STAR WARS: FRIENDLY-FIRE Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars, or any of its properties ([Legends and Canon material alike] the Characters, the Planets, events, ships, Gear, etc. Mentioned in this story). All those belong to George Lucas, Lucasfilm, and Disney. I do however own "Shadow Squad's" Commander Shadow, Spooks, Umbra, Captain Gloom, and Shade, and The Rookie. This story is for entertainment purposes only.

Note: This story is not technically canon and is a work of FAN-FICTION, and was inspired by my love for the Republic Commandos. After seeing Delta Squad's brief appearance on the Clone Wars TV show, I wondered what a marriage of Canon and Legends material would look like if the members of Delta Squad showed up once again in the Canon universe. Thank you and enjoy.

The group began their long walk back to Kachirho beach, after climbing back up from the lower level of the forest. They walked in silence for a while. Sev was the first to break the silence.

"General..." He said, turning to Vos. "What happened back in the cave...If you hadn't shown up when you did...Those things would have killed me."

Vos is caught off guard by this comment and quickly looks at the other commandos.

"That's his way of saying "thanks", General." Said Fixer.

Vos looked back at Sev with a smile.

"Your team members were the ones who decided to come after you. Scorch made a pretty compelling argument when the team approached me about helping them find you."

Sev looked at his clone brothers, confused as to what the Jedi meant.

"He cried like a baby." laughed Fixer.

"Did not..." retorted Scorch, who would have been blushing if not for the helmet that completely covered his face.

Vos turned to Sev.

"It was their determination to go back and find you that convinced me to help them." The Jedi Master said. "Besides... I had a feeling your squad would have gone looking for you even if I hadn't come."

Sev removed his helmet and wiped the sweat from his brow. Upon doing this, the Jedi Master noticed a small surgical scar on the clone's right temple.

"What happed there?" He asked pointing to the scar.

The Clone Commando slid his helmet back over his head.

"It's nothing..."

"I hate to interrupt..." said Fixer, looking back at the Rookie. "But has anyone else noticed that the Rookie has been acting weird."

Upon further inspection, the Rookie did appear to be twitchier than he had been before. The Clone Scout held his blaster closer, gripping it tightly; not taking his eyes off Quinlan Vos.

Boss stopped walking.

"Hold on. I'm receiving an incoming transmission on a private frequency." Said Boss, tapping his helmet to receive the audio transmission coming through its comm channel.

A dark gravelly voice came over the helmet's speaker.

"Execute Order Sixty-Six."

The voice vanished just as soon as it had appeared.

Boss shook his head in confusion and disbelief.

"Is this some kind of a joke? What kind of orders are those?" He turned his head and looked at the other squad members, who had also stopped walking, unlike their Jedi commander; who seemed oblivious to the orders that the clones had just received. "'You receiving this too?"

The members of Delta Squad nodded, equally confused.

"These orders don't make any sense. Our troops are still engaging the droids on the beach..."

Out of the corner of his eye, Boss noticed the Rookie approaching General Vos from behind, muttering something to himself again, and again: as if in a trance.

"Good soldiers follow orders...Good soldiers follow orders..."

Boss's eyes widened as realization suddenly sunk in. He was right; the Leader of Delta Squad thought; Somethings wrong with the inhibitor chips...; His thoughts were suddenly interrupted as he noticed the Rookie slowly raise his DC-15 blaster rifle and aim it towards the Jedi Commander.

"GENERAL!" He shouted, tackling the Rookie to the ground, just as the clone pulled the trigger; the blaster bolt catching the Jedi's right arm as he turned to see what the commotion was about.

Vos fell to the ground, holding his arm, but otherwise unharmed.

"MAN DOWN! MAN DOWN!" Shouted Scorch, as he and Sev ran to the Jedi's side; helping him up, while Boss and Fixer restrained the Rookie, who, in turn, continued to struggle in an attempt to kill the Jedi.

Sev inspected the wound on Vos's arm.

"Just a graze. The General will be fine." He said, wrapping the wound up with a field bandage.

Vos shook his head in disbelief, and pushed the clones away with his good hand. Taking a step away from the clones, Vos quickly activated his lightsaber and held it out in front of him with his good hand; creating more distance between the clones and himself.

"'You want to explain to me what just happened?!?!" Vos demanded.

Once the Rookie's rope restraints were securely tied, Boss removed his helmet; revealing the same scar on his right temple as Sev.

"Before we were dispatched to Kashyyyk, my squad and I received an encoded message from one of our clone brothers. The clone said that during the Battle of Ringo Vinda, he had witnessed a member of his team lose his mind and execute one of his Jedi commanders" He said.

"I read the reports about the incident on Ringo Vinda and the one about the actions clone trooper, Fives, not long after returning to Kamino. What's your point?" said Vos, still on his guard.

"According to the clone," Boss continued. "Whatever information clone trooper Fives had on the Inhibitor Chips was crucial to the safety of the Republic. Unfortunately, he was killed before he was able to pass the information along to General Skywalker. The clone explained that the risk of the Inhibitor Chips becoming compromised during battle was too great to be ignored and determined that until the integrity of the chips could be ensured, it would be safer to have the chips removed from clone forces for the time being. He revealed that he had his own inhibitor chip removed discreetly as a precaution and recommended we do the same."

Vos deactivated his lightsaber and slowly lowered his guard. "Who was the clone that sent the message?" He asked.

Boss quickly looked at Fixer, then back at Vos. He shrugged and smiled.

"Even Fixer's skills couldn't get past the heavy encryption attached to the message." His expression changed, taking on a more serious tone. "Whoever sent the message must have been a ranking officer with a lot of pull. But after hearing the evidence he provided, it was clear that the issue he saw with the Inhibitor Chips presented a greater threat to the Republic than the Separatist forces if it continued to be ignored."

Vos watched as the remaining members of Delta Squad removed their helmets, revealing the same scar on their right temples as their team mates.

"You all removed your chips too." He said in sudden realization.

"We're brothers." Said Scorch. "We do everything together."

Fixer quickly looked around, realizing the Rookie had cut his bonds and was nowhere to be seen.

"Uh, guys... Where did the Rookie go?" He said.

"Probably to get more reinforcements." said Sev in frustration.

"We need to get off this planet before more forces show up." Vos said.

"We have a ship back on the landing pad." Said Boss. "This way."

The Squad and their Jedi ally hurried into the thick forest, to avoid being spotted by any clone patrols nearby as they made their way back towards the landing platform on Kachirho Beach.

As the Battle of Kachirho continued, General Vos and Delta Squad took advantage of the Republic's light security at the landing area, due to the need for more troops on the frontline to engage the remaining droid forces attacking the beach. Parked on the far side of the landing zone behind the beach was Delta Squad's Nu-Class Attack Shuttle.

Cautiously, the Squad made their move towards the shuttle, using the thick plant life as cover. Soon, they were only a few meters from the ship's location. Just as the team approached the ship, they were spotted by none other than the Rookie, who had been patrolling the beach with a squad of ten other Scout Troopers.

"That's them! Those are the traitors protecting the Jedi! Don't let them escape!" Yelled the Rookie, pointing at Delta Squad while the other scout troopers opened fire, just as the Clone Commandos reached the shuttle.

"Jeez... 'Think he's still mad about being tied up?" asked Scorch; A blaster bolt barely missed his head as he (and the rest of Delta Squad) ran up the shuttle's loading ramp with their Jedi commander.

"I don't know," said Fixer sarcastically, as he sat in the one of the ship's pilot seats and began initiating the shuttles systems, "Why don't you as him?"

Scorch took a quick look out the cockpit window at the Clone Scout Troopers running towards the shuttle. "It'd be a boring conversation anyway." He said, taking a seat in the copilot's chair, then pressed several of the buttons on the dashboard in front of him.

"All systems check. Launching...now!" Said Fixer as the shuttle lifted off the landing zone and exited the planet's atmosphere into space.

Once the shuttle had put some distance between itself and the planet, Fixer tapped the ship's intercom. "Where to, General?"

"Get us to Coruscant. Now punch it!" Order Vos from the ship's speakers.

With the flick of a switch, the small Attack Shuttle engaged its hyperdrive and blasted off into hyperspace.

Back on Kashyyyk, the Rookie turned to the other Scout Troopers after the shuttle escaped the planet's surface.

"Get me the Commander. He's going to want to hear what Delta Squad's been up to."

After the untimely death of Clone Commander Gree toward the end of the battle, Clone Commander Faie found he was now the ranking officer in the Chain of Command. Upon hearing a Scout Trooper's detailed field report on the treasonous actions of the commando unit know as Delta Squad, the Clone Commander hailed the Chancellor on a private military frequency.

The holo-projection of Supreme Chancellor Palpatine appeared before the clone commander. The hood of the Chancellor's long robe cast a dark shadow over his scarred face, masking it from view.

"Report, Commander." said the gravelly voice of Chancellor Palpatine.

"I received a report indicating that a team of clone commandos known as Delta Squad, not only failed to eliminate the Jedi Master, Quinlan Vos during the battle, but the Squad had a hand in aiding with the Jedi traitor's escape." Said Commander Faie, standing at attention.

"Interesting...How is this possible?" Inquired the Chancellor.

"A scout temporarily assigned to Delta Squad during the battle, overheard the team's leader admit that each of the squad members had their Inhibitor Chips removed shortly before they were deployed to Kashyyyk." Reported the Clone Commander. "The team evaded capture with the help of the Jedi traitor and were seen fleeing the planet aboard their Nu-Class Attack Shuttle, shortly before leaving the system."

"They will try to warn the Jedi Council of our actions before any more Jedi are caught off-guard by our trap." The Chancellor smiled wickedly. "I assure you, they will be dealt with...Is that all, Commander?"

Faie nodded. "Yes, You're Excellency."

And with that, the image of the Chancellor faded, signifying the end of the conversation.

To be Continued