Cold Blooded Ally

Tac Readied the LAAT, its thrusters pushed the vessel into the air, as it slowly flew towards and through the large blue shield of the hanger. Several TK Troopers quickly ran into the Hanger, opening fire at the ship, as the bolts harmlessly bounced off. Jake stared solemnly out the cockpit window, he had taken up the seat behind Tac, and was clutching the eye if R4 around his neck. He had used a pieces of string he found conveniently on the floor, and made a makeshift necklace, the sight of it almost made him cry as the boy trembled slightly as he glanced at it. 

Tac mechanically turned his head forwards and began to fly forwards into space.

"I didn't know you could fly" Jake asked with a quiet voice.

"I downloaded the tutorial of the ships computer" tac answered quickly "I am detecting high amounts of sorrow within your voice, is there an Issue?" Tac questioned, his voice deviating into a more concerned tone, that was only barely audible through his normally monotone one. 

"I'm Fine" Jake said, looking outside into the vastness of space.

"...." Tacs motors whirred "Affirmative"

Sighing, Jake activated the coordinates from his co pilot seat Cody had given, and told Tac to begin there trip.

Rusty sat next to Bucket in the main area, Clank stood as still as the metal on his body in the corner, while Teesh tried to make small talk with him. This ship wasn't dusty and old like the other one they had on Geonosis, Teesh and the droids had noticed its fresh paint, clean floors, and shiny parts. 

"I Didn't think id ever stop seeing sand" Rusty squeaked out with sarcasm.

"Agreed, ya know all this new moisture is corroding my servos" Bucket complained rubbing his head.

"OO Let me help :)" Rusty said happily raising a hand.

"wait wait wait" Bucket said trying to move away, but rusty had already smashed the B1s face with his hand, some rust puffing into the air and making Bucket almost fall over.

"Are you malfunctioning?!?" Bucket yelled out annoyed, rubbing his head.

"Am I?" Rusty asked himself, before being interrupted by the sound of distant yelling, but it didn't really sound like yelling, it kept getting closer. Both the B1s stood up and looked around confused, Clank was doing the same, while Teesh flinched at the familiar noise.

"V-Wingsssssss" Teesh hissed out

"Oh that's just great" Rusty sighed with an annoyed high pitched tone.

"Commander, we have enemy fighters in bound!!" Clank yelled to Jake, rtying to walk up to see him but his large body wouldn't fit.

Jakes eyes were ripped away from R4s eye, as he looked behind them through the class. Sure enough 5 V-Wings were roaring towards them at frighting speed. jake began to panic, having had enough emption for the day he held his head and yelled to Tac.

"i-i Tac Run for IT!?!??" Tac turned and nodded "Roger Roger" as the violently turned the ship, Clank was able to grab on to the railing as was Teesh, But Rusty was sent flying across the cabin, thankfully being caught by Clank as Bucket held on for dear life on the roof railing. the V-Wings open fired at the ship, Jake panicked as he saw the green bolts whizz by the Ship as Tac maneuvered as if he had flied this for years. 

"Sir, should we attempt to destroy the enemy?" Tac asked as the V-Wings fired again, spinning and doing impressive maneuvers, there roaring only installing fear into Jakes already shattered spirit. 

"yes yes yes.." Jake rushed his words out "what blas-" a large explosion signal a direct hit as the Droids and Teesh in the cabin shook violently. Jake face filled with fear as the right wing was practically gone, with smoke and fire being created by the small amount of oxygen present in space.

(That's my excuse as to why they can hear and have fire in space, there's a small amount of O2 and Water just floating everywhere)

"On second thought fuck that and RUN!!" Jake yelled out, shaking in his chair.

with no response Tac inputted the Coordinates and pulled back the large lever, sending the ship barreling into Hyperspace. Jake stared in awe at the site, almost all previous were wiped by the rush of dopamine. Jakes shaking hand reached to try and touch it, but was met with the glass barrier instead. 

"Teesh...Come here" Jake said almost in a trance, his head not even moving when Teesh arrived.

"What's up ki-" The slits in the Lizards eyes shrinked at the light as he to stared at it. the patterns of white and blue flying by like waves in an ocean Jake could never know about. The mesmerizing site even had Tac staring, the droid had seen this before, but it had been so long, and even back in the Separatists, it was a common occurrence that in Hyper space the droids of the vessel would simply stare into space, repeating the same word.

"Beautiful" Tac spoke aloud, the Other droids peaking into the packed cockpit also repeated the phrase.

Without warning and alarm went off and they were ripped away from Hyperspace, Jakes eyes reflected the cold space as the ship trembled, they had made it above the planet Cody spoke of according to the holo map, but the ship wasn't faring well. The shaking had sent Teesh and the others stumbling back into the cabin as Tac tried to regain control as the LAAT sped towards the atmosphere at an alarming rate. The outside became foggy with smoke as the ship got closer and closer to the ground. 

"HOLD ON!!" a Panicked teenager yelled as Teesh, Bucket, Rusty and Clank grabbed onto the safety railing with all they had, with a groan of annoyance, the right wing snapped and flew off towards the ground, Jake stared only briefly as the ship began to tilt because of the lost part. Tacs attempts were to no use, as the droid stared at the floor and activated the safety bags, with small airsacks being deployed all around the ship.

As the ground became a mere 100 meters away, Tac began to yell out "Failure, Failure Failure.." Continuing until Jake held onto R4s eyes and close his eyes, preparing for the incoming crash.

---------LoCation--(*&& Utapau---Republic Outpost 200 meters away, "Local Fauna--Dangerous !@@#..

The LAAT lay smoking lodged in the side of a large boulder, the surrounding area was flat with few high points and almost consistent flow of dust slowly floating around, the LAATs door flew of its hinges a few feet away as Clank stood inside the inner area, Teesh and both the B1s lay on the floor behind him, Clanks red light flickered as he stepped outside, Bucket getting up and rubbing head, Teesh wobbled upwards as well, with jake stumbling down the stairs. the Air sacks were all intact, expect for the ones surrounding Rusty, which had popped. as the group regained there composure Tac came down the small set of stairs and joined with group outside. Teesh was lugging Rustys body.

Jake rushed over in a panic, despite the soreness in his limbs "RUSTY!!" he screeched with a voicecrack "are you ok"

Jake stared hopelessly at Rusty unmoving faceplate, tears swelled in his eyes before Rustys eyes lit up and the droid shook his around in a panic.

"Huh h-h-huh!? What!!" Rusty yelled out

Sighing Jake formed a tired smile "You doing ok?" Before rusty could respond Tac stepped over.

"Negative, This B! unit has suffered major damage to its left leg" The others look at Rustys legs, seeing that his left one was cut off right below the knee.

"Oh" Teesh said recoiling slightly, not having seen the injury while carrying him.

"well that's not good" Rusty said as his voice shook with pain.

"I'm sure you will be fine" Clank said in a deep grumble as he hoisted the droid onto its feet in a surprisingly gentle manner. Jake watched as happy as he could at the scene, his face formed an unmoving frown as he began to walk away from the ship.

"Anything in the area?" Jake asked.

"Seems liken there is a old Republic outpost 230 meters due south" Tac said, recalling what he had seen right before the crash. 

"wont there be clones there?" Rusty asked worriedly, his left rm wrapped around Clank as he hopped around.

"HA! if there are we are gonna destroy them!" Bucket said with confidence.

"Your incompetence is not of necessity, it is a Old Outpost for a reason Bucket" Clank garbled loudly, earning a soft laugh from Jake as they begun walking in the direction. the scenery scared Jake, rocks and vents everywhere, the air almost always covered in smoke, nothing liken Geonosis. Jake cringed remembering R4s recording, Geonosis wasn't the only place he had lived apparently, Naboo....he didn't know what the weather was like, but he recalled stories of the Geonsonians talking about how the Trade Federation attacked it, but Jake didn't know what those words meant. 

Walking around, it stayed mostly silent, despite the droids lack of common sense, even they had noticed Jakes mood change. He was silent, no jokes, prone to panic and had a depressing aura to him. Rusty and Bucket looked at each other, and despite there unmoving faces, concern was clear in their lanky bodies. Clank stared at the boy, feeling Teesh shove his shoulder slightly. Looking over he saw the lizard motion his head towards Jake, Clank understood the assignment, speeding up his walking to catch up.

"Jake" Clank grunted out.

"yeah.." Jake responded barely looking over.

"..." Clanks program fumbled through his code, trying to come up with a phrase "I apologize for failing R4s safety" 

Surprised, Jakes slowly turned to the droid, stopping his walking. He looked up at Clank, "Don't worry, it isn't your fault Clank, there isn't much we could've done" Jake paused for moment as Clank stood unmoving.

"Speaking of, Tac, how's your arm" he asked wordily turning around. 

"Functional, but that is not of importance right now" Tac stated, before Jake could object, Teesh joined.

"The droidsssss right kid, your obviously not ok" Teesh spoke bluntly, but it was the truth. 

Looking at the ground, Jake felt guilt building up inside him. thinking to himself if he had just tried harder, or fought harder instead of giving up so easily, R4 wouldn't be dead. He clutched R4s broken eye around his neck close to him, the sight visibly made Rusty and Buckets bodies slump with programmed sadness. 

Jake didn't respond, with any thing but a sigh as he turned and took a few steps away. 1The group decided mutually to drop the topic. a heavy gust of wind had Jake and Teesh covering their faces, the casual environment was quickly broken by high pitched yelping, it echoed all around them. Rusty and Bucket raised 2 Dc-15s that they had taken from the LAAT earlier, and Clank raised his arms, Tac and Teesh huddle by Jake. 

Hissing followed all around them with quick footsteps, Jake trembled slightly along side the 2 B1s both of whom were terrified. More screeches and yelping sent Rusty in panic mode as the droid let out a yelp. The noises stopped as large footsteps got closer through the misty atmosphere. Teesh perked up, seemingly hearing something, as he stepped away from the group still on edge.

Suddenly a large creature leaped from a nearby rock in front of Teesh, the droids and Jake took a few steps back as Teesh stared at the large reptile. it was green had a beaked mouth and feather on its neck and tail, it curiously sniffed the air around the squad, letting out small yelps and howls. Jake took note that surprisingly, the lizard had a tattered saddle on its back, with no rider, and several scars all over its sides. The creature, in an act that almost made the droids open fire, put its large head against Teeshs form, laying down and gleeful yelps and hisses. 

"uuhhhh" Rusty let out confused, lowering the blaster in his hands.

"Teesh?..." Jake called out slightly concerned.

"whossssss a good boyy" Teesh said in an amused tone as he scratched under the lizards beaked mouth, causing the lizard to roll over on its back slightly. 

With no threat detected, the Droids lowered their guard, and Jake slowly walked up next to Teesh. The boy looked extremely cautiously at the happy lizard, the lizard got up at the sight of Jake and leaned its head slowly towards the boy, Jake let out a small whimper of fear before the Lizard gave a few sniffs and licked Jakes face. Jake clean his face from the saliva and gave of a slight chuckle.

"Your not so bad" He said patting the creatures feathered neck. Rusty was the first of the droids to take a step forward, he was soon followed by the others. The Lizard turned his head to the line of the droids and growled slightly, raising its back and hissing. Rusty flinched backwards as did Bucket, Clank stood unaffected and Tac moved behind Clank. 

"is this safe?" Tac suggested staring at the Lizard. Jake walked up to the lizard and patted its head, casing it to turn and smell jakes cloths, one piece of scrap caught his attention, it was a white piece of clone armor with a small orange marking on it. Jake recalled finding surrounded by dead clones with a cool looking orange armor. 

The Lizard seemingly was affected in some form by the armors smell, as its raised on its hind legs and yelped loudly into the sky before crashing down and laying on its stomach.

 Casually, Teesh hopped on its saddle. "wait this seems like a bad idea" Rusty chirped in "what if it eats us?!" 

"We are made of metal" Bucket said nonchalantly, hopping on as well.

"Oh" Rusty squeaked.

Clank lifted jake on before unsteadily climbing on himself, followed by Tac. despite the large amount of beings on its back, the creature roared out and began to run into the distance, the group held on for dear life, as dust hit the droids chassis. it didn't take long for the lizard to reach what seemed like a ramp and begin to run down panting excitedly, before skidding to a stop at what seemed to be some sort of hut with a fence and a broken rope attached to it.

Jake stared around in awe at the area, it was like a whole city stacked upon each other, cave lights and sunlight alike filled the area, there wasn't any dust down here. Jake took note of the hut they stopped at, to his surprise it had a republic symbol on it, and even more surprisingly, several dead clones in Orange armor-

Jakes eyes widened with realization, Teesh and Tac seemingly had the same idea as they all hopped off, the lizard shrieking and laying down. 

"It seems this creature is attracted to the colors of the 212th attack Battalion" Tac stated.

"and how do you know who those clones are" Teesh asked

"i have faced them in combat before" Tac answered, "Did you win" Jake asked

".... That is Invalid" Tac answered walking towards the hut, Jake gave the first small smile of the trip at Tacs behavior, Teesh Chuckled a bit as well. Entering the hut, the group searched around for any extra weapons, with Teesh find a DC-15a, smirking as he reloaded its gas cartridge. Jake found a small note.

"Keep Boga in good condition until the arrival of general Obi Wan Kenobi"

"so its called a Boga" Rusty squeaked as he also read the note with Jake.

"Apparently, and its for someone named Obi Wan...ever heard of that name" Jake asked confused to his droids, all of them shaking their heads or saying no. on the way out, jakes eyes spotted a dead Clone on the floor in the corner, next to a dead astromech, riddled with blaster holes, and a few feet away, a dead B1. You didn't need to a scientist to know what had happened, Jake cringed at the parrel scene, holding R4s eye close.

Searching the area, the group walked through thousands of dead soldiers, It was almost as bad as Geonosis. Jake and His droids cringing at every dead droid or clone, arms ripped off, dried oil and blood covered most of the ground, B2s, B1s, Clones, and even weirdly un armored people with robes lay dead all around them. Despite Jakes respect for both sides by now, he still collected whatever he found useful, and putting in a Clone backpack he found and put on, finding things like Extra cloths, bits of armor scrap and a weird looking hilt, Jake assumed that the sword part of it had broken off, and put the fancy trinket into his bag. 

The Droid were hard at work as well, with Rusty and Bucket ditching their DC-15s for E-5s they found on the ground, Tac picking one up as well. Jake wasn't to worried about finding a blaster, not to mention that those droid blasters were extremely hot while firing, thanks to an obviously cheap design, and hurt Jakes calcified fingers.

The Boga watched the group from the distance, turning its head to sky and calling out, Jake turned around confused at the Bogas call, but was quickly dragged back to what was Infront of him, a large cliff edge, several thousand feet deep.

"well, lets not fall down there" Teesh said.

"Agreed" All the droid spoke at once.

Jake walked away from the group as they took in the scenery, finding an odd looking droid on the floor. it had four arms, its eyes and stomach seemingly badly burnt, and a whitish armor. it was skinny, and even while it laid on the floor Jake could tell it was tall. With a confused head tilt Jake called over his Droids.

"what is it-" Rusty topped as he saw the droids body, Him and Bucket physically shook slightly.

"That is the corpse of General Grievous commander of the droid army, i was unaware he had fallen" Tac stated with surprise.

"Well, thatsss interesting" Teesh spoke loudly "But um...there back"

Jakes thoughts clouded with terror as two large ships entered orbit, Teesh hissed out loud and the Boga ran up to him, Before Jake could even ask how he did that he practically shoved everyone on top and grabbed them ropes on the saddle to attempt to drive the thing.

----------------------------------------------Location, Veneator class Star Destroyers,,--Located, ORbiting Geonsis,,...9*@*@ --- .-. -.. . .-. 99-- Captains Bridge,,//-

The LAAT entered hyper space as Tarkin slammed his fist into the controls, Kelp stood behind him with an obvious annoyed look upon his face. 

"Sir" A Clone walked in, "We were able to track his destination, he is going to Utapau, but we do not have the fuel reserve to get their" 

With a sigh, Tarkin replied.

"Alright then, contact the patrol near that sector and tell them engage, this time all we need is the boy, you can kill those droids and the annoying reptile" Tarkin said waving his hand.

"With pleasure" the Clone said walking away.

"and what of Cody and the Commando Droid" Tarkin asked Kelp

"Cody is no where to be found" Kelp said scanning a datapad "But we tracked the Commando"

"Good" Tarkin smirked "Rally your troopers, we are going after it after we refuel" 

Kelp gave a confused look that he quickly shook off.

"Sir Yes Sir!"