40: The Clone Battalion

"How are we going to get out of here?" Rex asked as he pulled on his helmet. Evie grabbed hers, and pulled it on, as well as grabbing her fallen weapons. She inspected them, taking note of the damage, but also noting that they would still work.


"I have an idea", Ahsoka said.


"Which is?" the clone commander asked as he pulled out his blaster pistols. Ahsoka just glanced back at him.


"Just set those things to stun. We're not trying to kill anyone."


Evie pulled out her own pistols and set them stun, even though she was sure she'd be using her lightsaber more than her pistols. She watched as the orange line of heat got closer to having the door opened. 


"Yeah, well, tell that to them", Rex said sharply. Evie winced, but she knew there wasn't much they could do for their brothers.


"They're almost through", Rex said, getting into a battle position. Ahsoka watched the door intensely, waiting for the two lines to connect. Evie understood her plan, and pulled out her dual pistols.


"Now!" Ahsoka shouted as she used the force to push the clones backward. Few clones remained, and Rex and Evie quickly stunned them into unconsciousness. They ran out into the hall, stunning more clones as they went. Two clones snuck up behind Rex, and before Evie could warn him, Ahsoka darted in front of the clone commander, and blocked their bolts with her lightsabers. Evie returned one blaster to its holster, and drew her lightsaber, igniting it. Evie noticed the fluidity in which Ahsoka and Rex worked as a team, and she smiled. They had grown close in her absence, and she knew that Rex couldn't have a better friend than Ahsoka.


Evie stood with her back to Rex, blocking shots aimed her way, and then returning the blow, but with her pistols set on stun, not on kill like the other clones. It was a bit unwieldy, holding both a lightsaber and a  pistol, but Evie had to work with what she had.


"R7, find us a path out of here!" Ahsoka ordered.  The pink and green droid did as it was told, and closed the door with the most clones behind it. Evie took down the last two clones that stood nearby, and the three droids joined them out in the hallway.


"Alright", Rex said. "Now what?"


The droids beeped and Evie groaned. "The escape pods have been destroyed", she muttered.


"Taking a shuttle is our best bet", Ahsoka added. Evie nodded, and looked around them at all the unconscious clones. As Ahsoka walked away, one of the clones groaned. Evie flinched, and hurried forward.


"The boys are having a rough time of it", Rex said. Evie glanced back at him. "Did you know Maul also escaped?"


Evie blinked, and shared a glance with Ahsoka, before they both glanced back at Rex.


"He didn't escape", Ahsoka said. Evie continued what Ahsoka was going to say.


"We kinda let him out", she mumbled.


"What?" Rex exclaimed. "Why?"


"Diversion", Ahsoka said as the two Jedi reached the end of the hallway. "Come on!" 


She took off running, and Evie followed after. The female clone could faintly hear Rex following behind them. After a while of them running, alarms started blaring. Evie huffed as she put away her weapons. They hadn't run into a clone for a while, so she figured they would be okay for a bit.


"Now what?" she snapped to no one in particular. The ship jolted to a sudden stop, and Evie nearly lost her balance. The only thing that kept her on her feet was Rex grabbing her and helping her up. Faintly, she could hear explosions. She looked to Rex and Ahsoka. They were both tense, and Ahsoka looked slightly worried.


They continued running, and the walls started sparking. The ship rumbled, and shook, causing them all to nearly lose their balance.


"Oh, I don't like the sound of that", Rex said. Evie rolled her eyes. 


"I don't think anyone does, Rex", she spoke sarcastically. They reached the control room for the hangar doors. Evie quickly shot the clones that were there, not giving them a chance to fight back.


 Evie turned her attention to the hangar, and groaned when she noticed that all the hangar doors were sealed with the blast doors. She watched as Ahsoka and Rex went to the panel and started looking over the controls.


"Hangar bay doors are sealed", Rex muttered. "They've got everything locked down. If they weren't trying to kill us, I'd be proud."


Evie winced, but didn't say anything. Ahsoka turned away from the control panel, and looked at the droids, giving them orders.


"R7, start unlocking the doors on bay 12", she said. "Cheep, prep the shuttle. G-G, find out what happened to the ship."


The three droids instantly went to work on preparing for their assigned tasks. A few moments later, G-G reported on his findings.


"What do you mean the hyperdrive is offline?" Rex asked. G-G beeped at Rex, and Evie's eyes widened at what he said.


"Destroyed? It's completely gone?" 


A beeping sound from the control panel caught their attention, and Evie crowded around a small screen with Rex, and Ahsoka.


"We're caught in that moon's gravitational field", Rex dryly said. Evie groaned.


"Great. It just keeps getting better and better. First our brothers try to kill us. Then somebody, probably Maul, destroyed the hyperdrive, and now we're going to crash on the moon and die anyway. Just great."


Neither one of Evie's companions said anything in response to what she said. Ahsoka turned to R7, and gave a command.


"R7, open the main hangar doors", the togruta order quietly. The trio stood in the center, watching as the main hangar doors opened, and revealed the moon that they were about to crash into. Evie closed her eyes, barely hearing Ahsoka's words of "We need to get out of here."


A few tears slipped from Evie's eyes, and she shook her head. "How did this go so wrong? Everything was going so right." An image of her squad crossed through her mind, and more tears slipped past her eyelids. Droidbait, Cutup, Hevy... she lost them all in one day. That was really hard on her, even if she tried not to show it to her two remaining brothers, Echo and Fives.


Fives... he was there for her every step of the way... He was there when Echo supposedly died, and he helped her escape her own execution. Her last words to him had been "nighty night, brother." Evie cracked a sad smile at the thought.


Echo... she thought she had lost him at the citadel, but he hadn't died. They had left him there at the mercy of the separatists. Evie's squeezed her eyes shut tighter, blocking out any source of light. She ignored the sounds around her, not wanting to leave her squad just yet. 


As she thought, her eyes widened in realization. She wouldn't be able to see Echo because of the inhibitor chip. He likely still had the chip in him, and from now on, he was her enemy. Evie looked at Rex, but he was distracted by something in the hangar. Evie looked through the window, and a shaking gasp left her mouth when she saw the battalion of clones waiting in the hangar, all facing toward them. An anguished cry left her throat as she stared at her brothers who were waiting to kill her, Ahsoka, and Rex. 


And Jesse was leading them.



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