Star Wars - The Clone Wars - Secret Missions #1 - Breakout Squad

by Ryder Windham

  As the group drew closer to the factory, one of the three troopers made a discreet hand signal to the other two, then quietly stepped away and ducked into an alley between two warehouses.

  The trooper’s departure went unnoticed by Nuru, Gunn, and Cad Bane, but not by Cleaver, who knew what the troopers were up to. Cleaver and the two remaining troopers kept their gazes forward and never broke their stride.

  Four battle droid sentries stood in front of the delivery entrance, a wide open doorway that was sealed by an invisible energy shield. Nuru noticed two large, cylindrical tanks were mounted to the building’s outer wall, to the right of the doorway.

  As his group drew closer to the entrance, Nuru looked into the doorway to see a large chamber that contained a stack of storage containers and a stairway that traveled up alongside an elevated loading platform.

  Four more battle droids were stationed on the platform, and two doors were visible at the top of the stairway. Remembering the bounty hunter’s schematics, Nuru recalled that the door on the left was the control room.

  Seeing all the battle droid Nuru began to reconsider the bounty hunter plan. He suddenly imagined any number of ways the plan might go wrong, but he knew that it was too late to turn back. He forced himself to remain calm as they came to a stop before the four droids outside the shielded entrance.

  Cleaver said, “I am escorting these prisoners to processing.””

  The battle droid commander said, “But prisoners are to be escorted through the main entrance.”

  “These prisoners are low-security,” Cleaver said. “My orders were to deliver them here because of a communication malfunction at the main entrance.””

  The droid commander said, “No one told us about a communication malfunction.””

  “The malfunction prevented anyone from telling you,” Cleaver said.

  “That makes sense,” the droid said. He turned to face the droids on the landing platform and said, “Drop the shield!”

  There was a buzzing sound as the energy shield deactivated. Cleaver said, “Move along.”

  Nuru led the procession through the doorway and into the chamber. Cleaver followed the group across the doorway’s threshold, leaving the four battle droid sentries outside. There was another buzzing sound as the energy shield reactivated

  As the group moved into the chamber, they came a loud clatter from the loading platform. Nuru, Gunn, Bane, and the two troopers looked up to see twelve additional battle droids appear on the platform. Nuru’s hand darted for his lightsaber, but stopped short of grabbing it when he heard Gunn gasp as the doors at the top of the stairway opened to spill out more droids. All the droids trained their blaster rides at the new arrivals.

  “Looks like the clankers got us,” one clone trooper said. “No point in disguises now.” Both troopers tilted their heads back slightly, letting their hoods fall back to reveal their white plastoid helmets.

  On the platform, the battle droids shifted and stepped aside, allowing an alien figure to emerge and gaze down on the people below. The alien was a tall Skakoan, and he wore metal-rimmed goggles and a face-concealing breath mask. Except for the top of his green-skinned head, his entire body was encased within a metal-armored pressure suit.

  ““Greetings, Republic dogs,” the Skakoan said through his mask’s voice synthesizer. “I am Overseer Umbrag of the Techno Union. I have been expecting you.”

  Expecting us? Nuru realized that someone in his party might be a traitor. He looked at Gunn, who appeared to he as surprised as he was. Then he looked at the Duros bounty hunter, whose expression remained as impassive as ever. It wasn’t until he glanced back behind him that he realized one of the three troopers was missing.

  Before Nuru could even venture a guess as to which trooper had managed to avoid capture. Overseer Umbrag said, “Seize their weapons”.”

  Nuru bent his knees and sprang high into the air, leaping so fast that the droids didn’t even realize he’d jumped until he was already executing a midair somersault just below the ceiling. He was still tumbling as he drew his lightsaber from his belt. The battle droids’ elbow joints clacked as they quickly raised their rifles, but not in time to fire at the boy, whose incredible leap carried him over and behind Overseer Umbrag. As Nuru’s feet met the platform, he ignited his lightsaber so that its lethal blade was blazing within a hair of Umbrag’s armored neck.

  “Make one wrong move,” Nuru said from behind Umbrag, “and you won’t need your pressure suit anymore.”

  Umbrag heard the lightsaber’s energized hum and saw its blade out of the corner of one goggled eye. Behind the goggles, both of his eyes had gone wide with surprise.

  The battle droids who were closest to Umbrag and Nuru on the elevated loading platform tumbled away from their master to redirect their weapons at the blue-skinned boy. Nuru looked up at the back of Umbrag’s head and held his lightsaber steady as he said, “Tell the droids to hold their fire.”

  “H-hold!” Umbrag gasped. “Hold your fire!”

  Nuru said, “You were expecting us? Who told you?”

  Before Umbrag could answer, a massive explosion sounded from outside the building. At the same time, the entire wall that surrounded the delivery entrance’s energized doorway buckled and cracked, spraying dust across the chamber. The four droid sentries who had remained posted at the entrance were vaporized.

  The power of the blast jolted everyone in the room, including Umbrag, whose sudden move caused the side of his metal mask to come into contact with Nuru’s lightsaber

  Umbrag flinched and shouted as he heard the hiss of melting metal. His gloved hands came up reflexively, and one hand struck the barrel of one battle droid’s rifle. The startled droid fired the weapon into the ceiling.

  The bounty hunter responded to the sound of blaster fire by quickly drawing both of his pistols and shooting at the metal heads of the nearest battle droids.

  “No!” Nuru shouted. But it was too late. Shots had been fired, and Nuru heard the entire chamber erupt into chaos. He glanced past Umbrag’s armored form to see the figures that stood on the floor below the loading platform.

  Cleaver was using his rifle-wielding arm to mow down a trio of battle droids who’d been about to fire their own rifles into the backs of the two troopers, while, at the same time, he swung his shock-stick with the other hand to remove the heads of three more opponents. The two clone troopers had positioned themselves on either side of Gunn, shielding her as they faced away from each other and fired at the surrounding battle droids. Gunn had drawn her own blaster and was also shooting away.

  Another explosion sounded from outside the building. Nuru’s memory instantly flashed to the two cylindrical gas tanks that he’d noticed when his group had approached the entrance. He realized that someone - probably the absent clone trooper - —had blown up both the tanks.

  The was a bright flash as the entrance’s energy shield crackled and died, causing Nuru to blink his red eyes. He was still positioned behind Umbrag on the loading platform when he adjusted his vision to look again to the floor below.

  Cleaver was living up to his name by tearing into one battle droid after another. The troopers and Gunn had maneuvered themselves behind the stack of storage containers, where Gunn had picked up a fallen droid’s blaster rifle and was using that as well as her own pistol to return fire.

  Where’s the bounty hunter? Nuru couldn’t see the Duros anywhere. But then he spotted three battle droids moving toward the edge of the platform, where they would all have clear shots at his allies below.

  Nuru shoved past Umbrag and leaped at the three droids. His lightsaber swept through two while he was still airborne, neatly severing their heads before he landed and drove his blade straight through the third droid’s torso. Then he heard a ratcheting sound from behind, and saw that the droids that remained on the platform were readying their blasters as they repositioned themselves around Umbrag.

  The droids opened fire at Nuru. The young Jedi’s blade beca
me a rapid blur as he batted at the fired bolts and slammed them back at his attackers. Two droids fell, and then Nuru deftly sent two bolts straight to either side of the armored brace that encased Umbrag’s neck, prompting the panicked Skakoan to yell, “Cease fire! Cease fire!”

  But the droids didn’t hear the command. They were still firing at the boy as he charged them, dodging the energy holts as he brought his lightsaber through two droids, and then another two. Umbrag began backing away from the fight, moving toward a door at the back of the platform.

  Nuru saw Umbrag’s movement, but was still engaged with the droids and unable to stop him. As he felled the last droid on the platform, Umbrag was gone.

  Just as suddenly as the fight had started, there was a loud energized snapping sound from the floor below the platform, and then the entire chamber went silent. Nuru ran to the platform’s edge, looked down and saw Cleaver leading Gunn and the two troopers past a heap of shattered battle droids.

  One trooper glanced up at Nuru and said, “You had us worried. Commander Nuru.”

  “I had you worried?” Nuru said as he deactivated his lightsaber. “Imagine my surprise when I realized we’d lost a trooper before we even got here!”

  Gunn looked around and said, “Yeah, where’s number three? If Chatterbox took off on me, I’ll—-”

  “Chatterbox never left your side,” the trooper said as he gestured to the trooper next to Gunn.

  Gunn turned to face Chatterbox’s T-visored helmet and said, “Never left my side, huh? I knew you liked me.”

  “Breaker took a walk,” Knuckles said.

  “He is blowing things up,” Cleaver said. “He told me he would.”

  Ignoring the droid, Nuru said, “Knuckles, what’s going on? And where did the bounty hunter go?”

  “We can talk about this later,” Knuckles said. “More droids are probably on their way. If we’re going to find our allies and get them out of here, we need to move now.”

  “You’re right,” Nuru said. “Let’s just hope that the bounty hunter’s schematics for this place were accurate, or we may never find the cell block level. Come on, Cleaver!” He turned and ran up the stairs that led out of the chamber. The others followed. They were still running up the stairs when they heard another explosion from somewhere outside.

  What’s Breaker doing?! Nuru thought.

  Breaker hid behind a high stack of sheet metal as a squad of battle droids ran past him, heading for an outbuilding that had smoke pouring out of its upper windows.

  After using his first explosive grenade to blow up the gas tanks outside the factory’s delivery entrance, he had run fast to plant his second grenade on the side of the outbuilding’s ventilation chimney. He didn’t know how many droids were guarding the complex, but from what he could see, he had drawn their attention away from one particular place.

  The frequency-jamming tower.

  Breaker saw a drone gravsled - an automated flatbed cargo-carrier that floated on a cushion of air - transporting blocks of white plastoid across a landing pad. The gravsled was moving toward the tower that was his destination.

  Keeping his helmeted head down and his eyes peeled for droids, Breaker quickly shrugged out of his robe and left it on the ground. Then he darted away from his hiding spot and jumped onto the side of the gravsled. His weight caused it to wobble slightly but it quickly righted itself and continued traveling forward through the air.

  But a moment later, the gravsled slowed and came to a stop to allow five more battle droids to pass. Hearing the approaching droids, Breaker held his breath and remained perfectly still.

  As the droids moved past the gravsled, one said, “Those explosions were loud, weren’t they?”

  A second droid said, “I heard they caused a communication malfunction.””

  A third droid said, “I heard the communications malfunction was a rumor started by sentries at the delivery entrance.””

  A fourth droid said, “If we were having a communications malfunction, we would have heard about it.”

  A fifth droid said, “Unless a communications malfunction prevented us from hearing about it.””

  “I heard the explosions just fine,” said the first droid.

  “Who asked you?!” the four other droids said in unison.

  None of the droids noticed the white armored figure that blended in perfectly with the shipment of plastoid blocks. After the droids walked off, the gravsled started up again. When it carried Breaker within two meters of the frequency-jamming tower, he dropped off the gravsled and made a crouching run for the tower’s base.

  There was a vent at the bottom of the tower. Breaker ducked and slid through the vent. It didn’t take him long to find a control box. He reached for the multitool that he’d brought from Gunn’s transport, removed his handheld comlink, and went to work as fast as he could. Using the multitool, he was easily able to disable the frequency jammer and use his own comlink to access the HoloNet and transmit a coded signal directly to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant.

  Several minutes after fleeing the disastrous fight at the KynachTech Industries delivery chamber, Overseer Umbrag was breathless as he arrived in the shielded office suite that overlooked a landing platform, on which rested his private starship, a bulky Metalorn yacht.

  Had he paused to look out his office’s window, he would have seen dark smoke rising from one of the complex’s outbuildings.

  Umbrag’s office contained a computer console that was linked directly to the frequency-jamming tower. His thick-gloved fingers trembled as he went to the console to adjust the controls that would enable a secure transmission over the HoloNet. He consulted a small monitor on the console, and was surprised to see that the monitor indicated that the HoloNet frequency was already open.

  Umbrag turned to activate the holocomm on his desk. Blue light fizzled in the air above the holoprojector, and then the light flickered and formed into the three-dimensional image of a gaunt, dignified-looking man with a well-groomed white beard and intense eyes. The hologram said, “Yes?”

  “Count Dooku!” Umbrag wheezed. “The Jedi… who came to Kynachi...””

  “Yes, what of him? You haven’t allowed him to escape, have you?”

  “No!” Umbrag said. “You said he would be the only one. Another is here!”

  Far across space, Dooku’s brow furrowed, and his hologram in Umbrag’s office did the same. Dooku said, “My informers told me only one Jedi would travel to Kynachi.””

  “I was expecting a few more clones,” Umbrag said. “Not another Jedi! He is in my factory now!”

  Dooku’s head turned to his right, as if he were looking at someone or something else, and he nodded once before returning his gaze to Umbrag, Dooku said, ““Are you aware that another transmission has left Kynachi?”

  “What? That’s impossible!”

  Dooku scowled. “I have it on very good authority that a coded signal has just summoned Republic forces to Kynachi immediately. Evidently, your frequency jammer is no longer effective. I regret their assault ships will arrive before I can deliver reinforcements.””

  Umbrag gaped behind his metal mask, then stammered, “What- —What shall we do?”

  “Is the captured Jedi still alive?”

  “Yes. He remains unconscious.”

  “Then leave him,” Dooku said. “Destroy the factory, and withdraw your entire fleet from Kynachi”

  “Destroy? Withdraw?” Umbrag sputtered behind his metal mask. “I have ten years invested in this factory!”

  “The factory is expendable,” Dooku said, “but we cannot afford to lose your fleet.”

  “Why don’t I take the Jedi as a hostage?”

  “Because the other Jedi will pursue you.”

  “But… ten years!””

  “Overseer Umbrag, if you want to stay alive for another ten minutes I advise you to follow my command. Leave. Now. Dooku broke the connection, and his hologram vanished.

  Umbrag rushed to his Metalorn yacht. Alt
hough he was pained by the idea of blowing up the KynachTech factory, he knew better than to disobey Count Dooku, and he had every intention of triggering the auto-destruct system as soon as he was airborne.

  Dooku stood in his secret lair in an industrial sector on Coruscant. Turning away from the holoprojector on the triangular table before him, he looked to the hunched, shadowy form of his Master, the Sith Lord Darth Sidious.

  Dooku said, “Ring-Sol Ambase’s apprentice appears to be living up to our expectations.”

  “Yes,” Darth Sidious hissed. “Everything is proceeding as I have foreseen.”

  “Which trooper transmitted the signal from Kynachi?”

  “CT-8863. His squad calls him Breaker.” Then Darth Sidious leered, and he added, “They are most resourceful.”

  The six battle droids who were stationed in the antechamber outside the lift tube in the factory’s convened cell block level did not expect a droid commando to step out of the lift. But because the droid commando appeared to be a standard Federation model, the battle droids did not regard him or the weapons that he carried as a threat.

  One of the battle droids noticed scorch marks on the droid commando’s upper arms and torso, and said, “Looks like you’ve seen some action.”

  “Not enough,” Cleaver said. He drove his shock-stick through the first droid as he raised his blaster-wielding arm and squeezed off five bursts at the others with pinpoint accuracy, blowing their heads clean off. The battle droids collapsed to the floor. Cleaver turned to face the lift tube’s open door and said, “All clear.”

  Nuru, Gunn, Knuckles, and Chatterbox had pressed their bodies against the walls inside the lift to conceal themselves from the battle droids, and now they all slipped out through the lift’s door to join Cleaver in the antechamber. The fallen droids lay on the floor near a wall-mounted computer console. Beyond the antechamber extended two long corridors with sealed metal doors.