The 71st
Chapter Five
Classified Imperial laboratory, Dandoran
Three weeks after the Battle of Yavin
Grivant Borun moved from station to station, checking on his fellow scientists' computer consoles. He sighed, standing up from his hunch. "Come on, people," he announced to the entire room, "Let's get this formula back to work!" He turned around, heading back to his office. The lab was fairly large, with dark, gunmetal gray as its primary color. In the corridors, windows looked out to the Dandoran jungles. Grivant entered his office, after strolling down a hallway. He sat at his desk. There was comm there. He picked it up, pressing a button. "What is it?" asked a voice from the other end. Grivant spoke. "Overseer Qreron, we still haven't finalized the formula." Grivant braced for a rant. But, all he got was a calm speaker. "Acceptable losses, Borun. But you can't keep it up for much longer. We need this formula." Qreron said. Then, the comm signal shut off. "What the?" said Grivant. Then, he heard a scream from outside of his office's closed door. Borun got up, exiting his office.
Grivant ran down the corridor, passing by a few escaping scientists. "Sir!" one of them stopped to say, "There's been a breach in Lab E27! We can't stop it! They're coming!" He ran off again. Grivant continued forward, towards E27.
Borun entered the turbolift that headed to Lab E27. He pressed a button, and it started to whoosh up. After a few seconds, the door opened, and Grivant saw something horrifying. He raised his blaster pistol. What he saw was the product of the formula. But, not. They were Stormtroopers, with some of their helmets partially destroyed, and their armor covered in red and green, slowly trudging about their business. Borun looked around. There were dead scientists, their bodies spread across bloodied computer consoles. Then, one of the troopers looked at Grivant. Its face was gray, the skin was torn in places, and its teeth were broken, dirty, and yellow. "No," Grivant said, "It wasn't supposed to be like this..." The one trooper that looked at him began advancing on the scientist. Grivant raised his pistol, firing. It made the trooper get knocked back a bit, but that was it. It continued moving. Grivant, in a panic, dropped his pistol, and began mashing the button that opened the turbolift. It wouldn't arrive in time, Grivant knew that. But, what the scientist did know was that these undead soldiers couldn't escape. They shouldn't. The man ran over, evading the trooper. He walked over to one of the computer consoles. As he did, he looked around him. The plain rectangular windows that overlooked the jungle were covered in blood and a green slime. Grivant didn't pay attention. He pressed a few buttons on the computer's holoscreen. Some words, in Aurebesh, popped up, with red lights flashing. It read:
Confirm lockdown of facility:
Yes No
Grivant pressed the Yes option with his finger. Metal panels slid over the windows. Emergency lights turned on. Then, he tapped another option.
Send entry codes to nearest Imperial forces:
Yes No
He tapped Yes once more. Then, he opened the comm system of the computer. He spoke into the mic. This message would also be transmitted across the lab. He sighed, then said, "This is Grivant Borun, Chief Scientist of the Dandoran facility."
I don't have much time left, but what little I do have, I'll warn you. A group of Imperial scientists rushed to escape the laboratory, but the doors were locked down. They were screaming, pleading for mercy, when the undead troopers killed them all.
"This is a message to any nearby Imperial forces. If anyone gets this, please, please eradicate all of them. Them. We created them. We were never meant to, though." Then, Grivant was interrupted by one of the troopers coming up to him. It bit his shoulder. "Gah!" he yelled painfully. Grivant fell over, slumped across the computer. Strained and now dying, Grivant pressed a few more keys on the computer. The codes were transmitted, and the scientist was killed.
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The Sentinel, near Dandoran
The Imperial-II class Star Destroyer Sentinel hovered through the blackness of space, and everything seemed silent from the outside, but the bridge was going about its business as usual: Ensigns worked in the datapits and officers filtered in and out of the area. Then, an anomaly. Not physically, but technologically. One of the ensigns in the pits had received an alert on the computer system he was working at. It was a distress signal. The ensign grabbed his comlink. He spoke into it. "Admiral, there has been a distress signal received going to this Destroyer. Please report to the bridge immediately." "Very well." replied Admiral Stryker Perox on the other end.
The entire 71st Mobile Reconnaissance Unit had been called down to the main bridge, but Scout Trooper TK-117 couldn't imagine why. The Sentinel hadn't arrived at any worlds, and was still drifting aimlessly through space. That's when they entered the bridge, and found Admiral Perox with his eyes wide, holding a datapad. "C.... come here..." he said. Some of the bridge technicians were staring at him. 117 walked up to Perox. "What is it, sir?" he asked. "Just... just listen to this." He handed the datapad to 117. The Scout tapped a button on it, playing the audio file. A voice came from it.
This is Grivant Borun, Chief Scientist of the Dandoran facility. I don't have much time left, but what little I do have, I'll warn you. This is a message to any nearby Imperial forces. If anyone gets this, please, please eradicate all of them. Them. We created them. We were never meant to, though. Gah!
117 didn't say anything, but he sighed. None of his teammates spoke up either. The silence was broken by General Hedan walking up from behind Perox. "Sir," he said, as the Admiral turned around, "Shall we set course for Dandoran?" Perox gulped. "No, General. Let my troops get ready. And besides that, I've been informed that we have a special guest arriving here soon to discuss the matter on Dandoran, and how we should go about it. Said guest should arrive within the next half-hour." Hedan lowered his eyebrows. "Who's the guest?" "The escort pilots wouldn't say. Very odd."
117 and the rest of his team walked into the training area. "So," he said, "You should all choose your weapons wisely. These don't just seem to be ordinary beings we're going up against." "Yes, sir." said everyone as they scattered to go find weapons and equipment to use. 117 still stood, removing his SE-14c from his holster, then promptly hit a button to activate the simulation holograms. A human enemy was generated, and fired a generic rifle at the Scout. 117 dodged and rolled, got up, and shot the Rebel down. "I'd say I'll be fine." 117 said to himself. He turned around to see 1337 examining an A280c. "You don't have much time left as a commander, you know." the trooper said. "Oh, yeah." said 117, shrugging his shoulders a bit, "It'll be nice to see 226 take the helm again. Shame his leg got broken." "Yeah, well," said 1337, putting the rifle down on a nearby desk, "Let's just keep this between you and me, but, I never liked 226." "No?" said 117. "Nope," replied 1337, who was now talking quietly, "Always so strict and uptight. Never let us have downtime. I'd rather he be transferred to some other unit." 117 rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, well, can't say I disagree with you."
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30 minutes later
"Admiral, officers and troopers have been organized in formation in the main hangar. Report there immediately." was what Stryker Perox heard over his comm as he exited a corridor and entered the Sentinel's primary bay. He walked down the narrow space left by troops and officers on either side of him. At a point near the end, he stopped. Perox could barely see the arriving shuttle approaching the Destroyer. He looked around at the troopers. He assumed that his unit was in there somewhere. Then, the shuttle arrived in the hangar, its wings folding up and the two escort TIEs landing themselves into the Destroyer's TIE landing racks. The shuttle lowered completely, and there was deafening silence for a few moments before the ship's walkway lowered onto the floor, steam surrounding it. Perox heard footsteps, but couldn't see who it was thanks to the steam. Then, he did see who it was. A tall, armored man clad in black, with a dark cape flowing behind him. A man regarded throughout the Empire as a myth, a story made up to scare Stormtroopers into not defecting. But here he was. Darth Vader, walking right up to Perox. Then, Vader stopped, just in front of the Admiral. Perox gulped for the second time today. "Greetings, Lord Vader. It's an honor to have you here." "Indeed, Admiral," said Vader in a deep, booming voice, "And I presume you have troops prepared for Dandoran?" Perox nodded, then said, "Yes, my Lord. Let us walk." Perox turned around and began walking, Vader by his side. "I have six men ready to fight whatever is going on at that place. They should wipe those things out quickly and efficiently-" Vader interrupted him. "You do know what is at stake here, Admiral Perox? If a secret Imperial project such as this fails to be contained, a potential galaxy-wide spreading of the disease is possible." Perox spoke again. "My men are exceptionally trained, Lord Vader." As he said this, the two exited the hangar and went into an empty corridor. Perox continued, "I don't think you understand how well these six hold up in battle." Then, Vader stopped. "As long as you manage to keep Blackwing under wraps, the Emperor will be pleased. I do not put responsibility on the soldiers, Admiral. I put them on the people who command them." Vader then turned around to walk out. Perox spoke. "My Lord, what if we need you here?" Vader stopped again. "I do have other matters to attend to, Admiral. I've just been called to Cymoon 1. They require my services." Vader promptly walked out, abandoning Perox.
117 stood in a long row of other troopers. He turned his head as Darth Vader himself exited the corridor and walked back into the shuttle. The Scout also saw Perox exit the hall, and back into the hangar. The shuttle left, and the escort TIEs remained. After the shuttle was gone, Perox announced, "If you are not a member of the 71st Mobile Reconnaissance Unit, please return to your regular working stations." After a few minutes, nearly the entire hangar was cleared out, except, of course, for the 71st Unit and Perox. The Admiral looked at them. "Are you all prepared for what awaits at Dandoran?" he asked. "Yes, sir." the six said. "Good," said Perox, "Now, keep in mind that none of you may come out of this alive. And," Perox sighed, "And if you don't, I just want to say that you've all been a great team and I couldn't have asked to command a better unit. Good luck to you all. There's a shuttle over there that 117 will commandeer." Perox pointed to a shuttle in the hangar, then walked away.
"Well," said 117, "Good luck to us all. Let's go." The unit walked over to the shuttle, and entered it, with 117 and 497 being the pilot and co-pilot, respectively. 117 sat down in the pilot's seat, pressing a few buttons and pulling a lever. "Alright," he said, "Everyone ready?" "Yes!" yelled 1337 from behind the closed door that led to the troop-ferrying area. "Okay." said the Scout, and he grabbed onto the control stick, and lurched the shuttle forward, out of the Sentinel.
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The Lambda-class shuttle came out of hyperspace and Dandoran was in sight. The entire trip here, every trooper had been silent, even the ever-lively 1337. "Here we are," said 117, "Dandoran."
The shuttle was now flying almost directly over Dandoran's jungles now. 117 pressed a button on the control console and a hologram popped up. "This is the facility we're looking for." said 117, "Coordinates are.... 5-21-80. We're nearly there." "Not just nearly," said 497, looking out of the cockpit's main window, "We are here." 117 looked out as well. He could make out a gunmetal gray landing pad with yellow markings on it. 117 slowed the ship down and landed it slowly. The large facility in front of them was the same color as the landing pad. As soon as the ship was finished landing, 117 got up. "Alright," he said, walking out into the troop-ferrying area, "We've got no time to waste. Let's go."
117 stepped out into the ferrying area. "Oh," said 1337 nonchalantly, "Guess we're here." The four troopers in the ferrying area stood up and grabbed their weapons. 497 also walked out, and the walkway of the shuttle lowered. The 71st Unit stepped out.
117 stopped as his boots hit the metal of the landing pad. He looked around at the jungles, then walked around the shuttle to face the facility. "Doesn't look so bad from out here." he said, continuing to walk towards the facility's main doors. The rest of the unit was behind him. "Wonder how we get in." said the Scout. He knocked on the door. After there was no answer for a few seconds, he looked to either side of him. There were small stairways that led up to catwalks. "Let's try here." said 117, walking up the right set of stairs. The rest of the team stayed at the bottom of the stairwell.
117 walked around the building's corner. It seemed like the catwalk continued around the entire facility. But, it looked like 117 didn't have to do that. There was a door with white lights on it that had a panel next to it. 117 walked up to it, and pressed the panel. The door opened. 117 spoke into his comm. "I've got an open door. Get over here." 117 walked into the room. The light above him, on the ceiling, was flickering. But besides that, he looked around the room. He was on a balcony that seemed to be above the main entrance that was locked. He could've sworn that he saw something by the door...
117 grabbed his flashlight, and shined it around the room. Nothing too unusual, except for a few broken objects and some... Then 117 shined his light on the front doors. The bodies of what looked like dead scientists lay there, blood splattered all over their faces and uniforms. 117's eyes widened. He'd never seen anything like this. 117 stepped forward slightly, when-
"Hey!" yelled 497, tapping 117 on the shoulder. "Ah!" said 117, quickly turning around with his SE-14c pistol raised. "Oh..." said 117, "Oh, it's you guys..." 1337 cut in. "Yeah, it's us guys. What scared you?" 117 turned around and pointed with his flashlight. "That." he said.
1337 and 497 stepped forward to look down at the bottom floor, over the edge of balcony. "Oh, oh, no!" said 1337, turning his helmeted head away, "What kind of sick freak would do this?" he said. 117 sighed. "I don't know, but whoever- or whatever -it is, we've gotta find it and destroy it. C'mon." 117 walked off to the right, away from the door, the rest of the team following him. So far, the only sounds were the metal thump of the troopers' boots on the ground. 117 still shined his light around. "Nothing here so far." he said as he continued to walk. Then, he came upon a turbolift, and stopped in front of it. "Hey," he said back to his teammates, "Maybe we should go up to the higher levels. We might find what we're looking for." "Yeah, but do we want to find what we're looking for?" asked 1337. 117 seemingly ignored him and pressed the button to open the turbolift door. After a few seconds, it opened, and 117 stepped in. The rest of the team did as well, and it continued back up for a few more seconds.
The lift door opened, and the 71st Unit stepped out. This room wasn't as... clean as the last one. 117 turned his flashlight on again. "What the..." he said, baffled at the sight: Rows of computers, with dead scientists' bodies spread across them. Some dead scientists were laying on the floor. 117 shined his light over to the right a little. There was one missing an entire arm, with only a bloody stump after his white-uniformed shoulder. 117 turned the light off and turned in the other direction, then turned back around. "What the hell did this?!" he exclaimed. He turned the light on and continued forward, near the corner of the room. He sighed, then turned around and said, "497, 1337, you two stick with me. The rest, you all stick together. Don't let anyone out of your sight for a moment. Understood." "Yes, sir." said 1225, and after him 111 and 228. "Alright," continued the Scout, "If you see anything, notify us over the comm. Let me just test to make sure it works." 117 opened the comm system, but there was nothing but static. "Great," said 117, "I can't even contact the Sentinel with this terrible signal. Whatever. Let's just go." And so, the two teams split up into opposite end of the facility.
117 and the rest stepped through an open doorway, and entered a control room, with a computer system, and in front of it, a panel of glass looking out into the previous room. 117 glared into the corner of the small area. There, he saw a person. A scientist, maybe, crouched in the fetal position. His white jacket was wrinkled and covered in blood, and he was trembling. "H-hey..." said 117, inching closer. "NO!" The scientist swung his arms out, then went right back into the fetal position, trembling some more. "We're not gonna hurt you..." continued 117, "We'll get you out of here. Just stay calm-" "I don't care!" whispered the scientist, "You're making too much noise. The sick ones'll hear you. You're gonna get me killed. Just get out." "Well- okay." said 117, "C'mon, guys. Let's go." The three exited the room, into another sector.
As the three exited the area, 497 pressed his finger on the panel to close the door. "I think it's best that we just leave that guy be." Then he continued walking with the rest of the group. "What would do that to someone?" asked 1337 as they were walking through what looked like a mess hall for the personnel. "Something bad, clearly." replied 117. Then, they heard a noise. "Hrrgh... mmaghrr..." It was coming from the kitchen of the mess hall. 117 raised his pistol at hip level. 1337 turned in swiftly in the direction of the kitchen. "The hell was that?!" he said, quieter than he usually was. "I don't know," said 117, nearing the kitchen entrance, "Just stay behind me. I think we might've found whatever scared that scientist so bad."
"Hello?" asked 117, yelling into the kitchen, "Who's there?" "Ragghh..." was all he heard. 117 inhaled then exhaled. "I'm going in," he said to his squadmates, "If I don't come back in 5 minutes, assume I'm dead." "Okay." said 497, nodding. 117 walked in.
The Scout quietly walked in, hitting a glowing red button on the wall. It turned green when he hit it, and the lights of the kitchen turned on. Then, he saw it: Something that looked like a Stormtrooper. It was wearing the armor, but the grayish face beneath the ripped-apart helmet barely looked human. The thing was feasting on... something red and gooey. 117 didn't care to know whether that was raw food or human. He didn't want to know. Then, the thing turned its head in 117's direction, dropping its food while it was at it. "Wh..." said 117, not even completing his sentence. He raised his SE-14c. "Down on the ground!" he yelled. The thing started lumbering toward him. "Stop moving!" exclaimed 117. Still, the thing wouldn't stop. Could it even hear him? That didn't matter now. The Scout Trooper raised his pistol to the thing's head, and pulled the trigger, letting off a 5-burst shot right into the trooper's brains, if it even had those. It fell to the floor with a clunk. 117 was panting slightly, and lowered his blaster.
497 and 1337, having heard the blaster shot, ran into the kitchen. "What happened?" asked 497, before he looked down at the dead Stormtrooper. 497's eyes widened. "Commander," he said to 117, "What did you do?" His voice had a baffled tone. 117 looked at 497. "Look, 497, you don't understand. That thing's not human. It's skin is gray. Look!" 117 put his blaster on a nearby metal counter and picked up the dead trooper's body. 497 looked closer, then backed away. "Ugh," he said, "What could've made him like this?" "I don't know," replied 117, dropping the trooper's body on the floor, "But I've got a feeling that he's not the only one of these things around here. We've gotta be more careful."
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Dandoran facility, E Block
111, 228, and 1225 were walking down a narrow hallway with windows looking out into the Dandoran jungle. The room had 4 doorways on each wall, leading to what looked like offices. 111 looked at one. It's door was halfway between opened and closed, and the glowing white light on it was flickering, with some sparks flying out of it. 111 walked forward, taking a peek into the room, and then squeezed through the gap left by the door. In the room was a desk and some shelves, along with a datapad on the table. "1225, come in here. 228, you stand guard." "Yes, sir." said 228 in his usual voice. 1225 stepped into the room as well, and looked around. "There isn't much to find in here, KE-111. We should probably-" "Wait a minute," 111 interrupted, "There's a datapad on this table. I want to see what's on it." 111 grabbed the datapad and turned it on. There was already a file opened. It was titled: Project Blackwing Research and Development, a and was dated to be from around a year ago. 111 scrolled his finger up the screen, causing the actual contents of the document to appear. It read:
To: Grivant Borun
From: Carmos Halioza
Project Blackwing has officially been greenlit for research and development by the Empire's Advanced Weapons Research department. I actually had a personal meeting with their Director, Orson Krennic, and we came to an agreement for how we should go about this project. We smoothed out the details of the initial proposal, then looked for a planet to build the facility on. We decided on Dandoran, since there appear to be no lifeforms there.
Also, Grivant, I proposed to Director Krennic that you should be the one to head this project. I know you might say I should, but you have a much better understanding of human biology and anatomy. One might even say that you did most of the work when we discussed the initial draft of Blackwing.
The rest of the message was blocked out by the datapad's screen being severely cracked at the bottom. 111 put it back on the table. "Well, clearly, whatever went wrong here had something to do with human biology." he said. 1225 then walked out of the room, with 111 following.
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Dandoran facility,
Infection Ward
TK-117 turned another corner, and came upon a doorway with the small screen reading in Aurebesh: Infection Ward. Do not enter unless properly uniformed, and please redirect yourself to the decontamination chambers in the hall to the right after exiting. 117 looked at the hall to his right. "That must be where the uniforms are." he said, walking into the room. And there were. Rows of metal doors lined the walls. Lockers, probably. 117 looked up at one that was labeled Lt. Plasi. "That must be the name of someone who worked here." said 117. 497 and 1337 entered the area as well. "Find anything?" asked 497. 117 turned around. "No," he said, "But if we want to go to the Infection Ward, we've gotta have uniforms." All of a sudden, 1337 turned around, and began walking out. "I'm sure we'll be fine," he said, "This armor'll protect us."
1337 ran into the Infection Ward sector, then stopped. The room was the same dark gray color as the rest of the building, but it was a grim sight to behold: Rest beds, implemented with technology, presumably for scientists or personnel who got sick, had dead scientists laying upon them. One was a male with brown hair that had his... Ugh... thought 1337. The poor guy had his stomach ripped out of him. The trooper turned away. He was ready to leave the Infection Ward already. Then, a blaster shot hit the wall next to the exit doorway. 1337 swiftly turned around, and lifted his DH-17. At first, he thought, Rebels. They know about this too?! But as he turned around, he saw what fired a blaster at him. It was... one of those things. The undead troopers. They can hold and shoot blasters?! thought 1337 again as he fired his pistol. The trooper got knocked back, while tiny bits of plastoid were getting ripped out of its armor from the shot. But, it didn't die. It still held what looked like an E-11 and continued forward. This one's helmet, like the one 117 shot, was partially destroyed, albeit revealing the eyes instead of the mouth.
1337 turned around again, presuming that it was too slow to catch him. He was just a couple of steps away from the doorway, when-
The door closed right in front of him. He looked out of the window to the side. Another undead trooper. 1337 turned back around. That thing was getting closer. It raised its E-11 again, and fired a poorly-placed shot at 1337. The trooper who was alive shot his DH-17 again, this time at the thing's head. It dropped its E-11 on the floor, looking down at it for a moment before going to pick it up. 1337 saw this as his chance to be the hero. He ran up, and kicked the undead trooper in the head as it was bending down. The thing was knocked on its side. 1337 ran past the trooper, opening his comm. "117, 497, can you hear me?" There was nothing but crackling and static. 1337 ran out of the Infection Ward's first room and into the next, shutting the sliding-down door behind him.
117 and 497 ran to the Infection Ward when they heard the blaster shots. But, the door to the ward was closed and another undead trooper was guarding it. 117 raised his pistol, burst-firing it right in the face. It was blown back, but it still raised its head back up. Part of the undead trooper's head was completely blown off by the blaster shot. "What the hell?!" said 117 loudly. Then, he heard more noises coming from down the corridor. "Raghhh!" "Graaa..." "There are more of them." said 117, turning to 497, "We've gotta get out of here." He looked around the locker area. At the other end of the room was a door. The decontamination chambers. thought 117. "Over there," said the Scout, pointing towards the chamber and running towards it 497 followed him as three more undead troopers came up around the one with part of its head blasted off. They began to slowly enter the locker area, towards the chambers.
117 and 497 entered the decontamination chambers. The Scout stopped, pressing the green button that signified that the entrance door was open. But, the door wouldn't close. Sparks merely flew out of where the door would come out from. He pressed it a few more times, still no change. "Kriff it!" he yelled, abandoning the door, towards the other exit of the decontamination chambers.
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Dandoran facility, E Block
111, 228, and 1225 were still roaming the halls of the facility's E Block. So far, they hadn't come upon any problems yet. The three were walking down a dimly-lit corridor when they heard the noise. "Aaghhhh...." 111 raised his X-8 Nightsniper slightly. "What was that?" he asked. 1225 replied, "I don't know. I'll go check." 111 was fine with this. "Alright." he said, as 1225 continued forward with his E-11 raised. 228 and 111 were now standing in silence, apart from the ever-distancing clattering of 1225's boots on the hard steel floor. 111 looked at 228, the looked back forward, ahead of him. Then, he heard his comlink turn on, erupting with static. The Shadow Trooper pulled it out, speaking into the comm. "This is KE-111," he said, "What's your problem?" A faint hint of 1225's voice came through over the heavy static. "Got multiple hostile..." he managed to say over the bad signal, "Too many for me to handl... need hel..." 111 replied, "Okay, we're coming. Try to hold out for as long as you can." 111 and 228 began to run towards the area 1225 was located in.
1225 fired his E-11 at the oncoming Stormtroopers. But, they weren't Stormtroopers. The way they looked and the sounds they made... It just wasn't human. The generic trooper could tell that he was in some kind of laboratory. The room was the same color as the rest of the facility, with research stations lining the place. 1225 killed another undead trooper. He just couldn't believe he was killing his fellow troopers. No, I'm not, he thought to himself, They're not like you. They're not human. He killed another. They just wouldn't stop coming. He'd killed 4 already, and more poured out of a doorway. No sign of an ending for these things. And the strange part was that there weren't any undead scientists, only Stormtroopers who were probably shipped off to this place without a choice. New recruits, fresh out of the Imperial Academy, destined to die on Dandoran. 1225 didn't think about it as he shot another. But, there were around... what, 10 or 11 more coming his way? Just as he thought death was imminent, he heard the door behind him open. It was 228 and 111!
KE-111 saw the Stormtroopers running towards 1225 and the other two. "What are they?" yelled 111 over the troopers' growls and snarls. "I don't know!" exclaimed 1225, "But they're not human! Just shoot at them!" 111 nodded, and raised his X-8 Nightsniper. The pistol normally showed the heat signatures of both enemies and allies. But, he could only see 1225 and 228's heat sigs. The nonhuman troopers didn't have any. They were just plain black human-shaped forms in his sights. "What the hell..." 111 roughly whispered. He fired his pistol, and shot one in the chest, where its heart would be, but the thing just stumbled back and kept walking. "Just keep firing!" yelled 111, "That room they're coming out of might be the source!" And so, the three troopers kept firing, trying their best to hold the undead troopers off.
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Dandoran facility,
Infection Ward
JC-1337 cautiously roamed the halls of the Infection Ward, with his A280c raised at the hip. He wondered where 117 and 497 were. This situation was no joking matter. Not anymore. At least in his previous battles, he was fighting humans or aliens. Not these creatures that were dressed as Stormtroopers. As he walked into a rectangular room lined with computer consoles, he stopped, looking at the technology, considering whether or not he should send a distress signal to the outside galaxy for reinforcements. He knew from the beginning of entering this place that six troopers wouldn't be enough to combat the undead population. But then, he remembered 117 saying that he couldn't contact the Sentinel with this place's signal quality. The only way that the 71st Mobile Reconnaissance Unit would make contact with the sane galaxy would be if they- or one of them, at least -managed to escape the facility, which didn't look like a near-future possibility. Then, he started walking again. Some of the computer consoles had more dead scientists laying on the floor by them. 1337 looked on in disgust. The computer systems on 1337's leftmost side of the room were all off. Except for one. The trooper speed-walked over to it, and he sat in the vacant chair, putting his blaster on the desk to the right. He read the computer screen. It was a document, dated about six months ago. He read file below.
To: Carmos Halioza
From: Grivant Borun
Ever since taking up the job as Chief Scientist of the Dandoran facility, we've seen unprecedented progress for Blackwing. The revival of necrotic flesh was practically unheard of within the scientific community of both the Republic and the early Empire for years. But we've broken through that barrier, and the project is looking to be a success.
However, several scientists have reported the guard Stormtroopers located outside their working stations and sectors have been coughing and reported sickness to the on-site specialists. This may just be a side-effect of Blackwing, as our scientists were given medicinal treatment prior to working close to the project, and our troopers were not. Anyways, I just wanted to give you an update on how Blackwing is going. Wish me luck, Carmos. I'm going to need it.
The message finished after this. 1337 looked on. This was what Blackwing was all about? Reviving necrotic flesh, whatever that was. The trooper stood up, grabbing his blaster. He just wanted to get out of here now. He didn't care whether or not these undead troopers were eradicated or not. In fact, he thought that the best course of action by this point was to leave this place to die on its own, to let it fester and rot away. Eventually the undeads would start eating themselves, right? He didn't know. But what he did know was that he was isolated from the rest of the unit. If the rest of the unit was still alive. He continued walking.
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Dandoran facility, D Block
117 and 497 ran down one of the facility's many corridors. They were still being chased by many different undead troopers. They started with 4. Now there were about 20 more going after them. The things apparently knew how to run now. 117, as he ran, looked behind him. They overflowed the hallway. In fact, it looked like more had joined the group of 20. It never ended. 117 shot his blaster aimlessly, and apparently hit one in the chest, but that didn't stop it. The two kept running towards a large doorway at the end of the corridor, with another digital sign next to it that read E Block Entrance 3. "There!" yelled 497, pointing to the sign. The two kept running, and entered the E Block. Neither of them had time to close the door, so the undead troopers kept on coming.
111, 228, and 1225 kept firing on the undead troopers that poured out of a room. 111 had since taken cover from the ones carrying blasters, and so did 228 and 1225. It never seemed to end. Then, a blaster shot impacted one of the undead soldiers. But, this shot came from outside the room. 111 stopped shooting and looked behind him. 117 and 497 ran into the room, and 117 shot his SE-14c at one of the troopers. 497 fired his EE-3 in the direction of a trooper that splintered off from the main group. 117 ran towards 111's cover. "Where's 1337?" asked 111. "We don't know," replied 117, "We lost him in the Infection Ward." Lost. thought 111. He'd sort of hoped that 1337 was lost here forever. He couldn't stand him, just like 1225. The five troopers shot at their undead counterparts. 111 also noticed a door behind the large group of oncoming troopers, which were coming from a doorway to the left.
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Dandoran facility,
Infection Ward, near D Block
1337, as he was walking, heard the sounds of growling and snarling from a close room. He began to run towards the noise, blaster rifle raised. The sound was getting closer. Eventually, he came across a door, where the sound was coming from. As he slowly walked closer, he could also hear blaster shots. And a voice. The voice of TK-117. He yelled over the noise, "There's too many of them. We need to pull back!" Then, he heard footsteps on the metal floor slowly backing away. He knew that he couldn't go through the doorway, or else he'd be eaten alive. He had to find an alternate path to the rest of the 71st Unit.
117 and the rest of his teammates backed into a corridor, shooting at more undead troopers. "There's no end in sight for these things!" yelled 497 over the blasters and growls of the undead, "We've gotta escape!" 117 looked over at him, still firing his SE-14c. "The front entrance is locked, remember?" 497 replied, "Yeah, but there's gotta be a switch or something to open it!" "Well," interjected 111, "Let's find that switch!"
117 and 497 ran into a room designated Security Control. The other troopers ran into other rooms. 1337 was still missing. 117 hoped that he was alive. That didn't matter in the moment. 117 and 497 opened drawers and looked through desks in the security room. Nothing of note came up. "Check the computer." said 117 to 497. "Yes, sir." said 497, walking over to the computer systems, and sat in a chair. He lifted his fingers to the screen, and opened a file titled Dandoran Imperial Security System. "I think I've got it!" said 497. He tapped an option that said Access Main Entrance. The screen then brought up a loading bar that slowly got filled up with another white bar, and read Opening Main Entrance. "We're going to get out of here!" exclaimed 497. Then, 117, looking away from the doorway entrance, felt a tap on his shoulder. "Gah!" he yelled, then saw JC-1337. "1337!" he said, "You're back! How'd you get here?" "Found my way around the place." replied the Stormtrooper, "What's happening here?" 117 looked back at 497. "Oh," he said, "We just got the main entrance unlocked. We're going to get out of here." "About time," said 1337, "I can hear those undead troopers moving on us, though. We should exit quickly." 117 listened closely. "You're right," he said, turning to 497, "497, get the rest of the unit. We should get out of here." 497 turned around in the chair. "But we can't leave the computer alone. Those freaks might reverse the process-" 117 interrupted him. "Those things are probably too dumb to even know what a computer is. This is our only chance. Let's go!" He grabbed 497's arm and pulled him out of the chair, and the three troopers ran towards where the other three were, telling them to follow to the exit as well.
The six troopers ran down the corridors of the facility, looking for any landmarks that might signify their being close to the exit. 497 looked closely ahead, then pointed. "Look!" he said, "There's the entrance to the Infection Ward! We're getting close!" Of course, 111, 228, and 1225 didn't recognize this area, but they trusted the Shock Trooper's word. The continued running, right past the Infection Ward.
A huge swarm of 90 undead troopers had infested the backmost parts of the facility. Then, they entered a corridor. One of the undeads noticed an open door to a room and entered it. There was a computer with a loading bar nearly fully completed, and right next to the bar was a security holocam image of the main entrance door nearly done opening up. The late afternoon Dandoran sunlight entered through the doorway. "Ragghhhhh..." said the undead trooper, who then trudged over to the computer and slapped its hand onto the screen, which somehow caused the opening process to reverse, beginning the closing of the door. Then, the undead trooper raised its blaster, and shot the screen.
The 71st Unit ran through a room filled with rows of computer consoles, with a turbolift at the leftmost corner of the room. "There!" yelled 497. Then, an undead trooper came out from behind a doorway, and tackled the Shock Trooper. "Ah! Wha- It's got me! Help!" yelled 497. The entire 71st Unit turned around, and 1225, 117, and 1337 went to go pull it off of him. The three struggled to grab it for a minute before 117 pulled on its leg and threw it back. "C'mon," said the Scout, "Let's go." 497 tried to get up, but he stumbled. "Gah..." he said, getting on one knee, "I think my ankle's sprained." "Alright," said 117, gesturing to 1337, "Come here. Let's get 497 out." The two put 497's arms around their shoulders and they began to slowly walk out. The entire unit entered the turbolift from which they came.
The turbolift raced down to the bottom level. The six troopers stepped out, and turned to the right. 497 expected to see the doors opened, but they were closing right down. 497's eyes widened. "C'mon!" he yelled, "Go, now!" 1337 and 117 had to keep the Shock Trooper stabilized, while 111, 1225, and 228 were facing opposite the main entrance, blasters raised, ready for any undead troopers. But, they weren't ready enough. The swarm came through a large door at the opposite end of the room. There were about 100 or so. "Fire!" yelled 111 as they backed away, along with 117, 497, and 1337, who were getting ever-nearer to the slowly closing main entrance. "Our blasters aren't doing anything, KE-111!" yelled 1225. Then, 228 stopped firing, dropping his E-11 to the ground. 111 looked over to him while still blindly firing. "What are you doing?!" he yelled. 228 turned his head to him. He spoke, which he rarely did. "Both of you, go with the other three. You'll all make it to the entrance faster." 117 heard this, and turned his head around while still slowly walking. "You're coming with us, right?" he asked. 228 turned in his direction as 111 and 1225 ran towards 497, helping him to walk a bit faster. "No," said the Stormtrooper, "I have this." He reached into one of his armor's pouches, and pulled out a grenade. Not just any one, though. A thermal imploder. 228 continued. "Just hurry up. All of you. I have nothing anymore." "228, no-" said 117. 228 interrupted. "JUST GO!" he yelled. 117, and the rest of the speed-walking unit were surprised, but kept going. They were just 10 feet from the entrance, and they could still walk through. "C'mon... so close..." said 117. The Scout looked back. The swarm of undead troopers moved onto 228's position. 117 said to himself, "What is he-"
MC-228 pressed a button on the thermal imploder, activating it. It began beeping. He looked behind him. The rest of his unit had made it out, and the door closed. His job was done. I'll see you soon, Lana. he thought to himself, We'll be together again. And, right as the undead troopers swarmed him, the imploder detonated, destroying all of the undead troopers in the area, along with 228.
The 71st Mobile Reconnaissance Unit dove through the closing door. All of the troopers were off of their feet. The main entrance door had closed almost immediately after the last one to escape, KE-111, pulled his foot out. They were all panting. 117 looked around. Then, he heard an explosion. Pow-wump was the sound that it made. Before the explosion, he could hear the sounds of the undeads, but after, there was pure silence. 117 stood up. "He... he saved us." he said quietly, "And he's gone." 117 sat back down, back against the closed entrance. 117 continued, "And he destroyed the rest of the undead troopers." 1225 stood up. "C'mon, troops," he said, "Let's get back to the Star Destroyer." 1225 began walking to the shuttle, which had been on the landing pad this entire time. The other four stood up as well, slowly walking.
The shuttle ride away from Dandoran and back to the Sentinel was without a single word uttered by anybody. The T-4a model shuttle slowly landed back in the hangar of the Imperial-I class Destroyer, as Admiral Perox headed towards it. "Looks like at least one of them made it back." he said. The shuttle touched down on the floor. Perox stopped walking, arms behind his back. The walkway to the shuttle opened up, smoke surrounding it. Then, he saw TK-117 walk out, and behind him, TB-497. Then 111, 1225, 1337, and... no one else. 117 walked up to Perox, in silence. "Where's MC-228?" asked Perox. 117 sighed. "He's gone, Admiral. He saved us. He destroyed the undead troopers." "Undead troop-" said Perox before 117 walked off, back to his quarters. Perox looked at the other members of the unit. "You may all return to your quarters," he said, "I'll handle the Dandoran situation from here."
Admiral Perox returned to the bridge of the Sentinel. General Hedan came walking up to him. "Sir," he said, "Has the Dandoran crisis been resolved?" "Almost," replied Perox, "I want you to call in an orbital bombardment on the facility. Destroy any trace of it. I want all signs that the damned place ever existed erased." Hedan nodded. "Yes, sir." he said, walking to another part of the bridge.
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1 hour later
And so, the Sentinel had called down an orbital strike on the Dandoran facility, destroying it and Project Blackwing. That's what 117 had heard while exiting and reentering his quarters. Now he was sitting on his bed, still in uniform. He put his hands on his head, sighing. He'd known 228 for 47 days by this point, but now it felt like he'd known him a lifetime. He decided not to dwell on it too much. As he got up from his bed, he heard a knock at his door. He walked over, pressing the button to open it. The door slid up, and he saw Admiral Perox, holding a datapad in his hand. "What is it?" asked 117. "I thought you should have this," said Perox, holding out the datapad, "Some of the other troopers- including yourself -always wondered why 228 was silent and... forlorn, for lack of a better word. Take this. Don't share the information with anyone outside your own unit. Understood?" 117 took the datapad. "Understood, sir." replied 117, and Perox turned around to leave. The door to 117's quarters closed, and the Scout went over to sit at his desk.
117 sat down at his desk, and activated the datapad. There was a file already opened. It was titled:
Imperial Stormtrooper Corps Records
Operating Number: MC-228
Real Name: Dalen Cravvix
Homeworld: Devaron
Gender: Male
Species: Human
Biography - Dalen Cravvix was a fair-skinned human male who joined the ranks of the Galactic Empire's Stormtrooper Corps 10 years before the destruction of the Death Star.
117, as he read this, said quietly, "They updated this pretty quickly." He continued reading.
Cravvix himself was born 39 years before the destruction of the Empire's superweapon, on the planet Devaron, where his parents were sold off to alien slavers at a young age. At that point, Cravvix joined an underground Devaronian fight club, where he earned money and survived. However, at the age of 27, he met a young woman, Lana Niver of Haidoral Prime. The two fell in love and had a child later that year.
However, two years into their marriage, soldiers of an unidentified rebel cell invaded their homestead, killing his wife and child. Cravvix, shortly afterward, killed the rebels, and two weeks after this event, joined the Stormtrooper Corps.
The biography ended after this. 117 never knew 228's history. He only felt bad for the Stormtrooper because of the rumors. Well, it looked like the rumors weren't too far off. The Scout pressed a button, and the datapad shut off. For a while, 117 just sat in silence, listening to the occasional sound of officers or other troopers walking by his quarters.
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About 1 hour ago
I'll see you soon, Lana. thought MC-228. His teammates had made it out. That was all that mattered. He'd done what he couldn't do 10 years ago: Save the people he cared about. The swarm of undead troopers were close now. There was no going back. Not since he'd activated the imploder. Then, it exploded, engulfing him and the undeads in his immediate area. This would kill them all. But, as the explosion surrounded him, he didn't see blackness, like he expected. He saw something. His memories. Damn vivid ones, too.
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27-year old Dalen Cravvix had just returned from yet another fight in the club. Another Devaronian defeated, another packet of credits awarded to him. He was walking back to his makeshift home, which he got to via walking through spaceport. As he walked his normal route, through Docking Bay 265, he noticed a ship, and a woman walking off of said ship. Dalen stopped, the woman's beauty amazing him. She was talking to some flight mechanic. Dalen walked over, and said, "Hi. Need help with the luggage?" "No, I'm fine, thanks." said the woman, picking up a suitcase. But, she dropped it, and Dalen helped her with it. The woman laughed. "Thanks." she said, "Name's Lana. Lana Niver." Dalen shook her hand. "Dalen Cravvix." he replied. "Nice to meet you." said Lana. "You too." replied Dalen.
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2 years later
It had been 2 years since Lana and Dalen had their child, a boy. And, since then, the two had purchased a larger homestead, where they grew crops and made a decent living. As Dalen was picking crops that seemed to need a bit longer to grow, he heard footsteps. Dalen turned around, and saw three men in beige uniforms carrying rifles. He abandoned the crops and walked up to the men. "Can I help you?" Dalen asked in his rough voice. "Yeah," the gray-bearded man replied with a slight Outer Rim accent, "We've been looking for some food, and it seems that you folks have some." Dalen looked behind him. Lana had exited the house, holding the baby, then looked back at the soldiers. "I'm sorry," Dalen said, "The drought's been bad on us this season. We need all the food we can get. I'd help if I could, but again, I'm sorry." The soldier raised his rifle just a tad. "Look, we understand how droughts can affect food," said the soldier, "But we need this. We're fighters, not farmers." Dalen looked behind him again. Lana had a blaster pistol in her hand. Dalen's eyes widened, then he looked back at the soldiers. "Just go," he said, "I don't want any trouble." The soldier smirked. "Neither do we." he said, then shoved Dalen onto the ground. Lana, looking at Dalen, then at the soldiers, aimed her pistol, and fired at the lead soldier. The shot hit him in the shoulder. One of the soldiers behind him fired his rifle in Lana and the baby's direction.
The blaster shot hit Lana. "Ah!" she screamed, before going silent, and falling to the ground. Dalen looked behind him in horror. "LANA!" he yelled, running towards her. He saw the baby as well. It wasn't... it wasn't moving. "No..." he said, "No, no, no, no!" he yelled. He got up, turning around. The soldier who Lana shot was grasping at his shoulder. "We did what we had to do," the Outer Rim-accented one said, "Now stay down, and you'll suffer the same fate as your old lady. The three soldiers began walking toward the farm. Dalen picked up his wife's blaster. "You bastards!" he yelled, and fired at the three while they were picking crops. All three fell down, dead. Dalen dropped the blaster, and ran back towards his family. He picked Lana's body up, holding her in his arms. He began crying, and Dalen rested his head into Lana's hair. "My babies..." he said, sobbing.
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Dalen Cravvix had entered the Stormtrooper Corps later that same year. His unkempt auburn hair was neatened, and his beard was also neatened. This was his life now.
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The imploder detonated, destroying all of the undead troopers in the area, along with 228. It was over now. He'd done what he needed to do.
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The present
117 finished reading 228's file for the second time. He put the datapad down, shutting it off once more. He stared at it. "Thank you," he said quietly, "Thank you."
----- End of Chapter Five -----
----- Chapter Six -----