Far Outer Rim,

Thirty Nine days after Battle of Geonosis

Tens watched as sapphire blue light streamed past, lost in thought.

"I can't believe we're still alive," he mused absently as another clone pulled the yacht out of hyperspace.

Below deck, two other troopers were busy checking their weapons just in case, after all, they were clones, bred on Kamino as wet fighting machines.

"Yeah ner vod, if it wasn't for me," the pilot swiveled about, facing Tens with a mischievous grin, "we all would still be back on..."

"Oh no you don't Riot!" cried an identical, yet incredulous voice from the back of the cabin, "You're the shabuir who picked this fekking bantha-sized bull's-eye with no 'big' guns as our escape ship!" The new trooper, back from the lower level, gave the 'pilot', his closest brother, the best critical look he could muster. He wasn't in the mood to hear of anything other than the truth from his brother, that truth being they were possibly lost and in a sub-standard stolen Republic vessel.

"Well it got us off the destroyer, didn't it?" Riot grinned back, getting up from the pilots chair but giving the controls another quick look. He had enjoyed piloting the small craft, even if it was only brief, "We're not dead yet, now are we?"

"That can still be arranged ner vod..." the other trooper scoffed, grabbing hold of an overhead consul to steady himself. The cramped cockpit could barely fit two clone soldiers, but three, in full armor was pushing its limited capabilities.

Riot's eyes narrowed, his cordial nature seemingly forgotten as the other trooper took a step back, "Watch what you say Jumps... I was the one who saved our collective shebs from the seppies, not you!"

Tens, sitting comfortably in the co-pilots chair, watched his brother's quarrel with fraying patience... silently wondering if the airlocks could be activated from the controls in front of him...

"You're just lucky you figured out how to jump to hyperspace..." Jumps folded his arms...

Before Riot could respond, Tens took the opportunity to join in, for better or worse, "Come to think of it Riot, where did you learn to fly? Besides flash-training I might add."

Riot found his brothers staring at him intently, both clones displaying their most serious 'matter of fact' look. In truth, Tens was curious and slightly concerned, Riot's tenure as a pilot hadn't been completely error free; their current predicament adamantly proved that fact.

"I... uhh," Riot placed a hand behind his neck, his face reddening. He wasn't too willing to recount his non flash-trained experience as a pilot, "My squad asked me to fly a cargo ship back on Kamino, sir," the sheepish reply was directed to Tens.

Riot could remember all too well how he'd almost killed himself and his squad that day.

Jumps, never missing the chance to annoy his closest brother, wasted no time in reminding him.

"It was more like a dare you di'kut, and don't forget the part where you crashed the 'empty' cargo ship ten seconds after take-off. If you could even call it a take-off," he snickered. Jumps would never forget the bet he and his 5-year old squad mates had made that day.

Almost all clones were flash-trained with basic knowledge on how to pilot a ship, while clones bred specifically to be pilots were given rigorous training and, before advancing past year 4, had to pass a basic flight simulation test.

However, all squads and clones, even those not destined to be pilots, were still allowed to take the simulation test. There was always the chance, however small, that a clone not specifically bred for pilot training could still qualify for it. The Kaminoans figured in the long run, such chances could turn the tide in a battle, or even win the war.

So for fun, Riot and Jumps squad had decided to try one of the flight tests for themselves.

While everyone failed the test, Riot and Jumps failed the test rather miserably. While Jumps was content with his limitations, Riot hated loosing, and was eager to redeem himself to his squad mates.

So a few days later, as the young recruits passed through one of Tipoca City's cavernous cargo bays, Jumps suggested to Riot that he should try to pilot one of the Kaminoan cargo transports; making a point that it would be far easier to fly than the simulated LAAT/i.

Before anyone could stop him, Riot was in the cargo ship.

Bang!

As Jumps recalled, Riot never even made it off the ground.

Instead, he managed to push the throttle forward and somehow disengage the anti-grav lifts. With no downward thrust, the ship collided straight into the cargo bay wall, screeching along the durasteel floor as it went.

At the time, Jumps was disappointed the ship hadn't burst into a fiery explosion like in the simulations, but in hindsight he was glad his brother made it out alive. The entire ordeal was well worth the demerits the squad had received in the end.

"How many times do I have to tell you Jumps, it was a gust of wind that blew me off course," Riot's assurance didn't seem to impress his brothers.

"We were in a cargo hold Riot! Indoors!" Jumps cried, pushing his index finger against his brother's plastoid chest-plate.

"Knock it off you two," Tens ordered as Riot threatened to push back with a fist.

"Yes, sir!" the troopers echoed back in unison whilst attempting to stand at attention in the cramped cockpit.

Tens rolled his eyes. He was growing increasingly restless with their current situation and he lacked the patience for their inane bickering.

'I can't believe when I asked who had more piloting experience I gave the controls to Riot,' he thought with a sigh, watching as the last trooper on the ship entered the bridge, walking with purpose over to the ships Navi-charts. As with most of the experienced soldiers in the battalion, like Tens, this trooper's armor was painted green. Two green stripes ran down each arm, while thick green outlined his back and chest plates... it was a kit as familiar to Tens as the back of his own hand...

"Right'eye," Tens motioned a gauntleted hand towards Jumps and Riot, "you've missed sooo much ner vod..." the sarcasm wasn't lost on either of them, "do you have any idea where in the kriff we are yet?"

The trooper in question carefully watched the numbers scrolling in front of him. He wanted to reply 'in deep osik, that's where,' but thought better of it. Taking one last scrutinizing look at the screen, Right'eye took off his helmet, the right side of his visor also outlined in green. Brushing a hand across his brown hair in frustration, he turned to his brothers.

"I think the ships Navi-computer has malfunctioned," he struggled to continue, "The last system it shows us passing was Lahsbane, another outer-rim system near Churba, but that was well before Riot figured out how to stop the ship," he gestured a gloved hand towards their current pilot, who perked up at the mention of his piloting skills, "after that it seems the computer just stopped recording... might be battle damage from our escape but I'm still checking it out."

Right'eye locked eyes with his closest brother for a brief moment, his 'we're in way over our heads' look on full display.

Sighing heavily, Tens felt a pang of guilt in his gut seeing the right side of his brother's face... 'as always...'

"That's just what I needed to hear ner vod, thanks for that..."

"You're welcome," Right'eye smiled before turning back to continue his interrogation of the Navi-chart.

It was turning out to be one of 'those' kind of days.

In his mind, Tens ran through the past eighteen standard hours, going over the events that found the four troopers on a high-jacked Republic Consular Cruiser, lost and alone in the vastness of space.

The small diplomatic yacht's tell-tale red color indicated its political past. Why it had been on the Star Destroyer was anyone's guess, and right now, Tens didn't care in the slightest. It was there and available, and a far better option, to Tens, than a pod bobbing around in deep space…

The attack on our Star Destroyer was swift and deadly, an ambush led by two Separatist battleships.

Half of the 442nd Attack Battalion had been ordered from Coruscant to patrol the Churba System.

There were reports of an enemy presence in the Republic held system, and unfortunately for us, it had turned out to be true. Surprising really, given the Republic's recent track record in intelligence gathering.

The ambush came without warning from behind a nearby moon.

After a long and valiant fight, which lit up even the darkness of space, our Captain gave his final orders to abandon ship.

In the chaos that followed, I panicked and like a complete di'kut, missed my assigned escape pod.

That's when I found two white armored shinies running down a hallway in the exact same situation. They didn't know where their squad had gone, and being rookies to the battalion, this was the first real action they had seen in their short lives. One of the first rules we learned as cadets on Kamino was to never leave a brother behind, no matter how wet behind the ears or new his armor was.

"You two," I had yelled, "stick close to me or I swear we're all going to be a new constellation in a matter of minutes!"

Running full pelt, the three of us turned down another corridor and ran right into another brother.

Never in my short life had I ever been so happy to see my brother-by-choice Right'eye then in that moment.

We made a fine group. Right'eye and I had left Kamino a month before Riot and Jumps, a month which in this war, feels like an eternity. Even so, the two shinies were quickly earning their creds.

Right'eye and I had earned ours on Geonosis.

Geonosis, fek, why am I even thinking about that?

With a massive explosion shaking the ship, the three looked to me and I knew I had to think fast. As my heart raced, thumping hard in my armor, I decided our best bet was the main dorsal hangar bay. We sprinted as fast as we could in that direction as we hoped, no, more like prayed to manda there would still be at least one ship there.

As the Star Destroyer started disintegrating around us, Riot was the one found the Consular Cruiser.

Jumps was right, it was 'a fekking bantha-sized bull's-eye with no big guns'. When I asked the others for piloting experience, Riot said he had the most and given the dire situation at the time, I wasn't about to argue. Somehow our new pilot was able to start the ship, and as soon as we passed the Star Destroyer's hangar bay doors, Riot miraculously found the Hyperdrive controls and presto, we're now floating in the very outer reaches of the known galaxy.

I do feel guilty about our escape.

While I may have saved Jumps, Riot and Right'eye, I left my battalion, my brothers and squad, to drift helplessly in their pods at the mercy of the Seps. I pray on my life that they all survived. However right now is no time for distractions, because for us, I honestly fail to see how this day could get any worse.

Just then, Right'eye turned around, interrupting Tens thoughts with another concerned look.

"Now's probably not the best time to mention this... but we're leaking engine coolant. We more than likely hit debris on the jump to Hyperspace."

'I stand corrected,' Tens mused to himself... he knew his brother better than anyone... and the look being directed at him meant only one thing... 'we're in deep osik...'

This was turning out to be more than just one of 'those' days.

Author Note: Hey there. I hope you're finding this story interesting. It's a great story, I promise, and if you don't think so, please send me a review. Tell me what could be better or what's good, I appreciate it all the same. This chapter has been re-written as of 4-25-2017. Thanks to my Beta, Ms CT-782, for her amazing work, I honestly can't thank you enough for all the work you've put into this story... two pairs of eyes are always better than one. ; )