Previously, on Dead Among the Living...
"If we can increase our power supply by rerouting it to our community we will be able to keep this place up and running.”
“Starting tomorrow each of you will be taught how fight like a soldier."
"Your motivation to train will be your brothers in arms who died so that we can live.”
“Survivors of Bondo III, there is a community of survivors in the Rurlian sector of the planet. You will find signs that will lead you in the right direction.”
“Those who arrive survive. Together, and only together do we have a chance to make it.”
There is uproar in hangar bay G-13 on the chaotic planet of Bondo III. The virus is spreading like a flame, and the lower class members of civilian life have taken to harsh terms in order to survive.
But the Bondo Military Corpse must hold this hangar. The transport parked behind the line of troops was strictly for the Prime Minister. His escape was vital, and they were given orders to use lethal force if necessary.
"Stay back!" Jaimz Mortarr warned, "This shuttle is for the Prime Minister only!"
"Just like every other shuttle we've attempted to board! They ain't letting us lower class citizens leave until all the rich people do!" one being responded angrily,
Harvis Traper and his father watched numbly as the people around them screamed and cried just for a chance to board the shuttle.
"Back off! I'll pound you all if I have to!" Pinn Ternin growled, "There's isn't enough room for even two of you!"
Watching the crowd grow in frustration, Tubo shakes his head in response to everything that was happening. He was supposed to escort the Prime Minister to this very shuttle. But he didn't. What was the point? There were already four other senate guards just like him that were escorting the rich leader; what would a fifth expendable (who wasn't even going to get a chance to escape) going to change?
"If he were a real leader he'd wait for everyone in the district to leave first!" a raspy mammal stated.
Assessing the situation, Landon Armstrong was aware that the crowd would soon turn into a furious mob within minutes.
"Where is the Prim Minister?!"
"Probably drinking his last cup of Bakka in his credit bath before he leaves..." Pinn snorted,
"If the crowd goes viral I doubt even lethal force will stop them all from trampling us over!"
"I don't doubt you, Pinn but we gotta hold the line. Orders are orders." Landon calmly responded,
"I have a bad feeling about all of this," Chanto Vos observed, "all this noise could attract the monsters."
"I don't like any of this. I'm considering going AWOL." Ally Letmer considered,
"We are not making that an option. While the whole world is falling apart, we have to be the ones trying to keep it together..."
"...even if the whole galaxy is trying to break you; making ten men feel like a hundred!"
"What the grack is the Republic doing here?!" Pinn snapped as clone troops marched from behind them.
"I don't know. Hold your positions, I'll deal with this."
Stepping onto the scene are members of the 501st led by a captain in outdated armor.
"What gives you jurisdiction here on Bondo III?" Landon sneers at the clone, "We're a neutral planet." ,
"We'ved been informed by the Clone Intelligence Unit that the Confederacy has captured two clones and are holding them captive in this sector..."
"...and whether you like it or not, the war has been brought to Bondo III. We have jurisdiction over this planet now."
"You don't understand what's going on here. The planet is under quarantine. We're trying to evacuate everyone!"
"Bomber!" a clone officer cried out,
Out of nowhere a man with a missile launcher steps from the crowd,
"Sludge the rich people!" the man cried before firing his missile!
The launcher screamed as the projectile fired into the transport...
Irrupting into a fiery inferno!
Flung to the ground, most of the troops were knocked unconscious from the blast, and most of the civilians were already out of the hangar running for their lives!
"I got him!" the captain fired, his shot reaching its mark, killing the terrorist.
"Maintain positions!" Landon winced as he slowly rose to his feat,
"Whoever was meant to rendezvous here won't be leaving anytime time soon. Inform the people escorting him and tell them to hole up somewhere until the war is over..."
"...and until then, you and your men are working for us now."
"Look!" a young woman cried out, "They're here!"
Just as Chanto expected, the undead began to pour into the hangar; the noise and ruckus drawing their attention. First there were a few, then there were several, and then there were dozens. They never stopped coming.
"Landon..."
"Landon..."
"You're acting really strange, Landon..."
"Landon!" Pinn Ternin growled one last time at his phased friend in rusting brown durasteal armor,
"Sorry, Pinn my mind was...elsewhere."
"No kidding," the hooded soldier smirked, "look, man this sorta thing is important. We're talking about complete strangers entering our community-"
"Pinn. I'm sorry. I understand the gravity of the situation, but if we're trying to figure out how were gonna determine who is worthy to enter Pandem and who isn't, here's what needs to happen:.."
"...We still have several of the identity scans, they just need to be charged and that's what the electricity we stole is for, we get scans of everyone coming to the community and search them on I.D databases to see how good of a citizen they were..."
"...Were they valuable citizens to the public? Were the criminals? Were they soldiers? What does their medical history look like? Were they ever diagnosed to be insane? If they appear to be good people, we let them in. I they don't, we won't."
"It's a good plan, Landon don't get me wrong," General Goff Rubar replied, "But people change. What if they used to be good people and now they aren't? What if a bad man discovered the errors of his old ways and became good and we refused to let him in? This world...it does things to people. Makes them go crazy. What happens when we can't let people in?"
"Only time can tell who is good and who isn't," the clone commander responded in support to Landon's idea, "and those that don't check out; those who show us that they can't be good..."
"...Well, let's just say my men will take care of them."
"You're saying we kill people who aren't worthy to enter my community?" the general questioned, Landon shook his head,
"No. We will only show them the way out. If they struggle, then we use lethal force."
"Then I can't say I disagree with your plan. We will go through with the strategy, but I don't wanna start a war with the survivors of Pandem. We're already causing friction with the Confederacy after rerouting a portion of the power."
"I think war with the Confederacy here on Bondo is inevitable," Pinn smirks, "All it takes is one of us to do something drastic."
"Rerouting the power supply cost us the lives of clones," Chanto Vos observes, "that was drastic enough."
"A conversation for another time," Goff butted in, "for now let's focus on the expansion of our community. Meeting adjourned."
As the council goes their ways, Nava steps into the hangar to speak with Landon.
"Hey Landon!" she called out to him. Landon recognized her voice instantly. It was her; the woman he took several laser blasts for. His body was still sore, but the two are still alive for it.
"Hey," he said, "How's your kid?"
"Oh he's fine, he's loving the place. I think he really liked see another one of his kind; the Jedi I mean."
"Yeah," Landon smiled, "I didn't think kids his age could survive in a world like this."
"He's different, by far. But I wanted to thank you, Landon." Nava solemnly spoke,
"You don't have to thank me. In fact, you'll never have to."
Laughing in response, Nava responded light heartedly, "No, I think you're wrong. Besides it makes me feel better after letting you get shot."
"Oh 'letting' me get shot huh?" Landon smiled,
"I had the shot, you just got in the way..."
"...If I didn't have Jedi-like reflexes you would have four blaster wounds instead of three!"
On the outer walls of the community, the twenty-four hour security team watches carefully for survivors and incoming dead.
"I see two survivors entering through the gate!"
Numbly striding through entrance, two living, breathing and surviving citizens of Bondo III ignored the dozens of solders watching them.
Jaiz Mortarr came up behind them to escort them to the entrance. One of the survivors spun around with her staff ready to attack.
"Friendly, friendly!" Jaimz staggered back holding his gun in the air, "I'm just escorting you to the entrance of the community."
"She doesn't want to be escorted," one of the soldiers smiled, "the girl's got this. Why don't you take care of the stiff following them?"
"Right," Jaimz grunted, "Got it!"
"Ungrateful people, don't even wanna escort..."
"Can't blame me when I'm not there to take care of the stiffs when they come back to bite them in the trosk!"
"I tell ya, the smell get's worse every time I pull a frockin' trigger!"
"We got a crawler along the side of the tower!" a clone called out,
"Got it..." the woman soldier affirmed,
"You wanna clean that one up too, Jaimz?"
"Yeah sure, why not?" Jaimz replied sarcastically,
"Jaimz get behind the gate!" one of the soldiers bellowed. One of the clones looked out in the distance to see what his friend was seeing,
"What do you see?"
"A large herd...but I can't tell if they're friendlies."
"Just tell me when, and my men will open fire." the clone offered. The soldier shook his head after looking closer,
"I don't think these are stiffs."
"There's so many!" Jaimz exclaimed,
"Get them through the gate!" the clone commanded the soldiers.
Standing by the gate, Jaimz couldn't help but smile as one survivor after the other walked past the entrance.
"This is Pandem right?" one of the survivors asked,
"Yup. You got it. We'll have people inside the community ready with I.D scans. If you cooperate, you'll be relaxing on a soft sofa in no time."
"S’ven Marloew would have liked this." a familiar survivor smiled hopefully,
Once inside, clone troops and soldiers of the Bondo Military Corpse scanned the survivors for any infectious diseases, and for I.D scans
"You're clear," the clone confirmed, "proceed to the next scanner."
"Place your finger here." the second clone commanded.
After a few seconds the data base came through. The clone sent a copy of the man's file to another team of clones for them to discern.
"Wait at the next line for the troops to decide if you can stay or not."
Landon smiled at the success of the process.
"This is it." Nava nodded,
"What do you mean?" Pinn wondered,
"She means this how we survive," Chanto Vos replied,
"Only with the help of those around us can we achieve success in anything."
"Making it now," Landon added, "working together is even more relevant."
"Once we get the Confederates out of the way we can start putting together communications outside the planet." the clone captain mused,
"And what about the Jedi?" Nava presented,
"We get the Confederates; we get the Jedi," Pinn replied, "Simple as that."
"If only it were simple." Landon observed,
"You accomplished all of this with ease," Pinn chuckled, "saving our Jedi will be simple if you lead us."
Reorganizing his belongings in his office, the General contemplates the future of his facility.
Pinn was right: war with the Confederates was inevitable. Was his community ready for war? Even with the clones and his own troops training some of the capable civilians how to fight would they be able to defend themselves against legions of war machines?
Suddenly a chill ran down Goff's spine. He spun around pointing his blaster in the direction he felt he should point.
"Step into the light, stranger," Goff warned, "I have a high minichlorian count, so sensing where you are won't be difficult for me."
"Something we both have in common, friend." Jedi Master Jay greeted as he pulled his hood off his head.
"You're a...a Jedi?" Goff wondered, "How did you get in?"
"I have my ways of getting places without being seen. But that is not the point. I want to make you aware of something." Jay informed,
Lowering his blaster, Goff opened himself to the old Bothan Jedi.
"Go ahead."
"I want you to know that me and my pupils are here for your community. Especially now that your Jedi friends are captured for reasons I know not of,"
"But something else," the Master Jedi continued, "war is brewing here on Bondo III. I have sensed that the casualties will be great..."
"There is a huge factor that will determine the war, and the Confederates have it, along with several others."
"Tell me." Goff Rubar insisted,
"It involves your clone friends. Each and every one of them were issued inhibitor chips in their brains..."
"I know of it," Goff nodded, "I was informed when the Clone Wars first began. However I do not know what they are for."
"It is for executive orders given by the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic, or if orders issued by the senate are executed to them. Once given, the clones have little ability to refuse the order..."
"...it means they will obey without hesitation; without question."
"But why would the Chancellor need inhibitor chips for the clones?" Goff questioned, "They are already as loyal to him as the Jedi are to the-"
Suddenly, Goff understood what was happening. He understood what the inhibitor chip was made for after wondering for more than six years.
"He issued the chips to use against the Jedi." Goff determined, Jay nodded,
"That is correct. And I sense that the Chancellor has already issued the command. I sensed three years ago the deaths of hundreds of Jedi like myself. Only a few of us have survived."
"But if he did, why haven't the troops here responded to the order?" Goff wondered,
"Perhaps because comms went down before the order reached them." Jay mused,
"The Confederates are the most secure people on Bondo III as of now," Goff realized, "If they received that information through our comms somehow, they can use the order against us!"
"Precisely, General. You must understand what I am asking of you, yes?"
"Yes. We can't send a rescue mission out to the Jedi. Getting them back could risk having the clones turn on us and get even more of my community destroyed."
"Unfortunately yes, that is the truth," Jay nodded, "that is how we make it now. You have to do it without your old Jedi friends. However, the Confederates don't know of any other Jedi in your community. It will be a very long time before they find out."
"Until then," Jay smiled, "like I said: my pupils and I are here to help."
...he was going to have to do it with his new Jedi friends.
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