Chapter 7: The Mutt Apocalypse

The sewers were quiet under District Seven. The occasional drops of water from leaking

pipes echoed eerily through the dark chambers, and the usual stench plus murky polluted waters that were commonplace in the sewers lay still. Aside from the threat of fainting from the stench, the citizens of District Seven, who were protected by a veteran detachment of the Clone Army 327th Star Corps, knew that no threat was present beneath them.

Or so they thought.

Suddenly, a terrifying predatorial shriek broke the dark silence, and a grotesque life form

broke the water's surface with a violent flailing of their arms and gnashing of their teeth. Twenty, then fifty, then eventually hundreds more of these life forms joined in, creating a haunting chorus in the sewers that echoed death for anyone who would hear it...hear it in time, that is. These predators were no mere wolves; they were Mutts, predators bioengineered by the Capital, then starved and abused before they were released to attack the Capital's enemies. Their augmented speed, sight, and smell made just one of them a significant danger, but hundreds all at once? Even the most battle-hardened troopers would still be sensible enough to feel fear before they felt the mutt's teeth sinking into their skin. And feel it they would, for the army of mutts soon began to climb up the ladders towards the top hatches that would lead to District Seven. Via the biochips installed in their heads, the Capital had transmitted orders to this pack to emerge from their murky hideout en masse and destroy whatever resistance they encountered. Snow and his advisors had made this plan weeks ago: should District Seven fall to the enemy, they would wait a while before unleashing the secret hordes of their mindless beasts in the streets. Not only would they catch the enemy off guard, they would give their enemies a brutal death as well.

Strategy and revenge mattered little to these beasts, however, as they only cared for one thing: food. And whatever, or whoever, was available for them to feast on they would gladly do so without hesitation. Men, women, and children...none were safe from the mindless army of ravenous creatures that crawled, clambered, and climbed their way up the ladders towards the surface. The mutts let out blood curdling screams and savage growls that created a bone chilling chorus that communicated evil's wicked triumph.

The mutts were hungry...and nothing would stop them from getting their meal.

.....................

The sun shone brightly, and the sky was clear above the streets of District Seven. Led by ARC troopers, squads of clone troopers patrolled the streets and alleys keeping the peace. AT-RT walkers stomped around the perimeter, and the citizens happily talked, bartered and laughed with each other. The District Council Hall, now a Command Center, stood proudly in the Northeast section of the city and assured all citizens there that they were safe and free from the oppression of their authoritarian ruler.

Jedi General Aayla Secura strode into the Command Center's conference room, and

Commander Bly plus the three Navy officers with him came to attention.

"At ease, gentlemen," She assured them. "How do our reports for this week look?"

"Very good, ma'am," Bly replied with the strict, follow protocol voice he always used. "The platoon I sent into the sewers last week to verify the plans provided to us from the captured Peacekeeper Lieutenant Colonel went smoothly, and we found indeed that no threats are beneath us."

"Well done, Commander," she replied.

"An enemy telling us the truth...that's a first." Scoffed one of the clone officers.

Commander Bly had nothing to say in response to that. It wasn't his primary mission to search for truth in this war, although interrogations did at times call for it. His primary job was to protect the lives of the troopers under him and win battles he was assigned, no matter what it took.

Aayla Secura suddenly gasped and took a step back, holding her right hand to her forehead. A strong pang of darkness and evil shook the peaceful serenity that had been present all day. But this evil was not like the typical disturbances she sensed from the Dark Side; this evil was hungry, and ravenously at that. If she concentrated enough, she could almost hear savage voices that seemed to cry "Feed us! Either give us blood or we will take it!"

"Is everything all right, General Secura?" Commander Bly asked, his fists tensing up because he knew what was coming.

Secura was about to respond but concentrated for just a second more. In that second, she detected the source of the darkness; the disturbance had been potent because it was coming from underground.

"What? The sewers? But I thought..."

Her eyes went wide with sudden horrified understanding. Gripping her lightsaber, she began frantically punching in the full force alert command into the holoprojector.

"Commander Bly mobilize our forces immediately! Call in all units on the perimeter to defend the suburbs! Consolidate our forces here at the Command Center! We are under attack!"

Bly knew better than to question the orders of his Jedi General. Shoving his helmet on, he keyed his comlink and began barking commands.

But they were too late.

.....................

Two Jet Troopers patrolled the quiet Sunset Avenue in the Northwest section of the District, backed up by an AT-RT. As usual, nothing out of the ordinary had occurred.

"Almost time for lunch," one of them remarked. "What do you think we should get?"

The other jet trooper opened his mouth to respond. He was interrupted, however, by a sudden insistent beeping from his comlink. He reached his hand down to activate it.

And that's when hell was unleashed.

The manhole cover to their left flew open, and the mutts poured out, roaring and shrieking with bloodthirsty hunger. Clambering over each other they surged towards the unlucky trio of soldiers who drew their weapons and opened fire. The AT-RT pilot managed to squeeze off a small semi-automatic burst from the walker's chain gun, but was soon consumed by the savage horde as five of them climbed up the walker's legs, tore him from his seat, and pulled him into the sea of hungry predators who roared with evil triumph at their first meal. The clone pilot screamed in agony, begging without words for someone to save him, but he went unheard as the mutts tore him apart. The jet troopers, remembering their training, quickly activated their jetpacks and flew above the horde of threats. However, they were not safe from the wave of mutts that came from behind. A manhole cover in an alley to their right that they hadn't noticed had deployed the same demons, and several mutts jumped up before the jet troopers could gain altitude. Soon two, then three, then five mutts piled on their backs weighing them down enough to where the sea of claws and teeth beneath them were able to grab them and pull them to their doom.

Across District Seven, the same scene played out. The manhole covers around the District flew open in near unison as the Hell from the spiritual plane below unleashed its nightmare and torment upon the physical dimension above. Tidal waves of the mindless mutts roared for their food as they surged forward, overwhelming the clones patrolling the streets and devouring the helpless citizens who attempted to run but were caught between overlapping hordes of mutts. In less than fifteen minutes, a day of quiet peace had turned into a dark and desperate fight for survival as fathers ran towards the District's gates with their wives and children in tow. One woman who worked in a nursery heard the chaos erupting outside and proceeded to lock the doors screaming at her co-workers to do the same. But their efforts were in vain as a pack of twenty mutts ran towards the windows, bashing their skulls with vicious determination eventually breaking them to pieces. Before the mutts consumed her in sadistic delight, the woman felt a fear and pain she had never felt in her life.

Not the pain of being devoured, but the pain that she had failed to keep the children in her nursery safe.

One father cradled his little boy in his arms as he and his wife ran towards the gates of District Seven as fast as their legs could carry them. Their shopping stroll in the District Marketplace on Main Street no longer mattered, for it would soon be their last if they didn't make it to the gate in time. Panting heavily, the man hugged his son tightly with one arm and gripped his wife's hand with the other. The war had not taken them from him for all these years, and he was not about to let this attack change that.

But he did not have a choice.

At one hundred meters from the gate, the clone troopers guarding it were suddenly flattened by a wave of mutts. The family froze and turned to see at least fifty mutts pursuing them from behind and heard more coming towards them from the right.

"Daddy don't leave me!" the little boy sobbed burying his face in his father's shoulder.

The man looked towards the wave of impending death as he listened to his son's desperate plea, and everything seemed to move in slow motion. Despite the coming darkness that would make the streets his family's tomb, he felt a sense of calm and peace come over him. Yes, they would soon be dead. But he had done his duty as a man: he had cared for his wife and child faithfully, been a good neighbor and friend, and never cooperated with the oppressive regime of President Snow. Looking towards his wife one last time, they exchanged one last loving glance that said it all.

"I love-," he began.

The wave of mutts consumed them.

.....................

"To all nearby friendly outposts that hear this, we are under attack and need support as soon as possible! I repeat, the enemy's surprise attack has overwhelmed us, and we need support!" Commander Bly shouted over the long-range communicator.

Static began to crackle over the comm, but only after he had given off his message. Looking at the security feed in the East section of the District, he saw a wave of mutts had broken down several power lines. At least he could rest assured they had sent their distress signal in time. Hearing pounding at the doors to the communications room, he unslung his blaster rifle from his back and rushed to see what the matter was. The door opened, and Aayla Secura along with twelve clone troopers rushed in breathing frantically. One clone quickly resealed the door, hoping in vain it would protect them from the nightmare outside.

"What happened, General?" Commander Bly inquired, not sure he wanted to hear the answer.

"These creatures...these monsters...have overwhelmed our defenses outside and around the District," Secura explained. "I should've suspected why the manholes were so strategically spread around the place. Their hordes overlapped and cut off our troops from one another. We managed to get only two gunships with a few troops and civilians airborne, but I ordered them to fly to the nearest friendly outpost and call for help."

"Do you think they'll be back in time, General?" a nearby clone trooper asked with not so hidden dread of what would happen if they didn't.

"I'm not sure, soldier," Secura replied with sorrow.

Commander Bly had been deployed on many harsh battlefields in his life. In all those battles, from Maridun to Felucia, he had known combat. But he had never known true, paralyzing fear until this day. Under his helmet, he tried to keep his lip from quivering, but could not stop the terror that flowed in his veins.

Secura, sensing this, walked over and put her right hand on his shoulder while using the other to remove his helmet. She looked him in the eye, and Bly felt a strange sense of calm come over him.

"You are a brave and honorable warrior, Commander," She consoled him. "You have been nothing but a great leader and trusted friend from the first day our battalion fought on Geonosis. And I am proud to say I served with you."

"So am I, Commander." Bly responded with a newfound resolve to fight to the last breath.

The other troopers in the room picked up their shoulders and weapons as well, accepting the knowledge that as they went down, they would go down in honorable service to the Jedi Republic Union. As the mutts shrieked outside and rushed towards the door, Commander Bly shoved his helmet back on and pressed the buttstock of his rifle into his shoulder. He would die, yes. But he would die fighting beside his Jedi General like a good trooper should.

The mutts reached the door and began pressing their collective weight against it while screaming in their predatorial shrill for blood. The door initially held, but eventually the collective weight of the horde became too great and the door caved in. As the mutts poured in, the clone troopers opened fire, three of them throwing grenades. The grenades decimated the front portion of the wave, but the dozens more still behind them climbed over the bodies of their dead, determined to feast on the last bit of resistance. The clones put up a good fight, but one by one they succumbed to the wave of mindless beasts that dragged them down and sank their teeth into their flesh.

Secura and Bly continued fighting, backs to the wall, desperately keeping the mutts at bay.

"We can do this, General!" Commander Bly encouraged.

Eventually, however, a mutt got past Secura's defenses and chomped on her arm. Then two, three, and seven of them dragged her down to the floor.

And Commander Bly fell with her.

...................

Shadow Soldier woke with a start, sweat pouring from his brow and his heart beating rapidly. If what he had just sensed was correct, thousands of voices had just cried out in terror, begging for life and mercy, and had been silenced. Not just silenced...but mauled, torn apart and devoured by a new, hungry kind of evil he had never felt before.

Standing up from his bed, he keyed his comlink to contact his Master.

"I sensed it too, young Padawan," his master replied grimly. "Make your way to the Command Room; the Mockingjay and her friends are here, and we will plan a counterattack."

Donning his gear faster than ever before, he ran to the Command Room of the base. He gave no regard to the now converted lab of Dr. Nuvo Vindi that he usually acknowledged with disgust; he had an upcoming mission to consider. Arriving at the Command Room, he not only saw Katniss along with her usual four friends and squad of troopers, but also Clone Commander Ponds from the Clone Army 91st Brigade. Right away, he knew this mission would be one of higher urgency; Ponds was never involved unless additional military force was needed.

Katniss consoled the distraught clone pilot that was in the room with them.

"What monsters, pilot?" she asked. "What do you mean when you say they came out of nowhere?"

"They flew out of the manhole covers!" the clone pilot screamed. "Dozens...hundreds of them! We had no idea they were beneath us! We were confident the sewers beneath us were clear! But somehow they hid from our scans and took us by surprise!" the pilot nearly broke down in tears as he recounted the horrors.

Gale and Finick exchanged a solemn glance that communicated both dismay and rage at the brutality of the Capital's attack. Finick had nearly lost his life to the beasts in the PFF's first failed attempt at taking the Capital, and he knew personally why the Capital chose the mutts as a method of cleansing resistance.

"It was just a few at first, but they seemed to multiply into hundreds in just seconds!" the pilot continued, finally letting the tears fall. "They came from all directions at once because of the manhole covers! We managed to form a small perimeter in the airfield, but they just kept throwing themselves at us!"

"And what of Master Secura and Commander Bly, pilot?" Petta interjected.

"That's just it...it was Secura who ordered me and the other pilot to retreat with the survivors we had!" the pilot disclosed. "I was going to disobey, but Commander Bly backed her up and told us to get to the nearest friendly base as fast as we could! And then...and then..." the pilot tried to continue but could not as the guilt he bore as a survivor became unbearable.

"That will be all pilot," Commander Ponds assured him. "Trooper!" He barked at a nearby Rebel trooper standing guard at the door. "Get this pilot to the counseling center immediately."

"Yes sir!" the Rebel trooper replied and escorted the distressed clone pilot out of the room.

"I...I can't believe this," Katniss's sister Prim spoke up. "The mutts...concealed themselves and planned to do this all along?"

"Not planned; they were controlled," Gale answered. "The Capital has brain chips they implant into the mutts as they are created. They most likely ordered the mutts to hide when District Seven was taken, then ordered to do this."

"But why?" Mace Windu asked. "Why not just do a conventional siege?"

"Because the Capital is ruthless, Master," Shadow Soldier answered. "Remember what I told you about my father's murder? President Snow doesn't want to just defeat his enemies; he wants to make sport of it and make sure they die horrible deaths."

"Wait, you're from Panem?" Finick asked with visible confusion.

"That is a story for another time, soldier," Shadow Soldier replied with a stern stare that told him he meant those words.

"So, what now?" Petta scoffed. "We just mobilize a company and go in guns blazing to avenge our fallen brothers?"

"No," Commander Ponds replied. "To simply stage a conventional siege would play right into the Capital's hands. If what Gale has said is correct, they can simply order their mutts to conceal their presence and then flatten another company of our troops."

"An infiltration then?" Katniss suggested. "My squad and I could potentially plant gas bombs above ground that neutralize the mutts."

"With due respect, Squad Leader," Hardcase piped up. "The Capital will most likely just throw all the mutts at us at once. If what you've told us is true, then they'll be able to sense our presence the moment we step in there."

"That's not necessarily a bad thing," Fives responded. "Luring all the remaining mutts into one kill zone at once is the first thing we should do. But who here besides you, Katniss, would be considered a high value target the Capital would want to unleash the mutts on?"

"Are you suggesting I do the dishonorable thing and pass on this assignment to another, trooper?" Katniss questioned.

"Katniss, you are the Mockingjay!" Petta replied. "If you are eliminated, our Freedom Fighters will lose hope and the other Districts go back to falling in line out of fear! Our broadcast at District Six will mean nothing!"

"I'll go," Shadow Soldier volunteered.

All heads in the room turned to him in surprise.

"Sir, you-," Echo began.

"I mean it," Shadow Soldier interrupted. "Master, many of the Sith on the enemy side are going to be enraged at my survival of the Siege of Malastare now that Valkorian's Hand will surely tell them. If I go alone, lure the mutts out, and transmit my coordinates for our gunships to eliminate them with an airstrike, we will avenge the 327th that fell at District Seven."

"And show the Capital that we won't go out quietly," Hevy said with determined resolve.

They were all silent for several seconds before Windu spoke up.

"Alright then. Shadow Soldier, you will go to District Seven and survey what has happened. When you have lured the mutts to an ideal kill zone, activate your comlink to signal your coordinates. May the Force be with you."

"Thank you, Master," Shadow Soldier replied.

...................

One hour later, Shadow Soldier sped from the base to District Seven on a BARC speeder, his eyes remaining forward and his mind unchanged as to his decision. He had put himself at risk for others many times, and this was no different. He had dealt with impossible odds in battle before; he would handle these beasts just fine.

He cursed himself for revealing his Panem origins at the base; he'd been trying for years now to put his dark past behind him, but every now and then there would be moments where he would let the information slip. The prior battle with Valkorian's hand in his former home District did not help, as he recalled the happy life he once had with his family being torn away from him by Snow's regime and it's enforcers. As he drove through the forest towards District Seven, he remembered the dark night where he had run, screaming and angry into the forest...

Distraught, confused and in utter disbelief, he had taken the only thing of value from his home, that being his combat knife his father had given him. He had collapsed under a tree, sobbing angrily and clutching the knife with his life.

Then suddenly, a portal had opened, and a tall, bald man with dark skin and two men dressed in white armor with shades of light green. The man's face was stern at first but morphed into a look of mild surprise. The two armored troopers had exchanged a confused glance, and Shadow Soldier had stood up in a defensive stance brandishing his knife.

"Woah there-," one of the armored men had said, raising his blaster.

"Hold your fire, Razor," the dark-skinned man ordered, looking at Shadow Soldier, only ten years old at that time. "Child, what are you doing here?"

Shadow Soldier had said nothing.

"Well, we're not at Ryloth that's for sure," the one called Razor had said. "What do we do with him?"

"We can't just leave him here, General Windu!" the other trooper had said.

The man they called Windu contemplated this.

"Come with us, young one," Windu had ordered, but with a hint of compassion. At that moment, some Peacekeeper bullets pinged around them, and the two troopers brought their weapons to bear. Shadow Soldier, not wanting to end up in the Capital's custody, ran into the portal, and Windu plus the troopers retreated as well. Shadow Soldier found himself in a large room with holograms, large computers, and more of the armored troopers. Two more men with robes that resembled Windu's stood in there as well, and one of them pushed buttons that closed the portal.

It was then that he realized his path would never be the same.

Shadow Soldier angrily pushed the memories away as he turned right past some maple trees. The night he had met his Master along with Razor and Stak had been the start of his journey to becoming Shadow Soldier yes, but it was one wrought with pain and suffering that he had yet to overcome. And the memory of her was no more bearable than that one...

He fought back the tears that came to his eyes, as he had done for the past several years. The gate to District Seven was coming up, and he applied the breaks to slow the BARC speeder down. Bringing the speeder to a halt, he dismounted and approached the gates. He noticed the absence of the friendly troopers that would usually be guarding the gate. He reached for his lightsaber to cut a hole in the gate but realized that would alert the mutts prematurely. Taking a proper squatting stance, he Force leaped to the top of the wall and planted on the arch over the gate.

What he saw was a nightmare.

Dead bodies of clone troopers, men, women and children littered the streets for as far as the eye could see. Many of the corpses were limbless, headless, and some only having a few tatters of clothes and armor plates to mark where they had stood in their final moments. The streets were a river of blood, bones, broken glass and doors that had been torn down during the mutt's rampage across District Seven. A few dozen mutt corpses could be seen here and there, with blaster bolt burns, knife wounds and club impressions to convey how some had gone down trying to consume their prey. But the amount of mutt corpses was nowhere near the number of troopers and civilians that had perished in the carnage. Scanning ahead further, he spotted many burning AT-RT's and BARC speeders that had been toppled and disabled in the assault.

He tried not to let his rage surface and took a deep breath to hold it back. If what he remembered about the mutts was correct, they were engineered to smell the chemicals released by humans at certain emotions...and he wouldn't exactly keep his codename if he gave himself away too easily. He Force leaped to another nearby building, using the Force to catch himself as he fell to land silently. Surveying the scene again, he saw an avenue that led to the Courtyard outside the Commander Center/City Hall and decided that would be a good place to lure the remaining mutts to for the airstrike. As he had suspected, no live mutts were in sight, for the Sith had hoped to lure another Jedi company of troops to their doom. Getting down on all fours, he low crawled across the building as silently as he could, getting up once he reached the edge of the roof and silently Force leaping to the next one. He repeated this maneuver until he reached a building on the edge of the courtyard and crouched low.

Once again, he saw the chaos wrought by the hordes of mindless mutts; two AT-TE's stood undamaged, yet crewless, the walkers only having been able to dispatch a few dozen of the beasts before the gunner on the top was overwhelmed. Many bodies of troopers lay lifeless, and blood was everywhere on the ground. Keying his comlink, he transmitted the coordinates back to waiting gunship squadron that would drop missiles as well as Mockingjay Squad and his own squad to aid his efforts. Closing his eyes, and taking a deep breath, he leaped from the building into the courtyard, not cushioning his short yet loud fall as he had done previously. Sensing a disturbance from behind, he quickly ignited his lightsaber and spun around.

Three manhole covers, two on the farther side of the courtyard, flew open, and the mutts flew out, clambering over each other and rushing with predatorial eagerness towards him. Taking his ready position, he raised his lightsaber and executed a perfect roundhouse kick motion that set up his lightsaber for a perfect curved throw to the left as it flew from his hand. Sensing more contacts to his rear, he drew one of his blaster pistols, turned around and unleashed a volley of deadly blaster fire on the approaching pack of mutts before catching his lightsaber in his other hand. He suddenly saw why the mutts had been so successful in their onslaught; the manhole covers near the courtyard alone were positioned in a rough circular fashion that gave that mutts an advantageous opportunity to trap their targets before they could escape.

And right now, their only target was him.

Gathering what Force energy he could inside him, he unleashed a Force repulse that sent the encroaching mutts flying in every direction. Their shrieks echoed eerily, but he tried not to think about it as he Force pushed a pack of mutts on his right away from him while gunning down another pack to his right. Backflipping over two mutts who attempted to bite him from behind, he sliced them in half with his lightsaber and high kicked another mutt who rushed at him from the front. Slicing, blasting and Force pushing the mutts that rushed to him from all directions, he held his ground for a solid three minutes that felt like an eternity before finally Force leaping back to the roof of the building he had come from.

Taking a deep breath, he kept his lightsaber and blaster pistol up and looked down at the horde of mutts below. They clambered, piled, pushed each other to get to the base of the building, and looked up at him with their faceless heads that bore what seemed to be combat knives for teeth. Eventually, several hundred of the mutts that had survived the initial attack crowded below the building, growling, foaming, and hissing for him to come down.

"There is no hope left for you, boy!" they seemed to taunt. "Join your brothers here who fell helplessly; there is nothing you can do to stop us!"

Shadow Soldier did not let their unspoken message reach him and primed a grenade from his belt. Throwing it down, he watched with bitter satisfaction as it blew several of them into pieces. The rest were undeterred however and continued to claw and foam for him to come down.

That was when the gunships arrived.

Shadow Soldier heard the scream of gunship cannons as well as the roar of their missiles, and Force leaped onto the neighboring building to avoid being thrown into the horde as the missiles exploded the base of the structure. The cannon shots landed with accuracy along with the missiles, and hundred of mutts went flying in every direction. Katniss and her four friends, along with Mockingjay Squad and his own squad, dropped down into the courtyard guns, lightsabers and vibro-weapons blazing. He leaped down to join the fun. The remaining mutts, now encircled, were easy targets for the disciplined clone troopers and freedom fighters.

In just thirty minutes, it was all over.

...................

President Snow sat at his dinner table with his advisors, some of them having been replaced by Sith Inquisitors and Droid Army admirals. They ate their dinner silently, as they always did. He did not seek to converse with his peers, other than to order them around or lie and manipulate them for his goals.

Just then, the holoprojector in the table flashed to life, and replayed the footage of Katniss and her allies mowing down the mutts. Snow watched with anticipation to see when she would be devoured, but to his surprise and angry dismay, she stood alive and whole at the end, the bodies of hundreds of now wasted mutts laying lifeless on the ground. Snow noticed in particular a combatant he had never seen before...a young man dressed in a red and black uniform whose lightsaber and blaster subdued a majority of the beasts. He digested this information with silent fury.

A Peacekeeper Commander's helmet flashed in place of the hologram feed.

"Our attempt to eliminate the Mockingjay has failed, sir." He reported.

Snow exchanged a glance with the two Sith Inquisitors at his table.

"Yes...it seems it has." He replied with unstated frustration.