For the four miniature clones, the path was long and winding through the vents. They had to work together to trek through rising and falling steel corridors without a ladder. To make matters worse, there were uncomfortable winds and constant shaking from all around. The chatter of the girls in the school echoed below, along with massive footsteps as they moved from class to class.
Noticing that Fixer was sprawled with his ear to the ground, Scorch tapped him on the back. "Catching up on the locals' gossip?"
In response, Fixer lifted a finger to silence him. "Some type of lecture on the planet's history. From the sounds of it, they've moved past the tribal era, but still haven't developed interstellar travel."
Sev passed by. "So when we fight them, no starfighter junk. Pure face-to-face combat."
Boss led them onward. "Won't get to that point if I have anything to say about it. This is a stealth mission." Coming to a crossroads in the ventilation, he wasted no time passing down the left passageway. "More heat readings here. If they have any special machinery we can repurpose, this is the way."
Along with the extra heat wafting through came a noticeable spike in bodily odor. Thankfully, the troopers' helmets had filtration mechanisms that were more than enough to protect them in the damper environment. 07 and 62 had to use some of their firepower just to clear away the dust building up inside.
Eventually, they came to thin opening in the flooring. It peeked out of the ceiling above to a room with wide white tiles. Locker cubbies the size of skyscrapers on Coruscant lined the walls, each with narrow holes to air out the belongings. The four Deltas peered in to map routes between the benches they could use for cover. Boss remarked, "looks like a hold for their tools."
Sev started to scout out the, rappelling down from a rope. But as he got halfway down, a sudden, mighty SLAM rang out. His companions armed themselves, as the door swung open. The dark-haired girl from earlier marched in, still looking tense, sweat dripping down her forehead. "Can't believe I lost. I'm the only one there who puts in this extra training time!" The brunette marched to her locker, fists clenched, and started undoing the lock. She slammed on the lock to make after it jammed, struggling to open it.
The commando faced to her, his wire trembling off-balance from her hard, rhythmic steps. He reported back, "Made contact with a local. Damn, same one that scratched my armor."
"Heck's that?" She looked back, the swing of her hair alone making Sev's supporting rope dangle. The girl stomped forward, brows furrowing. "Weird white spider, crawling on a wire... Squashed a lot of weird bugs today, you know."
He began firing, the small spray of blaster shots fizzling against her forehead. She winced in pain, tumbling back on the bench. As she fell on her ass, it created a shake that practically swung Sev against the next wall. Her feet flung out, and from their position above, the onlookers could see scored of B1 and B2 droids trampled in her shoes' print like waffles in an iron.
"Retreat!" Boss commanded.
Sev quickly began climbing up, mumbling, "we'll settle this score later, butterfingers." But as he ascended, he felt a strong wind current, which made the wire wobble and sway. It took all his training and presence of mind to keep balance. In the process, he dropped his weapon. It too was soon squashed beneath her foot.
The girl was blowing on the wire, putting in barely any effort with her breath but completely dominating the clone trooper. "You've made a mistake crossing Ming. I've had a bad day, white bug, and I've been looking for something to take it out on."
The girl, apparently named Ming, grabbed for him while he was still dizzy. Her slender fingers wrapped around him, exerting a crushing pressure. It made his armor nearly cave in with just a small application of force. He was practically ensnared and wrapped in the palm. The communications began to fritz, but his companions heard everything, right down to yells of pain.
Fixer began stepping aside. "He's gone, we'd be best to leave him and save ourselves."
Boss shook his head. "No, we just need a distraction."
Sev lit a small explosive. "My specialty!" He climbed down through the vent on his own rope, and tossed it to the ground. It led to a small blast that slightly shook the tile floor.
"What? Another one?" With her attention turned to the bang on the floor, the giant girl opened her fist into a palm. It freed Sev, and kept her back turned. It was long enough for the other clones to start shooting down on their own ropes.
Sev, gaining his breath, pointed to the locker. "She was trying to get in there. Must be one of her weapons."
As a group, the four Deltas swung into Ming's locker, squeezing through the small air holes. As soon as they made it in, the sour smell got even worse. It was dark and claustrophobic. Everywhere they moved was full of wetness.
"Hey, hands off," Sev snarled.
"This place freaks me out..." Scorch fired everywhere without any results.
"What doesn't?" Fixer tried to analyze the area.
Boss began lighting a flare, and saw around him. "This isn't a weapon. It's a gym bag."
And as they discussed their situation, the giantess got back to her locker, swinging it open. "Who cares where that bug went. I've got more important things." Light burst in, revealing the four clones were...
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