At Ara'Novor

Chapter 2

Cody's POV
1500 (3:45 p.m.)

Cody exited the hideout and had backtracked to where the village was. He knew that it took them 20 minutes to get to the hideout. So Cody needed to pick up the pace. Thunder rumbled 3 klicks North from Cody's position, in the direction the village was in. There were clouds hovering above the treetops, dark and angry-looking; the storm the woman warned them about, it was upon them. The air had turned humid rather quickly, blowing from right to left violently, like a hurricane, like the rocky storms on Kamino. Cody swayed with the wind and fought against it. He rushed forth to hurry up. Raindrops fell heavily from the sky. Cody's footprints were left in the soggy ground with a squelching sound, as he pounded through green bushes and wooded hiding spots.

Come on! He ran for 10 more minutes until he could hear them.

The whirrs of the clankers' gears. They were everywhere. They carried out commands and took out any troopers on the outskirts of the village. it was a warzone. Cody dove for cover and searched high and low, desperately for an opening, so then he could make it back to the village alive. If he did, then Rex could be saved.

I won't let him die.

5 minutes. 4 minutes. 3 minutes. 2 minutes. 1 minute. A strikingly loud exploded shook the ground. The slippery mud was turning this long run into a kriffing nightmare! Lightning flashed brightly overhead and then loud thunder roared. It pierced his eardrums. Splatters of wet mud flew everywhere, and Cody scrambled and crouched low; he didn't want to be seen by the cluster of clankers. Everything was in chaos. This strange howling sound echoed through the dirt-filled air and the pained cries of brothers rang out from every direction.

Cody paused, He looked back, took two steps. He was checking behind himself. He was worried, hesitant, but he also knew he had to keep going.

He'll be fine. And the kid will be too, as long as she stays with him. I just hope I can get back there as quickly as possible, Rex's life is depending on me.

Cody finally reached the village, without issue, after a full 20 minutes of running non-stop. The damage was horrific. Cody ducked his head and steered clear of being seen. He had one goal in mind, to get to the Generals. Cody ducked into the closest cover and tightened his hold on his rifle. The hard metal dug into his skin, but he didn't worry about that. The years of training were coming back again, full force, and he had to focus. A vod, in 212th colors, crashed to the ground next to him; with his identically wet armor-covered hand, clutching onto his weapon of choice.

It was covered in blood.

"Kriffing hells! Gotcha! Ha! You good brotha?" The trooper asked. He panted heavily while and shot at the clankers over the log they are hiding behind. Raindrops slid down his plastoid armor, it glistened prettily, as tiny transparent dots scrambled and raced to the very bottom of his thigh plate. "Yeah! Keep at it!" The trooper looked down at his Commander and saluted quickly, before disappearing into the fog.

Now Cody was alone.

It was about an hour 45 minutes later, exactly 1700 p.m, when the explosions stopped their harassment. When the shrapnel flew no more. And it was dead silent, except for your occasional cries of pain and military boots that pounded into the ground. The storm had yet to stop, it still bellowed above, and it's going to get worse. That's what the woman said. Cody's eyes struggled to observe and focus with all this rain that drizzled down on to him. His vision's compromised, but he did spot the General a couple of feet away. He walked past injured villagers, who tried to get to cover, children were crying and were searching for their parents amongst the chaos, and one of his men covered a villager's corpse with a charred blanket.