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DT-666, also called Sixes, hated Eadu. He hated it about as much as he loved Scarif. Curse the imperial research facility that had to be on that god forsaken piece of rainy rock. Why couldn’t it be a beach paradise like Scarif?
He remembered director Krennic’s discussions with the scientists about various planets that housed kyber crystals and all of them sounded awful. Ilum, an ice planet. Jedha, a desert moon with unbearable heat. And then there was Eadu. Eadu with stormy weather, barely any visibility and ever soaking rain.
And yet that was their current destination. Krennic and his trusted guards were on their way to the Eadu Research Facility where Galen Erso was working.
Their shuttle suddenly shook and Sixes heard Pterro, their pilot, curse as he scrambled for control. Next to Sixes Krennic was still deep in thought completely ignorant of his surroundings. Sixes felt bad for his boss. There he was, his life's work finally finished and working and then it was taken from him in the blink of an eye.
Grand Moff Tarkin sure had made a spectacle of it in front of all those officers. But Sixes trusted the director. If Krennic said he would get to the bottom of this, he believed him.
"Damn these lazy engineers, they were supposed to have fixed that", Pterro muttered loud enough for Sixes to hear. The shuttle shook even more violently, causing Sixes to automatically reach for Krennic, to hold him in his seat. The director barely reacted, by now used to Sixes handling him if he felt the situation required it.
"Better strap yourself in!" Pterro shouted from the front. "One of our stabilizers is shot and the proximity sensor array just got fried along with it."
Sixes almost repeated Pterro’s curse. One of those things on their own could lead to a spectacular crash but both of them pretty much guaranteed it. Pterro was a great pilot but Eadu’s violent climate made it impossible to navigate without proper equipment.
Equipment that they had partly lost right now. Sixes reached around Krennic to strap his boss in first, pulling the director from his thoughts. “Just a precaution Sir”, Sixes mumbled. Krennic wordlessly handed him one of the straps and let him do it.
It was so out of character for the director not to comment or at least have a few choice words for Pterro’s flying, but ever since the Grand Moff had usurped his command, Krennic seemed torn between being angry, sulky or dejected.
Sixes fumbled with the strapping gear for a moment before it snapped closed, criss crossing over Krennic’s chest to protect him from being thrown through the shuttle. Sixes barely managed to strap himself in before the ship lurched again, more violently this time.
Several alarms went off in the cockpit. They were losing altitude quickly, Sixes realised with increasing concern. They were too fast for a landing attempt, their angle to steep.
Pterro was fighting with the controls to get the nose of the shuttle up and parallel to the ground. Something clipped their left wing and almost sent the ship into a spiral motion. Pterro barely kept them straight. He forced the engines to slow down attempting to fold up the wings for the landing procedure.
They finally lost some speed, the Delta class shuttle almost gliding again. Sixes’ head bounced harshly against the hull as the ship at once almost stopped in mid-air.
An ear-splitting barrage of crashing sounds told him that this time they had not merely clipped something in their way.
He could hear the sickening groans of metal being twisted beyond its limit. He looked over to Pterro, but the pilot was slumped against the controls. A moment later the whole shuttle tilted to its side. They were falling and Sixes had no idea how high up they still were.
For a moment he felt weightless, as if he was suspended in air. Then the pull of gravitation pushed the straps against his armor. ‘Kriffing Eadu’ was his last thought before he lost consciousness.
Sixes woke up with a sharp intake of breath as his suit pumped adrenaline and painkillers into his body. His head-up display, which was miraculously still intact and working, flashed with red alert signals.
Possible concussion and rib fractures, Flesh wound, right hand.
He glanced down. Something had sliced straight through his armor from his elbow to his hand. The lack of blood streaming through the cracked plates told him that at least the major arteries had been missed.
Sixes realised suddenly that there was no one on his right side anymore. Rain poured down freely on him. Half of the shuttle was missing. Something they hit had torn the whole ship into two.
It was a miracle though they had not immediately blown up on the ground. Sixes looked to his left and almost sighed with relief at seeing Krennic, still strapped into his seat.
The director was unconscious, his head lolled to the side, showing a ghastly head wound. With concern Sixes noticed the amount of blood streaming from the wound. He had to stem that as quickly as possible, nevermind getting them both out of the wreckage.
Despite the rain there were still countless possibilities of the rest of the ship blowing up. Carefully Sixes opened the straps holding him to his seat and pushed himself up on his feet. He had to stop for a moment and wait for the spinning in his head to subside. Definitely a concussion then.
Maneuvering Krennic out of the straps and the wreckage without aggravating his injuries took so long, Sixes more than once feared that he would either lose consciousness or have the rest of the ship blowing up.
When he had finally managed to carry and drag his boss to a safe distance, he felt dizzy and had to sit down for a moment. Since they had no medical supplies Sixes used his knife to cut up Krennic’s cape and create a makeshift bandage for the man’s head.
Just as he was finished a quiet groan alerted him to Krennic regaining consciousness. Sixes saw his eyelids flutter under the constant downpour of rain. Krennic whimpered, lifting his hand to clutch his head, but Sixes immediately grasped it.
“Sir, I’m gonna get you to safety”, he tried with his most reassuring voice. “You have a head injury so don’t touch it!” Damn he was not even sure that Krennic was lucid enough to understand him.
The usual fierce blue was dulled and glassy as the director struggled to focus on Sixes. He tried to look around, but the motion was too much already.
Even in the relative dark Sixes saw his face loose every last bit of colour. Krennic turned to his side and threw up, almost landing face-first in his vomit as he struggled to keep his head up.
Sixes scrambled to support his shivering form, steadying him with one firm arm around his upper body.
“Easy there Sir, easy”, he tried to soothe him. He waited until Krennic sagged in his grip, apparently finished or too exhausted. His boss tried to get up on his feet, but with a scream of pure agony he slumped down again.
“My leg”, Krennic gasped and reflexively clutched at his knee. “Kriff that hurts.” He bit his lip trying to compose himself, struggling with the pain. Despite the rain Sixes could see the tears running over Krennic’s cheeks.
Not that he could fault him for that. Sixes felt pretty banged up himself and he still had his armor. How the director had evaded open fractures and generally being crushed to death was beyond his imagination.
Nevertheless Sixes cursed his luck that he had no possibility to check precisely what was wrong with Krennic’s leg. He guessed that the fall had broken some bone or maybe wrenched it. But as long as his boss was not bleeding out the main concern was to get to the base first where they had a medical team.
“I need you to focus Sir. Focus just on me, okay? I’m gonna carry you to the base, don’t worry!” By now Sixes was not even sure if he just said it to reassure Krennic or himself. He had to get him help quickly, but his boss was definitely in no condition to walk by himself.
“Sir? Hey stay with me!” Kriff the director was drifting off again. He gently shook his shoulder until the blue eyes focused on him.
“I will carry you on my back, Sir, but you have to stay awake, alright?” Krennic nodded mutely, disconcertingly quiet for once. It took a lot of cajoling and wiggling until he had the director safely on his back.
Sixes was pretty sure that Krennic’s leg was smarting like hell from the way he constantly twitched and tensed but the director did not complain. And so Sixes carefully and slowly made his way over the slippery terrain.
He knew that Krennic tried to stay awake he really did. But the head injury was taking its toll and the further Sixes got the more he felt Krennic slipping back into unconsciousness. Finally, after what felt like hours, they reached the bottom of the facility.
A humongously long ladder connected it to the ground. It was the quickest way up, but also the most difficult one. Sixes jostled Krennic slightly, trying to rouse him.
“Sir we are nearly there”, he explained once the director had lifted his head from Sixes shoulder.
“It's just up that ladder. But you have to hold onto me yourself so I can climb, okay?”
He got a mumbled ‘okay’ from Krennic and the director made an effort to lock his hands around Sixes neck without choking the trooper.
The climb was slow and difficult, but Sixes pulled himself steadily along. He was concerned that Krennic would lose consciousness again at some point and so he tried to go as fast as possible without jarring his director.
A sudden rumble behind them prompted Sixes turn his head as the telltale sound of ships approaching at high speed resounded through the torrent of rain.
“Kriffing…” Sixes cursed at the sight of decidedly non-friendly ships. Ships that were firing at the structure right above their heads. The familiar sound of anti-air batteries answered but the enemy fighters were quick.
Explosions shook the ladder but Sixes held on and Krennic … held on to Sixes.
The starfighters were almost gone as quickly as they had appeared. It was a miracle that they had not brought the whole facility down on Sixes and Krennic. But as the trooper pulled them up those final rungs the true carnage was revealed.
There was no eerie quietness, no silence greeting them. A cacophony of pained cries was their welcome. The rumbling of walls collapsing accompanying every scream. Fire illuminated the place despite the heavy rain.
Sixes helped Krennic sit down beside the ladder and looked around for someone in charge, anyone still on their feet. His gaze fell back on his boss.
Krennic was staring at the mayhem in utter disbelief and shock. He seemed completely lost, sitting between the smouldering ruins of the facility. Sixes swallowed thickly. He could guess what the director was thinking.
After the escape of a cargo pilot with knowledge of Eadu and the sudden destruction of the research facility there was no way the Grand Moff would not make Krennic responsible for it.
Sixes grit his teeth as he imagined how his director would likely be insulted and belittled again, for something that was not his fault. Nevertheless, he would stay by Krennic’s side, quiet and supportive as always. After he’d found his boss some medics before the man succumbed to his injuries.