STAR WARS: FRIENDLY-FIRE Chapter 7

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 Four Shadow Commandos stood outside the sealed entrance to the first of the three Detention Levels, the Squad's Captain was getting impatient.

"Get this door open! Now!" Captain Gloom angrily barked at Umbra; they were losing precious time, while the enemy gained distance the longer the blast-door remained close.

Umbra frantically tapped his data pad. "It will take me a few minutes to pin-point the exact access code to bypass the blast-door's emergency lockdown procedures."

"I don't want excuses! Just get it done!" the Captain growled angerly. He quickly turned to Shade. "Move into the ventilation shaft. If you move now, you'll be able to cut those Delta Squad Traitors off as they exit the last Detention Level in Sector-5."

"Yes, Sir." Shade said, quickly removing the vent cover as he climbed into the air shaft and disappeared.

After a minute of nothing happening, Spooks angerly approached the blast-door; shoving Umbra aside.

"Oh, Frost it!" Swore Spooks impatiently, as he withdrew a large Door-Buster Charge from his pack and planted it on the center of the blast-door.

The Shadow Commandos moved away from the blast-door as the countdown on the charge began.

A minute later, the Explosive charge detonated, leaving a large smoking hole in the center of the blast-door.

Gloom motioned for the clones to move through the breach in the door. Soon, the Shadow Commandos were in hot pursuit, making good time, despite Delta Squad's lead.

Scorch met Boss and Sev as they exited the upper Detention Level in Sector-5 and moved through the entrance of Sector-4.

"They're right behind us!" Shouted Boss. "Fall back to Sector-3!"

Sev and Scorch pushed over a large stack of heavy shipment crates, knocking them into the doorway and creating a small barrier in the hallway in a small attempt to slow down the relentless Shadow Commandos on their tail.

Unbeknownst to Delta Squad, Shadow Squadron's sniper watched the traitorous clones through the grates of the ventilation shaft while they attempted to flee. Shade slowly slid the barrel of his DC-19 Stealth Carbine pistol through the grates of the vent and aimed at Boss, as the other members of Delta Squad were preoccupied with the pathetic barrier they were trying to create. The sniper steadied his breath; took aim; then pulled the trigger.

The blast hit Boss square in the chest. Although it was not a lethal shot, the clone's Katarn-class armor on his chest had taken most of the impact from the powerful blast and was noticeably bent inwards; the dented armor pressed tightly against the clone sergeant's chest; which constricted its movements every time he tried to breathe.

"BOSS!" shouted Scorch, rushing to the Sergeant's side.

At the same time, Sev quickly blasted the entrance's access panel, which in turn, caused the blast-door to slam shut with lightning quick speed. Once the door was sealed shut, Sev rushed to Boss's side.

"I'm fine..." Boss lied, trying to hide his pain. "The armor took most of the blast."

Sev looked over at the destroyed access panel that was now spewing sparks. "That's not going to hold them long."

Boss got to his feet and picked his DC-17M blaster off of the floor. "Keep moving."

As soon as the three members of Delta Squad made it to the third level, it became clear that Boss was having trouble keeping up with the other commandos. He stopped running and leaned against the wall; grasping at his chest.

"Hold on..." He wheezed; his breaths labored and shallow. "Get this...Get this armor...off me. I...I can't... breathe... with it... on..."

Sev quickly (and delicately) helped Boss remove the armor and pack on his torso and back, but left the rest of the armor in place.

Upon closer inspection, Sev determined that there was large bruising across Boss's chest, a few cracked ribs and possible trauma to his internal organs (though it was impossible to determine the severity of the injuries without completely removing the thin black undersuit that the Squad Leader wore under his armor).

With his chest free of the weight restricting its movements, Boss let out a sigh of relief. Although there was still pain in his chest, the fact that he could now breathe more freely made the pain tolerable.

Sev moved to pick up the dented armor off the ground, only to be stopped by Boss.

"Leave it." Said the Sergeant. "It'll only slow me down. Keep moving."

Sev contacted Fixer with the comm channel in his helmet. "Delta-Seven to Delta-Forty, prep the shuttle. Send it to the top control room. We're going to need an emergency evac as soon as we arrive at your position. Delta-Three-Eight's been hit, but is not in critical condition. Over."

In the control room, Fixer turned his attention away from the view-screens and tapped a few buttons on his wrist armor; syncing it with the shuttle's autopilot systems.

"Copy that. Systems prepped. Standby." He said over the radio.

The Engines of Delta Squad's small Attack Shuttle sprang to life; as the ship gently lifted off the landing area and began its ascension to the top level of the Citadel.

"'Ship's E.T.A...two minutes." Said Fixer. "What's your current position? Over."

"Currently leaving Sector-3." Sev's voice answered over the radio. "'Moving to Sector-2 now. We'll be there shortly. Delta-Seven, out."

The Shuttle was 30 seconds from the control room, when the explosive charges Shadow Squadron had planted on the ship's engines suddenly began beeping loudly, until finally detonating seconds later.

*BOOM!*

With its engines destroyed, the shuttle plummeted to the ground and exploded into a large ball of flaming debris.

At that same moment on the roof of the Citadel, Shadow Squad's Commander used the distraction to his advantage; repelling down a few feet onto the Control Room's observation deck on the west side of the tower.

Back in the control room, Fixer stood dumbfounded; staring down at the smoking debris that had once been his ship.

"What was that, Delta-Forty?" Shouted Boss over the radio.

"We have a problem..." Fixer said; his heart sank. "The ship's gone...We're stranded."

There was a moment of silence over the radio.

"...Understood." Said Boss; his voice displaying a hint of disappointment. "Looks like we'll be making a final stand, Deltas. It's been an honor serving with you."

"Likewise, Boss. Over."

"Moving to your position, Four-Zero. Delta-Three-Eight, out."

As Fixer turned back to the security systems, he heard the door to the Control Room's West Observation Deck whizz open...

Delta Squad continued down the hallways; the sound of their enemies' boots thumping on the ground echoed from a few hallways away...Shadow Squad was catching up.

Finally, they reached the corridor that led to the Control Room's thick blast-door.

"Delta-Forty, open the blast-door. We're approaching your position. Over." Ordered Boss when the Squad was halfway across the long hallway.

There was no response.

"Delta-Forty, Open the blast-door." Boss repeated. "We're approaching the control room with hostile inbound. Please respond. Over."

The thick blast-door hissed open; it was not Fixer who stood in the Control Room's doorway, but a Clone Commander wearing black Phase I ARC Trooper Armor; his WESTAR-M5 blaster hung in one hand as the dark clone stood in the doorway. Behind him, Fixer's body was sprawled lifelessly over the security console in the Control Room.

The remaining members of Delta Squad stopped in their tracks.

"Shadow..." Boss gasped.

Before Delta Squad could react; Commander Shadow drew one of the DC-17 hand blasters from the holster attached to his kama with lightning speed and fired it at Boss; the blaster-bolt piercing through the Sergeant's armorless torso.

Boss dropped his blaster, as his body collapsed onto the ground with a heavy thud, then laid motionless; a small plume of smoke rose from the fresh wound in the Sergeant's chest.

"BOSS!" shouted Scorch, in anger and agony. In a blind rage, Scorch started firing at Shadow. "YOU KILLED MY BROTHERS!"

The Clone Commander dived out of the way of the blaster-fire, using the hallway wall as cover, just as the rest of Shadow Squadron entered from the opposite end of the hallway; taking position behind the Clones of Delta Squad.

Realizing they were completely exposed in their current position, Sev quickly spotted the doorway to the prison's Interrogation Room just a few feet away from their position.

"He's gone! We can't do anything for him now!" Shouted Sev, as he picked up Boss's blaster in his other hand and fired at the clones positioned on both ends of the hallway. "We're too exposed here! We need to move into the interrogation room! Once we have cover, we might just take some of these guys with us!"

This snapped Scorch out of his blind rage, causing the clone commando to laugh hard. "I like the sound of that!"

The remaining members of Delta Squad sprinted to the doorway of the Interrogation Room; Scorch firing at the four Shadow Commandos on end of the hallway; while Sev fired at Commander Shadow on the opposite end of the hallway.

Just as the Commandos reached the doorway, Scorch was hit with several heavy bursts of blaster fire. To Sev's amazement, Scorch did not go down at first; instead, the Demolition Expert charged at Spooks and swung his heavy blaster at his dark counterpart; knocking him off his feet; all while still firing his blaster at the other Shadow Commandos. Scorch was soon out of ammo, though this fact did not seem to bother the Clone Commando as he continued using his empty blaster as a deadly club against his attackers.

As Shade moved to attack the clone with his viboknife, he was struck by the clone's heavy blaster; the force of which caused the dark sniper's body to fall backwards and slam hard against the hallway wall behind him. Shade let out a groan of pain; the wind had been knocked out of him.

Scorch turned towards Spooks; who was getting back to on his feet; then drew the retractable vibodagger hidden in the knuckle plate of his armor and stalked towards the Shadow Commando.

But before Scorch could deliver another blow to Spooks, a blast from the rifle of Shadow Squadron's sniper found its mark; hitting the exposed gap between the neck and the breastplate of Scorches armor, causing the large clone to collapse onto the ground; a small round med pack containing a bacta-patch fell out of his pack and rolled across the floor towards Boss's body.

To everyone's surprise, Boss's hand reached out and picked up the small med pack; placing the bacta patch over the blaster wound in his chest.

"Boss...?" Whispered Scorch through the last bit of pain, then laid still; the life leaving his body.

As Boss got to his feet, the Shadow Commandos quickly pointed their blasters at him; but Commander Shadow motioned for the Squad to hold their fire.

"Hold your fire." He said. "Delta-Three-Eight is mine."

Boss slowly looked at Sev.

"Get in there, Delta-Seven." Boss said over the private comm channel in his helmet. "Fight until you've burned our deaths into their memory."

Sev nodded and entered the Interrogation Room, blasting the door's access panel as he did so. The blast door sealed behind him.

Captain Gloom and the Shadow Commandos quickly moved to the sealed door, prepared to gain entry by any means necessary.

Boss and Shadow faced each other. Standing in silence for a moment.

"You'll need more than a bacta patch to stop me from killing you, Traitor." Said Shadow coldly; tossing his blasters aside and drawing his viboknife. "You're already dead... Your body just doesn't know it yet."

"I've got enough life in me to make it a challenge."

Boss and Shadow ran at each other with full intensity, swinging their blades at each other as they exchanged blows.

Boss blocked an attack from Shadow's knife with his arm, and slashed the Commander's arm with his own; leaving a deep cut on Shadow's arm.

The Commander retaliated by punching Boss with an upward cut so hard that it sent the Sergeant's helmet flying off his head; exposing Boss's face.

Boss swung at Shadow again; this time the Commander was ready for it. With lightning quick speed, he grabbed Boss by the wrist, making sure to point the vibodagger away from himself.

"You Delta's are so predictable. 'Always sticking to protocol." -Shadow twisted Boss's wrist, causing him to cry out in pain- "'Using the same old tactics over and over again; hoping that your enemies haven't noticed a pattern in the carefully implemented strategies you've used over the years..."-Shadow kneed Boss hard in his bruised chest, causing the clone to double over.-"...only to have them use that knowledge to form a counterstrategy against you."

Boss looked up at Shadow. "You've betrayed ...the Republic ...and all that we've fought for..." Panted Boss.

"The Republic is dead!" Shouted Shadow; thrusting his viboknife into the clone's heart. "Just like you."

Boss's eyes went wide, then closed; his lifeless body crumbling to the ground as the Commander released his grip on the clone. Boss was dead.

Knowing his end was near, Sev entered the Interrogation Room and set up a defensive position against a wall on the far end of the room. Realizing he had just finished off the last of his ammo, Sev tossed both DC-17M blaster rifle aside, then drew his DC-15s blaster pistol.

The sound of fighting suddenly halted outside the room.

Shadow Squadron closed in on the clone's position, as they stood outside the door.

"Come out here, Traitor!" Shouted Captain Gloom. "There's nowhere to run!"

"I'm not running! You want me? Come and get me!" Said Sev, as the Shadow Commandos breached the door.

Gloom, Umbra, and Shade fired at Sev; hitting the last member of Delta Squad in the arm and leg, causing Sev to fall to his knees; still firing his pistol at his attackers. While his teammates fired at Sev, Spooks tossed a handful of thermal detonators into the Interrogation Room; quickly shutting the door.

The thermal detonators rolled towards the wounded Commando, as they began beeping.

Knowing he was defeated, Sev raised his head in one final act of defiance.

"FOR THE REPUBLIC!" He shouted, as the explosives detonated around him.

*BOOM! *

The Interrogation Room shook from the explosion...then there was only silence...

A while later, the crew of the Black Dart moved about the ship (still wearing all of their armor), performing their duties in complete silence as the shuttle exited the system.

In the briefing room, Shadow stood with Gloom at the holotable. The Commander turned to the Captain.

"Clear the briefing room." Shadow ordered. "I'll inform the Emperor of the mission's success."

Glooms head turned to the Commander.

"Success?" said Gloom bitterly. "We killed our own brothers. Traitors of not, they were still our brothers."

"We had our orders." Said Shadow. "They made their choice. Now...Clear the control room."

Reluctantly, Gloom exited the briefing room, leaving the Commander to himself.

After a moment had passed, the Commander tapped a button on the holotable; a hologram of Emperor Palpatine suddenly appeared above the table.

"You're Majesty." Said the Clone Commander. "The clone traitors of Delta Squad have been eliminated."

"You have done well, Commander." Said the Emperor. "Your actions have assisted in maintaining the peace during this fragile transition period. We cannot allow traitors to roam freely during the infancy of my new Empire. Insurrection must be put down before it is allowed to spread."

"Very good, Sir."

"You have served me faithfully," continued the Emperor, his tone suddenly changed. "But tell me, Commander... Does it bother you that I ordered you to kill a squad of fellow clone troopers?"

"No..." Said Shadow, distantly. "Good soldiers follow orders..."

A small tear slid down the Clone Commander's cheek, concealed from the view of the Emperor by the emotionless visor of his helmet.

-THE END