Jedi Insurgency 315

Carving out a small cave with his lightsaber so he had a place to sit, Corvus withdrew a drink from his inventory, and watched with amusement as the men of the Bad Batch-who were about a mile below him-struggled to mimic his wall running technique. 

Every now and again he held his hand out, halting one of them from falling into the dark abyss down below. 

“Runnin's too slow, how'bout this!” Wrecker exclaimed. 

Channeling the Force into his hands, the big man wrenched himself up, propelling upward like a rocket. Then, when it looked like he was going to fall, his armor plated fingertips dug into the rockwall, and propelled himself once again. 

Crosshair attempted to mimic the strongman, but slipped for his effort. “I refuse to believe an oaf like you is better at something like this than me.” 

“Hahaha.” Wrecker loudly laughed, quickly ascending to the small cave Corvus had carved out. 

Wordlessly handing over a fresh drink, he waved down at the boys. 

“Oh, your mother.” Hunter growled, then tried to run up once again, this time getting a few more feet before falling once again. 

“I think I'm getting the hang of this.” Echo said as his figure slowly warbled up the wall as if he were slow walking. 

Catching himself, Hunter scoffed. “At the rate you're moving, you'd be blasted to bits if we were under fire.” 

“Jealousy does not befit you, brother. Perhaps Shaak Ti will be more interested in a man who knows how to take his time.” Echo airily replied, sticking his nose up. 

“Tch.” Hunter spat as he tried to run and catch up to Echo, only to face plant into the cavern wall, and slide down towards Tech & Crosshair. 

“If you could do that one more time, I'd be most appreciative, Hunter. My data points are almost complete, I'm certain after analyzing one more failure, I'll be ready to attempt an excursion of my own.” Tech eagerly stated, typing away at his dataslate whilst a limb from his mechanical backpack held him against the wall. 

“...” Hunter wanted to swear, but merely grit his teeth. “Happy. To be. Of service. To you. Brother.” 

“That's why you're the leader.” Tech good naturedly smiled, patting Hunter on the shoulder. 

Hunter rolled his eyes, yet also lowered his gaze. If he was going to be the leader, he had to lead! Spirit ignited once more-and unwilling to let Echo talk bad about Miss Ti-he ran along the wall once more. This time he surpassed Echo, knocking him off balance along the way, and ran all the way up to the carved cave. 

“Whew, that wasn't so hard.” Hunter proudly stated whilst looking down at the rest of the men. Wiping away some sweat, standing up straight, and placing his hands on his hips, Hunter acted as if he weren't winded. 

“Good to hear, soldier. We've only got about 9 more miles to go.” Corvus said, nearly pushing him out of the cave with a pat on the back. 

“Oi bet oi'll arrive afor you, Hunta.” Wrecker cracked his knuckles in anticipation. 

“And what's in it for me, you big bloke?” Hunter crossed his arms, and rolled his eyes. 

Wrecker guzzled his drink, letting pink juices slosh down his chin, and replied with a big shit eating grin. “Scared?” 

“Tch.” Hunter scowled, stole the drink, took off his helmet, then chugged it down. “You know I'm not.” 

“Good! I was thinkin all this Jedi stuff'd made ya soft. Well then, let's get to it.” Wrecker said, wiping some dirt on his hands, and moving to stand up. 

“Not so fast, the rest of our brothers must catch up.” Hunter was quick to press. 

“I s'pose you're right.” Wrecker scratched the top of his head, and nodded along. 

Corvus snorted, clearly Hunter was somewhat gassed and just wanted time to recover. Pulling some food out, he started a small barbeque hoping the smell of food and sight of their comrades eating would encourage the others. 

Before long, Tech had perfectly analyzed his approach, Echo slowly & safely got a hang of things, whilst Crosshair sulked down below until Hunter went back down to show him the ropes. 

After an hour or so spent training, running up the wall, resting, enjoying a good meal and such, they finally made it back to the bunker/lab. 

At first everything was fine, and there was no resistance. However, once they had advanced another hundred meters or so, something straight out of a 1950's super villain's lair occured to them. 

That is, the walls were closing in on them! Hydraulic pistons went into overtime and the entire passage was contracting.

“We can make it if we run to the next hallway.” Echo hurriedly suggested. 

“No time. Based upon our current rate of speed it isn't feasible.” Tech spoke up. 

“Brace!” Hunter shouted.

Wrecker planted himself against the rushing wall, and roared as he used his genetically modified superhuman strength to push back. His boots skidded instantly, leaving twin furrows in the floor. Hunter and Echo joined him, giving it all they had. 

The wall drove all three backward, but the other walls were still closing in, and the men were barely holding out. 

“Idiots, honestly.” Crosshair sarcastically muttered from the side. 

“Bas..stard. Don't. Just stand there!” Hunter said between big gasps of air. 

Wrecker strained against the wall, and grinned. “Feels like something I should fight!”

Crosshair merely pointed at Corvus-who was standing still as if this didn't concern him-and then at his own lightsaber. “We have several useful tools for this sort of thing, no?” 

“Oh, I'm only here in case of an emergency, by all means, solve this by yourselves.” Corvus said, holding his hands up to absolve himself of the matter. 

“Hunter, close your eyes, focus. Find the primary piston.” Crosshair sharply spoke, knowing he was best at sensory information. 

Hunter shut his eyes. Beneath the noise, he felt the tremor of machinery through the soles of his boots. One piston carried more pressure than the others.

“To the left and down about 15ft down.” Hunter grunted as he struggled to hold on. 

“Echo, seize the pressure valves.” Crosshair said, as this brother was best at telekinesis.

Echo reached into the Force. His awareness slipped beyond the wall and curled around the mechanisms inside it.

“Got them.” Echo nodded his head. 

“Tech, reverse the magnetic locks.” Crosshair said, this time his voice carried with it some urgency as they were now almost back to back with nowhere left to run. 

Tech extended a hand toward a sealed control panel. Components shifted within it, and sparks burst from the casing.

Crosshair then drew his pistol, and guided by the Force fired into a tiny seam above them, exploding a coupling. 

“I can sense it! Crosshair, your plan is working. Everyone together, [Force Push] along with Wrecker on three. 1,2…3!” 

All five brothers thrust their hands forward, and the Force struck the wall. For an instant, the two powers met, and the sound of squealing, breaking hydraulics was music to their ears. The floor buckled beneath their boots, and pipes ruptured inside the walls as their combined power achieved something unscientific. 

Then the mechanism shuddered, and suddenly the contracting walls sprang apart back to their original height & width, shuddering like an accordion. 

“Oh. I like the Force.” Wrecker toothily grinned. 

Corvus walked past them and placed his hand against the final door. Beyond it, was the mystery creature who had set up this trial to begin with. He sensed curiosity, a brilliant mind, and obsession. But above all else, he sensed: fear.

“Are you men prepared for the final encounter?” Corvus asked with an arched brow. 

“Why do I get the feeling like this is eerily similar to our Naboo job? Creepy underground lab, strange experiments. General, you'll step in if we fight something like that Darkside monster, or some zombies, won't you?” Echo returned Corvus's question with one of his own. 

“So that's what this reminded me of!” Wrecker exclaimed, slapping a meaty fist into his open hand. 

“Just now? I thought it was abundantly clear when we chose not to take the elevators.” Crosshair sarcastically remarked. 

“To answer your question, there isn't anything Clone Force 99 is afraid of.” Hunter proudly stepped forward and declared. 

“Given our past escapades, I think there is a 15% chance one of us will perish inside, and a 50% chance that this so-called scientist has left behind a self-destruct button, given their predilection for traps.” Tech surmised, pressing up the goggles on his helmet. 

“So long as there aren't any Force shenanigans waiting for us on the other side of that door, I say we blast our way through as per usual.” Crosshair cooly said, hefting his sniper at the ready. 

“Yeah, let's kick some ass.” Wrecker slapped his own chestplate, hyping himself up. 

“I'm with you, my brothers.” Echo said, igniting his green blade. 

“Based upon the type of foe we've faced so far, I gather that there isn't much more the opponent has to offer. Furthermore, can't you all sense its fear? Let us not waste any more time cowering before this door.” Tech added on. 

“There you have it, General, we are ready to go.” Hunter saluted. 

“Push her down, boys.” Corvus proudly demanded of his men, gesturing towards the final blast door. 

Metal buckled, and its locks snapped one after another beneath the clone's combined onslaught. Red emergency lights poured through the widening gap as the door peeled away like the lid of a tuna can. 

Prowling forward, the Bad Batch advanced with their lightsabers drawn. 

They had conquered automated turrets, assassin droids, invisible Umbarans, collapsing floors, and a habitation block dropped into a cavern deep beneath the bunker. Every corridor had attempted to crush, burn, poison, impale, or dissect them.

The final chamber would not dissuade them from finishing the mission. 

Hunter could already feel something enormous waiting inside.

Storming forward, they were surprised to find that there wasn't an ambush lying in wait, but a factory floor instead. Conveyor belts crossed one another in tiered grids, and mechanical arms carried half-assembled droids onto the next assembly line. 

Perhaps most striking and out of place amongst this sea of machinery, was a giant tree in the center. 

When Corvus laid eyes upon it, he sensed a powerful intelligence, one no lesser than that of your typical genius. 

It towered over the machinery, its immense trunk rising from a circular reservoir sunken into the floor. The bark was midnight blue, almost black, split by softly glowing veins of turquoise light. Its roots threaded beneath the factory and emerged in places to coil around generators, terminals, and coolant pipes.

Its branches had spread through the entire chamber.

Some ended in delicate tendrils that manipulated control panels. Others wrapped around heavy construction cranes or guided welding apparatuses with remarkable ease. Leaves of translucent violet glass shimmered in the artificial wind, filling the factory with an eerie, dreamlike radiance.

“I was expectin something with teeth.” Wrecker remarked. 

One of the branches stopped adjusting a row of surgical instruments, and several hundred luminous leaves turned toward him as if the tree were regarding them. 

“Congratulations on passing the test, General Revan. My safety, and the resources of this base are now under your command.” A deep, resonant voice emanated from the tree. 

Wrecker immediately raised his lightsaber, and the entire squad snapped into a fighting pose. 

Hunter stared at it for a long moment. His senses stretched across the factory floor, slipping through steel, light, sap, and thought. The presence before him was immense, but it held none of the malice he had expected. 

Corvus felt that this tree was being entirely sincere, how curious. 

“Orders, sir?” Hunter asked over his shoulder. 

“Stand down. This tree, or rather, Scilux means what it says. Isn't that right?” Corvus said. 

“Affirmative, Master Revan. My camo cloaks, and assassin droids will serve at your pleasure.” Scilux pulsed. 

Corvus internally smiled as he eyed the factory floor. With his Computer skill, and prior experience working on the HK-51 + upgrading the Battle Droid code…he could now have a means to produce more HK units. HK units with stealth technology. 

“Scilux, my friend, we have much to talk about.” Corvus began, pushing his max level Personality to the limit. 

Never in his imagination did he think he would ever finesse a Force damned tree, but the galaxy far far away was a strange place indeed!