The Clone's Hero (Star Wars: The Clone Wars)

Commander's Choice (Final pt11)

The hardest decision is one that involves lives

The microscopic nanodroid observer Trench used was reactivated. It scurried about the surface of the battlefield terrain and reached the legion gathered around the crash site. Dooku adjusted the nanodroid using the controller taken from the severely injured Trenc in the safety of his palace. He focused the observer's camera and could see the clones conversing with the buried Kal beneath the wreckage.

Kal was saying something and soon, everyone moved slightly to the right of where he was buried. Steele approached the wreckage and heard the faint sound of someone knocking against the metal. He immediately knew who was making the sound. Turning around to the company, he gave everyone a signal.

Everyone except for Ahsoka stepped back. She walked forth, rolling up the blue sleeves of Aliyah's tunic, ready to get to business.

Dooku saw it all via the nanodroid observer. He notified Palpatine instantly. "Master," he said to the hologram.

"Yes?" Palpatine responded.

"The clone subject is still alive. Buried and injured, but alive. And so is the Jedi."

~ O O O ~

"Urgh!"

Ahsoka grunted as she attempted to lift the main piece of metal wreckage on top of Kal and Aliyah. She was using the Force to her utmost ability. But it wasn't the lack of strength here that was the problem.

Steele immediately saw the problem. "Whoa whoa whoa!"

Loose debris on top of the ruined facility began falling and coming apart. Underneath the metal wreckage, Kal and Aliyah reacted instinctively to the sudden falling of more debris upon them. They screamed and covered their heads in protection. Luckily, they didn't get hit any more than they expected.

Ahsoka quickly and gently the main piece of wreckage back down. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Under the debris, Kal and Aliyah's pulse quickly returned to normal from its recent spike.

"Sir? What just happened!?" Kal demanded in panic. "What the kriff's going on out there!?"

"Just testing out the waters!" Steele reassured. He knew it was far from alright but he didn't want to cause any more panic. "We got it under control now, it's fine!"

Ahsoka was still a little shaken from what just happened. "I'm sorry. I—"

"Don't apologize," Steele cut off. He turned to his legion and their allies. "Hey! Let's start moving some the loose debris up there! Whatever you think that might help with getting that giant piece of metal out of the way! Be mindful of what you move!"

Soldiers, ex-Separatists, and even members of Trench's research team began scouring the pile of metal ruins, removing any bits and pieces that could potentially fall onto the two buried victims.

Everyone was continuously removing debris from the wreckage above Kal and Aliyah. The mountain of unstable ruins began shrinking. Every so often, Steele would have them all return so Ahsoka could have another go at removing the main piece of wreckage. And everytime she could not lift it without compromising Kal and Aliyah's safety, everyone would return to removing more debris. And on and on the cycle went.

Each passing minute felt like an hour, and the group of people grew more scared with each failed attempt. They began trying different techniques of keeping the loose wreckage stable, or retrieving Kal and Aliyah through other methods, but it all proved too dangerous or just futile.

The sun eventually reached its peak point in the sky. Everyone was getting exhausted. How long had they been going at this?

"Kal?" Steele neared the gap in the wreckage. "General?"