Star Wars The Clone Wars: Cuy'Val Dar#Wattys2016

Seven

Sarge had just decapitated another of the strange droids when he heard Bogie scream. He quickly turned, blasted a droid in the head, and then his eyes began roaming the battlefield for any sign of the twins. He couldn't see either.

"Haley!" he yelled.

"I'll find Bookkie, sir," the medic said. Sarge didn't have to say anything after that as he squeezed off a few shots and then ducked under laser fire and ran towards the last place he had seen either twin. Reaching the slight ridge, he dodged laser fire, his eyes searching the ground. He turned to the left to hit a droid and saw Bogie, lying on the ground, a few feet away. Sarge gunned down the droid and sprinted to the aid of Bogie. Dropping down onto his knees, Sarge double checked to make sure there weren't any droids advancing his way before he turned his attention to the downed trooper. He reached down, feeling for a pulse. He located one quickly; Bogie was just unconscious. Unsure which twin had been injured, Sarge rolled the trooper onto his back and looked for any wounds. He found nothing, but the wound from before. Bogie was fine. Sarge prepared to comm Haley and check on Bookkie when he heard the sound of Haley running towards him.

"Sarge, help me get Bogie, we need to leave," the medic said. He sounded slightly out of breath and rushed, running his words together as he spoke.

"Why?" Sarge asked. Haley looked up, already stooping down to pick up Bogie.

"It's too dangerous for him to be out here."

Sarge cocked an eyebrow, then glanced up at the medic. For the first time, he noticed the man was alone.

"Where's Bookkie?" he asked as Haley lifted Bogie off the ground. The medic looked down at Sarge. Haley's tone was grim as he answered.

"Sir, Bookkie is dead."

////

The clones finally managed to finish off the droids after a prolonged battle which left everyone fatigued and wearied. The strange droids had proved to be worthy opponents, and able combatants. Almost too able. The aftermath of the battle almost proved to be more devastating, however. Multiple injuries, some serious, had been sustained by almost every man. Sarge began to feel overwhelmed by the gravity of it all. He wandered around while his men searched the field for any casualties. Just moments ago, Jordar's body had been recovered and brought back. Sarge kicked a droid head as he walked around the battle field. They had won, yet, in the same sense, they had lost. The droids had proven better than them and had weakened them. Sighing, the sergeant stopped and looked around. Smoke rose from the bodies of the droids, yet everywhere he saw his men, injured physically and mentally, going about looking for any other wounded or dead. He saw only one man in the field, but he knew that Haley was busy tending to the injured, and Bogie. Sarge looked down for a moment before wandering around a little more. He should be searching for wounded, or helping Haley, but he couldn't. He just needed to think. He didn't get the luxury, though. As he wandered past one of the droids, he spotted one of his men pinned underneath it. Sarge turned and grabbed the droids heavy body, hauling it of the trooper, unsure if the man was alive or not. He knelt down on one knee and pulled off the man's helmet. Sarge froze for a moment, holding the cracked helmet in his hands as he stared at the man's face. There was no need to check for a pulse. The trooper was dead.

Sarge looked down and closed his eyes. That made three men. Three of his men. It took the sergeant a moment to recover, then he was able to look back at the trooper. It was a waste, throwing away a man's life like this.

Not everyone get's to live out the peace the rest of us fight for, Sarge had to remind himself as he reached out and set the man's helmet down. Due to the injury, he couldn't make out which man it was, so he pulled off the ID tally and read it off: CT/110/4.

Whiplash.

Sarge clutched the tally in his hand and bowed his head again. He couldn't waste time, though, so he finally pocketed the tally and stood up. He picked up the trooper's body, carrying it to where Ari and Specter had laid the corpses of Bookkie and Jordar. Another casualty. No, another man.

Sarge turned away, his stomach turned by the sight of the bodies. Less than an hour ago he had been talking with those men, his brothers. Now, he would never speak another word to either of them. Sarge left. He couldn't focus on the dead right now, they had lost nearly half their day. Clones didn't get to grieve until after the battle, and right now, they were still fighting and time was not a forgiving enemy. Sarge walked over to where Haley had a makeshift medical site. Ari was leaving, his leg having been fixed up. Haley returned to where Bogie was lying, not aware of the sergeant approaching. Sarge walked up behind him.

"How is he?" he asked.

Haley calmly looked up. "His vitals only scared me twice, but he's stabilized now."

"Has he awakened yet?" Sarge asked. He noted that the trooper was currently in an unconscious state. Haley turned around and shook his head.

"He hasn't, and honestly, Sarge, I can't say if he ever will."

Looking up in a bit of shock, Sarge fixed his eyes on the medic. "I thought he was going to be fine?"

"Physically, for the moment, but I can't say anything for his mental state right now."

"You're a medic, surely you can make some assessment of his mental health based on something," Sarge protested.

Haley crossed his arms over his chest and gave Sarge a telling look. "The man that was almost like the other half of his mind just died. That's like trying to rip yourself in half. Tell me, would you wake up?"

Sarge sighed. "I see your point."

"Don't get me wrong, Sarge, I'm not saying that he won't ever wake up, I'm simply stating it as an option. I know you'd all rather he woke up in a matter of hours and was his old self, but we've gotta face reality. Bookkie's dead and without him, Bogie's never going to be the same man that he was before."

Sarge glanced back at the unconscious trooper, nodding. Haley was right.

"We can't take him with us, though, and we have to move," Sarge said after a long moment. Haley followed the sergeant's gaze.

"You're right. I'll stay with him."

"How long? We'll need you back at the base, and I can't have you out here for days waiting for hi to wake up."

Haley uncrossed his arms and walked up to Sarge, looking the clone sergeant in the eyes. Sarge knew the answer to his own question, he just didn't want to say it.

"Go. Either one of both of us will meet you all at the base in three days," the medic said. Sarge dipped his head in acknowledgment then turned away.

Sarge helped Specter bury the bodies of the dead in one grave, trying not to show how unnerved he was by the whole ordeal. They went through training for this, and Sarge could clearly remember losing men in live fire practices: Trace, Mize. Yet, somehow, this felt different. Sarge couldn't understand why, but inside him there was something that found it hard to deal with losing his brothers so quickly and so suddenly. Even so, though, he repressed such feelings as he shoveled dirt back into the grave. Once the bodies were covered, he checked in one last time with Haley, then ordered his men to gather around.

"Men, you all know that we've sustained injuries and casualties, however, as soldier of the GAR, we can't take time to grieve yet. We need to move towards the base while there's still daylight so that we can make it back in time. Haley will be staying here with trooper Bogie. They will meet us at the base in three days, if not less. Am I understood?"

"Copy," everyone said. Sarge slipped on his helmet, giving himself a couple of seconds to let the scanners recalibrate to his surroundings. Then he looked back one last time. Hopefully, this would be the first, and the last time they left behind the dead, because Sarge didn't plan on losing another man on this mission.