In the Absence of Man/ Chapter 7: Immorality of the Clouds

Time: Zero five hundred

“Sir, an anonymous message came in from the local emergency code channel,” Sergeant Geo informed to his superior-ranking officer.

“Patch it through,” Captain Carg commanded. Geo pressed a button on the communications console which played the transmission. HELP! There’s a drug cartel armed with over twenty men. They might have hostages, addicting them to their drugs. The coordinates are twenty one, sixty six dash one. Hurry! [Message ended]

Carg grabbed his DC-15 blaster that was on his table and summoned a squadron of clone troopers and Captain Crane. “Alright, men. We swore to protect the planet of Byss and that is what we’re going to do. Saddle up! Quickly!” Carg shouted.

“Hurry, let’s move out!” Crane yelled. He hopped onto his speeder bike along with everyone else doing the same. The sky was overcome by slight darkness of some clouds that commenced to roll their way in. However, Crane did look up to the sky and found hope through the cracks of the clouds, getting ready to clash. He smirked a little bit and pictured Starla up in Heaven. He then focussed his eyes on the path ahead of him.

They were about five blocks away from where that anonymous message said the drug cartel was stationed at. All of them quietly parked their speeders before getting off of them. “So what’s the plan, Cap’n?” Crane asked in a whispering tone.

Carg replied, “Okay, Keeli. Take a squad of five to the Eastern part of town. Fil, you too but to the West. Ponds, the South. Crane and Geo, you’re with me.” All sneaked around and finally spotted several potential targets sitting and standing near their own speeder bikes. “This is peculiar…” Carg mentioned quietly.

“How so, sir?” Geo asked, quietly as well.

“These folks don’t seem like they’re drugging anyone. Not even themselves,” Crane said for Carg.

“Yes, that,” Carg agreed. Carg waited for the rest of his squadron to move in and flank whoever they were. Soon enough, Keeli, Fil and Ponds were in position. “Hold your fire as of now,” Carg commanded through the comms. He along with others got out in plain sight to show the cartel that they were there. “Hands up! Hands up!”

“Put your damn hands up, dammit,” Crane got down on one knee and aimed his 300 Winchester Magnum rifle at the enemies.

“What the Hell are you fools doing. Stand down!” A member of the cartel commanded with a thick accent.

Ponds yelled from afar. “You are in no position to make demands.”

“What the Hell do you have in there? Drugs? Huh?” Fil did not let the person speak. Instead, he forcefully pushed him against a huge, wooden crate that was presumably filled with drugs to cuff him. Alarming the Republic squad, a member of the cartel stuck his hand into his jacket and without further hesitation, an unknown member of the Republic first opened fire. Everyone else soon followed. Bloodshed was present and bodies of both parties were rapidly dying.

“Hold your fire!” Carg yelled. No one listened. The sound of gunfire overcame his voice, just as clouds were about to fully overcome the sky. After the firefight was over, only six Republic soldiers remained out of twenty one. None of the cartel remained alive.

“I’m going to reconnoiter. Cover me,” Keeli said.

“Proceed with extreme precautionary measures,” Carg ordered.

“Copy that.” Keeli hustled over with his assault rifle at the ready to the cartel. “Wait a minute.” He looked at the member that first pulled out his gun from the cartel and noticed that he was not actually reaching in his jacket for a gun. “Oh Lord have mercy. Men! These people are not druggies. They are police officials! He was pulling out a badge, not a gun!” Keeli reported from a short distance.

“Shoot,” Crane exclaimed.

“Acknowledged. Get back over here,” Carg yelled. Once Keeli was back to where everyone else was at, a grenade popped right in the center of where everyone was at and went off. Crane was the only one that was barely conscious as everybody else was unconscious. He looked up and noticed that there were no more cracks of sky peeking out from above the clouds, just the immorality of clouds. Then, he heard a laugh of a man that he would soon despise… Clyde Burrell.