Star Wars The Clone Wars: M.I.A. On a Lost Planet#Wattys2016

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Kael groaned and pushed a piece of metal off of him as he glanced around. He was one of the four clone troopers who had just crash landed on this desolate planet, all because they had taken a pit stop to fix some engine problems after their mission. He sat up and blinked letting his eyes adjust to the light.

When he could see, he looked around taking note of his surroundings. There were trees surrounding the crash site, and some had been knocked down and crushed. The leaves spread on the ground around them were a reddish green color, and the scorched tree trunks were enveloped in a blue vein- like color pattern. The sun was shining directly overhead, and the air was humid and musty. The now burnt grass looked to have been originally orange-yellow.

It was dead quiet except for the noise of the clones, known as Kael, Mako, Crash, and Flyer. After Kael had a clear picture of their surroundings, he saw that Mako, another one of the four troopers, was already up and trying to pull Crash, their pilot, out of the trashed LAAT/ i.To Kael the face was no different than his own. Being clones they all had the same features. The black hair, tan skin, rough features and brown eyes Mako had were just the same as Kael's, but rank was a different matter. In rank Mako was their squad sergeant, and Kael was really just a rookie who had been assigned to go on this mission with the others.

Originally these four clones had been working on a perilous mission doing reconnaissance on a recently Separatist occupied planet. They were supposed to find out if the Separatists were still occupying the planet and if so, report back with a full analysis of the Separatist base.

Since the mission revealed the planet unoccupied, the four of them had been returning to Coruscant. They ran into engine troubles from old damage, though, and pulled out of hyperspace. The Seps, as the Separatists were called, had taken them by surprise and shot their engines into slag. Their skilled pilot and copilot had taken them into a spiral, an act of drastic measures, and then they had crash landed on the planet. Kael stood up and looked around to see if the other trooper who had been with them was with Mako.

"Sir, where's Flyer?" he inquired walking over to where Mako was.

"He didn't survive the crash," said Mako, his voice sounding different through his helmet. He attempted to get into the ships remains so he could see if Crash was alive.

"What about Crash, Sir?"

"I'm getting there. I'm sure he's fine, but first I have to get him out of here."

"Yessir," replied Kael, understanding Mako's underlined order.

Eventually, Kael and Mako had cleared a way in, and as Kael got into the cockpit he could see that Crash was slumped over the controls unconscious. Flyer was also in the cockpit, and Kael was now able to see for himself that Flyer was dead. Hauling Crash out of the chair and off the controls, Kael dragged the unconscious pilot out into the open. After a few minutes, Crash was awake as well.

"Sir, any idea where we are?" Kael asked as he stood up; he grabbed his helmet and turned it over in his hands to check for external damage.

"We should be just outside the Rimma Trade Route on a planet named Nagem. It's about two parsecs galactic west of Utapau," Mako answered, his voice deceivingly calm.

"Our last known coordinates were over the East side of Nagem. I've read it was practically all forest until you reach the west side border," Crash informed them, as he sat up and looked around letting his helmet sensors adjust.

"No chance we're busting out in that crate," Mako said disdainfully.

Crash looked at what was left of the ship then said, "I concur. I think we'll need a new way off this rock."