mereel drawing a line in the air above the bandages he'd fastened about him. "He was nearly disemboweled. Right along here. Missed anything important I think but it could have nicked his intestine so I have him on really strong antibiotics just in case. There's a lot of internal damage though. Bactas keeping it slowed down but he's still bleeding in there."
"Where the shinys?" Jaing half mumbled into his pillow. "And Renn?"
Even with his helmet still on, Jaing knew Ordo was giving him an annoyed look. "They're fine. I told them to sit down, shut up and not to move in the other bunk room."
Translation to that was that Ordo went full former GAR Captain on them and they probably were standing at attention waiting for permission to breathe… but at least they were onboard.
"Let's get you back to Gilamar."
Jaing shook his head and tried to sit up even as Mereel moved to quickly press him back down. "Need to go to Weyland." He rattled off the planetary coordinates even as Mereel fixed the blankets more around his upper body. "Darman and Niner are there. In a facility awaiting reassignment."
"They should easily be to check in then," Mereel asked as Ordo huffed quietly through the speakers on his helmet.
"Yeah," Jaing paused to swallow hard. "Somethings wrong. We need to stop and check on them. Especially with what the shinys have gone through."
He could tell that neither of them were happy with that idea but after a moment Ordo said, "Alright. Quick recon and then we're taking you to Gilamar."
Ordo turned and left without a look back as Mereel settled in on the edge of the bunk he was laying in. "Get some sleep. We'll be back at Kyrimorut soon and you'll be at the tender mercies of Mij before you know it."
There was just one more concern he had to make sure Mereel knew about. "Mereel-"
"Don't worry I'll keep an eye on your kids for now. I'll make sure Ordo doesn't eat them or anything."
"No the…" he sighed into the pillow realizing that one of the hypos that Mereel had given him was most likely a sedative. "Delta Squad. They… we need to get them out too."
"Vau-"
Vau probably didn't know what he had scrounged up and considering he was still reeling over Sev's disappearance Jaing doubted he'd be thinking of much else. "They're scheduled for decommissioning. The Empire is going to kill them."
Mereel's voice harden immediately, "You have proof?"
"Datapad, sequence eight," Jaing gave up and let his eyes slip close. "Got a bug in there to tell us if their orders change or they're sent elsewhere."
Mereel said something else but Jaing was too far gone to tell what it was.
-Break-
Weyland was a waste of time.
Jaing tried not to be disappointed but it was hard when he limped up to the skiff's cockpit only to see the desolate wasteland that had once been the Mount Tantiss facility. Darman easily could have leveled a facility of that size but the question was why? Better yet where did he and Niner go? And why the hell were neither of them reporting in?
Jaing didn't like it.
Mereel gave him more hypos as they left Weyland and Jaing slept for a time. He came around at one point to realize he was curled up against Mereel who was sitting next to him on the bunk. Jaing's head was in his lap and he was gently stroking a hand over his hair. There was a persistent itch in the crook of his elbow which made him think that Mereel was giving him a transfusion but he was too tired to check on that.
He went back to drifting.
At some point Ordo was talking to him but he just wanted to go back to sleep. Mij was talking to someone in the background but it was only when Kal'buir ordered him to wake up did he honestly try. Even then he knew it wasn't enough and he faded back out filling a horrible sense of guilt at not being able to follow Kal's orders.
So when he finally woke up the first thing he did was croak out, "Kal?"
"I'm right here, son."
And sure enough he was.
Kal Skirata was sitting in a chair next to his bed. He was in plain clothes with only his gauntlets still on but it was the same warm half smile Jaing was use to seeing when he was particularly proud of him, especially when he had been younger. Kal apparently didn't care that he hadn't followed his orders but Jaing couldn't let a such a thing go without at least trying to apologize.
"I'm sor-"
"Now none of that," Kal huffed at him rubbing tiredly at his face. It didn't look like he had been sleeping very well lately. "I'm not going to blame you for anything considering how bad off you were by the time Mij finally got his hands on you. You're lucky to be alive and if you think you're getting out of that bed for the next week you're sorely mistaken."
Bring up that particular length of time reminded Jaing of Boss' predicament. "Delta-"
"You told Mereel," Kal assured him. "Wasn't sure if you would remember that. A rescue operation has already been launch to get all three of them out. He, Ordo, Purdii, Cor, Vau, and Bardan left a couple days ago to get them. We should be hearing if they succeeded or not in the next twenty's four hours."
That meant he had been drifting for a lot longer than he had thought. "How long was I out?"
"It's been four days since your brothers brought you and the troopers you rescued in." Kal was quick to assure him, "Don't worry. A'den and Atin have been keeping a close eye on them for you. They're fine."
Jaing sighed and relaxed into the pillow. He felt like his had been run over by a speeder and he was starting to suspect that he had come extremely close to dying at some point in the past few days. "... I owe Mij a bottle of tihaar don't I?"
Kal snorted, "You owe him several and at least one for Dr. Uthan but don't you dare give Scout so much as a glass of that shit. Give her an uj'alayi instead if you're in the gift giving mood."
He had to have been way worse off that he had thought.
They say in silence for a few moments after that. Jaing could tell that Kal wanted to talk more to him but was holding off for some reason. He let himself doze, staring idly off at the wall, just relaxing now that he was in his room in Kyrimorut knowing that he was safe.
Only to frown when he realized that they were still missing two of there brothers. "We need to find Darman and Niner."
Kal hummed in agreement under his breath. "We're going to have to regroup after this. Once we get Delta out and settled a bit we're going to find them Ja'ika… were going to find them and I'll personally gut the shabuir that took them."
That didn't sound good. "They were taken?"
Kal growled under his breath, "It makes the most sense. Why else would they miss now three check-ins? Especially when we know they would have otherwise had access to their comms. Someone took them or somehow took their helmets from them and when I find out who, I'm going to slot them."
He already knew that if he tried to get up, Kal would put him right back into his bed but he felt the need to do something. "I can help b-"
"No," Kal gave him that same warm smile that was now so rare to see. "You have something more important to decide before you get going on that. You claimed them so you need to make up your mind on what you want to do about the shinys and Renn."
Jaing wasn't sure where Kal was going with this. "I can train them," he had done the before. Back with Prudii during the war.
"They're going to need more than just training," Kal cautioned him. "Those shinys have suffered greatly at that outpost. Renn is torn apart by the guilt of not being able to help them more and those kids are practically jumping at their own shadows. It's going to be a tall order helping them to recover from that."
Kal had helped them recover from their fears when they were younger and they had been just as bad. He taught them how to use their fear and Jaing was confident he could do the same for them. "I know… but I can help them."
"Jaing," Kal said looking concerned. "It's going to take a lot of work and dedication to help them recover. Don't feel like you have to do it. I just want to know if you want to be involved personally or if we should look into other resources to get them the help they need."
"I learned from the best Kal'buir… I'll take care of them."
Kal gave him a look that Jaing couldn't quiet explain. It was both shocked and proud, worried and with a hint of sadness. It was gone as suddenly as it had appeared and Kal nodded his head, pursing his lips in agreement as he closed his eyes and settled back into his chair.
"Alright," he said with an oddly heavy voice. "Alright Ja'ika… but the rest of the clan is here to help. Don't think you have to do this all in your own. We'll be here for you."
Just like Kal had always been there for him and his brothers . Just like Ordo and Mereel had been for him. Just like they were now there for the remains of Delta Squad… and just like they would when they tracked down Darman and Niner.
Which was something that Jaing was going to help with… Kal had raised and trained them and still managed to train over a hundred clone commandos. If Kal could do it so could he. He could help Renn and the shinys over come and use their fears to their advantage. To no longer be scare of their own shadows and to defend themselves and their brothers from anything that might come at them.
Honestly it couldn't be that hard… not while his aliit was there with him.