Arran Slarglide

"I have always had an interest in strategic warfare, ever since I was a kid. I've also always thought that some of those no good Osik'n Commanders should get out on the battlefield, well that's what I'm doing today. And let me say this, may thy have mercy upon my enemies, because I sure as firefek won't."

-Arran Slarglide

 

Early Years
Arran Slarglide was a human who was born in 50 BBY and grew up on the planet of Coruscant. His parents were Agnetha Slarglide and Vernon Slarglide. Both worked as teachers at a college. They were killed in a speeder crash when he was 12 and he later learned from a mobster that they were killed due to a wreckless driver, when they were driving to a centennial being celebrated at the college. Arran soon fell under the custody of a mobster who was a distant cousin of the family. Arran learned the mobster's name to be Cornelius Montgomery Kyzne, but the mobster told everyone to call him, "Icepick." Arran grew up with Icepick and learned business tricks and how to negotiate although he didn't appreciate Icepick and how shady and cast away he was from the rest of his family.

Arran also learned a bit about weapons and security. Icepick soon taught Arran how to forge I.D. and the tricks of the mob trade. However, Icepick was usually busy with clients or business and barely spent any time with Arran. Arran didn't have any friends and usually just drew or played with boardgames his mother and father had bought him before he met Icepick. Arran soon got very bored with his games and wandered about the block where he lived daily. Of course, this was dangerous considering he lived in the Coruscant Underworld.

He usually collected bottles that were laying around alleys. Arran kept the older ones but sold the new ones to a man who recycled them. He often made 10 credits a day. Arran soon explained what he was doing to Icepick and Icepick was surprised. Icepick thought it was a fair idea to let Arran make his own money. One day Arran was wandering about with his small pack for collecting bottles. He usually carried a pocketknife and a snack or two around with him. Arran saw a man in front of him withdraw his blaster and aimed it over Arran's head. It fired but Arran ducked and it hit the man behind him that the gunman was aiming for.

Arran found the man dead and ran back to Icepick to report it to him. Icepick concluded it was most likely gang violence. Icepick felt sorry for Arran being traumatized by this event and considered sending him off to live with one of his closer relatives. After consulting Arran he changed his mind. Arran was collecting bottles one day and went home after finding nothing. He waited about 5 hours until getting distressed since Icepick hadn't come home. He contemplated Icepick becoming intoxicated but couldn't imagine that.

Arran woke up the next morning and feared the worst, he packed up his older bottles, some food, water, and some clothing. He walked over to the nighclub Icepick said he had business at and found it crossed off by policetape. He asked an officer what had happened and found that Icepick had been shot and the meeting was a setup by a rival mob family.

Arran lived on the streets for 4 years by selling and trading items. When he was old enough he decided to get a good education. He joined the Coruscant Museum and studied the history of many of the main planets of the galaxy.

The Coruscant Museum
The first day Arran came to the Galactic Museum he stood in awe at the marble pillars and statues lining the entrance, the museum was 6,700 years old but was maintained so well it looked as if it was built yesterday. Arran walked in to find a skinny gentleman behind a desk wearing a security outift. Arran had been living in a much better apartment lately and had decided to wear his best clothes on the first day of his new position as a paid apprentice for the head archaeologist. "Can I help you, sir?" Asked the man.

"Yes, I'm looking for Charles Vurim. Can you direct me to his office?" Arran asked.

The man nodded. "He'll be on the 24th floor, that's all his junk up there so be careful not to trip over any of it." He laughed.

Arran was puzzled but he nodded and thanked the man. The museum was remarkable on the inside, the ceiling showed wonderful paintings of the Sith and the Jedi, and all sorts of historical events. Arran approached the elevator and found himself in it along with a Wookie, he had never met a Wookie but knew from books they were some of the strongest creatures in the galaxy. They were also extremely intelligent. Arran finally reached the 24th floor and got out. As he stepped out the doors began to close on him. The Wookie gave out a cry and held the doors open.

Arran stepped out. "Thank you." Arran said with a nod. The wookie gave an unusual sounds and nodded letting go of the doors. Immediately it became apparent what the guard at the desk had meant,  the floor had piles of pottery, crystals, bones, tables, tools, shovels, computers, and even a small cubicle in the corner. Arran heard footsteps and rustling and found an older man wearing spectacles coming out of the office.

"Execuse me." Arran said, "Are you Professor Vurim?"

The man looked up from a paper he was holding, "Yes that's me, are you my new employee?"

"No, I'm your apprentice, sir." Arran responded.

"Employee, apprentice. What's the difference anyway?" He said walking towards Arran through a mess of artifacts. He put out his hand, "I never got your name on the papers." He said blankly.

"It's Arran Slarglide." Arran said shaking his hand.

"Good to know, you can start by going to your office over there." He pointed through the piles of clutter towards a small desk next to a computer. "I need you to start by researching that vase over there, I recieved it from the Science Commission. One of the employees over there was sent to do a holonet article on Orto Plutonia's caves and he found that in one of them."

Arran nodded, "And what should I do after that?"

"Clean that pile of old bottles, they're going to be on display for the Outer Rim Jedi display next week."

So Arran got to his desk and began to put the pieces of information about the vase together. He figured out that the vase was about 17,000 years old and that it was from a tribal shaman from the native planet. He then filled out an info card and brought it to Professor Vurim. "Where do I put this?" Arran asked.

"Archives." Responded the Professor with a sigh, "That's in the downstairs vault. The passcode is 9876."

Arran nodded, "Should I wrap this up?"

"Just stick in the box." Professor Vurim said handing him a box.d

Arran put it in and went to the elevator. He pushed the button and it lowered itself to the story quickly. The doors opened and Arran stepped in to find two Security Guards. They got off on the 13th floor and the elevator went down again. It opened and he found himself looking at a large metal vault door with two armed guards next to it, they both had Theed S 5 Security Pistols. They kept close watch on him as he entered the passcode into the door. Arran entered it and gears whirred all around and it opened to reveal a gianormous hallway. It went on for at least 10,000 yards. Arran looked and saw filing cabinets, boxes, shelves, records, vehicles, machines, all organized on shelves. All were covered in dust, but as Arran went on he found more aisles, more items, and finally found a row completely dedicated to pottery.

Arran put the box inbetween two others and returned through the long stretch of archives. Arran continued his way down and finally made it to the elevator. After that Arran cleaned artifacts, organized paperwork, wrote letters, reviewed checks, and all sorts of average duties. Arran would repeat this for half a year longer then be promoted from apprentice to archaeologist. He maintained a key role of the museum in discovering old temples, ancient ruins of cities, Jedi and Sith artifacts, and much more. When Arran had worked for the museum for one full year he was transferred to the Galactic Museum to study outer rim cultures.

The Galactic Museum
To Be Written...

Beginning as an Author
To Be Written...

Coruscant Uprisings
To Be Written...

Firefight on Apartos
To Be Written...

Archaeology on Mandalore
To Be Written...

Journey To Apathos
To Be Written...



.

The Battle of Khyber Ridge
The Republic was low on Clones during the beginning of the Clone Wars and temporarily drafted a small amount of humans living on Coruscant Arran was one of them, he arrived at the Kurbil Suramax Training Camp on the second day into the military. Arran had no large rank among the soldiers he met, he had no desire to talk to them during his quick week of training. Commander Richards commanded the camp and told Arran it normally took four weeks for offical training but Arran was already experienced enough. Khyber pass was located around the heavily fortified jungle of Kabule. Kabule was occupied by a militia group of hundreds of men and was to be swiftly taken and destroyed. If the area were taken all ant-aircraft fire would cease upon ships flying low into the city.

Arran was in the hangar of the republic ship, "Kroatia" a day later. As the ship approached the jungle he ate a snack he had made earlier with supplies brought from home. He was staring out into space, minutes from leaving when something whipped by. And then another, and another. He noticed they were militia ships. He heard explosions later and loud gunfire. He dropped his snack, whipped on his pack and helmet and got in his gunship. When the gunship left the hangar of the ship, the noise was louder than it had been inside.

Static went through his helmet. He was looking through a crack in the gunship when he saw a transport next to him get hit by a missile. It blew into flames and he heard over his communicator a yell. Then only silence came through it. He had no idea how large the space battle was, but he believed he wouldn't want to be one of the men piloting one of the ships in the battle. The explosions got louder as the transport whizzed by an allied enemy ship. Gunfire almost blinded him from outside when the doors opened. They were still in space.



Arran saw the pressure level drop in his helmet as they neared the surface. Anti-aircraft whizzed by as he gripped his weapon. He heard more and more static through his helmet. The light above him turned red. He let go of the hook above him and gripped his weapon. The ship slowed over the jungle, there was no room to land over the forest. The man next to him jumped, he felt a shove on his back and followed.

He found himself shaken but got up. He looked up to see lasers fire above him and transports all around. Five men still remained in the transport above him, he stood back and watched them get a running start. Then a missile hit it and it was blown into large chunks of twisted metal. The man who was about to jump was thrown into the air like a rag doll and hit the ground so hard Arran heard a snap in the back of his armor. Arran ran over to the wreck and found all the men buried under debris or turned to pieces.

He got his pack and set out towards enemy lines. He saw some gunships head that way. Along the way he spotted the soldier who jumped before him laying next to a tree with multiple black marks from a sniper rifle in him. Sniper fire than rang out all around Arran, he hid behind a tree but encountered fire there as well. He scattered back and forth. He then spotted where it was coming from, a large tree near him. He threw a grenade under the tree. It caused it to explode and fall sideways slowly. A militia sniper fell out and Arran shot him.

Arran then went onwards avoiding small pits fiilled with sharp poison covered sticks the militia had put out. He took one and put it in his pack as a souvenir. He went onwards and once and a while looked up to spectate the battle raging above him. He then heard footsteps. He hid behind a tree and watched as two militia men armed with light one shot hunting rifles stopped right in front of him. He grabbed his rifle but closely watched them before shooting them.

Two more came next to them, Arran knew it was a bad decision to shoot now. His mind raced to decided what to do. He made sure he still had his pistol. He waited one more second as the men spoke in their foreign language. He then ran out and blasted three of the men easily, the next fired a round at Arran and then pulled out a large machete. He swung at Arran left and right abandoning his rifle. Arran pulled out his pistol and shot the man.

Arran kept on wandering until he came across a wire, was it Republic or Militia? He followed the wire until someone jumped onto him and cuffed their hand over his mouth. A Republic trooper showed himself to Arran and asked, "What gunship are you with?" Arran was stunned for a moment, it seemed to be Commander Richards. "I'm Arran Slarglide, im with the D.C. gunship."

"Good to see you Arran, I'm glad you made it, my gunship was overwhelmed with fire and now only I remain.  We need to make it to line B, that is, if it still remains."

"Line B?" said Arran, "I thought they canceled that."

"They did, but since line A was destroyed we had to result to using the lower Khyber pass."

"Thats the most open area there can be!"

"It is, but line A was rigged with mines, they knew we would try to set up an offense there."

"Let's get going then," said Arran, "We have no time to lose."

Arran and Commander Richards set out to line B, Arran and Richards recieved no resistance on the two hour hike they went on to get there. They neared the sound of gunfire and ran that way, they saw small trenches being bombed to bits and Republic troops hiding behind trees and scattered in an unorganized manner. Arran and Richards ran towards the trench. A soldier with an unusual helmet greeted them, it had blue starts on the sides, and a red target on the front. "We though you were dead Commander!" he yelled loudly.

"I'm fine, but these troops don't seem like it." At that moment a rocket came down from the road nearby and hit a small entrenchement causing a medic to leap out of the trench and run to it.

"As you can see were not.  The mortar and rocket fire has progressed, only 900 out of 2,000 made it here."

Arran stood next to Richards, "With respect, why not try a side approach as a distraction?"

"What's your name?" Said the soldier.

"Arran Slarglide."

"Well Mr.Slarglide, your sure as heck lucky to be alive with thinking like that.  If we tried that strategy we would be destroyed by machine gun emplacements and a tank right over there."

"How are you so sure?" Arran asked, "It might be possible."

"Why don't you risk being blown to bits genius?"

Arran stood there silent. The trooper then turned back to Commander Richards.

"We should try for a frontal approach, thats the only choice we have."

"Without any suppressive fire from behind?"

Arran noticed Commander Richards take his helmet off and let his white teeth flash in the moonlight. This obviously was an intimidation tactic he used once and a while.

"Who would command the snipers?"

"I would, I'm qualified to do so." Said Commander Richards.

"Who would lead the attack then?"

"You would, and Mr.Slarglide here is a Corporal so he would take the left flank while you assigned Jennings to the right, if hes still alive."

The soldier contemplated this for a moment. Arran stared into the cold blackness of the visor area of his helmet.

He nodded. "You better organize the snipers then, sir."

Arran stood by the soldier. He took out a pair of binoculars and surveyed the battlefield. He put them down after a minute. "Can''t see a darn thing!" Arran started to talk but was stopped quickly. "All I want you to do is overpower the machinegun nests, and take out that long line of militia men armed with rifles.  They're shooting the heck out of our men in the trench over there." He pointed to his left, "Got it?" Arran nodded.''

Arran had to jump out of the trench and run 10 feet, and jump into another nearby. He clutched his rifle close, and then when the fire stopped for a split second he ran, fire rang out and hit the plants and dirt around him, a machine gun plowed a field of bulletholes past his feet. Arran dove into the trench and landed in it, almost crushing a troop next to him. He announced he would be leading the left forward attack on the Khyber pass. The men accepted him greatfully and all got ready.

Arran was waiting patiently for the flare to go up and had his rifle equipped. His men had arranged footholes in the sides of the trenches to exit from. A hissing sound came overhead immediately. A loud explosion immediately followed and Arran charged over the top. Enemey fire plowed the men around him down and yells were heard. A mortar went off nearby and then a shot was fired that came close to his foot. A blur of color went in front of him but he kept running, a loud blast knocked the hearing out of his right ear. He kept running until he could see Khyber pass.

He fired his weapon into the defenses and his men jumped over the defenses destroying the militia men, a machine gun was pointed towards his men and plowed down many, now the middle group joined them and they found in the bloody battle with huge effort. Arran shot a commander with his rifle and tackled a rifleman and fought with him for two minutes. Arran eventually saw someone shoot him from behind. Arran ordered for an advance on the machine gun and soon it was overtaken and the men around it dead.

Republic soldiers swarmed around Khyber pass and took it over completely within five minutes. Arran and two men ran to the center of the road to see two men running away. They targeted and shot both. Arran then retreated back to the captured area. He found that Commander Richards was dead and the other soldier he had met earlier as well. Arran was then was relieved of his duty a day later and was thanked for helping the attack.

Expedition to Simocadia
After being dismissed from the Republic Arran became facinated with The galaxys history and the many secrets it held. He wrote two books on the subject and quickly made a trip to Simocadia. Simocadia had currently been occupied by the droid army but the Republic had chased it away for drilling. According to local myths giant robots were used to destroy cultures and wreck worlds about a 1000 years ago on the planet. One giant stone robot was found a week before Arran's arrival. He went to spectate it and took and speeder to the site where it was unearthed. The military immediately halted Arran and made him turn back.

While driving away Arran heard a rumble and turned back immediately, now no guards remained at the post and he could hear a great rumble. He noticed then a tradeship that was flying away. Arran thought it was odd. He then looked to his left and saw a giant stone robot moving about crushing the guards around it. The stone robot killed all the men in one stomp and climbed out of its pit. Arran turned his speeder around and got the heck out of there. Clones advanced towards the site, dozens and dozens at a time.

The clones were crushed easily. Arran wasn't foolish and rushed to the capital city to find it had been secured and guards were running about. The Ardana Shadex was getting closer and closer. Grenades and small lasers did nothing to the indestructable beast. Arran saw a capital ship fly over it and a man drop out. The robot had now torn down the capital wall and was advancing inside. Arran stayed to watch. The Ardana Shadex stopped, it seemed to stand still. Then a screech was heard inside and fire exploded from its inside.

It collased backwards. The defenders of the capital advanced on it with caution and secured it. Arran later found out that the beast had been woken by Prince Yojan of Simodcadia and was mean't to be used as a defender. Prince Yojan then fled in a tradeship from the site when it was accidently activated. Prince Yojan made the brave decision to dive into it to shut it down easily, by doing so he killed himself.

Arran attended Prince Yojan's funeral and watched as all his loyal subjects gathered to mourn him. Arran found himself upset that such an accident could happen and decided to cancel his third book. He instead went to Coruscant to relax a bit at his apartment and think things over.



Fighting For The Republic
To Arran's amazement one day he met a friend of Icepicks at a business meeting that had to do with stocks. His name was Ponds and Ponds remembered Arran very well and was surprised to see him too. He told Arran that when he went missing the whole mob was searching for him. They suspected he had fallen into a canal or had been kidnapped and gave up the search. Arran explained everything about the fake republic and Studio 54 and everything he could.

Ponds asked if Arran was had ever Joined the true Republic and Arran replied with a no. Ponds encouraged Arran to still join and that they may need a strategist or just plainly out a soldier. Arran explained to Ponds that he must not know very much about the war since they only fought with clones. Ponds told Arran to enroll in a special program that could help him join even if he was human. Arran thanked Ponds and remained in contact with him.

Arran still thought Ponds was mistaken but when he looked up the program it was very interesting to Arran. Arran joined the division by using his computer, he quickly filled out the forms sent to his home and recieved a ticket to a shuttle leaving for Kamino. Arran packed up his knifes, blasters, and any sort of tool that he many need. He even brought a journal with him. Arran boarded the large worn down shuttle to Kamino. They took all his bags and searched them well. They were shocked to find so many weapons and knifes. He immediately gained a reputation at that point even though all his weapons were confinscated. He was still allowed his knifes.

Arran found that shuttle grey and white with ugly black seats made out of a sort of plastic. The soldiers around him seemed to be around their 30s or 40s. The youngest person he could find was a tall quiet teenager with slicked back black hair. His teeth were absolutely perfect and Arran guessed he had been forced to come by his relatives or something of that manner. Arran wrote in his journal about it,

All the people around me seem ready for combat, or at least more ready than I am. They seem to be armed with frying pans and transistor radios. It was ridiculous of me to think that this journal and a few pocket knifes would be enough to amuse me. I'll have to carve something out of some wood, although I doubt they'll have any at Kamino. I'm getting a bit hungry, I think I'll take out an energy bar. The lads around me seem to be rather bored. They just finished escorting people on the transport. My seat is really rather uncomfortable. It feels like some sort of test seat they would use for mechanized dummies to test speeders. Time to put this aside, I guess the shuttle it taking off. The shuttle departed quickly and there was no talk among the soldiers. When the soldiers were free to move around the cabin non did so. Arran took out a chewy bar and ate it quickly. The kid with the black hair next to him asked, "You wouldn't happen to have any of those to spare?" Everyone in the room stared at Arran anxiously waiting for an answer. Arran replied, "Yes, but just one." That was obviously a lie, he had about a dozen in his pack. He reached in and gave one to the kid.

After that the room exploded with voices, it seemed that the kid asking for the snack had broken the ice. The kid smiled knowing he had done that and showed off his white teeth again. "So whats your name?" Asked Arran.

"It's Tobin."

"Tobin doesn't quite fit you, how about Toby?"

"I dissagree with that name but if it makes you feel better you can call me it." Toby shrugged.

"I'm sorry if I offended you."

"It's not a big deal, I get worst stuff then that where I live."

"And where would that be?"

"Lower Coruscant."

Arran eyebrown shot up. "I lived around lower Coruscant."

"Really?"

"Of course, quite a few people live there.  My name is Arran."

"Nice to meet you Arran."

"So what makes you want to join the military, Toby?"

"My parents, my father wanted me to make some extra money." Toby looked at the floor.

"Trust your father, if you get a good job in the military you can make quite a bit."

"Really?" Toby asked Arran,  "Your not just lieing?"

"I swear."

Toby smiled a bit. "And how did you get involved in this?"

Arran replied, "I always wanted to fight for the Republic but never got around to it, now seemed like a great time."

Toby sighed, "I'm afraid you could not be more wrong, the rate of clone deaths has gone up just this month."

"True, but thats just why we're needed, clones may be able to cooperate well, but they all think alike. They don't even closely resemble a true army."

"I suppose your right. I think I'll be taking a nap until we reach Kamino. Wake me up when were close."

Toby fell asleep and hours passed soon. Arran had failed to mention to Toby that the trip to Kamino would be two days. Eventually everyone fell asleep except for Arran who was reading a book he brought with him. Arran was bored from reading the book, it seemed that it was continuing at a rather steady and boring pace and just talked of some random mans believes about the war.

Arran opened his windown to reveal a scattered array of space debris. He was amazed about this since one of the pieces of debris was half of an old partially wooden ship. He guessed it to be thousands of years old, he took out his pocket computer and marked the quordinates. He looked at the ship until it was out of view. A few minutes later Arran fell asleep.

When he woke up he noticed that everyone around him had a chewy bar. He looked into his pack and found they were all gone. He stared at everyone. Toby cracked up in laughter. Arran yelled until his throat got soar and he was exhausted. Then he sat down. Toby wasn't at all upset about Arran yelling at him, it seemed he told everyone on the shuttle that Arran had told Toby to pass them out.

Arran forgave Toby and fell asleep of exhaustion. Arran woke up to see everyone exiting the shuttle. He grabbed his pack and almost tripped on the exit ramp. The men were greeted by an ARC trooper. Arran couldn't make out what he said since he was so tired. Then everyone followed the trooper into the building and was given a full tour. The ARC trooper could obviously see Arran was tired.

When Arran paused for a minute to yawn the ARC trooper took advantage of it. He stormed right past the men to the back of the line. He seemed a bit taller than all the other clones he had seen. "Is this boring to you?"

"No... sir." Arran held in a yawn.

"Are you tired?" The ARC asked in a sharp tone.

"Yes, a little..."

"Then you made a dumb decision to either stay up on the transport or to sleep too long.  Is that correct?"

"Yes, sir." Arran straightened up a bit.

The ARC slapped him and Arran put his hand up to rub his face. The ARC continued the tour for two hours. Arran was constantly rubbing his face, he felt like Kamino was going to be like a huge unstable mountain that he would have to climb. He already had a reputation on the first day.

Training on Kamino
Arran and the men with him made up Charles Squadron. Charles Squadron commemorated a gentleman who was a human and had been with the Republic a month before and took out quite a few droids until a bomb got stuck on him. Arran found the name of the squadron as a creepy reminder that he someday would die, combat or not. Arran learned that Charles Squadron had 8 members, Vassilar, Shade, Toby, Moscive, Rycar, Arran, Demo, and Craig. Arran and Craig immediately started talking since Craig had been a law enforcement agent before he joined.

Arran also talked to Vassilar and found out that he was pretty much just a regular guy who decided to join for some action. The rest were busy unpacking. Arran wrote in his journal,

Vassilar is an absolute genius when it comes to strategic experience. He can also pick just about any lock since he worked at an arcade and the machines always got jammed. Craig says hes good with a blaster and can shoot bottles off trash cans from about 100 yards. Hes a good artist too. I heard the other chaps talking and some of them have never even touched a gun. I wonder how long they would last in combat.

The next day Arran woke up to the sound of an ARC Trooper barking his head off. "Non of you will last a darn minute if your that slow!" Arran got down from his bed.

"All of you are required to pick a weapon and be trained with the weapon, if you fail with that weapon your given another and another and so on until you get the correct weapon.  Luckily there are only four weapons."

"You," he pointed to Vassilar, "Come on!"

Vassilar returned back with a DC-15 Rifle. ARC Trooper Colt gestured for Toby to come back. Tody came back with a DC-15 Rifle as well. Shade came back with a DC-15 Carbine. Arran waited patiently until him and Craig were the only ones left. "You," Colt pointed a gloved finger towards Arran, "Come with me."

As Arran and Colt walked down a long glass hallway Colt turned to Arran. "All your friends got the cheap weapons." Arran nodded. "I certainly hope you get something good." Colt led Arran to a long room. "No target practice today I'm afraid," he pointed to a chair. "You'll be taking a test." Arran sat down and, a question popped up.

1. How do you spend your spare time?

A. Talking and joking

B. Strategizing

C. Practicing

D. Exploring

Arran contemplated all of them, he then chose B.

2. What do you prefer?

A. Accurate but not quite portable

B. Light, quick, and deadly

C. Heavy and Destructive

D. Light and manueverable

Arran picked B.

3. Who are you?

A. A leader

B. A troublemaker

C. A writer

D. A pilot

Arran picked A. Then the computer processed the information, then said,

CLICK FOR LAST STEP

Arran clicked it. He saw eight names come up, each in Charles Squadron. He picked his. The computer said,

PROCESSING FILE

DETERMINING WEAPON



LOADING...

DC-17S BLASTER PISTOLS CHOSEN, CONGRATULATIONS

ARC Trooper Colt looked at the screen, "You picked all the questions exactly as I thought you would.  And your file checked out perfectly.  Your going to be admired by the others in your group." He went over to a table and handed Arran the pistols. They both had silencers on them. "Thank you." Arran said, "I appreciate it." Arran and Colt walked back to the Charles Squadron barrack area.

All the men of Charles Squadron stared at Arran. Arran felt rather akward in such a position. He put his pistols in his bag. Colt watched the whole thing until he seemed to remember why he was there. "You," he finally pointed to Craig, "Come on." When Craig left Arran wrote in his journal,

"The DC-17s is usually used by leaders, I feel ridiculous with the weapon since I haven't even been in training.  I suppose it makes me look like a leader right off the bat.  Everyone is staring at me while I write.  Shade is giving me the creeps since I guess he's jealous.  This is really freaking me out big time."

Arran sat there and wrote in his journal until Craig returned with a bag and a DC Rifle. He went and sat by Arran. "I want all of you to look up to those gentlemen over there, it seems that Arran recieved the pistols, which are a symbol of leadership.  Craig recieved demolitions expert.  Someday your life will depend on them." Craig tensed up. "I'll be leaving you gentlemen alone now.  Training starts in two hours."

Arran walked out with his pistols, he walked down a long hallway passing by clones. Arran felt like the cooridoors led on forever. He finally entered into a large room. He assumed it was target practice. A blue screen was projected in front of him.

WELCOME RA-798045

READY TO START SIMULATION?

Arran had no idea who RA-798045 was but he clicked start anyways. The room started to resemble a close sketch of a city. Arran watched it become more real. The building were smeared with charcoal and a droid bomber flew over him. He took out his blasters.

EQUIP VIRTUAL ARMOR

Arran saw a phase 2 set of armor appear before him. He equipped it.

MISSION: Q SQUADRON IS BROKEN BY DROID FIRE, ALL ARE DEAD EXCEPT YOU. SURVIVE. IF YOU CONTINUE MAKE IT TO HEART OF CITY. CLICK START.

Arran clicked start, the screen evaporated. Then he slowly heard the clank of droids. He readied a grenade and pulled a sheet of metal in front of him. The droids rounded the corner. B2s. They fired lasers at him. He hid under the metal. He knew it wouldn't deflect bullets. He jumped up and shots rounds randomly at the droids. He remembered the battle in the Nova Wars. He hit three out of six. One propelled a rocket towards him. He threw back a grenade in retalliation.

He ran into a burned building and saw the rocket continue down the street until an explosion was heard. He jumped out again and fired five shots. They all landed on one droid. It hit it once, twice, then three times and then twice more. It fell down head first. Then the last two rained fire on him. The then shot at a sign hanging overhead one, it slammed against the droid propelling it into a metal pole. Arran fired multiple shots at the last one.

He went over and kicked one, it was a very realistic simulation. He heard unusual noises behind him. He turned to see something dash down a street. He fired shots at it, all missed. He reloaded his pistols quickly and shot again at it. Then something grabbed his neck, he whipped himself forward throwing whatever was attacking him onto the street. He shot it with his pistol in the head. Then he was attacked from the side. He recognized it then as a commando droid.

The droid had a long steel saber and thrust it towards Arran's head. He moved his head left and right. He grabbed the droids arm on the eighth try. He twisted it and it made a screeching noise. He then grabbed his pistol that had fallen about a foot from him and shot it in the chest twice. He threw it off him and ran into an abandoned building. He waited to hear droids. After five minutes he heard nothing.

He studied his surroundings, it seemed that in the simulation a battle had taken place before he arrived, he saw scattered clones. One clutched his chest in an uncomfortable position. He had a saber sticking out of him that a commando droid would carry. Arran also saw a clone on a speeder that had crashed into a wall. The clone was now slouched on his seat. And there were about two dozen others who were just normally lieing on the ground. Arran grabbed a rifle from one of the dead trooper and took his ammo.

He walked down the ruined street. He saw two droids standing near a blown up store. He fired a shot but was distracted by a wizzing noise. He looked up to see bombs falling down. Arran saw a huge blinding light and then blackness.

MISSION FAILED

PROCESSING INTEL...

80 PERCENT ACCURACY

WELL DONE

SIMULATION COMPLETE

Arran went out of the room and saw Commander Colt staring at him. It was hard to tell what he was thinking through his black visor. Arran was plainly out never good at reading expressions anyway, why start now? "You did a fair job." Colt stared at him. "Did you know that simulation is off limits to everyone except for ARC troopers?" Arran tried to seem extremely surprised but couldn't force that expression. "No." Colt sighed, "Well at least now I know I can send you out to combat early. You don't need any training according to the score you got. Thats as good as a low ranking ARC would get."

"Really?" Arran said. "Really." replied Colt, "Get your stuff packed, you may be leaving in two days." Arran's emotions were very jumbled up. What if he got killed? Is his score a good thing? Will he be an ARC? Would he leave in two days? Colt turned around as he was leaving, "You missed training. Charles Squadron did terrible." Arran just smiled.

Leaving for Combat
Arran packed all of his stuff and anxiously told everyone what happened. Nobody believed him except for Craig and Toby. Craig congratulated Arran. Toby did the same. Arran told them he may be leaving in two days.

"Aren't you worried about the possibility of you being killed?" Craig asked, "It's dangerous fighting against droids."

Arran sighed. "I thought that, but if the simulator was correct its relatively easy."

"Only for you though." said Toby, "I haven't shot a single weapon in my life."

"You'll pick up on it soon." replied Arran, "It doesn't take too long."

"I'm going to go eat, I'll see you guys later." Said Craig standing up.

"Same here, I'm hungry."

Arran stayed at the squadron barracks. He ate a chewy bar he had forgotten he had put in his pocket. He looked around for his journal but couldn't find it. Arran then crawled up to his bed and took a nap. He woke up the next morning to discover that everyone else had left. Colt stared at him. Arran immediately recognized that he used that as an intimidation tactic. "Come down, I have something to give to you." Arran climbed down from his bed. Colt reluctantly handed him a small envelope.

"I also have your gear and some paint if you want it." Arran took the gear. "Thank you, do you want me to return the paints?" Colt thought about what Arran had said. "No, your helmet might need repainting when your in rough combat. Plus its good to keep tally marks on it for each week or whatever you want to keep track of." Arran nodded and sat at his seat and painted the the helmet. He thought about something that would resemble him. He painted two crossing swords on it and a lions head in the middle. He painted two red triangles on the sides of it and then a flaming 19 on it.

He then painted a red stripe again on the small uprise on his helmet. He felt finished and packed the paints in his pack. Colt walked behind Arran, "Thats an interesting helmet." Arran nodded. "Oh by the way," he pulled out a knife, "you left this on the transport. I would want mine back if I were you." Arran took the knife, "I appreciate it, this is my favorite one." Colt nodded. "A man always needs his knifes, I have a backpack full or 'em." Colt smiled, "My favorites are the souvenirs I get from the enemies." Colt paused a minute, "But don't tell anyone that, all the commando droid weapons are suppose to be recycled." Arran laughed, "Who would I tell?" Colt laughed, "I'll see you on your shuttle tomorrow."

Arran had a restless sleep that night. He made sure he had all of his pocket knifes twice. But no matter how hard he looked he couldn't find his journal. Then Arran remembered the letter and pulled it out. It only had a few sentences on it.

Departure: 0500 hours

Destination: Neimodia

Objective: Destroy Capital and Banking District

Trooper,



You have been chosen to participate in a top secret strike on the higher area of Cato Neimodia. You will operate stealthily and without hesitation. Kill anyone who gets in your way. Take no hostages. And under all circumstances COMPLETE THE MISSION.

Arran finished the letter but continued to stare at it. He hated the idea of attacking Cato Neimodia under cloak and dagger circumstances. Arran wondered what Cato Neimodia looked like in person. He knew it was constructed of bridges and sky cities and knew that the high class could make the lower classes miserable with a snap of their fingers. Cato Neimodia's Banking District supplied the Seperatists with all its money. Arran put the letter away, he decided to paint his helmet more, he added a knife on the side and some dark red on the lower area.

Arran fell asleep and woke up to the sound of yelling. Colt was below his bed. "Come on darn it!" Arran grabbed his gear and quickly put it on. He rushed down the halls with Colt. "This must have fallen out of you pocket during the training simulation." he handed Arran his journal, "Thank me later." He said. Arran and Colt finally entered into the Kamino hangar. A shuttle waited with five other men in it. "Good luck!" Yelled Colt as Arran ran into the shuttle. Arran yelled thank you to Colt but Colt probably couldn't hear it since the shuttle door was closing.

Arran buckled into his seat and wrote in his journal,

Now here I am. Who would have thought I would be in a shuttle with a couple of commandos and three ARCs. Only four days on Kamino. Let alone I'm the only human on the shuttle. It's an odd feeling. All the clones around me are ignoring me. One just asked me why the heck theres a "Coruscant Journalist" on the shuttle. I guess this is going to be a hard mission. I wonder if I'll see that wooden space wreck on the voyage. I did some looking up on that and it's not recorded at all. I want to learn more about that. Well, I think I'll be eating a chewy bar now. It's a long road ahead.

Arran pulled out his chewy bar, he ate it quietly. "You really are a misfit aren't you?" said a commando. "Aren't we all?" Arran responded. The commando next to him cracked up in laughter. "He has a point." All the ARCs looked at Arran. One sighed took his helmet off. Arran saw that he had a very interesting hair style. He had a combover, very uncommon for clones. Arran wanting to break the ice said, "You have a taste when it comes to hair styling." The room got very silent. "You may not know this, so I'm letting you know it now. You will NEVER adress my hair or I will break your arms and legs and use you for target practice."

Arran stayed quite the whole trip after that. He ate another chewy bar and thought things over, why would someone get so mad about hair? Arran decided to let the question go and check the stocks. He pulled out his computer and started typing. The lead commando "Fili" grabbed it from him in seconds. "No computers, they could be used as tracking devices." "Will I get it back?" asked Arran, "Because I really need that." Fili stared at him. "No it's being ejected into space." Fili ran over to the small ejection chamber and shoved the computer in it. "NO STOP! I NEED THAT FOR RESEARCH!" Fili hit the eject button and Arran's computer went into space never to be seen again.

Arriving at Station VML
Arran heard a slight ping after about an hour, that mean't an announcement was being made from the cockpit. "We would like to advise all of you gentlemen to take off you helmets as well as plug your ears.  Were going to be arriving at Station VML in exactly 10 seconds." Arran was confused. "Whats station VML?" He noticed everyone had plugged their ears. All of a sudden a surge of electricity went through Arran's ears and they were filled with lound dots and dashes and screams and explosions. He fell out of his seat onto the ground filled with pain. It all ended with a loud ringing noise that seemed to go on for an eternity.

When it ended Fili got up and kicked Arran when he was on the floor. "Get up, you sure as heck have a lot to learn." Arran got up still stunned from the explosions and noises. "My gosh that was terrible!" Fili laughed. "How come nobody told me about that!?" "Probably because only ARCs and Commandos are allowed that info and its highly classified." All the other ARCs and Commandos smiled at Arran. "Well what the heck was it?" Fili sighed, "Electric pulsing sonar, radar, and defense system. It shouldn't take you very long to figure out that all of those were stray radio signals."

Arran sat down in his seat. "Were going to be approaching Station VML in just a few seconds, if you loved that little treat you'll love the place itself." An ARC laughed at that. Arran didn't find it very funny and still had a severe headache. Arran felt the shuttle pass through a ray shield. Then he felt it land. A ping was heard over the announcements, "Welcome to Station VML, please make sure all luggage is taken with you off the shuttle." Arran then saw a huge base with the biggest radio tower he had ever seen on it. "My gosh!" He said, "Thats huge!" Fili sighed, "Your the only person I've seen get excited over that, you should see the inside."

Arran followed everyone inside, after passing through the giant concrete and iron walls they all entered an elevator. "Only 34 floors to go..." said Fili, "One floor a second." Arran knew Fili was just saying that to make Station VML seem all the more amazing but Arran couldn't help wonder if it were true. After 34 seconds they all got off. "Welcome gentlemen," Said a man wearing a fleet commander uniform, "If you could follow me I would be glad to escort you to the briefing room.

Arran and the others entered a pitch black room. Then a blue screen appeared. A man wearing a navy uniform was projected onto a screen. "Welcome to Station VML. One of the most secure bases and radio transmitting stations in the galaxy. The Republic has had VML in service for 180 years now and it has remained hidden from public eye ever since. An estimate it that only 700 people know about VML and we wish for that to stay as it is." Fili smiled and looked at Arran. The man continued, "VML specializes in recovering failed ships and testing carbon powered or prototype weapons. What you heard on your way here was our greatest weapon. The E.P.S.R.D.S. you will not be told anything about this weapon and nor will you tell anyone about it.  Currently we have been working on extreme weapons developement and you men will be testing some of our most extreme weapons on the planet of Cato Neimodia."

A picture of a test city appeared on to screen. "Watch carefully," The man said. A clone trooper in extreme padding came out with a large gun with a leather strap around it and a wide barrell. He fired the gun and a laser came out of it. The laser went directly towards the city and caused the destruction of three makeshift fake wooden test buildings. "You gentlemen won't be using that weapon but test lasers, these are more accurate than ever and include a bayonet that comes out in the front and a rations bar that can be removed in case of starvation."

"It also come with the scatter bomb effect where you can deploy three small grenades that are about 1 inch big. You can blow up a house with these." The man smiled and held up the weapon to the screen. "You all will be given this weapon and will use it in training twice a day." The screen went away and almost nobody except Arran was interested in this. The man in the navy uniform who had escorted them there turned on the lights and told them to come with him. Arran and the ARCs and Commandos followed the man until they reached a barrack room. "Enjoy your stay gentlemen."

The man left and everyone got comfortable. Arran got out his knifes and counted them while everyone else pulled out funny looking devices. Fili had an explosive charge that had just about 20 red wires hanging out of the side of it and 20 blue wires hanging out the other side. He pulled a timer out of his pack and started attaching it to the wires. Arran watched this in interest and wanted to ask him what it was for but kept on counting and sharpening his knifes. Arran got hungry and noticed a box with the words directions on it. He opened the box and took out a map.

He followed the map until he got to a room labeled "Mess Hall" he went in and found that no food was being served. He noticed a vending machine in the corner of the room and inserted 5 credits into it. The machine wouldn't give him his money back nor a chewy bar. He punched the machine until a small crack was put it in. He decided to take out his knife and pry the door off. "Hey you!"

A Navy officer approached Arran, "What the heck are you doing?" Arran put away his knife. "The machine took my money so I punched it multiple times and then tried to pry the door off with a knife." Arran showed the officer his knife. "Well I have to be honest, I was expecting an execuse. I really can't get after you about anything except for destruction of military property." Arran thought for a minute. "How much would it cost to repair the machine?" Arran asked, "All I have is 50 credits." The officer thought for a minute. "Do you have anything I can buy from you?" Arran took out an extra military surplus knife. "I can sell you this for 50 credits, would that be enough to pay for the machine?"

The officer took the knife and looked at it. "You kept this in very good condition, I'm guessing this is pretty old." Arran laughed, "Only about 80 years old." The officer agreed to buy it and took Arran's knife and money. Arran watched the officer walk away. "Hey wait!" said Arran, "Could you get me my 5 chewy bars!?" The officer laughed and went over to the machine, unlocked it, and gave Arran five chewy bars. Arran came back to the base and gave Fili and the others each a chewy bar, he explained the trouble he went through. Fili and the others laughed. Arran then went to sleep in his new barracks.

Training
"This is what a Neimoidian looks like." said Officer Williams, "Rather cowardly creatures, but don't let them decieve you. They'll do anything to survive. Kill you, trick you, and hold you hostage." Arran stared at the screen Officer Williams was pointing to and sighed in a bored tone. Officer Williams wasn't skilled at teaching how to fight Neimoidians. In a matter of fact this was sounding more like propaganda than anything. Fili seemed bored out of his mind as well. When Officer Williams pointed towards a table in the corner of the room with prototype blasters on it everyone payed better attention.

"These are DC-17M sniper blasters. You've already been shown the purposes but now you actually get one, these have no am



mo in them, just a rations bar. No bombs." Officer Williams clicked the blue screen, "All of you will be going through this training course. It's similar to Cato Neimoidia but only has droids. All of you are going into it right now. All of you can come up and grab your weapon right now, sniper mode is optional." Arran went up first and grabbed his weapon, it had an unusual feel to it and felt like something a commando should use.

Once everyone had a rifle Officer Williams told everyone to follow him. Everyone walked down the white narrow hallway and Officer Williams soon came to a white door. Officer Williams told everyone to be quiet and go in. Arran saw a hallway filled with clone training armor, he also saw a door at the end of the hallway. "Everyone get ready, were beginning a surprise training exercise."

Arran saw Fili shrug and a clone named Blighton next to him smile. They got the training armor on immediately and lined up by the door. Officer Williams sighed, "All of you are going to get shot at one point without a doubt, so make sure your ready for it. It feels like a sting from a wasp with a surge of electric." Arran got ready. "Ready, set..."

Arran ran out the door and droid fire rained on him, Fili followed and took the lead. Blighter scaled a wall and shot a B2 in the chest and shot two B1 droids. Arran concentrated his fire on a machine gunner droid in a tower but didn't knock him out. The droids hit an ARC behind Arran and he went down without making a sound. Arran hid behind a wall nearby and kept on trying to snipe the droid up there out. He knocked out the droids gun. The droid was defenseless and Arran shot it in its head. Arran turned to see a B1 approaching near Fili. He shot it.

Arran ran over to the open area where Fili was and helped him defend himself. Arran ran towards a wall for cover and saw Fili go down. Arran got his sniper barrel off and went rapid fire on the half a dozen droids who took out Fili, he suceeded until an ARC came up behind him. The ARC scared Arran. Arran almost shot him. The ARC was explaining how to make it up to the flag area when he was shot from behind. Arran saw only three men remained. Arran ran out to the open area of the field to order the men to regroup.

They all came to Arran, Arran ran behind some cover and the men followed. Arran told them to go try to get the flag while he covered them. Both were knocked out by droid machine gun fire. Arran shot at the droid until he hit it. Only two dozen droids remained. He ran out of his cover and a hail of lasers were around him. One hit him in his Arm and temporarily paralyzed it. He kept on running and didn't fire back, he made his way up the defenses of the flag and made his way to the top, he was shot in his leg and was inches away from the flag, then a droid shot him in his other leg. He reacted in a split second a rolled to his left to avoid more fire.

He grabbed the flag and it turned from red to green. Officer Williams ran out of the area where Arran had equipped his armor and scaled the bunker. All the droids had shut down and Arran could clearly see that Officer Williams thought he had done a good job. Officer Williams smiled and sat, "I have NEVER, ever seen anything like that!" Arran smiled and tried to speak, "That was an amazing first try!" Arran tried to speak a bit more, "And it was excellent team work too!" Arran finally sighed very loudly. "What is it?" Arran frowned, "Could you please take me to the infirmary, my legs are still paralyzed."

Arran and his friends were congratulated over and over again by Officer Williams, they trained twice a day everyday and the rounds got harder and harder. Sometimes Arran got the flags but most of the time it was Fili or an ARC named Crouch. Arran began to write more and more in his journal,

I feel as if we were to invade Cato Neimoidia only a few of us would make it out. I was knocked out in trainging today for the first time. Officer Williams was wrong it felt like a 1000 stings. I woke up in the infirmary. The training round in the afternoon was terrible. We tried a tactic where we would jump over the cover and advance in a straight line, we were all plowed down within seconds.

Specially modified stun grenades were given to us right after the training. There modified only to knock out droids, although they will hurt you eyes if you stare into the blast. I've got to get to the mess hall now. I'll be writing again tomorrow.

Preparing For The Attack
Officer Williams stood by the computer and readied it to project images upon the white, clean screen. A picture of a floating city appeared. "This is Cato Neimodia gentlemen." Officer Williams changed the picture. A marble building appeared with three guards patrolling around the area appeared. "This is the main bank in the Banking District. Your job is to not only blow this up, but blow the whole district up. It's exactly 4 by 17 miles all around." Fili smiled, "And how much dynamite would it take to blow the place up?"

Officer Williams sighed, "19 pounds of it." Arran wondered how many people would be in the Banking District when it blew up. Arran guessed it would blow a few fuses if some of the rich and wealthy of Cato Neimoidia were killed. Officer Williams continued on for about an hour. He explained that Fili and Crouch would snipe out the guards outside the bank and then the rest of the squadron would go in, Arran would stand guard while the two ARCs planted the explosives inside the vault.

Arran would also round up the Cato Neimoidian bank tellers and keep them in one corner of the bank to make sure they didn't sound off the alarm. Then they would exit the city causing as much chaos as possible, if everything went well the Banking District would explode and the bridge cables would snap and it would fall onto a small shipyard below. Arran thought about this long and hard while Officer Williams finished his presentation.

When it was done with he announced the attack would be in one day. He told everyone to get their weapons ready, he advised everyone to take pistols with them incase the prototypes failed. The prototypes failing had never occured to Arran and scared him quite a bit. He went back to the barracks and sharpened his knifes. He tested his bayonet on his gun and made sure it worked well. He was given a pack full of dynamite.

He couldn't take everything he wanted with him to Neimoidia so he just took his journal, knifes, a deck of cards and a book titled, "The Military Strategists Guide" then he shoved them all into the corners of his pack, he had a little bit of room so he put a flask filled with lemon juice in it.

Arran got into his bed after checking all his knifes, writing in his journal, and putting a yearly supply of pens in his pack as well. Arran had never really gotten to talk to Crouch. He always thought his armor was interesting ang tried to talk to him about it but didn't get a response. He hoped Crouch was a good sniper because his life depended on it for sure. He fell asleep after that.

The Attack on Cato Neimoidia
Arran and the others didn't have to be reminded to get up, Crouch was actually rather happy about going, Arran heard him speak for the first time, "Sniping Neimoidians is going to be easier that sniping droids." Arran laughed at that and so did everyone else. Once everyone had their armor on and everything was equipped, they left for their exiting shuttle. Arran made sure he had his sniper and his pistols, he took the sniping barrell off. He knew he might need rapid fire for the mission.

When the shuttle door closed everyone took their helmets off, this time Arran knew to plug his ears. It seemed like nothing had happened after a minute, Arran finally saw Fili nudge him to signal it was over. Arran saw a Republic Supply-class cruiser that they were approaching. The shuttle docked in it and the squad got out. They were greeted by Navy officers and some pilots, "Attention!" Arran fell into line in front of an officer. "You gentlemen have been chosen to take out a vital resource to the Separatists. If the Banking District in Cato Neimoidia falls the funds to the Seperatists will get smaller and less planets will join them." The Officer smiled, "We wish you men the best of luck. Please board the gunship to your left down that hall over there."

Arran and the ARCs and Commandos went down a hall and saw a huge camouflage gunship. "Wait a minute, we need to jump hyperspeed, for now you can wait on those benches over there." A Navy officer pointed towards black padded benches. They sat there for half an hour until the officer told them to get in the gunship. Arran took a drink of lemon juice and the gunship doors closed. The gunship left the hangar and Arran put away his flask, he loaded his weapon. "Now all of you troops know what free fall is correct!?" A clone practically yelled it, "Well a change of plan, thats what you'll be doing, but we're giving all of you small gliders!" The troop pointed to a box, he opened it and attached a glider to everyones armor.

"When that light turns red you jump, ok?!" He yelled again moving his hands and nodding his head as if everyone in the gunship were deaf. The doors opened and a second later the light turned red. "GO GO GO!" Fili jumped first, then Arran, then Crouch, then the ARCs. Arran's glider seemed to carry him towards the Banking District, he had never been in a glider before and found it extremely hard to steer. He saw Fili's glider take a dive downwards and then come back up in front of his. An ARC soared past him and seemed to be out of control, his glider whizzed past Fili's and went faster and faster towards the Banking Distrtict. Arran saw the ARC hit a wall.

When everyone landed Crouch ran over to the ARC. He checked for vital signs. "He broke his neck, it seems like only Grub and Arran will be going into the bank." Arran looked at Grub. Grub had gray slick armor and had certainly seen combat before. "Grub, show Arran the way into the city. Fili and I will be going to that tower over there, make sure we meet back here when the job is done. Grub gestured for Arran to follow. Arran and Grub ran through the city streets until a group of two guards was seen going down the street. Arran grabbed his silenced pistols and handed one to Grub. They took aim, Grub hit his in the head and Arran hit his in the neck.

The guards fell down without making a sound, Arran and Grub pulled them into an alley and continued. They spotted more guards but just avoided them by ducking into alleys. Grub and Arran finally made it to the main bank. Grub put his gun on automatic fire, Arran did the same, they waited 10 minutes. Finally a flash came from the tower above and Grub nodded to Arran. Arran got ready. Then sniper fire killed the four guards patrolling the cobbelstone streets. Arran and Grub decided not to pick any up and just entered the bank. A Neimoidian guard immediately aimed his rifle at Grub. Grub turned and blasted the Neimoidian with a few rapid fire laser shots.

Arran pointed his weapon to two Neimoidian droids and blasted them quickly, Arran motioned for the three rich Neimoidians to get in the corner, one complained they muttered things such as, "This is poposturous," or "You will not get away with his!" Arran jabbed one Neimoidian with his gun and he was quiet immediately. Arran opened his backpack and tossed the explosives to Grub one charge at a time. Grub finished and set the timer for 10 minutes. "What the heck do we do with them?" Arran said pointing his gun. Grub thought for a second, "Shoot em." Arran hesitated. "Please don't!" A Neimoidian said, "We will not disarm the explosives!" A heavy rain of fire came from beside Arran and killed all three Neimoidians in a violent way. "They were going to die anyway," Grub shrugged, "Come on!" Arran and Grub ran to the meeting area and met up with Fili and Crouch. "Wheres the gunship we need to get out of here!" Fili said, "How much time do we have?" Grub checked his timer, "50 seconds!"

Arran and the other anxiously waited, "It's not coming!" Said Fili, just then an explosion range out and Arran could see flames shoot up over the Banking District. "Grab hold of something, fast!" yelled Arran, "The bridge is splitting!" The bridge split in half and everything started falling downwards, the iron split in half and the bridge was slanting fast, Arran grabbed onto an iron lightpost. The ARC who had hit the wall fell downwards like a rag doll. "I'm losing my grip!" yelled Grub, "Somebody..." He fell right then and hit a building, Arran heard a loud crack when he hit it and imagined Grub's neck breaking in half. Grub then slid off the building and fell downwards. The bridge underneath the Banking District was immediately hit by the bridge and its bridge itself fell apart.

Arran glanced upwards and saw a Neimoidian on fire falling towards the ground screaming, he hit a lightpost and Arran saw more follow. Fili and Crouch held onto a metal vent. Arran saw Neimoidians screaming below as their city caught on fire and snapped in half. A Neimoidian guard fell but caught a grip on the same lightpost as Arran. He aimed his pistol at Arran with his one hand, Arran grabbed his gun and shot the Neimoidian several times. Then the suspensions on the bridge snapped and now they were freefalling, the city below them was in flames and as the humongous piece of concrete crushed Neimoidians below and flames drew closer to Arran he spotted a gunship. Arran saw it pull as close as it could to Fili and a clone reach for his hand. Fili got in the gunship. Then a massive explosion from a gas pipe came from below and Arran almost lost his grip, he climbed to the top of the lamppost and jumped. Crouch did the same and they got away just in time.

Arran and Fili as well as Crouch saw both cities collide and everyone in both be killed in a massive explosion, the concrete went plummeting to earth quickly. The doors of the gunship closed and Arran grabbed his flask, he took his helmet off and drank some lemon juice.

Founding Commando Squad 19


Arran was congratulated and made a commander, he was asked if he wished to be a commando but Arran denied this. He didn't wish to be an ARC trooper either. He decided he would found a squadron for Commandos though. He named it Squadron 19. He decided to ask Crouch and Fili if they wanted to join first. Arran soon gained a commando named "Sparks" as well and was soon promoted to Captain of the squadron. Arran had everyone stencil the squad symbol on their helmet or arm of their armor. Arran was satisfied with the end result of the insignia.

Squad 19 was often granted permission to train at Station VML and teach new clones techniques. Commando squad 19 was assigned a mission to the city of Dracae. Dracae had strategic importance to the Seperatists and was a supplier of ammunition and arms. The only way in Dracae was a sewer system, once Squad 19 was in the sewer system they would make it into the city and plant explosives inside it, the explosives would have a two hour timer on it, then they would go into the Dracae Command Center and kill all Dracae Officers and soldiers.

Dracae had a very little amount of droids, the city was protected by Dracaeans. They had highly dangerous weapons and would destroy anyone without hesitation. Arran was glad to find some harder targets to shoot at. He made sure his bayonet was ready. Now he wasn't dealing in droids. Arran helped Squad 19 review all manuevers and practice the plan. They would stay together as a a group and split up when they were in the Command Center. The Command Center only had two floors so it would be very easy to get in and get out and destroy the place. They would then exit in the sewers.

Attack On Dracae
DRACAE COMMAND CENTER 0500 HOURS

Captain Cherbanorzki looked at the computer, he saw a Republic Gunship near the outskirts of the city, "Zumbatz chebanarksi grotten!" He cried out in disbelieve. "Grotten Zundapp Republiq?" A Lieutenant asked if he could fire rockets on the gunship. The Captain thought for a minute, "Vinder Republiq zundapp kombatten!" The Captain ordered 5 missiles to be fired. He hoped that was enough, if there was only one Republic gunship it mean't trouble. "Kriegen Zundapp Grotten highur!" The Lieutenant pointed at the screen. The gunship was deploying missiles to hit the others. "Gorde schultz! Gorde schultz auch vinderheindlick!" All 2 dozen missiles were fired.

Captain Cherbanorski watched at the gunship went down and crashed near a pile of dud shells for droid guns. "Snell kombatten clune truupers?" The Captain asked if any clone troopers remained. "Krogen." The Lieutenant said non. "Sneden truupens krieo strombatten." He wanted a squad of soldiers to check for survivors just in case.

OUTSKIRTS OF DRACAE 0500 HOURS

The four clones were stained in soot when they one by one exited the burning twisted wreck. Arran looked to see if any pilots survived. He couldn't see anything. "Go check that out Fili." Fili looked into the broken glass, "There long gone sir. We couldn't have saved them if we tried our hardest." Arran checked to see if his weapon was on. "Nobody ever told me the outskirts of Dracae was a scrap pile of shells and destroyed war machines." said Sparks, "This place looks like it's been through quite a bit." Crouch nodded. "Well, we mine as well get to the sewers." Arran said, "I heard its a better vacation spot than this." Arran and Squad 19 continued for half an hour until they heard voices. Arran told them to get down behind a burned out droid tank.

They saw a half dozen Dracae soldiers armed with dark metal blasters. One had some sort of pipe sticking out of it. Arran knew those were well made weapons. They had unusual pipes running across their sides. Arran got out his bayonet, he signaled for the men to follow him. When they were directly behind the soldiers Arran ordered the men to charge. Arran fired multiple shots and hit one man, he then tried to bayonet another. Fili bayoneted one and then bayoneted another. The Dracae soldiers fired their weapons, they shot very straight but the Commandos were too quick. Crouch started sniping them off at close range, he shot one in the head, then another in the chest.

When they were all dead Arran looked around. He saw a camera droid hovering on a hill nearby. He pointed his finger at it. Crouch saw it and got an aim, he sniped it out of the air.

DRACAE COMMAND CENTER 0600 HOURS

Captain Cherbanorzki stared at the screen. He just witnessed a group of Republic Commandos slaughter his troops. "Zundapp..." he muttered, "Zat gundoren auren gundel?" He asked the Lieutenant if he could zoom the picture of the Commandos in. The Lieutenant zoomed in, a laser flew directly towards the screen. Captain Cherbanorzki saw static. He heard the door open up behind him, a red faced colonel was behind him. He turned to adress him. "Grotten auf sneidel steigen verdun deutych gramer stroyken!!!" Captain Cherbanorski heard the colonel say that they were out of camera droids. "Ralexan, clune truppens gret yuch vernor chanze." The colonel smiled. Captain Cherbanorski told him that night was soon approaching, and the monsters outside of the city were more dangerous than the troops on the inside.

OUTKIRTS OF DRACAE 0900 HOURS

"We've been at this for hours," Fili said, "we need to take set up camp!" Arran sighed and looked around, he saw a small shellhole and pointed towards it, "Let's set up over there." Arran and his troops trudged over to the shellhole, Crouch and Sparks set up tents and dragged jagged pieces of metal around it to camouflage it. "Thats a job well done!" said Sparks, "A Dracae soldier wouldn't even recognize that!" Fili took out his razor sharp shovel. He dug a small trench big enough for a man to sit down in. "A fair defense." Arran said. "It's not a defense, its for storage."

Arran decided not to put his supplies in the hole, he stood behind a chunk of iron, listening. He heard a loud cry and the sound of what seemed to him to be a thousand bottles being crushed. Arran saw a large green snake rise out of the trash and lunge, it sunk its teeth in a piece

of metal next to Arran. Arran yelled and shot multiple rounds into the snake. "Get up!" Arran yelled as he shot at the beast. Spark ran out and shot rounds at it, he hit it's eye. The Snake hissed. It lunged at Spark. Spark ran from the snake firing lasers at it. Arran yelled, "The only way were going to get the heck out of here is by running!" Fili and Crouch didn't even both to grab the supplies, they just grabbed the bag of charges and ran. Spark yelled, "I'll hold the snake off!" Arran yelled at him to follow but he ignored him.

Arran ran to try to pull Sparks away but was too late, the snake lunged at Sparks. However, Sparks threw a thermal detonator into the snakes mouth right in time to see the snake pause. Sparks waited. He could hear one last beep and the snake's head imploded and the blast knocked Sparks back. Soon Arran heard more hissing, he guessed there were more snakes, Sparks and him ran to Fili and Crouch. Fili, Crouch, Spark, and Arran ran as fast as they could, soon a giant iron pipe came into view.

They all ran in the iron pipe and ran until they were lost beyond their account. Arran leaned against the tunnel. "New plans, this now offically turned into a night mission." Fili checked the charges. "This pipe is 1B so 4B must be up ahead, come on." They ran down the pipes until they came to 4B. Arran could hear machines above the sewer cover. He popped the sewer cover off. The sound was very loud but nobody came to stop him, he guessed the machines were programmed, not human operated.

"All clear." Arran said, "Come on." Fili and Crouch scouted around the area while Spark installed the explosives. "This place is massive!" Said Fili, "If we blow this up the droid army will never fight again!" Crouch replied, "Don't be too sure of that, they have quite a few factories like this." Fili and Crouch kept on scouting. "Are you done with those explosives yet?" asked Arran. "At the moment, just let me set the timer." Arran waited, then Sparks got up.

"We need to operate quietly, that means no civilians get hurt. We take alleys only. Clear?" Everyone nodded after Arran said that. They exited the factory and procedded as planned to the Command Center.

DRACAE COMMAND CENTER 0900 HOURS

Captain Cherbanorzki yawned, he hadn't had slept for two days. He all of a sudden heard gunshots downstairs, guards ran to the door to blockade it closed. Captain Cherbanorzki grabbed his pistol and stood at ready position. He head a thump on the door. "Zundapp kriegstabots!" He yelled for his soldiers to stay ready. They held onto their blasters. The door exploded and splinters of wood were forced into the Captain's face knocking him down. "Zundapp..." he breathed heavily.

He saw a blurry figure lean over him. "Zundapp clune truppens..." He recognized the number 19 on the mans helmet. "Zundapp..." The man took off his helmet. "I'm no clone." He aimed his blaster at Cherbanorzki and pulled the trigger.

DRACAE STREET OUTSIDE COMMAND CENTER 0900 HOURS

The commandos ran down the streets, it started to rain and alarms went off across the city. They heard a large explosion behind them and the sound of guards running after them. A guard appeared from inside an alleyway and shot at them, Arran blasted the guard in his chest. After running for 5 minutes they approached the gate to exit the city. A blockade of guards was in front of it. They fired a hail of bullets on the commandos. Arran threw a detonator and it landed behind the gate. It exploded.

Arran saw a gunship approach. The doors opened and the commandos got in. They left just in time to see the shell factory in flames with guards running franticly. Arran sighed as the door on the shuttle closed.

Battle of Raxus Prime
Arran got off the gunship as soon as it arrived in the cruiser. A Navy Commander stared at his squad. "Hello gentlemen." Arran nodded,"Hello Commander." The Commander sighed, "I hate to do this to you gentlemen but Raxus Prime has just been taken over by the Seperatists, we had a small line of defense against them. We lost 2,062 soldiers in the battle. Were sending you gentlemen as well as the 221st over to Raxus Prime." Arran took a drink out of his flask, when he finished he paused for a second, "Whats our mission?" The Commander shrugged. "Your just normal soldiers for now, you do whatever the leaders want." The Commander walked away. Crouch took off his helmet and went to sit on a crate.

Fili sighed and walked away as well. Arran saw Sparks walk away too. Arran took out his pistol and cleaned it by sticking a pen with a rag on it in. After repeating that quite a few times Arran took out his cards, he counted to make sure it was a fair deck and then went over to Fili, "Would you mind playing a game of Poker?" Fili shook his head, "I'm busy cleaning my gun, plus I decided to get a journal like yours." "That cool, thanks anyway." Arran walked over to Sparks, "Hey Sparks, would you be willing to play a game of Poker?" Sparks shrugged, "What can you offer me?" Arran took his pack off and looked inside, "I got a souvenir medal from a Captain on Dracae, 7 credits, some knifes, and an empty ammo clip, some pens, and my flask." Sparks laughed, "Is that seriously what you carry around in there?"

Arran sighed, he only had one last option, Crouch. Quiet, deadly, msyterious Crouch. Arran sighed and walked over to him, "Would you be interested in a round of poker?" Crouch looked at him, "All I have is a radio." Arran shrugged, "Thats better than nothing." Arran layed out two knifes and some credits as his first betting chips, Crouch put two things up, his radio. And an ammunition clip that he engraved a fish into. "Thats very interesting." Crouch stared at Arran. "I would like my cards."

After Arran and Crouch played for half an hour, Arran won Crouch's radio. Crouch seemed upset but eventually won all of Arrans credits and his pocket knife. "Fair game, thanks for the radio." Crouch nodded and left. Arran thought the radio might come in handy, he wondered if there were any radio stations on Raxus Prime. All of a sudden an alarm went off. Arran heard and explosion and a missile went flying into the hangar. the missile flew to the back of the hangar and hit the back wall. It exploded and some clones went flying like ragdolls.

Crouch was already running towards a gunship, everyone else was, droid fighters were outside and Arran could heard the sound of bombs hitting the cruiser. "Evacuate the cruiser! Repeat: evacuate the cruiser!" A clone yelled over the intercom system on the ship. "Code red! Were..." A loud explosion was heard and the ship began to go downwards. Arran ran into the gunship. The doors closed, Fili, Crouch, and Sparks were in it as well as two troopers from the 221st, their armor was brown.

The ship left the hangar and the heat from the explosions was blazing, it felt like the gunship was near a sun. "Welcome aboard gentlemen!" An obviously distracted clone announced on the speaker, "Todays stop, the number 1 vacation spot in the galaxy! Raxus Prime!" The gunship made a sharp turn and Arran had to reach for one of the handles above him. "Watch out for flying debris while your staying there!" A loud explosion was heard outside the gunship. Arran saw a droid fighter pass by the gunship by looking out a small crack in the door.

"We are now making our approach towards the planet, please keep all blasters with you and make sure to not get killed, good luck!" The gunships doors opened, the gunship hovered over the ground slightly, Arran covered the others while they jumped. He then jumped and ran for cover, lasers were flying at them like rain. Arran hid between some junk to avoid getting killed. He saw crouch jump over the top, he followed. He spotted a droid with a heavy blaster and shot him on the third try. Arran ran into a trench the droids occupied and ran through them on a rampage, more men joined him, he saw a clone in front of him get shot.

Arran was on rapid firing clearing the trench of droids, he shot a B1 and then a B2, he chucked a detonator into an intersection the droids were using to their advantage, it blew up and Arran kept on going, he saw other clones storming the trenches, he got out and then went toward a bunker, the bunker opened fire on him and he ducked behind some trash, he threw a detonator near the bunker and it blew half of it off. He saw a clone race behind him, then a dozen more, they went into the bunker and fired shots. A flare went up, he turned around to look at it. A flare mean't an area was secure or help was needed, either way he ran back.

When he made it to the area where the flare went off, men were firing blasters like crazy, they were standing on boxes trying to get a shot over the trench towards the droids. Arran grabbed a detonator and threw it, it landed inbetween the trenches and exploded causing both sides to be temporarily blinded, he saw Crouch run over the top. Arran decided to give him some cover, he ran over the top. He fired into near the droid trench and yelled for the clones in that trench to follow, soon dozens and dozens flooded over the top and fired and charged yelling and cursing as much as they could.

Arran looked down in the droid trench and saw Crouch had taken out almost all of the defenders, he fired down on the remaining then jumped in the trench, a shell just then went off a few feet from where Arran was standing and knocked him unconcious. He woke up on a stretcher. He could still hear shells exploding but they were distant. He saw a clone from the 221st with a red cross on his helmet. "Glad to see your awake, you were lucky," The medic nodded, "You could have had you head blown off if that other commando hadn't saved you." Arran smiled at that. "Do you have my pack?" The walked over to a chest near a corner. He pulled out his pack and gave it to him.

"Where are we?" The medic laughed, "The front lines, were in a wider part of the trench though. Arran saw two men carrying a stretcher. "What was the casualty amount?" The medic looked grim, "There still counting, they've reached 1,200 at the moment." "Holy smokes!" The medic nodded, "I've got more patients to take care of, heres a chewy bar." "I love these things." The medic smiled, "Hard to get em out here, save it." Arran watched as the medic left.

Arran was in condition to get up, he just felt a little dizzy. He got up, as soon as he did half a dozen troopers ran right past him. He heard a nearer shell explosion. Then he heard some screams, some medics ran past him. For the first time since Icepick was shot, Arran was scared. He feared that Crouch or Fili might be dead. Sparks might have even been taken captive. Arran saw more troops rush past him. He decided to grab some pieces of iron around him. He took out his sharpest knife and decided to engraved a tree into a piece.

When Arran was done he thought it was a fine piece of work, he might keep it. He then took another piece of metal and engraved the squad symbol on it. He thought how hard it was to get wood or metal on Kamino, he decided to take some copper wire with him and a little bit of metal, he found an older bronze coin sifting through some metal on the ground, he decided to keep it. Altogether he had some copper wire, 4 pieces of metal, and an older coin, as well as a plate of brass. He decided to lie down and take a nap.

Arran was in space, he only had his armor and his pistol. He saw the wreck he had seen on his way to Kamino. This time he knew that someone was in it. Arran saw a very pale man, as he got closed he recognized it as Icepick. It turned from Icepick to Grub. Grub pointed an accusing finger at Arran. Arran knew Grub was accusing him of his death, Arran could have saved him. Then Grub turned into the Dracae Captain he aimed a blaster at Arran.

Arran woke up, it seemed like it was morning at first, but soon Arran recognized the red lights as shells exploding and fire. He got up and saw the medic from earlier looking over the top of the trench holding a carbine. Arran watched him for a minute, "Are you ok?" The medic turned around, "I'm fine, you should be better by now." Arran nodded, "I am, do you know where the commandos are?" The medic nodded, "Just go down the left trech, take a right and then keep on going."

Arran went down the trench for quite a while. At one point some junk from a shell exploding almost landed on him. He kept on going, he passed stretchers and soldiers and tables and strategists. He was amazed how many men from the 221st were there. He eventually came to Crouch. "I hear you saved me." Crouch nodded, "I needed to win my radio back from you." Arran laughed, "If I died you couldn\'ve taken it from me." Crouch shrugged. Arran saw Fili come back with his weapon, he was caked in mud. "Good to see you again." Arran said, "I was worried about you guys." Fili nodded, "You had good reason, Sparks was almost killed." Arran kept a straight face, "What happened?" Fili sighed, "Piece of shrapnel from a shell hit him in his armor. His back is a little hurt but he'll be fine."

Arran sat on an ammunitions box next to Crouch, he pulled out the piece of metal with the tree on it. Crouch nodded. "You did a good job." Arran felt good about that considering that he had never heard Crouch compliment anyone before. All of a sudden the shelling started to become more intense. "Artillery barrage!!!" yelled Fili, "Take cover!!!" Arran rolled behind some empty boxes. Fili dove behind some as well. Crouch went next to the wall and pulled a piece of wood in front of him for protection. Other troops weren't luck, pieces of trash and debris went flying all about, it seemed constant.

Arran saw a piece of steel be driven into a clone by the sheer force of an explosion. Soon a shell blew up directly in the trench, dirt and debris went flying once again. Arran kept his hands on his neck. When the shelling returned to normal Arran heard Fili yell, "All clear..." Arran wiped the dirt and small fragments of junk off the boxes and dead soldiers. He saw a clone in the corner with his rifle. He tapped him on the shoulder. "It's ok now, it's over." The soldier got up and sutmbled around for a minute. The trench wa sin absolute ruin.

Fili stood up, "This guys wounded pretty bad." Crouch nodded at Arran. "I'll go get a medic." Arran ran down the trench climbing over the dead as well as debris, it seemed the same scene had been repeated all across the battlefield. Arran finally came to the medical area. He alerted one immediately to bring two stretchers to the commandos. Arran ran back to the commandos. "There on their way."

Fili sighed and got up, "We can expect an attack very..." At that moment the advance of droids and tanks could be heard. "Get to the defense!!!" yelled Arran, "Hold the line!" All the remaining troops rushed to the defense of the trenches. Arran grabbed his radio and sent a distress signal. Lasers went flying over the trench, Reoublic forces fired back and took out some droids. Tanks fired upon the trenches and caused panic. "Hold the line!" yelled Arran, "Retreat on the last man!" Lasers flew back and forth from both sides.

Arran got on a box and pulled out his weapon, he set it on rapid fire and plowed down some droids. A laser hit the ground before his face, a piece of metal flew upwards and hit his helmet. Arran ignored it and kept on shooting. He aimed for a tank but his fire did nothing. "Focus on the tank!" Arran yelled as he shot, "Throw your detonators!" Fili threw a dentonator and it landed next to the tank and blew up. It did nothing. "Focus your fire on the tank! Don't stop firing!" The droids were getting closer, "Scratch that! Shoot the droids!" They were withing 10 feet by now.

Arran withdrew his pistols and started shooting. "Get ready in case of a retreat!" The droids rained fire on the Republic trenches now, Arran jumped out of the trench and started shooting them, "Charge!" Arran shot one up close and his troops followed his actions. He ran towards the tank ignoring the B1's around him. He got a thermal detonator ready and chucked it under the tank. He kept on fighting the droids with his pistols. His men put their weapons on rapid fire and shot them as fast as they could. The tank then exploded into fragments knocking down droids to its sides.

The droids shot two clone troopers, they noticed the commandos started to slow down. "Retreat! Abandon the trenches!" Gunships began to approach over the trenches. It seemed that the retreat signal spread across all 7 miles of trenches, everyone jumped over the trenches and avoided taking supplies or even fighting any more. The droids took the trenches in seconds. Fili tried to shoot some droids down before jumping the trench. "Leave em will ya?!" A clone said. Fili jumped over the trench and followed the others. Arran and the others ran, they met up with other men in the 221st and they quickly evacuated on gunships. The gunships lifted off, Arran looked down. He saw hundreds of droids overwhelming the trenches.

He also saw dead clones. Clones that would probably just rot into the ground. Clones that would never be recognized. Republic bombers swooped in Arc 170s bombed the area. The trenches and droids all were buried in junk within seconds. Arran looked next to him and noticed an exhausted medic. He reached in his pack and gave him a chewy bar, that always helped him. At least he had his lemon juice.

Visit To Kahndahar
Arran sat in his small room in the Republic Cruiser. It had been given to him after the battle of Raxus Prime. Arran stared at a small screen on his computer generator. He was watching the city of Kahndahar. Two commando squads had been sent to Kahndahar. Their objective was to wipe out the Kahndahar Revolutionary Group (KRG) who wished to overthrow the government. Both teams failed. Now the KRG was rounding them all up for execution.

A man wearing a black beret came out. Arran couldn't get any audio. Surveillance droids could only do a certain amount of things at one time. He saw the man wave around his pistol. A crowd was in front of him. They cheered. The man had the prisoners secured and they were on there knees. He took his pistol, he pointed it in a commandos head. One down. He repeated this again. Two down. He continued until on the fifth commando (the leader) he kicked him. He then insulted the commando, (Arran assumed) and then, from the front, shot him. He continued this action six more times.

Arran shutdown his computer, this was a bit too much for him. He had met some of those commandos. How could such a tiny amount of people capture them? Let alone alive. Commandos are suppose to fight until the last drop of blood is spilled. Arran wondered if a more negotiable tactic should be used. Arran sat there, no clones could go undercover in the KRG headquarters. But he could.

Arran sent a message to the Jedi Council that he do so. He explained his plan but didn't recieve an answer. After a month he recieved a response. It had been taken into consideration, but altogether denied. Arran decided to take this matter into his own hands. He packed some chewy bars and his nicest clothing. He grew out his mustache to seem less like he was in the military and combed his hair to look diplomatic. He got his knifes, flask and best pistols ready. He planned and planned, he would arrange a meeting in the KRG headquarters and set off a massive explosion in his room.

He would travel to Kahndahar by using a stolen Republic shuttle. Arran finally put his plan into action. He slipped out of Station VML and ran towards the shuttle. He got in, he hadn't much experience with flying a shuttle, he handled it very carefully. He pulled the shuttle stick upwards and he took off. He put the shuttle on auto pilots, he was confident on this mission.

When Arran woke up it was to the sound of a beeping noise. "Approaching Kahndahar." Said a voice. Arran figured it was the computer. He made an approach on the planet. He thought it was odd that nobody was present at the landing pad. He immediately got out of the ship, he saw two men with green berets approaching him. "Mr.Grunden?" one man asked, "Is that you?" Arran nodded, "Yes im Mr.Grunden."

"Our leader has been expecting you, hes willing to pay big money for the Republic shuttle you have there." The man smiled, "Follow me." Arran followed the man into a large palace made of glass and metal. He felt it was odd that such a palace existed, let alone that it belonged to a revolutionary group that had only been around for a year. Arran followed the man, he passed priceless paintings and stoneware. Arran finally came to a large room with a mural painted on the ceiling. At the end of a marble dining table sat the leader of the revolutionaries.

"Welcome, I am glad to see you made it!" He said in an odd accent. "Oh yes, I'm glad to finally meet the great leader of the KRG. Mr.Argano is it?" The man laughed, "Yes that is me, I am the leader here. The food will be arriving shortly. I hear you have a stockpile of Republic weapons and some older starships?" Arran went along with it, "Yes I do, I have a Y-wing bomber that I bought from some pirates and two Mon Calamari ships. One is one fourth the size of a Republic cruiser." Argano leaned towards Arran over the table. "Shall we negotiate this now or later?" Arran yawned, "Later, I can negotiate better when I'm awake. Now wheres that food."

Argano laughed. "I love a man who puts food in front of business!" Arran laughed along. Two servants carried out dishes filled with unusual foods. Arran grabbed some berries and meat. "You see, I recently came across a large sum of money," said Argano shoving food in his mouth and pausing, "from the Seperatists. They gave me this whole palace in a guarantee that they would occupy the oil supply." He shoved more food in his mouth. "But if I get those ships I can chase them away from the planet!"

Arran nodded, he figured out that this man was obviously insane. After a long time of hearing very broing over dramatized war stories Arran told him he needed to go to his room. Arran had a guard escort him to his room. Arran got out his thermal detonators as soon as the guard left, he knew all the detonators would be enough to blow up half of his palace. He finished the wiring and set the alarm for one hour. He took his pack of knifes and go out his weapon. He walked down the halway cautiously. A guard came around the corner and Arran blasted him with his silenced pistol before he could even say anything.

Arran kept on going until he saw the exit to the landing pad. He saw four guards with weapons guarding the shuttle. Arran took assembled his rifle and ran out shooting wildly at them. They were caught off guard, one was shot and fell on the concrete. The others made attempts to shoot Arran. Arran shot back and his two. The last one grabbed a communicator out of his pocket. He must have clicked something because an alarm went off. Arran shot the guard and ran into the shuttle.

He closed the door and lifted off. Arran saw soldiers pour out of the door and shoot rounds at him over and over again. Arran activated the weapons system and lasers flew out of the ships defenses. The soldiers were plowed down within seconds. Arran lifted off and wasn't pursued. He figured he mine as well do some damage while he had a little time. An anti-aircraft gun was mounted on top of the palace. Arran flew over it and tried his best to avoid it. He readied his bombs on the shuttle. He aimed for the middle of the palace. He saw Argano go out on his balcony. Now! Arran thought.

He released his bombs on the palace and saw it explode. Only ten more minutes until the full explosion. He had completed his mission and more. He flew around some more, ten more minutes to be exact. He found it fun to try to make the feeble minded soldiers shoot him down. One minute. Arran flew around one more time and took off. He heard a loud explosion behind him. Arran exited the planet and made his way back to Station VML.

Punishment
When Arran made it back to the base four naval officers arrested him. He was put in a prison cell in Station VML and kept there for a day. Finally a navy officer unlocked the door. "Follow me." Arran followed the officer. He was led into a white room. He sat down at a table, about a dozen officers were around the table. "Arran Slarglide," said one, "we looked at the footage captured from the shuttle. You did a good job destroying the palace. You did what two squads of clones couldn't." Arran tried to keep a straight face. "However we must keep you at Station VML for a week, and reject your leadership abilities." Arran stood up, "What the heck are you talking about!" He stood up and pointed a finger at the officer. "I blow up a whole palace and you take away my squad from me and put me in this hole for a week?!"

The officer sighed, "Yes, thats exactly what were doing." Arran slammed his fist on the table. "Well it doesn't make a darn piece of sense!" The officer rubbed his eyes. "We would like to transfer you to marines instead." "Marines!?" Arran yelled, "What the heck am I going to do with a bunch of marines?!" The officer stopped him, "Will you please just shut up?" Arran sat down, "You'll start from the bottom." He said. Arran laughed, "I'm sorry but this is just too ridiculous." The officer sighed, "We would have to detain you for good since you know about Station VML. It's your choice, Marines or detainement."

The Marines
Arran was on a shuttle to take him to the Marine HQ the very next day. His prototype weapon was taken, but he got to keep everything else. Luckily he never had commando armor so he could still keep his old armor. When Arran got off his shuttle the gates to the Marine HQ were sturdy and he felt unwelcomed. Arran sighed as they opened up. He was greeted in a grim fashion by a Major named Derek. Arran was told the Marine HQ was only temporary and that he would be spending more time at the main United Forces base.

Arran found himself talking to a soldier by the name of Coros. Coros was an interesting and very reliable soldier and Arran asked him if he wanted to play some cards. Coros agreed, they didn't play for anything. In the end Coros beat Arran. Arran and Coros talked for quite a while until an officer named Shade told them to get to an obstacle course. Arran found the obstacle course fairly hard but he eventually got through it. Arran was glad to know that he wouldn't be considered a fool on the first day.

Shade dismissed the Marines. Arran and Coros talked for a little while when they were at the United Forces barracks. Arran learned that Coros was a Corporal. They didn't have a ton in common besides the Marines. Arran decided to just take write in his journal. He pulled out his pack, he felt around but couldn't find it. He searched his other pack, nothing. Arran sighed. He had kept all of his battles and travels recorded in that journal. He felt as if he didn't need it but he still missed it.

Arran woke up the next day to yelling, Derek ordered the Marines to do some target practice and dueling. Arran suceeded fairly well when he dueled Coros and then a Private. Arran then dueled Derek and failed terribly. Arran was assigned into the Military Police after he met with Derek afterwards. MP was an important job. However Arran was assigned to guard duty. Arran spent most of his days training or being guard at the United Forces base gate. Arran didn't encounter any action for quite a bit.

Battle of Umbara
"It's rather funny how little things like this happen, but this is just war I suppose. He's dead, I'm wounded, and your lost. Thats always how it is in a battle."

- Arran on Umbara

By his second month in the Marines Arran had been promoted to Lance Corporal. A rather unimportant roll, but he was proud to be promoted. Arran was by now familiar with all the leaders and officers of the Marines. He got along rather well with all of them and considered them in a way a family. Arran was engraving the image of a campfire into a piece of bronze one day while sitting on his lower bunk in the United Forces HQ. He thought he may be able to trade it to someone for some credits.

Arran heard footsteps and looked up to see Gunnery Seargent Hawk walk in. Everyone looked up from what they were doing as well and the room went quiet. Hawk stood straight as he could. "Now, I understand that some of you will find this more exciting than others." He paused for a moment, "But either way non of you have a choice if you like it or not. This is a very important matter and it's to be taken seriously." Hawk looked around and paused again, "We're going to participate in the invasion of Umbara. General just informed me. You'll all move out tomorrow, we'll board the cruiser Endurance."

Hawk left the room and everyone started talking. Coros climbed down from the bunk on top of Arran. "Finally, it's about time." Coros said.

"Yeah, have you ever seen any?" Arran asked.

"Yeah, Geonosian conflict." Coros Replied.

"Thats neat." Arran said, "Any tips?"

"Yeah, stay alive."

........................

Next thing Arran knew, he was on a gunship with Lieutenant Hunter and a few Marines. They were heading for the cruiser Endurance and Arran was looking forward to the briefing they were going to get from General Vasco. Finally they arrived and Arran stepped off and saw a sea of troops moving back and forth, delivering supplies, and getting on and off ships. "Come on!" Said Lieutenant Hunter. Arran and the Marines walked down a maze of hallways until they made it to a room filled with seats and a large screen in front of it.

Arran sat down and took off his helmet and backpack. He saw General Gomez walk in front of the screen after a little while, accompanied by Major Derek. "Evening troops!" He announced, "As you may know, the invasion of Umbara is tomorrow. It's my job to make sure that all of you know the plan." He nodded to General Derek.

"At the moment our plan is for eight teams to be created for the invasion. Each team is to be made of Marines and Army members." Derek said, "Each team will have an officer to lead it. If that officer is to be wounded or killed there will be a Lance Corporal or a Corporal will be given to each team. If no Corporal or Lance Corporal is given, you'll recieve a higher ranked soldier. Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir!" The men responded in unison.

General Vasco interrupted, "I want it clear that you will obey all officers! This is a major battle. We've been out of combat for a little while, but we've trained long and hard." Vasco paused, "Our objective is to crush all Umbaran resistance in our way! We will then proceed to an Umbaran fortress! This would usually take three days but our objective is two! Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Lists of the soldiers in your groups will be given to you in a moment! Dismissed!" Said the General.

Arran saw Endurance crew members with lists. He walked over to one member along with many other troops. After a minute or two Arran was next to get a list. After he had recieved his list he looked it over. Finally he found his name, his group was to be commanded by Gunnery Seargent Hawkins. He was the second highest ranking in the group. But that didn't bother him, Hawk was tough as nails as far as he was concerned. Arran followed a group of troops until they made it to barracks. Arran sat down and took a nap.

.............................

Arran woke up to the sound of alarms. His vision was blurred, but he jumped up and got his stuff immediately. He followed the other Marines and Army members down the halls to the gunships. "All men, to your groups!" Major Derek yelled. Arran found Hawk immediately. He found all the other troops around him to be Army soldiers. "Glad to see we have one Marine." Said Hawk, "Come on!" Arran and the group followed Hawk into a gunship. Arran grabbed a hook on the ceiling and the ship quickly took off.

Arran saw lasers rip past the gunship and Umbaran ships soar past. All of this reminded Arran of Khyber pass. Arran saw a gunship fly next to the one he was on. He noticed the ship held two Marines guarding medical supplies. All of a sudden a laser whipped out of nowhere and blew the ship up. Arran looked towards Hawk. He just nodded back.

Arran heard Hawk's communicator buzz. He couldn't hear what was being said. "Get ready, drop zone ahead!" Hawk said to the men. Arran grabbed his rifle and made sure his pistols were in the holsters. The ship hovered to the ground. "Go!" Hawk yelled. The men dropped out of the ship and were met with a hail of lasers. Two army Privates were hit in a matter of seconds. A barrage of artillery suddenly came from above and knocked the dirt up all around Arran. "Get down!" Hawk yelled.

Arran lost sight of him. He decided to just fire back through the dust and clouds. He saw fire return to him immediately. Arran ran into the clouds while he had some cover and saw bodies scattered about. When the smoke cleared the lasers rained. Arran saw Hawk run past him and dozens of troops follow. Apparently the other gunships had made it. "Give 'em laser!" Yelled a Marine before getting hit in his chest. Arran ran past the Army troops and caught up to Hawk. He recognized a few troops.

"Move in on the defenses!" Hawk yelled. The Umbarans had set up positions behind vegetation and the troops were approaching it. Arran saw a troop get hit next to him but kept running. He fired lasers into the vegetation and about a dozen came back at him for every laser he fired. Arran finally made it near the defenses and heard yelling from Umbarans. Him and other troops jumped over the vegetation and fired on the retreating soldiers. "Give it to 'em!" He heard. Arran saw an Umbaran Commander fire at him but miss. Arran saw him fire again, but the next time Arran shot him in the head.

"Nice shot!" A troop said. Arran felt a bit of pride after doing that. Soon the Umbaran defenders had retreated. "Well, come on!" A voice Arran recognized to be Hawk said. The troops continued faster this time. They charged and charged but couldn't find any Umbarans. Finally they saw heavy fire rain from a foggy hill and kill some Army troops instantly. "Hit the dirt! Take cover!" Arran figured that had to have been Lieutenant Hunter. Arran dropped down in front of some vegetation and started firing back. He saw the Lieutenant next to him. "It's no use, use your detonators! Those are tanks!" The Lieutenant yelled. Arran grabbed a detonator and threw it as hard as he could.

Soon detonator explosions could be heard all about. "Charge!" Ordered Hawk. Umbarans layed down suppresive fire on the troops but they fired back bravely. Arran saw Umbarans fall and some dive into trenches. Arran made it to the trench along with the others and they fired into it without mercy. The trench was secured in a few moments and all troops safely in it. The troops were almost ready to charge over the top when Hawk recieved a transmission. "Hold it!" He ordered. After a minute of nodding and agreeing Hawk turned to the men. "Hold the attack!" Hawk said, "All the other groups are stuck under heavy fire! Were the only two to make it through! We need to wait."

The men all sighed and either sat down or walked to other parts of the trench. Arran decided to keep watch for Umbaran soldiers. He could hear plenty of gunfire from the enemy and occasionally it went over the trench. Arran stayed at his post for an hour and eventually hear some footsteps behind him. "You can come down Corporal." Hawk said, "I'll be having Private Night here replace you." Arran nodded and stepped away from the trench edge. As soon as Private Night stepped away an artillery fragment hit him in his helmet. He fell down and Hawk and Arran scrambled beside him. Hawk checked him for vital signs.

"Is he going to be ok?" Arran asked. Hawk sighed, "He's been knocked out. Nothing serious, just a slight injury. You'll have to take his place..." Arran laughed. "Marine helmets are better for deflecting shrapnel." Hawk nodded to him and Arran stepped back to his post. After another hour Arran was a bit tired and had drank half his flask of lemon juice. All of a sudden two Umbaran ships zoomed overhead and dropped bombs on the trenches and the area around it. Arran took cover and was ok. Non of the bombs hit close to him. Hawk ran towards Arran. "Bad news..." Hawk started, "Your the only one whos not a Private besides Bala and I." Arran nodded. "Who was it?"

Hawk sighed, "Cold..." Arran understood very well that Cold was an important Marine. Arran nodded. All of a sudden Lieutenant Hunter ran up from behind him. "We lost three." She said.

"A shame, anything else?" Hawk asked.

"All groups have the expected perimeter secured. We can move forward now." She responded with a nod.

"Corporal, tell the men to get ready." Hawk ordered.

Arran nodded and ran about the trenches relaying the order to the men. As he was running he saw four stretchers, each with someone on it under a white cloth. He shivered to think of the horror those men felt when the bombs fell. Finally he had relayed the message fully. He ran back to Hawk and found him and all the troops ready to charge. "Good to see you could join us Corporal, we were afraid you'd been hit by some shrapnel." Arran laughed and got his rifle ready. "Ok, GO!" The men scrambled over the top and the Umbarans opened fire. The lasers caused clods of soil to fly up in front of the men. They retaliated by firing about at the Umbarans.

Arran saw Army men fall next to him. They finally made it near the Umbaran lines and all Umbaran fury was unleashed. An Umbaran MHC came out of nowhere and fired into the charging men, knocking them down and killing them. Arran avoided the fire and saw a row of fire hit the ground in front of him. The men fired uslessly at it. Lieutenant Hunter valiantly threw detonator under it. It exploded but the MHC kept coming. It had killed half a dozen men by now and only a dozen remained. "Aim for the glass!" Arran yelled.

The men obeyed and fired a storm of bullets at the glass and the Umbaran controlling it was killed instantly. "Toss in a detonator!" Yelled Hawk. Arran ran near it and tossed a grenade in. He ran further and took cover. It exploded and the MHC collapsed to the ground as if it were just a shell of something that had once been living. "Regroup!" Lieutenant Hunter yelled, "Regroup by the MHC!" The remaining troops ran over. She counted them and sighed. Hawk interrupted.

"We'll have to avoid the Umbarans." He said.

Hunter nodded.

"How about the lower east forest?" Arran said.

Hawk looked at Arran with a surprised look, "You weren't at the officers meeting, how do you know about that?"

Arran smiled. "I do some research."

"Well, the lower east is our best option." Lieutenant Hunter said.

"Well, It's agreed them." Hawk said, "Column formation!"

The troops marched through the treacherous forest with caution. There was only silence. Arran saw nothing in this forest but blackness. He figured the Umbarans had never quite enjoyed the area. "This mission is ill-fated." Remarked a soldier. Hawk whipped around. "You think anyone wants to hear that Burner!?" He pointed a finger at him. "I'll remind you that I could ring your neck any moment I want! Don't be surprised if that happens if you keep that talk up!" He said.

Hawk turned around and the long treck continued. Arran saw something shining on the ground. "Hold it..." He said. "What is it?" Hawk said. Arran bent down and uncovered some plants and dirt. He found a shell of a helmet with broken glass surrounding it. "That things old as heck!" Hawk said. "That fellow that owned it came to quite a death, this has claw marks on it." Arran said. Hawk nodded. He bent over as well and uncovered some vegetation. "Well, I might have just found the guy." Hawk said.

Arran looked down and saw the skeleton of a pilot who was obviously foreign from Umbara. "We should leave this stuff where we found it." Hawk and Arran covered the remains up and continued on the long hike. After an hour they heard footsteps. Arran immediately drew his rifle along with Lieutenant Hunter, Hawk, and a few others. "Heck am I glad to see you!" A voice said. Arran looked up to see Shade.

"Same." Said Hawk, "Do you have any idea where we can meet up with General and Major?"

Shade nodded, "Major is with us, he's in the back of the column with Coros viewing some maps. As for General, I don't know."

"Is Coros navigator?" Hawk asked.

"Yes he is, but apparently the maps are a bit messed up according to the klicks and color coding on them." Shade said.

Arran interrupted, "Maybe I can take a look at the map."

"You go ahead, but you might have a had time figuring out which is up or down. It's a real complicated map." Shade said, "Coros! Get up here!"

Coros came up with a map in his hand. "Yes sir?"

Shade nodded, "Lance Corporal Slarglide wants to take a look at that map."

Coros nodded and handed it over. Arran squinted at it and guided his fingers along different passages and routes. "This is all in infared. We can tell where we are judging by the large accumulation of heat signals in the forest. So we're here." Arran said, "And the fortress is about 10 klicks away to the west."

Shade smiled. "Well, we best get on our way. How many men do you have?" Asked Shade.

Hawk looked at Lieutenant Hunter. "I counted a dozen." Said Lieutenant Hunter.

Shade nodded, "Same here. Those guns took lots of our men out, but in the end those Umbarans bit the dust."

Major Derek approached, "Good to see you Hawk!" He said, "Did we end our navigation issues?"

Hawk smiled, "Turns out it's an infared map. Lance Corporal Slarglide figured it out."

"Good, which way are we going?" Major Derek asked.

"West, sir." Arran said in response.

"West we shall go then. Column formation!" Ordered the Major.

They marched for three hours until they were near the fort. Major Derek sent Coros and another Marine forward to patrol. Major Derek set up camp in a highly vegitated area and the men stayed on watch the whole time. "Lance Corporal Slarglide, get over here!" Hawk ordered. Arran got up from his post and went towards Hawk and Derek. "What is it sir?"

"We want you to go with Shade to try to find General." Derek said.

"Yes sir, any leads?" Arran asked.

"Yeah, try the North area." Derek said nodding.

"Come on Corporal!" Shade said.

Arran and Shade walked North for 4 Clicks until they were near the area General was suppose to be in. "I can't understand why we haven't found him." Shade said, "He couldn't have gotten killed, he had two of the biggest groups." Arran sighed. "I can't understand it either!" Arran said in frustration. All of a sudden blaster fire rained and Shade shoved Arran down. Shade hit the dirt and started yelling.

"Is that you Shade?!" Said a voice.

"Yes, sir!" Shade responded, "Lance Corporal Arran and I!"

General appeared in charred armor along with two marines. "Well Firfek! Shut your mouth! You'll give away our position! Well, where's the rest of you?"

"We're at camp, where are your men, sir?" Shade asked.

"Dead, now lets move it Staff Seargent. You too!" he pointed toward Arran who was still on the ground.

Arran, Shade, and the General ran back to the camp and were greeted by Derek and Lieutenant Hunter.

"Good to see you, sir!" Said Lieutenant Hunter with a salute.

"You as well Hunter." Said General in response.

"Derek, get the men ready for a full charge! I want everything set up immediately!" General said, "Hunter, you lead the left side, Shade to the right. Get Hawk and tell him to accompany Derek. Slarglide, I want you to run as fast as you can and make it to the wall before everyone else. It's a motivational tactic! Now move it! Coros you follow Arran and you both get explosives planted!" General said quickly. He handed Coros a bag of explosives and Arran and him got to the charging point.

Coros counted down. "We charge half a minute before everyone." He paused, "That would be... NOW!" Coros and Arran barrelled over the vegetation into the open and made their way towards the fortress walls. Laser fire rained on them. It was a long run to the wall but they could make it. All of a sudden a deep pain was in Arran shoulder. He felt like passing out but knew he had to keep running. Coros and him were almost at the wall when he got a pain in his leg. Arran fell down. Coros tried to grab him but Arran gestured for him to go. Arran finally passed out to the sound of men running towards the fortress.

Arran woke up in a flaming mess of bodies and ruined forest. Arran saw the wall had been blown on the fortress. He heard laser fire and guessed that United Forces was suceeding. That was good. Finally Arran heard footsteps. He looked up to see a fuzzy looking marine. Then of course everything was fuzzy. "Thought I was dead?" The marine said, "Did you really think a Lance Corporal could replace Cold?" Arran smiled. Cold propped him up by some dead vegetation. Arran saw an army troop laying lifeless nearby. "It's rather funny how little things like this happen, but this is just war I suppose. He's dead, I'm wounded, and your lost. Thats always how it is in a battle..." Arran said before trailing off and passing out.

Arran woke up after two days in a bacta tank. He was a bit better but confined to a wheelchair. Both legs had been hit by lasers. He was proud to have played such a role in the battle of Umbara. Altogether the Umbarans took 1,568 casualties from United Forces and United Forces only took 145 from Umbarans. Arran reviewed these facts often, how he was one of the lucky 30 or so who survived. It was indeed a lucky day.

Attack on HQ
Arran was in the guard shack early one morning, he had been given permission to skip training since it was only a small obstacle course. Arran often saw civies approach the guard shack, most to take pictures or jsut marvel at the gate. The base was usually off limit to civies. However today the gate was ordered to be kept open so speeder scouts practicing runs could come in and out. Arran saw a scout approach with someone on the back of his speeder. Arran got out, "Papers please."

"No time! Bolt hit a tree and his speeder went up in flames! He's wounded!" Arran ran to Bolt who was slumped on the speeder bike rack, usually used for holding supplies. "Get him to the medic!" Arran said quickly. All of a sudden a dozen pirates and smugglers ran into the gate with automatic blasters drawn. The scout tossed off his helmet and revealed that he wasn't really a scout, but just another smuggler. And the scout Arran believed to be Corporal Bolt was really a smuggler as well. He got up and aimed his weapon towards Arran.

"Get in that shack, don't even bother shutting the gate." The leader said. Arran obeyed and got in. As soon as he did the leader raised his hand and a hailstorm of bullets pierced the windows and the guardshack went into splinters. Arran flipped over his steel desk and the laser were just barely deflected. After a minute of firing the guardshack was splinters and ruins. "Come on! Lets get those guns!" Arran heard. Arran saw that the emergency alarm was still intact on a shattered computer, he got up and activated it. The base went into a panic and alarms went off. The gate shut and the security system outside closed all windows looking outwards from the gate at the guardshack.

Arran ran to the base with his rifle to see that a skirmish was being fought. United Forces Marines were shooting at the pirates and trying to protect the armory but it was usless. The pirates shot two Marines and made it through. Captain Slammer ran at the pirates and fired shots at them while he was being covered by his men. The pirates had already stolen two boxes of grenade launching rifles and two boxes of prototype detonators.

Arran fired shots at the pirates but they fired back too heavily. Lieutenant Hunter fired shots at the pirates as well but the pirates automatic weapons were suppressive and fired too quickly. Arran fired a few shots and then saw two Army men move forward near the armory, they were shot quickly and few on the street. The pirates ran down the street, the others on the speeders sped down along with them. Arran and about a dozen troops persued them. By now the Marines were beginning to arrive and Major Derek was leading them into the main area of the base.

The pirates were taking off on the MP speeders next thing Arran knew. He fired and hit one man off a speeder and Slammer shot another. A man next to him took a good shot and hit one off as well. Arran saw men getting on the MP speeders and he followed. He got on one with Captain Slammer that had a sidecar. Their speeder went first and the others followed. Arran guessed there were about eight speeder pursuing and ten being pursued. As soon as the pirates were in range Slammer gave Arran the signal to fire. Arran triggered the weapon and it plowed down one pirate. The speeder he was riding slammed into a ditch next to the road and exploded.

"Don't shoot the ammo!" Slammer said as they pulled up against one speeder. Slammer tried to punch the pirate and drive at the same time. He missed and the pirate pulled out a knife. He slashed at Slammer but missed terribly. Slammer pulled out his pistol, but the pirate knocked it out of his hand. The pirate slashed at him against and missed. A pirate ahead of Slammer's speeder took aim and fired at him, the lase hit Arran's sidecar. Slammer couldn't drive and fight at the same time and steered away from the speeder. The pirate ahead took aim at the speeder and shot Slammer in the arm. Slammer lost control of the speeder and it swerved into a speeder a Marine was on next to them.

Slammer fell off the speeder onto the road. Arran quickly jumped out of the sidecar and grabbed control of the speeder. Arran sped it up and swerved into a pirate, causing him to drive into a ditch and crash. Arran saw a pirate in front shoot a few rounds at the United Forces speeders. Two speeders were hit and one went up into flames and crashed. Arran saw an intersection on the dirt road up ahead with two urban speeder with heavy blasters attatched on top ready for action. They were pirate speeder and they joined the chase and opened fire on the United Forces troops. Two speeders were hit by the heavy weapons and both soldiers driving them killed. Arran shot the speeders weapons and hit the back of one of the speeders. It was useless and the pirates then targeted him.

The lasers flew around him and some hit the sides of his speeders. Luckily, non hit the engine of the speeder or him. He saw Lieutenant Hunter pull up in back of one of the pirate heavy speeders and blast it. The speeder took heavy damage on the engines and pulled to the right. The crew panicked as it drove into a tree and exploded into pieces. Lieutenant Hunter signaled to stop the chase and all United Forces speeders slowed down. "There's a roadblock ahead that has about a half dozen heavily armed Marines behind it. Our orders are to wait a minute then continue to pursue them." She said. Everyone nodded and after about two or three minutes they began the chase again. They approached the roadblock and found that the barricades were now a wreck of splinters and debris. One Marine lay dead and two others wounded. "That larger speeder was shooting at us like mad." Coros said.

"We'll have to get back to base, this is going to be a long report..." Lieutenant Hunter said.

"Where's Captain Slammer ma'am?" Arran asked.

"Well, since you didn't go back to get him after he fell off the speeder the medics had to come pick him up." She said in an upset tone, "You might want to avoid him for the next week or so."

Arran frowned, "Thank you ma'am. I'll be getting back to base now."

Upon arriving at base Arran saw General Vasco directing troops and MP's going out and about. Arran saw two or three stretchers pass him and enter the infirmary. "Slarglide!" Vasco said, "What the heck did you do to Captain Slammer?" Arran stood up straight.

"Well you see sir, I was in the sidecar next to him when a pirate pulled out a pistol and shot him. He fell out of the speeder and I jumped to the controls. I thought he might have been killed."

"Well he sure isn't! He broke a leg and has a serious wound on his shoulder!" Vasco said, "Next time go and check him before speeding off and shooting the heck out of those pirates!"

"Yes sir!" Arran said. Vasco walked away to talk to some MP's who were checking a dead pirate.

Raid on Kessel
After many days of discussion and planning it was understood that the pirates that stole the prototype weapons had to be tracked down. About a dozen United Forces Marines were chosen to investigate this. Arran, Coros, Hawk, and Turbo were among some chosen. The team had only a few leads. One: the armored speeder. Two: dropped cartridges. Three: civilian eyewitnesses. Arran and Coros were assigned to interrogate civilian eyewitnesses at the Military Police station. Hawk investigated the speeder with two other Marines, and Turbo investigated the cartridges. Arran and Coros entered the Military Police station and was greeted by General Vasco.

"Hello gentlemen. I'm going to make this quick and easy to understand since I don't have much time. The town nearby witnessed the pirates land, and as well as leave. The local law enforcements made attempts to arrest them when they came back with our speeders, but it resulted in a firefight. One officer was wounded severely. Only two law enforcement officers are coming in. The others are civilian. They're all willing to cooperate, some of their property was damaged when the pirates made an escape." General Vasco said, "Is that clear?"

Arran and Coros nodded, "Yes sir!"

"Good luck." He said leaving.

Arran and Coros sat down and set their hands on a big steel table. The room was empty and there was only a black window looking in and a door that remained locked most of the time. The door opened and a law enforcement agent in a blue uniform entered. He had a blue hat as well with a gold stamp on it. "Evening gentlemen." He said with a nod.

Coros and Arran reviewed this mans file for a moment. His name was Grauld Kraum and he was a Lieutenant in the local law enforcement agency. Arran started, "Mr.Kraum, we understand you were in the shootout yesterday, what did you see?"

"Well, I had a report that some thieves may have hijacked military speeders so I and four officers went to check it out. When we arrived one of our officers was shot in the chest. We fired back in retalliation and blew up one of the speeders. They retreated into the loading dock we have and abandoned the speeders, but they took a few crates and boxes with them. When we got in the hangar they were taking off. Quite a few houses and apartments around the area were hit with blaster fire. Their ship was most likely a starwind from what I saw."

"Thank you, did you recognize any of the shooters?" Coros asked.

"Nope, they seemed pretty well armed though."

How about their weapons, what sorts?" Arran asked.

"Hmmm...." He said, "Some were DC-15s and the others were DC snipers, some were automatic. I don't know too much about automatics." He responded.

"Anything else we need to know?" Coros asked.

"Yes, the ship had a red strip on it. And a few funny lookin red things on the sides too." He said.

"Thanks, that's all. You can leave." Coros said.

And so the same scene was replayed with every witness. The starwind ship was probably the most useful piece of information they could get. Once the interrogations were over Arran and Coros gave the evidence to Hawk and Turbo. "We found out that the speeder is from a scrap shop in Kessel." Turbo said.

"The casings were from a producer on Coruscant." Hawk said, "They're a real expensive company. The automatic weapons sell for about 6,000 credits a piece. And they had about four."

"The spaceship was spotted near the Kessel area. And Kessel is a common area for smugglers. Lots of weapon deals in that area." Arran said, "Kessel might be our best shot."

"I'm for it." Hawk said.

"Same." Turbo said.

"Then it's agreed?" Arran said.

...............................................................

The team of 12 boarded a large run down ship that was suppose to take them to Kessel. The only reason they would take this ship would be because a Republic ship would draw too much attention. They had discovered a weapons deal may be being made in an abandoned Republic outpost. After an hour of traveling the Marines arrived at a small space port. As they were leaving the ship Arran saw Hawk and another Marine pull out a big black box. "High pressure space armor." Hawk said, "Put it on, all of you." Arran and the others equipped the space gear and their weapons.

They all got on speeders and rode out on the surface of the huge asteroid. After half an hour they approached the outpost. It seemed ragged and ugly, as if it was from another time not another year. There was no doubt that the pirates were there. The team silently approached the outpost and surrounded it. They surrounded all three exits and Hawk got ready, "This is United Forces, you have 30 seconds to come out!"

Arran heard someone yelled back, "Come on in!" Hawk waited a minute. "Your bluffing!" Yelled the voice. Hawk nodded and the team knocked in the doors. Two men with rifles were on the other side and Arran shot one. The other fired and hit a Marine in the arm. Hawk shot him in the chest. "Move move move!" Hawk yelled.

The pirates opened fire and chaos endured. Arran shot one pirate with an automatic weapons and the rest were quickly killed by the team. One pirate set down his weapons and raised his hands. "Please..." He said. Hawk slammed him against the wall.

"Take him to the sidecar speeder!" Hawk said, "Coros, Arran, find those crates!" Arran and Coros nodded and went into the lower level of the outpost. Arran and Coros searched and found much more than just the weapons they were looking for. They found two boxes of DC rifles, one box of DC pistols, and one box of rocket launchers, and ten boxes of grenades. Arran and Coros told Hawk and he had them loaded onto the speeders. Upon returning to the United Forces HQ the pirate who was captured was sentenced to 50 years for murder, destruction of military property, and theft of military property. The stolen supplies from other HQ's were returned, and United Forces security was boosted afterwards.

Crash on Kuan
"Why the heck is going on?!" Yelled Commander Blaze as the ship began to start smoking and flaming. The inside was like a gas chamber, except it was all black instead of green. "Get in your seats," Arran heard someone yell, "the ship is malfunctioning!" Soon sparks started to fly and hit Arran's armor. "I can't find anything to hold on to!" Blaze yelled, "Slarglide? Can you hear me?!" Arran stumbled around blindly. "Yes sir!" Arran yelled back. "Can you locate me?!" Blaze said, "I need help!" A giant flame sparked and just for a second Arran saw Blaze. For a moment Arran wished he hadn't volunteered for the relief mission. Arran ran and tried to find Blaze but still couldn't find him. "Commander..." a voice coughed, "helmet... please..." Arran could see a red light now, it only gave a little light but it was enough. Arran bumped into walls and Marines all the same. Darn supply missions!

The ship shook violently and Arran was thrown into a wall. "Attention all crew...." A voice coughed over the speakers of the ship, "smoke has been realeased throughout the ship..." The voice coughed again, "escape pods..." The voice suddenly coughed violently and a large thud was heard. Arran heard the voice cough over and over until it was silenced. More voices came through the black dust.

"Who's in command?!"

"Get over here!"

"There's an explosion back there!"

"Don't fire any weapons!"

Arran was terrified and stumbled down the hallway. He saw for a moment a fallen medical officer who had suffocated. He knew that the ship would crash at one point or another. The ship exploded twice and the smoke turned to flame and engulfed Arran in it. The walls burned and the smoke was only at the ceiling now. Arran got up and ran, he saw Commander Blaze and the other troops holding on to pieces of steel on the wall. The ship began turning towards the largest center of gravity and was being sucked downwards. Arran grabbed a steel pipe in the wall as the ship slid downwards. Commander Blaze fell off the panel in the wall he was holding on to. "Help!" He yelled, "Help..." He hit the side of the wall and Arran heard his bones snap, he hit another wall and his neck was forced into an uncomfortable position. Arran saw Commander Blaze disseapear.

Arran looked up and saw a door, Arran opened it and fastened himself securely in the small room inside. Arran looked out the door to see the hallways falling apart in flames and Marines holding onto the wall and anything they could get their hands on. Another Marine fell and broke his neck instantly. Arran figured he was safe in here. The ship started ripping itself apart and the heat inside it got to about 100 degrees. The walls exploded and men were sucked out into the atmosphere. Arran held on tightly and saw Corporal Sinai, a very good friend of his get sucked out.

Arran was holding on for his life now and started to feel his fingers slip. Arran gripped the door of the room harder. Finally there was a loud explosion and Arran went flying into a wall. Arran felt the ship partially level out, he heard Marines yelling and scrambling around. Arran saw water start to flood on the floors and rise a bit. Arran grabbed an inflatable liferaft out of an emergency room nearby. The Marine ignored him and seemed content on saving the aid supplies. Others ran about trying to drag out the wounded. More water poured in and Arran was knee deep now, he pulled on an emergency escape hatch and it went flying off. Arran noticed they had landed in an ocean.

Arran got on the top of the ship and saw other Marines boarding liferafts and shoving off into the ocean. Arran thought about Commander Blaze. Blaze had always told his troops that every troop deserves to come home, in a box or not. Arran quickly went back in the ship and eventually found Commander Blaze's body. He pulled it through water that was up to his stomach by now. When Arran got back to the top of the ship he discovered the strong waves were starting to bring down the boats. He saw many Marines trying to shove off, if they did it too close to the ship they were sucked under. Arran had to get the boat as far away from the ship as possible.

Arran tied Blaze into the boat and got ready to shove the boat into the water, he was going too of course. The ship began tipping at a terribly fast rate and Arran saw Marines drowning inside the ship, there was no way to getting to them. Arran quickly shoved off and at the last moment got in the boat. He saw the Pelta Class Frigate dive down and take 400 of it's crew with it. Arran noticed that the sea was getting rougher and clouds were setting in. He got ready for a storm and got his paddle. The waves got bigger and Arran saw a ship next to him flip over. The waves swept the crew away quickly and the boat was all that remained. Arran saw two navy troops paddle near him and try to stay close. Arran saw a giant wave sweep nearer, it hit his boat and it almost flipped over.

Arran saw the navy troops boat flip over and disseapear from sight. It was all him now. A gigantic wave hit Arran's ship and it almost flipped again. Water hit his helmet and he almost lost control of the boat since he couldn't see. One more giant wave hit the boat and then it was blackness. Arran awoke to the sound of waves. He hated waves. He jolted up and discovered Command Blaze next to him. It all came back to him in a blink of an eye. He looked in the supplies area of the liferaft and saw an emergency transmitter. He clicked the button on it a half dozen times. That was enough.

He sat on the boat and ate biscuits out of metal cans for about a half an hour. "Well..." He said to himself, "I have enough rolls to last about a week. And the water filter system should work well." Arran felt unusual being in a small yellow boat with a dead Commander. At least he hadn't known Blaze all too well. Arran decided to secure the ship, check the sky for any clouds, then take a nap. When he woke up he was near an enormous island. It held many trees and quite a fairly nice rocky hill for making a shelter. "Semper Fi..." Arran muttered as he pulled up the raft onto the beach. He dragged it to the hill and made a shelter of rocks and wood.

It was very unsturdy. But it was built behind a big rock, so if any wind came from the north it would protect Arran and the supplies from the cold. Arran hummed and looked for branches for an hour until he found all he needed. He took it back to the shelter and made a sturdy fire. Arran decided to flicker the transmitter a few more times before he went to sleep. As soon as he did so he heard the roar of a gunship. Arran flicked the transmitter over and over again until the gunship was over him. He waved upwards towards it and ran to the beach. The gunship made it over the beach and hovered down. The doors had been removed and it was obviously a search and recovery gunship. "Slarglide! What the heck are you doing out here?" A voice asked.

Arran recognized it as the General and walked towards him and the gunship. "At the moment I'm trying to survive!" Arran said, "And I was doing a real good job at it 'til you showed up!" The General nodded. "You got any survivors with you?" He asked, "All we've been finding is debris and bodies." Arran frowned, "I've got Commander Blaze at the camp." Arran sighed, "Hes dead, he broke his neck in the crash."

The General paused and looked at Arran for a second, "He was a good soldier." The General waved for the crew and yelled, "Get a stretcher down here!" He walked towards the camp to retrieve Blaze. It was a shame. Arran was one out of 89 survivors. The number of soldiers on the Pelta Class Frigate was 540. 459 died. They were all just men doing their jobs. All soldiers, but non died from a single shot.

Khoonda
Khoonda was a little known area on Dantooine. It had a fair history of violence and attacks in its past and it held few citizens or settlers in the area now. Khoonda was protected by a militia that showed little force in controlling the area although made up of 900 members. When the Clone Wars started Khoonda declared itself neutral. Many settlers disagreed and chose to be prone to the Republic. Soon violence errupted and 15  Marines were sent to make sure that a mineral supply for the Republic stayed secure. Soon the Khoonda Militia approached the mine and attacked it in search of rebels. 3 Marines were killed and in response, United Forces decided to send in 300 Marines to take over Khoonda.

INVASION OF KHOONDA

It was a wonderful night. So wonderful that Arran didn't want to ruin it by fighting. He was snapped out of his stare across the planets picturesque scene by anti aircraft fire errupting like bursts of lava in front of him. The gunship rocked and the Marines held on tightly. Arran knew not one person he was standing next to. They all had rugged armor that had been pierced and burned by many battles. Arran looked out of the gunship and saw the anti aircraft near mountains. As the gunship neared the mountains Arran saw the gunships missiles deploy and twirl around violently and be thrusted into the mountains and destroy the guns. The passage from then on was safe.

A few minutes later Arran saw lights approaching the gunships from the ground. "3..." Arran heard, "2.... 1!" The light in the gunship changed from red to green and Arran jumped out first. He fell through the air and felt the cold air on his armor. He looked to his left and saw other Marines making the jump. He saw the lights below him resembled enemy lines. They quickly flickered out. Lasers flew around as the enemy tried to kill the paratroopers. Soon it was seconds until Arran hit the ground. It was literally a few feet from his face. Arran hit the ground hard, he was far away from the enemy lines but could see the lasers flying over his head.

Explosions happened overhead. Arran cut off his parachute and crawled over to a Marine with a rifle. "Hey!" Arran yelled. The Marine turned and saw Arran. Arran recognized him as Jon Archer. Jon Archer had been a great historian and once gave Arran an archaeological tour of an ancient Jedi temple in the past, afterwards Archer gave Arran info on United Forces and told him he might want to join. Arran denied this offer and continued on with his writing. "Get over here!" Archer said. Arran got a beep on his helmet. He activated his communicator. "Slarglide! Where the heck are you?!" Said Lieutenant Hunter's voice. "We're literally yards away from the enemy lines!" Arran yelled over the artillery. A mortar round went off and dirt flew all over Arran and Jon.

"Who is we?!" Bala yelled. "Jon and I!" Arran responded. Another mortar round blew up and the communicator went dead. Jon and Arran were now surrounded by dirt and explosions. "Take cover!" Jon yelled as a mortar whizzed downwards to the ground. Arran leapt forward and took cover. The mortar landed where he was and exploded. Jon and Arran went about doing this for 10 minutes. Finally they heard firing and lasers went towards the enemy trench. Arran and Jon got up and shot lasers towards the enemy. They joined a charging group of Marines and they soon approached the trench.

Arran and the Marines gunned the soldiers down easily. Some attempted retreat but were killed. One man shoved down his weapon and surrendered to Arran. Arran pointed his rifle at him while he held his hands in the air. Arran had no idea what to do. Lasers swirled like a storm, so he pushed the soldier into the trench and made sure he was away from fire. United Forces troops marched left and right securing the trenches. Soon Arran saw Lieutenant Hunter approach. After a few minutes the trenches were secure and Lieutenant Hunter approached Arran saluted her. "Ma'am, I captured this prisoner during the attack. What do I do with him?" Arran asked.

"He'll be coming with me." Lieutenant Hunter said, "The gunships are coming here in 7 minutes to pick them up." Lieutenant Hunter then escorted the soldier through the trenches. After a half an hour gunships arrived. They brought speeders and ammunition. One was a special prisoner transport. Within a few moments the sun began to rise. Arran walked over to Lieutenant Hunter who was checking the speeders. "What are orders ma'am?" Arran asked, "The men are very confused." Lieutenant Hunter sighed, "We're going to be marching along the main roads until we reach the capital. We will not leave the road unless completely necessary. The speeder squadron will go ahead of us." Arran nodded, "How soon?" He asked. "How about now?" Lieutenant Hunter asked.

Lieutenant Hunter stepped on top of a crate, "Column formation!" She yelled. The troops quickly organized themselves and the march began. The roads were long and dusty and whenever a speeder went by the dust would fly around like a whirlwind. Arran was having to constantly wipe his visor off. The coutryside of Khoonda was wonderful, green rolling hills and plenty of farm houses. After a half an hour the troops approached a burned out militia roadblock. Militia men layed scattered while the sandbags and burned wood. "Seems like they didn't stand a chance against the speeders." Corporal Archer said blankly. "I'm guessing they only had the pistols." Arran said, "No heavy weapons."

"Khoonda use to have a pretty nice weapons. They were actually made by hand during the days of the old Republic." Jon said looking at Arran. "Handmade?" Arran asked. Archer nodded. "Less chatting! We've got 200 Marines who are eager for combat! Ignore it!" Lieutenant Hunter said. Arran and Jon nodded and went forward. "You have a pretty good memory for this sort of thing." Arran said, "No wonder you gave me that tour." Jon nodded, "Archaeololgy is interesting, history is too. You can certainly learn a large amount of stuff from it. As soon as I heard we were going to Khoonda I got my spade ready in case I had some free time to dig."

"What would you find?" Arran asked. "Probably some relics from when the Sith occupied the place. It was a pretty interesting time then." Jon said, "Khoonda use to have wonderful agriculture and a large population. I guess when the Sith came they disposed of a large amount of the civilians. But nobody has any solid proof of it." Just then a speeder came barreling down the side of the road kicking up dust and heading towards the convoy. "Air raid!" Yelled the Marine on it. "Head for the sides of the road!" Yelled Lieutenant Hunter. The men ran and jumped into ditches. A giant ship just then screeched over the road and dropped bombs. They roared and dirt flew all over. It continued and Arran saw an Army trooper fly backwards due to the impact of a bomb.

The bomber made a turn around and bombed the side roads again. This time the Marines and Army troops fired rounds at it nonstop. Corporal Archer hit the wing with his rifle and Lieutenant Hunter and some Marines shot a wing a few times. Apparently the ship wasn't built to take on shots and spiraled out of control, it dove down and curved. It went right over Arran and flew into a nearby hill. It exploded and the ship smoldered, the smoke flew all around. Lieutenant Hunter stood up, "Come on! No time for any more set backs! Get on the road!" The troops obeyed and got back on the road. Arran noticed two army troops being carried. Arran also saw half a soldier being dragged out of a shell hole. The Marines dragging him out looked around nervously and threw a sheet on him. Arran was terrified.

Arran and Corporal Archer talked for half an hour as the troops marched down the long and winding road. Soon they approached an area where burned and blown up speeders scattered the road. The riders of them were dead, not one remained. Lieutenant Hunter paused to look at one of the troops. Suddenly lasers flew down on the convoy from the hills above, sniper fire hit a Marine near Arran and Jon and passed through his helmet. He collapsed limply. Arran and Jon took cover near a speeder as the lasers destroyed the convoy. Arran took out his rifle and fired back, but the sniper fire was too suppressive. All of a sudden a detonator landed directly in front of Arran. He took it and threw it back immediately. It went behind the hill and exploded. The fire stopped for a minute on one side and Arran, Jon, and two other Marines charged. The came up and saw five militia men.

Arran shot two of them while Jon shot another. The two other Marines were blasted in the chest while they charged. Jon and Arran saw the other two retreat and they took good aims and blasted them in their backs. Arran and Jon then took the heavy weapon the militia had and aimed it towards the other hill. They fired rapidly and soon all the militia on that side were dead. The soldiers stood up and inspected the hills. "They had the trap planned just for us!" Lieutenant Hunter exclaimed, "That was some dangerous sniper fire! Casualties?!" An army medic got up, "13!" He said. Lieutenant Hunter sighed. "Advance!" She yelled, "And keep an eye out for any suspicious movements!" The troops moved forward and marched for 7 hours. Soon the sun had set and the troops were growing weary.

Yet the march still continued. Soon the main area of the settlement was in view. Lieutenant Hunter ordered a pause and the troops stopped. "I want a good organized charge! Two lines! Engage the enemy whenever necessary! Take over the entire city! Stay in groups or at least stay with one soldier!" She said, "Understood?" The troops responded back in unison with, "Yes ma'am!" The troops got ready for the approach quickly, the area was guarded by sandbags and about 70 soldiers. He found himself next to Gian Portel and Corporal Archer. "Ready..." Lieutenant Hunter said, "GO GO GO!" The men jumped over the hills and charged towards the city. The soldiers opened fire mercilessly and killed a dozen Marines. It was a bloodbath as lasers flew from either side and the men charged.

Arran saw a laser fly past his face, he was so close he felt the heat from it for a second. Arran raised his rifle and fired, he hit one of the militia men as he got closer. Soon the Marines were yards away from the sandbags. Archer was the first to make it and jumped over the defenses. Others followed and the militia and Marines were engaged in fierce battle. Arran was grabbed by a rough looking militia man with a mustache. Arran punched the man but was thrown into the sandbags as a result. The man raised his pistol to shoot Arran while he was down. Just then lasers hit the man in the chest. Arran looked to see Lieutenant Hunter above him pistols raised. Lieutenant Hunter ignored Arran and jumped into the battle. The militia retreated into the training area and defended their base with a weapons system. It plowed down a dozen Marines immediately but was taken out by detonators. Soon the militia was forced to retreat into their base and shut the blast doors.

Some lower ranked militia were trapped outside and were slaughtered by the gunfire of the Marines. "Get those doors open!" Lieutenant Hunter yelled to Arran and Corporal Portel. Arran had no idea how to open a blast door, so instead he tossed a detonator at the door. The Marines yelled and took cover. It exploded and left a huge hole in the doors. "Go!" Lieutenant Hunter yelled. The men advanced in and found little resistance. They killed a dozen militia members in their way and stormed into the control room. They were met by a radioman and two Generals. The two Generals drew their guns and were killed immediately.

The radioman held his hands up and Lieutenant Hunter shoved him against a wall. "What the heck did you just transmit?" She said. The radioman trembled. "Distress codes..." He said gasping for air. Lieutenant Hunter threw him into a table. "Osik!" She said angrily. Arran went up to her, "We'll be surrounded in a few minutes and they'll have recaptured the base!" Lieutenant Hunter nodded. Soon Corporal Portel came in, "We're surrounded!" Arran ran outside to see two bombers fly above the base, they dropped bombs and shrapnel and dirt flew all over. Marines layed wounded on the ground, medics scampered left and right to help them.

The bombers retreated and Arran looked to his right to see militia soldiers on the hills, the base had been a trap. And it had been sprung. The next hour was spent in the base, the other Marines debated what to do while Lieutenant Hunter, Arran, Corporal Portel, and Corporal Archer debated a solution. Corporal Portel suggested calling for an airstrike, however all transmissions were being jammed. Lieutenant Hunter discussed rigging the bombs in the base, and then making a full retreat. Arran pointed out that they should go to the west side since defenses were lowest. The main issue was that the militia could pursue if they wanted. Lieutenant Hunter sighed, "How many soldiers do we have left?"

"34." Corporal Archer responded.

"And speeders?" She asked.

"20." Arran said.

"Well, if we can have some of the men ride on the back while the driver control the speeder we can burst a hole through the militia. Then we can escape easily, one of us will of course have to go last to blow up the base. Any volunteers?"

"I'll do it." Corporal Archer said, "How much explosives are we talking about?"

"We're talking about a Titan IVV and 5 average bombs." Lieutenant Hunter responded, "Make sure your far as heck away when that Titan explodes."

Corporal Archer nodded, "Are we using communicators?"

Lieutenant Hunter nodded, "Go get the men ready!"

"Yes ma'am!" They said.

Arran ran outside while Corporal Archer got the explosives ready. Soon the men were ready and the speeders as well. Arran and Corporal Portel stayed to the right while Lieutenant Hunter led the attack. "Those explosives ready?" Lieutenant Hunter said to Corporal Archer. "Yes ma'am!" He responded. Corporal Archer was to wait in the base until it was jsut the right time then set the timer. "Lets move it men!" Lieutenant Hunter said, "Go go go!" The speeders bolted forward and headed out of the military training grounds, immediately lasers were flying at both sides. A laser flew directly at Arran but we was able to pull his speeder left just in time. Arran then fired his heavy weapons onto the militia, they ducked and ran as the hill they were on was reduced to dirt and a rugged landscape. Soon the Marines had made the jump over the hill. Arran heard a ping on his helmet and activated the communicator.

"This is Archer! I'm heading out of the base!" Arran heard. "Hurry up Archer! When we make it back we can finally do some digging!" Arran said. Archer laughed, "Ready..." He said, "Contact!" Arran looked back from his speeder and saw the base from a distance. Nothing happened. "The explosion is a negative!" Archer said, "I'll have to blow it up by hand!" By now Arran saw the militia advancing on the base, they were huge in numbers. "Don't do it! Get back to base! You'll kill yourself!" Lieutenant Hunter ordered the speeders to stop.

"Ma'am! Archer is going back to the base to hand activate..." Arran started. A giant light flashed and then disseapeared. Arran looked up and then was blinded again. The Marines were yelling all around him. All of a sudden a giant amount of air hit them and knocked the speeders down as well as the men. It was as if a giant storm was being projected at them, objects flew left and right and the grass was being torn off the ground. Suddenly the air stopped, Arran saw a giant red cloud. A giant explosion appeared. They were lucky, if they had been a mile or two closer they would've all been killed. Soon the explosion disseapeared and the Marines were left with a ruined landscape, all dirt.

"What the..." Lieutenant Hunter said, "that was no Titan bomb! What the firefek was that!?" The Marines didn't know. "Where's Archer?" She said. Arran turned, "Archer didn't make it, he had to activate the bomb by hand." Lieutenant Hunter stared at Arran. After a minute she said, "He'll be MIA until we can find any of him." Arran felt that was probably the most morale ruining thing he had ever heard. He looked around, all that remained was dirt and shrapnel. The speeders had survived though. Lieutenant Hunter grabbed her communicator. She activated it and soon Major Derek appeared. "Major Skywalker." He said. "Major Skywalker, we have a bit of a situation here." Lieutenant Hunter said. "Was the base taken?" Lieutenant Hunter shook her head, "Well... errr...." She said, "It was blown up by... something." Major Derek looked at her like she was crazy.

"Something?" He asked in a puzzled tone. "A sort of bomb..." Lieutenant Hunter responded, "a BIG bomb." Major Derek nodded as if he understood. "Get your men out of there." He said in a serious tone. He then turned off the communicator and disseapeared. The Marines mounted up and headed back to base.

AFTERWARDS...

The Marines were give a debriefing and were told that the weapon on Khoonda was some sort of prototype from a stronger nation or organization than the settlement. This was alarming to United Forces due to the fact that no small nation or settlement had ever acquired something that powerful. They were also told that an investigation would be led into this prototype and whoever provided the militia with it. The militia surrendered within an hour of their main army being wiped out. Only 34 militia men remained and the vote was to surrender. A treaty of surrender was signed two days later. Khoonda remained under Republic control after that. Corporal Archer was considered KIA after that due to the fact that the bomb was so powerful even though no remains were found. Archer's death however did give a boost of morale to the planet he was from and even inspired a folktale.

Battle of Corellia
Arran shut on his small waterproof radio, he had recently made a memory bank to store songs in it and took advantage of it. A man with a loud voice started singing a sort of opera. "Shut that off!" Yelled Hawk, "We need some sleep!" Arran turned it off. They were in a Republic Cruiser and almost everyone was sleeping except for Arran. "Sorry sir." Arran responded. "Don't tell me sorry! Tell everyone else that! What, did you actually think I was sleeping?! I'm cleaning my blasters!" Hawk yelled back. The barracks was silent after that. Arran was nervous, they had been sent to Corellia to capture the capital from droids. Corellia was a giant urban planet from what Arran had heard.

Arran had been ordered to be a radioman with group number 6701, that was a group commanded by General Vas. Arran wasn't quite happy about being with group 6701. He figured that the more stripes you had, the bigger a target you were. And group 6701 had two Corporals, one commander, and the General. Arran decided to have some lemon juice. That usually made him get to sleep easily. Arran fell asleep about an hour later. When he awoke it was to everyone grabbing packs, detonators, and rifles. "All crew is to be in the briefing at 0900!" Arran heard Hawk yell. "Is it that early?!" Arran heard someone say back. "Shut your mouth Private! We didn't want any army recruits here!" Hawk replied. Arran was ready quickly and had all his gear on. He had a large radio strapped to his back.

Arran hurried down the hallway with all the other Marines, they were about 15 minutes late for briefing. "What the heck is that on your back Slarglide?" Arran turned around to see Hawk. "Apparently the droids have jammers that can pretty much block any communicator. So, I'm one of three radiomen in the attack." Hawk laughed, "Don't be surprised if you get shot at the most." Arran took what Hawk said as a joke and continued down the hall. They all soon entered the hangar and saw hundreds of Marines and Army troops getting on gunships. "Get over here Slarglide!" Arran heard a voice say, he saw General Vas on a gunship with about half a dozen other troops. "Get in!" He yelled.

Arran got in the gunship just as it lifted off. "You missed briefing!" Vasco said, "You want some filling in?!" Arran nodded. "Well, were going in and taking out the main defenses with 6708 6809 and 7890. 7890 is codenamed Crix, 6708 is Gandalf, 6809 is Cosmonaut, were Frodo. You just follow along with my orders, take out any droids you can. Heavy bombing is going to happen around 0200 and 01000. If you need to cancel the strike the code is, "Rider is dead." We had 80 men in our group. Is all of this clear?" The General asked. "Yes sir!" Arran replied.

The gunships started to endure heavy fire quickly, Arran had to prop himself on his rifle and grab the hooks on the ceiling at the same time to keep himself from falling. Soon the light went from red to green in the ship. "Prepare for departure!" Yelled the General. The gunship began to slow down and landed. The doors opened and Arran saw buildings all around him. "GO!" The General yelled.

"Watch your fire!" Arran heard a voice yell, "Machine gunner, left... ACK!" Arran looked to see a Marine Commander named Kronos dead. Lasers flew left and right from droids. Arran fired and hit two in the streets. He ran forward with the group and noticed others joining them. Suddenly a building exploded, not just any building, but a highrise. "Get down! Debris is falling!" Vas yelled, "Run!" Rubble started falling and crushing troops. Arran was terrified and ran out of range of the building. A laser hit a Marine next to him and another almost hit him. Arran ran down the street with other Marines, destroying any droid that got in their way. Suddenly a tank appeared at the end of the streets and fired a large shell into the middle of the street.

It exploded and killed three Marines. "My radioman is down!" Arran heard Vas yell. "I'm over here! Get out of the street!" Arran yelled. The tank fired again, by now the Marines were firing at it insanely fast. Within seconds it was knocked out. "Regroup! Stay on the sidewalks and take out any resistance immediately. The Marines advanced down the streets and took out droids with ease and accuracy. "Commandos!" Vas yelled, "Fire!" Arran and the other men started firing at the Commandos. A dozen were approaching. Five were quickly taken out, one jumped and attempted to behead Arran. A soldier nearby shot it twice and it fell down. The others were slaughtering Marines. Vas took one by the head and tossed it into a building wall.

Arran saw others trying to do the same, their failure resulted in death. Arran shot one, and so did a Corporal. Vas put his commando weapon on rapid fire and took the rest out. "Move it Marines!" Yelled Vas. The Marines advanced, they found no more droids. "Slarglide!" Vas yelled, "Get Gandalf on the transmission!" Arran took off his pack and removed the radio, "Gandalf, this is Frodo. Do you come in Gandalf?" Arran said. After a minute a crackly voice responded, "We're being picked off by tanks!" The transmission ended quickly, "Hello Gandalf, this is Frodo. Do you read me Gandalf?"

"SOS, send help... GAH!" The voice said as explosions came through the broadcast.

"Gandalf, this is Frodo. Do you come in Gandalf?" Arran asked.

"Slarglide! It's useless! Lets get the heck over to Crix!" General ordered. The 48 remaining men hurried through the city, surprisingly silent. Suddenly a rumbling noise could be heard. "Corporal Coros, what is that?" The General asked. Suddenly an unusual weapon rounded the corner. "What the..." General Vas said. Suddenly a barage of rockets flew out of the weapon and came down on the Marines. It blew shards of shrapnel all about and fire and explosions surrounded Arran. It knocked men around him into the air and killed soldiers standing too close to the explosion area. A chunk of metal hit Arran's helmet and knocked him down.

Suddenly the smoke cleared and Arran saw General Vas and a few others still standing, and weapons pointing directly towards the tank. "Make a charge! Go! Before it can reload!" Yelled Vas. Arran and the two dozen remaining troops ran towards the tank, it activated it's defense system and plowed down six men. Vas fired a grenade out of his weapon and it exploded on contact with the tank. Arran tossed a grenade as well, both did serious damage to the tank. Vas fired another and it completely knocked the tank out. Shards of it flew all about the streets, breaking glass windows.

Vas paused for a minute and turned back, "Come on, we need to check for survivors." He said. They went back to the site of the missile attack and found bodies scattered about. "Corporal Coros?" Vas yelled. Arran looked in front of him to see a limp Coros on the ground. "Found him." Arran said, "Hes dead. KIA." General Vas went over and saw Coros. "War has it's toll, he was a good soldier." Arran nodded to agree with General. Soon the team of 22 left for Crix. When the team arrived where Crix was suppose to be, they found Lieutenant Hunter and about 40 men stationed to defend the city armory. "Lieutenant," Vas said, "whats the damage report?"

"We lost 49 men, 4 pilots, and 1 medic." Bala reported, "Sir, what time is it?" Vas checked quickly. "0200!" Vas exclaimed. Bombers started coming in fast. "Take cover! Hit the dirt!" Bala yelled. Bombs started falling and demolished all buildings around. The ground shook and dust went flying. After two minutes the raid was over. Vas stood up, "Darn pilots!" He yelled, "Can't stay in the right zone!" Arran looked around and saw the armory still remained. "Darn, thats some rather tough architecture." He declared. "It's made of titanium steel." Bala replied, "Can stand some pretty heavy hits."

Arran nodded, "What are our plans General?" He asked. "Stay here until group 8907, 9087, 6578, 9001, and 3004 capture the city." He responded, "We can't risk any more casualties, plus we need to secure the armory." Arran nodded and went off to look at the defenses set up by the men of Crix. It was mostly barb wire and anti-tank defenses. Plus some sandbags set where the machinegun would go. "Hey Corporal!" Arran heard, he turned around and saw Devis Rainer a few feet away. "Hey Staff Seargent." He said, "I thought you were with the other groups." Devis nodded, "I guess General didn't tell you I was with this group. Seems like you took a few heavy hits getting here." Arran stood in silence for a moment, "Coros got killed in a blast from some tanks." He said.

Staff Seargent Rainer looked at Arran for a second, "It's a shame, I knew him well. He was one of the finest soldiers we had." Devis said. After a moment Devis said, "I need to go help with machinegun nests, I'll see you later." Devis ran off quickly and Arran was left to wander around the heavily fortified area. Arran came across a wall of sandbags and decided to sit on it. He took out his lemon juice and watched the Army soldiers set up barbwire. All of a sudden shots rang out and hit buildings and Army troops. Arran ducked for cover immediately and saw a few lasers just miss him.

Army troops made feeble attempts to destroy the droids who were marching down the street to the armory. Most were killed, Arran took out his rifle and found himself face to face with a super battle droid. He shot it twice in the head and took out a B1 next to it. Arran fought fiercely to defend his position as more droids advanced onto his position. Two Army troops ran next to him and helped him out, one was immediately shot twice. The other saw what happened to his comrade and ducked down into cover. He fired well and shot down 3 B1's. "Razor is KIA!" Arran heard Lieutenant Hunter yell from behind. He saw a Corporal had been hit in the side of his head twice and was laying on the ground.

Lieutenant Hunter fought the droids in hand to hand combat using pistols. Arran covered Lieutenant Hunter while the Army trooper covered the droids in front of them. Soon the Army troops in the defenses in the back fought up to Lieutenant Hunter, Arran, and a few other troops positions and the droids started to decrease in numbers quickly. Arran shot down a B1 Commander quickly and the droids, knowing not to retreat were blasted to shrapnel. The Marines and Army troops chased the rest off or shot them. "Stay in the defenses!" Arran heard someone yell, "Get the machineguns up to the sandbags! Quickly!" Arran recognized the voice to be General's.

"No moving forward or backwards! All of you are to stay within the sandbags! Lieutenant Hunter will give half a dozen of you the job of protecting the armory! We're digging a fine line of defense!" General yelled, "Is that clear?!" Arran and the others responded correctly and General went towards the armory. Now the streets looked like a million bombs had hit it, bodies were scattered, and no full buildings remained. Arran pulled out an old shovel he had recieved in a trade with an Army soldier, he used it to dig a small foxhole in an area where the concrete had been removed or blown up. Arran figured it was a nice setup. Plus the foxhole was only a few inches away from the sandbags. "Slarglide! Get out your radio!" Arran heard, he turned around to see General. "I have something important for you to transmit. You keep quiet about this understood?" He said in a lower voice, "Transmit this on broadcast 679000." He said. "But sir, thats in the static zone. Theres no stations or radios that are powerful enough to..." Arran said. "Just relay it, Alpha 78907 Q 45790." General said quickly, then he dashed off.

Arran relayed the message quickly, he recieved only static. After a minute he heard another voice, "Nikolai, Zigona, 80908909. Repeat, Nikolai, Zigonai, 80908909." Arran responded back, "This is Frodo, do you respond Alpha?" After a few minutes only static came through. Arran went over to General and reported this. "Who's Alpha sir?" Arran asked. The General sighed, "Need to know basis, do you need to know?" General asked. "No sir. Thank you sir." Arran said as he left the makeshift command General had set up, it was just a table with a map on it surrounded by plenty of sandbags. Arran was halfway to his foxhole when he heard a whistle go off. "Air raid! Air raid! Hit the dirt! Take cover!" Arran heard Lieutenant Hunter yell.

Arran heard ARC 170s fly overhead, he ran towards his foxhole as the fighters dropped the bombs. They headed towards the ground making a whizzing sound. Arran finally approached the safety of the sandbags and foxhole and physically jumped into his foxhole. The bombs hit the ground as soon as he was in and exploded, shrapnel and concrete flew all over. Arran heard more explosions and the ground shook. After five minutes of this sheer roaring noise and yelling, it ended and Arran heard the bombers fly away. Arran peeked out of his foxhole to see the whole street had been covered in a thick layer of dust and debris. Arran saw troopers peering out from pehind wreckage and sandbags. "Where the heck is the radioman!?" Arran heard a voice yell, he recognized it as Lieutenant Hunter's.

"Over here ma'am!" Arran said standing up. "Tell those darn pilots to stay the heck out of sector Q 45 and Q 46!" Arran took up his radio and started to transmit it. "Sauron, this is Frodo. Lieutenant Hunter says, and I quote, "tell those darn pilots to stay the heck out of sector Q 45 and Q 46." Arran said. "Frodo this is Sauron, tell Bala that Abo doesn't give a darn. Over and out."  Arran ended the transmission and stood up. "Abo says he doesn't give a darn LT!" He yelled across to the other trench. Arran heard a few laughs from the other trench. "Tell Abo..." Arran didn't really bother listening anymore, he just sat down and drank his lemon juice.

All of a sudden Staff Seargent Rainer was over Arran's foxhole. "Hey Lance Corporal." He said, "Did you relay that message?" Arran squinted at Rainer, "It depends, did Lieutenant ask you to come here?" Arran said. "Yep." Rainer said with a nod. "Then no." Arran said. All of a sudden Arran heard something land nearby. Rainer stood up, "Who the..." All of a sudden there was a giant flash of light over Arran's foxhole and Staff Seargent Rainer was thrown onto the ground with a thud. Arran got up out of his hole and ran to Staff Seargent Rainer. Staff Seargent Rainer coughed, "I thought someone threw a rock..." He said. "Is anyone injured?!" Yelled an Army medic. "Yeah, Rainer was hurt in the blast. But he still has his humor, hes fine." Arran responded.

Soon the medic and another trooper had removed Rainer on a stretcher. Arran figured they were taking him to the makeshift hospital, it was mostly just a few Army fold up beds and some sandbags for protection. Arran sat back down in his foxhole. He fell asleep quickly. "Heres your K ration Corporal! Merry Christmas! " Yelled Lieutenant Hunter, she threw a K ration in his foxhole and it hit him on the head. He looked up dazed. "Thank you..." He said. He opened up the K ration and ate the breakfeast inside. After half an hour of eating unusually hard bread, Arran crawled out of the foxhole and near the sandbags.

All of a sudden lasers flew at the sandbags and burst them open, rockets hit the ground next to Arran and sprayed him with dust. Explosions surrounded him, yells or pain were all he heard along with the bombs bursting. A laser flew and almost hit him in his head, he stood up quickly and found himself looking into nothingness, it was all just black smoke. More bombs fell, and Arran heard more yells, more lasers flew at him. He stood up on the sandbags immediately. He had just about had enough of this. "Fire the mortar! Aim high as you can! Get the heck out of the trenches!" Arran yelled, "Fire as bloody high as you can!" Troops started firing back, but certainly not enough.

Arran went towards the mortar group, he picked up a box full of shells. He inserted them into the tubes and they sprang towards the enemy. Soon more Army troops had joined and the mortar grew stronger, a giant shell went off next to the mortar teams. Yet they kept on going. The mortar effected the enemy fire and it slowed. Soon General had made it to the lines with a small group of Marines. They fired their weapons at the enemy instead of using the mortar. "Keep the left area under heavy fire!" General yelled to the men. Arran saw a limping Army officer coming towards the mortar units. When the officer got closer, Arran recognized the soldier as Lieutenant Hunter.

Arran kept the mortar fire up and soon barely any lasers or bombs were coming from the enemy. All of a sudden a giant rumbling was heard from in front and both sides stopped firing to look and see what was making the noise. Through the smoke Arran saw nothing. A few flashes of blue and that was it. Then in a split second a turbo tank had crushed the droids advancing on the trenches and almost ran Arran over. Luckily the driver stopped the tank right in front of the defenses. The soldiers cheered and took off their helmets. The hatch to the turbo tank was flung open and Hawk appeared. "Sorry we're late General, you seemed to be holding off pretty well without us." Hawk said as he climbed out and came down towards the ground. "Good to see you Corporal," He said with a nod, "you too Lieutenant."

"Are any others coming?" General asked. "Some AT OTs and some AT TEs to remove the weapons from the armory." Hawk responded, "General, most of the city has fallen, all our forces are circling in on one small area. Are these men relieved?" General thought for a minute, "They've been through alot, let 'em get back to the cruiser to get some food and rest, they've had a tough time." General then walked off with Hawk discussing something. Arran wandered over to a piece of concrete to drink his lemon juice on. Soon he found the once urban area, swarming with gunships transporting troops, weapons, and any supplies left over. "Come on Corporal!" Yelled Lieutenant Hunter as she entered a blue gunship.

Arran figured he better go on that ship. He stumbled across the uneven concrete surface and finally made it into the gunship. Arran grabbed the hook above him, he couldn't wait to get some sleep. The ship flew over the city and began to rise upwards. Arran felt the colder air on his armor, the gunship was airtight but the effects of space were still there. Soon the gunship slowed down and the doors opened, Arran and everyone else stepped out to the cruiser.

"Corporal!" Arran saw Lieutenant hunter approach him, "I found this while I was checking the defenses." She handed him a silver flask with a gold crest on it. "Thank you Lieutenant." Arran responded, "This is quite an important item." Lieutenant Hunter nodded and walked away. Arran then took out one of knifes and engraved, "Corellia" in the front of it.

The Escort
Arran was sitting on his bunk on the cruiser, finally after a week Corellia had fallen and no droids remained. Now the cruiser was at lightspeed and was going to get to the United Forces HQ in about an hour. Arran wondered how being traumatized by a battle felt. He didn't think he had been traumatized. He was rather upset about the death of Coros though. Arran heard footsteps and look up to see Hawk. "Hello sir." Arran said. "Hello Arran, General requests you see him in his office." Hawk responded. Arran got up and walked down a few hallways and eventually reached his office.

He opened the door to his office and saw two men. "Hello Corporal." General said. "Hello sir. You summoned me?"

"Yes," General said clearing his throat, "this is Field Marshal Wheasel."

Arran gave him a salute, "Hello sir." He said.

"Hello Corporal, I've come to give you some rather interesting news. Your friend Corporal Coros is still alive." The Field Marshal said.

Arran looked at him. "How so?" Arran asked.

"He was being sent to rescue a diplomat." Field Marshal said, "The diplomat's name is classified."

"So why tell me personally?" Arran asked.

"Because your going to help him get the diplomat to Coruscant to testify for war crimes." Field Marshal Wheasel said, "The war will be ending very soon."

"Yes, sir." Arran said, "When will I be leaving?"

"Right now, get your things." General said, "Transport number 11 it's the blue one in the hangar."

"Yes sir." Arran responded as he turned to leave. After grabbing his things he moved to the hangar, it was almost barren. Arran saw two Recon troops who were heavily armed. "Are you Corporal Slarglide?" One said. He held a gianormous weapon Arran had never seen in his life. "Yes I am." Arran responded. "The two Recon troops nodded to each other and gestured for Arran to follow. Arran got in the ship, it was black and blue. A very special ship, probably used by intelligence. Arran saw a man in blue robes and next to him three recon troops painted in black.

One recon troop looked at Arran. He removed his helmet quickly, "Didn't recognize me?" Arran looked and saw a grinning Coros. "Back from the dead?" Arran said, "So who was the guy in your gear?" Arran asked. "Sit down and we'll discuss it." Arran sat down and the ship began to take off. Coros went on to explain that the poor fellow in his gear was just a dead soldier from the Army, he had volunteered his body after death for the mission. Arran found this disturbing but completely necessary. Coros informed Arran that the diplomat was classified to all soldiers under the rank of Lieutenant except for him and Arran.

Arran and Coros finished the conversation. After a half an hour of security checks over and over again, Arran went to the cockpit. When he entered he found two stealth trooper pilots. They didn't even turn to look at him. "Have security checks been done in here?" Arran asked. A pilot turned to him, "Look, about half a dozen guys came in here before we took off. They looked everywhere, theres no need for another check." The pilot said. Arran felt that this man was lieing. "Is this true?" Arran asked the second pilot. "How should I know? I just arrived on the cruiser yesterday. All I know is the mission objective, get to Coruscant."

Arran went to the back of the ship and saw that the soldiers were still searching the back. "Coros, do you know those pilots names?" Arran asked. "No, thats classified." Coros said. "Follow me," Arran said as he went to the cockpit. "So you gentlemen have never met each other?" Arran said. They nodded. "Whats your rank?" He said to the one who he thought was lieing. "Lance Corporal." He responded. "Lie!" Arran said shoving the pilot out of the chair and forcing him against a wall. Coros and him kept him in an uncomfortable position. "Your not going to find it." The pilot said, "You've got half a minute."

Arran and Coros looked at each other and ran to the back of the shuttle. The second pilot didn't get up. "Bomb!" Yelled Coros as he grabbed onto the wall. The cockpit exploded quickly and smoke came in. The diplomat and Recon troops were nowhere to be seen. Arran could only faintly see Coros. The ship started to fall downwards and fire started to come out of the walls. The shuttle started gaining speed. "Prepare for impact!" Yelled Coros. The ship landed with a thud and Arran was forced into a wall. Coros went near the exit and shot it open quickly.

A Recon troop grabbed Arran and they were brought out of the shuttle. As the smoke cleared Arran noticed nothing but overgrown grass all around him, they had crashed in a field. The Recon troop set Arran down and he stumbled around for a moment. Arran checked and saw that all the Recon troops were still accounted for as well as the diplomat. "Well, we'll have to head towards wherever we choose and hope we find a settlement." Coros said, "I propose we go north." One of the Scout troops dropped down to the ground. "Down!" He said in a low voice. Soon everyone was in the tall grass. In the distance a faint buzz could be heard.

Soon two speeders passed near the group, both had riders with rugged intimidating armor. Arran guessed them to be Mandalorian. After they had vanished from view the group stood up. "South, thats where the riders were going." Coros said, "Mine as well follow them." Arran and the others agreed. They hiked for half an hour until they came to a cobblestone road. The followed it carefully for another half an hour until they came to an unusual sit, a huge city sitting in the middle of nowhere. Arran and the others came to a red bridge with guardshacks on either side. They approached expecting nobody to be inside.

"Halt!" Arran heard someone yell, a mandalorian with green armor stepped out. He pointed a weapon directly at Arran and the group. Soon two more appeared, "We don't allow Republic scum on Ryloth." One said. The Recon troops took such a thing as a threat and whipped out their giant weapons. They fired in half a second and all the soldiers were dead within a few seconds. "Move move move!" Yelled the troops, one stayed with the diplomat while Arran and Coros with the other entered the city first. Arran and Coros signaled them to come in. "What a barren place," Coros said in a whisper, "I guess some sort of Mandalorian guild took this over." Arran looked around, "We should go to that large tower, we can transmit and SOS." Coros nodded, "Lets go." They turned a corner and approached the center of the city. The center of the city was empty, soon voices could be heard.

Two soldiers came around a bend and entered the square, Arran and Coros blasted them. The teams advanced down the streets in silence, once in a while they would hear voices coming out of a building. They advanced towards the tower in the middle of the city, once in a while they would have to avoid civilians but that was fine. They eventually came to the giant tower, it was guarded by dozens of soldiers. "This is stretching it isn't it?" Arran said. Coros sighed, "Just stay close." Coros gave the signal for the team to move out, the soldiers fired and hit Mandalorians left and right. They were inexperienced soldiers, they all had terrible aims.

Arran fired at what he guessed was the leader. It hit him in the chest and he fell backwards. Soon the soldiers were retreating into the tower, in about a minute non remained. Arran and the team waited for an elevator to come, it felt awkward in the giant room scattered with bodies to do such a thing as wait for an elevator. Soon the elevator arrived and opened. Five soldiers were inside, the group opened fire and killed them immediately. After waiting in the elevator for a moment they were on the top level. The door opened and a throne room was revealed, with three thrones.

There were two men on the side thrones and one woman on the middle throne. Five soldiers waited with electro staffs. "Who dares enter such a crucial meeting?!" Yelled the woman. She looked to see the soldiers in the elevator. She was taken aback for a moment. The two men on both sides of her were as well. "Kill them!" She said to her guards. The guards advanced with precise movements like robots programmed for fighting. The troops however withdrew their guns and fired on them easily. They were down in seconds. The woman stood up, "How dare you attempts to destroy my empire. The Alliance For Peace means no harm! We are a completely diplomatic group with peaceful purposes!" She declared standing up. "We don't give a darn. From what we've seen your troops are about as violent as snakes and as dumb as rocks!" Declared Arran.

"Fools!" She yelled, "You decide your own fate! You shall become prisoners as my sister did!" She yelled, "I Accept no such thing as defeat!" The men on both sides of her stood up and withdrew death watch swords. The Scout troops fired but their bullets were deflected. Arran gave the diplomat the sign to get in the elevator. Arran blasted the control panel and the doors slid shut, keep him safe for the moment. The two men advanced quickly and stealthily, they made no sounds. Arran fired at one but his shots were deflected. One jumped behind a Scout troop and beheaded him easily. Coros fired shots but missed. The seconds thrust his saber towards Arran and forced him near a wall.

The effect the sword had even when it got stuck in the walls was thrilling. It had such precision. Arran fired at the man, in response the man deflected the shots. While Arran was avoiding the one deathwatch, Coros and the Scout troop remained occupied with another. They fought fiercely and swiftly. The deathwatch General shoved his sword deep in the Scout troops chest when he wasn't alert. He fell on the ground. The Mandalorian smiled at Coros. Coros took advantage of his stupidity and shot him in the head. The deathwatch leader, the Woman screamed out in anger and withdrew her sword.

Arran fought the Mandalorian with anger, now he was just upset. He had never had to fight anyone this long and now he was getting exhausted. He finally found the General's weakness, he would lunge at Arran with his sword above his head. If Arran could get him to lunge at him, he could get a few shots at him. Arran ducked, now was his time. Doing as he expected the General lunged at him. Arran pulled out his pistols and shot him half a dozen times in the chest while he was in the air. The collapsed without saying a word or even showing emotion. Arran saw Coros was occupied dueling the leader in fierce combat.

Arran ran over, Coros had been knocked down and Holly was trying to stab Coros desperately. Arran saw a stained glass window in the throne room. He ran over and grabbed the leader, she kicked and screamed. He tried his best to keep from dropping her, he calmly walked over to the stained glass window. "You can't do this to me! Traitors! Tyrannical followers! You..." Arran threw her directly out the window, it smashed. She screamed and flailed as Arran watched her fall 108 stories. Finally it ended with a loud thump. Coros got up and walked to Arran. Arran stared out the window as Deathwatch troops gathered around their leader, they looked like ants.

"Let me guess, first time throwing anyone off a skyscraper?" Coros asked.

Arran looked up, "Does this happen alot?"

"Not so much in the Army, but in the Marines it happens once in a while." Coros responded.

Arran and Coros heard pounding in the elevator. "Darn it!" Arran said, "Completely forgot about him." Arran grabbed the saber that Holly had wielded and used it to cut open the door. He kicked open the piece of metal and a confused and irritated diplomat came out. "Schultz vinderagen sproken!" He said at Arran. Arran just shrugged, he didn't know what it mean't anyway. Soon Arran heard the ping of an elevator approaching, he shot the control panel. "That should buy us some time."

"I already contacted the Cruiser, luckily they're around the system." Coros said, "Get ready." Arran grabbed his pack and his blaster. The diplomat understood and ran out to the landing pad outside the throne room with Coros and Arran. Lasers headed towards the landing pad and almost hit Arran and Coros when they leaned near the rail. All three of them were in the middle of the landing pad when they heard the hovering of gunships. Arran and Coros looked up and saw General along with a few ARCs. Arran and Coros helped the diplomat onto the gunship.

Arran and Coros got in next, the gunship was being hit over and over by lasers. The doors closed and the gunship soared off.

Return to Raxus Prime
Raxus Prime 0900

Commander Vladkrim stared at the junk piles as they glided past him. He sighed, "There's a little bit of scrap money to be made here." His deckhand nodded and kept the ship going at a steady speed. He had been salvaging items for 20 years now and this was his seventh time visiting Raxus Prime. Many salvage operations didn't enjoy going to Raxus Prime due to the threat of bandits and pirates inhabiting the area. Then of course there was also the rumors of spirits and ghosts. The Commander made sure he had his good luck charm in his pocket. They would be landing at a UAF outpost and while there get some blasters hopefully.

Suddenly the ship shook and the Commander almost fell over. "Get the engines going James, we might be stuck on some sort of junkpile." He ordered. The sailor nodded and started the engines. The ship still didn't move. "Full speed." He said. The engines started to go faster and all of a sudden the ship shook again. The crew started yelling, something was very much alive. Vladkrim turned to his monitors and saw the usual static of iron. But under it was a giant lifeform. Bigger than a hundred rancors put together. Bigger than anything he had ever seen. "Firefek..." The ship shook and started to crack. It was thrown around violently and the metal on it was dented.

The crew hit the walls and it was a mess of bodies flying around. He reached for a computer on the ship and held on while the ship was thrown around. Suddenly it stopped and the ship began to float upwards. Most of the crew was dead but he remained with a few others. He grabbed his blaster. Out of the glass of the control room Commander Vladkrim saw a giant eye. A giant eye bigger than all of his men, looking right at him. Suddenly the ship was crushed like a bug and fell to the grounds of Raxus Prime, looking like just another piece of junk.

Raxus prime two days later

A UAF landship flew over Raxus Prime searching for the ship "Her Majesty II." It had gone missing and was a suspected victim of pirates. Aboard was Corporal Han Lesley and Private Hepborg Limber. They were armed with a small rotating gun that was found in the junk piles and salvaged due to the need for ammunition on the base. Besides that they had only two rifles. The ship glided along, this area had been navigated before and they were extremely familiar with it. Suddenly the ship came to a stop. "Osik! That thing is huge!" Said Corporal Lesley. He was looking into a crater about a mile big. "That certainly wasn't 'ere the last time we came." Replied Private Limber. Corporal Lesley quickly tuned into the Republic Comlink station.

"This is Corporal Lesley, we've just come across a crater with an unidentified object in the middle. We're going to scan it." Static crackled through the Comlink, "Go ahead Lesley, and don't bother me again! I'm trying to reprogram this holoprojector so I can talk to the guys at the fleet! I hear Hawk has a good story to tell!" Replied a voice, "Commander Watkins signing out." Corporal Lesley sighed and started to manuever the ship deep into the hole. After a minute they approached the shiny crushed object and got off the landship and scanned it. "There's... errr... sir..." Private Limber said pointing to what looked like a door hanging off the side off the object.

Corporal Lesley looked at it and saw a red substance leaking out of the ship. "Is that..." Private Limber nodded. Corporal Lesley looked and saw writing. Her Majesty II engraved in big black letters. "We found it."

UAF Fleet 0800

"Listen! We just recieved news from Raxus Prime that a giant ship half the size of this cruiser has been attacked and all the crew has been killed. General is sending Coros, Arran, Hawk, Gian, and I to investigate it." Announced Corporal Docker coming into the barracks. Arran and the others got up. "Who did it?" Hawk asked.

"That's why were going. It's not pirates though, according to the two troops who found it the ship was squashed like a can." Corporal Docker said.

"They've been out there too long." Corporal Portel said, "They've lost it for sure."

"I believe it, have any of you even heard of the force?" Arran said.

"Very funny, but who would be that powerful?" Hawk said.

"I don't know, when are we leaving?" Arran asked.

"An hour," Corporal Docker said, "I suggest you all get your stuff."

RAXUS PRIME SURFACE 0900

The gunship hovered over the surface of the planet passing by mountains of trash. It was as if nothing had happened, that the battle not so long ago hadn't ever happened, Arran thought. The junk was an interesting sight, generators, powerlines, advertisements, old ships, and anything imaginable. Soon a structure on support beams appeared. It had the UAF symbol on it and a tattered flag flew above it. The ship soon landed on the landing pad and they all walked off the gunship to see a UAF Commander with a flask. He took a big long drink from it and coughed. He wore only formal gear. "Welcome to Raxus Prime," he coughed, "I'm Commander Watkins. I'm bloody in charge of this base and I suggest you all stay close to me when we're out in no mans land. Got it?"

They all nodded. "Good." He said, "Let's get a move on then. No time to waste." The gunship's doors shut from behind and startled Arran. It flew away quickly. "Osik," He coughed, "I guess I can't take that ship. To the Landship."

"Landship?" Lieutenant Hunter asked.

"Yes the landship!" Commander Watkins asked.

"UAF hasn't had a landship for around 23 years!" Lieutenant Hunter said.

"You try getting the supply officer to bring a nice new shiny ship out here!" Commander Watkins yelled in anger.

"Now come on!" Commander Watkins said.

The Commander walked inside the base and led the troops through it. It was an old base, but in good condition. It had a radio room, barracks, a lounge, and a small mess hall. Pretty good considering only a dozen troops were in the facility. Soon Commander Watkins led them outside again and a green and brown camo landship appeared. It had a sall rotating laser cannon and enough room for about a dozen people. "You!" Commander Watkins said pointing at Corporal Docker. "Man the gun!"

"Yes, sir." Corporal Docker said.

Arran and the others got on the ship and soon it took off. "You'll all be real surprised at this, quite a wreck. Nothing coulda' done it except for the beast."

Arran squinted at Commander Watkins. "Execuse me?"

"Zillo, the Zillo beast you numb skull." Commander Watkins said.

"The thing that ruined Coruscant?" Hawk said.

"What the Firefek do they teach you at Kamino nowdays!? Of course you fools!" Commander Watkins said, "There use to be a Zillo Beast 'round 'ere until people started dumpin' trash."

Corporal Docker smiled and looked at everyone except Commander Watkins. Giving the, "Isn't this guy insane?" face. The landship continued for about five more minutes until Commander Watkins stopped it. "Get off now." He grumbled.

"Stay 'ere." Commander Watkins ordered to Corporal Docker. The others got off the ship and found a giant crater in front of them. "Osik! That thing is huge!" Lieutenant Hunter said.

"Is that the ship?!" Corporal Portel said pointing to a shining crushed object in the hole.

"Yep, now come on you fools." Commander Watkins said walking down the steep crater. The troops followed, blasters loaded. Arran didn't know why, but this place was familiar. Not because he was here two years before, but something more complicated.

RAXUS PRIME 6,000 years before

Ebraren Slarglide felt the rain hitting his gear, the men in front of him marched through the mud and vegetation. "This is quite the storm!" Master Kneu said halting the dozen men. Right then lightning hit nearby causing the troops to shield their eyes and step back. Ebraren fell into the mud, luckily his gear was waterproof. "We should stop here to take cover under the trees. The lead trooper nodded and the men walked underneath a short tree. All of a sudden more lightning struck, even closer. Ebraren ignored it this time, wiping the mud off his gear as he walked towards the tree. The Jedi frowned, "You should not worry so much about your appearance."

Ebraren looked up, "Why do you say that?"

Master Kneu pointed to the East, "The Sith are making camp upon this planet, we must find them. You will face a great evil, and hopefully survive it. Mud is the least of your problems."

Ebraren nodded, "Yes, sir."

What a nice planet, Ebraren thought. A large blast quickly occured in front of Ebraren, it blinded him and knocked two Commandos backwards. He quickly got up and looked at the troops, soot stained both of them and smoke curled off their armor. Master Kneu stood above them next to Ebraren. He shook his head, "The Force takes more lives than any man or power ever will." Ebraren sighed and walked under the tree.

RAXUS PRIME PRESENT DAY

TBC...

Patrol on Kadanga
TBC...

The Battle Of Coruscant
Arran trudged into the ships barracks, no sleep for two days. He was almost certainly this was dangerous for his health. And now they were going to Coruscant. He fell asleep immediately. He didn't have any dreams, mostly just rubbish thoughts jumbled up. This happened all the time to him. When Arran awoke the code red sirens were blaring insanely loud. "All crew to the guns! All crew must take positions! The ship must be defended at all costs!" Arran ran down the hallway along with other crew members. The ship shook and the floor felt like it would collapse. Arran finally made it to the hangar. He looked out the thin blue ray and saw hundreds of ships flying at each other and the small ones bombing the larger ships. "Bloody madness..." He muttered.

"Get the heck in here!" Arran heard General yell, "Hurry up!" Arran turned around to see a gunship departing from the ground. Arran jumped aboard just in time. Coros, Hawk, Lieutenant Hunter, General, and two Marines were in the gunship. As soon as the gunship made it into space, lasers flew all around it, ARC 170s soared left and right, and large Separatist frigates rained down fire. "This is a mess!" Coros yelled, "What are we doing out here anyway?!" General looked at him, "We're going down to the surface to reinforce the main squads." Arran nodded. Gunfire shook the ship and Arran smelled smoke and fire all around.

Soon the gunship doors opened and Arran jumped out, he landed on a white landing pad. Droid fighters whizzed by and the battle raged around him. The other soldiers got out and advanced into the city. They ran while ARC 170's whizzed passed. Arran was running across a white platform with the others when a droid bomb flew downwards. "Take..." General yelled, but it was too late. The bomb exploded and Arran saw Coros and General fly backwards and the others fall down. Arran saw General get up but Coros didn't. Arran got up and ran to Coros. He breathed heavily. "Take deep breaths." Arran said kneeling down by Coros. He had shrapnel in him. Coros breathed in.

"Too late..." Coros said releasing his breath and becoming limp. Arran looked to see Lieutenant Hunter above him. "He's dead..." Arran said, "dead." Lieutenant Hunter was silent. Very silent. General stood up rubbing his arm. He saw Coros on the ground and a droid bomber whizzed by. It dropped a bomb and it hit the suspensions on the large bridge like thing heading towards the clone barracks. The bridge began to fall. "GO GO GO!" General yelled. The troops bolted forward and ran while the bridge collapsed at a rapid rate. It was feet away from engulfing Arran and causing him to fall to his death. Coros' body slid downwards like a rag doll. Arran ran FAST. Faster than he had ever. He bolted forward and passed all the others and quickly made it to the end of the bridge.

Arran jumped along with the others and made it to the end of the bridge. One Marine was too slow and fell thousands of feet to his death with a terrible scream. General ignored the soldier an advance. The troops finally made it to the clone barracks to find it scattered with dead clones. Only about a dozen remained defending the area against hundreds of droids. The soldiers advanced and used their dentonators and rifles to defend the barracks. "Keep the fire on the left strong!" General said. Arran threw detonator after detonator along with the others but the droids kept coming and bombarding them with lasers. Hawk stood up to throw a detonator, "Come on you..." A laser hit him in his chest and knocked him down. Arran's heart stopped for a quick moment. Hawk layed on the ground with a laser directly through his chest, dead.

Lieutenant hunter and the others looked too in shock. General's voice cracked through the communicator, "Kill those... droids." Lieutenant Hunter fired rapidly and so did the others. Arran fired his rifle rapidly and knocked out waves of droids. The Marine Arran didn't know was standing just slightly above the pile of rubble that served as a barricade. Soon a rocket flew towards him and he was killed. Debris flew everywhere. So the last three soldiers, General, Arran, and Lieutenant Hunter defended the area for an hour. The ammo ran low but they kept going, Arran was shot in the shoulder but ignored the pain.

General was wounded by shrapnel when a bomb hit near him but kept fighting. Lieutenant Hunter was hit in the arm by two lasers and defended the position with one pistol. Soon it was inevitable, they were all going to die. So they stood there and were bombarded. But they fought back as hard as any army had in the combined history of warfare. When the droids would begin to come over the barracade they would fight them in hand to hand combat tearing off the heads of the droids or hitting them with weapons. Arran ran out of ammo soon and grabbed a rifle from a dead soldier. The others did the same. Lieutenant Hunter was wounded in both arms and soon couldn't fight. The droids soon overwhelmed her position.

General tried to kill them but one aimed the gun and shot Lieutenant Hunter in her side. Arran and General ran over while the positions were overwhelmed. Arran covered General while he dragged Lieutenant Hunter into cover behind a blown up AT TE. Arran joined them and defended the new position. "Hold it Lieutenant, were calling in an air strike." General said. Arran continued to defend while Lieutenant Hunter was on the ground in pain. "General..." Lieutenant Hunter said gritting her teeth, "I'm not going to make it..." General paused and stared at Lieutenant Hunter. He could see the mess of lasers that had hit Lieutenant Hunter. It was useless.

Arran looked and saw Lieutenant Hunter as well. If she did survive this she wouldn't ever be the same again. "Lieutenant..." Arran said, "we will get you out of here." Lieutenant Hunter laughed. "Don't lie to me..." She coughed, "I've had to do the same to dozens of men who were in the same shape I am, I'm going to die." General defended the position fiercely. "Not today..." He said. The droids got closer and Arran and General had to work harder to defend the area. "General..." Lieutenant Hunter said in a weak voice. General turned around to see Lieutenant Hunter cough. "I..." Lieutenant Hunter went limp and was lieing on the ground. The famous Lieutenant had died.

Suddenly bombs started falling as droid bombers advanced on the position. Arran and General ran, the land had no need for defense anymore. Soon the bombs started to get closer and closer to them, shrapnel flew all around and a piece hit Arran in his back. He fell down and everything began to fall. The buildings around him were collapsing, fire was engulfing him. It was too late to survive. It's too late, the thought echoed in Arran's mind as the rubble fell on him and everything went black.

When Arran woke up it was still black. He couldn't move. Maybe he was dead, he thought.

No I can't be dead yet! If I'm dead I'm going to get bored wherevever I am really quick...

Arran heard voices and a gunship nearby.

I guess I'm not dead. Well, even if I am it's worth a shot to yell and make a ton of noise. Who would hear me anyway if I were dead?

Arran started yelling and yelling. He heard footsteps nearby and as he started to yell louder they stopped. He kept going and eventually the voices began again and they got closer as well as the footsteps. Soon a tiny beam of light began to appear and the rubble started to disseapear from Arran's sight. All he could see was an Army troops gear. Soon everything went black.

LATER...

"Where the heck am I?" Arran asked as his eyes adjusted to light.

"You are at the Coruscant Medical research facility. Or at least what is left of it." A voice of a droid said.

Arran got up and noticed he was in a small room. A droid was next to him and he was in soot stained gear. "You may leave when you feel now, it has been two days." Arran got up and immediately his throat began to hurt. He noticed water on a table next to his bed, he immediately drank it. He ate the rations next to it as well in a few minutes. "Thank you Doctor." Arran said as he stood up. He left the small room and went down a hallway with other doors lining the walls. He heard yells and droids and soldiers ran down the halls. It was a terrifying time seeing clones on stretchers being rushed down the halls.

Arran finally reached an exit door and came out to see a street with military speeders rushing all around. He saw rubble all around and ruined buildings. He heard someone yelling behind him, "Lance Corporal!" Arran heard. He looked and saw Corporal Portel walking towards him. "We took heavy casualties, only 178 of us remain." Arran nodded, "In which group?" Corporal Portel frowned, "In the whole legion." Arran's face went red. That sort of amount of casualties was astronomical. "What in the world happened?!" He asked. "The cruisers exploded and the crew had only about a minute to get off. Those who were transported to the ground were slaughtered." Corporal Portel responded, "Come on, I'll drive you to the HQ on the speeder."

Arran nodded and walked towards Corporal Portel's speeder. He got on the back and the speeder took off. Arran saw ruined buildings and devastation left and right. It became apparent that Coruscant had been hit pretty hard by the Separatists. Soon Arran and Corporal Portel parked in front of the UAF Training Facility. It was grey and slanted like a pyramid and could survive a bomb blast if needed. Arran and Corporal Portel entered and saw a few Marines guarding the doors. The had their helmets on and it was obvious they were very tired. When Arran entered the building it had an Info booth, a security desk, and a large amount of banners.

The security desk had a soldier scribbling notes down with a pen and organizing schedules on a screen in front of him. Besides this it was so quiet the sound of a pin dropping could be heard. Arran and Corporal Portel approached a pair of large iron doors and they opened. They found an elevator and stepped inside. It shot up quickly and opened up to reveal the Intel room, Corporal Portel guided Arran through the room and they eventually reached General's office. Arran entered and found General at his seat in uniform. "Did Corporal Portel tell you?"

Arran nodded, "What officers do we have left?"

General stared at his desk, "Corporal Docker, Corporal Portel, and I."

"How are we suppose to even remotely regroup?" Arran asked.

"We're not." General said, "Your all being sent to different squads or groups."

Corporal Portel apparently didn't know this, "We'll be keeping our ranks correct?"

"Of course." General said, "These are yours by the way."

General handed Arran two small boxes. He then handed Corporal Portel two as well.

"I think you two will get the best transfers. They need new Engineers you know." General said.

"Thats not quite for me sir." Corporal Portel responded.

"I'd be happy to do it." Arran said.

"Very well, I'll give you the papers when I can." General said, "Your both dismissed."

Arran and Corporal Portel walked out to see the Intel group destroying papers and boxing up computers and filing cabinets. A reorganization was the worst thing that could happen to any military branch, let alone a legion. Arran got in the elevator with Corporal Portel along with a few Intel troops. They all looked so tired, some stained with soot from the bombings. They looked like coal miners who had been working overtime. Arran finally made it to the barracks and got off with Corporal Portel. Arran set his backpack on his bed and pulled out his flask. It had a large dent on it because of a piece of shrapnel hitting it. My habits saved me, Arran thought.

Arran woke up the next day to the sounds of objects being removed, Arran got up and saw the terminals and tables were being taken from the Cantina. The Cantina was Arrans favorite place to go, he could always do his best when he worked with music. Arran walked downstairs and saw Corporal Portel with a line of other Marines. Arran noticed they were boarding a Coruscant bus. "Leaving already?" Arran said. Corporal Portel sighed and nodded. The old banners were being taken down from the walls of the entrance hall, some had been hanging in the halls for over a decade. "I hope to meet you again sir." Corporal Portel nodded, "I wish for the same." Arran and Corporal Portel shook hands. "Semper Fi." Corporal Portel said as he boarded the bus to take him to his new squad.

Arran watched as the bus flew away with the Marines in it. Arran turned and saw General watching the Marines take down the banners. He walked up to General. "It's a shame isn't it?" Arran said. General sighed, "It had to happen at some point, hopefully when the war ends we'll come back. You better be boarding the next bus, it's for the Engineer transfers."

Arran nodded, "Semper Fi."

"Semper Fi. Best of luck."

Arran walked out of the HQ and into the bus along with some of the Intel soldiers. The bus quickly closed its doors and took off. The last Arran saw of the HQ was the General walking inside.

Getting Ready for Combat
Arran found himself on Kamino with the 78th Engineering Corps after leaving United Forces. The 78th Engineering Corps specialized in building bridges, outposts, bases, and much more. Arran was given a set of engineering equipement to use and met a commander name Gulch. Arran thought it was ironic because Gulch was a landform issue many engineers had to often build bridges over or destroy. Commander Gulch told Arran he would be staying at the 78th Engineering Corps barracks until told otherwise.

Arran spent his first night in the barracks trying to build a house out of cards. He failed terribly since the rain on Kamino was so strong. He gave up and decided to go out to the landing pad. Arran put his cards away and walked out to the landing pad. The rain was so heavy that it felt like someone was throwing pebbles at his helmet. Yet he felt interested in the storm. A crack rang out and the landing pad rumbled. Arran didn't hear this because of the rain and his deep thought of course. When the pad started shaking he finally took notice. He ran towards the door but the landing pad snapped and fell towards the ocean.

Arran tried to cling to the pad but it was sinking too fast. The incident had already been noted, Arran saw some bright lights when he resurfaced. He went under and felt his armor begin to fill with water, it was sucking him down. Arran swam upwards again and saw a gunship hovering above him. The water drew him downwards again and he couldn't breath. He took off his helmet and threw it to the side. Arran saw a round yellow preservation device be thrown from the gunship. He tried to grab it but was sucked downwards once again. He finally gripped it and pulled himself upwards.

Arran gripped the preserver as it was hoisted into the gunship. Security clones grabbed him and put him up against the closed door. Everything was blurred and soon Arran passed out. Arran woke up in the infirmary with a medical droid in front of him. "You are very lucky you are a good swimmer. If not you would have drown." The droid said, "You may leave whenever you feel like it." The medical droid left and Arran was left alone. He figured he would get a glass of water. He drank it although it made him feel a bit sick to think it had almost killed him.

"Sit up Corporal!" Arran turned to see Commander Gulch enter the room. "We don't have any time for recovery! A huge attack is being planned on Felucia! Tomorrow your shipping out!" Arran tried to say something but Gulch turned to exit. Arran sat there for a moment. He decided to get ready.

Order 66
Arran arrived at Felucia after a short journey. The base was bustling with clones, they all seemed grim and the mood was dim. They weren't like clones he had met before. Arran followed directions to the briefing room of the base. He passed countless troops, Felucia was obviously a massive operation. When he arrived there were engineers like him in the room. He took a seat and waited a minute until a trooper came out.

"Welcome to Felucia!" He started.

"As you can see we are preparing for a full out strike on the Separatist defenses! Once we do so we wish to set up small posts along the areas we have secured to make sure no attempts are made to pull us back!" He paused for a minute.

"You gentlemen will be following the attack until further notice,  you will proceed with the convoy until we make a breakthrough! Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir!" Replied the clones.

The man left. Arran thought this was the shortest briefing he had ever been to. Confused he left the room. "All men get ready for convoy lauch!" said a voice over the base intercom, "Five minutes!" Arran sighed, that was probably why the briefing was so short. He got up and hurried to see AT walkers and Turbo tanks getting ready to leave. The clones weren't in any specific order. Arran just stood by a random troop and waited for the all clear. "All units have the go ahead for convoy launch!"

Arran saw all vehicles and soldiers bolt out of the base and onto the rocky territory. They left slowly, Arran felt some excitement though. They marched further and further into the jungle, the tanks in front destroyed any vegitation, the walkers and men found this suitable but were often stopped by giant roots. After some hours the men began to grow tired. Arran got out his flask and took a few drinks. It boosted his energy hugely.

Soon night was upon the convoy, they kept on pushing but with no light. Arran tried his best to stay inbetween the tracks of the tanks but often got sidetracked. He felt as if his feet could carry him no longer. Somehow he kept on going though. Arran heard a click behind him, then a bit of light and a whir. "Take cover!" yelled a troop, "Missile!" Arran dove into the brush and watched the tank in front of him get hit and burst into flames. More rockets and gunfire followed from the woods and Arran quickly got back on the trail.

He drew his pistols and fired into the woods. A rain of fire came back and splattered mud on his armor. He fired back over and over while bullets rained like hail and men started panicking around him. Some fired back but some were concerned about the wounded from the firefight. Arran saw a Commander run in front of him but get shot and fly backwards. He landed next to Arran and his wound sizzled for a minute.

Arran tried not to think about how sickening that was and shoot at the enemy. He finally ran out of ammo and resulted to throwing his grenades. He tossed three in different directions and took cover. They exploded and dirt clods and vegetation stained his armor. The clones around him took advantage of the cover and fired into it. Arran heard the sound of metal and then finally got up. It seemed all AT walkers were ok and that the Turbo tank was the only vehicle that had taken any fire. The casualty rate was firm.

Arran watched patrols take the wounded into the walkers. It could have been worse but the clones were experienced in jungle warfare. Arran proceeded on the long trip with the other clones for hours. They stopped for nothing and after a day Arran noticed a change of pace, the clones were slowing down. The vehicles were beginning to get stuck in mud. Finally a stop was ordered.

Arran wandered towards the nearest tank and climbed in, he was met with the flashes of computers and clones at monitors. The ticking of machines was constant until he spotted who he was looking for.

"Captain Bly?"

The Captain turned around. "What is it?"

"I'm Corporal Arran of the 78th Engineering. I was wondering when we would be reaching the Separatist defenses?"

"I can't be sure but I think theres a possibility today."

"Is that why the men are resting?"

Bly nodded.

"Thank you, sir." Arran said leaving.

Arran exited the tank and saw that the Felucia troops were patroling rather than resting. He saw a jedi walking past him, it was the first time he had ever seen one of importance. He recognized her as Aayla Secura. He figured he mine as well tag along. He followed her as she ordered her troops different tasks. "You," she pointed a finger at Arran, "whats your rank?" Arran replied, "Corporal, ma'am."

"Go tell that squad over there to patrol the perimeter."

Arran nodded and went towards the squad. "General wishes for you to patrol the perimeter." he said, "Immediately." They looked up from their card game. Arran thought they might knock him off his feet but they just did as he said. Arran figured out he couldn't get any excitement and just sat on an empty stretcher drinking lemon juice.

All of a sudden troops started packing up and moving out. Arran got up immediately and started walking to get a head start. The convoy leaped into action as quick as he did. It moved like a slow rope being pulled forward. All was one. Arran noticed that the convoy stopped after about half an hour. The troops stopped with little interest. But Arran wanted to know what was wrong. He dashed ahead and saw General Secura and her officers.

"I'm telling you General, this area is too rough. We couldn't get the tanks through here if we tried our best!" declared one, "It's usless!" Aayla sighed. "We need to continue on foot, but bring the ATs." Aayla replied. The officer ran back and the ATs went around the tanks. Arran followed the group into the woods for quite a while. Arran fell behind quickly after trying to get his flask out of his pack but failing. He went forward to discover General Aayla Secura dead with her officer still shooting her.

Arran was stunned and backed up. He decided something was terribly wrong and that he should most likely correctly handle the situation. He walked his way back to a Turbo tank, nobody was around luckily and he decided to abandon the clones. He stole a speeder and made his way back to the base as fast as he could. When he arrived at the main base he was panicking and was met by two clones.

"Whats the issue here?" Asked one.

"Theres been a killing of Aayla Secura in the forest! I suggest this is reported to the Jedi immediately!" Arran replied. The troopers held up their carbine weapons and fired them on Arran. They hit his speeder and it immediately exploded. Arran was thrown out of it and landed on the iron floor. He drew his pistols and shot both troopers easily. Others troopers fired at him now after witnessing the shooting. One hit Arran's arm while another came close to his leg.

Arran fled towards a shuttle and defended it fiercely. He hit the auto-pilot and fired back until the door closed. He limped over to a seat and bandaged his leg up. It seemed that it was sizzling the same way the Commanders wound had at the Felucia skirmish. There would be no more skirmishes anymore...

Star Hopping
"Yaltuk grut Slarglide!" Said a middle aged man with a wooden carved blaster as Arran got off the shuttle. Arran stepped out to see a tundra of ice and snow and a large village a little ways walk from him and the man. "Hello, I'm glad to see your village recieved my landing transmission." The man nodded. Arran saw his fur hat bob up and down with his head. "Water?" The man asked. Arran nodded and the man led him into the village. "This is a fine place, very warm compared to other villages." The man next to him nodded. "Good defenses! Lots of meat for winter!" The man said. "I see." Responded Arran.

Arran and the man arrived at a wooden structure that seemed to be a tavern with a giant iron door. "Cherbor candazwatt?" said the man knocking, "Slarglide, travelur!" Arran heard laughs and a loud noise. The door slowly opened and a few men similarly dressed to the man sat inside. One sharpened hatchets while another ate some meat. "Yaltuk traveler!" said the one eating meat, "Can we help you?" Arran nodded. "If it isn't too much to ask would there be a room here I could rent and a decent meal?"

The man laughed. "Of course. What can you trade us?" Arran hadn't thought about trade. "I have some scrap metal and some knives." The man nodded with a smile on his face. "If it won't be too much trouble we would appreciate one of your finer knifes in payement, and you are welcome to stay for a week if you wish." Arran was surprised. "Please! Sit down and dine with me, we do not get company often!" Arran sat down and put his pack on the floor. "So, do you wish to know anything?" The stranger asked.

"What do you mean?" Arran said puzzled. "News!" He said in a thick accent. "The Jedi are being hunted out of existance according to some rumors I heard from space smugglers!" The man finished and ate some meat. Arran was stunned. "Being hunted by who?" Arran asked, "The Republic?" The man finished his meat and responded, "It is an Empire now boy..." Arran could see the sadness in the mans face. "Do you have any of that meat you have there to spare?" Arran said changing the subject. "Yes!" The mans face lit up.

After being stuffed full of meat and water and some milk Arran went to his room to discover some new clothes on his bed. He figured they thought maybe his armor may be a bad sign to other locals. He changed into the comfortable fitting clothing but felt something was missing. He grabbed a bandolier he had got from a Marine Major named Derek and wore it. It had a perfect pistol holder. He looked excellent. His mustache and hair were good and his outfit was brown with slightly gold buttons.

He wore a leather aviators jacket over all of this as well. Arran went downstairs and saw two clones in winter gear. Arran immediately ran back upstairs but stayed to the point where he could hear what they were saying. "And your sure you haven't seen him?" Said one, "The shuttle was definately stolen." Arran heard the man sigh. "Yah, he came in here and then went about to the outskirts." The soldier coughed. Arran knew it was a signal to the other that the man was lieing. "And how did he make it to the outskirts?" The man sighed, "I told you, he walked out of the place and I have know idea where he went to be goin." He said in a thicker accent.

The clones gave up and decided to leave. Once a few minuted passed Arran heard a yell. "You can be coming down now, yah?" Arran went down the stairs and saw the man with a rifle. "You better be leavin. The clothes are free, no payin for the room." Arran nodded. "How am I going to leave?" The man smiled crazily and thrust his rifle towards Arran. "Thats insane!" Arran said, "It contradicts the clones weapons by nothing!" The man frowned, "This rifle took out 7 Baxanian attackers during the battle this village saw years ago! Now you use it on those no good troops!" Arran sighed and took the weapon. The man handed him ammo as well.

Soon Arran found himself slipping out a back door and going through an alley towards his ship. He didn't hear anything as he went close beside the buildings until he neared the shuttle. He ran for the cover of a snowy hill. When he made it to the hill he counted out a half dozen troopers armed with carbines. They were all extremely cold as he could tell. They must have been a patrol. Arran took out the rifle and took aim. His plan was to take out one in front as a distraction causing the men to shoot into the town. He would then run and fight in hand to hand combat. He steadied his shot.

When Arran pulled the triggers the soldiers barely reacted. He ran down the hill randomly firing shots, when he finally reached the shuttle he had taken out half of them. The remaining fired shots back quickly and almost hit Arran. He pulled out his pistol and shot on in the chest as he avoided fire. He ran and tackled another and shot him as well in the midst of fighting him on the ground. The last took a good shot at Arran but he rolled out of the line of fire. Arran aimed and shot the man twice. He walked into his ship then and took off.

And so Arran repeated this with many villages and cities and stars and systems. He eventually bought his own ship and named it Dreadnaught 7 and had it mounted with as many missiles he could get. The ship was a home to him and served him a good transport.

Trade
Soon the Empire began outlawing certain weapons and goods from being shipped and provided throughout the galaxy. Like many others Arran took advantage of this and began searching for spices, weapons, and much more to sell and trade. Arran started with spices and hid them in a small hidden space in Dreadnaught 7. Arran worked for a few different suppliers and was paid small amounts of money at first. But when the empire started striking down more traders and setting up blockades the pay got better. At one point Arran was asked to transport hundreds of thermal detonators from Selucami to a small star.

Arran accepted although he couldn't hide them all in Dreadnaught 7. Arran got past the Imperial blockade around the planet of Selucami and went about his delivery for hours. Arran avoided using hyperspeed since it may interfere with the thermal detonators electric force and cause them to explode. All of a sudden Arran's ship paused and began to descend upwards. "Tractor beam..." He mumbled. He knew he was caught, it was most likely Imperials. Arran grabbed his blaster and ran towards a secret room he had.

The room was specifically mean't for cargo but Arran always kept it empty just in case. Arran heard some sirens and then the ship finally settle onto a sturdy surface. Arran heard an explosion and then feet stomp all around the ship. He readied his weapon just in case. "Detonators!" he heard someone exclaim, "Without a doubt mean't for the Rebel Alliance! Come on, we need to find the scum whos doing this." He heard the footsteps trail off. He waited a little bit of time and figured it had to be all clear.

He raised the roof off the compartment and he grabbed some detonators. He put them in his bag and looked around the ship cautiously. He then made it to the exit and saw a dozen guards in front of the exit. He decided to take the ship detachement exit and sneak out. Once he was off the ship he made a dash towards a door that he knew was to safety. Arran got to the door and was met face to face with a stormtrooper. "Hey, you!" He said. Arran pulled out his pistol and blasted the trooper. The troopers guarding the ship ran towards Arran firing weapons.

Arran dodged lasers and ran into the hallway running down it madly. It felt like one of the most stupid things he had ever done. More blaster fire riddled the walls next to him and flew over his head. Arran ran faster and saw an Imperial officer with a pistol appear in front of him and fir eit at him. Arran fired back and hit the officer. He ran past the fallen officer quickly. Arran finally came to a closed door and immediately opened it. A dozen troops were waiting for him on the other side of the door.

"Freeze rebel scum!" Said one trooper pointing his blaster at Arran. Arran threw down his rifle and pack. "If your going to take me prisoner, will I at least be allowed my flask?" The trooper punched him hard. "Come on filth!" The trooper escorted Arran into an elevator a few halls away and they soon arrived at a detention block. Arran was thrown into a cell. "Give me my flask! What the heck sort of a ship is being run here?!" Arran yelled after the door closed. Arran sat against the wall. He soon drifted to sleep.

When Arran awoke two guards stood in his cell. "Come on!" Said one pointing a blaster at him. He obeyed sleepily and followed the down hallways and once again into an elevator. The elevator opened and they led him down a hallway. At the end was a large pair of oak doors. Very unusual for Imperial ships or let alone anything Imperial. The doors opened and an officer wearing a grey uniform sat in front of a giant desk with a red velvet chair in front of it.

"Take a seat." He said in an odd tone. Arran went to the chair and sat in it. The doors behind him closed. "I am Commanding General Korboff of the Imperial Navy."

"Well, why am I in front of you "Commanding General." Asked Arran.

"Your rather sarcastic. I could kill you if I wished. Do you know how much I would enjoy jettisoning you into space in an escape pod and watching the air run out? I would love it." He laughed.

"Well, you obviously have a large amount of patience then, because Imperial escape pods have an air supply of two days. As well as a ration supply for the same amount. I could also mauever the pod." Arran said.

He frowned. "Did you pay attention to the rest of what I said?"

"No. I was too busy staring at that huge red banister behind you with your face on it." Arran said with a straight face. And there was a huge red banister with his face on it. Arran thought it was very ugly.

"I'll have to take that down, your not the first to be distracted by it." He sighed.

"So, back to the point. Why am I here?" Arran asked.

"Because, I want to know all the locations of the rebel bases." He said standing up.

"I don't know anything about rebels. I'm a trader. Just selling my goods." Arran said.

"Illegal goods you scum! I should personally rip you to pieces for attempting such a thing! I am Grundan Korboff and I am feared! I am hated! All starships and citizens of the Empire would be crushed for disloyalty if they acted like the scum you are! I will make sure you die a painful death! I will guarantee it!" He leaned forward and yelled these words at Arran.

Arran sighed, "This is rather awkward, could you sit down?"

"Will you tell me the Rebel base locations?" He said raising an eyebrow.

"I suppose..." Arran said. He reached into his pocket and grasped a thermal detonator the Stormtroopers had failed to take from his grasp. He clicked the activation button. Arran coughed until there was three seconds left on the detonator. He leaped up and threw the grenade at General Korboff. The general was startled and tried to pick it up and throw it back but Arran was already at the door. It exploded and Arran saw the banner above the General flutter as a reaction after it exploded.

The desk was reduced to splinters and Korboff was turned into pieces. Arran closed the door just in time to see all of this happen. He saw a Stormtrooper facing him blankly. "Are you suppose to..." Arran grabbed his helmet and threw the trooper against a wall and started to punch him rapidly. The Stormtrooper surprisingly didn't fight back. Arran gave him a good punch to the head and he was knocked out instantly. Arran grabbed his weapon and ran down the hall. Before he escaped he had to get his pack.

He made it to the cell block floor finally without being spotted and was greeted by two guards with black slick helmets on. "You there, freeze!" Said one. Arran blasted him and he fell backwards. The other fell just as easily. Arran reached behind the cellblock commanders desk nearby and retrieved his items. All but his rifle. He figured he mine as well snatch an Imperial pistol off one of the guards. He then made his way down the halls again.

He finally reached his destination: the ships power converter. He planted all the explosives he had around it and set a timer on it for 10 minutes. Arran then exited and made his way to a hangar. All of a sudden alarms started going off. "The prisoner has escaped! All Stormtroopers to positions! Be on patrol! He has assasinated Commanding General Korboff!" Arran head Stormtroopers marching back and forth the halls. He had to be careful for sure. Once he reached the hangar it was too late.

An explosion rang out and the ship became unsturdy. It shook and the Stormtroopers in the hangar Arran was watching from a distance fell. He seized his chance and ran on the shaking ship. "All crew evacuate! Evacuate! Take all available craft! The ship is splitting... ACK!" Arran heard this over the intercom of the ship as he was running towards his ship. He saw a Stormtrooper shoot at him and almost hit him. He got into his ship and made his way into the cockpit. His ship began to slid downwards but got it in the air in time.

He punched the ship into forwards gear and it soared out of the hangar. Arran made his ship do a quick flyby of the cruiser and saw it split in half and certain parts burst into flames. The front dipped downwards and then exploded completely. The other half was intact but the lights flickered off. Arran finally drove his ship away from the ship and made his delivery to Yavin. This mission completed his occupation as a smuggler.

Fight on Route 78
To Be Written...

Trip to Neimoidia
Arran knew the Imperials were on his tail after the cruiser incident. Two troopers had recently followed him out of a cantina and shot at him once he was in a fair position. They missed Arran and he fled the scene. Figuring that this scene may be repeated, he decided to go to Cato Neimoidia. Cato Neimoidia was still rebuilding from the Clone Wars and was under Imperial Occupation but the Stormtroopers there were untrained and mostly were meant for aid work.

Arran guided his ship towards the planet. Last time he had been at Cato Neimoidia he was sent to destroy it. Now he wished to find new allies. He docked his ship near a barren area of the planet. The war had not been kind on the area. He saw soot stains and ruined buildings that would have at a time been breath taking. Arran walked down a street and passed small children and old women. He passed a few Stormtroopers as well but they ignored him. They seemed to just be chatting. Arran came to a giant cobblestone area where many traders selling goods offered him good deals.

He saw an Imperial troop buy some fruit. Odd, since Imperial troops were restricted from buying goods for personal use. Arran liked the feeling around this area. None of the Imperials seemed to take their job serious and all the locals were friendly. All of a sudden people started to disseapear from the square, booths shut, the Stormtroopers seemed to take refuge in a store. All the buyers ran for houses and stores as well. Arran followed one Neimoidian into a droid store.

The Neimoidian ducked into cover and gestured for him to do the same. Arran peeked out of a window and saw an Imperial officer leading a dozen stormtroopers into the square. They were carrying a huge box. The officer said something and they started to set up banners and posters all about the square. A traders stand was knocked down and the fruit in it smashed. They used the space from it to put up a banner. Finally the Stormtroopers were finished and went back into formation and marched away.

Arran got up and went out fo the store and saw others do the same. A man was sobbing over the loss of his stand. He figured that it was all he had. Arran stared at a poster and saw this:

​EXECUTION NOTICE FOR ALL NEIMOIDIAN CITIZENS

ALL TRAITORS TOWARDS THE EMPIRE ARE TO BE EXECUTED AT 0900 HOURS TOMORROW. ALL NEIMOIDIAN CITIZENS ARE ADVISED TO COME TO THIS PUBLIC EXECUTION. THERE WILL BE REBELS AND VANDALS AMONG THOSE BEING EXECUTED. IT WILL BE AT THE NEWLY BUILT IMPERIAL ARMY DISTRICT.

-IMPERIAL TROOP OFFICE

Arran stared at this for a minute. He thought Neimoidia was just a normal planet that wasn't under Imperial control. Just a planet aid was being supplied to. Arran thought this was typical of Imperials. He had to save those rebels though, and the vandals as well. He went back to his ship and got a rifle he had at hand ready. It wasn't a normal rifle, it was a stolen Imperial prototype and it could hit a target from half a mile away. Arran took his small blaster too.

He spent the night in his ship and slept until the time was right. He took off towards the Imperial Army District. He saw banners everywhere he went and passed pictures of the Empire and Stormtroopers. The city was terrifying in the morning. The dark gloomy buildings were soot stained. Arran made his way to the Imperial Army District. Arran saw a large wall with a stormtrooper getting his heavy blaster ready. Imperials marched in and out of buildings getting ready for the crowds.

Arran found a ladder that led to the top of a building overlooking the execution area. Finally an hour later a crowd had gathered. Stormtroopers stood in front of the crowd to make sure they were under control. Finally a squadron of Stormtroopers escorted Neimoidians and humans alike towards the wall they were to be executed at. Arran recognized one of the prisoners as a rebel. He wore a tattered brown vest and had obviously been interrogated before this. They were lined up against a wall and Arran got his rifle ready. He aimed for the Stormtrooper who was in charge of the heavy blaster.

Arran fired and the Stormtrooper fell on top of the gun. The crowd control troops panicked as the prisoner gained control of the weapon and opened fire on them. The civilians scattered and ran left and right. Arran saw some of the prisoners grab weapons and fight off the Stormtroopers. A few civilians joined in on the uprising and grabbed ammo from Stormtroopers. Arran sniped off as amny as he could until he noticed riot troops arrive and take out some citizens. He sniped some out but they noticed what he was doing and took cover. Blaster fire rained around the area from both sides.

Arran figured it was his time to leave and he couldn't do anything more. He got off the building and saw two riot troopers waiting for him in an alley below. He jumped down and blasted one. The other thrust a shock spear towards him but he dodged it. He shot the riot trooper and he collapsed. Arran ran to where his ship was. His visit to Cato Neimoidia was short, but it was worth every minute of it. While running through the streets he ran into someone and fell on the stone walkway. He aimed his blaster and saw one aimed right back at him.

It was the Rebel officer he had seen earlier. Up close he looked soot stained. "Come on!" Arran said as soon as he got up. The officer obeyed and followed Arran to his ship. When they finally saw it riot troopers had surrounded it. Arran and the officer engaged them in combat and fired countless rounds of ammo at them. They fired back using highly deadly weapons that were obviously Imperial for Special Operations. Arran finally decided to take a chance and threw a thermal detonator near the troops. He hoped that his ship would be ok.

He heard an explosion and signaled for the officer to follow him. He was astonished to find that all the riot troopers had been knocked out by the detonator. His ship was stained but ok. "What a heck of an explosion!" Remarked the officer. Arran opened the ship and ran in. The officer followed. "Are you with the Alliance?" He asked as soon as they were in the ship. "I'm sure as heck not!" Arran replied. "Well execuse me! Your sure not Imperial!" He said loudly. Arran saw more troopers come into the desserted hangar and fire at his ship. He got his ship to move upwards and took off.

Arran was almost off the planet when a TIE fighter blast hit the side of his ship. "Darn it!" He said loudly. The officer stood up. "Should I man the guns?" Arran piloted the ship for a minute. "Do whatever the heck you need!" He said. This officer got on Arran's nerves and annoyed him quite a bit. Arran saw a TIE roar in front of him again. He launched three tracker missiles and saw one heat signal disseapear off the sonar on his control panel. Then two other heat signals disseapeared. Arran put the ship into light speed and sped off.

Lieutenant Viziar
Arran saw the officer return into the cabin. "Rather clever of you using those missiles." He said. "Well, no progress was being made on your behalf." Arran said. The officer sighed. "Will you be returning me Alderaan?" He asked.

Arran sighed, "How long did those Imperials have you in custody?"

"Only a year. By the way, I am Lieutenant Viziar of the Rebel Alliance. I am rather..." He said but Arran cut him off.

"Alderaan was obliterated by an Imperial superweapons." Arran said blankly.

The officer stared at Arran. "I refuse to believe such a thing. Alderaan would never fall."

Arran sighed, "It's true, but the superweapon was destroyed."

"Where shall I be going then?" He asked after staring at the floor for a few minutes.

"I have not the slightest idea. But the sooner the better." Arran said.

"Fair enough, send me to Hoth." He said, "Hoth is where the rebels are most likely at."

Arran nodded. He set a route to Hoth and they arrived there in a few hours. They flew over the planet for quite a while and spotted nothing. Finally when they were about to give up searching when static began to eminate from a communicator on the ships control panel. "CW-67..." There was static, "Rebel C-78 responding..." There was static again. "Ship approaching base, shoot it down." Arran picked up the communicator. "This is Arran Slarglide, I have Lieutenant Viziar with me! Do not fire! We wish to land!" There was static for a moment. "Lieutenant Viziar is dead, however you will be allowed in the base." Arran then saw a huge power generator appear.

Arran saw a landing area and prepared his ship to land. "Going to be good to see the lads again!" Viziar said, "They must have missed me!" Arran opened up the lower door and Viziar and him walked out. They were greeted by a lot of troops with guns aimed. A general with a pistol aimed lowered it. "My gosh, it that you Viziar?" Viziar laughed and walked towards him. "General McQuarrie!" He shook the General's hand. The troops lowered their weapons and watched.

Viziar talked to McQuarrie for quite a while. He went on to explain how he had been captured and how Arran had saved him. "And here he is, in the flesh." Arran nodded as General McQuarrie faced him. "You should be rewarded for your heroism, son."

"Thank you, sir. But I'll be on my way." Arran responded.

"I'm sorry, but we have no way of trusting you to keep the location of this base secret." Said General McQuarrie.

"Well, your not going to keep me here are you?!" Asked Arran.

"Can you prove your loyalty?" McQuarrie asked.

"Sure, I'm Arran Slarglide. I blew up that Imperial Cruiser last month." He said.

McQuarrie's face lit up in disbelieve. "That was you? How did you do that?" McQuarrie asked. All the troops around him were shocked too.

"I set some detonators and explosives up in the power generator and timed it." Arran responded.

"Well, your loyalty is proven. Your free to go but if you ever want to join the rebels let me know. We pay well, son." McQuarrie said.

"I'll join another time..." Arran walked up back into his starfighter. "You make sure to fight a good war!" Arran said as the entrance to his ship closed. Arran got into his cockpit and left the planet of Hoth. He would be lucky if he ever found a good planet to live on for even a day.

The Hole
Arran piloted his ship over an uncharted star that was according to a trader he met, "millions of years old." Arran came in hopes of learning about the unusual ancient civilizations that may have inhabited the planet. When he approached the star he had seen an unusual spacestation called centerpoint station. It was rumored to be able to destroy stars and realign galaxies. Although nobody in the galaxy had any knowledge of how to use it, ancient records told of how it worked. It had supposedly been built using the force by a race called the Celestial.

Arran was very interested in Centerpoint station, but archaeologists were guarding it and it was off limit to anyone else. Arran approached the planets surface and saw a jungle with ruins of the past. He approached a village made of wood and stone. He landed in a field, packed his things, and left for the village. He passed by hunters and gatherers with baskets of berries and weapons. He stopped to talk to a hunter and asked him who would know the most about the planets history. "Shaman Kindu." He replied with a nod. Arran thanked him and headed for a Shaman hut ahead.

He entered and saw the Shaman on a red rug surrounded by bottles of medicine and unusual herbs and spices. "Hello Mr.Slarglide."

Arran eyed him suspiciously, "How do you know my name?"

He laughed in an unusual way. "I know many names and places. I can see slivers of the future."

Arran nodded, "Well, why am I here then?"

He laughed again and smiled widely. "I do not control the future. These slivers come at random moments. Now why have you come?"

"I wish to learn of the Celestial. Could you explain them to me?" Arran asked.

He sighed, "I understand the Celestial only through the future slivers. It is very hard to understand for mortals. I am lucky, but I cannot explain it."

Arran frowned, "Is there anything else I can do to try to learn about them?"

"The hole." Replied the Shaman with wide eyes.

"What?" Arran asked.

"You go to the hole. You go and may not come back. You will learn. Is this a chance you wish to take?" Asked the Shaman.

"I would be willing to." Responded Arran.

The Shaman called to someone and a skinny man came out armed with a belt with a knife on it, and a small wooden blaster. They chattered for a few minutes in an odd language and after a large debate the skinny man gave up and agreed. "Kurdo will take you to the hole, be careful." Arran nodded. Arran and Kurdo left the hut and entered the jungle. Kurdo moved quickly and Arran often tripped and had to be helped up. Finally after an hour Kurdo stopped at a large stone shrine and took out his weapon. "You go on from here." He said trembling.

Arran nodded and proceeded through the jungle until he came to a giant stone temple gate with the doors missing. He walked in the gate and saw a huge hole in the floor of the temple. There was a small wooden hoist attatched to the ceiling. Arran looked around the temple and saw carvings placed about the walls. Arran saw a  story describing a superior society from above. War engulfed the society and they were forced away. Arran couldn't read the rest, it seemed to be stained by coal and soot from years and years of wear and fire.

Arran sat on the hoist and lowered himself into the deep hole. He had a flashlight with him and saw layers of fossils and skeletons and stone temple remains. It began clear this was not man made. Arran began to fear that someone or something was dwelling down in the hole. He started seeing gateways in the walls. Arran began seeing skeletons in the gateways. Soon the gateways got older and larger. Arran heard a creak from the rope holding him up. He was alarmed and soon it snapped. He went tumbling down and down. After a minute of falling everything went black.

Arran woke up in a puddle, or at least he thought it was a puddle. He couldn't see anything at all. He reached in his pack and dug around for a flashlight. Finally he found his extra flashlight. He turned it on, and to his interest found himself at the bottom of the hole, it had a large cobblestone floor and there were four cobblestone doorways on all sides of him. He saw the layers above were similarly crafted with cobblestone to support the millions of pouds of dirt above. Arran looked to his left and to his terror spotted a clone trooper. He was slumped over with his blaster to his side.

Arran looked and saw another clone, this time an officer. This time with no helmet and just a skeleton head peaking out of white aged armor. Arran looked closer at him and noticed he was a phase one clone. Curiously enough, his armor had crush marks on it. It seemed a great struggle had endured. Arran knew now that somebody, or something was living in these cavelike dwellings. Arran wondered which passage to take. He tried to think about the celestials. West was a sacred way to them. But which tunnel was west?

Arran saw faded gems above each doorway. Red was for West. He remembered that all of a sudden. Arran felt the air go cold and knew something was wrong. He scrambled into the tunnel. "You better hurry!" Arran was stunned and recognized this voice to be of a clone. He looked back to see the officer, this time very much alive. The officer nodded to Arran. Arran ran and didn't look back. As he ran faster, the tunnel got wider and wider, the stones got older, he passed doorways, all of them with marks on them or purple gems to tell they were unlucky. "Don't go in the doorways!" He heard someone yell.

Arran looked in front of him to see an anciently dressed starpilot staring at him from a doorway. "Run!" He said, "Run faster!" Arran heard more voices and saw more people standing in the doorways, aliens and humans alike. As he went further they vanished from his sight, there were less doorways. The hall got narrower and narrower until Arran had to slip through a crack. Arran saw many tunnels and skeletons with spears shoved in them. He passed them and procceded down the corridor for quite a while. He saw chests, and chairs, and closed doors. He decided to open one of these doors and found a torture chamber in it. Another was a wine cellar.

Arran found this area fascinating and explored it for hours. He paused for a snack and pulled out some fruit and some lemon juice. He ate this in an empty bedroom he had found. He noticed a drawer and decided to open it. It was filled with notes and some ancient, ancient coins. He read the notes,

"We are trapped in the tunnels. We stand no chance anymore. The foolish idea of our ancestors to build the million mile tunnels is put to no use. In the year of 500090 I declare that whoever reading this, should get out while they can. We have survived in this area for hundreds of years and now is when it ends. When mining we accidently awoke a terrible creature. It killed off most of the miners and now only five hundred of us strong remain. The armory is low, we only have electro staffs and our electro bows. They shoot straight and are killing the mysterious enemy but there are too many of them. Altogether we have lost 7,000 men and many more have gone missing. I hear them. They come quickly. The door will not hold. We retreat now. Help us."

Arran was terrified by this account and picked up his food. He passed more and more skeletons as he followed the passage. They were ancient, from the struggle 5 million years before. Arran finally came to what he thought was an enemy skeleton. It had a terrifying skull. It was slightly longer in the front where the chin was. It had cracks and bangs from the battle and was holding a brutal iron weapon. Arran imagined how terrifying the enemy would have been in the flesh. Arran continued down passing more men armed with electrostaffs. Finally he made it to an area where the door had been blown to pieces and skeletons lay all about.

The defenders were obviously making a last ditch effort. One may lay with a book on the floor. Arran guessed he be the man who wrote the paper. Arran propped him up in respect of the dead. Arran looked around and saw empty bottles, and only one exit besides the broken door. He looked in the exit and saw a narrow hall. It was securely built and led to a small area that had caved in, there was an area that Arran could avoid the bricks by squeezing through.

Arran squeezed through the exit and popped out on the other side. This side was filled with burned out torches. Arran saw skeletons riddle the floor and figured them to be ancient.Arran saw a throne with a man sitting on it. He was long dead. A staff had been thrust into him. He was eternally stuck in this position. Forever ruling his subterranian land. Arran looked around at this giant room, there were doors all about. Arran saw an unusual site, a trap door. He would recognize it anywhere.

Arran grabbed it and lifted it up in the floor. A small electronic box was underneath the hatch. Arran saw two switched. He hit both and the torches turned on. Arran saw secret doors open all about. Arran faced the king, "Mighty advanced weren't you?" Arran thought he saw the boney face grin. Arran walked through the biggest secret door and saw a room that seemed to lead only to a black circle made of metal, only one switch was on it.

"We have let you go for long enough." Arran heard from behind him, "The chance you survived the fall was a billion to one. The chance you would survive the Kriegen monster was a million to one. I thought the fake ghosts may break you down but they didn't stop you. The chances you would make it past the bug in you mind is astronomical. Now you must die." Arran saw turned around and saw it. It was a celestial. "Are you the last of them?" Arran asked.

"Not hardly, many exist. They have left, they live in another time, another galaxy. I am a million years old. And I command this planet and the few stars around it. My people started giving away technology to other kingdoms and mortals. Soon many of our secrets had been revealed. Many aliens lived about these great underground caverns. It served as a sort of embassy between the two sides. After thousands of years the societies crumbled and more brutal ones formed. This was a million years ago, and a so called "Great Society" made it's way in here and killed off almost all the celestials. This happened quickly, but the kriegenmonsters hunted them. Soon the Great Society's soldiers were all dead, many had been killed by us, and many by mysterious beings elsewhere in the tunnels. You see, we did not make these tunnels. We found them. So there are still great mysteries." The Celestial said.

"Like this room?" Arran said.

"Yes, I figure them to be the builders of the tunnels. A very advanced society. They were equal in technology to what we have now. They had very useless weapons though. Now before I am forced to exterminate you, are there any more questions?" The Celestial said.

"Yes, why did the others leave?"

"Lack of air, lack of freedom, fear of invasion, and fear of discovery." He replied casually.

"And why must I die?" Arran asked.

"Because you know too much, you may bring others here. And this knowledge was never mean't to be explored. Especially by man. There are terrible things..."

Arran seized him talking as an advantage and flipped the switch. "Schuldenvultz!" The celestial yelled, a spear appeared in his hand. He tossed it at Arran as he ran towards the black circle. An unusual blue light appeared. Arran decided to take a chance and jump through it. "Do not think this is the end of..." Arran heard the Celestial say as he threw his spear. It was too late and Arran had jumped in the portal. He arrived back at the village and everyone was staring at him strangely.

He saw the shaman come out. "I knew that you would come back." He said, "Did you learn about the Celestials, or perhaps more than just history?"

Joining The Rebels
Arran had heard rumors all about the streets that something massive was going to happen in the Empire. Something much worst than the Death Star. Arran didn't want something like that to happen again. He had to fly his ship around the remains of Onderron and it was extremely depressing to him look at the desserted rocks that had once held cities and forests. He had come to a remote area of the universe in hopes that he would discover the Rebel Alliance's fleet in the area. He surveyed the dark area, very few stars were in it. He scanned the area for quite a while until his scanner lit up with activity. Arran looked up from it to see a dozen X-wings swarming around his ship. "Identification is needed for safe passage." A voice said from one of his control panels.

"This is Arran Slarglide, my ship number is VMO-678." Arran responded.

"Mr.Slarglide, whats your cargo?" The voice said.

"A slight load of weapons, but besides that nothing." Arran said.

"Why have you entered this area? There is no route that even remotely crosses with this region." The voice said.

"In hopes of joining the Rebel Alliance." Arran responded.

"Please follow us, we'll be escorting you to the fleet." Said the voice, "Is that clear?"

"Affirmative." Arran responded.

Arran and the X-wings proceeded towards a giant Mon Cala ship armed with strong blaster cannons. Arran landed his ship in the hangar and was met by three armed rebels. "Admiral Ackbar wishes to see you." Said one, "Weapons please." Arran reluctantly handed over his sniper rifle and pistols. He certainly hoped that he would get them back. Arran was escorted by the rebel troopers through quite a few hallways, they passed by many different species that were all rebels one way or another. Finally they approached a small office.

The door to is slid open and revealed a fair sized room with a desk and a few books in it. Arran noticed Admiral Ackbar in a chair behind the desk immediately. "Well, sit down!" The Admiral said after a moment, "So Mr.Slarglide, what brings you to the Rebel Alliance?"

"I feel as if the galaxy is being brought under a bit too much supression. And that the Imperials have no way of law, just force." Arran replied.

"Thats good." Ackbar responded, "Now, we looked at your Imperial record and it looks like you would fit a position we have open. Tell me, do you have any interest in Intelligence Operations?"

"Well sir, I always wanted to be in Intel when I was with United Forces, but I never made the cut. It was suppose to be a very interesting experience, I wouldn't have even minded cleaning the HQ for a year to get in." Arran said.

"Well then, heres my second question," Ackbar said, "would you like to join the Rebel Alliance?"

"Yes, sir." Arran responded.

"Good, Corporal Felix will take you down to Intel." Ackbar responded.

Corporal Felix stepped in and handed Arran his weapons back. He followed him to an elevator and they went down about 16 stories until they entered a long room bustling with panels and computers, soldiers were frantically running about and dropping papers. Felix jumbled his way through until he made it to a large desk along with Arran. "Colonel Bowler!" Felix yelled over the sound of typing and voices and who the heck knew what. An old man a mustache stood up. "What is it?!" He yelled.

"You recieved a new recruit! Lieutenant Slarglide!" Felix said.

Arran looked at Felix, "Lieutenant?" He said in a smaller voice than he should have.

Felix smiled, "You have enough experience don't you?"

Arran nodded, "Nice to meet you Colonel!" Arran said sticking his hand out.

The Colonel shook Arran's hand with a firm grip. "Is this the replacement for Corporal Kirk!?" The Colonel asked.

"Yes sir!" Felix said.

"Your dismissed Corporal!" Yelled Colonel Bowler.

"Follow me Lieutenant!" Said the Colonel. They bustled through the sea of yelling informants and soldiers. One dragged a long line of paper amongst the others and was yelling about K Ration reports. Arran saw a room labeled with the title, "Prototype Armory." Arran saw a man come out with a large chain gun made with copper and shining steel. Arran was shoved and bustled until he could barely keep up with the Colonel. He saw the Colonel enter what he expected to be his office.

He gestured for Arran to enter. Arran came in and as soon as the door was shut the sound was drowned out. Arran sat down in an old wooden chair decorated with ornate carvings and a velvet seat. The Colonel's desk was a mess with papers, but the woodwork depicted some amazing forest scenes. "I mine as well get to the point," he said, "your being assigned to the forest moon Endor, we need scouts and spies around that area. The Imperials are building a second Death Star and we want to know a little about the areas to avoid if we were to land a strike team in that area. Now, you'll be given camo, your weapons, some detonators, and a small computer with a map programmed in it. Your job is to either place red or green in certain areas of the map. Red means dangerous, green means safe. Your transport departs in about two hours. I'm glad I got a replacement for Corporal Kirk, he was snapped in half by a native trap." Said the Colonel, "But don't worry, you'll be fine."

Arran felt no assurance from the Colonel. After an awkward silence endured for about 10 minutes a Private burst in. He carried Arran's weapons and one rebel blaster. The Colonel nodded, "We suggest you take that with you, it works well in all conditions." Arran nodded and took his weapons. The Private also handed him a backpack. "All you need is in there. You require only our radio and handbook codes along with the map." The Colonel said. Arran nodded and equipped everything. "Heres your camo cloak sir." Said the Corporal, "Thank you." Responded Arran putting the cloak on. Arran stared at the Colonel for a minute. "Well, what the bloody heck are you waiting for? Get to the shuttle!"

Arran rushed through the offices and halls and finally after four or five elevator trips found the hangar. "Get the heck in here Lieutenant!" Yelled a voice across the hangar. Arran saw a shuttle with four rebel troops in it. One was looking directly at him. Arran ran in and secured himself in a seat.

......................................................................

Arran found himself wandering around the Endor forest an hour later. It was a wonderful planet, it had tall trees and amazing plants. Arran started chartering out safe zones immediately. Arran scanned the area for life forms and found non. He looked around, there were no paths around the area. However, Arran did find lots of unusual paths, but most likely they were made by animals. Arran hiked around, after four hours he had already covered 9/50 of the area he was suppose to scout out. Arran figured he should find some cover, night seemed to be setting in. Arran found a comfortable area under a downed log being held up by two rocks next to a hill. If any Imperials came along he would be out

of sight.

Arran woke up to the end of a primitive spear. "Ka-chow yub nub ku cha?" Arran heard, he looked up to a see a short fuzzy looking bear like creature. "Chow Chow." It said proudly pointing towards itself. Arran nodded as a friendly gesture but was met with the end of a spear again. "Hi yow canado?" It asked thrusting the spear a little closer. Arran heard voices similar to Chow Chow's. Soon a few more creatures had surrounded him and they too had spears and primitive weapons.

Arran was gestured by one to get up and follow them. There were three of them, all rather curious creatures. Chow Chow seemed to be the lowest of the group and the highest was the tall one with an odd hammer made out of a stone. Arran and the creatures finally made it to a remote area after traveling for an hour. "Yub nub, con Chow Chow!" yelled the tall one at Chow Chow, "Cho Chow Chow!" Chow Chow immediately took out a horn and made a loud blowing noise. Arran heard creaking and looked up, to his surprise there was a large platform made of wood above, an older creature lowered down a ladder. Arran was poked and forced to go up the ladder, this was not of his liking one bit. Arran followed the creatures across ladders and onto larger platforms. Each was inhabited or had some sort of reason.

Finally they arrived at a large platform. The tall one got up on a stump and started speaking yibberish, "Ya cho toya ka cundu yub nub!"

It yelled. A chief like figure walked out behind him, the tall one stepped down and the chief took his place. He looked at Arran, "Logray." He pointed to himself. "Arran." Arran said, pointing to himself. "Ewoks." Logray said pointing to a large mass that had huddled around them. Arran found it hard to respond to that. "Rebels." Arran said pointing to himself. There came mumbling from inside the crowd. "Arran ka tunga Rebels!" Logray said to the crowd. They cheered and soon Arran found himself in a large hut. He sat down next to Logray and they watched Ewoks tell stories for about an hour.

It was then night and everyone was leaving for their small tree huts. Arran couldn't figure out where to sleep. He felt a slight tug on his pant leg and turned around to see Chow Chow. "Chow Chow ka opada." He exclaimed with a wave of his hand. He immediately started running away and Arran decided to follow him. Soon Chow Chow had led Arran to a small hut. "Arran ku tang!" Chow Chow said, pointing to the floor with a few blankets on it. "Thank you." Arran responded. He found the unusual bed very comfortable.

When Arran woke up he was greeted by Chow Chow, "Ha ko duwa fango wa!" Chow Chow said in excitement. Arran got up as Chow Chow excitedly jumped. "What is it?" Arran said. Chow Chow grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the hut. Arran followed Chow Chow until they made it to a long row of Imperial helmets on sticks. "Is this it?" Arran asked. Chow Chow didn't answer, he just pointed at the helmets. "It's ummm..." Arran said, "interesting." Chow Chow removed one of the helmets and showed it to Arran. It was black, obviously a stealth troopers helmet. "You must be very good at fighting Imperials. I am as well." Arran said. "Ka chunga Chow Chow kutcha?" Chow Chow said.

"They're my enemy, sorry I can't give you a direct answer." Arran said pointing to the helmets. "Enemy?" Chow Chow said pointing to the helmets. Arran nodded. "Tuka conga yub yub!" Chow Chow said. He ran off to another platform. Arran followed him, at this rate Arran's legs would be crippled by the end of the day. Arran followed Chow Chow until they were at ground level, Chow Chow wandered deep into the highly vegetated forest with the sunlight piercing the trees branches and falling down towards the earth like infinite lasers. Finally Arran and Chow Chow came to a clearing.

Chow Chow was very quiet. "What is it?" Arran asked. Chow Chow punched Arran in his arm to silence him. "Ouch!" Arran exclaimed. Soon a rustling could be heard, it was faint but certainly there. Chow Chow looked around quickly. Then blasts were heard. "A chocka can a dub fangowa!" Yelled Chow Chow ducking behind a tree. Arran did the same as more lasers flew past them. The lasers continued and start



ed blowing the bark off the trees into shrapnel. It was a captivating site. Then Arran heard yells and whisps of something flying around. Arran and Chow Chow looked out from their hiding spots.

They saw an unusual site, two scout troopers laying limply on the ground. One had an arrow in his neck. The chances of someone hitting in an Imperial troops weakspot with an arrow was astronomical. The other had a smashed in helmet and chains around his neck. Arran stood in amazement until Chow Chow punched him again. "Ouch! Why the..." Arran looked up to see what Chow Chow had been pointing at. An Ewok with a bow and an eye patch. "Kar Tuge." Chow Chow said in awe. Chow Chow bowed and Arran figured it the most rational thing to do.

"Chow Chow kurmu duva yub na yub!" Yelled the Ewok. Arran guessed that Chow Chow wasn't suppose to be out of the village. Soon warriors who were similar to the Ewok surrounded Chow Chow and Arran. Kar Tuge made clicking noises towards the other Ewoks. "Ka grum!" Yelled Kar Tuge. The group ducked down and two speeders appeared. Arran was too late and a laser hit the tree behind him and forced wood into his back. The Ewoks stood up quickly and killed the Scouts on the speeders. The speeders went out of control and hit trees and exploded into ragged metal chunks. Arran was yelling in pain and the Ewoks didn't even panic.

They quickly fashioned a makeshift stretcher and put him on it. Blood was all over Arran's uniform and was spreading. Soon they reached the village and Ewoks took Arran off the stretched and laid him down on his face. They started pricking the wood out of his back. With each piece of wood taken out air came into the wound and made it feel like it was boiling. "Don't any of you have anything to knock me out with!?" Arran yelled through gritted teeth. The Ewoks ignored him and took more wood out. Finally the pain started to stop. Chow Chow came in front of Arran. "Chun ub!" He said. "It's fine?" Arran asked.

Arran felt a prickly pain on his back. He yelled and Chow Chow jumped back. Arran looked and saw that the Ewoks had wrapped some sort of fur around his back to stop the bleeding. "Chun ub!" Chow Chow said pointing to it. Arran tried to keep himself from knocking Chow Chow's head off. Arran got up and put his bloodstained coat back on. He saw his backpack nearby and quickly snatched it up. "Darn it!" Arran yelled, "Today was suppose to be the group landing!" Chow Chow looked at him in confusion. Chow Chow brightened Arran up by giving him a blaster from a Stormtrooper. "Thank you." Arran said.

Chow Chow guided Arran back to his small hut and they eventually both went to bed. When Arran woke up it was noon. Apparently when you have chunks of wood in your back in makes you sleep longer, he thought. Chow Chow had already left and Arran couldn't find an Ewok in sight. He wandered around for a while and eventually found some older Ewoks making baskets. "Chow Chow?" Arran said. They made grunts and clicks to Arran. One pointed to the edge of a platform. Arran went to the edge to see dozens of Ewoks walking in the forest with spears and bows. Arran saw Chow Chow with a big heaavy pack on his back. Arran supposed they were going on some sort of patrol. Arran wandered back to his hut and cleaned his rifle.

After an hour Arran heard yells and the noise of horns. He stepped out of the hut and ran to the edge of a platform to see Ewoks, some wounded, others carrying the dead. They were battle weary. Arran had been far from right, they had gone to battle not on patrol. Arran got down from the trees and looked through the Ewoks for Chow Chow. He passed terribly sad sights as he wandered through the crowd. Only about 4 dozen remained. Arran finally came across a limp Chow Chow on a stretcher. He wasn't moving at all. Arran took his pulse, he wasn't alive. The older Ewok Arran had seen earlier wandered in front of him. "Enemy." He said plainly.

Arran understood. He felt a hatred towards the Empire instantly. He stared at the Ewok. "Are they coming to attack?" Arran asked. The Ewok obviously understood. He nodded. "Your not ready though!" Arran exclaimed, "How will you defend?!" The Ewok stared at Arran. They needed help, if Arran didn't who would? Arran nodded. He went and got his weapons. The Ewok obviously took this as a good sign, for he had all the village gathered in one area soon. By the time Arran came out of his hut dozens of Ewoks were looking at him. The older Ewok nodded towards Arran, "Arran chu kub na ubka!" Arran was wanted to speak.

Arran began, "You are a great people, the Ewoks truely are. I just arrived a day ago but I already understand that. I've seen the Imperial menace! And I'm here to help fight it!" Arran raised his gun. The Ewoks understood the main message. They cheered and jumped up and all about. Soon it was night and Arran and the Ewoks were patroling all the areas of the village. The Ewoks had fine training and Arran had taught them quickly how to use light blasters. The village was secured easily. So this lasted 2 more days, the Ewoks would patrol and made defenses while Arran commanded the operation, soon almost no Imperial could invade the fortress made of plastforms and trees. Arran found Chow Chow's former hut as his office. It held rough drafts of maps and much more. Arran felt himself a General and a leader to these people.

On the morning of the second day the attack came. An Ewok scout spotted a dozen Stormtroopers advancing near the village. Quickly all defenses were called too and the Ewoks were ready. The Ewok scout was wrong, there was MUCH more than just a dozen stormtroopers. 378 pured out of the forest and the battle began. Arran came out of his hut and got the rock launchers ready, from a few trees away the Ewoks were able to bombard the enemy. Arran and his platoon of heavily armed Ewoks made it to the front lines and fired lasers rapidly at the Stormtroopers. However, the Stormtrooper fought back. Lasers flew at Arran's position while he commanded the Ewoks.

Soon an AT ST approached, it shot powerful lasers and destroyed an Ewok position killing a dozen Ewoks. "Fire!" Arran said pointing to the AT ST. The Ewoks did their best but the small weapons were useless. The AT ST aimed its cannon at Arran and his command station and blasted. "GO GO GO!" Arran yelled. Arran and the Ewoks ran off the platform, some were killed but Arran and two others made it off the platform before it was blown up. Soon the Ewoks started losing ground. Arran blew a whistle and a regroup was ordered, they retreated onto the ground and continued the attack from there. Arran led a charge on the Imperials with about 60 Ewoks. Imperials and Ewoks were being shot down all the same, dirt was flying all around as well as lasers. Soon the Ewoks had the upper hand.

The AT ST was approaching but Arran and the Ewoks soon advanced on it. Arran began scaling its leg along with a few Ewoks. He took a detonator and as soon as he was at the top tossed it in AT ST. Arran held on tight to the top as the AT ST exploded on the inside and toppled over. Arran was thrown to the ground but got up quickly. He ran towards the Imperials and aided the Ewoks. Soon the Imperials were retreating into the woods. The Ewoks cheered joyfully and celebrated. But soon Arran heard an all to familiar noise. A sort of mechanical clink and a violent shudder. "No!" Arran yelled, "Evacuate the village! Take cover!" The Ewoks understood immediately and panic ensued. They scattered and soon an AT AT was in view. The lasers hit the trees killing dozens of Ewoks.

Horns went off and the Ewoks soon retreated. The older Ewok led all of them away from the AT AT in a feeble attempt to escape at first. Then a hole was in view, just big enough for the Ewoks and Arran to fit through. Arran went in followed by many Ewoks, when he got in the hole it widened out and soon appeared to be a tunnel network. Soon all the Ewoks were in the caves, the warrior scattered about. It was apparent that this was a sort of bomb shelter. Soon the noise of the AT AT was closer, and soon right over the Ewoks. "We need to stop that thing!" Arran said. The older Ewok shrugged in response. Suddenly Arran had an idea, he climbed out of the bunker just in time to see the AT AT. He ran and set his bag of thermal detonators on its foot. He activated one and ran.

He dove into the bunker and the bag exploded blowing the leg off the AT AT and causing it to topple over and explode. The Ewoks came out and claimed full victory quickly. Most of their village was destroyed and they were forced to live in the underground area. The day after the Deathstar II was blown up, Arran was rescued by Rebels searching the planet for Imperials. He helped aid many Ewok tribes in rebuilding their home afterwards.

Battle of Fire Base
Arran had been allowed leave by the Rebels and spent his time mostly at Cantina's near the Rebel Bases and had recently heard a rumor that some UAF members were still alive and hiding out in an old base know as "Fire Base" that was owned by Jon Archer before he had been killed. Arran barely believed these rumors but decided to investigate anyhow. Arran's ship arrived at the base, it was overgrown with giant plants and Arran saw signs of soot and laser holes in it. He wondered what had happened. Perhaps not all UAF members had obeyed Order 66. Arran saw something odd all of a sudden, an old speeder with brown chipped paint with weeds growing in it. It sat rotting in the ground. It was a custom Dantooine model. Corporal Archer's before he died.

Arran felt sick to his stomach and contemplated what he might find inside the building. He took out his pistols and approached the large door. He took a look at the enterance terminal. It had survived all these years, Arran saw someone had recently wiped away the vegetation growing on it. Arran typed in the UAF code that he had known for so long. 099898. The doors opened slowly and Arran heard a terrible noise that sounded like a piece of iron scraping and splitting. Arran figured the door hadn't been opened for a long time. He entered the base with caution turning on the light he had on his pistol. Soon he reached a room with voices coming from it.

He approached the door with an odd feeling. He had to know. He kicked it open and pointed the pistols at a bearded man that first came into view. He had grey hair and was wearing an old United Forces uniform. Immediately two soldiers in armor stood up and pointed Carbines at his head. "Who the heck are you?" Asked the older soldier. "Arran Slarglide." Arran said, "And you?" The man squinted at Arran. "Where the heck have you been?" The man asked, "Shouldn't you put down your weapon in the presence of a General? The two soldiers lowered the Carbines they had and took off the helmets they wore. "Arran?" Said a familiar voice.

Arran looked at the men. It was Corporal Archer and Corporal Docker. Arran lowered his weapon as well. "I thought all of you were dead." Arran said.

"Not true, at all." General said, "We rebelled against order 66 and most of us were killed. The 56 remaining of us retreated here and were put under siege. All of us were killed except for us 3 and you apparently. The 3 of us founded UAF again, we have 6 new members. Come on!" General yelled to a door nearby. Arran heard footsteps and the door opened 6 younger people came out. The first was a woman with black hair who seemed familiar to Arran. "Well Arran, did Lieutenant Hunter ever tell you about her sister?" General asked. "Certainly not." Arran said. "Eirta Hunter." The woman said extending a hand. Arran shook it firmly.

Arran turned to see a young woman on his left. "I'm Naomi Archer," She said extending her hand, "I've heard a lot about you from my father. He told me about the time you went to Khoonda with him." Arran nodded, "Nice to meet you Naomi." Arran turned and then saw a clean shaven gentleman with black slick hair wearing a spec ops outfit. "Commander Daren Baggis." He said. Arran shook his hand as well. He turned to see a gentleman with an officers uniform on, he had a Naboo pistol in a belt and extended his hand with a smile. His hair was combed down neatly and he had brown hair that was in a comb over. "Corporal Bren Ukrame. I'm the only intel soldier here, I found your old tactics and I've always wished to meet you when I thought you were dead." The soldier had a good grip and Arran nodded, "Good to see someone put a use to them."

Arran saw also a younger man in normal gear, "Lance Corporal Jefferson Reegient." He said with a handshake. Arran saw last a stronger troop wearing officers pants and hat but had suspenders on with a tank top. He had a hammer in one hand and had black hair with an interesting mustache. "Barney Cardan, I'm not all that much of someone for ground combat. I specialize in mechanics and I operate most of the ships around here." Arran shook Barney's hand and had his fingers almost broken due to his strong grip.

"Well Arran, since you have so much experience I'm promoting you to Lieutenant." General said, "You are staying with us aren't you?"

Arran thought for a minute, "I will be." He said.

The soldiers all cheered and patted Arran on the back. "Bren take Lieutenant to his bunk, understood?" General said. Bren nodded and walked through the door to the side. Arran found the halls were a bit yellowed due to time passing but held many different rooms for many uses. Soon Bren and him entered a room marked, "INTEL" in big black letters. The door opened and Arran saw four beds and many computer screens and chairs. He looked over on a table and saw something astonishing, his old plans in faded envelopes. Bren laughed, "I found those in an old cabinet around here. Your bunk is that one."

Arran looked to see a faded green lower bunk. He set down his bag and weapons next to it. "Anything you need me to do?" Arran asked. Bren laughed, "Thats up to you sir." Soon Arran found himself wandering about the halls. Soon he heard an old alarm go off. "This is Captain Archer! Blackout Blackout!" Arran heard rumbling and the lights flickered off. The building shook as bombs rained all around and shook the base. Soon the alarms stopped and the lights came back on. Arran saw Commander Baggis run down the hall. "Don't worry, just an air raid sir. The Imperials sometimes bomb around this area and the rest of the planet out of suspicion of us." Arran looked at him puzzled, "Then why don't they just check here?"

"We camoflauged this area. By the way, we put your ship in the docking area." Said Commander Baggis. Arran nodded, "Go check and see if everyone is ok. Understood?" Commander Baggis nodded and ran past Arran. Arran continued his walk down the hallway and eventually got to Captain Archer's office. He opened the door and saw Archer at his desk fiddling with a communicator. He laughed to see Arran come in, "I'm so glad to see you again!"

Arran nodded, "I'm glad too, considering I saw you die."

Jon nodded, "I suppose that did happen didn't it?"

Arran stared at him, "Why did you do it?"

Jon sighed, "I didn't try to kill myself! The plan was for me to fake my death and evac some UAF intel soldiers, but I fell into a coma when I set the bomb off."

"Well, why such a big cover up?" Arran said.

"The UAF members had accidently stumbled upon a file about the activation chips for Order 66 in the clones. UAF was going to study the info they had and alert the Senate. When I didn't evac them they mysteriously disseapeared. Just a year ago the remains were found deep in the Kamino ocean with a mass grave of other people who posed a threat to the Empire." Archer replied.

"Well, I see now. What happened to the base when you rebelled?"

"We rebelled and when it came apparent we stood no chance against the Empire we retreated here. The Empire himself came to slaughter us all. It worked and only Docker, General, and I got away. The battle was awful, in the end the base was torched and we all went seperate ways. We all decided to meet again when the deathstar was blown up. We all had met different people who wanted to join and eventually we made this guerrilla army." Jon replied.

Arran nodded. "If thats all I mine as well continue my tour of the base."

Jon laughed, "I would show you but I'm quite busy."

Arran exited the room and continued walking down the halls. The base so strongly reminded him of the original UAF base. Fire Base had almost everything it had, barracks, a mess halls, training areas, lecture rooms, meeting rooms, and everything else. Arran found even a prototype weapons testing area. It was a very interesting base with many hallways. After a while Arran decided to go back to the Intel room. He passed nobody as he walked back, it was a strange feeling, plenty of soldiers had inhabited the place not too long ago. Finally Arran reached the Intel room.

"Enjoy your walk?" Arran heard Bren say.

"Quite." Arran responded getting out his flask. When he put it away he looked at Bren, "Are there any upcoming attacks?"

"We haven't done any major attacks for about a month. Last one we did was to blow up an Imperial supply ship." Bren said typing on the computer in the corner.

"Did it suceed?" Arran asked.

"It did, we killed about a dozen Imperials and destroyed a whole Legions supply of ammo." He said turning towards Arran.

"General trained you pretty well, didn't he?" Arran asked.

"Well, to be honest some of us just grew up like soldiers, take Eirta for example. She's Mandalorian like Lieutenant and her parents taught her a few tricks. Same with Captain Archer's daughter. He taught her about history, archaeology, and most of all hand to hand combat. They lived on Khoonda for about two years." Bren said.

"How about the others?" Arran asked.

"They're all pretty good with ropes and blasters in general." He said picking up a piece of fruit. He took a big bite of it and leaned back in his chair.

"Good to know that, how about you?"

"I learned to shoot bottles from about 200 yards away when I was a kid. I was a good shot." Bren said, "I also had a strong appreciation for programming computers, hacking them, etc." Bren said getting up.

"Do you still use the same blasters we used during the Clone Wars?" Arran asked.

"We have a variety, mine is an old DC 15 and an ELG-3A Naboo Pistol." Bren said tossing his fruit in the trash.

Suddenly the the alarm on the wall flashed red and sirens went off. Archer's voice crackled through the speakers. "Incoming Imperial dropships and AT AT's. Prepare for impact! All crew to stations! We're under attack! Repeat, we're under..." A large explosion was heard overhead and the base shook.

"Come on!" Bren said grabbing his DC-15 and his belt. Arran had his officer's gear on and grabbed his pistols, bag, and Carbine. They rushed out into the hall as the base shook more. Commander Baggis exited his office with a DC 15 in full gear and followed Arran and Bren through the halls. They made it to the outside of the base and saw it was filed high with sandbags, barbwire, and all sorts of baricades. General was already fighting alongside the others against the advancing Imperial troops. A turret mounted on the top of the base was being manned by Lance Corporal Reegient. "Come on you filthy slobs!" Commander Hunter said firing a mounted rotary cannon at the Stormtroopers. They were plowed down, soon the Imperial dropships were advancing. Arran took a position behind some sandbags and fired his DC at the ships, it missed and they landed in a clearing in the woods.

The turret couldn't fire on the lower ground so it focused on the higher dropships. Suddenly the base doors opened and Barney came out with a missile launcher. He fired it at the dropship and the missile sped directly towards it and exploded, pieces of debris flew everywhere and the trees caught fire. "Nice shot!" Bren said. The Stormtroopers kept advancing and soon they were closing in 5 at a time. Arran took fair shots and gunned down a few. Lasers flew at the base and hit the sandbags. Lance Corporal Reegient had alreayd shot down two other dropships and now the Imperial airsupport had been completely knocked out. Suddenly flames emerged from the woods and engulfed the forest. "Flamethrowers!" Captain Archer yelled, "Take cover!"

Everyone ducked and the flames went right over the barricades. The heat was so strong Arran felt as if he were going to melt. It ended briefly and Arran saw the flametroops. He shot at them as well as the others. Commander Hunter plowed two of the three down quicly with the rotary cannon. Barney reloaded his missile launcher and shot at one of the flametroopers. It hit nearby and knocked the trooper over killing him. The Stormtrooper advanced faster now and TIE Bomber began to appear. "Keep up the fire in the Stormtroopers!" General said, "Leave the Bombers to the turret!" Commander Baggis ran next to Arran and fired off a round at the troopers. One fell backwards as soon as he was in direct contact with the laser.

Arran fought along with him and soon his DC ran out of ammo, he got out his pistols and shot down two troops quickly. A TIE Bomber flew overhead and released its fury upon the base, a raging inferno engulfed half the base and the turret with Lance Corporal Reegient in it as well. Eirta took the mounted rotary cannon and aimed it at the TIE Bombers. "Eat aaray!" She said as firing off rounds at the Bombers. She suceeded in hitting one causing it to spin into the forest and burst into flames. Arran and the others continued to fight without mercy, the Stormtroopers were dropping like flies.

Commander Baggis was standing up next to Arran when a Stormtrooper appeared out of the woods firing rounds off specifically at him. A laser went flying across the battlefield and hit Baggis in his chest causing him to collapse dead. "Baggis is down!" Arran yelled. Bren took a good aim at the Stormtrooper and shot him in the head. Soon Arran could see AT AT's approaching. "Get your rocket launcher ready Barney!" General yelled as he fired his Commando weapon at the Stormtroopers non stop. Arran looked up and saw two AT AT's that had stopped. "Take cover!" Arran yelled.

The AT AT's fired off rounds at the positions causing explosions everywhere, dirt flew all about and Arran saw someone go flying due to the explosion. When the explosions ended Arran saw Barney on the ground with his missile launcher next to him. He was bleeding but still alive. Eirta kept up the fire on the Stormtroopers, but the lasers from them kept on flying. Arran ran to Barney to try to drag him out of the fire. He couldn't do it though, Barney was too large. Bren ran over to help and soon they had Barney behind the sandbags. Arran ran out to get the missile launcher as the fire from the AT AT's continued, they came closer and closer and soon they were about 400 yards from the sandbags. Bren grabbed a missile and loaded it in, Arran aimed at the head of one AT AT and fired. The missile flew through the air and made a direct hit on the head. It exploded into large jagged chunks and the AT AT toppled over and exploded.

The other fired off a devastating round in retaliation, the Stormtroopers advanced faster and soon Eirta, General, and Captain Archer could just barely hold them off through the clouds of smoke and fire that had engulfed the area. The AT AT fired at Arran and hit nearby causing Bren to fly backwards. Arran fell down but quickly got up to go get Bren, he was still alive although bleeding. Arran grabbed the missile and loaded it into the launcher. He steadied his aim and held his breath. Nothing happened. "Just shoot the missile!" General said firing upon Stormtroopers. "It's a dud!" Arran yelled.

He quickly ran to find another missile. More fire came from the AT AT and blew up positions and the base. Quickly Arran fired again and the shell went flying into the neck of the AT AT causing a chain reaction for it to exploded. It toppled over and Arran and Bren got back to fighting the Stormtroopers. Blood was running down Bren's face and he was covered in dust and soot. Eirta kept the Stormtroopers away from the defenses while Captain Archer ran over to Arran's position. General was firing his weapon non stop at the TIE Fighters. Captain Archer made it to Arran's defense to see Barney wounded behind the sandbags and Bren covered in blood firing his pistol. "We need to call a retreat, how the heck are we going to do it?" He said.

"Don't ask me!" Arran said throwing a grenade at a Stormtrooper.

Bren turned to Jon, "We could use suppressive fire."

John shook his head as lasers flew past it. "I guess we don't have any other choices, Naomi and I'll take Barney into what remains of the hangar, we're making your ship the evac ship."

"Bren should get to the ship as well." Arran said.

Bren nodded. Jon stood up quickly, "Come on lets move it!" Naomi jumped over the sandbags and made it to Barney, they dragged him into the hangar while Bren followed. Suddenly a TIE Fighter dropped a bomb and it landed right next to Naomi. It exploded and they were all forced to the ground. Arran ran over to discover Barney was ok, and so was Jon. Jon got up and saw Naomi lieing on the ground. She was bleeding and most likely dead. "No!" Jon yelled. The laser fire grew more heavy and General and Eirta ran to the hangar. "Come on Jon!" Arran said. Bren was shooting at the Imperial's and soon they had overwhelmed the position. Arran and the others finally got Jon to the hangar as lasers flew from both directions. The sky was dark and it began to rain heavily.

"Come on!" General yelled as Jon and Arran ran into the hangar. Arran and the others got in and found the ship in good condition. "You better know how to fly this thing!" General said, "In UAF you were just about the worst pilot in the legion!" Arran made it to the cockpit while the others waited in the back of the ship. "Man the guns Docker!" General yelled. "I'm the pilot of this ship," Arran yelled, "I give the orders! Get to the guns Docker!" Luke jumped to the guns just in time as the ship began to exit the hangar. He fired on the Imperial's as they left the planet's surface, Imperial's in hot pursuit in TIE Fighters. Soon they had escaped and they were in hyperspeed.

Arran eventually piloted the ship to the Rebel Fleet. The Rebel Alliance gave UAF two choices, to remain UAF, or to join the Rebels. They chose to remain UAF and were recognized as part of the Rebel Alliance. General continued to lead UAF and eventually over 400 new recruits joined UAF, bringing it to it's former glory during the Clone Wars. All members were promoted and Arran was given the choice to remain in UAF. He chose to, but also be part of the Rebel Alliance.

Return to Coruscant
After the Emperor was killed by Luke Skywalker rebellions broke out all across the galaxy and Coruscant was plunged into financial ruin after multiple bombings and battles. Now the Rebel Alliance was hoping if they launched an attack on the planet at this desperate time they could take it easily.

Arran had been transferred from Intel to Navy the day he returned due to the fact that he had failed to complete his mission and that the Republic Navy had almost been wiped out during the Battle of Endor. Now Arran commanded the ship Venator II. Venator II had fifteen heavy blasting cannons and thirty small ones. The ship could wipe out an Imperial Star Destroyer if wanted. Now Venator II along with 780 Rebel ships were headed towards Coruscant. Half the ships were volunteered by Bounty Hunter, traders, smugglers, average families and more. Each ship was equipped with a specialized mission may it be either bombing, troop transport, spec ops, medical use, or as part of a blockade. Venator II's job was to bomb the heck out of the Imperial barracks and law enforcement district.

The crew of Venator II consisted of about 1500 fairly trained Rebels. Arran would command the ship from the front of it and order the bombardments...

Arran had always wanted to be in the Navy. He knew his grandfather had been in the Navy, he didn't know if he had fought at all though. Stupid, he thought. Why didn't you look that up or do your research? Now he was in charge of a ship. His grandfather would be proud, Arran thought. Arran stood at the front of his ship, around him were the noises of voices and computers and he could see other Rebel Ships from the command center. Arran recieved a call on his communicator and answered it. "Lieutenant Slarglide." He said. "This is Admiral Ackbar, five minutes until we exit hyperspace and make the approach on Coruscant." Admiral Ackbar said. "Thank you, sir." Arran said. "May the force be with you." The Admiral said. Soon it was two minutes until the attack.

"All crew in position?"

"Gunnery group locked and loaded!" Arran heard through the computer.

"Command center operational!"

"Escape pods ready!"

"Bomb crews ready!"

"Engines functioning!"

"Good, all forces standby." The ship started to slow down and came out of hyperspace. Arran saw three Super Star Destroyers guarding Coruscant. "Concentrate all fire on the bridge of the ship in the middle! If TIE fighters begin an approach focus on them rather than the destroyer! Leave the large craft to deal with the star destroyers if they show up!" The Super Star Destroyers were kept under heavy fire and fired back. The craft around Venator II focused on the middle as well. "Keep on firing!"

"TIE Fighters incoming, sir!" A gunner said.

"Hold all fire on the Super Star Destroyers! Focus on the TIE Fighters!" Arran ordered. A TIE Fighter just then whizzed by the Command Center. Soon Star Destroyers began to appear. "Dispatch all Y Wings!" The Y Wings flew out of Venator II and made their way through the thick clouds of TIE Fighters attacking left and right. Soon the Y Wings were dwindling in numbers. "Dispatch all X Wings! Keep the fire stronger on the TIE Fighters!" Arran yelled.

The gunners kept firing and took plenty of TIE Fighters down, they kept coming though. "Increase speed! Head towards the Super Star Destroyer where the Tie Fighters are being dispatched from!"

"Yes, sir!" A Commander yelled.

Soon the route was clear and all Super Star Destroyers were in view. The gunners were taking down the TIE Fighters with rapid speed and they headed towards the Super Star Destroyers full speed. "Focus all fire on the bridge of the Super Star Destroyer in the middle! All X Wings cover us! Y Wings need to attempt to bomb the bridge as well!" The ship shook as the Super Star Destroyer started attempting to destroy Venator II. "Evasive maneuvers!" The ship quickly took a dive downwards and avoided the lasers heading towards it. Nearby a Mon Cala ship exploded and forced the ship to the right due to the explosion.

The crew started falling as the ship started making violent turns and the laser fire increase. "Keep the gunfire on the ship heavy!" Arran yelled, "Get the ship in an upright position." The ship was soon correctly positioned and heading towards the Super Star Destroyer again. "Full force! All gunners focus on the bridge!"

The fire was so strong that the bridge was breaking apart on the Super Star Destroyer. A chain reaction occured and the starship exploded and caused the other two to be damaged severely. "Fleet cruiser 1 and 4 cover us! We're going for the surface!" Arran yelled.

"Good luck Lieutenant." Arran heard through his communicator.

"Manuever the ship inbetween those Super Star Destroyers! Keep just below them to avoid heavy fire! Avoid the Star Destroyers!" Arran ordered.

The ship made it's approach with TIE Fighters firing at it left and right, the gunners protected it and did minor damage to the Super Star Destroyers. Soon they had slipped through and headed towards the surface of Coruscant. It met heavy anti aircraft fire. "Level us out!" Arran ordered.

"Bomb crews ready?" He said as anti aircraft shelled the craft.

"Yes, sir!" Arran heard.

"Release a few bombs on those aircraft guns!"

The bombs fell and shelled the guns blowing up the lower area. Sirens went off as the bombs exploded. "Get us turned around and fire on any Imperial forces below!" He ordered.

"Yes, sir!"

The guns opened fire and Arran activated an image of the scene below. The aircraft ugns were being pounded and the buildings around them collapsing. Fire raged across the city now, more Rebel ships were bombing all about, troops were landing. A squadron of X Wings made it to surface and glided near Arran's ship. "X Wing Squadron Green, escort us to the Imperial district."

"Roger, this is Commander Verdoon." Said the leader of the squadron.

Soon the ship continued through the city blowing up Imperial Forces and picking off any Tie Fighters. The air raid sirens blared clear and the city streets were barren. Suddenly about 40 TIE Fighter came on fast on the back of the ship. "It's an ambush! Evasive manuevers!" The ship swerved to the side and tipped itself on the side, the lower guns opened fire on the TIE Fighters blowing half of them up. "Take care of the rest Verdoon." Arran said.

"Yes, sir." Verdoon said as the X Wings flew around the TIE Fighters shooting them down. "We have two X Wings down sir!" Commander Verdoon said after a minute.

"All gunners focus on the TIE Fighters!" Arran ordered, "Give them some support for goodness sake!"

The guns opened fire harder on the TIE Fighters hitting most of them. Soon the others were making an attempted retreat, but were blasted by the heavy guns. "I'm calling in for reinforcements Lieutenant." Commander Verdoon said, "We only have two X Wings left."

"Good Commander, tell them to send two squadrons." Arran said.

Suddenly everything was silent, the anti aircraft had stopped pounding the ship and the gunners in the ship stopped. "Sir, the TIE Fighters are in full retreat." Said a Corporal turning to him.

"That isn't right!" Arran said in an alarmed voice, "get a visual scan! Quick!"

"Yes, sir!" Responded the Corporal.

"Squadron 98 and 789 incoming." Said Commander Verdoon through the comunicator.

Arran checked the scanner to see about 20 X Wings approaching the ship. Suddenly the Corporal looked up in fear. "They're under us!" Suddenly a light blinded Arran and the others, it consisted of red and orange, tilting the ship sideways. Arran squinted and shielded his eyes. The blast disseapeared and TIE Fighters started pouring out of the smoke, a hole had been blown from underneath the surface of Coruscant, or also known as, "The Underworld."

"Focus all guns on the fighters! Evasive manuevers! All X Wings break off from formation! Scatter!" Arran ordered.

All voices responded with a firm. "Yes, sir!"

The guns fired left and right as the Imperial ships whizzed all around. "Connect me with the X Wings!" Arran ordered to a soldier.

"Yes, sir!" He said, "Done!"

Arran heard a jumble of voices. "Good shot Jackson!" Commander Verdoon said.

"This is Lieutenant Slarglide!" Arran said, "Regroup and draw the fighters to the starboard side of the ship!"

"Roger, sir!" Said Commander Verdoon, "Wait... !"

"Watch your fire Commander!" Said one fighter.

"They're on my tail!"

"Watch it! On your left! They're closing in on us!" Said another voice, "Keep the fire strong! Increase thruster power!"

"I can't! He's coming down on my... AGH!" A loud explosion rang through the comunicator.

"Concentrate fire on the starboard side!" Arran ordered to his crew silencing his comunicator for a moment. He turned it back on immediately.

"Lieutenant! We just lost Verdoon and two others!" A voice said.

"I don't give a darn! Just get the orders done with or I'll beat your skull with a shovel if you survive this!" Arran yelled.

"Yes, sir!" The troop said shakily.

"Cease fire!" Arran yelled to the gunners, "When the Imperials fly by open fire at once! Full fury! I want those guns overheating like there's no tomorrow!"

All the gunners obeyed and soon the X Wings flew past. TIE Fighters followed. "Open fire!" Arran yelled. The gunners fired off rounds blasting through the TIE Fighters and following through the ones next to them. Flames engulfed the Imperial pilots causing debris to fly left and right, knocking into taller buildings and blasting explosions left and right. Yet somehow they kept coming. "Continue defending the ship! X Wings shall provide an escort to the Military District!" Arran said.

"Yes, sir!" The lead pilot said through the communicator.

"Sir, we just recieved a transmission from the fleet!" Said a Commander, "600 Imperial Cruisers are making an approach on the surface! This was a set up! They're blasting the area! We lost 300 of our ships already!"

"Set up a sonar scope, I want the surface monitored around..." A large explosion rang out and the ship shook.

"Incoming!" Yelled a troop, "They're on top of us!"

Soon a flood of cruisers were firing from above on Coruscant and Venator II. Flames engulfed the surface and the ship. The X Wings scattered and the TIE Fighters disseapeared. "Evasive manuevers! Sound the alarm!" Arran ordered. Soon the alarm was blaring throughout the ship as the gunnery crew fearlessly defended the ship from the menacing ships above. Venator II took another major hit and the ship shook again, this time forcing Arran to the ground.

"Sir, we can't take much more of this!" A trooper said.

"Order the troops to take all available escape craft!" Arran said, "Gunners leave last, order them to continue to defend the ship!"

"Yes, sir!" Responded the trooper. He activated the code red switch and the ships lights turned red. "All crew evacuate immediately! Gunners remain at positions until the evacuation is complete! Repeat, gunners remain at positions until the evacuation is complete! Take all available craft!"

The crew fled their positions immediately, Arran and two others were left to command the ship. "Keep us steady!" Arran said as more lasers flew down on the ship. It shook violently again but Arran held himself up on the railing of the command center.

"Yes, sir!" Said the troop frantically typing on his terminal. A blast hit the ship again, causing the computers to flicker on and off. "We just lost reactor number one!"

"Osik!" Arran said, "Can we get it stabilized again?"

"Negative!" Said the troop as the ship began to tilt sideways.

"Let's get the Firefek out of here!" Arran said picking up the comlink leading to the ships announcement system. "This is Lieutenant Slarglide speaking, all gunners to evacuate. Repeat, all gunners to evacuate."

Arran set down the comlink and the two soldiers and him ran to the door. By now the ship was slanting halfway sideways. Arran and the troopers finally made it to the escape pods and found that the gunners had not yet made it to the pods. Another blast hit the ship, this time the impact was so close shrapnel flew around the hallway and a hole was put in the wall. Air was being sucked out and one troop was being suspended in the air, he held onto a rail on the wall with both hands, the other was safely in the escape pod. Arran in a split second remembered it all again...

Corporal Sinai held onto the wall tightly, it was his only chance of survival. Arran could've saved him, but he was too concerned about his own life. Arran just watched him. Soon he lost his grip and was sucked out of the ship. It was all so slow. Never again did Arran want something to happen like that again. 20 years was a long time, but not time enough to forget that. He wouldn't let it happen again.

Arran reached out his hand just in time to catch the troopers, he pulled him towards the ground and back to the railing where they made it to the escape pod. Arran grabbed the ejection button and hit it. "No wait...!" One of the men began, "We're too close to the surface!"

"Do you want to burn to death or take a rough ride!?" Arran said.

"Well..." The man began. Arran hit the button and the pod went flying forward. Out of the front of the pod appeared the surface of Coruscant along with many other buildings, all being hit by lasers and bursting into flames and explosions. The escape pod propelled itself slowly at first but then caught speed and was soon heading towards a building. "Brace yourself!" Arran said as the pod got closer to the building.

"We're going to hit the building!" Yelled one officer in panic.

Arran grabbed a rail next to a seat and suddenly the pod hit the glass. it smashed through forcing it's way through the office building destroying the floor and smashing anything in it's way. It finally approached the other side and blasted through with marvelous speed. It then sped towards a lower building, this one on fire. It hit the building causing an inferno to engulf the pod. Arran kept his grip as the temperature rose and the pod slowed down. "Just one more little push!" Said the second officer. The escape pod finally made it through the building and fell to the surface of the planet tossing one officer into the air and the other to hit the wall.

The pod fell to the ground at such speed and velocity all sense of gravity was lost and Arran's grip went astray and he flew into the air and hit the wall of the pod with a thud. A whizzing noise began and suddenly the pod hit the surface, smashing the glass in front of the pod and throwing the men into different areas of the pod. Arran looked up to see the two officers both limp, one on the seat and one on the floor. He checked the one on the floor, dead. The one on the seat was dead as well.

Arran sighed and left the escape pod to find AT AT's marching around the city, the lasers were still pouring down but in fewer numbers. Arran could look to the South and see other ships getting shot down. He wondered if any landings had been sucessful, or even any bombing raids. Arran took his blaster and set out to find some Rebels or shelter for the moment being.

CORUSCANT SOUTHERN SECTOR 1200

General Vasco stared at the red light, the wind whizzed in as the transport passed through heavy fire and zipped around other ships. He turned around to face the dozen or so Marines. "Clips on!" He yelled.

"Yes, sir!" The troops yelled back.

"Carbines ready!" He yelled.

"Yes, sir!" The troops responded again.

"Good!" He said, "Approaching point rain in five... four... three... two... GO GO GO GO!!!"

The Marines jumped out of the ship falling out into the fire and wind as it mercilessly whipped all around them. The last man finally jumped and now General had to go. He held his breath and jumped out to see the buildings of Coruscant once again. He got his gun ready as he fell towards the ground. He grabbed the string and pulled it. It opened and forced him upwards. The Marines drifted down towards the ground now. Stormtroopers awaited their arrival with weapons. They were shooting the paratroopers down, but not fast enough. More ships deployed them and they fell at a rapid speed.

CORUSCANT NORTHERN SECTOR 1200

Arran looked and saw paratroopers in the distance. Obviously UAF, the Rebels didn't approve of paratroopers. Suddenly Arran heard blaster fire and looked to his left to see a dozen Stormtroopers firing off blasters at him. He ducked behind a pile of rubble and returned fire. He took down a troop but could just barely get any good shots. The Stormtroopers ran at him and soon were feet away. "So thats how it is..." He said through gritted teeth taking out his knife and standing up to greet the first Stormtrooper. He blasted him in the head and he fell to the ground. The next made a few good shots but Arran dodged them.

He ran towards him and thrust his knife inbetween the armor and thrust it into another taking aim. Arran pulled the knife out as the other Stormtrooper yelled. Arran saw he was still alive and blasted him. Arran put away his knife and shot two more. One fired a shot and it went into Arran's arm, he was in stinging pain and got out his knife and threw it through the air at the troop. It landed in his chest and he collapsed. Arran shot two more and the last climbed onto a speeder. Arran took a careful aim as he drove away. "It takes one good shot..." Arran said to himself. He then pulled the trigger and the laser flew through the air and hit the scout in his neck, causing him to fall off the speeder.

CORUSCANT SOUTHERN SECTOR 1230



A Stormtrooper approached Captain Archer armed with a sniper rifle. He ran over a pile of debris next to his other comrades engaged in hand to hand combat and attemtped to snap Archer's neck. "Firefek! You little..." Captain Archer grabbed his carbine and slammed the Stormtrooper in the head with it crushing his skull with one hit. Captain Archer grabbed the blaster and shot down other Stormtroopers as General and other Mariners fought them in hand to hand combat over the ruins of the planet.

General picked up a Stormtrooper by the neck and slammed him on the ground, the sound of his armor snapping was loud and it seemed to echo throughout the street. The Stormtroopers fought hard though, one took a shot at Corporal Docker and it skimmed his armor, leaving a mark but no injury. The Stormtrooper was quickly shot in the head by a new recruit.

CORUSCANT 3 KLICKS NORTH 1240

Arran wrapped his wound in bandages he had brought in the small medical pack from the escape pod, he secured it using his knife in the scabbard. "A perfect cast." He said to himself as he walked past the fallen Stormtroopers. He paused for just a minute to look around as the TIE Fighter whizzed over the surface being pursued by X Wings, buildings were burning, lasers from the Imperial Cruisers went off, the smell of smoke was in the air. But he still liked the city, he had grown up in it, lived in it, and fought in it. He looked to the south to see larger rebel ships gathering around, more than there were scattered about in the sky. He had to guess there were about a dozen smaller ones and two larger ones. The battle raged as TIE Fighters and Star Destroyers came closer to the Rebel Ships. Arran had to make it over there, he had to.

CORUSCANT SOUTHERN SECTOR 1820

General Vasco sat behind the rubble of what use to be an apartment, the men had finally gained enough ground to make a Command Center, they had only captured half a block and they were still fighting, but now they could finally reorganize and edit the original plan. Lasers passed over the General's small position as he studied the map, the paratroopers fired back round after round fo ammunition and were bogged down in the same area. The Imperials were fighting from an intersection using scout troops and AT ST's. Captain Archer ran over to General Vasco and crouched down to avoic cover. "Your new uniform is getting some battle scars already?" General asked.

"Yes, sir. We just recieved news Lieutenant Slarglide's ship has gone down, he's KIA." Archer said.

"They're certain of that?" General asked.

"Yes, sir. They believed that most of the escape pods were taken down by aircraft guns." Jon said as a laser landed nearby.

"AT ST! Get that rocket launcher over here!" Yelled Commander Docker as an AT ST rounded the street corner firing on the troops.

"Well that's a shame, now get the osik over there!" General said.

"Yes, sir!" Captain Archer said grabbing rocket ammunition.

General looked out over the raging inferno and explosions and sighed, it was going to be a long night.

CORUSCANT SOUTHERN SECTOR 1910

Arran was so close he could hear the gunfire, he stumbled through one more alley exhausted. He had shot down two more Imperial's and let one flee, a TIE Fighter had almost killed him by using him as target practice, and a piece of rubble had almost smashed him. I'm getting too old for this, he thought. He pulled out his flask and took a long drink from it. When he finally got out to the street a storm of guns opened fire on him. Lasers from the Imperials and Rebels. Concrete and debris flew all around him as lasers hit the ground. Arran got up and ran. He looked up to see he was heading towards the Imperials, not the rebels. They opened fire on him and lasers flew all around him.

He returned fire and then ran back to the rebel side jumping over debris and bodies, he even passed an AT ST that was smoldering in flames. The paratroopers thought he was Imperial and someone fired a rocket at him, it hit the ground next to him and exploded. Arran saw somebody order a cease fire and yell, "Hold your fire, firfek!" Arran jumped behind a pile of debris and found himself next to Captain Archer who was firing off his pistols. He looked at Arran's soot stained face and ruined outfit. "Hello Jon." Arran said.

Jon stared at Arran for a moment studying him. He couldn't figure out anything to say. "Well, I suppose you should get back to shooting." Arran said after a minute, "Well, thank you." Arran crawled along the defense line dodging lasers as the Imperials brought in another AT ST. Rocket rounds went off and the fire got heavier. Arran saw General studying the plans with Lieutenant Hunter. Arran finally made it over to General and ducked under a piece of rubble. "Hello, sir." Arran said.

Arran looked at Arran for a moment. "Rebel Command reported you dead." General said.

"Well, I'm certainly not. But I was rather close to getting shot or blown up when I tried to get over here." Arran said, just then a laser skimmed over his head and flew past General.

"Was that you?!" General said.

"Yes, sir." Arran said.

"What the firefek were you doing over there!? That's the Imperial side!" General yelled as AT ST fired pounded the position.

"Anyone can make a mistake, sir!" Arran said.

Lieutenant Hunter interfered, "Are we making the stand or not?!"

General nodded, "All troops are to stay at position for the moment being until the cruisers above can get reinforcements!"

Right then a TIE Bomber hit the larger ship above and the deck went bursting into flames. It barrelled downwards and hit a nearby area, blowing up and causin g a shockwave of glass and debris to fly around the area. Arran fell backwards and hit a piece of concrete. "Osik!" General yelled.

"Should we order an evacuation, sir?" Lieutenant Hunter asked.

"No, hold all positions! The transports would only be destroyed by AT ST's!" General said.

Arran poked his head over to see two wobbly AT ST's getting pounded by UAF fire. It retaliated by firing rapidly and destroying a crucial position. "Watch it!" Arran said pushing General down. The AT ST laser hit nearby and blew a giant hole in the ground. General coughed and got back up. "Arran, I need you to deliver this to Colonel Montgomery. Give it to him and tell him it's from General Vasco. Understood?"

"Yes, sir!" Arran said.

Lieutenant Hunter threw Arran a pistol. "You'll be needing that for your arm."

Arran nodded and ran past the raging inferno of fire and lasers. The concrete flew all around, the AT ST's were gaining numbers and it was apparent the Imperial's were going to make a charge. Arran ran as fast as he could, suddenly an AT ST targeted him as he ran around a missile launcher post. It fired and a round hit near Arran, it knocked him over and he got a piece of glass in his arm. Another hit the missile launcher post  and the ammunition exploded. A Corporal went flying back as flames drew near towards Arran. Luckily he got up unharmed. Arran ran faster, he passed by more bodies and fell down after tripping on a a piece of concrete. He fell on a body. Arran came face to face with the corpse.

It's face was pale, blood was stained upon his clothes. He must have only been 20. Arran jumped up in fear and ran faster, everywhere he went, death was upon the battlefield. Rounds of ammunition going off, soldiers being killed. The ruins of the city suddenly seemed like they had always been there. Arran finally made it to a small hole with a man in it with a map. He wore a communicator as well as a beret with a badge on it. "Colonel Montgomery?!" Arran said jumping into the hole.

"What the firefek is it?!" He yelled as artillery bombarded the area.

"A message from General Vasco!" Arran said handing it to him. The Colonel took it and read it quickly.

He turned his communicator on and set down the paper. "This is Colonel Montgomery, all men are to hold the line. A retreat will not be made until reinforcements arrive. I repeat, a retreat will not be made until reinforcements arrive." He then set down the communicator and went back to scribbling on the map again.

Day 2 of The Attack on Coruscant
Arran walked through a trench with his pistol giving orders to the missile crews, so far an AT ST had broken through the lines at midnight and killed a dozen troops. After that General had assigned Arran to commanding the crews to ensure the line didn't break. Arran was standing next to a missile crew when Captain Archer approached the position. "The Rebels are going to make a full scale retreat, we just recieved a transmission..." The ground shook and everything went red, Arran felt his body fly through the air and land on a hard surface, it felt like his body was on fire. The heat was unbearable. Suddenly when the red went away it happened again, the heat came back and Arran's blood began to boil. It felt like nothing he had ever felt before.

After a minute it ended. Arran couldn't hear anything except for a ringing noise. He got up and saw a heap of soot and bodies laying around, a Corporal had been killed and the position ruined. Arran heard some faint yelling and looked to see a Commander running up with a carbine. Suddenly a laser hit him trhough the chest, it knocked Arran out of his state of mind and suddenly he could hear again. He jumped down as mortar rounds went off all over. They tore through the sandbags and defenses killing off the men immediately. Arran held his pistol close by him as he crouched near a piece of rubble. He looked to his left to see a body with flames coming off of it. It Jon, his leg had been ruined by the mortar and he was stained with soot, he didn't move. Arran crawled over and looked at him. Dead.

A mortar went off next to Arran and exploded, throwing a piece of rubble on top of him and almost crushing him. A Corporal ran by and was hit by a mortar, Arran ran over to see he was still alive. He coughed and hacked up blood, a piece of shrapnel was stuck in his chest. "You'll be fine. I need a medic!" Arran yelled. The mortar fire was too strong, nobody could hear him, and it seemed almost everyone around had been killed. Arran took out his medical bag and pulled out the piece of shrapnel. "GAH!" The Corporal yelled through tears. He had to be at least 20. "I'm going to die!" He yelled as Arran took out the bandages. "I'm going to die!"

"Just shut your mouth trooper!" Arran yelled at him, "If it helps I'll knock you out!" Arran put on the bandages as another round of mortar went off nearby, it exploded and Arran threw himself over the trooper to protect him from any shrapnel or debris. "GAH!" The trooper yelled in pain. Arran finally finished the bandages and dragged the trooper into some cover. He pulled out his flask and took a drink from it. He then took out his rifle and looked over to see Imperial forces, they had stopped firing. Arran jumped up immediately and ran towards the gunnery position. "They're making a charge, sir!" He yelled to General, "We won't be ready!"

"We don't have a choice!" General yelled as a mortar round hit near a gunner, "Where's Archer!?"

"KIA, sir!" Arran said.

"Osik! We're the only officers left!"

"How many men do we have?!" Arran asked.

"Roughly 130!" General said as another mortar round went off right next to him.

"How about Colonel Montgomery?!" Arran said.

"KIA by mortar!" General said, "We're trapped! The Alliance is leaving us here!"

"We have to get out, sir!" Arran said, "We could call in the Navy!"

"They aren't trained for an evac mission!" General said, "We would take heavy casualties!"

"We have to take that chance!" Arran said, "The Imperials will make a charge and kill us off one by one if we don't do anything!"

General paused for a second, just then a rain of mortar came down and exploded nearby. He turned to a Lance Corporal. "Order the Navy to come in with all available ships! We need a full evacuation, tell them we're under TIE fire and mortar rain!"

"Yes, sir!" The Lance Corporal said.

"Get all available stretcher ready, Lieutenant!" General said, "Load the wounded on them!"

"Yes, sir! I need men though!" Arran responded.

TBC...

Battle of the Emperor's Citadel
To be written...

Battle of Rhigar
To be written...

Imperial Treaty
To be written...

Defense of Coruscant
To be written...

The Yhuuzhan Vong War
To be written...

Recapturing Coruscant
To be written...

The Interview
After the war Arran found himself the last living original member of United Forces, prior to the war nobody had noticed due to the fact that such archives were not kept. After the war however, the government established census counts, records, polls, and much more. Arran first heard that he was the last original member when a holonet blogger requested an interview with him. Arran was rather confused about why until the blogger explained why. To Arran this meant nothing of course, but the news enjoyed releasing small stories about his long life filled with unique events. Every now and then Arran would do a very short interview, but at one time the Coruscant Museum wished to interview him about his life story. Arran agreed since the museum had started him off with a job, and if not for his job his life would be completely different.

When Arran heard someone was coming to his house to interview him he expected it to be a man in his 50's. However, when Arran got a knock on his door he opened it to find a man in his 30's with brown hair and nice clothing. He sort of looked like a younger Arran without a mustache. Arran welcomed him in and the sat down at Arran's dinner table. "Before we start," Arran said. "What's your name?"

"Tipitz Alandax." Responded the man.

"Ok, well please tell the people at the museum thank you when you go back, Mr.Alandax."

"I certainly will." Said Mr.Alandax with a nod. He got out his holoboard and set it down. "Would you like to begin?" He asked.

"Yes, now would be fine. Where would you like to start?

"Where were you born?"

"I was born on the south side of Coruscant at 50 BBY. My parents were Agnetha and Vernon Slarglide." Arran said.

"And what did they do for a living?" He asked.

Arran smiled, "They did lots of work at the college, they were very nice people you know. Without them I wouldn't have anything I have right now, they were very supportive of me. They always took me where I like and sometimes took me to the museum. My mother was very nice really, she always helped me out. My father was nice too, I don't have a lot of memories of him though."

"And why is that?"

"Well, one day when I was 12 they were going to the college and they left me alone at the apartment. On the way there the speeder they were in was smashed by another speeder, a much larger one. Neither of them survived though, so I was taken to live with Monty. Monty was a distant relative of our family and he was also a mobster. He didn't really do anything bad, he just made a bad name for himself by gambling and killing off people he disliked."

"People he disliked?" Asked Mr.Alandax.

"Other mobsters. Rivals." Arran said.

"What did you do with him?"

"Well for starters, I better tell you he made everyone call him Icepick. Well, when I was at home I always messed around with some sort of a game, it was a strategic one of course. But Icepick also had some military books, so I learned a lot from that. He was always gone. At one point I was almost shot by a gangster."

"How is that so?"

"Well, I was looking for some bottles to sell on the streets one day and a man was behind me, suddenly another man jumps out in front of me with a gun and shoots. He hit the other guy behind me who he was aiming for." Arran said.

"Did Icepick care?"

"Not really, he wasn't a parent, he was a mobster."

"What happened when you got older?"

"Icepick was killed at a bar, so when I was 14 I wandered the streets selling and trading stuff. Eventually I lucked out and sold some old helmet I found in an alley for 1,200 credits, some really valued antique. After that I bought an apartment and when I was 18 I worked for the Coruscant Museum."

"That's interesting. What did you do there?" He asked.

"I cleaned artifacts for the head archaeologist, I organized displays, wrote letters, all sorts of stuff. Eventually I became an archaeologist and I was moved to the galactic museum. We went on many expeditions to many places, I usually operated the digs and at one point I discovered a small Jedi Temple. It contained some pottery and some old lightsabers, about 30,000 years old actually. One time we went to some planet in the outer rim, it had a real issue with a civil war. Bombs were going off everywhere, shooting, all sorts of issues. At one point we were trapped in a building, we came for archaeological purposes, but we never got to do any digging. Eventually we did get off the planet though. Nobody was killed."

"What happened when the Clone Wars started?"

"Well, I was in my office when they let me know, and I was drafted because they didn't have enough clones to fight over on some jungle planet. A Separatist militia had formed and they were menacing the towns around there. We were called in to control it and boy was it nasty. My gunship got blown up by a rocket propelled missile and I was the only guy to make it out. Guys were fighting for every foot of grounf, absolute slaughter. I led half of the main attack and that was the first time I ever shot anyone."

"How did it feel?"

"It gives you an odd feeling, but your ready for it. So after that I reminded myself, him or me. And that was completely true. After that battle I went back to doing what I do and soon I heard they were accepting humans for enlisting. Well, my money was a bit low at the time so I decided to take a shot at it to see the galaxy." TBC...