Bala Hunter

THE LIEUTENANT



THE BEGINNING
Bala was born on Concord Dawn in 42 BBY. Her biological parents,which remain unknown, had left her tucked in a blanket inside a crate.Two Mandolorians had been looking for a place to settle that day and happen to come across little Bala.They looked inside the crate and found a note saying, Her name is Bala.Please take care of our little girl. The baby had night black hair and was sound asleep.The two Mandolorians took her in and taught her the Mandolorian culture.Over the years, she began to grow.One day, she learned about the war with the Republic and Separtist.She thought it over, and decided to wor for the Republic as a mercenary.

She told her parents, and her father told her that she had to be trained first.For  three months, she trained,learned,and worked toward her goal.Finaly, she set off for Coruscant at the age twenty three. Coruscant

Coruscant

A night on Coruscant was a sight.Tall buildings rose high up in the sky with lights covering their metal walls and dazzled the ground far down below.The lights shined as thousands of land speeders drove past them.Below,  infinite concrete walk ways criss-crossed each other.Huge holo signs layed in random spots as they advertised diffrent pproducts.An assorment of various types of species looked like tiny insects from where Bala looked.She never dreamt of such colors and scenes on Concord.She could only imagine it when forests and lakes surrounded her.

Bala   had  her black hair tied up into a tight bun and wore her red and black Mandolorian armour as she drove in her land speader toward the Republic military office.Her helment sat beside her on the passenger seat with it's black T-shaped visor staring at her.Her blue, piercing eyes scanned the towering buildings as she drove past them.As the minutes soon turned into hours, she finaly caught sight of the military office.It was smaller then most of the skyrocketing towers,which Bala was thankful for since she feared trying to manuever around all those floors.She saw the landing pad and could see a gaping hole coming out of the other end to form an enormous hallway with pillars holding the walls up.Several Republic gaurds stood there casually in blue armour with thier rifles held low.

She tapped in the commands on the conslole and slowly started to land.She opened the side door,closed it,and strode over to the security.She came up to one of the them and said, I have a scheduled appointment with Mr.Gerval of the Republic recruiting office.

The guard she spoke to nodded and replied, Please show me your ID and we will escort you up to his office.   She looked down at her belt and flipped  open one of her patches that was secured onto her belt.She grabbed her ID and held it out to the guard.He took it and examined it. Right this way,Mrs.Hunter.  He and the other guard beside him guided her toward the office.A blue rug  was layed out to welcome them and stretched toward the other end of the huge halway.Red carpet covered the entire floor.They escorted her up three floors and and after ten minutes of endless walking they stopped in front of a door.One of the guards grabbed his ID and held it up to a scanner on the side of the door.It beamed green and slid opened,revealing an appartment sized room with a tall,wide window surveying the city's buildings.A couch layed to one side of the room with a glass table in front of it.A few paintings and portaits hung on the walls and papers that showed achievments.Two chairs and a long wooden desk laid in front of them and a man standing behind it with his back turned to them,gazing at the city's landscape. He turned around,showing his short cropped brown hair and tannish skin.His eyes were a stormy gray and had a small mustache hovering right above his upper lip.He wore a white uniform with no particular medals but an insignia and emblem on his sleeve and in front of his shirt.The two guards snapped to attention with thier backs as straight as a tree and thier rifles up in the air. At ease, he told them. His voice sounded hard, but also a bit old.

Mr.Gerval, Bala nodded politelty.He nodded and told her, 'Take a seat.'  The two guards turned on thier heels and marched out of the room. Bala walked over and situated herself into the seat. 'So, Mrs.Hunter,' he began coldly, 'you wish to work as a mercenary for us?'

Yes,sir.

Do you wish  to mainly serve to bring down the Separtisits or simply work only for the money?

' Both.'

How do you feel about Jedi commanding you?

I feel  fine and  and that thier my surperiours who I trust will try to lead me and the battalion of troops to a successful victory,'  she answered,feeling a litte uncomfortable to the question.

'Would you feel fine if you were one of the few women who worked and fought for the Republic?'

'Yes,sir.'

He paused,looking as if he ran out of questions.His hard grey eyes examined her face.Finaly he said, 'Theres paperwork that you are needed to fill in before I have you put into a company.'

She nodded and he gave her a holo pad and stlus to write with.Inside,she  had let out a sigh of relief,for she was afraid she would be turned down the offer.After a few minutes,she handed the pad and stylus over to him and waited patiently as he started to type on his computer.He examined the holo pad and said, 'Alright, you have been assigned to the 257th battalion or,what it's commonly reffered to,Titan Company.You will meet with it's officers at  15:00.'

'Thank you,sir,' she said.She smiled and got up to shake hands with him.They shook hands and Bala turned to leave.She was then escorted back down to the landing pad where she got back into her land speeder and drove off into  bright,shiny night of Coruscant.

THE ASSAULT ON GAFTIKAR
Two weeks after meeting Titan Company's officers.Aboard the cruiser The Warren.

Bala stood with her arms crossed in the shadows behind clone troopers who surrounded a big,round holoprojector.They waited for Commander Amadeus to discuss the engagement plan for thier next deployment to the planet Gaftikar.After meeting  up with him and the other two officers,Lieutenants Iron and Devis,Bala was impressed by thier discipline and self manner.She respected them all and,to her relief,they all got along just fine.

After a few more minutes of waiting, the doors slid opened and Am,Devis,and Iron stepped inside.The troopers immediately stood up straighter and saluted the three.He nodded and the others lowered thier hands to thier sides. As you all know,we are being sent to destroy a droid base on Gaftikar, he began, which,we will be arriving in eight hours.It's a forest planet and is said to be uninhabbited. He bent down to the holoprojector and pressed on a few buttons.A hologram suddenly popped up showing a building with four connected outerwalls surrounding it.The walls loomed over the small building and had a huge hole on it's front, revealing the base's entrance.Four turrents laid mounted onto each of it's corners. Our intel is limited,but so far we have traced coordinates from the planet to numerous others that have Republic bases stationed onto each of them.We will have three platoons:Platoons alpha,bravo,and delta.I will lead platoon alpha,Lieutenant Iron   will take platoon bravo,and Lieutenant Devis will take delta.Alpha and bravo's gunships will land thirty miles away from the base and move into engage on it's left and right.'  Two arrows popped up and hovered over the holoprojector and decsended down two feet away from the base.They got beside each other and then moved slowly toward the base.

Delta's gunships will circle around and land south of the base.''  The hologram rotated and showed the rear of the base.Another arrow appeared and started to go down. They will engage,take out hostile security or any other reinforcements, then shoot cables to the top of the walls and enter the inside from there.They will then clear and secure the inside of the base's perimeter and start to set up explosives. '' The arrows moved toward the base and then started to creep up the little wall and stopped once inside. Any questions?  He paused and waited for someone to speak up. Okay,good.Start packing up gear. DISSMISSED!'

EIGHT HOURS LATER.

CRUISER: THE WARREN.

PLANET GAFTIKAR

HANGAR

Bala sat on the edge of the LAAT's compartment as she and the others waited for the the annoucment to exit the cruiser's hangar.She was in  her full Mandolorian armour, with her twin pistols safely in thier holsters.She went over the attack plan in her mind and reminded heslef from time to time that she was in platoon delta.The others around her talked and conversed.Thanfuly, they accepted her i thier battalion.A few minutes passed and the admiral's voiced boomed inside the hangar. Gunship pilots,your clear for take off. Good luck,troops.  Bala stood up and raise her hand to grip one of the handlebars with tothers around her doing the same.The LAAT's hatches slid closed and lifted.It slowly made it's way out of the hangar and into the  endless void of space.Darkness enveloped the inside of the ship.Bala silently prayed that it wouldn' be the last thing she saw once she landed onto the surface.

THE FIRE FIGHT
Darkness lingered inside the gunship for a few minutes and was then replaced by light.Bala looked through the tiny space and could see forests everywhere with little splotches of lakes dotting the land here and there.Gunships were scattered all around them.The sun laid hidden from them behind a  curtain of clouds as they flew over the planet's landscape.Gunfire suddenly erupted in the air and one of  the the gunships beside them had burst into flames.A fire engulfed it's inside as it descended down to the planet's surface. Get ready for some rough riding,boys, the pilot said.

Bala looked around at the others.Most stood there solidly while a few had thier helmets tipped down onto their chest.One of them had a tiny droplet of water slide down thier white armour. They might have been cloned from the same genetic material but it doesn't change thier personalities.The gunship shuddered violently as the gunfire continued outside the ship. Approuching LZ, the pilot annouced.  'The zone's hot,so get ready for some action.   A red light beamed inside the gunship

'Roger,pilot.'  Replied one of the troopers.

The  clicking of weapons beging checked sounded throughtout the compartment.Bala grabbed both of her twin pistols and got down on one knee.She had them set and aimed straight in front of her as she got herslef ready to sprint.She closed her eyes and took in deep breaths.The light beamed green and the hatches slid open,revealing the battlefield that awaited them.

* * *

Bala sprinted and took the entire scene at once,making every thing slow. Blaster fire streamed out at them and went past thier heads.Trees laid in front of them and concealed the base.A few clones laid motionless on the ground.Every thing then went back to normal speed as she fired her twin blasters.She barrel roled to the nearest tree and stood behind it,trying to get at least a glimpse of where the blaster fire had come from.Troopers in front of her were scattered around her as they did the same. Wheres it coming from?!

I think I see-awgh!

Man down!

Advance toward the wall.MOVE!

Bala and everyone else dashed out of cover and fired up at the tree line,hoping to at least get an accurate shot.A sudden,deafening boom banged through out the area. Incoming! Screamed a trooper.Bala looked up and to her surprise she saw a gunship starting to crash land on top of them. GET DOWN!  She  ran as fast she could, ignoring and dodging the blaster fire that was aimed at her.She raised her twin pistols and fired them to her left and right.The sound of metal hitting the ground deafened their ears and made the ground shook.Her ears rang as she pushed herself harder to go faster.Pieces of debris  were thrown at her.A nearby tree fell and made the ground shake,causing her to stumble.

A piece of debris landed right behind her and caused her to fall.Her body slammed the ground with a hard thud. Her breathing was rushed as she got up.Blaster fire continued,making the dirt fly up to her face.She dashed toward a tree and stood behind it to catch her breath.She held it once she saw the scene in front of her.Trees were knocked over with roots uprooted and broken up pieces of debris littered the forest with fires and sparks clinging to them.White bodies laid everwhere, thier bodies sprawled out and motionless while pools of  blood collected underneath.Her jaw dropped in horror as she took the awful scene in,ignoring the battle that raged beyond her.This is war, she whispered silently. This is where you wanted to work.

She shook her head out of the daze and looked behind the tree.Troopers were set up a few miles away shooting up at the wall and in front of them.Move, a voice said in her mind.Get to them.Your task is yet not finished.

Bala ran toward them with her pistols raised.She soon reached them and came to a crouch.The wall stood yards away from them,looming over them and the forest like a god standing in glory.Waves of battle and super B2-droids marched and fired red blaster bolts, never stoppinh untill they were shot.Bala fired her weapons alongside the others.She did so for the passing twenty three minutes untill a trooper shouted. Look out! Bala looked and saw a rocket coming toward a squad clones.in explode on imact in a fire and made the squad dissappear.

She and the troopers around her dashed toward another set of cover as another rocket was sent  toward them.An explosion landed right beside them and rained a shower of dirt,making them all go airborne.Bala's ears rang and her mind sank into an ocean of drowsiness as she went up in the air.She landed on her back with a hard thud,causing stars to dance in her  eyes.She heard shouts which were muffled from the ringing in her ears.Her vision became hazy and the world spinned,and was soon replaced by darkness.

THE SIEGE
Time,location,and name were unknown to Bala as her mind gradually regained consiousness.The information returned to her once she could hear the continous blaster fire and shouts of clones as the battle raged on around her.She opened her eyes and discovered that she was sitting upright against a tree,surrounded by other troopers without thier helmets.She looked for her helmet and found it laying beside her with her two twin pistols.A trooper jogged over to her with a back pack that had the Republic emblem stitched to it. You alright,miss?  He asked.

Im good.

Any pain,drowsiness,dizziness,or fast heart beat?

Negative.

Good.Get yourself to the front line.

Roger,  she said as she slipped her helmet back on.

She grabbed her twin pistols and ran toward the others.Somehow, the troopers managed to dig a waist deep trench that stretched about twenty yards apart.They  crouched and fired thier weapons as the droids continued to march forward,only stopping when hit.She slid down inside the trench and fired her twin pistols.Clones shouted commands and cried out in pain and anger.Thier words echoed in Bala's mind like a song.They remained there to haunt her forever.

Right flank,right flank!

Grenade!

Ugh!

Cit,Hex,Tucker, round to the left and fire on the droids' flank.Nike,Jet,Ward, take the right and flank them from there.MOVE!

Yes,sir.

Cover fire!

AGGGH!

Incoming!

Bala looked and saw a missle fly from the droids' army and implode to her left. A fiery explosion  lit up and a cloud of smoke bellowed from a crater. GET DOWN!  Bala and a few others dropped down to the ground as several more explosions boomed.She looked up and noticed that the clouds started to darken. Nice.Rain comes in to dirty the place up a bit more,eh? She grumbled silently to herself.An explosion went off above them right at the edge of the trench and showered them with dirt.A white body went flying into a tree and hit it with a sickening ''WHACK! ''The body slid down and slumped over against the tree,deathly still.

The mortar rounds soon stopped as rain started to pour down. It patted thier armour and dotted thier visors with little droplets of water.They all got up and continued to fire thier weapons. Out of the corner of her eyes,she saw blaster bolts lash out at the droid's left and right flanks.Thy dropped in heaps and tried to find the source.Two chunks stopped marching to turn and face the clones who hid in the shadows of the trees. CHARGE!

Every clone rose out of the trench and shouted a large battle cry that started small and carried out to every soul like a wildfire. Bala's blood boiled as adrenaline pumped into her body fiercely.Rain hammered the ground like thier feet and lightning streaked out of the sky and clapped the air with a BOOM. Droids marched backwards as ground began to be lost.Bala and the clones rampaged them all. Mud turned up as thier heels dug into the ground.Blue oil was washed onto thier white armour as they  destroyed every inch of metal that stood in thier path.Bala unshealthed her viroblade out of her gauntlet and shoved it up the nearest droid. Wires stuck out of the droid's body and it's oil poured out onto the ground. She pushed it down and continued to charge with the others, twin pistols firing until an entire clip had been emptied.

Soon, the last wave to defend the droid army was elminated once they all made it to the wall. 'Get the cables set. Let's burn  it to the ground once we get inside!'

AYE!'   Everyone replied.

Bala rummaged through her pockets for the cable line until she felt the familar feeling of it.She grabbed it,attached it to one of her pistols, shot it to the top of the wall, then straightenend it once it was attached to the top.She jumped and planted her feet onto the wall and began to walk across it. Lightning was soon thier only source of light as the aftornoon was replaced by night. She struggled to not panic to the new feeling of walking sideways  instead of upright. A bright, loud scar of lightning ran across the night sky and had cast shadows upon the wall as they all continued to walk. Bala managed to make out the edge of the wall and planted a foot firmly onto it. She quickly detached the cable line and crouched to one knee to scan what laid below her.

To her relief, lights had been set up inside the base. A  wide two story building laid in the center with  droids and tanks scattered all around. Three  dropships laid on top of a huge landing platform with little command posts around it. A tower laid to the top right corner and  gazed upon what was ever below it.She looked straight under her and saw thousands of droids,spider droids,and tanks standing motionless staring at the wall in front of them. She smiled deviously.'' They think we're gonna come in guns blazing. We will, but it going to be on top of thier tin heads. Bala turned around to the others and made the okay'' signal with her hand, making a little O-shape with her fingers. They nodded and climbed back up.

Devis came up last once everyone else had made it up. You alright,sir? That fall you took was a bit nasty.     'I'm good,corporal,thanks. Alright listen up,   he said in a whisper,   On my mark, engage on them from above and then descend down from the the front,right, and left. Then scatter around and secure the rest of the base and RV to the front of it. Clear?'

Clear,  they replied. 'Sergeant Stalks, take your team to the left. Sergeant Morik, take your team to the right. Everyone else is with me.Move out.'''

In minutes, three large squads were positioned along the top of the wall, standing silently above the small droid army like a predator ready to strike. Devis made a slight movement with his hand and the two squads on the left and right rained blaster bolts onto the droids. Bala and the others did the same in the front.Bodies flew backwards to the ground as  everyone started to  make thier descend. Secure the base!

Bala followed eleven others toward the landing platform. They raced to it with thier rifles and blasters covering each other's sides. Targets coming through a dropship,''  one of the troopers said. Try to find a turrent or some heavy artillery.  Bala scanned the area and saw something that caught her eye. Got a tank,'  she annoucment. 'Nice,Hunter. You and Dink  get it and give em the shabla vegenance from our vode.''

Copy that,  Bala replied.''

A clone -Dink- followed  her toward the tank. They got to it's top and raised the hatch as blaster fire started going off like fireworks all the around the base. Bala dropped inside and took a seat at the controls. A wide array of controls and a few computers surrounded them. Uhhhhh..... Okay, I got the cannon thats mounted above,  Dink said. 'You sure?'''

'Yeah,back on Kamino they  had  practice ones similar to this. I managed to remember a few things.'

Ah,then that means I have the lower cannon and main controls.Lets do this.

Bala looked at all the symbols and controlls carfully and began pressing buttons. After a few seconds of getting used to things and the building pressure, she started to move the tank toward the dropships where she could see the others behind crates firing at the on coming droids.Dink fired the cannon,making the tank shudder and makig Bala's ears ring a little with pain.She fired the turrents below and soon the droids were turned into bits of wires and metal.One of the troopers gave her a thumbs up,signaling the landing platform was secured.She then started to move the tank toward thier RV point.

After a few minutes, they reached the front end of the base where they met the rest of the platoon. Bala and Dink climbed out and stood around. Okay, did we save any of the those charges?

Affirmative.

Two troopers  came up and slung  thier book bags off thier shoulders, showings tons of explosives. Good, lets get these set up.

Bala and the others grabbed a handful of charges and went to go place them around the base. After a good five minutes, each bag was left empty. Alright, get some rest. while we wait on those gunships.

Bala almost collapsed to the words ''rest. ''The results of running and seeing intense violence broke her  muscles and mind to thier core. She couldn't take it another minute or hour of it. She knew the moment she thought about working as a mercenary was that she was going to expierience the cold,hard effects of war. Even if she knew it, no matter how hard you train, it will never prepare you for the raw intensity of being in combat.The only way you can adapt to it was to be in it.

She sat there resting, doing her best to keep her eye lids from falling.The rain was the only thing that kept her awake. After a few more minutes of waiting, the sound of the end of an LAAT sounded from some where in the sky. They then began landing and opening thier hatches.Not a yell of joy nor a chant rose up from anyone. They were tired and depressed from what they had seen and done.Bala sat at the end of the gunship and closed her eyes as the hatches slid back closed and the gunship lifted.Ever since she left the cruiser, she a last felt safe. She fell asleep as a roar sounded from far below from the base. It's fired bellowed and smoke came out into the night sky to darken it more.It was then relinquished to a bonfire of rubble and ash.

THE BATTLE OF RAXXU
One week,five days, and nine hours after the assault on Gaftikar. Cruise.The Warren. Over the planet Raxxu

Bala stood in her full Mandolorian gear with her helmet rested at her side while in an LAAT compaartment. She stood there with a group of clones as they all waited for the gunship pilot to take them down to the surface of there next planet on thier shedule of deployments: Raxxu. A droid factory was said to be in construction. Since the first had been destroyed over nin months ago, they were forced to find another planet. Raxxu was one of those planets that were isolated from the other star systems, making it perfect for a huge building project to take place.

Once spies had gathered the information, they immidiately contacted  Reoublic military officals. They then called every cruiser in the galaxy to see if there were any near cruisers that were close to Raxxu. They traced The Warren 's coordinates and saw that it was only a jump away from the planet.

The assualt was simple: platoons were going to be scattered while a large one would make a frontal assault on the factory with several EOD experts with them. AT-ATs would be sent with each platoon. Bala knew the firefights would be twice as worst then Gaftikar. Having a factory would be big security with even more coming out each minute to replace the fallen.

Hey, Hunter,  one of the troopers said behind her. She turned and saw a clone with a streak of red hair going verticaly up and down the top of his head. Some scars streaked around his face. Yes?

  'Your accent sounds familiar. Are you from Mandolore?'

Yes and no. My parents were.

Ah,   he said nodding his head. 'Most of our trainers were Mandolorian. I was just curious. Name's Cot, by the way.'    Bala nodded. How'd you get those scars?

'Oh, helmet got torn off while going up in the air after getting hit by a grenade. Got a bit scratched up.'

'Gunship pilots, your clear for take off. Get to your ships,'  annouced the admiral.

Bala and the others slid thier helmets on and grabbed the handle bars. A clone pilot came running up and climbing into the gunship's pilot seat. The hatches closed  as the LAAT slowly made it's way of the hangar. Streams of light filtered through the compartment as they  made thier decent down to the surface. Bala peered through the hatches and saw an endless landscape of sand. Gusts of it blew lightly across the ground. Stang,  a clone murmured.  This place is just like Geonosis.

Those tin heads like to be built where it's hot, eh?  

Probably so their  di'kut generals could lay back and get themselves tans.

Everyone chuckled. After about fifteen minutes of flying in the heat, Bala soon saw hordes of droids marching. Patches of them laid everywhere. Machines with long legs and eight reddish eyes  and a long,thin  cylider shaped object was stuck out from his head walked with the others. Tanks hovered around as they patroled with squads of droids.

'Alright, lads. Get ready for landing,' '' said the pilot. ''

Who's ready to knock these clankers to the ground and barry them in the sand? asked a clone in a enthusiastic tone.

AYE!

'And see how they like it when they get shot to the ground and fall in thier own blood with thier comrades doing the same!'   He spout with venom etched in his  voice.

AYE! '' They yelled louder. Bala could have sworn she heard the same from the other gunships.''

'Then get boots strapped onto your feet and your buckets on your heads! Get your guns locked and loaded with ammo! Embrace the warrior spirit and let it out like a roar!'

AYE!!! '' Everyone bellowed. Cockiness,confidence, and the need to kill left an emenessent glow off of every soul in the LAAT. It was as if someone let off a match and threw it in a forest that was covered in gasoline. The fire had risen quickly off the ground and had then rose to the top of the trees, making sparks and smoke drift off into the sky.''

Hey, take this,''  a clone beside her told her. She soon realized it was Cot. He handed her a DC-15 blaster. '' It's going to be more effective then those twin pistols.

  Thanks,  she told him as she took the blaster. He nodded and turned to work in his on weapon. A red light suddenly beamed inside the gunship. Without a word, everyone took up positons on the left and right. Bala stood  on the left looking forward with her DC-15 aiming striaght ahead. The light changed green and hatches slid opened. An AT-AT landed in front of them and two other gunships landed with other troops getting out. Bala could see some rockets form out from the earth. Gusts of wind made the air around them hazy. The intense heat made Bala hot inside her patted armour. Everyone circled the area and secured every inch of where they landed. Clear!  Someone said as the gunships went off toward the cruiser. Bala looked and saw that a battalion of tanks and droids were marching toward them from a hundred yards away. A challenge had been sent silently from the clones and the droids, demanding which side is the best. The optimistic words that were preached from the gunship yelled once more  inside her head, making her believe who would win the challenge and stand in glory over the defeated opponet.'''

VOICES IN THE SAND
Everyone surged forward toward  at the left and right of the AT-AT. The droids had begun to set up positons hundreds of yards away with tanks hovering closer. Within seconds, blasterfire erupted into the air between either side. Grenades were thrown with each side's heavy artillery booming. Bodies made of white armour and metal went down in heaps. Showers of the sand washed down everyone like a river of water. Cries of pain, shouts of rage, and orders being barked echoed and were carried off into the wind and were kept as memoirs in the  humid,unmerciful desert.

Bala ran and fired her weapons as she made her way to a group of clones that were crouched by a small mountain of rock. Look  out! '' Bala lowered her head as a tank had fired it's cannon toward them, making Bala's ears ring and having another wash of dirst and sand cover her armour. She raised her head back up and continued to fire her weapon. The AT-AT fired it's cannon, deafening the air and making a droid  tank explode, it's debris littering around whats left of itself. ADVANCE! '' One of the trooper's beside her yelled. Bala got and went off in a sprint with the others, covering thier unprotected flanks.

COVER FIRE!

'PUSH TOWARD THE TANK! MOVE IT!'

WATCH OUT!

It was like walking into a furious,windy storm without  decent clothing; having to dodge blaster bolts at every turn and stumbling after every explosion going off near them. Once Bala heard the click of the end of a round of ammo, she rushed her arms to her holsters and fired her twin pistols. Her mind was set to any thing that was in front of her, firing at it every chance she had. GAAH!'  A clone yelled in pain beside her. Without a thought, she turned and threw the body over her shoulder and fired her pistol. Bala's spine shivered as she fel a little river of blood trickle down inside her armour. The weight of the man crushed her shoulder and had pushed her muscles to the limit. They finaly reached the destroyed tank and crouched there for a breather. Bala laid the clone against the tank and pulled the helmet off. Her heart leaped to her throat as she saw the familair red, slid back mohawk- it was Cot.

His chest plate had two holes drilled in with smoke waifting from underneath. His mouth was flooded with blood as he struggled to breath. His eyes fluttered open and closed. It was a grusume and painful sight for her to look at, but she forced herself to focus and reach down for the vial of bacta she borrowed from a medic. Cot stretched his arm out to to prevent her from getting it. Dont.....Waste....  He managed to sputter out.  Im..G-going to....die..anyway.

His eyes slid closed, and Bala knew they would remain like that forever.

Everything slowed around her. His words had crept into her ears  and made thier way toward her brain, crawling inside it and infecting her mind like a paracite. The horrific image of him dieing flew up to her eyes and glued itself like a picture inside her head. Bala saw countless men die in battle, but to watch one slowly do it in front of her was like watching someone being eaten raw by an animal; it was bloody, horrible, and unbearible to watch. One of the prices of where you work, she thought miserably, is death.

She grabbed a clip ammo and loaded it into her DC-15. She aimed and started to fire at the droids once more. A cry for vegenance wailed inside her head. She pushed it aside and continued on. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw one of the clone's beside her get behind cover of the tank and had a hand pressed to the side of his helmet. Shab,  he cursed under his breath. ''Listen up, the cruiser just reported of a growing sandstorm heading our way. Get your visors and thermals ready for a ride.''

Copy that. he turned and started to fire his rifle again.

The battled raged on with blaster bolts streaked toward either side, making the the opponets at a standstil between thier victory.

THE SANDSTORM
SEVEN HOURS LATER AFTER LANDING ON RAXXU

84 MILIES SOUTH EAST OF DROID FACTORY

Bala crouched behind the remains of an LAAT while firing her DC-15 blaster.

Ever since their AT-AT had been destroyed, they have been calling for  support from the cruiser. Five gunships had been spared and went down to thier location. Only two survived after dropping reinforcments and  one AT-AT. They then got behind the destroyed LAATs and continued fighting with the droid army from there.

The sandstorm that had been reported from the cruiser had taken longer to build then anticiapated, thankfuly. Bala didn't care though. All she wanted was for the leading assault platoon to finish thier job so they could all get  off the hellish plantet. Her body and mind couldn't take it any more; trauma began to creep into the corners of her brain. Death. Destruction. And continous abuse of her body being exposed to so much combat was breaking her to pieces. Horrible flashbacks would enter and leave her mind.

She  struggled to pull herslef together and focus on what was happening around her. Blaster fire punched the edges of the debris she was behind and made her lower her  head. Troopers held thier ground around themselves and tried to push the droid army back. The droids' tanks sat there on the ground with fires engulfed inside them. The others held thier positions  while firing thier cannons at the crashed gunships and AT-AT. The droids were covered head to tie with sand like the clones and marched forward while firing red blaster bolts.

Bala was firing her blaster when she saw something behind the droids. At first she just thought it just her vision until she realized it was a wall of sand, whilring around like a hurricane. SANDSTORM!  She cried out. Troopers with her acknowledged by falling back to the where the wounded were kept. INCOMING!   A firey explosion  dropped onto the center and made white armoured bodies go airborne and making others get thrown like rag dolls.

Bala looked back toward the droid army and saw the a fourth of it were hidden by the sandstorm as it continued to take up ground. Troopers around her tapped in commands on the device that was placed on to thier wrists. Bala did so herself and the natural color of the desert was replaced by red and blue colored objects.   Watch for freindly fire and  be carful to not get  ripped away by the wind,  '' one of the clones said. The sandsotrm advance ever so closer and the Bala and the clones were soon engulfed in the winds of sand.''

* * *

The sand patted thier armour like rain and made little tick noises around them. It was blown toawrd thier visors and would've made seeing impossible  if they didn't have the thermal technology that they all eqiupt themselves with before being deployed down to the surface.

The blaster fire had stopped arubtly once everyone was inside the sandstorm. After everyone walked a few feet into it, Bala could make out little blue and green dots and stood up right. Contact! She alerted everyone.She fired at the  figures which fell instantly. Just as fast as they went down, blaster fire was lashed out from the clone's side and made blueish glows inside the cloud of sand.

Watch your left!" ''

Ummf!

Hugburn!

'Put your back into it! Make those arutise retreat!'

The sound of metal being hit could be heard as the clones continued to push. Bala fired her blaster continously at every object that didn't cast a red glow on her thermal. In minutes, she and rest of the clones coud see that the droids were turning around. 'THIER PULLING BACK! PUSH HARDER, MEN!'  A clone yelled. A war cry was heard and soon carried out up and down the ranks of troopers as they began to charge the droids. Bala and the others jogged and soon broke out into a run. The AT-AT's cannon rang throughout the area and deafened thier ears. Little blue and green dots went up into the air.

The wind threatned to knock them down as  they went deeper and deeper into the storm. The blue and green highlights thats howed the droids could be barely seen on thier thermals. Right when Bala thought they won, hands were thrown out from below the ground in front of her. She blinked and a sharp pain hit her stomach and made the air go right out of her, making her fall onto her back. She only had a few seconds to react as a humanoid figure jumped onto her with what looked to be a curved blade. The being thrust it's dagger down to her neck until she caught it's wrist. Her arm trembled as she struggled not to let the tip reach her head. She could hear cries of surpirse and pain around her as more and more beings began to ambush them.

What the- WAAAGH!

What are those things?

ALL UNITS, FALL BACK NOW!

'Get Hex to the AT-AT. Move!'

AAAAAGH!

Bala tried to make out the alien's facial features as they struggled in a battle between strength. She squinted and saw wraps of cloth interwined all over. Two tusks hung from the edges of it's mouth. What the shab is this thing?'  she thought. At that moment, she didn't care, becuase a rage had been  revealed by the shadows and was making her temper rise. These things were the reason why she couldn't go back to the cruiser. These things were going to be the cause of death of her and her comrades.This thing, was going to wish it never even looked at her.

Her face  was built up to a snarl as she brought her legs up to her chest and pushed them outward toward the alien. It was caught aback and went sailing a foot backwards. Bala got up and ran toward the being. Her temper was so high that she couldn't even remember that she had twin pisols on her hips. All see wanted was for the being to feel the pain it caused her and the troops.

She grabbed at it's collar and brought a fist to it's face. She could hear the crack of teeth as her fist connected to it's jaw. She punched more,and harder,and harder, until she could feel her hand ache. The alien's  head  rolled  back in a daze. She  unshealthed her viroblade from her guantlet and drove it up into it's gut. A horrible, high screeched scream escaped the alien's mouth and made her ears hurt. She didn't even flinch as she continued to drive the video blade deeper and deeper. She wanted it to know how it feels to slowly die as a knife had been worked it's way inside. The alien tried a swing  at her but she caught it's arm and drove it backward, hearing the crack of bones as it's arm was dislocated. It screeched louder in pain. Bala looked up and saw it's comrades making it's way toward her. She grabbed her twin pistols and fired them at the aliens. They dropped and went dealthly still.

She turned back to the alien  that she still had the collar. She could feel it's blood as it's oozed it's way onto her hand. She stabed it again with her viroblade and stared straight into it's face. It stared back, and  thats when Bala saw it's eyes for the first time.

They were purple.

It's purple colored eyes look terrified. Bala could even read it's thoughts just by looking at them: I'm going to die and the last thing I'll see is death's face.

As her temper slowly began to go down, she brought the viroblade out of it's gut and punched it's temple. It's head went back and it's purple eyes rolled to the back of it's head.

She shealthed her viroblade back into her gauntlet and stood up.A thought suddenly occured in her mind: ''I could bring this piece of banthaturd to the cruiser and find out what it's species is. ''She considered it and slunged the alien onto her shoulder.The sandstorm had been reduced to just  a huge wind of sand blowling to the south. She then soon realized she was by herself. She didn't hear the clanking of marching metal and couldn't see any red figures on her thermal. She then turned to her left and went   forward, having the image of the alien's eyes come back to her. Bala didn't feel a hint of sympathy inside her, and if there was, she chose not to feel it. If there was a feeling inside er about her previous actions, it would be regret and pride.

She made herself highly dicsplined so that such actions of vegenance wouldn't  happen. It would turn her into a slaughterer, always wanting to kill her enemy without mercy. It would be  just the opposite of what a soldier or honorable warrior  truly is; only killing to protect what he or she stands for. She only felt pride because she managed to survive one of the bloodiest scenarios of hand to hand combat.

She continued to march through the sandstorm untill she heard an engine running. At first she couldn't identify it, then she realized it was an LAAT.

Her heart leaped with joy as she ran through the ripping winds of sand. ''Rest. Protection.'' Those were the only things she could think about as the  engine of the gunship continued to roar. After five minutes running, she finaly stepped onto ground  without any wind or sand up to her visor. A  mile away, she saw a group of LAATs and AT-ATs in a cirlce. White figures stepped off and on from them. She sighed in relief and started to run toward them. Her feet slammed the ground in beats in rythem like a song. She suddenly didn't feel the heat of the desert,nor the exhaustion of battle, or weight of the alien on her shoulder. Not the grief,hate,anger or guilt that had welled up inside her. Instead of running toward the cluster of troopers she saw the little farm house she  grew up on  Concord. She  saw the little pond that rested beside it and the trees that loomed over her. Instead of the sun being out it was raining. Instead of finsihing up a firefight she got finished with playing outside and was ready to go back inside the warm, comfortable home. Home.

The flash back of her early childhood dissipeared and she was back on the humid, dangerous desert of Raxxu. She stopped once she reached a gunship's opened compartment. She stepped inside and dropped the corpse off her back, not caring if the others arund her saw.   Stang, ''  one of the clones murmured as the LAAT lifted.   '' Is that?....

She nodded in reply and said, ''The piece of bantha turd tried to slit my throat. I stabbed him and thought we could find out what species he is.'  'She said it so casualy  that she surprised herself of the tone.   Well, that explains the art work, '''  said the trooper as he gestured toward her. She looked down and saw a blanket of sand covering her with green, blue, and red liquid. Scorch marks went up and down the sides of the armor that covered her from the waist to chest.    Hm... Decorative. ''  Everyone chuckled as the gunship soared through the sky and up to the cruiser, creating little jet lines. '''

Bala looked down toward the surface, remembering every detail and storing it for memory. The piece added with the voices of the dead and living.

A NEW BEGINNING
ONE YEAR LATER AFTER THE BATTLE OF GEONOSIS

PLANET COROKE

Bala stood over the broken bodeis of dismantled doroids as she and the rest of Titan Company checked the previous firefight that took place inside the Republic base. Pillars stood tall to hold the rest of the wall and the holes that were left by the skirmish made an opening for the oncoming rain and thunder. Sleek, clean metal showed thier reflections. Lights helped them see as they continued to scower the base. She missed her old red and black Mandolorian armour. It was a like a seocnd skin to her representing  all the battles she  had to fight with troopers. The yellow and  white clone lieutenant armour was  just clothes that were required to wear.

She wanted to  have it red and black but she decided against it since Titan Company's legion color was yellow like some of the other clone battalions. A yellow line started  above her chest and went down to her waist. Another went short from the top of her shoulder and down to the top of her biceps. Multiple others crisscrossed her helmet. Her T-shaped visor cruved a little bit up. A big piece of metal and white skirt was attached to her armour that showed her  measurement in rank of  the GAR.

Lieutenant Hunter,   said one of the troopers behind her. She turned around and saw a clone with his helmet by his side. A tattoo in the design of a computer code chip crisscrossed the side of his face. He stood up straighter once turned she turned to look at him. 'Ma'am,  Commander Amadeus requests your presence at the command center immediately.'''

What for, sergeant?

'General Zey  of the Special Operations Brigade wants to transfer you, the commander, Lieutenant Iron, and Lieutenant Devis to become   commandos.   ' She paused, letting the big change of career sink in. I'll be there in five minutes.

The clone sergeant nodded, turned on his heels, and walked away. Bala walked down the hall way and made her way to the command center, wondering how the big change will effect her. Basic GAR clones were rarely transfered to special forces and we're only done so to replace  former desceased  special operations troopers.

After five minutes, she finaly reached the set of doors that led to the command center. She took her helmet off, rested  it beside her, and waited as the computer began checking for confirmed matched eye scans. It glowed green and the doors slid opened. She walked in where she found Iron,Devis, and Am surrounding a hologram of a man with  old facial features. His  mouth was   centered inside a large beard and braids came off of his head. Lines  deepening his eyes showed expierience and old age. A  small, cylider shaped object dangled from his belt.  A Lightsaber.

  General Zey,   Bala greeted sternly as she saluted. He nodded.  Hello, lieutenant.  She walked in and sttod with Iron and Devis. Sir, how will my battalion be lead I or my officers aren't there? Am asked.  Thier will be replacemnts,  Zey said, waving his hand dismissively. You,Iron, Bala, and Devis are one of the few groups of GAR troopers that I have been impressed by.

Am must have made a face at those words - Bala did too-  becuase Zey rushed to fix his mistake. '' What I mean is that  we are losing  Republic Commando squads across the galaxy. Multiple KIAs and  MIA's  being repoted left and right. Our new batch of RCs isn't even close to the orginal number we had before.''

''Sir, we are supposed to have more basic GAR troopers then  special forces. What do you mean there isn't as many as there were orginaly?''

''Difficulty with  the cloning process and growth acceleration. Thats all your allowed to know.''

A heavy silence filled the room. Finaly, Am siged and said,  Where would you like us to be picked up?

''We'll send a shuttle down to the base. It's ETA should be about two days and six hours. Go ahead and annouce your  transfermation to your battalion and new ranks.''

Yes sir.

General Arligan Zey out.

TWO DAYS AND FOUR HOURS LATER.

PLANET COROKE

TALON CLAW BASE

BARRACKS Bala finished zipping up the last of her belongings as she packed for the trip for Kamino. She shouldered her bookbag and looked in the mirror. She saw a woman in white and yellow armour, with raven black hair and sky blue eyes. Lines and scars crossed her face. She looked at it for a second, then took he rother bag of belongs and went out of the barracks and toward the  base's landing pad. She thought about all the men she fought with and saw die. She thought about the countless lives of men that saved her life. She couldn't bring herself to talk about them. The only way she could remember them was by storing them in her mind for memory. She never had trouble forgetting.

The bay doors that lead to the landing pad slid opening and she saw largem square shaped piece of concreate that strectched up a little from the ground and  was just as wide as long. Clones in armour stood in rows in an at-ease position. When she stepped from the bay doors they snapped to attention, backs straight and talls as  the trees in the forests of Kashyyk.

She turned to them and ordered, At ease.

They returned thier hands back to ther backs. One of the troopers in the front row siad, Sir, before the shuttle arrives, we wish you, Devis, Am, and Iron to do the Vode An with us one last time.

Bala struggled to keep her voice steady as emotion nearly drowned her. ''Alright. Let's do it.''

The Vode An chant was rarely known or shared among the GAR. It was a chant made my the Mandolorian warriors. The Manolorians,women and men alike, would link arms together with the person to he or she's right and slam thier fits on the person's chest on their left, leaving thier feet marching and slamming the ground  in a perfect rythem. Bala linked an arm with one of the clone's in the third row while Am,Devis, and Iron did the same with threee others. One, two, three, go!  Some on counted off. Everyone the began chanting the lyrics of  the Vode An, slamming thier fists and marching in une like war drums. Bala now knew that the men she would remmeber from Titan Company would be the ones behind her, in front of her,beside her, and the ones that still  laid motionless in thier clones armour, awaiting the day they would be picked up and taken to the infirmary. Bala felt as if they were also some where in the rows of troopers, slamming thier fists and marching with thier fellow brothers as ghosts.

Kote!

                      Kandosii sa kar'ta, Vode an

                     Corscanta ad'en mhi,Vode an

                    Bal kote,darasuum kote

Jorso'ran kano a tome

                    Sa kry'am nau tracyn kad, Vode an

Kandosii sa kar'ta,Vode an



                  Coruscanta a'den mhi,Vode an

Bal....

                Motir ca'tra nau tracinya

                  Gratt'ua cuun hett su  dralshy'a

                 Aruetyc talyc runi'la trattok'o

                Sa Kyram nau tracyn kad,Vode an!

                

                  Glory!

Indomitable heart, brothers all.

We,the wrath of Coroscant,brothers all.

And glory,internal glory,

We shall  bear its weight together.

Forged like the saber in the fires of death,brothers all.

One indomitable heart,brothers all.

We,the wrath of Coroscant,brothers all.

And...

Those who stand before us light the sky in flame.

Our vegenance burns brighter still.

Every last traitorous soul shall kneel.

Those who stand before light the sky in flame.

Our vegenance burns brighter still.

Every last traitorus soul shall fall.

Forged like the saber of death,brothers all!

TRAINING- ARRIVAL
FIVE DAYS  LATER

Bala stepped out of the landing platform.Before her laid the pad of  Tipoca City. LIghts twinkled and rain slammmed down on the ground continously.Thunder striked on the wather and boomed around  her.She walked down and the others trailed behind her wwith thier helmets at thier sides.Three Kamioans  and a man in   gold Mandolorian armour stood waiting.

The man looked about to be in his fortys.He had no hair and had bags under his eyes.His cold,piercing blue eyes looked tired.Bala,Am,Devis,and Iron stopped in front of the four of them with Am in front and the others lined behind him. Welcome, said one of the Kamioans. 'I am chief scientist Ko Sai.This is scientists  Ori'al and Teron.And this is Sergeant Kal Skirata.He will be training you for the next five months.'

Bala stood at attention with her helmet at ther side like every one else, but she could feel the Mandolorian sergeant staring at her.He has good reason to,Bala thought.After all, you dont see a woman in clone armour every day.

Am nodded.     I am Commander Amadeus.This is Lieutenants Devis,Iron,and Bala.General Zey had ordered us to be transfered to the Special Operations Brigade as commandos.   ''We are aware,' replied Ko Sai  matter of factly. Come.We will show you to your barracks.

The Kamioan turned around and began walking toward the doors.All four of them followed.Sergeant Skirata stood for a second,still looking at Bala intently with a face made of stone.He then turned around with his helmet at his side and began walking with the Kamioans.One of the Cuv'yall Dar, Devis murmered. Yeah, said Iron. Fett himself chose them all to train  special forces.

'Rumor has it that Sergeant Skirata adopted the nulls.'

As Devis and Iron discussed,Bala looked around at all the bacta.There  were infant sized children to grown men in glass tubes filled with bacta.She looked below and saw clones running around on a course.Sad.These men  were made soldiers the moment they were born.



They continued walking around the commando facility.They soon reached the end of the tour and Sergeant Skirata walked them over to thier barracks.As they did,he began to talk to them about all the training they were going to recieve-covert,assassination,recon,etc.- things that people like Am would except battalions like Titan company to rely on during certain deployments.

  ''I must say, you four aren't the first to be transfered, but you are the first to have a female in your group.

Indeed we are,sir, Am replied.Bala, because you all will be training with a new batch, they're going to be eyeing you alot.They give you problems, let me know.Understood?''  Kal said to her with concern etched in his voice, sounding so much like a father.

But he isn't, any more at least.Poor man, I bet he was a father but Fett made him abandon his family.

'Yes,sir,'Bala replied.

Kal nodded and walked away, singing softly what sounded like Mandolorian  chant. Alright, lets make some friends with our vode, Am said.'Lets try out the mess hall first.'

They walked together in silence in clone issued off duty dress uniform toward the mess for lunch.They walked through the doors and saw rows of tables with countless clones sitting at them.A few heads popped up to see who it was coming through the door and the rest kept eating.They walked over to the counter where a human male was serving what looked to be meat poured over with gravy.His face was marked with age.His blue eyes were lowered and looked tired.His pale,dry skin had lines of wrinkes.He wore a blue suit and had two gloves on both hands.

All four of them stood in front of the counter with thier trays lowered.The old man scooped out meat and plopped it on to thier trays.Once Bala was served, she went over to an abandoned table- that way some one would most likely sit with her then sitting with her squad.She layed her tray on the table,sat, and  surveyed the mess hall for the faces of her own squad.Like her, they were all also sitting by them selves at a table.As she ate, she recalled the previous deployments she had went on with Titan Company as a regular lieutenant.It didn't matter when or where she was at, she always had flash backs of things that is to be forgotten and not remembered.

It's never like those memories where they make you want to laugh.These memories only left her filled with sorrow and anger.She would have to fight back tears when the  memory of seeing one of her fellow troopers die right in front of her.Then she would have to fight back yells of rage from remmembering the anger and hatred she felt when ever she saw the enemy, or when she made a tactical error and got countless men killed for her actions.

All the memories were cleared when a clone slid in to sit in front of Bala.She looked up in awareness of his presence.His hair was cropped, Fett style, and had side burns sliding down of the sides of his cheeks. Hi there, he greeted her, I'm Ge'tal.I couldn't help but notice that your  a bit.....Different.'

Red, Bala thought.She chuckled. Yeah,I'm different, Ge'tal.I'm Bala.I got transfered from the GAR with my boss and my fellow officers.   Some thing tells me you weren't born in a glass tube and kept a secret because of your gender,'' Ge'tal said smartly. I started out as a mercenary, she admitted,'then I got close to my vode and deicded to join into thier ranks.'''

He studied her for a moment.He nodded and they both continued eating.After finishing her meal, she got up  and thanked Ge'tal for the talk.Bala dumped her tray and waited outside the mess for Am,Iron,and Devis.A minute or so pass and the rest met each other at the exit. So? She asked.How did it go?

Made friends with Norax squad, Devis said.Thier nice lads.

''I made friends with a few men, not an entire squad,though, Iron said. ''Good,' Am said,nodding his head.  Let's get settled in the barracks for the night.''

TRAINING-DAY 1 OF 150
Bala was awoken by the sound of explosions.

Her eyes snapped wide open.She scrammbled out of the bunk bed along with every one else.This wasn't actions based on thier surroundings-this was instict.It was once  unrecognize by thier minds untill their muscles and brain expierienced it so much that they grew  use to it.And they say this is a new batch of clones.That says alot.

Bala got into her commando gear.The kataran armour was heavy on her body.The clone trooper armour that she wore was already heavy enough.Her muscles screamed as she ran for the training room with every one else.The explosions continued on,and continued t make her ears ring with pain.Once they arrived, the explosions stopped immediately.

ATTENTION! A clone called off.SERGEANT SKIRATA ON DECK.''

With difficulty,she managed to control her breathing and snapped to attention.Skirata walked towards them in his gold Mandolorian armour with his helmet at his side.At ease, he ordered tiredly.Everone's shoulder relaxed.Listen up.We got new guests,as you may all already know.And they aren't any ordinary guests.Four officers out of the GAR have been transfered  to the Special Operations Brigade and are to be trained with you all.One of the four officers is a woman.How the shab she got in, I don't know.But she will be treated like as one your own vode.She didn't spend one fourth of her childhood in a tube, but she is brave enough to join into the GAR's ranks.If one of you decide to play as the chak'are and  be sexist, then you can count on me that your shab'ese isn't going to be safe.Do I make myself clear?

SIR,YES SIR, every one replied. Bala was touched by the effort Skirata was doing for them,esspecially her, to fit in with the new training commandos.She only hopes that she too can get along with these men.

* * *

GET DOWN! A clone yelled. An explosion slapped the dirt filled ground with fire.Bala and everyone else dropped for cover.It had been going on like this  for the last hour.Bala's muscles ached and screamed for a break.She ignored the throbbing pain of a cramp she had gotten during the simulated training exercise.UP! One of the training sergeants yelled.Everyone crawled back up and began jogging on the dirt road again.

Bala was impressed at how the Kaminoans managed to build the technology that created the land scape.Some how, they made it where a collisium sized room could switch to a different land scape.This one pictured a desert.What made the training even more realistic was that they managed to set the temperature with the correct terrain.Bala continued to jog in the heavy set rig of kataran armour.It weighed down on her shoulders and made breathing difficult when doing some thing physical.If these men can do it, so can I,she thought bitterly.'GET DOWN!' Once again, an explosion hit the ground.Bala dropped down with her helmet in the sandy earth.AGGGGH! A clone yelled.

Everyone's attention was focused on the yell of pain, for they all knew, one of thier brothers was hit.

A clone,Bala didn't know who, laid sprawled on the ground.He laid thier motionless as a pool of blood collected on the sand.A flash back entered Bala mind as she remembered the day a Titan Company trooper,Kote, had been laying right beside her in his own pool of blood, dead after an impact from an explosion.

Stop it.That was the past.Focus on the present to keep  yourself sane and those around you  farther from harm's way,she told herself.The land scape shuddered and the room was replaced  by it.A clone went up to him to check his pulse.He lowered his and muttered, Dead.Cor'ik, you will be remembered.  Everyone lowered thier heads in a moment of silence.Two droids held a strectcher as they walked over to the dead cadet.They picked him up,still in his kataran rig, and was set onto the strecher.They walked away and the training simulation continued on, as if nothing happened.

Everyone knew this was going to test thier mental state.When a comrade dies, theres nothing you can do, other then call in evac to pick the body up or simply carry the corpse.During a fire fight, you could be where you can't go out and drag the body away.You try and be heroic, you end up endangering the rest of your platoon or squad.The only thing you can do is move on.That's the harsh reality when being a soldier- the heroics civilians see in holo vids are rarely attempted and are usually failed.

The training instructors had switched the land scape to a dirt road but instead of sand and a blazing sun there was only nightfal,lush forests, and rain pounding on to the ground.It was a sign of sympathy,for they knew tears would be disguised of the tiny droplets of water that patted thier commando armour. As they continued on jogging through the wet,dark night, Bala silently prayed.

Nu kra'dyc,shi taab  escla'jalla. Not gone,merely marching away.

TRAINING-DAY 98 OF 150
Am,Bala,Devis, and Iron stood there patiently in commando armour inside the elevator with their DC-17 blasters  lowered.They were being set to train in a simulated field where it is set up to look as if they are being deployed right into a fire fight.This would be thier first try to show the training intructors that they were ready to work as a team in the field.Bala only hoped that she herself wont slow her team down,otherwise her squad will be looked as weak and ineffective.'Ready,guys?' Am asked.

Yes,sir.  

Thier mission was  simple:capture the enemy's flag.Thier only problem was that they had to get past the droids.After that, the next squad would come in and do the test themselves.The doors to the elevator finaly slid opened and before them revelaed the Kamionoan simulated battle field.To the left and right,droids were placed high above.Small walls layed around the area,randomly.Yards away laid thier goal: the enemy's flag.



The four of them sprinted off toward cover.The droids immidiately began shooting and nearly hitting accurately.Out of Bala's peripheral vision,she could see Devis and Iron covering her right and left,which meant Am was shooting at the droids positioned high above.Bala aimed up at the droids and shot her DC-17.

They crouched behind the wall and tried to get a good view of thier surroundings.Alright, charging isn't going to work since there isn't enough coverage,Devis said. Bala shot off a few rounds at the droids and took a look in her direction.There weren't many droids and she could see a few walls to serev as coverage, bu it would be too far from thier objective.She surveyed a bit more untill some thing caught her attention.Six droid turrents were set up right below the flag and were,some how, unattended.If we could some how use those to our advantage....

I got some thing,  Bala reported,'Look below where the flag is.There are six turrents and none of them are manned,nor do they look like they can operate by themselves.If we could go around to a side of the field, we couldmake our way toward them.Once there, two of us could cover the two others while they go for the flag.'''

While Devis and Iron stood firing thier blasters, Am tried progressing the information in his mind.Bala shot off a few rounds at the droids and Am said, We dont have any other choices.We'll run for the left wall and continue on toward the objective.Devis and I will get two of the turrents and cover you and Iron as you make your way toward the flag.Clear?

Copy, Devis replied.

Ready when you are, Iron said. Bala nodded.

Hunter,take point.We'll move on your call.

Aye,

Bala turned around in crouched position to face the left wall.She took two deep breaths and held up her hand.She counted down from three with her fingers.Three...Two...One.She signaled them all to move out.They all ran toward the wall.Bala fired her weapon to her right as she covered Am and the others behind her.

As soon as got up and and was firing to her right,she could see the very thing that put a flaw into her plan.A post had been build and streched up to about twenty feet from the ground.Inside,a gun emplacement manned by a droid was standing,getting ready to rain chorus from down below.Bala's heart sank with doubt and saddness.If this was real, I would be leading my team right to thier deaths.

She shook the thought off.No time for self-pity.Get your head back into the real word.Use your failures as your reminder not your distraction.

SPREAD OUT! She ordered.Everyone skattered and fell into cover behind some walls that were near the wall.The gun emplacment that was up in the post was now firing blaster bolts and raining chaos on to all of them.Droids were now beginning to surround them and they all struggled to to keep them off but managed to keep them back.She fired a few rounds at the post and looked around her.A dozen rows of walls laid in front of the cylider shaped building that contained the flag.A few meters away from it laid the turrents.Perfect, she thought.

Guys,listen.I want all of you to run for cover right in front of the flag.I'll distract the gun emplacment while all of you make your way across.

Firefek,thats a stupid idea- Devis began.

No,Am said  solidly.'She's taking point.I'll trust her with this one'''

Bala nodded.Go on my mark.Three....Two....One....MARK!

All three jumped up and rushed across the field with blsater bolts kicking at thier feet.Bala rose and fired at the gun emplacement spontaneously untill she ran out of a full clip of ammo.By this point,The droid at the post was now focusd on her position,making it think there was an entire group over there.

She looked and saw that Devis and Iron had succesfully gotten ahold of two fo the turrrents while Am made his way up the steps to the flag.She knew she had to make  her way across in order for the training intrusctors to say that the mission was a complete succes done correctly.If she stayed her with her shebs alone they would all be accused of leaving a man behind.

She crouched with one leg up in sprint position,ready to dash for cover.Adrenaline poured through her veins.Three...

Every scenario that could possibly happen came through her mind: getting hit by a blaster bolt and making the test failed.

Two.

A random grenade coming out of no where hits her,injures her badly,and gets shipped out of Kamino and out of the entire GAR.

One.

The test is stopped by one of the drill instructors and they come out to say to that they left a man behind.

After the final scenario, she jumps up and dashes toward Iron and Devis.

Blaster fire nearly hits her accurately.Instead of seeing the simulation room,she sees trees uprooted and fires on the forest floor.She sees bodies in white clone armour and blood almost every where.She smells the heavy scent of some thing being burnt. She hears men barking orders and cries of pain.She sees men every where with weapons and shooting at some thing hidden in the forest in front of them.This isn't a simulation,she thought.This is a flash back showing a fire fight I had been in before I was transfered here.

She shakes the memory off and slides in front of a wall.Pain washes over her arm and she realizes hat she was hit in the shoulder by a blaster bolt.She ignores the acheing of pain and looks for her squad.Devis and Iron are still at the two turrents and Am is pinned down by droids.Run.A voice inside her mind spoke.It wasn't hers; it was the voice of training:the drill instructor that told what her body needed to do.And it has kept her alive.

Run toward the flag but stay behind cover.Cover Am as makes his way toward the enemy's flag.

She stayed crouched and had her DC-17 raised.She ran toward Am in crouched position and had her sights trained on the doids that were keeping him from reaching the squad's goal.She fired and managed to get their attention.Am took the oppurtunity and raced for the flag.Bala crouched behind a wall again and fired at the droids.Out of her peripheral vision,she saw Am grab the flag.Every droid stopped dead and they all stood there like stones,motionless.

They did it.They proved not only to thier training insructors that they were fit enough to be Republic Commandos,but also proved to each other they could trust one another in the field.

TRAINING-DAY 150 OF 150
GRADUATION OF THE CADETS

Today was the day.

Today would be the day that she proved to herself that she could do any thing.

Today was the day she would set off with her fellow comrades on a new journey that will take them far across the galaxy.

Today would be the last time she would do a PT run in the wet, dark world of Kamino.

Today was the day  she wouldn't be stepping into a replica of the Republic Commando kataran armour.

Today was the day she would step into real armour.

Today would be  the very last time she would ever wear cadet fatigues.

Today was graduation.

Coming soon



MISSION:FERRIKA.CRUISER DAUNTLESS.423rd REGIMENT.
FIVE DAYS AFTER GRADUATION CEROMONY

Bala stood right behind the ramp that led down to the hangar from inside the Republic drop ship shuttle.Troopers in in white armour stood at attention in two collums in front of the ship.In the middle stood the cruiser's admiral,Admiral Dreks.His hair was night ball and was shaven right above his ear.He stood with his hands folded behind his back and his jaw and eyes set straight ahead.His blue eyes looked so sharp they almost looked like ice.

She stood in her white commando armour with her helmet at her side.Her black hair was tied up in a tight bun which was tied very closely to the back of her head.Am,Devis,and Iron stood behind her and had thier helmets by thier sides as well.Bala walked down the ramp first and was followed by the rest of her squad.They all stoped in front of the admiral,stood at attention,and saluted.Admiral Dreks nodded and saluted back.

Welcome aboard the Dauntless,commados, the admiral said sternly,his voice having a faint drawl in it.

Hello sir, greeted Am.This is my squad.I'm Seregant Am.This is Devis,Iron,and Bala.

He nodded.We will be making our arrival to the planet Ferrika in about two days.I suggest you four starts settling into your assigned barracks.

We'll do so,sir,Am replied.

They walked away and made thier way toward the barracks.Once there,they all unpacked in silence and went to sleep.

TWO  DAYS LATER

Bala stood in her armour with her helmet at her side.Devis and Iron stood between her in the same pose.They were waiting for Am and the Admiral,who were discussing landing points with the gunship pilots.The three stood in silence.Months of hard self discipline made them cold as stone.But it wasn't cold enough to beat thier comradeship.

While they stood there,other  clones busied themselves on the bridge in thier gray working uniforms.Bala always admired the bride of any cruiser she aboard on.It's windows showed a perfect view of the endless void of space,showing starts twinkling in the darkness.Behind it,clones would operate the controls.Then a mini-shaped bride would cross the from one head of the bride and to the other end where they were at.Below it,clones would be working at computers that controled all the parts of the cruiser.

After a few minutes of standing,Am and the admiral walked through the sliding doors.All three of them snaped to attention with thier backs straightend and thier eyes looking dead ahead.'At ease,' Am ordered. We will now discuss the plan with you all.

He pressed a few button to the holoprojector they stood behind and a  hologram suddenly popped up.In the hologram,there was a base with no walls but thousands of legions of droids.A few companies were patroling and the others were scattered around the place.The base looked to have three stories and two other buildings laid behind it to it's left and right.Bala's heart sunk once she saw a familiar shape on top of the two buildings:anit-air cannons.A flash of anger immediately entered her mind and dissipated just as quickly.

The planet's natives have been trading their oil with the Federation before the war even started,but they don't participate much in it.As you can see,dropping  right in front of the base wont be possible because of their turrents,there for we will have to land  out of thier firing range which intel estimates is about one hundred twenty miles away.You and the battalion will land that far north from the base.

Two arrows popped up showing them and the 423rd Regiment.The green showed them and the white showed the others.You will land with the 423rd Regiment,Am continued.But you will travel to the base on your own.Your job is to get to the west side of the base and enter silently,so before you board an LAAT, make sure you put silencers in your packs.You will then enter the buildings with the turrents.Ignore the main base structure.Once inside them,you will all place detonators along it's roof top and pull out when you are finished.Air support will then come in to destroy the base and come in for exfil.Understood?

Yes, sir, they replied.Good.You all have approximately seven hours to prepare before you are deployed to the planet's surface.Dismissed!

All three of them stomped thier feet and rotated on thier heels to the right and marched toward the set of doors.Once they left they exited the bride completely,they allet go of the the tension in thier backs.They walked in silence and toward the cargo hold.Bala went over the plan in her head and prayed that no one in her squad will be leaving the planet in a body bag.

SEVEN HOURS LATER

Chagres?

Check.

Silencer rounds?

Check.

Extra ammo clips?

Check.

Health supplies?

Check.

Good.Ghosts are ready to roll.

They all finished up cheking thier ordance inside the LAAT's compartment.A few of of the 423rd Battalion's troopers were inside the the squad.They kept thier distance from the commandos since all they had ever known about the commandos since Kamino was that they were the outisders who did the outside jobs.Although Bala wasn't gentically engineered like the clone commandos,she was still looked at as one of them.

Bala stood in her Republic Commando armour with her helmet at her side.Here black hair was tied tightly behind her head.She was tired.For the past seven hours she had done nothing but pack the suplies they would all need when they were safely down to the surface of the planet.Thankfully,five months of training taught her how to mentally shut the exhaustion out and push harder.It wasn't some thing she has particulary mastered yet,but it has managed to put her where she is today.

She stood there pondering her thoughts when sudenly the Admiral's voice boomed inside the hangar.Gunship pilots,make your way down to the planet's surface.Good luck,troops.

The LAAT's hatches slid closed on either side.Bala slid her helmet onto her head.On Kamino,the replica of the Republic Commando armour didn't have all the systems that they used when on te field.When they were all showed and taught how to work it,she was amazed at how how many systems fucntioned inside the armour.The helmet itself had a seal to it and the armour was built to endure any terrain.The basic GAR armour is made the same way as well,but the Republic Commando armour can actually do operations in space because the armour is pressurized.What Bala was must impressed about was the HUD icons.One would show her health and then her squad's health.Another would show a scanner that would show where life forms may be at.What she most enjoyed was the armour's communications systems.You can block out from the conversation around you and talk privately to your squad with out a soul hearing you.

After a few minutes of flying in space,light began to stream through the gunship's hatches.Bala peered through the cracks and could see dense forest of tangled limbs and leaves.''Looks like we got a great source of cover,Devis said. Yeah,a good thing to,''Am said.They flew for about six more minutes when a red light beamed inside the compartment.The gunship pilot annouced,Approaching drop zone.Get ready,lads.

The others around them began grabbing thier rifles and DC-15's up above them and shouldering thier pakcs up other thier backs.The sound of the LAAT's engines roaring began to slow as they slowly began to land.Good luck down there, the pilot said.You to,ner vod.Replied Iron.The inide of the gunship suddenly turned green and it's hatches slid opened.

Everyone leaped out and circled around the LAAT.Numerous others began to land and troopers came out from their compartments.Soon,gunships were scattered all around the field.Area secured, a trooper called.All the thoughts Bala had been ondering when she was in the LAAT had dissipated the moment they had landed.Her mind was now  wired and set onto training and instincts.This didn't come out of no where;this happened because she had done it numerous times.

'Ghosts,lets move,Am said.Our ETA to the west side of the base is estimated to be about several hours and thirty minutes.During that amount of time,we'll be counting on the 423rd to stall the Separtist forces.Let's get  moving so that thier fight will be short as ours.'

They supplied them selves with a few extra ammo and soon dissapeared into the thick jungle as shadows.

MISSION:FERRIKA.114 MILES SOUTH WEST OF DROID BASE.ETA: 6:34:18
They continued to tread on through the thick jungles of Ferrika.Bala's armour was covered in scratches from twigs and thorns.Splotches of mud dotted her armour.Rained poured down and slapped the ground.Lightning streaked the sky and boomed from far away.Rain was some thing Bala used to cherish before she transfered  to the Special Operations Brigade.The basic GAR trooper armour didn't have the cooling systems that the Republic Commando's were equipt with.In the GAR,they would be easy targets to heat exhaustion because of the armour plates and suit  underneath.The Republic Commandos could just switch on the cooling device and look fresh after doing a mile run in the desert.But the wieght of the armour was another story.

They continued to walk through the jungle in silence and scanned the area for any movement.Bala had her DC-17 raised and trained onto the right of the squad's flank.A rustle of leaves and the sounds of twigs snapping suddenly filled in the air.Am held up a fist signaling the squad to a hault.Check the thermals,just to make sure it's only an animal, Am ordered.Bala tapped in commands and her thermal heat signature device replaced the woods.Off in the distance a few yards away, a large,red figure layed crouched and had it's back hunched over and turned away from them.False alarm,sir.We're clear to move out.

Copy.Lets double time it Ghosts, Am said.

They then began jogging at a steady but non slow pace toward the west side of the base.Soon,the minutes turned into hours and the timer on Bala's HUD read 4:53:47  'Sir,we have been jogging for two hours now.I suggest we check our position to make sure we are heading in the right direction,   Iron said.Am slowly came to a stop and held up a fist to bring the squad to a halt.Checking location, Am told them.

As they waited,they took up positions in the area and created a large circle,with Bala watching the back.She had her DC-17 raised and scanned what laid in front of her.The rain continued to pour down but the clouds suggested it was going to stop in a matter of minutes.Okay,we are now sixty four miles west of the droid base.Intel said thier patrols are set up from it's inside to fifty five miles.Keep your eyes peeled for contacts.Hunter, cover our six.

Yes sir,

Lets move,Ghosts Squad.

* * *

Bala was now beginning to grow tired.

She might have done countles push ups,sit ups,and mile runs back at the commando training facility,but the wieght of the armour was always a two hundred-pound-sack of metal put on to her body.She can manage for a while untill it became a challenge just from collapseing onto the ground.Instead of doing so,she would just tell herself to suck it up and keep moving.

Bala watched the squad's rear as they silently began to move in closer to the base.The sound of metal marching suddenly filled the air and everyone immediately came to a halt and got  on to the ground.Looks like we are now fifty five miles away from the base.Lets do our best to keep quiet.Everyone,slowly crouch.

Bala got back up with her knees bent and her back hunched over.She had her DC-17 raised and trained ahead of her.No one bothered to watch the squad's rear,for only thier footsteps would be the only thing they could see.On her HUD,she could see the timer ticking down with every passing  second.It read 4:02:37.Bala could only imagine what the fire fight is like at the front.She could smell the stench of death and destruction,the sounds of blaster fire and the yells of pain of the wounded.She can see the waves of droids,marching continously and firing straight at her.Stop it,she told herself.The battalion will be able to  deal with thier job.Do your part and focus on your task.

Shab, Am suddenly said over the com. Halt.

Everyone stopped and Bala could see why.Ahead of them,yards away, were countless waves of battalions of battle droids standing. It strayeched far and wide from the left and right.Behind them,Bala can barely make out the twinkling lights of the base.Theres no way we can get passed by that forced.They must have decided to double security once the battalion attacked, Devis said.

We aren't hopless yet, Am told them. We can use guerillia warfare tactics and evade them all.

Only one small flaw with that, Bala said. Our silenscer rounds are only made for living beings,and they are most likely going to be inside the base.If we use live rounds that will attract more attention.

It's our only chance of making it to the base,though, Iron said.

Am  heaved sigh audibly.'Alright,we'll do this.Spread out in even space horizontally.We will throw our grenades at the same time.Then,run back into cover and fire at them from there.That way sending help will take too long. Understood?'

Yes sir.

A moment of silence passed then Am said,If it doesn't work, at least we made it this far together.

No one replied to that.They all got up and walked in crouch.After seeing she was a yard away from Iron, she stopped and got a grenade ready.Ready,ner vod? She asked. Are you?

I don't know.

Iron laughed silently under his breath.They all waited for Am to tell them to throw.After a few minutes, he said,Throw grenades on my mark.Three,two,one,MARK!

They all threw thier grenades and the fires of chaos erupted inside the forest.

MISSION:FERRIKA.FIFTY FIVE MILES WEST OF DROID BASE.ETA: 3:56:49
After throwing the grenade in her hand,Bala immediately turned and ran.A deafening roar sounded behind her and made her ear ring.Pieces of wood were thrown at her with sparks clinging to them.A huge,thick tree fell and landed right beside Bala,making the ground shake.She stumbled and dug her feet into the dirt and ran as fast as she could with her heart beating out of her chest.A  piece of wood hit her in the back and made her tumble to the ground.Her back  screamed in pain and began to ache.Her ears were still rinigng as the woods behind her continued to blaze with fire.

Bala's vison suddenly turned hazy and she  was forced to crawl.Her mind and body was in panic mode; a condition in the mind of a soilder that should never be there during times in combat.



She shook it off and got back up.The ringing in her ears gradually stopped as she looked what was left behind her.A fire had risen to the stop of the trees.Sparks covered the ground and floated to te sky above as smoke started to blanket the woods like a fog.Bala scanned the area for her squad mates and saw that they were all behind cover just seven yards away from her.She jogged over to them and ignored the acheing pain in her back.Iron waved a hand as he beckoned her to come over.Am laid in a crouched position with his hand laid on the side of his helmet.Devis was beside him,also in crouch position with his DC-17 raised as he scanned the forest.You alright? Iron asked. Affirmative, she replied.

Am took his hand off his helmet and rose from the ground. Just got word from Commander Desmer at the front.According to his reconnicance teams,the enemy is falling back to thier base and regrouping with more heavy artillery to push the battalion back.They estimated it will be an hour until they arrive to the base.

Devis got back up and said,'That means it's time to move.We still have a long ways to go from here and to the droid base.' Am sighed.Theres no doubt  that the bonfire that we just created is going to attract attention.The only way to bypass extra security is if we mangage to evade them all,which in this case is going to be difficult.We'll have to go around but it will take us a bit farther from the base.It's our only option.

Bala only nodded.Let's move,ghosts, Am said as he then began to jog.Devis folled behind him along with Bala and Iron.

Bala ran with them and looked at the timer on her HUD display.It read 3:51:24.Still got time.

They all jogged toward the droid base and went around the blazing fires.They couldn't see the sky because of the drifting smoke, but the rain had stopped.The smell of burning wood and wet earth filled the air.Ahead of them,Bala could see the winkling of lights from the base.After running for ten minutes,Bala started to hear blaster fire and explosions off in the distance.And then the boom of cannon fire.Bala nearly jumped right out of her skin after hearing the sound.She aruptebly stopped and the image of the gunship being engulfed by fire inside itself appeared in her mind.Bodies littered the ground and a gunship went down in the disatnce.Her mind was dazed.Hunter....Hunter?.....Hunter!  The image dissapeared and Iron stood in front of her.'You okay? You stopped and I almost ran into you.'

'Yeah....Yeah, I'm fine. Just....Just had to catch my breath.'

Alright.Let's move,ner vod.

They started jogging again and continued to do so for the remainder of the time.Blaster fire,explosions,and cannon fire boomed in the distance.Bala's mind had no thoughs,nor sent signals to her body.She was a droid made of flesh.No thoughts,no emotions,and no feeling.Just a body made of metal that had gears and a data chip for a brain.

After jogging for twenty minutes,the sound of metal marching was then being heard not far from them.Hold.Set a perimeter, Am ordered.Bala jogged over and crouched behind a bush.Devis went in front of her to her right and got on to his stomach in front of two boulders.Iron went in front of her to her left and crouched behind a tree. 'Looks like a patrol.Don't engage and just let them pass.  The humming of tanks and the sound of metal maching could be heard from all around the forest.Bala had her DC-17 raised and trained onto the patrol.Her index finger hovered over the trigger as she made an effort not to fire a shot.Even with five months of special forces training,it never got rid of the basic infantry soldier inside her.

Bala counted ten droids and two tanks  as they made thier way toward the other end of the forest.A few minutes passed and the sounds of metal marching started to fade away.Clear, Am called.Lets move.

Bala got back up and then began to run with Iron and Devis at her left and right.Bala looked up at her timer on her HUD display.It read.3:18:32.Just a little while longer.....

Like shadows they all ran toward the droid base inside the thick,dense woods of Ferrika.

MISSION:FERRIKA.ONE MILE WEST OF DROID BASE.ETA: 0:6:47
Come on,''  Am coughed.   ''We're almost there.Keep moving,squad.'

Bala ran behind Am with Devis and Iron trailing behind her.After encountering four patrols-two of whom they didn't engage-, they were covered in dirt and scorch marks.They ended up being in a fire fight for thirty minutes and another for two hours.A fire had sparked up and almost engulfed them all,leaving them gasping for air as they continued to run toward the droid base.

Bala was now on the brink of collapsing.The positive voice that told her to keep pushing inside her mind was now silent.Her lungs were burning from breathing in smoke and her legs screamed in agony.Her back still ached from the previous fall she had taken.After a few minutes of running in pain,the twinkling lights suddenly  came into view and could be seen much closer.An imense wave of relief and exhaustion washed over Bala as she fell to her knees with her elbows bent on the ground,breathing heavily.She took off her helmet and popped the seal to it and threw it across from her.She  gasped for air and coughed,ignoring the fact that the security would hear her.

Devis and Iron jogged over to her with Am staring at her with his T-shaped visor. You're not looking good,ner vod, ''  Devis said.  I'm sorry.I just....Got to the point where I couldn't run any more.''

Am nodded. I would stop here for a breather if Commander Densen and the rest of the battalion weren't having to fend off the droids and thier reinforcements.   Bala got back up with her breathing back to normal.Slightly embarassed,she grabbed her helmet and slipped it back on.With her DC-17 raised,she said, '' Ready when you are,sir.

Alright.Stay low and close behind me.

They all crouched and trailed behind Am.The sun hung high in the sky with only dots of clouds.It's light made the water shine on the grass and leaves.Am raised a fist and held a hand to his right,signaling for Iron to come up to his right flank.Iron went over and had his DC-17 trained ahead of them.Going to make a quick call th the commander to tell him we have arrived.

They all sat there for a minute in silence untill Am told them, 'Alright, the battalion is going to fall back deeper into the woods and  hold them off until we can get rid of these turrents. Bala,you and Devis will take out the turrent ahead of us. Iron and I will head around to the other. Once we have the charges set, rondevu here.

Copy,   they all replied.

Am and Iron got up and and started to make thier way around the.Bala and Devis got behind two trees that were ten feet away from each other.They then crouched down and began to move slowly toward the building.After a few minutes of walking,Bala began to make out   a figure beyond the trees. 'Got visual on a target,' she annouced. 'Make sure it's living so that we wont have to use live rounds,  Devis warned. No kidding, she replied silently.

Bala stopped to activate her thermal heating device.The natural colors of the forest were then replaced by blue and red high lights.To her relief, a big red dot with legs stood there with a data pad,typing away.  We're good.Putting in silencer rounds.  She quickly deactiviated the thermal and scanned her belt for the pack she needed that held the new batch of ammo.In seconds,she was reloading a new clip of rounds.

Moving up.

Copy.

Bala looked past the tree and trained her DC-17 on to the being.She sighted up,reconignized the small incline of the head,and fired.A small dart silently whizzed at the speed of light at the target.Not a speck of blood could be seen as the man fell to his knees with his planted into the ground ground.Suddenly, figures popped out and ran toward the corpse.Just as quick, several little darts were fired and had hit accurately before Bala could say any thing on the comm. Tangos down.Lets hurry and move those bodies out from the open,'  said Devis.

Bala sprinted quietly toward the bodies and moved them to a secluded area in the forest.In minutes, they were both standing to the left and right to the entrance of the building.Twilight began to dissipate as night started to darken the planet. Bala scanned the door.Metal...No windows...Not even a knob.....Stang,theres a an ID checker right beside the door and those corpses are laying some where in the woods.

Shab,the kirffing thing is sealed.We'll have to go loud,   Bala said irratebly.

Affirmative,   he replied in the same tone,   I'll cover,you get a charge set.

Bala slung her pack off her shoulder with Devis scanning the land behind them.She found a charge, pciked her pack up and placed it back on her back, and then started to plant it.With a few typing of numbers and then a timer set to ten seconds,she and Devis race walked behind cover.Soon, a loud boom that was muffled by the clatter of metal could be heard all around the base.

Bala and Devis raced up to the building with guns blazing as cries of surprise could be heard.Smoke blanketed the inside and started to escape.Without a word,Bala and Devis sprinted up the stairs with Devis taking lead.They were then up on top of the roof.The turrent layed mounted with a console right next to it.All of a sudden, a deafening boom rang into thier ears and made the metal roof and ground below them shake.Her ears rung as she tried to search for the source.To her horror,she realized that the turrent had fired.

She looked up instinctively and saw a gunship decsending down from the air to the  surface.A fire had engulfed the inside of it's compartment and started to crawl under it.It then exploded and  it's debris  littered the sky.

Bala's mind went blank as she played the horrific moments over in her mind.Men's lives were lost because she and her squad were too late to do thier part of the job.

She snapped out of her daze as Devis tapped her roughly on the shoulder.He pointed at the turrent and made an exploding gesture with his hands.Bala nodded in acknowledgement and slung her pack off and began rummageing in it for the charges.As she started to plant them,her hearing gradually started to go back to normal.Out of her peripheral vision,she saw droids coming up to the building toward them. 'Devis,get the rest planted.I'll hold off the droids.'

' Roger.'

With the silencer rounds replaced by live rounds, she fired down at the droids that started to swarm the building.She ducked as a blaster bolt whizzed just inches from her head.She crouched behind a crate and fired the rest of her clip. Almost done,  Devis told her. She reloaded another clip and fired a few shots down at them.Out of the corner of her aye she could see a few going behind the building's corners and to it's entrance.She grabbed a grenade,primed it,and threw it over.She bolted out from behind the crate as an explosion boomed behind her.She quickly descended down the steps and fired at the droids that began to pour in.The smoke left from the previous break in clouded her vision.Blaster bolts fired off toward her as she made an effort to dodge them all. Hurry the shabla up,Devis!   She snapped as she fired half a clip of rounds at the intruding droids.  Just....About.....There!  He exclaimed. Stay on the roof!  Bala told him as she started to prime a grenade.She threw it and sprinted up the stairs. An exploding boom sounded below them as they jumped off the roof.

' Sergeant Am,Iron, we have the charges set.We are two minutes away from the RV point.Where are you?'

Static cackled in reply for a few moments. 'We are making our way out of the building with droids trailing  after us.Go ahead and blow the turrent and call in for extraction.'

 But,-  Devis started to say. Do it! Thats an order.Sergeant Am out.'

Devis cursed a string of Mandalorian cuss words as the comm from Iron and Am's helmets filled in with static. 'Get ready to blow it,  Devis muttered.

Bala only nodded and started to tapp away commands as they started to jog down to a halt.Bala looked back as a firey explosion boomed out  into  the night sky.A fire blazed  brightly as a cloud of smoke rose with sparks floating up in the air.A second explosion boomed and made the ground shake as the other building reduced down to nothing but a pile of rubble and debris.

In a matter of minutes, the forms of gunships could be seen and heard as they made thier way down from the cruiser.Bala looked back and saw blaster bolts lashed back and forth deep in the woods.   Let's move,   Bala told  him.

OPERATION SAVE AND DESTROY: PLANET FERRIKA.
REPUBLIC COMMANDOS:

RC-59762  SERGEANT AMADEUS

RC- 38410  CORPORAL DEVIS

RC- 29665  CORPORAL IRON

RC- 77128   CORPORAL BALA

FILE  CLASSIFIED TO REPUBLIC SPECIAL OPERATIONS PERSONEL ONLY

Bala didn't know what she was doing.

When you train and fight with the people around you, you grow a sense of comradehsip, and that becomes an unbrokeable bond of brotherhood. In battalions, one trooper dies and is instantly replaced. In special forces teams your team member dies and is also replaced, but  to the others it never truly fits the gap. To them, thier brother is still missing.

Scenarios of watcing Iron and Am die ran visibly through her head. ''No, replacmements are never going to happen. Thier going to live bec​ause  Devis and I are going to go and get them out of there. No fail.'' Layers of doubt began to creep in. She pushed it away and focused.

Night had settled onto the planet and obscured thier vision. They continued to run and watch out for crevices and roots here and there. Bala looked for the markers on the map on her HUD display. She saw her's and Devis'  moving along. She searched  and searched untill she saw  Am and Iron's markers. She counted four clicks in front of them and saw they were running north. Got them,   she annouced. 'Four clicks ahead and thier continueing to run north. I'll try and get a singal on thier comms. You go ahead and call in a gunship.'''

'Aye. And Bala,'

Yeah?

'I've done a similar rescue mission  like this before. It didn't go well. So dont have your hopes up. Keep them tight and keep thinking straight.'

She nodded and began tapping commands on her wrists while keeeping an eye on the map. The great thing about the systems in their kataran armour was the ability to multitask. They were running, tracking, and calling in support at the same time.

She tried getting a signal once, twice, three times, and still static was all she had. Theres got to be a way... She looked up at the map at Am and Iron's markers and saw they had turned a left. At first she thought it was just a way to lose the droids on thier tails untill a thought occured in her mind: they could have called in thier own support.

Right when Bala was about to tell him her theory he slammed a nearby fist angrily and swicthed back to thier own comm channel.   '''They said theres a storm bruing in the atmosphere and had already damaged one of the gunships while getting the battalion up to the cruiser. Thier not risking a shabla thing for us.'''

So we're on our own,  she said miserably.

Gets worse,  he said quietly. Bala new without seeing his face that he had it  built it up into a snarl. 'An armada of Separtist ships is said to be heading in thier direction. Thier thinking of even leaving us here for  good.'''

They had stopped running and faced each other. Then what do we do?

''Do what our training demands us to do,  he said simply. '''Survive.

                                                                                        * * *    

The map on Bala's HUD showed Iron and Am's markers stopping and slowly head east from where they had turned. Bala and Devis' were then only a click a way. The blaster fire got louder and louder with each step. While she ran with her DC-17 raised, she went through the procedures  that she was instructed to do in a situation like this.'' Get down... Look.... Destroy and rescue. '' She repeated the words and went over how she did it. She didn't dare think of what would happen if thier operation failed. Procedures end from there, she thought.

After six more minutes of more running and dodging bumps,rocks,roots, and logs, Bala and Devis could see the blaster fire more clearly then before. Bushes concealed thier veiw and and made the blaster bolts look like lights  flashing back and fourth. They got down into a crouch and went inside the bushes, snapping twigs and rusling the leaves inside. They barely  stuck thier helmets out as they peered through the bushes. A huge clearing was centered around the forests. Tall grass made up for the trees and stood up to the top of thier legs. An army of droids marched through the grass toward  two fallen trees and rocks to the left. The  droids that were in the middle part of the ranks were blown to  scraps as grenades were shot over from the rocks, making the night light up with fires. The dirt was poured down on the droids as they continued to march and fire thier weapons.

Bala looked to the left and looked for any plants that could serve them as cover. The lines of bushes continued untill only three or four trees were left. She went through every tactic that could help through her mind and then began going through her own tactics. Her brain ran like a machine as it analyzed every single one. All of them proved suicidal and to end up in a fail.

Devis suddenly piped up. I got it! Remember that assault on Gaftikar?   Bala turned to him and nodded. Sergeant Ox  told four troopers to head around to the left and right to make those droids retreat, right? The army then became to occupied of getting rid of them  that they were having trouble even paying attention to us.

Divide and conquer...... Wait, do we have those grenade launcher attachments?

'Check your pack.'

Bala got hers off and looked through it. Ammo clips, a few grenades,MREs, and health suppies hid the grenade launcher attachment. She rummaged through with dread pouring over her untill she saw the familar curve of the attachment in the dark. Got it, she annouced. Same.

'Want to give the sergeant a show?  Bala asked.

Yeah. Give those clankers a trip to the sky,  he replied deviously.'''

They quickly attached the grenade launcher to thier DC-17s, put thier packs on, and ran behind them. They ran a few feet and got thier  weapons ready. Without a word, they fired the grenades off into the night sky. An explosion boomed and coughed smoke, sparks, and bits of metal up in the air. They  fired five more and multiple explosions occured and only stopped once they realized they had created a fire. The blaster fire had stopped momentarily and blaster bolts started to cut through the bushes toward them. 'RUN!  Devis screamed.

They dashed away trying to get as far as way as possible. Panic rose once again into Bala. She couldn't turn and fire a shots to get rid of the problem. Shab, she couldn't even turn. No support. No reinfocements. The thought of no help coming was already bad enough. Being caught in a helpless situation with none of those things was worse. It spelled out everything: no return, and no more living.

All they had was thier supplies..... And thierselves.

Right when she was thinking it was the end, static popped into her comm. Her eyes bounced around her HUD display, trying to look for the communication icon. It was coming from  Am. They finaly switched back to the squad's channel. The static was then replaced by Am's voice. ''Devis? ''Bala? Have you two gone shabla insane!? You di'kuts are commiting a kriffing suicide! Get your shebs out of there ASAP!'

 No, thier not commiting suicide,   a clone's voice suddenly said. They just opened up an oppurtunity.'

More blaster fire lashed out, causing the blaster bolts stopping behind them. With shaky breaths, Bala turned around. Silence. The clone's voice spoke again. 'This is ARC Lieutenant Vax with a platoon of the 423rd  Regiment. Hide-and-seek is over, commandos.'''

''How?-'  Devis began to ask.  I'll explain later,   said Vax sharply.  RIght now,  get to our position.''

An awkward silence followed untill Am cleared his throat. 'Yes sir,   he replied.

Devis and Bala jogged out to the clearing. Clones with green paterns ecthed on to thier armour walked around the perimeter. The ARC lieutenant stood with his arms folded tight across his chest. His skirt was draped down to his legs  and was colored green. Thick, green lines stretched from his shoulder plate down to his and then down to his feet on either side, with another going down the upper part of the chest pate and down to his waist. His helmet was no differrent from the cones other then thier visors and filters looked larger.

Sir,  I thought the cruiser had taken all of the regiment and then wasn't able to send support down. How are you here?  Am asked. '''

''The number of our wounded and casualties were high, so some of us had to volunteer to wait for them to drop them off to the cruiser and come back down. Right when they got finished, they detected that storm. After a few minutes they told us about you guys and your situation, so we took  speeders. Thats when we saw your little firework show.

Yeah, Hunter got cold and wanted to make a fire,'' Devis said smugly. Bala punched his arm looked back at the ARC. ''Did they lose contact with us and you? We only heard about the storm.

You mught have gone off of thier range of contact. That's all I can assume.

They stood there in silence for a minute, then Vax uncrossed his arms and said. '' I'll get the troops to start making camp. You all should get some rest.''  He turned and walked away. Am took his helmet off and looked at the three.

Good job, ghosts.

OPERATION GROUND BREAKER- PLANET ALATAM. REPUBLIC DROPSHIP DAWN TREADER
REPUBLIC COMMANO SQUADS:

GHOSTS SQUADRON

NEXU SQUAD

COMMANDOS:

GHOSTS- RC- 59762 SERGEANT AMADEUS

RC- 38410   CORPORAL DEVIS

RC- 29665   CORPORAL IRON

RC- 77128   CORPORAL BALA

NEXU SQUAD- RC- 62394  S. SERGEANT  BONES

RC- 99910  L. CORPORAL  ELI

RC- 78143  CORPORAL JECK

RC- 42669  CORPORAL OTMAN

MISSION: TO AQUIRE SEPARTIST DATA, KIDDNAP GENERAL HORVIT JETEK, AND DESTROY OUTPOST.

CLASSIFICATION:  REPUBLIC SPECIAL OPERATIONS PERSONEL ONLY





The Republic attack shuttle traveled through hyperspace as it made its way toward the planet Alatam, an ice terrain world that lays in the far reaches of the galaxy. Republic intel gathered information on a Separtisit outpost that was stationed there that contained  the Confedarcy's secrets. It's classified information led to the possibility of  scientific work being done at the  outpost. They then traced coordinates from Alatam and to three Republic planets that were two jumps away.

They decided on bringing in clone battlaions in until they realized the nearest were occupied and the others stretched too far out in the galaxy, which brough them to an agreement on bringing special forces in. Two Republic Commando squads were chosen to do a difficult task that required stealth,saboatage, and assasination.

One of the squads was Ghost Squadron.

ONE DAY, FIVE HOURS, AND FORTY NINE MINUTES AWAY FROM THE PLANET ALATAM

REPUBLIC ATTACK SHUTTLE  DAWN TREADER

Bala sat in the back of the attack shuttle in her fatigues while staring at her communication device. She had been waiting for a reply from her family for the past ten minutes while sitting in one of the chairs that led to the shuttle's doors. Her squad and the other squad, Nexu Squad, were eating in the cockpit.

She had typed in ''Hey, I'm on a deployment. How are things at home? ''It was the least she could say to reassure them that she was okay. She just wanted to at least talk with her family.With the war, the visions of seeing her home being burnt down to ashes by the Seppartist would flash into her mind if she thought about leaving. A voice in the back of her head would say, ''NO. You joined to protect the civilians of the Republic. Concord is neutral, but they wouldn't have chosen to let a droid army come in and invade.''

Back on Concord, she took avantadge of the amount of time she spent with her faimly. Now, she couldn't even see them because her communication  options were low. As she continued to stare at the device, she felt as she had written what she had typed in a diary and was waiting for a response from an endless space of white, blank paper.

She sighed and turned it off. It will have to wait, she thought.  They'll reply some day.

She got up from the seat and walked towards the cockpit of the shuttle. It's doors opened and she heard a roaring of laughter. All the clones were sitting around in chairs and sharing jokes with bowls in thier laps. ''Ah, good. The closer, the better the mission will go.''

The  hissing of the door being slid opned made them all stop arubtly and turned in her direction. She glanced at all thier faces as the awkward silence continue to grow. She cleared her throat and said, Just got finished with trying to contact my family on Concord.

Got anything this time? Asked Am as she sat down.

No. The range keeps on being too long.

''Sorry to hear that. Want some ale?''

Sure.  He passed her the bottle and she got herself a glass and poured some of  it into the cup. She was grateful her squad understood what she was going through, even when thier only family was the people that were cloned forom the same genetic material they were. It touched her how they didn't even cast  jealus and resentful  looks at her when she talked about her family.

''So, Hunter. We never got to hear much out of you,'' said Staff Sergeant Bones, the clone with white colored hair that cropped up to the top of his ears. What's your story?

She shrugged. ''Got hired as a mercenary. Reckon I could work better when I'm in the ranks.''

Any 'private lessons'? Smirked Jeck, the clone with a red sheet of hair on his head and a small beard of the same color that was right below his mouth.

I thought clone troopers were men who fought in combat and didn't read the  celebrity articles in the holomagazines.

Eli does that, said Otman as he drank his ale, the clone with the sideburns that ran across the edges of his cheeks and the cropped hiarcut like Bones.

Hey, least I don't flirt with the posters of those Twi'lek women you always put up,  Eli shot back, the clone with shaved head. They all chuckled. Am, Bala, Devis, and Iron simply watched as they tried to see how the squad worked out. So far, they were all glad to see they all got along just fine.

It better be that way when thier all operating in the field when they need each other the most.

* * *

26 HOURS LATER

ABOVE THE PLANET ALATAM

Bala stood in her full commando armour with her helmet by her side. Everyone crowded around in a cirlce near the back of the shuttle.

Let's go over the mission one more time, Bones suggested. Have it stitched to your brains permantely.

Aye.

Bones then began to go over the procedures to make sure everyone had every inch of detail in thier mind. First, Iron  and Eli, a.k.a delta team, would be dropped off  twenty miles away from the outpost near a frozen lake. Then  Bala, Devis, Jeck, and Bones, a.k.a bravo,  would be  dropped three miles north from the outpost with Iron and Eli south of it. Am and Otman, a.k.a alpha,  would be dropped a mile east of the outpost. All drop offs would be down high in the planet's atmosphere.

Bravo would head around the outpost's outer and inner perimeter to take out security. Alpha would go in silently to kiddnap the general and take whatever data they can get thier hands on. After thier target and data has been taken into custody, alpha and bravo would head south east to  a clearing where the drop shuttle will be up above waiting for extraction. Delta will head head in with diver gear under the frozen lake. There, they will go directly under the   out post  and place explosives. Then they will swim back and make thier way toward the shuttle.

So, who's ready to reduce tin heads to pieces of metal  and kidnapp a di'kut? Asked Devis.

''Everyone better be. Otherwise they have no business here,''  answered Jeck coldly.

Affirmative,  agreed Am.

Bala remained silent, deep in thought. She was going over the plans of the operation and what she needs to do in certain scenarios. It was like going over a set of products mentaly on a grocery list. As she thought about it more, an image of her running in the woods arubtly flashed before her eyes. Flash back, she thought alarmingly.

It disippeared and the inside of the shuttle could be seen once again. ''Kriffing trauma. My own brain could be my  shabla fault  of the fail of this mission, ''she thought miserably. Ever since their last operation on Ferrika, flash backs had been entering, leaving, and then re-entering in her mind. Bala knew without  a doubt she had a case of a mental enemy all soldiers hated and fought against: traumatic stress.

The horrific events that are seen in combat will scar a warrior for life. It's glued  into thier brains the moment they see it. A soldier can surpass it  with the powerful mental strength. They would have to tackle it head on and fight it like a wrestling match. Some times, the trauma came out on top as the victor.

It would first creep to edges of a warrior's mind, then slowly crawl and infect it with images of thier expierience in combat. Thoughts and flash backs will all come together and make the soldier mentaly disabled. They are then taken away from thier comrades and sent back home to thier families. If she told her squad, they would send her back to a medical station or Coroscant where a physcologist would be waiting to ask an infinite number of questions. That and a well patted room.

She would love to see her family again, but the voice in the back of her head told her to stay and protect them. That was every soldier's mission: to protect thier loved ones and the very thing they stood for. Coming back disabled would be saying they failed trying to complete thier task.

And a commando always stays to finish their job.



PHASE ONE- DEPLOYMENT
They all stood in front of the shuttle's doors as the pilot went toward the landing zone. Instead of walking out, they were flying down.

 Alright commandos, delta's LZ is right below,  annouced the pilot as the door slowly opened. 'You have one minute to jump.'  The pink sky revealed itself to them once the shuttle's doors were compeltely ajar.

Good luck out there, ner vod,  Bala told Iron.

You too,   he rpelied.

Eli, make sure that outpost sinks to the very bottom of the lake,  Bones said. Yes sir,'    he said as if he was grinning    ''Jump in three...Two....One... NOW!'

Iron and Eli leaped out of the shuttle in a blink of the eye and disippeared into the clouds. The shuttle's doors lifted up and closed, leaving the remainnig six commandos. So, what kind of data do you think we're going to get?  said Otman after a long two minute silence. 'I'm hoping it's just the usual: plans for secret contruction project. Any thing worse will keep me awake in the barracks,'  said Jeck.

They stood there in silence for the next ten minutes. To kill time, Bala looked for any thing hay wire or misplaced inside her helmet. Once she saw every thing was where it needed to be, she looked at the face of it. A white face in the shape of a skull stared back at her. It's face was colored white with the rest of the helmet painted night black. Her armour stayed the same way, with white streaks going down her body, arms, and legs. The rst of her squad's was the same, except instead of the skull helmet their helmets had three white scars going down  the side of thier visors.

After checking her helmet systems, she went to checking her DC-17's ammo clip, making sure it was filled with silencer rounds. Then checking if she had every thing in her pack. After a good twenty minutes, the pilot broke the sielnce inside the drop shuttle. 'Bravo's LZ is below. You have one minute to jump.'

Have fun down there,  Otman told Jeck as they did a little fist bump from up and down. ''Yeah, tell the general I said that I can't wait to meet him.

Vode An, right sir?  Bala said to Am.''

'Vode An. Good luck down there. Let those sab'uire know what we think of thier security.'

I'll personaly send a complaint letter to thier supervisor,  chidded Devis.''

Bones, Bala, Jeck, and Devis got side by side at the edge of the shuttle's door. Alatam's atmosphere rushed in and welcomed them with a cold,chilling air.  In three.....Two.....One...NOW!  With a quick deep breath, Bala jumped and plumeted head first down into the clouds. Everything rushed up against her visor as she continued to  decsend farther and farther. Even with her armour lcoked and pressurized, she could hear the air whooshing in her ears.

You good, vode?   asked Bones. Yes sir.    They all replied.

Puffs of white clouds flew up to her visor, making her HUD the only thing to look at as she soared down to the surface. Down. Down. Down they went. Finaly, Bala could see the planet's icy landscape and small forests. A series of gusts of wind flew aross it. The ground laid packed with snow and  it's trees could be seen bigger  and bigger as all four of them continued to decsend.

'Bones to delta, prepare to pull parachutes.'  Once Bala saw that she and her team mates were  fifty feet above the ground, she tapped in a command on her wrist. In moments the sound of  a sheet and strings being untangled and pushed upward into the air  whisted above the sound of the  icy, screeching wind.

Bala felt a jerk  as the parachute opened from her pack. 'Securing LZ,'  Jeck said once he and Devis had thier feet planted ont the ground. Bala detached her parachute and scuried to her left to clear her side of the area. She brought out her DC-17 and scanned what laid in front of her. 'Clear,' she announced. Clear,  the rest soon said. Bala lowered her weapon and looked around herself. They stood in a clearing surrounded by  trees that towered hight above. '''

Bury the parachutes and start looking for the outpost, ordered Bones. Bala jogged to her detached parachute and, dug her hands into the snow, and shoved it on top of the parachute. Bala's  mind remained thoughtless as she trugded on into the woods. It was now working and grinding like a machine, working of of instincts and expierience.

She had her eye on her HUD scanner as she walked into the woods. Three little green dots indicating Devis and Bones slowly moved along to her left and right. At the same time, she trained her DC-17 up, down, left and right. She repeated the process after every three feet. The  trees loomed over her. The area laid silent, making the sound of crushed snow seem to echo through out the forest.

Soon, she stepped out of the woods and overlooked a vast plain that strecthed for miles. Forest is secure, she said over the comm. Ahead of her, she made out lights and a wall. Nearly topping the wall stood a circulair building that layed inside the outpost. A scence suddenly flashed before her eyes as she saw herself climbing the wall of the base on Gaftikar. Snap out of it, she ordered herself. Clones have seen worse stang then you.

I have visual on the outpost, reported Devis. The scence disappeared and she was back on Alatam, over looking the speckless landscape that laid covered in snow. She turned to her left toward her team and saw that they all stood in a circle. She walked over to them as Bones said, ''It's going to take some time to walk, esspecially when we'd be heading in naked going directly north. We'll stay here and camp and go out at nightfal. Devis, get a signal out to alpha and let thm know we're set. Bala, Jeck, find an animal to shoot down. I'll get a fire set up. Move out.''

A band of trained killers parted away, getting ready to operate silently around an outpost that contains secrets that lay beyond thier imagination.

PHASE TWO- NIGHT FALL
9 HOURS AFTER DEPLOYMENT

Bala sat on a tree's thick limb while overlooking the bright, shiny outpost. Night had settled in and consumed her into it's darkness. Now that she was more elevated, she had a better look inside the outpost. The walls created a large, rectangular figure. Small two story buildings crowded around like a neighborhood on two sides of a road. Toward the far end, a towering building mounted six stories nearly topped the walls. It's width was long enough to make room with more space with the walls sliding to the left and right at the top of it's rectangular shape.

Bala only threw a quick glance whille she surveyed from the tall tree. What she was looking for were actual people- targets to identify and pick out  once she roped down inside.

But there were none.

She waited for beings to walk out buildings for the last ten minutes but only stared down at the twinking lights. After the fiffteenth minute passed, she sighed and spoke into the team's comm channel. ''Bala here. No visuals on targets and making more and more friends with wild life while up in this tree.'' For a few moments, no one replied. Then Bone's voice broke the silence. ''Ten-four. Going to have to say good bye to your little buddies in a few minutes. Alpha has reached the outpost's power source. Get ready to break some necks.''

''Roger. Bala out.''

Finaly, she thought. Bala had to wai in cover plenty of times before, but all resulted in her being bored and edgy. It was the fact that she was sitting there and looking at the enemy and not doing any thing that awoke the inner soldier. Her discipline was the only thing that kept the operation-and herslef- going.

After a good three mintues, the lights inside the outpost arubtly turned off, having the it's and the night's darkness engluf them. Bala turned her helmet's settings to a green lighting. Hunter moving in green, she said over the comm. Same, they said one at a time. Bala turned herself the other way on the limb with the cable line attached to it. She quicklybrought her legs up to where she stood and jumped downwards to the top of the wall. The air rushed past her and went away once she landed her rear on the top of the wall. She then detached the cable and brought her DC-17 out.

She attached the cable agin and hooked it under her. She turned aroundand pushed herself off. She dropped down then landed firmly on to her feet, thw world around her colored in a glowing green. She pulled the cable off th e wall and left it sitting on the ground. She looed aroud herself. She was in a small, narrow ally behind one of the buildings. A door stood locked in front of her with voices calling out in confusion. With her weapon ready, she went over to the door, raised her foot, and kicked it out of it's hinges. With a clang of metal it crashed to the ground. Bala rushed inside to elminate the targets.

Once inside, she saw rows of counters and stools that had series of  glass and scientific intstruments with various liquids inside. Computers were set up to the far side of the room where stairs led up to the second floor. Men and women in white lab coats screamed in terror once she had entered. With out hesitation she rose her DC-17 and fired silencrer rounds into all of them. Blood soaked thier coats as they all dropped onto the floor.

It was a horible sight, but Bala made herself go on. Killing droids was nothing, bu killing actual beings was way worse;  instead of wires and blue oil coming out, there was red blood and guts. A flash back suddenly entered  Bala's mind at the thought. She saw herself punching and stabbing the alien that attcked her on Raxxu during the sandstorm. She shook herself out of it and continued securing the rest of the building.

She walked over the corpses and went up the stairs. She stopped midway once she noticed some thing.

It was silent.

No whimpers, no cries or screams of terror.

It was so silent that she only heard the settling of the building and her breathing. Be ready for any thing, she reminded herself. She slowly continued creeping up the stairs with her weapon trained on to her left where the floor came up. Once she was up onto the second floor, she saw that it was set up just like the floor below. Only that....

There was blood all over the counters.

Men and women laid motionless on the ground like the ones she had killed on below. Weapons were laid beside them. Bala was about to step into the room  until she saw little mines had been set up on the floor.

''Booby trapped. Shab, all the scientists had commited suicide. But.... Why?''

Thats all she wondered as she stood staring at the gruesome sight. The reason for the suicide laid beyond her comprehension. Bala opened up the channel on her comlink and spoke, ''Hunter to bravo. I have clreard the first floor of a building but the scientists in the second floor have all commited suicide.''

Devis replied first. ''Same here. Yours booby trapped too?''

Affirmative.

''Stang... Theres no way they knew that we were here.''

If they did, theres no telling how high thier security measures would be, Jeck said.

As she continued to find logic for the situation, some thing in the back of her mind hit her like a blow: right after Am and Otman had destroyed thier power station, a light had streamed out of the windows on the second floor. She never paid attention to it while breaking into the room.

Wait, Bala said over the comms after beating herself up for the careless mistake. Did any of you see lights on on the second floor before you broke into the houses?

Negative.

No.

No.

They were on as I was climbing off the wall. They must have sent a signal to all the others alarming every one. With Am and Otman infiltrating the target's compound, the general and his officers would be too busy to let every one know about our presence.''

With this, the comm went silent as every one considered it. ''But the general wouldn't have told them to... Oh shab.''

Thier all willing to die to protect the secret from us, finished Jeck.

That makes the operation a whole lot more interesting, Bones said.

Bala only hoped it wouldn't get any more interesting then it was.

* * *